festival 3"" 6"m

stage a two woman (and a puppet) version of Macbeth at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Their plans are thwarted by. among other things. a star-struck step instructor. a stand-up comic and a past-life regression therapist.

The conclusion is to die for. A must. (Catherine

back again and the first act especially is something of a guddle. Some of the musical arrangements are lovely though. and a spirited. fifteen-strong cast deliver some rousing harmonies which should keep the tourists well chuffed. (Neil Cooper) I 1820 Fifth Estate.

There is life on Mars. And right now it‘s appearing in a show disguised as Second Hand Dance (USA). The creatures from another planet have the power to morph into super-cool human sculptures with jigsaw limbs that slot together with a tnindboggling mix of seamless grace and

THEATRE REVIEW

LADY MACBETH FIRMED MY BUTTDOKS

Pound) Famous Grouse House '

- . - s )t-on coined timin 7. ' lady ”ache“ Film“ (Venue 34) 220 5606’ pi’l/hat they caii do with a My BUUOCKS (Fringe) until 3| Aug (not 26)

length of black cloth and a dead-pan expression has to be seen to be believed. Move over Dance ()j‘T/ie Seven Veils. Dance Of The Seven Torches is finally having its day. The aliens

Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2l51. until 31 Aug. 3pm. £6.50 (£5.50).

Lee Mack: you've got to Gag For It Jack Klaff.

At the outset breathless. but caltn. he works through a marvellously controlled monologue

5.30pm. £6.50 (£4.50).

three similarly talented pals Geoff Aymer. Kevin Hay and Neil Webster whore their comedy wares with the finest in comic

**** SECOND HAND

‘k * have landed. And their finesse. about ambitions and DANCE (USA) strange wobbly bodies A needlessly well lrustrlations. gradually 1820 make for a top night's hidden secret that budding up until all

control is lost.

Various themes recur - his ex-wife. longing to be a chef. working in a science-fiction bookshop but throughout it all little glimpses of the city. and the nightmare it embodies. build up into an impressive portrait of a man who thinks he has it sussed. but is really on the brink. (Stephen Naysmith) l Urban Rage (Fringe)

J ack Klal'l'. Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 3l Aug. 4.30pm iii/£7 (£7/£6).

deserves to be made public right this moment. (Danny Wallace)

I Gagging For It (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2l5l. until 31 Aug. 4pm. £6 (£5).

entertainment. (lillie Carr)

Hidden history is exposed

Lady Macbeth Flrmed My ‘" Pam?“ Eva“:

. , ‘dramatic ballad . a Buttocks. not "9'" 3”“an ramshackle trawl through

the events leading up to the last major armed uprising in Scotland which had previously been airbrushed from

I Second Rand Dance (USA) (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 31 Aug. 5.30pm. £8.50/£7.50 (£7.50/£6.50).

Yeah. sure it has one of those ultra-Fringe titles which has the more pretentious critics spitting venom. but who cares? historical records. It's still a bloody good Ambitiously penned in laugh. verse. its didacticism Claire Grogan leads a comes over as merely team of hugely talented simplistic. giving the feel comic actresses through a of a Scots equivalent of completely ridiculous plot after-dinner corporate which revolves around an entertainments. lt attempts avant-garde theatre too tnuch - from musical company's attempt to pamphlet to ceilidh and

**** URBAN RAGE

When you reach that point when you‘ll explode in fury if anyone hands you another flyer that's the moment to go and see

***** OAOOINO FOR IT

Stumbling blindly across a comic treasure like (lugging For It can single-handedly restore all faith in usually tepid Fringe sketch shows. For a healthy. happy start. Gagging For I! is A ‘3 _ fantastic. Ila-in .. F . ~ \ . - tom the some“ hat obligatory opening song to the snippets of characterisations and visual gags displayed

The allens have landed: Second Hand Dance (USA)

G UfllfllO. ION fw‘csuw.)

iju I

A passionate. hilarious and sweaty tragedy directed by John W’right

proudly on an overhead videoscreen. l995‘s So You Think You're Funny

Urban Rage: oooh that makes me maaadl

I. I 3 s i ‘ki I". \ugu,‘ 10-1; 1119‘ 2; mnncrlcc M ic md us

8% 29- 31, at i50pm

tall, dark, handsome: if ever there was a good advert tor the New Poetry, Murray Lachlan Young is it. Posing his way on stage through dry ice, wearing a velvet trock coat and a Byron-esque shock of hair, you could get the impression that this young man takes his art very seriously indeed.

Yet hall-way through a bombastically delivered poem decrying lack of lortune (‘Where is my leopard skin stretch limousine?) he wonders out loud, ‘Where is my gerbil?’ Ney, he’s lunny.

Accompanied by a cellist interjecting musical phrases, Young’s performance is a real treat particularly with his ‘Shock lleaded Peter’ morality tales. llis poems, delivered in Gothic and energetic style, are surreal, well- observed and comically nasty with knowing descriptions of socialltes, parasites and strangely large children.

Discover this excellent performance and you’ll never think of poetry as just English lit. homework again. (Oait llurley)

The Poetry 0! Murray Laclrlan Young (Fringe) Murray Lachlan Young, Ellded Balloon Ill (Venue 12) £6 2151, until Murray lachlan Young: rat's showbuslness 31 Aug, 5,3gpm, £5.50 (£5.50).

****

THE POETRY OF MURRAY LACHLAN YOUNG

('Rl'll("S (“OK l:

The (illlll'tilllll

An epic comedy of glorious confusion

Directed 8.: designed by l’hclim MeDcrmott (Y Julian (Irotteh

August l-l—lf). 20-22. 84 26—28 at 4.30pm ('RllH "S ('l i()l( Al': 'I he (itiardian

AUGUST 10-31 AT 4.50PM

TICKETS £7. 00 £5. 00 & £8. 00 £6. 00 <3 VENUE 33- 60 THE PLEASANCE t'... EDINBURGH

30 The List 23 Aug-5 Sept I996