DEVISED WORK GLAMOUR Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 17—Sat 21 May
Glasgow-based company Vox Motus presents its latest work-in-progress. Diamonds. forever a girl's best friend. are the starting point for a piece that draws on Marx's political tracts and theories of capitalist Ideology to reflect on issues of value and identity in the modern world. Starkly different facets of one xivoman's identity — mastermind criminal. downtrodden Wife. put—upon mother * are revealed in a multilayered drama. touching on the universal desire for power and control. Are we all simply shiny diamonds at heart. nothing more than glorified tokens for buying and selling in the market of life’?
Vox Motus. alias Jamie Harrison and Candice Edmunds. fuses multimedia elements With more traditional theatrical forms to create a contemporary and idiOSyncratic production style that has already won them acclaim in Scotland and the International arena. Catch Vox Motus at the Citz before the company acquires the glitz. glamour and tarshine of the real big time. (Gareth Dawes)
i‘.4()i'\l<i’. I)(3tJ§ SISTERS, SUCH DEVOTED SISTERS Tron, Glasgow Fri 20-Sat 21 May
Occasionally, you hear vile outbursts from frightened and ill educated people like prospective senior members of the European Parliament, or the Dalai Lama, whose views on this and certain other matters don’t bear much scrutiny. But generally, society is over homophobia. Even those appalling middle-class New Labour people who once invited gay men or lesbians to their dinner parties, then made these folks’ sexuality the chief conversation at the table, much to the chagrin of the very same folk, have desisted in this patronising form of persecution.
But there are still people with alternative sexualities who are marginalised by society. The further away people are from imitating such orthodox heterosexual discourses as marriage and property ownership, the more likely they are to suffer persecution. Thus the darker side of the world of the drag queen is exposed in Russell Barr’s splendid monologue, in which
. . NEW WORK dark undercurrents of Violence and abuse are exposed in both the gay and
straight worlds. In it, the narrator brings us from a tawdry west coast grgrsxggsvgow Mon 23 _ Sat upbringing through to a series of no less tawdry events in Weegie clubland. 28 May ' ’
It’s very funny at times, but when it stops being humorous, Barr makes the laughter choke in your throat. This Fringe hit of 2004 makes a welcome return after picking up some pretty hefty awards and a stint in New York. If you caught it last year, I won’t need to urge you to see it again. If not, it’s strong meat, but a must see. (Steve Cramer)
The legend that is Ll/ Lochhead continues to enthrall Scottish audiences as both adaptor and original writer. if those two categories
NEW WORK
DECEPTION
Roxy Art House, Edinburgh, Thu 19-Sat 21 May
Nothing is ever quite what it seems. I'm the Quiet girl in the office: I'm the confident. outspoken one outside it. We all adopt different sides of our personalities to suit the place and the person. In a series of short plays. Crossfire theatre company explores varied interpretations of the one tliGll‘OI deception. As artistic director Mike Duffy says: "It's like a diamond in a sense; each play should form a facet of deception.‘
So why this theme? ‘I think the two main problems in life are that we don't communicate properly and we're in a continual game of deception.‘ he says. ‘We are always trying to deceive people and hide our wmkness<—2s.' But theatre itself allows us to enter into an unreal world. ‘ln essence actors are deceivmg. Members ol an audience know this but they want to engage in this game'. Intrigued? Don't pull that face. As Duffy argues: 'The audience want to be deceived. lhat's why they're there.‘ (Claire Piela)
Theatre
are quite as sepaiate as fc'ks ft‘ it nostalgic ohm-nations oi (,". .l’tt" evacuated from Glasgos. l'l second ‘.‘.':;ii:i‘ ‘.'.’.‘u in Rue H .' .: reflections on a caieer .- fS()ll‘-(Ellllll§} itchy o.ai'ies in Penn; Days or acidic iefiectzeris (If‘i ti»,- Scottisn media (Iiillti’lO :.'l .' her distinctize ‘.():(:e is l‘.t.-(l"(l 3'"- .;' an astonishing range of fii.t,li: f:; ‘ given these are only three mm: ; from the last decade, it's hard in f. ?' reflect on Just her; ii‘uch iii‘i:_i:.f t" lady nas had on Scottish am; a" : culture.
The secret. one suspects. r~: :1 " emotional truth ti‘at l ()(Zt"‘.i’;.t : in» to her writing. '.'.'h.::h citei‘. sails to the edge of 8(Z'lltlll‘tZ'l‘vlit'l'... but. seldom transgresses into mawkishness. This r‘-e.'.' Sl‘il'l :. .i. ' Oran Mor has kept .-:,~ij, tgi": ' subject matter. but (ll'.(;.". that. f x apparently set at an a.'.'aids fii:'é:" one might expect a cena n sat! .: edge. More of the no ce (:t' /‘..4iseri,gi/ts7 Wait g ml see. l8l6)‘.(3 Crameri
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THFAIHICA'. oprm NATIONAL BEIJING ERA
OP Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue
24/Wed 25 May
For most opera s-i‘gers. -t'::. p: The Voice. Dramatic "itcrixcfa‘. bane its place. bit tilt lt‘.i’.£;. ' chords are the n‘aior i:,.i,-;;'. t. China. Budding opera :4. "gays ,:-. taught to ii‘iiltvtask fic'i‘ - acquiring} SKINS in S3'lit}"‘:j. a..',' ,: dar‘ci'g ar‘d ll‘El'liil' arts. (3" . " - can the, ion one of (7" ".i's' prestgroiis cultu'a' 'istittit as. National Beiiing Oce'a Ccri‘: Feiihiled in 19:35. t".-;.- -' about to make its lJix’ dctxx. performing t-.'.o fi.'i fort/it." iuiiixi Edinburgh »— Forest a" 331...: Legend of the l‘.’/t re 8mm). 1' ~~: by literature and anc eitt ~-:;-g;-_-" 2 l'(ES[)€Cll‘.’C|‘,. both cpe'as ‘igi'. : blend of song. dance and a ' : rapped up "1 yards of Nd: ' faslici‘s. A"; (El‘::t;ll‘t He. flank the stage. '.'.’lli:t} fl‘iflt : -': undenvater spirits. ll‘.llllt}l(‘/..:s :~_ and zealous monks (ll'l‘.t? Ttit‘r 7/70 fag'c f Me 't ain't. "iv . ‘
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