FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews
E R N A Z L U A P
POLYPHONY Structurally perfect yet endearingly chaotic ●●●●●
Daniel Kitson is one of the most important artists working in British theatre. Having successfully negotiated the gap between stand-up comedy and experimental theatre, Kitson’s latest play takes fragments from his previous Edinburgh show and works them into a formally challenging, hilarious and fiercely intelligent work of post-visual theatre in Roundabout (pictured, left). Using 15 iPods attached to speakers, and slowly working out the story of an old, lonely man and his mysterious discoveries, Kitson sets himself at the centre of both the stage and the action. Somewhere beneath the self-deprecating wit and the plotted arguments with the audience, Kitson discusses isolation, the fear of growing old and the tensions in the nature of live performance: either as a satire on the theatre, or an updating of Samuel Beckett’s musings on mortality, Polyphony is a solo monologue of remarkable density and poetical power.
But as Kitson points out to a heckler, emphasis on the plot is a reductive way of looking at theatre. The pleasure lies in Kitson’s easy way with the audience – he is capable of turning technical failures into triumphs of improvised humour – and the various rambles around the subject. In quick succession, he reveals his pessimistic vision of life (it is hard, everyone dies alone) and romantic love (it’s like kicking a can down the street: a distraction, but it is going to end). These digressions, however, provide a context to his eventual burst of serious storytelling.
Polyphony shows how performance can be built on so little, be dark and doubting yet witty and fun, dismissive of emotions yet compassionate. It can be apparently simple with hidden depths, revealing an obvious ending through a dramatic finale, expressing itself like life itself. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Roundabout @ Summerhall, 560 1581, until 29 Aug (not 18, 25), 12.15pm, £12.
THE GIRL WHO FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MOON Quintet of warped morality fables ●●●●● HAPPY GIRL Thought-provoking and funny performance exploring self image in female teens ●●●●●
WE THIS WAY Searching and horribly addictive adventure game, live on stage ●●●●●
Following last year’s well-received The Hive, the Human Zoo theatre company return with a touching, if slightly bewildering quintet of quirky, warped morality fables.
With white faces, clownish mannerisms and a witty if sometimes wordy script – delivered with an impeccable, sparky sense of ensemble – they tell tales of a star-obsessed ingénue (a gloriously vacant Fleur Rooth) sucked into the darker side of a make-believe Hollywood, a go-getter (Rosalind Hoy, dogged and strong-willed) who climbs a mountain to meet the sun, and a visit from a mysterious lunar stranger to the incredulous heroine of the show’s title (a sharply etched performance from Florence O’Mahony, who also directs). Using puppetry, live music from talented multi- instrumentalist Freddie Crossley, movement and plenty of glittery ticker tape, O’Mahony’s production feels breathlessly inventive and thoroughly entertaining. Although at times it feels like the show’s theatrical exuberance has got in the way of much sense of overall meaning, it’s a moving visual and musical delight. (David Kettle) ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 31 Aug (not 17), 2.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).
82 THE LIST FESTIVAL 13–20 Aug 2015
Happy Girl is set in a secondary school where new girl Irene has recently enrolled following home schooling. Through her eyes we experience how teenagers negotiate the minefield of being female. There’s plenty of comedy in the girls’ obsession with their appearance but each funny incident – a girl racing on the treadmill in wedge trainers as she fixates on the word calories, a group waxing their legs to ‘dolphin’-like smoothness – hammers home the depressing point that girls are conditioned to equate their worth with their appearance. The teenagers are not in it together, though – ‘friends’ deal in back-handed compliments and other females are seen as ‘competition’.
The shift between scenes is a little clunky at first, but soon we’re on a seamless journey through bedrooms, changing rooms and study areas. There’s some fun dance numbers and a particularly powerful poem about the fear of walking home alone. Happy Girl is a thought-provoking piece on self image and relationships that transcends the realm of teenage girls and speaks to the wider experience of being female. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 510 2384, until 15 Aug, 1.10pm, £6 (£5).
Do you help the old man with his suitcase, or stay on the train? Do you follow the minotaur or turn back to discover what’s following you through his labyrinth? Do you ride the dodgems, go diving in the wetsuit, climb the lighthouse? Taking its cue directly from text-based computer
adventure games of the 1980s and 90s, Seth Kriebel’s compelling game-cum-show manages to be both elegantly simple and searchingly profound. Sitting at a desk with a microphone, lighting controls and a couple of anglepoise lamps, Kriebel narrates you through an ever-changing journey, allowing you to choose your route at key moments by holding up one of two coloured glowsticks. Democracy rules, and whichever option gets the most audience votes is the one that’s pursued – well, most of the time. Beware those moments when Kriebel unexpectedly makes your decision for you, or restricts the choices to a select few.
Dealing with questions of democracy, group dynamics, memory and choice, Kriebel’s creation is also just really good fun. It’s simple but spellbinding – and horribly addictive. (David Kettle) ■ Summerhall, 560 1581, until 30 Aug (not 18, 25), 12.25pm, £8–£10.