FESTIVAL 8"/10"'

just a tad 1991. but the parody of an archetypal love story and various incidental set-pieces (especially the full-scale. two-man opera) are timeless theatrical comedy. with an obviously buoyant cast carrying the whole thing off with relish. Finally. hope for some technical detail going wrong. as some of the ad-libs on a less-than-perfect opening night were priceless.

» j ' (Philip Parr) nus: Amie casters er ritual audience ni-iliatieu I The Orange Penguin much of which centres (Fringe) RlSk Theatre. 7 around shagging. Marco’s (Venue

9] l6. until 4 Sept (not Tue). 8pm. £5 (£3).

V COMEDY

BLOOD AND swearing. shagging and

swearing. and not

shagging. And what it means to be a woman in

No target is too soft for the 903. Etc. Etc. Donna M these rabid maniacs. no iMcPhail is wry. caustic joke too sick. offensive or and pols3§sses eye f0: de raved: Freddie sexua p ySica persona . 1 y ( Mgrcury's heart-beat. foibles that induce laughs ' m m “m: an m m sizzling pork from Waco. and squirms in equal “M “a”! é . passive necrophilia. They I measure. But she’s gentle " in” on” “"8 mm.“ “to a place if you m on, as a mu 8mm 9 I :34? i are the Aussie masters of With it. (Craig McLean) M scams... “nimnfluy’ " “an” "on to m a“, finding u“, may I . ; ritual audience I Donna McPhail a". n I, a nostalgic tale 0' a ‘sootmn and m. mom“, I) m I _ humiliation. re-defining (Fringe), Gilded Balloon 8 but" ' 9 9 i Y a the limits of inter-active (Venue 38). 226 2151. Gillie Na! 0' I"! - 08mins: etch» and of the permanence, ulaults to a , theatre. until 4 Sept (not 24. 31 fishermen pushed to the edge by the strong and committed cast, you will

Audience abuse comes Aug). 8.30pm. £6 (£5). dwindling of the herring shoals, find yourself grappling with some of easily on the Fringe. often 7 COMEDY between the wars. But it is also an the most universal and perturbing to hide crap ‘comics‘. so unflinching and satisfying questions there are. (Catherine

three sick bastards who com! on“ examination oi the distortion oi ,Fellours)

are genm'y funny?“ ' human relationships by extreme . The ooitl Fella (Fringe) Fifth Estate, . gfigsgagde‘éi'i‘iflfg'ihc * circumstances, and, ultimately, oi hour letheriloui Arts Centre (Venue 30) 556 " “L: f‘ whiie mounting insult on one generation can gain the strength ism, until 4 Sept (not Sues), 8.30pm, - profanity. are doubly to survive trons it! blind iaith in the |£6.50 (£4.50)

welcome. You‘ll never next. give a dog a bone again. or maybe you will. Go

l . Sit at the front. j . complain about tractors . . ilaeclcle if you dare. (Thom V V on the road. Discusses the "at" am . Dibdin) - inherent romance to be “i ii”. I Bio“ Md Em A found in a box of Roses The latest Show by (Fringe) The Doug i' because of me way the renowned South African Anthony Allstars. The box tapers downwards saiiiisi pieier Dirk Uys, Fringe (Venue upwards and the Chocs set in a Soon-to-be-

226 5257. 13-29 Aug (not _ A real curiosity this: a WWW be Squatv bmsquet abolished black i 16. 23 Aug), 9pm. £6.50 . " " _ . one-man show about funereal ahd "0‘ SOPPY 3‘ homeland, is a somewhat (£5.50). " ' i A , ' - ' meSSiah'feVer as it sW'BPt 8'" . . . , chaotic mixed bag. With .3], A ' ' '2" ' . the century, alllhls is freakln Lizz Meiring’ Uys V It’s already an Performed by ‘1 BhtiSh' h'lanous m 2i [mimic unpicks a few strands overcrowded club, but ' trained 11010r currently Scruff/sad m'Sfit/ldlm . from the post-apartheid Irish-Australian based in Bratislava, brouier kmd 0f Phil [angle with a quick-fire observational comedian Slovakia. Omid Djalili is Kay.1513505 0" E - succession of cameo Jimeoin deserves entry to said actor. and his show (Craig MCLCah) chamciers _ an unrapighi the Fringe comedy scene. (written and directed by m by: m In" “(91088). farmer. a genieei Audience-friendly. with Annabel Knight) is an . m mg m like a Glided Balloon (meue Afrikaner lady, Mrs i an endearing. mumbly oddball tour-de-force of good ’tni. 38)~ 226 2151’ “m” 4 Thatcher, Winnie style of delivery. this mime. ranting Poetry and ‘Yeah, he did this really Sept ("0' 23 Aug)’ Mandela. Uys then man's don’t-give-a-IOSS WaCkY Arab dahCih8~ ‘good one about thumbs 8'45pm’ £550 (£45m appears as the acceSSibihl)’ cases you Demonsu’ahhg a high and how horses would 7 E eponymous. shamelessly into his aCl- But it's his degree 0f teChhlcal POhShv chomp 'em off if you duplicitous Mrs Evita ahlhl)’ ‘0 mOCk the Blah“ alternates belwee" don't keep ’em flush. One Bezuidenhout. to answer COhlhvahCCS 0f Slahd'up a number 0f set’l’iece about Pop Tarts too. how audience questions about which marks out his act. scenes: Samuel MOYSC'S they pop up hot. And then the New South Africa. His as he veers between baSic first h'ahsmiSStht ‘1 he phoned my flatmate sharp black wit often finds comic bamement and a PCTSiah CXCCUhOheh ah and how we laughed as Despite references to its target, but the jokes are refreshing originality. He anthropologist in a British she sounded [many giaikii Scoii of ihe Animiic. the scaiiemhoi, saivoes fired saves ‘he Sinceht)’ for his dranhg'room- And as she dripped in the hall penguin of the title is of off against British royal songs“. although the 3C! mixed in With a Slide after this weirdo stranger the literary rather than the shenanigans and Tory would survive without show and furious bongo and 50 of his mates had aquatic kind_ Better to get woes as well as Mrs lhem- 0011'le fOOIed by drumming. You get 3" got her out the shower . . that clear. for there are Mandela and Chief the seemingly “185$ intelligent and S‘YIiSh .’ plenty of other twists and Buthelezi; more focus She's 31 and a leSbi‘m and manner - it's a confident Piece Of theatre 0" ah Not funny, is it? Phil turns in John Random’s would make things a lot wears big Pants and has Comedian Who inVites a Uhhkel)’ theme (Andrew Kay. he don’t tell jokes plot to keep an audience funnier. (Sue Wilson) hair in places She doesn't member of the audience to Pulvel’) per se. He just rambles. occupied without their I An Audience With An want it. Her bikini lineas grade his jokes. (Grace I I Seance 3" 0' "330W careers. sweats and gims having to worry about African Queen (Fringe) a paragraph. All of which Hodge) (Fringe) ln-Theatre, Hill iike a good '11", Talks obscurisi iiiies. pieier Dirk Uys, may or may “0‘ be We . “"0" (Fringe) thge Street Theatre (Venue 41) about flying on Virgin. His pair of manipulative Assembly at the Meadows but it's a useful bedrock Club (Venue 2) 226 5257. 226 6522. until Sept 4 parachiiiing wiih your .yuppies may be a bit 803' (Venue H6) 226 2428/229 for an hour of . until 4 Sept. 8.30pm. £6 (n0! 22. 31 Aug). 8pm» £5 period. and anal types l :and the organised teams 928 l. until 4 Sept. 8pm. ' Observational ShiPPe‘Sv (£5). (£350) who write to the papers to of windscreen washers £6.50 (£5.50).

The List 20—26 August l993 49