"Hero" - August 2008

With a hectic weekend at the Fringe planned, we couldn't quite summon up the enthusiasm for an additional Friday night run through to Edinburgh. So the less taxing option of seeing the Scottish Youth Theatre's "Hero" in Glasgow proved attractive. Devised by the cast, it is three intercut tales based loosely on the theme of heroes .

In the first of these we follow Stephanie and Jess as we are reminded how cruel children can be and and how attractive it can be to retreat to a world of comic books. It's well structured and performed and at times really quite thrilling.

The second element is the one with most to say for itself as we follow the celebrity obsessed Sophie as she aims to make the pages of the glossy magazines she reads religiously. Sharply written, it gives some insight into how damaging such a pursuit can be. The 'self help' segment was a personal highlight - marvelously funny while remaining all too close to the truth. Dance and movement have clearly been a large part of this year's festival and are used to great effect here.

The last segment featuring an ongoing battle between 'Red' and 'Blue' had some very nice moments but isn't as fully realised as the other two. Despite being well performed I'm left unsure as to quite what I was supposed to take from it. It also suffered from including a consideration of the power of masks that was considerably overlong.

In addition to the three tales we have a compelling performance from our narrator who gives us a historical context to our need for heroes - frequently delivered while playing the piano.

Despite a moment or two which felt 'by-the-numbers' the SYT have once again produced an entertaining evening of which all involved can be proud.

"Hero" has now completed its run at the Brian Cox Studio in the SYT building.
Image used with permission

"Oh! What A Lovely War" - August 2008

Proving that theatre continues outside of Edinburgh during August, Scottish Youth Theatre's Summer Festival is staging "Oh! What A Lovely War" at the Tron. It's a provocative production that mixes song, dance, comedy and spoken word pieces to highlight the futility of war - in this case WWI

The staging is fantastically stylish including some stunning costumes. All of the cast impress with their performances - although some of the voices would have benefited from mics. The show is at its best in the big musical numbers as, while well performed, the spoken pieces have a tendency to feel overlong. It's good to see that 'Black Watch' seems to be having an impact, inspiring a lot of strong male physical and dance performances here. This is very much an ensemble piece and the cast list in the programme doesn't link actors with their (many) characters, so I think we'll respect that by not highlighting individual performances.

The use of the LED scroll to provide progress on the war was very effective but at times I think I was missing text by watching the action on stage (or vice versa), and it may have been better had the action 'frozen' while the scroll was running.

The cast deserve huge credit for the professional way they were unperturbed by an audience that seemed insistent on talking throughout. I'm not talking about an individual whispering, but 4 or 5 pockets around the theatre of people chatting away, others with picnics and one or two at the back who thought it fun to stand up and wave to their friend on stage. It made me long for the days of a single idiot with a mobile phone. Seriously - worst audience ever.

Okay, back to the show... Despite its bleak tone it remains very much a striking piece of theatre, and the SYT have done it justice.

Oh! What A Lovely War runs at the Tron until Saturday 9th August.
Image by Douglas Robertson used with permission

"Fall" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Written by Zinnie Harris and Directed by Artistic Director Dominic Hill, "Fall" is The Traverse's flagship production at this year's Fringe. Perhaps more topical than expected, it considers the aftermath of a civil war and how the new regime should deal with the war criminals of the past. Just the kind of angst ridden piece the critics should love. Only problem is - the play is a mess.

Given that fairly provocative statement this 'review' will be somewhat different from what we usually do here at View From The Stalls. Our style is normally to keep plot summaries as vague as possible and to avoid disclosing anything approaching 'Spoilers', but here in order to explain our response to Fall I think we'll need to look closely at the play. So... if you want to see the show with unpolluted eyes don't click "read more"

We meet the play's central character Kate, who has discovered that her now dead husband was a war criminal, as she visits one of his former commanders in prison as he awaits execution. She's looking for answers as to who her husband really was, which is understandable enough. But it just doesn't seem plausible that such visits would be permitted, particularly given the way we see the prisoner being treated. And this is the one aspect of the play that did work - after a fashion. This idea of a woman caught in the glare of publicity with a public unsure whether to believe her story had promise - add in potential charges of harbouring him and I'm definitely interested. But this whole aspect is discarded fairly early on.

The other central character is the nation's somewhat reluctant Prime Minister who we meet with his wife Kiki and adviser Howard. After a random encounter with a campaigner against the executions he and his adviser concoct a scheme to allow the campaigner to decide the fate of those awaiting execution. They figure that after seeing all the evidence even she will order the execution which will satisfy public demand but insulate them from international condemnation. Now if that isn't absurd enough, when she opts out of the role they decide Kate should step in to make the decision. Sorry? What? Yeah, right, whatever.

To be fair, after that it flows reasonably logically but by then it had lost any credibility for me as a serious piece of theatre. And trust me the summary above makes it all sound much tighter than the bloated piece of writing it is. Throw in a violent prison guard (shock), the startling revelation that war criminals aren't nice people, and an irrelevant new love interest for Kate and we start to get a flavour of the muddle we have here.

But it's not simply the plot - the whole tone is all over the place. As a huge admirer of the works of Joss Whedon I'm pretty open to placing light and dark in close proximity, but here it fails spectacularly. Many of the 'political' scenes appear to try to evoke a "Yes Minister" kind of feel, but the non verbal signals are all wrong and the dark lighting and soundtrack overshadow any humour.

Now this being serious and challenging adult drama expected to win awards it quickly aims to tick all the required boxes - violence, violence against women, sexual violence, nudity, violent nude death. Enough already - we get it. Serious. Challenging. Adult. Drama. Shame it didn't make me think.

The performances are fine but there's nothing here to make me care about the characters - even Kate. And as for those awaiting execution whose lives are on the line, well most people will have a view on the matter one way or the other. But do we actually care which happens?

This play said absolutely nothing to me and provided very limited entertainment. But as always, your mileage may vary. I've read some positive reviews (including Bluedog) and a couple we chatted to in the bar loved it, although there also others with a mixed response.

Oh yes, it also started 35 minutes late due to "the set proving complicated".

Fall runs at The Traverse until the 24th August (excluding Mondays) Times vary.

"The Factory" (sort of) - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Are you allowed to look forward to a play about the horrors of the Nazi death camps? If you are, then I was. Unfortunately I was disappointed - no, not in "The Factory" - I don't know if it's any good, ask me again in a week. Blame The Traverse - even if it's on at Pleasance Courtyard. Confused - you will be.

First day proper of the Fringe was of course going to be busy day. Shows are just starting so delays are almost inevitable as sets have to be constructed and struck under pressure for the first time. Technical gremlins are bound to strike. This was one of the reasons The Traverse featured heavily in our first day plans (3 out of the 5 shows), well that and taking advantage of the 2 for 1 early bird discount. It's a year round theatre so should have a huge head start over a lot of other places for ensuring that things go smoothly.

So our tightest turnaround that day was between Fall (The Traverse) and Factory (Pleasance Courtyard) - 45 minutes to make a 25 minute brisk walk. Worst case scenario: we'd parked 5 minutes from The Traverse so could have jumped in the car and made it in 15 minutes.

This went out the window when Fall started 35 minutes late.

Obviously the 4 previews weren't enough to stop Mr Murphy LLB come knocking on the first day. The set apparently was proving more troublesome than expected. The Traverse certainly did its best front of house - at least 4 tannoy announcements and helpful staff keeping us stocked up with glasses of water as we waited in a very good humoured, if slightly warm, queue.

However we weren't the only people to be faced with the dilemma of possibly having to abandon Fall either at the start or interval to ensure that subsequent plans weren't disrupted. I do know that some people definitely didn't return after the interval.

Fortunately "Factory" has a long run - so a midweek trip next week will mean we won't miss it. But that 35 minutes cost us £19 pounds in rebooked tickets, another trip to Edinburgh that we didn't intend - and the set wasn't even that good.

"Finished With Engines" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

"Finished With Engines" at The Traverse, with its Arches pedigree, sounds interesting - two American sailors, watching from a safe distance the disintegration of a less developed country, whilst coming to terms with who they are and why they ("they" being both them personally and them as representatives of their nation) are there. And it's also a comedy. Maybe it was because the last show in a long day, but my reaction was more incredulity than interest.
The action takes place in a number of short scenes during which time is clearly passing. And clearly from the programme the 10 scenes between the two protagonists Megan (Stephanie Viola) and Hemingway (Drew Friedman) are meant to reflect the progress of the wider conflict they are witnessing somewhat dispassionately on the shore. I didn't get that from the play itself - I'm glad the programme explained that because I would have missed it otherwise.

In an hour a lot is touched on, and you do get to see some of what's behind the initially shallow Megan who's cynically clear in who she is and what they're doing there and the revelation of this to the naive wannabe writer Hemingway. Unfortunately for me the ludicrousness of some of the scenes just turned me off - including the construction and eating of an impressive tuna and tomato multi-decker sandwich.

Their most emotional response is when their favourite shore-side bar is destroyed. For me it was the fact that the Traverse bar was still open when it finished.

Finished With Engines runs at The Traverse (various times) until 10th August.

"The Patriot Act" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

During the Fringe Edinburgh is filled with thousands of young actors and writers taking their first steps, and if any of them should happen to read “View From The Stalls” – well, this bit is for you. If you want to make the most of your education here this year and have any ambition in serious theatre, you must make the effort to see this production. It’s a genuine masterclass in writing and performing in a way that makes your audience care about your characters.

The play centres around aging playwright William Carpenter whose recent work has been accused of supporting terrorism, and who now finds himself being offered a deal with the US government. If he agrees to make his next work clearly condemning of terrorism, then the judicial system will be inclined to look favourably on him. As with all the best issue focussed plays, the drama comes not from the issue, but from the individuals. It’s very rare for me to be genuinely moved by a piece but there are some simply heartbreaking moments in here. Writers Lydia Bruce and Sandy Burns have created living, breathing characters and their wonderful cast have brought them to life. As the writer’s wife and son, Darri Johnson Colton and Richard Arum really punch above their weight despite having comparatively little stage time. Robert Pemberton impresses as the government's representative but its Will Lyman’s performance in the central role of Carpenter that will leave the audience raving. Full of subtlety he conveys the character's stubbornness with some perfectly delivered dry humour while also making his vulnerability apparent. I doubt I'll see a better performance at the Fringe, and several other audience members were similarly impressed.

If it hadn't been for one small quibble I have with a plot element I think I may well have been starting a standing ovation at the end. If this production were at the Traverse it would be nailed on for a Fringe First and Herald Angel - I hope those involved with such things will give it due consideration.

The Patriot Act runs at the Gilded Balloon Teviot at 12:45 pm until 25th August (excluding the 11th)

"Time Bomb" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

It's 2017 and Parliament is debating the potential use of nuclear weapons against Iran. The Clarke family have been tied to politics and the weapons programme for the last 50 years. Secrets are about to be revealed with implications for the family... and the country. It was certainly enough to catch my attention in the Fringe Programme, and I'd since seen a snippet or two elsewhere suggesting it was worth seeing.

Perhaps it's the dining room setting and the wallpaper but this screams that we are in safe BBC sitcom territory here - but without the laughs. The performances are all decent enough but the narrative is cluttered with excess characters and would have benefited from being cut down to leave only four - father, daughter, son, son's girlfriend.
It makes it's political argument well but it gets swamped amongst the bickering between characters and the additional background we are given about the characters.

Perhaps I'm being unfair after having high hopes for this. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad show - it's just didn't live up to expectation.

Time Bomb runs at Sweet Teviot Place at 3pm until the 10th August

"Call For The Condemned" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

"Call For The Condemned" from Watchthis is about to receive a very rare thing on View From The Stalls - a short and to the point review. For once I think I'm happy to cut the analysis and just go straight to the bits they may wish for their poster - of which there are quite a few...

It's a spectacularly slick and stylish show full of perfectly crafted demonic personalities trading magnificently offensive insults as they man Hell Inc's call centre providing support to potential evildoers. The entire cast give magnificent performances - but special mentions for Rachel Salisbury's deliciously jealous Leviathan, Eddie Wilson's glorious Manager from Hell, and an impeccable performance by sadly anonymous understudy filling in as Dante. If you like Kevin Smith's "Dogma" you'll love this. Devilishly good stuff.

Seriously - not a bad word to say about this one.

"Call For The Condemned" runs at Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Arthouse at 10pm on even dates until the 24th August.

"Creation & all that Jazz" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Walking into a venue with a disappointing audience must be heartbreaking for a cast, but for someone there to review a show it produces very mixed emotions. Is word already out that the show you're about to sit through is a disaster? Or could you have just stumbled upon the holy grail of the Fringe - an amazing show that no one is seeing, just waiting for you to spread the word…

This isn't the show I've been searching for - but it's certainly no disaster either. Last Chance Theatre Company's production chronicles JC Construction's efforts to create the Earth, meet their targets within budget and finally determine what to do with it. The first half focuses on creation and evolution and while parts work well, it's as much miss as hit. But the second section really picks up in quality as they attempt to influence the course of humanity and debate how to bring project earth to a satisfactory conclusion. It's all daft stuff but it's also pretty funny and successfully creates something in the mould of "The Mary Whitehouse Experience".

Perhaps not one to make the centre of your plans for the day, but if you've had enough of the serious shows that seem to dominate this year, Creation & All That Jazz might just fill a gap in your schedule rather nicely.

Creation & All That Jazz runs at Augustines until the 25th August at 6pm (excluding the 11th & 18th

"Shafted" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

"Shafted" has a strong premise - 3 men are in a lift which breaks down but only two leave alive. Who killed Theo... and why?

The cast of three make a decent effort to bring the piece to life but the script is sadly beyond redemption. The plot could be straight from a US daytime soap - the history that is revealed between the characters make their initially cordial behaviour rather unbelievable. While the dialogue has some sharp moments, it's often terribly clunky featuring excessive repetition of phrases and at times simply goes round in circles. I got the feeling there was a final revelation at the end but it wasn't sufficiently conveyed for us to 'get it'. The staging doesn't do the show any favours either, with many seats in the small venue suffering from a considerably restricted view of much of the action.

It's a nice concept with some good work by the cast but at the end of the day the script just isn't satisfactory.

Shafted runs at Rocket @ Roxburghe Hotel until 25th (not 17th) at 2:40 pm

"You Don't Need To Know That" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Standing in the queue before Gonzo Moose's "You Don't Need To Know That" my concern grew that I was about to witness the company learn Lesson No.26 in Fringe marketing - "Sometimes no audience is better than the wrong audience". As groups of parents with children under 8 seemed to make up most of those waiting I was more than a little worried just how this "Kafkaesque nightmare" would stand up to such a tough audience.

But this high energy performance quickly won them over with some dazzling verbal and physical comedy. The cast of three blast their way through 75 minutes of high octane gags, and while any deeper message may be pushed to the edges of the piece it's genuinely entertaining stuff.

As the accused Beresford Jones, Mark Conway engages with the audience in a friendly manner and appeared to cleverly improv some changes to reflect the younger than expected audience (and to his credit he playfully made the most of one of the piece's more 'adult' gags when it may have been tempting to quickly gloss over it.)

Ellie Harley and Angus Barr impressively play the numerous characters Beresford encounters in his journey through the justice system. Barr is given an inspired moment of audience participation as The Librarian, while Harley gets her moment to shine as she simultaneously plays Judge and witnesses to great comic effect.

Daft, silly, but always clever. This is old school knockabout fun that evokes memories of 'Morcambe and Wise' - you'd have to be made of stone not to leave with a smile on your face.

"You Don't Need To Know That" runs at the Pleasance until 25th August (excluding the 11th) at 3.15pm. We saw this on 31st July and have confirmed with the production that they are happy for us to comment on a performance so early in the run.

Image used with permission

"Plague! - The Musical" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

As a general rule musicals at the Fringe tend to be fairly limited both in scale and length - but Bubonic Productions and their 11 strong cast seem to have missed the memo and appear to believe they are putting on a large scale, full length, west end bound show. And you know what? They might just be right. But there are also reminders here of the many reasons why a fully fledged musical is a rare beast at the Fringe... and they are all about the venue.

With a run time of 1 hour 45 minutes with no interval the venue becomes almost unbearably hot and those seats are really only good for 75 minutes without a break. What could happily run as a two hour musical with interval in a 'proper' theatre struggles here and it definitely feels like it could lose 20 minutes.

Okay, quick plot run through - Boy, Girl, Undertaker, Alchemist, Druids, Rats, Death. Come on it's a musical - plot is an optional extra. But for the record it's all here, present and correct and it actually holds up very well. There are plenty of comic moments and even the groanworthy ones work well. The Pythonesque influences are obvious but the show makes the most of them, and while establishing a number of running gags they aren't stretched beyond their natural life.

Song wise there are two or three cracking numbers, one or two on the weak side but most are pretty effective. But the vocals are a bit of a mixed bag. Catriana Sandison does well as 'Isabella' while Porl Matthews' 'Clive' pitches his vocals perfectly for the space and makes a fine comic double act along with Tim Frost's 'Jerry'. The vocals in the ensemble numbers are very strong but a number of the individual voices struggled to get enough volume in their solos. Once playing to a full auditorium - (which this show deserves to) a lot of lyrics are going to be lost beyond the first few rows unless they are really kicked up a notch or two. But if they can do that, then this could just become the cult hit of this year's Fringe.

Plague! The Musical runs at C until the 25th August (excluding the 11th) at 9:30pm.. We saw the performance on 31st July after confirming the production was happy for us to attend so early in the run.
Image by Ian Stirling used with permission

"Tony Of Arabia" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Following last year's hit with Tony! The Blair Musical, White Rose Theatre are back with a sequel by Chris Bush and Ian McLuskey, reuniting Tony with all his old friends and introducing some new ones too.

James Duckworth as Tony Blair is simply remarkable. Any small doubts about the vocals are far outweighed by his impressive acting performance here, and he manages to make Blair much more sympathetic than I thought possible. But while his performance is reason enough to see the show, there is a lot more to it. Ellie Cox provides impressive vocals as Cherie, Ed Duncan Smith's David Cameron is the comic highlight but Gavin Whitworth's George W Bush and Jethro Compton's Peter Mandelson provide plenty of laughs too.

And then we have Michael Slater as Gordon Brown. It's a perfectly fine performance, but while other shows suffer financially, the credit crunch may bite this show in an altogether different fashion. When it was first put together (presumably months ago) it will have seemed perfectly reasonable to have Gordon Brown played fairly straight - perhaps a little out of his depth but trying his best. Problem is, I get the feeling that the mood has changed and I'm not so sure people will easily accept such a charitable portrayal. In fact given a little bit of encouragement I think large sections of the audience would happily see him cast as the villain of the piece, but maybe that's being kept for next year.

The musical numbers are certainly enjoyable and benefit from the excellent on stage band, but they do largely fall into the category of instantly forgettable. But then, the attraction here (for me at least) isn't the music - it's the satire. And here the show really delivers, biting hard at the expense of all those featured.

Tony of Arabia runs at the Pleasancedome on various dates until the 25th August at 5.30pm. We saw the show on 31st and received permission from the company to comment on a performance so early in the run.
Image used with permission

"Answers" - Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Newcastle University Theatre Society's "Answers" by Edward Clifton is the first of several political based shows we're seeing at this year's Fringe and it deals with the events the evening before a controversial Westminster vote on a matter with civil liberties implications. The government has got itself in a bit of a tight spot and is struggling to get their bill passed - but what lengths will they go to?

The show opens with a stylish set piece interview between a rebel MP and an off stage Newsnight presenter type. It's handled very effectively and quickly raised my expectations for the production, but it's a moment of inspiration that the script rarely reaches again. The plot is nicely set up but there are a number of question marks over decisions characters make as events unfold - I was often left with the feeling that the actions taken bore little relation to how the characters would likely behave in the situations confronting them.

What also doesn't help is the chatter amongst the junior staff members to flesh out their characters. While nicely observed and well portrayed it adds very little of relevance to the piece and serves to take up time that would have been better spent 'on message' as it were. At times the characters are at pains to avoid discussing the merits of the proposed legislation, when it could (and possibly should) be the main focus. Fortunately strong performances from the cast - particularly from Samuel Jefferson playing the PM's Press Secretary and Andrew McKeane as the Rebel MP - go a long way towards making up for the flaws in the script.

"Answers" is unlikely to be a show you'll come away raving about, but it's good solid stuff and I don't think there will be many disappointed by it.

Answers runs at C Soco until 25th August (not 11th) at 1.45pm.
Please note that we attended an early performance of the show on 31st July with the permission of the production.

Edinburgh Fringe 2008 Index

As the start of the Edinburgh Fringe draws ever nearer its time to pull together a few of our posts and add some useful links.

Fringe Preview

Fringe Good Food Guide

Tips for Fringe goers

Shows Reviewed (Updated throughout August)
Answers - review posted
Tony of Arabia - review posted
Plague! The Musical - review posted
You Don't Need To Know That - review posted
Free Outgoing - review posted
Fall - review posted
Shafted - review posted
Factory - review posted
Finished with Engines - review posted
Time Bomb - review posted
The Patriot Act - review posted
Markus Birdman: Sympathy For The Devil - review posted
Call for the Condemned - review posted
Creation & All That Jazz - review posted
The Army of Reason - review posted
Golden - review posted
Romeo & Juliet (Nonsenseroom @ Rosslyn Chapel) - review posted
Restitution - review posted
My Grandfather's Great War - review posted
Literally - review posted
The Third Condiment - review posted
Stolen Secrets - review posted
The Bird & The Bee: Bird - review posted
The Bird & The Bee: Bee - review posted
How it Ended - review posted
Deep Cut - review posted
Sword of Maximum Damage - review posted
Involution - review posted
Zanna, Don't - review posted
I Love You, Bro - review posted
The Caravan - review posted
On The Waterfront - review posted
365 (@ EIF) - review posted


Other Fringe Review/Comment sites
Three Weeks
One4Review
FringeReview
Edinburgh Festivals
Onstage Scotland
Edinburgh Festival Punter
A Local's Guide to the Fringe
Fringe Guru