Theatre

YASSER O Provocative character study With political overtones

'This is a play which is political. without becoming partisan political.‘ says director Teunkie van der SIUIJS. 'II was written just before 9 l 1, so it doesn't have that lamenting post—9, l l outlook that now occurs in all forms of writing which deal with the Middle East. It retains a sense of playfulness. of world-inventing'

Dutch-Moroccan writer Al'xlelkader Benali's one-man tale of a Palestinian actor named Yasser Mansour. waiting in the Wings to step out on stage and play Shylock. the ultimate controversial Jewish character, runs the risk of being weighed down with heavy allegory. Yet. actor William el Gardi contends that it's more of a character study. ‘Yasser's just been robbed of his briefcase.‘ he says. ‘and he's also just Split up with his girlfriend. So. from these limited surroundings that he's in mentally and physically, we get an overwhelming sense of paranoia from this character paranoia about the West. about his girlfriend. about playing the partf

Van der Sluiis is precise about his intentions with the play. which carries some physically demanding sequences for el-Gardi. ‘Theatre is a forum art form; its about people looking at other peoi)le who are behaving Just as people do. That's what's. ultimately. inherently political about il.’ (DaVid Pollock)

I Assembly Rooms, 623 3030. 2—25 Aug (not i I). 6. l:3p/ii, ET] 1—5‘12 (5310—531 l). Prey/ews 31 Jul 8. 1 Aug. E8.

SURVIVING SPIKE

The tortured genius behind the inspired comic lunacy

Surviving Spike promises to reveal the ‘tormented character that hid behind the public facade'. Audiences could be forgiven for assuming the blurb refers to the show‘s star. Michael Barrymore. whose career was all but

destroyed by revelations of the death of a yeting man at his house in 2001. rather than its subject, former Goon

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Spike Milligan. whose comic genius was offset by conSistent bouts of mental ill-heath. Given both comedians' lives have been marked by personal and professional problems. Barrymore seems a good choice to play the late. tortured clown. Surwvrng Spike. which was written by Richard Harris (The Darling Buds of May). looks at its subiect through the eyes of Norman Farnes. Milligan's longsuffering PA. manager and confidante (played by Eastenders' Jill Halfpenny). It's a catalogue of Milligan's bad behaViour pettiness. spitefulness. \.'-/omanising and a homage to his inspired comic lunacy. The latter plays to Barrymore's strengths as a performer. his own comic persona driven by unrestrained

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hyperactivity. And, of course. Bazza's working with the cream of comic witticisms. all dreamed up by the man who once said: ‘When I look back, the fondest memory I have is not really of the Goons. It is of a girl called Julia with enormous breasts.‘ (Miles Fielder) I Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, 3—25 Aug (not I l), 4. l5pm, £77.50—L‘20 (NS—£78). Previews 37 Jul—2 Aug.

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STEFAN GOLASZEWSKI SPEAKS ABOUT A GIRL HE ONCE LOVED

Witty, sophisticated monologue speaks of first love

In his first solo show at the Fringe Stefan Golaszewski shares the funny side of falling in love at 18.

As the writer/performer points out. the show describes ‘the massive mind-blowing experience of meeting someone who completely changes

LOUGH/RAIN

New writing explores themes of love and stoicism

The spirit of adventure brought to the Fringe by the Underbelly has always been about new work, but this year’s programme seems to lean, more than ever, towards new writing, above and beyond the usual array of physical and visual theatre. Notable among the talents on display are those of Declan Feenan and Clara Brennan, whose work appears in not so much a double bill as two separate plays telling the same story.

‘Lough came to us after the last Edinburgh Festival,’ says producer Anna Bewick. ‘Declan Feenan wrote a very short play which showed this young couple in an everyday situation. It was quite beautiful, and we happened to show it to Clara Brennan, another young writer we’ve been bringing on. She wrote a quite separate piece, almost in response to Laugh, and when we saw them together we realised that we could do the two plays as one story, bringing the same couple forward to another phase of life.’

The piece speaks of the deep emotional meaning of everyday gestures in relationships, and imposes a catastrophe on its fictional central couple to explore themes of love and stoicism. ‘We start off with an ordinary couple,’ says Bewick. ‘The short play that Declan wrote has them eating breakfast, doing very ordinary things together. There’s enough there, though, even in the way that one character eats the last piece of cheese that the other wanted, to show something very shared. Later, he has an accident, and sustains a brain injury, this affects his memory, and he’s brought into professional care. The rest of the piece shows flashbacks, as well as how his injury affects them, in a series of visits to his care home. Things can’t be the same between them after the accident, but the piece shows a journey to acceptance of the situation.’

Expect a tear-jerking show from two of the most hotly tipped writers on this year’s Fringe. (Steve Cramer)

I Underbelly, 0844 54:3 8252. 2—24 Aug (not 12), 7pm, $860—$950 (£‘7.50--l.‘8.5()). Prey/ews 3] Jill (9 l Aug, 5.76.

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you.‘ The stOry involves him meeting a girl in a Walthamstow pub, falling head over heels in love, then discovering something about her, which changes everything. While it's a true chapter in i his life, he insists all names and details have been changed.

Golaszewski's sophisticated and witty writing speaks to both genders, but the performer admits that the show is geared towards young men. ‘I talk about the ridiculous ideas men can have about love, what 18-year-old boys are like, what idiots men can be.‘

So far, audience members have been receptive to Golaszewski's pearls of wisdom. ‘People have been coming up to me after the show and telling me how much they enjoyed it,‘ Golaszewski laughs. ‘I guess everyone has been through something similar!’ (Theresa Munoz)

I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2—25 Aug (not 7 l), 3. 75pm, {850—53950 (£7— £8). Prey/ews until 7

TERMINUS Angels, demons and reincarnation from the master of the monologue

‘I still like the Catholic religion even though I don't believe in God,‘ says Mark O'Bowe, the Dublin master of the monologue. That may or may not explain why the latest play by the author of Home the Rookie and Crestfall is what he calls a fantastical thing about demons'. A more likely explanation for his lapse into magical realism is that, once he started writing Terminus, his imagination took over.

‘In the play I break my own rules anyway,’ he says. 'You've got angels and demons, which is very Catholic. but you've also got a Side-order of reincarnation, which is nothing to do with Catholicism.‘

Directed by O'Rowe himself for the Abbey Theatre. the play is made up of three monologues that take us from the dizzying heights of a Dublin crane to the cruel depths of a sex murderer.