list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE
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A CLOWN SHOW ABOUT RAIN Creative take on battling mental health ●●●●●
HUFF Brutal and darkly comic one-man show ●●●●● DRIP FEED Dark comedy of queer female identity ●●●●●
Mental health is depicted as an unpredictable sea in A Clown Show About Rain. Sometimes you can lay down a towel and bask on the deck under blue skies; on another day it throws you violently around the boat. Huff is a punishing performance of raw emotion – a visceral portrayal of a family falling apart – that also examines the institutional and historical prejudices that have held back Canada’s indigenous population.
This richly metaphorical (mostly) silent comedy Written and performed by Cliff Cardinal, this one-man
takes time to reveal its true purpose. It follows three characters, the Shipping Forecast-inspired Forth, Cromarty and Dogger, as they navigate a series of storms. A parallel storyline involves a couple on a camping expedition, where the politics of snacking are given a long overdue theatrical interrogation. While the latter plot provides some laughs, it feels underdeveloped in comparison with the first. For the most part, A Clown Show About Rain is a sweet ode to team spirit and friendship. The choreography is a joy, and the ebb and flow of the sea is conjured marvellously. Mops are thrown across the stage with pinpoint accuracy. The cast combine the rule of three and a cup of tea with some of the most understated audience participation you could hope to see, and there's applause too for the impressive consumption of a biscuit. An occasionally brilliant and creative take on the reality of battling the elements. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 1.40pm, £11 (£10).
play opens with its protagonist, Wind, suffocating himself with a plastic bag, gasping desperately for breath. It's a disturbing introduction, setting the tone for a show in which alcohol and solvent abuse is the norm, the trauma of suicide casts a dark shadow, and sexual assault has a devastating consequence. Cardinal immerses himself in the roles of the family members. His depiction of the three central siblings is remarkable – the aforementioned Wind; his younger brother, the loyal and innocent Huff; and the eldest, Charles, damaged by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He's equally convincing as an emotionally stunted patriarch, an unsympathetic school teacher, a talk show host and an aggressive skunk, snapping in and out of character at the drop of a hat. His range and the energy he brings to each performance is stunning. A powerful, darkly comic show that explores the damage caused when people and cultures are written off as irrelevant. (Craig Angus) ■ Canada Hub @ Kings Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 4.15pm, £11 (£9).
‘You know when you’re doing something that you really shouldn’t be doing?’ This quip begins Drip Feed and summarises this vivid, immersive and ultimately hopeful exploration of identity. Brenda is dissatisfied with life; she has become part of the furniture in her hometown of Cork. Her relationships are strained, her work is unfulfilling and she's currently raiding a bin. In this dark and powerful comedy, Karen Cogan’s
portrayal of down-on-her-luck Brenda is raw, dramatic and at times almost disgustingly detailed. The utilisation of music and sound is ingenious and the space, populated with a few chairs and a dingy sofa bed, acts as a clever visualisation of the sparseness of Brenda’s life. As relationships are dissected and homophobia
investigated, Cogan is bright and funny, whirling from subject to subject with a speed that can occasionally feel disorientating. Although her observations veer towards predictability, the overall result is compelling, and gains pace and depth as Brenda navigates the horrors of a virulent hangover.
The transition from her night out to the morning after is a real highlight of Drip Feed, a performance characterised by warmth and insight. (Rachel Walker) ■ Assembly George Square Theatre, until 26 Aug, 2.30pm, £13 (£12).
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WAITING FOR GODOT Dazzling production of Beckett’s tragi-comedy ●●●●●
Samuel Beckett's absurd tragi-comedy in two acts comes to the Festival from Galway-based company Druid and Tony-award winning director Gary Hynes in this exemplary production. The set design by Francis O’Connor is sleek, with a heavy
white illuminated border and a marble-grey background. A single bare tree sits slightly drooping, as if the wind has caught it, and casts a shadow across the dirt-bare stage floor. The frame makes the whole scene look like a postcard snap – a generic stock picture that nods to Beckett’s directions that it could be set anywhere.
Lucky (Garrett Lombard) and Estragon (Aaron Monaghan)
flow through their random chatterings about boots, ailments and suicide with a physicality which is a revelation. Realised by movement director Nick Winston, the pair combine elements of slapstick and clowning which propel the hidden hilarity of the play. The actor's soft Irish accents also feel perfect in this production and it becomes hard to believe anyone would stage it without this as a necessity. Bringing chaos to the tale, Rory Nolan plays Pozzo as a gross
and camp man-child who devilishly manipulates the pair and treats Lombard’s Lucky with a knowing evilness. When Pozzo proclaims ‘but I am liberal in my nature’, it seems eerily apt in 2018, as he professes his tolerant ways while holding his slave on a rope.
As the play ventures into act two and ‘nothing happens, twice’, the relationship between the two main characters is so warm and endearing that you almost forget they are waiting for something to happen. This dazzling production reinforces why staging the classics (well) is still necessary today. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Lyceum Theatre, run ended.
15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 81