Mandolin magic

Claire Prentice,Newil Cooper,Eddie Gibb,Don Morris,

FRINGE THEATRE

CAPTAIN CORELLI'S

MANDOLIN Valvona & CrollaUntil August 28

HHHHH

WHERE better to set a sumptuous tale of Mediterranean life than above Edinburgh's premiere Italian delicatessen? On the way into this venue, you encounter people milling around clutching fresh baguettes, wines and other exotic offerings. Upstairs, two men take a simple love story and create a theatrical feast as vivid and tasty as anything to be found below.

Huddled over polystyrene cups of wine, the audience are rewarded by a seasonal over-familiarity with their neighbours; the enforced intimacy provides the perfect setting for this adaptation of Louis de Bernires' best-seller.

Whisking us away to the Greek island of Cephalonia at the time of the second world war, Philip Contini and Mike Maran slip in and out of the voices of a colourful rabble of locals, bringing the tight- knit community bursting into life.

Few props are required as they skilfully evoke the sights and sounds of the humble town, where a tippling priest and a hen-pecked husband with a pea lodged in his ear were once the most newsworthy events of the day. But then history upsets the sleepy community.

As the Italians invade, Dr Iannis and his daughter Pelagia find themselves with two unwelcome house guests - the soldiers Guercio and Captain Corelli.

However, ultimately the fascist aggressors fail to convert the village from its natural style and the community rallies together, refusing to be divided along enemy lines.

Equally adept at conveying the young girl in love and the heroic soldier at war, Contini and Maran guide us through a spectrum of emotions as the story of frustrated love between Pelagia and Corelli unfolds.

Teasing out the subtlest of nuances from de Bernires' skilfully crafted original, the two storytellers sit, pace and circle each other as they exchange anecdotes, building quietly to an excellent climax.

Alison Stephens on mandolin and Anne Evans on piano complement the action superbly, tying the individual strands together, while the storytellers keep us enthralled to the end.

Claire Prentice

FRINGE THEATRE

AFFLICKTION The PleasanceUntil August 30

HH

THERE'S nothing like a bit of high-profile publicity to make your show stand out from the crowd. Top marks, then, to Emma Millions and Marie Findley for upsetting the capital's moral guardian, the Edinburgh Evening News, which devoted an entire front page to the scandal of an "illegal" sex scene in one of the underground films featured in their set.

Had they not been forced to remove it pronto, those two seconds of celluloid could have done wonders for business. As it is, the girls appear on stage with masking-taped mouths, mocking the "narrow- mindedness" with flash cards. Ah, it wouldn't be the Fringe without controversy.

Trouble is, this innovative impromptu sketch is actually the best thing about their movie show. That and the little iced cakes the charming hostesses hand out on your way in.

The back-chat between films shows flashes of the zany brilliance which has led to the duo writing for Adam and Joe and Ant and Dec among others, but it's sporadic and is ultimately insufficient to hold some of the ropier material together. With audience members invited to bring their own camcorder offerings along, it isn't clear just how strict the screening process is - one can only hope this isn't the best of what the next generation of film-makers have to offer.

Among the Bobbit-style savagery, the salacious plastic dolls and twisted toys, there is a great piece where Harry Hill meets Jesus - and the lusty 70s groom who's had his post-nuptial pleasures cut could have made for a rousing finish.

Bah humbug to the PC posse for spoiling the fun.

Claire Prentice

FRINGE THEATRE

THE JUJU GIRL Traverse TheatreUntil September 4

HHHH

WHEN Kate's grandmother Catherine went to Rhodesia to convert the natives with her missionary father, her eyes ended up being opened to an altogether different but just as spiritual side of life.

Marrying an ambitious man of the cloth, Catherine's liberalism is at odds with his stiff conformity - and the power of the juju can never be beaten.

Following in her footsteps, Kate hits the back-pack trail to make her own fate and discover a sense of self through her own spiritual side.

Dove-tailing between past and present, Aileen Ritchie's new play is awash with an understated charm that eventually gives rise to an altogether more serious intent.

John Tiffany's production is so warm it almost seems to be bathed in a holy glow, while Susan Vidler in the twin roles of Catherine and Kate flits between the sassy modern girl and the more bound-up 1920s woman trying to define her place in life.

If there is a problem, it is perhaps that the first half set-up is too chock-full of geography and history to move the story along with the momentum it should do. Such an approach is always tempting when dealing with exotic climes steeped in stories - though the leisurely pacing does no real harm.

Ultimately, The Juju Girl is a down-to-earth spiritual quest that is as touchingly played as it is life-affirming.

Possibly the most optimistic play on the Fringe.

Neil Cooper l My Festival, Page 2

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

THE WAKE King's TheatreRun ended

HHH

WHEN you get to the stage where you only meet your family for births, marriages and deaths, you know you're getting on a bit. Vera is pushing 40, and returns to Ireland from her life in America to take control of the hotel she inherited from her mother.

But her sisters and brother have other plans, and plot a coup d'etat as Vera lives up to her black-sheep reputation, shacking up with old beau Finbar and her immaculately clad brother for a bender of Dionysian proportions.

The family have Vera sectioned before another party takes place - in which a fully purged Vera finally buries the hatchet before returning home to business as usual.

Tom Murphy's play is a monumental stab at family fortunes as familiar Irish themes of exile and kingdoms are wheeled out once more. Essentially it's a series of rituals as the thin line between mourning and celebration becomes blurred by drink and negotiation lurches to an uneasy truce.

This is a family so unpleasant that you can't help but blame Vera for running away. There are times when one is so irritated by the whole rotten pack of them that watching it becomes unbearable.

Jane Brennan's Vera is a brittle, stubborn paragon of virtue, whose rebellious streak can't help itself when put in the stiflingly familiar surroundings that never fully allowed her to grow up. This is Vera asserting herself, finally shedding her old skin to begin again after grieving.

Neil Cooper

FILM FESTIVAL

TRICK Glasgow Film Theatre, August 22Cameo in Edinburgh, August 25

HHH

GABRIEL is a shy angel with dimples and an ambition to write Broadway musicals; Mark is a go-go dancer whose nickname of "beer can" has more to do with the contents of his tango briefs than his drinking habits. He is, we are led to believe, experienced. Their eyes meet in a subway carriage, and within a matter of minutes they are heading back to Gabriel's apartment for some boys-will-be-boys action. So far, so gay.

Unfortunately Gabriel's straight roommate comes home with his girlfriend - and so begins an adventure through New York's gay scene as the horny duo look for a venue to consummate their relationship.

You can see the punchline of this joke a mile off, but it's still pretty funny: all Mark and Gabriel's attempts at meaningless sex are thwarted so they fall in love instead.

Trick works all the angles of camp comedy, from torch-singing queens to embittered drag acts. At times the film comes perilously close to qualifying as a musical, with a series of song-and-dance routines barely integrated into the plot. But the musical is just such a gay artform that the whole thing makes perfect sense. A date movie for gays and straights alike.

Eddie Gibb

FRINGE THEATRE

DREAM STATE Theatre WorkshopUntil August 29 HHHH

THE Scots are a fiercely patriotic race, but just what exactly are we so proud of? Our football team is an international disgrace, our shiny new parliament is already shaping up to be a huge non-starter and the tourist board still insist on portraying us as a nation of tartan-clad caber-tossers.

At this allegedly pivotal point in our collective history, Glasgow-based Theatre Works explore themes of personal and national identity with a dose of cynicism. Mixing a collage of snippets from over a dozen poems with sound and movement, the three performers create a striking visual landscape. From the classroom to the exile enforced by the dole queue, these stories are intrinsically Scottish yet powerfully universal.

This is gripping stuff even for those who don't give a flying fig about the nationalist card. Although it takes a while for the audience to get up to speed with what's happening on stage, the hypnotic language and intensity of the performances suck you into this dreamscape. It's not the easiest ride, but then the most worthwhile experiences rarely are.

Claire Prentice

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

LES DISPARATES:

Boris Charmatz Edinburgh Festival TheatreRun ended

HH

THE second programme of the Boris Charmatz mini-season is in complete contrast to A Bras Le Corps. For Les Disparates, the setting is the huge stage of the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, opened wide, with Charmatz dancing alone apart from a weighty lump of sculpture by Toni Grand.

For 40 minutes we are invited to question whether taking the largest stage in the country for a solo danced mainly in silence is evidence of colossal skill or enormous conceit. For the first section, remarkable talent seems the possible answer, as Charmatz holds the stage in its immensity and the audience holds its collective breath to see what comes next. Unfortunately, not a lot does. By the last section there just isn't quite enough of the frictionless spinning and jumping that can make Charmatz such an exciting performer to sustain the piece.

Don Morris What's going on at the Gilded Balloon and is it any good? STEPHEN PHELAN finds out Nick, Kevin and Jennifer from Chicago just saw Greg Fleet Nick: "Nah. I didn't like that at all. He's so completely average."

Kevin: "Yeah, he starts off good with all this evil stuff from the Bible, and you think it's going to be quite cutting-edge. But then he just starts chatting like a guy you might talk to in a pub. And that isn't funny in itself."

Jennifer: "I liked him all right. He seems like a nice guy - but if he can get a whole act based on just chatting away then anybody could do a Fringe show, you know?"

Nick: "That's maybe the whole point of the Fringe. But it kind of sucks paying so much money to see mediocre stuff like that."

Kellie from Adelaide just saw Dave Hughes "Very dry - and he's a very sexy man as well. And I'd tell him that to his face. Oh, and can I recommend Tripod? I saw that the other night and it was funny too. Quite weird, though."

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.