| Edinburgh Fringe 2004 | home |
It's preview week - woohoo. I had a complex array of things to sort out, including getting to Edinburgh, getting our stuff into the venue, doing a technical rehearsal with the guys in our theatre space, helping set up the other venue and even rescuing a stranded motorist. Plenty of shows were seen, considering.
Show |
Review |
4th August |
|
| 12-40 - Bad Play 2 *** C Venues |
Having enjoyed the first incarnation of Bad Play, aware that
opportunities to see its sequel would be few, once our show got started, I
took my co-performer to see Bad Play 2 on its first preview. As expected,
this was a very silly production with a ludicrous script, a cast of
misbehaving characters and some very physical nonsense complementing the
verbal nonsense that also unfolded. A definitely highlight was the poor use of the stage space, which caused some of the cast to be flung into the seating as they desperately tried to keep in formation with the others. The larger cast for this play could have made it a stronger piece of comedy, but possibly detracted from it slightly.
|
| 15.25 - The Trap **** Pleasance |
Despite the fact that they were besieged with technical
difficulties on this early preview, The Trap was still an excellent stage
show. They decided to integrate video and live action together in novel way
- by the use of a screen that was a bit like the ribbon-curtains you
sometimes find in shops. This allowed characters to wait behind the screen
until the right moment of video and then plunge out of the video into the
live action world. This trick also worked in reverse. They also pretended that they were doing a second show simultaneously in a next-door venue, which we could see via video link. The lunacy involved in making this work was a delight... even if it only half-worked.
|
| 19.00 - The Elephant Woman *** Pleasance |
Having seen the other contributions from the team of The
Elephant Woman - Gladiatrix and The Wicker Woman - I was expecting another
tour-de-force spoof of a well-known movie, with the lead role replaced by a
woman. This was a potentially very good show, somewhat blighted by the fact that it wasn't quite ready at this early preview. The finale of the show was entirely messed up, which was a bit of a shame. However, what the show lacked in polish, it made up for in performances. James Bachman oozes charm and lunacy in equal measure. Lucy Montgomery decided to showcase even more of her many talents and Barunka O'Shaughnessy was outrageously funny as ever. With an excellent set and some clever staging tricks which brought in puppets and allowed the female cast members to share the main role of the masked elephant woman while also playing a number of supporting characters around her, this show was smart too. Shame it didn't work when I saw it.
|
5th August |
|
| 22.00 - Cheap As Chips *** Nicol Edwards |
Kieran Butler gave an hour of stand-up, mixing his
experiences travelling the world with some comedy parody songs. Kieran's
confidence and careful marketing to just the right audience was the key to
ensuring that his show worked exactly as planned. He had some funny things
to say/sing on top.
|
| 23.00 - Alive 4 Show * Nicol Edwards |
Four new stand-up comedians, in the shape of Austin Low,
Obie, Andy Vaughan and Peter Aitchison, performed in this daily showcase of
their talent. They included a guest spot every night to pep things up. There
were several problems with the show, including its format - tag-team comedy,
where nobody really got much chance to get going, and the capabilities of
the gang. This was very much a work-in-progress and was more of an
opportunity for the guys to cut their teeth than for an audience to see
masters of the craft. However, they found audiences who enjoyed them, and they learned a lot throughout the fringe. Overall, though, it had few highlights for me. |
Total shows seen this week: 5
Written: 29 May 2006
Ashley Frieze