spa/8m

FESTIVAL

productions.

Admittedly, l have very little idea of what the play is about - something to do

with Abelard and Heloise,

Aphrodite and Ganymede, and Midas all being stuck together in a

3‘ 1 junkyard and vying with

v THEATRE

IMAGE OF LOVE

We're in real Fringe territory here a handwritten, photocopied programme, a company from Cambridge, an audience of ten. But there is something different the acting is uniformly good and, in the case of Saurabh Kakkar and Sue Perkins, excellent, there is a profusion of original ideas in the script, and there is none of the egotistical up—staging which characte rises so many student

I think but that hardly matters. Saul Klein‘s script is a series of witty vignettes, lacking the coherence ofgenuine quality but certainly on the right track. Kakkar and Perkins, should they chose this dangerous career rather than their area of study, will have at i least one supporter when ; they start. (Philip Parr) I Imago OI Love (Fringe) Conditioned Soul . Cambridge, Randolph i Studio (Venue 55) 225 5366, until 5 Sept (not 1), 6pm, £4 (£3.50).

v THEATRE i

' A DROP OF FRED

Come on, admityou‘vc

l always wanted to dance

; like Fred Astaire. So does

; Simon Wishart (Graeme

j Henderson), a lead-footed, rhythmless lad from Liverpool. A kid

each other for supremacy.

puts up with a lot when

dancing and not football is

his dream, even from the

girl who ‘melts his taps‘ in

hoof school. Maybe he

should take upjudo. Simon. whose natural

style resembles a

club-footed sumo wrestler

, on amphetamines, wishes forjust ‘one drop‘ of

Fred‘s talent. Without

; giving away the ending,

. suffice it to say that Mr

Henderson possesses

more than his fair share.

(Wes Shrum)

I I A Drop of Fred (Fringe)

' Pilot Schemes, Theatre

f Zoo (Venue 21) 225 7995,

until 5 Sept,6.05pm,

5£4.75(£3.90).

l v THEATRE

i BILLY

After suppressing the

, initial resistence to the

E limitations of youth

theatre mainly, the all

too obvious anachronisms

typified by grandmothers

being played by teenagers

in white wigs- it is

; impossible not to be bowled over by the exuberance, talent and (let‘s face it) technical resources of the National Youth Music Theatre's

ACOUSTIC MUSIC

--§--:-.

Venue 25, 16 Chambers Street (next door to Festival Club) 031-220 2462 (box office - information only)

AUGUST 14mSEPTEMBER51992

folk music & song (Celtic/International) piping ~ jazz ~ drama ~ revue ceilidh dances ~ comedy

snacks ~ meals ~ refreshments: bars 11.00am to 1.30am plus informal song & music sessions nightly plus a wide range of shows in 3 theatres ~ box office open noon to midnight ~

Administration: 031-346 8237 . 24-hour answering ~ 031-313 2083 . fax

Billy. The production features the company's hallmarks of stunning costuming and ingenious design, as well as some remarkable singing by the stars of tomorrow.

It could be said that NYMT should be taken to task for employing Andrew O‘Connor, who has already carved himself a nice career in television, in the title role. Perhaps this meaty part as a superlative liar should

' have been used to

showcase unknown young talent. Still. O‘Connor oozes charisma which infects the entire cast. Not only does this show sparkle with energy, but it features the shamefully neglected art ofensemble tap-dancing. (Roberta Mock)

I Billy (Fringe) NYMT, George Square Theatre (Venue 37) 6502001 . 28 Aug, 7pm; 29 Aug, 3pm. £7 (£5).

v THEATRE

THE MERRY MONKS OF CAMBUSDONALD

The joke ‘he has an aura

round him. Aura the time,‘ got the biggest laugh of the evening and had me worried that I'd

But then, as a deafening shriek greeted the sight of a French can-can dancer‘s buttocks, all became clear. What was I reviewing this show for anyway? This weak farce concerning monks with magical potions had attracted nearly 140 late-middle-aged Edinburghers on a Tuesday night. Or, to sum up in two capitalised words: Guaranteed Audience.

So you can criticise the

slag off weak plotting and knock actors who have difficulty with obtuse dialect terms, but in the end it‘s up to the public to ; decide what theylike.

l Andthey certainlyliked

! this. You can‘t argue with i those sorts of statistics,

can you? (S Chester)

l I The Merry Monk: 0!

Cambusdonald(Fringc) .' Edinburgh People‘s Theatre,St Peter‘s : Church Hall(Venue 17) i until 5 Sept (not Suns),

j 7.45pm,£4.

seriously missed the point.

homophobic stereotyping,

V CABARET

THE TEBBITS DRESS UP, GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND ACT SEXY

The Tebbits know their tactics. Get a bit of rapport with the audience, pack your best stuff into the first twenty minutes of the show then spend the next seventy minutes praying the audience won‘t notice you‘re not funny anymore.

They nearly pull it off too. as the Tebbits certainly know their funny stuff— and so they should, having spent two years practising with the same material. However, they tend to fall flat on their : improvising faces when they try something a little newer, and despite their ingratiating comic pcrsonas, your resources of good will are so low by the end of the act that it‘s best to leave with happy memories early on.

I (Stephen Chester) I l

I The Tebbits Dress Up, Get Down On The FloorAnd Act Sexy (Fringe) The

Boys of the Lough

ALY BAIN (Shetland). fiddle CATHAL McCONNELL (Ireland), flute.whistle.song DAVE RICHARDSON (Nonhumberland), concertina. mandoline, cittem CHRISTY O'LEARY (Ireland). uillean pipes, whistle. song JOHN COAKLEY (Ireland). guitar. piano

"...stylish, imposing highly enjoyable"

The Scotsman ’92

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

QUEEN'S HALL

Clerk Street, Edinburgh 28, 29 & 30th August 1992

7-30pm (9:30)

Tickets at £7.00 (£6.00 concession) from Fringe Box Office - 031-226-51380nd Queen‘s Hall Box Office 0031-668-2019

NEW CD - The Fair Hills of Ireland - LOUGH 005CD

36 The List 28 August 10 September 1992