FESTIVAL THEATRE REVIEWS
K R A L C E B L A
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THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING Entertaining vision of a society built on kindness ●●●●●
Daniel Bye is a man on a mission. From start to finish his performance lecture is out to prove that there are some things you just can’t put a price on.
Starting with the lecture, Bye takes to the stage
with a slideshow to ponder the price of everything: a pint of milk, profit returns on the NHS and the human body. From selling the original air guitar from Bill and Ted on eBay to buying a stranger a cup of coffee, Bye raises questions about what we really value in modern society. After a brief interlude for a glass of milk, the performance aspect concludes the show with a lengthy tale of benevolence and belief in humankind. At times the point he’s trying to make is unclear, but Bye is such a funny, charismatic performer that it’s hard not to get caught up in his Utopian vision of a society built on kindness. (Jen Bowden) ■ Northern Stage at St Stephen’s, 558 3047, until 25 Aug (not 20), £10 (£7).
OLIVER REED: WILD THING Blazing portrait of a boozer ●●●●●
In this excellent one-man show, the renowned hellraiser recounts his wayward life from beyond the grave and, appropriately, during the course of a mammoth boozing session. Rob Crouch does a superb job of playing the British film star of the 1960 and 70s, nailing Reed’s mannered English accent and idiosyncratic intonation, his insolent attitude, mischievous stare and macho swagger. It’s an enormously entertaining, frequently hilarious performance that switches to sombre and serious as Crouch’s Reed becomes fully inebriated and the recollections of the man who swore he’d drink himself to death reach the end of his life, mid-way through making his final film, Gladiator. En route to that last drink, we learn a good deal
about Reed. Alongside the well-known stories – nude wrestling with Alan Bates in Women in Love, the infamous appearance on the Johnny Carson Show that ended with Shelly Winters throwing a drink over him, the legendary parties with The Who drummer Keith Moon – we also find out what made the man tick, and drink so hard, and where that odd, upper-class voice came from. (Miles Fielder) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 27 Aug, 3.30pm, £10–£11.
IT’S SO NICE Irreverent and beguiling history play ●●●●●
Part physical theatre, part clowning about, this bilingual show that takes a look at the relationship between Mary, Queen of Scots and her cousin Elizabeth I is an absolute delight. It takes the form of a history play-cum-lecture-cum-travelogue as conceived and performed by the quite lovely but very quirky French/Belgian duo Barbara Sylvain and Lula Béry. Slideshows, maps and family trees are utilised to explain the complex (here cheekily offhandedly potted) historical context of the estranged 16th century relations. These props are employed to complement a series of talks, delivered in a French/English/super-title mash-up, and these in turn are punctuated by a number of physical theatre shape-throwing routines that serve as visual representations of various points made. If that sounds a bit dry, it’s anything but. Sylvain and Béry cite Stefan Zweig’s 1930s biography of Mary Stuart as their starting point for the creation of the show, and, to be fair, they do cram a good deal of historical fact in to it. However, above and beyond being a history lesson, this is a vivid piece of physical theatre and, beyond that, a consistently amusing and frequently hilarious slice of irreverent comedy. Much of the humour is derived from the tension between the efforts Sylvain and Béry go to in order to maintain a professional bearing and the testy relationship they suffer with one another and which they are at pains to keep a lid on. Both actors play the whole thing completely and wonderfully deadpan.
In a clever masterstroke, Sylvain and Béry contrive to compare their own oddly dysfunctional
relationship with that of Mary and Elizabeth. It’s a subtle conceit that slowly becomes apparent as this beguiling show progresses towards its conclusion. Encore! (Miles Fielder) ■ Institut français d’Ecosse, 225 5366, until 24 Aug (not 18 & 19), 4pm, £10 (£8).
MIDNIGHT AT THE BOAR’S HEAD Shakespeare gets a pub folk remix ●●●●●
Here’s one: a porter, a king and a shrew walk into a bar. What happens next? Midnight at the Boar’s Head bumps Shakespeare’s characters’ heads together as they meet in a pub to get drunk, pick fights and flirt with strangers, all in Shakespeare’s original words. The star turn is Falstaff, easing into what turns out to be his natural home: an East London boozer that fills up with comedy, bathos and romance, all in the time it takes to buy a round. The music is the real star, with ingenious live folk settings of Shakespeare’s verse that put the rhythms of the text centre stage. It’s a thoughtful and brilliantly entertaining production, with what’s lacking in cohesion and progression largely made up for in a chaotic sense of joy and a real love of the Bard. This is a show that’s rough around the edges, but as close as you’re likely to get to going for a pint with the great man himself. (Charlotte Runcie) ■ Zoo Southside, 662 6892, until 27 Aug, 8.15pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).
66 THE LIST 16–23 Aug 2012