Edinburgh High Street
nepali poster
|
In most other UK towns nothing much is happening. But in Edinburgh a lot of things were happening.
The atmosphere was strong I saw things like the Disco Tour where people travel around the city in a minivan get out look at a place dance around and get back in the van. The High Street as usual was full of preview shows and people handing out leaflets. In fact all of a sudden it was too confusing. Before I had always been in Edinburgh early for the festival and had time to prepare. I had to work out which of the 2000 productions I would see. I spent hours with my head inside the Festival Guide listing. I tried first looking at the half price ticket office, but the electronic display boards also moved so fast. Too many people When I got a ticket for the first show I actually missed it cos the police had closed some streets for the Tattoo (big Military show) and I couldn't get thro the crowds going to the Tattoo.
Deciding what to see screws my mind up : ignore all the comedy as most of it will be absolute crap, ignore the super expensive stuff, "hilarious" = funny only to the actors, "anything can happen !"= they haven't finished writing it properly, "..." = surreal crap that makes no sense, Read thro all the reviews and try to read between the lines, Thank god many reviewers are now telling the truth and writing damming negative reviews. Most of the plays are now 50 minutes for £9, time pressure I guess. But how can that be enough time for a proper play, 50 minutes is just a sketch : Hamlet or the Iliad in 50 minutes ! You can pay £6 to hear an actor read from the phonebook for 15 minutes !
From edfringe.com you can see the public reviews of each production..but I learnt most of the reviews are written by the casts so they are misleading.
Friday - by 6pm I arrived I did get organised and find where to camp and on Saturday I saw 5 shows
75% Cymbeline (Shakespeare) : Pantalons Company in the Botanical gardens park- I think they are something to do with Canterbury University - very well done. They are young, but very good actors bringing out the magic of Shakepeare, confidently playing with the play e.g. with asides like "Shakespeare really said this !". any fears they might not follow the plot are stopped by the actors regularly breaking out of character to update the audience with brilliantly funny improvisation ..this is what good drama is all about
I really want to be able to do this myself, I should go somewhere where I can involved with a company like this.
|
45% Burial at Thebes : Sophocles Antigone - A greek tragedy - by Perse Players Comp School. A mixed performance cos the actors varied from 10 years old to 20 and one adult. ..Not very exciting, but Very goodexperience for the young actorsThe leader tries to appear tough ..goes over the top and refuses to backdown. It ends in tragedy. The lesson is leaders don't try to be tough compromise.
|
70% Meslier - by Abreaction (David Hall's) very experienced actors from London.. pretty interesting and well done. 200 years ago a Meslier French Catholic priest saw the church authorities living in luxury while the poor suffered so he began to analyse the whole basis of the church. A caring and intelligent character, he realises in doing his job of preaching the churches message he damages rather than improves the welfare of his parishioners, but by the very nature of the church he is trapped .It's dogma is such that anyone who criticises it can be terrified into keeping quiet so it enivitably breeds inside corruption.
Frustration builds up and builds up inside..he cannot even confide in his nearest confidants even Delphine who understands that he is such a good man and owes her whole life to him. Even his close friend Father Claude Buffier although he understands the hurt caused by dogma cannot be trusted as he has decided you can't fight the system and instead of trying to do the right thing has decided to take the 30 pieces of silver and keep quiet. Then Meslier finds a release in writing the truth and an ingenious lever to get it published after his death. He could tell no one or publish it due to the Iquisition. he got his friend to publish it in Switzerland after he died So by getting the message out into the open that the peasants don't have to put up with the corrupt church.. he can do real good which he can't do in his life time.
|
20% Dumb waiter - Hill St Theatre a Pinter classic, but predictable and boring
|
|
Pear Shaped at Holyrood Tavern - good comperes, good band hobojones.com,
and crap comedians
As ever comedy isn't like it used to be when you had people had something important to say and put it in a funny way. (The comedians could be taking the piss out of modern British society .. unthinking masses winging "Blair, Blair !" and not thinking futher than that idea, journalists focusing on a narrow agenda, maybe a journalist character who doesn't believe life exists outside London, TV progs which focus about Celebs talk about this celebs talk about that, people saying they are concerned about the enviroment yet consuming like crazy, A character who plays the victim and chants Ali G style "is it cos I is Muslim ?", fill it with constant repetitive trailers like the TV has these days and a comment on Youth repect a bunch of pensioners who go around hassling youths, sitting next to them on dates and farting etc, robbing them, smashing up skateboard parks etc, playing 40's music at full blast etc.)
|
|
