Theatre
www.|ist.co.uk/festival
DAVID LEDDY’S REEKIE
. . More than a politir a: [:l‘f' 7' .- Audio tour of Edinburgh 00
dialogue transcends an, a 1w“: 2 m-
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a continuously expanding and yet tells a real stor‘, that is lieir'. .' ' . t
wrenching, humorous and mitt-talu- ll,indsay (Lorri
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increasineg expensive festival. But it then digref‘,ses into tangents that bear no relevance to either the places we see along the way. or the festival itself. What it does serve as, however, is
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an opportunity to see a part of 5.; ,.. v .- ,. .. , . , Edinburgh that the average THE REGINA j , ~. ,. I
festivalgoer may not experience. but MONOLOGUES . " ' z ' .' -- " ' . :' ultimately lfl doing so. there are too Trag'c taIes Of Henry: W'Ves v w v i '
many distractions that detract from .... i l: . iv . u; ,
what is already a disengaging ‘Divorced. beheaded, died I)l‘."il(.‘.‘lI, Ital! Ill-nix] " ' 2' dialogue. (Eddie lhornton) beheaded, sun/ived' Ihus runs the t'IifllllI, l‘ in 2»
I [)r Roberts, Mag/c Bus, Middle pneumonic rhyme school kids llw,‘ t') Il'llllI ilw f til i" ll. 't u ' . .
remember the fates of the six wives, of jlltltltf’l II M r Henry VIII. I uckless Catherine (If- Aragon et al are here reiri\.'eiite<l for our age in this inspired play that's deftly directed and faultlessly performed. Ihe largely tragic stories of
Meadows Walk, 07/!) 023 5903, unti/ 20 Aug, flour/y between ’2pm and 9pm, 51‘).
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PENMAN . , the six modern women who are it if. r 1 Chapter seven of the lnsh classuc , , , I .. . .. humped and dumped by a wealthy Ihe pla, «Int. v , .3':.- j , I
scoundrel we never see are skilfully consideit. the mj a ' c' 2. f : .
James Joyce's literary classic has woven together wuth a clever conceit asst iciatr )Il Il‘“. .n .4
defeated many a seasoned reader whilst making lifetime fans of others. One such devotee is Adam Harvey whose new play is a dramatic recital of the seventh chapter. Seen as a prrxlrxzessor to absurdism, Joyce's surreal linguistic style translates well to the stage; it's therefore a pity that many lines are lost when Harvey races through it as if possessed. Mind you, if he were possessed it would be by Joyce himself, judging by the level of passion in his verbatim delivery. It's easy to get lost in the frantic language but as Harvey urges in the program. treat it as an experience. At an hour and fifteen minutes it's a lengthy experience. (Greer Ogston)
I C cubed, 0870 707 5105, until 28 Aug, 7.55pm, 538.50 (57.50).
GIRL BLOG FROM IRAQ: BAGHDAD BURNING Anne Frank for the internet age 0.”
Living under American occupation and Iraqi insurgence. anonymous 24-year- old 'Riverbend' chronicles her personal dealings with a destroyed homeland and coping with losing her job, jeans and freedom in exchange for home life, burka and male escons.
Snapshots from daily life with no water or electricity intersperse the political events Spurting through. reminding us that we can easily turn off our televisions. while living with war is daily turmoil.
for GLASGOW THEATRE see non-Festival magazine
(I AM) NOBODY’S LUNCH A proveably good night out 0000
The initial premise of this piece by New York company The Civilians is that if you send some actors out with tape recorders and record folks’ observations about how they know what the truth is, you can weave from the transcripts a night of strong political cabaret. Implausible on the face of it, but quite true, if you’ll allow me a word that the show proceeds to question.
In it, a succession of narrators, including a whole crowd of women called Jessica Lynch, but not the one who was rescued by a commando task force, or became the subject of a military photo opportunity, depending on how you look at it, during the Iraq war, are asked whether they believe they were told the whole truth about the story of their namesake. These, and many other answers are intriguing.
What emerges, after some moving and often very comical renditions of songs by Michael Friedman in
74 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 10—17 Aug 2006
Steve Cosson‘s intriguing and powerful production, is a peculiar kind of optimism in the world, a reassuring moment where we realise that we are very far from alone in our uncertainty about the world. All grand narrative, from the bullshit churned about the Iraq war by our governments to our capacity to subscribe to the notion of love as an absolute value beyond history and circumstance are questioned. If the question of whether the postmodernist rejection of all grand narratives isn‘t in fact the biggest grand narrative of all is not quite answered, there's a huge amount to chew on here. Not least, the skilled and thoroughly accomplished performers, who actually contrive to bring Schrodinger’s cat into the action without the least disruption of the humour and pathos of the piece. A cracking night’s entertainment for anyone who's ever loved or dabbled in empiricism. (Steve Cramer)