F E S T I VA L T H E AT R E | Reviews

THE WORDS ARE THERE A vital piece of physical theatre about male domestic violence ●●●●●

Praise must be heaped upon Irish actor Ronan Dempsey, of Nth Degree Productions, for creating something so dazzling with only the use of an upturned mop. Here is a production that bravely addresses male domestic violence, tackling its weighty subject with an experimental staging that seems absurd but seriously pays off.

Doting Mick cares for his girlfriend Trish by styling her hair,

dressing her and even helping her to walk. But she isn’t disabled it’s just that writer and performer Dempsey has chosen to represent her in the form of a mop. Their relationship seems to be progressing well, until one day Mick mucks up an important speech at a key moment and Trish responds by becoming emotionally abusive. As the relationship lengthens, her abuse worsens. By anonymising Trish (the mop has no real face), Dempsey is

making a stand for all of the thousands of cases of domestic violence upon men (and women) that are reported, and perhaps those that go unreported too. Dempsey is a fantastic physical actor. He employs dramatic movement and expression to communicate exactly the ways isolation and fear can break a person. For an added trick, all (well, almost all) the speech is pre- recorded so Dempsey is left further exposed, on stage alone.

At some of the more tense points, audience members crane their necks to look at the mop as it lies sideways on the floor: does looking at a mop for an emotional response signify madness? Nope: Dempsey forges true character and meaning in his relationship with Trish, and audiences are privileged enough to be awarded a visual feast as well as an emotionally complex and politically relevant thriller. (Adam Bloodworth) n theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, until 24 Aug, times vary, £9–£11 (£8–£9).

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A PARTNERSHIP Ambitious gay relationship drama ●●●●●

GREAT GRIMM TALES Lively recollection of the fairy tale masters ●●●●● TRYING IT ON Human, funny and beautiful work ●●●●●

Zach and Ally’s five-year relationship is quietly fracturing. Nurse Ally is desperate to cling on to his sense of youthful adventure as he turns 30, throwing himself into gin and coke. Lawyer Zach wants a nice kitchen and evenings watching Poirot. As they await delivery of an Indian takeaway, more is revealed than either of them anticipated. There’s more crammed into Rory Thomas-Howes

entertaining two-hander than there probably should be: fear of ageing, definition of sexual roles, monogamy versus wild affairs, bisexuality, self- loathing, gay marriage and more all get a look in, none gets the dissection it properly deserves.

At times A Partnership feels too much like

a catalogue of issues facing gay couples, but Thomas-Howes has come up with a strongly defined duo to explore those questions. He plays the long-suffering Zach, hankering after wealth and security, while quietly detesting the gay men around him. Ben Hadfield as Ally is needy yet shows a surprising strength and integrity, and director Josh Tucker keeps things moving. There’s a lot that’s impressive in A Partnership, but as it stands, its ambition hampers its clarity. (David Kettle) n Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, until 26 Aug, 2.45pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

88 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–26 Aug 2019

The power of stories is a consistent theme at the Fringe: Great Grimm Tales takes a selection of the brothers’ macabre fairy tales and, with a cast of three and a few puppets, conjures dark European nights, haunted churchyards and symbolic adventures in which the devil is always threatening but never victorious. Old Nick keeps turning up, and is repeatedly vanquished, ensuring that the atmosphere of horror dissipates like ghosts in the dawn’s light. While the weaving of the tales is elegant, and

builds nicely towards a climax, the tales themselves are predictable. There is plenty of torture and horror, but virtue is both its own reward and the ultimate victor. The ensemble inhabits a variety of roles, with the devil himself given a sly, deceptive charm: the heroes of each story, however, follow a pattern of naïve goodness and the complexities of the fairy tale are reduced to the unfolding of a mythic pattern. Yet Box Tale Soup are confident in presenting well-paced and appropriately sinister stories, bringing a subtle modern sensibility to Grimm that never quite explores their contemporary relevance. (Gareth K Vile) n Underbelly Cowgate, until 25 Aug, 11am, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Playwright and performer David Edgar’s self-reflexive performance lecture asks: do individuals become less politically engaged in later life? From his agit-prop theatre and radical Marxist publications in the late 60s, to enjoying his comfortable home in his 70s in the present day, he wonders aloud if it is he or the world that has shifted imperceptibly.

He uses several interviews with radical firebrands, and even his younger self, to see ‘if I was on the right side of history’, and if his peers too have sustained their radical activism. Talking heads in the video and audio clips include David Aaronovitch, Sue Clegg and Carole Moss, but Tariq Ali aside there is a slight lack of people of colour here.

Edgar neither preaches nor hectors, maintaining a level of self-deprecation. The scenes where he ridicules himself as a frock coat-wearing, Wildean wannabe should strike a chord with anyone whose wardrobe has been as experimental as their ideas.

It’s all gloriously deadpan, but Christopher Haydon’s direction means that the unexpected twist is as delightful, empowering and passionate as Edgar still clearly is: this is a humane, funny and often rather beautiful paean to optimism, progress and sowing the seeds of change. (Lorna Irvine) n Traverse, until 25 Aug, times vary, £21 (£15.50).