The Timothy Bile Show @The Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of The Timothy Bile Show:

This attempted spoof of Jeremy Kyle et al starts off well, with an accurate portrayal of the sort of stuff that fills such programs; abusive boyfriends, girlfriends sleeping around, unexpected pregnancy and girls getting outrageously drunk. The best actor is the lead, but no one else shines. Too much emphasis is placed on the anger of the guests (telling each other to shut up at frequent intervals) and not enough on the public's need to watch such interactions, nor on the reasons for the host's involvement, It's a shame, because these are more interesting and are also the things the play had intended to explore. It's no satire of popular culture, however much shouting there is.

theSpaces on the Mile@the Radisson, 6 - 21 Aug (not 8, 15), 7.05pm, £6.00 - £7.00, fpp 297

tw rating: 1/5

The original review is here.

The Merry Wives of Henry VIII @ The Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of The Merry Wives of Henry VIII:

There's always a danger that we'll forget the real people in history and will reduce them to easily remembered basics. Richard III was a hunchback, Henry VIII was a fickle playboy. That's exactly what happens in this (deliberately?) overblown destruction of real events. The caricatures are cartoonish and basic, the Tudor court's political scheming (familiar now thanks to Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and HBO's "The Tudors") is non-existent; audiences are familiar enough with the period to deserve better than this. However, the production is a pleasing enough jaunt, which makes villains out of pawns, especially for audiences less familiar with the period. However, there's some painfully OTT acting and atrocious lighting choices. Diverting, but ultimately frustrating.

Augustine's, 11 - 26 Aug (not 18, 23), 6.45pm, £7.00 - £9.00, fpp 271

tw rating: 2/5

The original review is here.

Pip Utton is Charles Dickens @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Pip Utton Is Charles Dickens:

Few actors seem as fresh and unscripted as Pip Utton, who has a talent for sounding like he's chatting to a mate: you could almost think he's out of character, were it not for the Dickensian beard. Charles Dickens is the focus of this show, in which he candidly recounts his own death and the previous few months. Utton uses some of the famous readings from Dickens' tours of Britain, and focuses on the author as social reformer, highlighting the social conscience underlining much of his work, and it makes for an absorbing 70 minutes. Utton is an expert at creating an intimate connection with his audience, and as he closes, one gets the sense of being in the hands of a master at work.

New Town Theatre, 5 - 29 Aug (not 17), 6.45pm , £8.00 - £10.00, fpp 279

tw rating: 4/5

The original review is here.

The Jewish Wife @ the BAC and some news...

Brecht's little play – more of an extended scene, really – doesn't get many outings. It's one in a series of snapshots called Fear & Misery in the Third Reich. Each shows Nazi policies affecting ordinary Germans in different ways – none of them positive. Here, the Jewish wife of the title is packing before leaving her German (Aryan) husband so that he doesn't lose his job for being married to a Jew. This is an intimate production at the Battersea Arts Centre, hinting at – then laying bare – the frustration of a woman whose world has suddenly turned against her. Matthew Evans – winner of the JMK Director's Award – directs a production in tune with its time and the burning issues of the text.

Meanwhile...

I've recently started working for Hoipolloi Theatre Company, a lovely bunch of people who are based in Cambridge and are about to enjoy a residency at (probably my favourite performance venue ever) the Barbican, in September. They have a blog and everything. Their shows have won a clutch of awards and I highly recommend the one that I've seen, so get to the Barbican for those if you can.

One of those awards was a ThreeWeeks Editors' Award at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe (it had nothing to do with me, though my five-star review of The Bone House may well have helped Canada's Village Theatre to their Editors' Award), and I'll be covering the Fringe for ThreeWeeks again this year.

They're a great outlet for Fringe coverage, reviewing more than anyone else, and it's also worth keeping an eye on FringeReview who tend to review as industry professionals delving more deeply.

The Fringe is less than a week away, and is naturally quite exciting. Let me know if there are any shows/venues you can recommend.

Rozencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of the American High School Theatre Festival's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which stops short of calling for a ban on AHSTF performances, even though they do horrible things to this gorgeous script:

What's it all about? So asks Rosencrantz (or Guildenstern, who knows, or cares?) at the end of Tom Stoppard's wordy, clever take on 'Hamlet'. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in Shakespeare's iconic tragedy, but take centre stage in this monotonous production. It's an ambitious project for an American high school to tackle – bringing so word-conscious a play (they miss most of the wordplay, in fact) to a British audience – and they don't really succeed in bringing it to life. Dedicated acting doesn't make up for clumsy staging, nor for lines gabbled at speed in order to keep the play within its advertised running time. Undeniably rushed, by a cast who don't appear to understand the majority of what they're saying.

tw rating: 2/5

On the positive side: Scottish crime-writer Ian Rankin (creator of Rebus) spoke to me in the queue outside, and somehow sat through the whole thing with his family.
On the negative side: after posting this review, I wondered if two stars were too generous.

My interview with (the man playing) Eric Morecambe

Bring me sunshine

Bob Golding tells Richard T. Watson about playing a wife, a mother and an elephant in his one-man show, Morecambe

“When I say I’m doing a one-man play about Eric Morecambe the reaction is always the same; everyone smiles. It’s so warming. The love for the guy was huge,” explains Bob Golding, star of a play what Tim Whitnall wrote (to paraphrase Ernie Wise), ‘Morecambe’.

“The Edinburgh Festival is the hub of première work, and it’s become a lot about comedy”, he adds. “So where better to première a play about one of Britain’s best comedians?”

Eric Morecambe, says Golding, was and is a “hugely-respected member of the comic fraternity” and this show celebrating his life has already had previews where “the responses were so positive and so encouraging” that the show will now enjoy a month’s run at the Assembly Rooms.
“My respect and love for Eric and Ernie was massive before I came into the project,” he continues. “It’s the most amazing project. It’s not like a job; it’s been enjoyment”.

He’s aware of – but unfazed by – the pressures of playing such a well-loved figure. “ I don’t allow myself to think about the pressures of it, because I think you’ve just got to get on with it to your best ability”, he concludes. “Which is what I’m doing with this piece. I approach it like any other role”.

However, he adds: “People have compared me to Eric all my life. It’s not that I’ve thought ‘Oh, I must play Eric Morecambe’, it’s not something I’ve been working my life towards, it’s just something that’s been there, and now I’m making the most of it”.

What really comes across in our interview is how much of a loving tribute to Morecambe this show is. Golding tells me that he considers Morecambe a “comic genius”, adding, “I’m certainly not that, and I don’t know if I can replicate that onstage, but hopefully I can tell a story about the man who was”.

The show’s director Guy Masterson first noticed Golding’s likeness to Morecambe twelve years ago. Golding remembers, “He said, ‘You’re so similar to Eric, but you’re too young at the moment. Maybe in ten years’ time we’ll address it’”.

‘Morecambe’ has clearly been a long time in the making. Golding says that “the toughest part was what not to put in. People would see it and say, ’Oh, you didn’t do that’ and, ‘You didn’t do that enough’; there’s a wealth of knowledge of Eric’s life”.

Audiences will probably expect a brand of family-friendly comedy familiar from the ‘Morecambe & Wise’ TV shows, and that’s what they’ll get. So, it’s suitable for children? “Definitely. It’s a one-man show and it’s an hour and twenty-five minutes, so it’s whether or not they can sit still, really. But Eric of all people was guilty of that as well; that’s why his mother called him Jitter-arse. He had so much energy. That’s an important point to make: Eric was never ‘off.’ He was the eternal comedian, the eternal jester”.

The family-pleasing side of the role should come easily to Golding, who is the voice of Max and Milo in CBeebies’ ‘The Tweenies’, and PC Plod in Five’s ‘Noddy In Toyland’. “For a long time my daughters just assumed every father did some kind of TV voice. Their friends say, ‘Can you do Milo’s voice?’ and I do it, and then become a sort of priest, or celebrity. I’ve been very very lucky in that respect”.

But at the heart of Morecambe is love and respect, a celebration of the man voted Britain’s favourite 20th Century comedian. “I hope that by doing this piece we can tell a simple story about a simple man who touched millions of people”.

ThreeWeeks Weekly No. 3, 2009

The Gigalees Crazy Circus Show @ The Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Austraila's cheeky, crazy circus double-act:

The craziest things here are possibly the double-act's outfits, but then the double-act are pretty crazy themselves, in a zany sort of way. This is a brightly coloured, high energy performance in which the pair on stage barely pause for breath; Wilma and Daisy lead their audience enthusiastically through a series of clowning and circus tricks, during the course of almost an hour of classic slapstick, balloon models and juggling. The buffoonery may at times be predictable, but is still funny and gets laughs from parents as well as children. Mind, the dancing only goes well for the kids whose parents also get into the swing. This is a show high on energy, smiles, skill and laughter.

tw rating: 3/5

Stitches @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Manchester University's Stitches, the new play from 2009's ISPC winner:

Global warming is a hot topic these days, but this new script from award-winning playwright Claire Urwin gives it a whole new angle. Urwin presents a highly imaginatively created world, based on an Earth devastated by firestorms, acid rain and solar flares. It gives her a chance for language games with survivors who've forgotten how it all works, and she also has fun with an amusing deconstruction of modern society and turns of speech, even if the laughs come from the survivors' misunderstandings more than anything else. A detailed world is built until the emotional, brutal conclusion, at which point the lesbian subtext suddenly makes sense. Another imaginative, image-rich creation from Urwin.

tw rating: 4/5

Hitler Alone @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Paul Webster's Hitler Alone, a show in an incredibly small room (fourteen in the audience) which would have been amazing if it had coincided with the guns/fireworks firing up at the castle:

Adolf Hitler was a foot away from me, banging on the floor and shouting about the people who'd betrayed him. He was angry about inept Generals, but I couldn't help being pleased with their failure. I didn't show that I was pleased; Hitler was screaming and spitting in front of me. The man's a megalomaniac, you don't argue with him - even when he says every generation should experience war. I disagree, but so powerful is Paul Webster's performance that counter-arguments fall away. With a liberal smattering of historical fact, Webster keeps a tiny venue in hushed awe as Germany's charismatic Führer - he shows the man within the monster. You'll not quickly forget this man ranting in a small room.

tw rating: 4/5

Jumping Mouse @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Unpacked's Jumping Mouse, a children's show at the Pleasance Courtyard:

These performers are really very good at making objects into animals. They've got an inventive style that lends itself well to sparking the imagination of children; watch out for the walking sticks that are birds as well as a bison's horns. The warm-hearted trio lead us onto their bus and tell the tale of Mouse 267B, who goes off in search of whatever is causing the roaring noise in her ears. On the way she meets some blues frogs - who very nearly steal the show - and a competitive wolf, not forgetting that bison (whose song is a wonderfully witty ode to old age). This is a strong production, and should definitely be going places.

tw rating: 3/5

The Event @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Tom Clancy's The Event, which amusingly starts in almost exactly the same way as Lyn Gardner's review for The Guardian:

A man stands in a pool of light. He says some rehearsed words, and is - apparently - very candid about it all. The whole hour is meta-theatrical to the point of absurdity - but in a good way. The man - claiming to be Dave, but I'm not sure I believe him - gives a confident performance. He has an appreciative audience of theatre folk in the palm of his hand so it's a shame that the stuff about the state of society plods so much. When on theatre-related subjects - ie when talking about the show itself - he never says anything surprising or new. 'The Event' refers to itself all the time; it's very self-consciously an event about an event.

tw rating: 3/5

Generation F @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Actas Company's Generation F, in one of The Spaces venues:

There's a lot of concern about global warming these days, and the other day I saw a TV programme arguing that sixteen year-olds should have a vote. The nightmare situation of teen voters amid global flooding is the subject of 'Generation F', which imagines a post-Flood world where the aged will be sent to conservation camps. This is a script that really wants to sound informed, edgy and worthy, tackling so big an issue. It comes nowhere near; technically dubious, with a sedate pace and a disastrous mix of mime and props (how hard is it to buy some Tesco cakes in the morning?), F stands for 'fail' rather than 'flood'.

tw rating: 2/5

Miller @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Miller, which is a play about football and stuff, at the Fringe:

Your dad's death isn't something you really want to think about, but it's where 'Miller' packs its biggest emotional punch. No one person plays Miller himself, but three of the talented cast of four throw themselves into playing him beautifully; their strength lies in their versatility. He's not an especially likeable man, but it's his sensitively-played son that makes us feel for him. This is a production that understands the basics, and keeps it simple; these guys know what they need and that they don't need anything extraneous. Solid, sensitive, versatile and touching. Seeing it with your dad would be uplifting but ultimately force you to confront the inevitable. Well worth a look.

tw rating: 4/5

Kataklo's Love Machines @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Kataklo's Love Machine, which was a dance/physical theatre piece:

They look as though they could be miners up in the air, but they're hanging off a saddle suspended from the roof, so maybe not. The soundtrack beats and thumps along, as B-movie-style action fills the stage: we've got dancers who look like cyborg soldiers from the future, who seem to be making attempts at first contact with the alien life they find once they reach the stage from that floating saddle, before setting off an interplanetary battle of the sexes. On this planet, the locals live inside huge wooden triangles that roll around, being walls and houses and intimidating scenery. But Kataklo let you put your own story to their eclectic, passionate movement.

tw rating: 3/5

Go To Gaza, Drink The Sea @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Guy Masterson's Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea, which is at the Edinburgh Fringe and has anti-Israeli protests outside the theatre:

Go to Hell and drink salt water. Not you, obviously; that's just Yasser Arafat's common message to those denying his people their own state. It's also the real meaning of the title of this play presenting the story of the Palestinians' plight: Israeli air strikes and bulldozings, houses reduced to rubble above families. But telling stories is all it does until we see a son who wants to play outside. It's halfway in, and the first time there's a real feeling of drama. Many of the characters blur together and, while a very worthy subject, the script feels one-sided, unbalanced, the Israeli voice conspicuous by its absence. And why do we need Hamas to dance at the end?

tw rating: 3/5

Absolutely Legless @ the Edinburgh Fringe (it's a show, honest)

The ThreeWeeks review of Absolutely Legless (this blog title isn't a description of the local nightlife), a night of Irish dancing and music:

During this show, the man behind me kept rocking my chair with his tapping foot, so I could tell he was enjoying himself. It wasn't so easy to tell with the dancers - why must they look so miserable? With the upbeat, vibrant and energetic tunes being played with such verve by the musicians of Absolutely Legless, you'd think the dancers could smile more, but they seemed content to let the joy come from their feet, not from their faces. Don't get me wrong; their footwork is electric. I just wanted their faces to be lit up too. If variations of Riverdance interspersed with songs are your thing, then go see this. Foot-tappingly good.

tw rating: 3/5

Snatch Paradise By Van Badham @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of The Gemeinshaft Dogs' Snatch Paradise By Van Badham, which was a play seemingly inspired by people like Peter André, Jordan and boy band celebrity figures:

At least one of the women in this image-obsessed play has false breasts. She's a singer/actress whose boyband-star boyfriend has just come out of jail with amnesia. As his memories come trickling back, he reacts against the abuse and manipulation of his life. Van Badham gives us a world where sex is payment for everything, lust is the same as love, and public image is all. Mind, the songs are belting good parodies. It takes an outside perspective to see how dirty, corrupt and disgusting it all is; this show successfully delivers a mix of pop, porn, violence and PR (oh, and full-on nudity). Not one for the kids.

tw rating: 3/5

A Pirate's Life For Me! @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Act II Theatre Company's Treasure Island, a children's show:

It's not just the 'Treasure Island' rip-off of a plot that lacks magic in this underpowered children's show. There is a plot device (which sounds magical) towards the end that really belongs in a fairy tale, not a pirate story; unfortunately, the lengthy songs don't allow time for that story to really develop. To be fair to the cast, they try hard to involve the children, giving them a vote on all the important decisions along the way, plus, most of the actors double up their roles, and do it in a clever way; they haven't cleared up all of the flaws involved, however. This show might be okay for your six-year-old, but don't expect anything magical.

tw rating: 2/5

Dilly Dilly at Dance Base @ the Edinburgh Fringe

The ThreeWeeks review of Tabula Rasa's Dilly Dilly, which was a dance show for children:

Dilly Dilly is probably a flower who likes to dance. And why not? At Dance Base the slogan is "Give Dance a Chance", and this particular dance gives younger folk a chance to see a cute and charming performance. The garden set is beautiful. The dancing is assured, but maintains an air of childlike wonder as Dilly Dilly gradually learns more about herself and the natural world around her. The way that dance and nature is mixed seamlessly with video makes this a good introduction to dance for the young TV literate generation accustomed to programmes like 'The Teletubbies'. While not a show for dance purists, its engaging opening and style mean that 'Dilly Dilly' is pitched perfectly at its target children's audience.

tw rating: 4/5

The Bone House & Spectrum @ the Edinburgh Fringe

This is quite exciting. While I've been rushed off my (now slightly blistered) feet in Edinburgh, this article/review of The Bone House at the Underbelly has been posted on callthatashow.com and the walls outside the Underbelly. Wow.

http://callthatashow.com/?page_id=133

There are also masses of reviews on ThreeWeeks and Fringe Review.

For example, ThreeWeeks' Spectrum at C, Chambers St.:

Okay, now I'm scared to fall asleep watching telly. A chap in this invigorating dance piece falls asleep – not sure how, the telly's so loud – and the girl from the old Test Card comes to life. Creepy. She and her friends - who might be from inside the set - borrow their movement styles from hip-hop and give the whole thing a desolate, urban sort of feel, a theme enhanced by the use of multimedia. I couldn't help thinking, however, that the Test Card is a bit out-dated; some of the clips, as well the concept of television dominating life, are quite last century. It's all about the internet these days, and that's got its own store of demons that Avant Garde could explore.

tw: 3/5