Review: Reality Chokes ***

The best theatrical works hold a mirror up to the audience and make them challenge and question their own lives and issues. As such, the fact I enjoyed this tale of four failed punk musicians going through a mid-life crisis probably tells you as much about me as it does about Reality Chokes.

Punk band Sonic Generation almost made it in the 70s. The classic irresistible cocktail of sex, drugs and rock & roll saw them fail however, and now - 30 years later - they are reunited for talk of a possible reunion. They turn up in a dingy rehearsal room, bringing with them their instruments, their wives and girlfriends and - most of all - their hang-ups, unresolved issues and neuroses.

The cast of Reality Chokes all put in accomplished performances, Lloyd Morris as Plod and Al Gregg as Dan in particular convincing as veterans of the great Punk Wars of the 70s. Cathy McMannon as Dan's wife Chrissie is also excellent, her world-weariness dropping away as soon as she hears the Sonic Generation 'classics' of her youth being played once more.

Although as far removed from a musical as it is possible to be, Reality Chokes does feature loud, raw and live (and actually pretty good) punk numbers, both originals and plot-relevant covers such as The Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love", proving the cast are as handy with a guitar as they are with a script. There is also moments of performance poetry and rasta toasting which serve to punctuate the majority of the straight-played scenes and these work well as an original and often humourous narrative device.

Reality Chokes successfully holds your attention for its length and it is something of a mystery to me why it was so poorly-attended last night (14 in the audience including myself). Perhaps it only really appeals to those who see a pretty accurate reflection of themselves in the mirror it presents.

Reality Chokes runs until Aug 30th at the New Town Theatre. £11 (£10 concession)

Review: Rich Hall's Campfire Stories ***

As you will probably have gathered by now, comedy is not really my genre of choice, but I do enjoy Rich Hall's line in dry and laconic delivery (it's the grumpy old man thing that appeals to me...)

Whilst he's also doing a one-man show this Fringe, Rich Hall's Campfire Stories was a lot more up my street. In this hour of clever and mostly gentle comedy, Hall and two other performers - Mike Wilmot and Tim Williams - spin yarns and lines around a campfire in the woods, with the tales veering off on enjoyable and sometimes quite bizarre tangents that share themes and moods with some of Hall's short stories and other writings.

As is often the case, the biggest laughs come from the corpsing, ad-libbing and fourth wall-breaking moments, but it is testament to the performers' abilities as comedians and storytellers that this slice of male mid-life Americana is enjoyable and amusing throughout.

Rich Hall's Campfire Stories runs until 31 August at the Assembly Rooms. £12 (£11 concession)

Review: Janis ***

Janis is an accomplished one-woman performance, recounting the life & career highs and lows of Janis Joplin.

Nicola Haydn turns in an extremely well-observed and characterised performance, evoking the speech and mannerisms of the iconic singer so accurately that the suspension of disbelief takes only a few minutes to happen, and you are convinced it is Joplin herself recounting her thoughts and fears to you from an intimate and sparse set, centered around her bed.

Joplin's life story is told in mostly linear fashion, and this works best when her personal thoughts and neuroses are centered on rather than her well-publicised exploits on and off stage. That said, it doesn't drag and the performance carries the piece along through its strength of character and pacing.

The play is practically all monologue, and perhaps surprisingly it is only in the last few minutes of the performance that Haydn takes up the acoustic guitar - previously left untouched at the side of the set - and proves that she is equally capable of channelling the spirit of Joplin's music as she is her character.

Janis runs until Aug 31st at The Gilded Balloon. £12 (£10 concession)

Review: Capercaillie ***

I don't go to a lot of live music gigs during the Festival, as I'm of the opinion you can see most bands at other times of the year, and there's so much unique and unmissable going on elsewhere.

However, I picked Capercaillie almost as a brief respite from the rest of the Festival mayhem, and on the strength of last night's show, I'm glad I did.

The 8-piece band play a tight and well-blended mix of traditional Scottish Celtic music, world influences and contemporary sounds, all topped off with the beautiful and at times haunting voice of Karen Matheson. I've been a fan of their uniquely Scottish sound for over 20 years now, and it was great to see them play to a mix of fans and first-timers, drawn to the Queen's Hall by their official Fringe appearance.

Because of that, Capercaillie's set was slightly curtailed due to timing and the audience reaction was a little muted, given many people's unfamiliarity with the band. However, the music shone through, and the collection of uplifting and melodic reels, waltzes - as well as some beautifully moving laments and ballads - gave us all a welcome opportunity to hear one of the best Scottish folk acts in the business.

Capercaillie play the Queen's Hall again this evening.

Review: Paul Merton's Impro Chums ***

Paul Merton's Impro Chums is one of those shows that does exactly what it says on the tin. Merton, together with a troupe of comedy friends (including US comedian Mike McShane), spend an hour riffing off audience suggestions for props, locations, occupations etc, creating some very funny and clever off-the-cuff sketches as a result.

Playing to a packed house at the Pleasance, Merton and crew entertain throughout, with some genuinely funny moments of ad-libbing and corpsing caused by ever-more bizarre suggestions from the crowd ("be the man who puts wooden pips in raspberry jam using a bicycle"...?!).

It's obvious - and forgivable - that some of the longer routines are pre-scripted and rehearsed, with some of the suggestions slotted in to intentionally left blank points in the routine, but ultimately this is an hour of good - and mostly clean - fun.

Paul Merton's Impro Chums runs at The Pleasance until 29th August (not 18th). Many shows sold out. Various from £11.50

Review: Malaje ***

Malaje is the world premiere of a show by Spanish troupe Cia Albadulake, appearing at the New Town Theatre as part of the eclectic and exciting Universal Arts Festival.

Billing itself as a ‘flamenco circus’, Malaje features seven talented performers and musicians in a joyful hour of dance, acrobatics and humour.

Lit seductively in shades of red throughout the hour’s performance, Cia Albadulake entertain with flamboyant flamenco routines, impressive feats of juggling and some interesting acrobatic acts. Never quite managing to make your jaw drop in the same way some of the acts in La Clique and its ilk do, it's still hard not to be won over by the performers’ infectious enthusiasm and charm; and the unique flamenco take that is prevalent throughout.

Music is excellent, with accomplished vocals, guitar and rhythms that have your hands involuntarily clapping along in time before you know what you’re doing. As a fan of the cosmopolitan nature of the Fringe, Malaje was not only a great show but also a fine start to the 2009 season.



Malaje runs from August 6th to 30th (not 17th) at the New Town Theatre. Priced various from £8.75

Jerry Sadowitz ***

Jerry Sadowitz, despite any of his claims to the contrary, is bitter, boys & girls. And sick, twisted, offensive and foul-mouthed as well.

The embodiment of the "I'm not discriminatory, I hate everyone" mentality, Sadowitz rants, raves and spits through an hour of close-to-the-bone comedy interspersed with superb close-up magic.

Not quite the 'charming young conjuror' he ironically claims to be, with his wild hair stuffed into a top hat and bulging Marty Feldman-like eyes, he interrupts his magic tricks with diatribes against everyone: women, homosexuals, children, Chinese, Scots, English - all are treated to the ire of his acid tongued wrath.

Not to everyone's taste (a few people left early on during a particularly offensive spleen-vent on children), and, despite laughing at the outrageous things coming out of his mouth, there is a small, niggling suspicion that he is merely this generation's Bernard Manning with a few card tricks...

The Jabberwock ***

The Jabberwock is an accomplished piece by theatre group The Scarlet Blade, a quintet of young professionally-trained stage-fighters.

Taking a Blair Witch style approach, it begins with a group of friends telling ghost stories around a campfire, until one of them is possessed by the spirit of the tale of the Jabberwock. The rest of the play switches between the imagined land of the Bandersnatch et al and the real-world setting of the camp.

With their background in stage fighting, the story is peppered with several visceral and violent fight scenes, including sword duels, hand-to-hand brawls and wooden stick battles. They are excellent at carrying this off, and at times it looks as though they are really hitting each other. Hard. The venue is tiny, and you are so up close and personal that you can see the sweat and spittle fly as the cast connect viciously and realistically.

With a bigger budget, allowing more in the way of set, costume and pacing, this could have been excellent. As it was, it was still extremely good and fascinating to watch the expertly portrayed action that at times felt as though you were part of.

Dragon Lady - Being Anna May Wong ***

After a narrow escape where we started off in the wrong venue about to watch a comedy show about Shakespeare, we made it to Dragon Lady by the skin of our teeth.

In this show, Alice Lee plays Anna May Wong, a Chinese movie star who featured in Hollywood films in the 20s and 30s. During this one-woman performance, we learn of the challenges and inherent racism in the movie business at the time, with Wong forever being cast as the 'exotic' vamp or villain, and never allowed a happy ending.

Lee portrays Wong well, and we journey with her through her initial excitement and optimism through her frustration and spiral into alcoholism and loneliness. A thought-provoking and accomplished piece of theatre, Dragon Lady only suffers from having a rather abrupt ending, leaving those of us unfamiliar with Wong's life keen to find out more. But I suppose that's what Wikipedia's for...

Etcetera ***

Etcetera is an experimental piece of puppet theatre from Eastern Europe. As the show begins, the stage is filled with tables and lifeless and expressionless cloth dolls draped upon them and lying on the floor.

Then, three black-clad women take the stage and begin to circle the puppets, choosing one after another and bringing them to life. Without words, each puppet begins to move and acts out a small vignette, ultimately leading to the doll's doom. Some are hung by ropes they are unable to escape; others strapped to a bicycle wheel; even a tiny child puppet doesn't escape its fate.

By the end of the performance, each doll is taped up to a black backdrop, and they hang there, now even more lifeless than they began. The puppeteers, like Greek Fates, have toyed with them and now melt away once more into the darkness.

Although a little overlong and at times obtuse, Etcetera contains enough visually striking imagery and poignant moments to ultimately impress.

Britt on Britt ***

Britt on Britt is a one-woman monologue relating the life, loves and fortunes of Britt Ekland, iconic Swedish movie star of the 60s and 70s. Fortunately, the one-woman show is performed by Ms Ekland herself, still looking great at 65.

Standing onstage in front of a projector screen displaying photos from her life and career, Ekland takes us on a personal journey, describing how she was discovered, her relationships with Peter Sellers, Rod Stewart and others, and her feelings and emotions at the times. As well as setting the record straight once and for all as to whether it's her bare backside in The Wicker Man...

She has ample charisma and obvious charm to carry the show, although at times it does feel a little self-congratulatory (like when she reads a list of all the movies she's starred in over the years). On the whole, though, it is an interesting and intimate experience, especially when you remember this is a woman that has met nearly every famous person in the last few decades.

Mr Gong's Hair Salon ***

A family show from South Korea, Mr Gong's Hair Salon is performed by four actors, each changing costume many times throughout the show to portray a wide number of characters.

What makes this show a little unusual is that each character sports a large, full-head mask with a fixed, comic expression and the entire tale is told via mime, music and slapstick.

The plot, such that it matters, involves an aged hairdresser reminiscing about past glories and the scrapes and japes that his fellow employees, customers and pet dog get into. It's all good fun (mostly clean - there's not many family shows out there that feature Viagra and excerpts from porn movies, I suppose...) and performed with a great deal of energy and good timing. There's also some truly funny audience participation, which I know only too well from first-hand experience...

The hour whizzes by and I defy anyone to leave this without a big grin on their face.

Rich Hall - Fifty-Cent Words ***

This intimate and enjoyable show sees US comedian Rich Hall reading excerpts from his own writing - both from one published and from another in manuscript form.

Like his stand-up, his writing benefits from impeccably timed, caustic delivery. Here though, in a show that would be equally suited to the Edinburgh Book Festival, Hall's observations and characterisations are given much more room to maneuver than the space normally allowed by spoken-word routines.

Vitriolic then apologetic attacks on Aberdeen; musings on trying to teach a London-based advertising company the finer points of baseball; slices of David Lynch-style Americana - all work, and all are shot through with a vein of dark humour.

Hall's charisma is also evident, and he has a sell-out crowd hanging on his every word - only twice was moaning heard. Once, when he ran out of time and therefore left a half-read tale untold; the other as a result of the corniest joke in the world...but both times, he was quickly and easily forgiven, and I left wanting to read more of his work - not least to find out the ending to that unfinished tale.

 

Paul Merton's Improv Chums ***

Paul Merton's Improv Chums is good, old-fashioned comedy entertainment, just like what they used to do on Friday night TV when we only had 4 channels.

The eponymous Merton and four 'chums' (including Whose Line Is It Anyway veteran Mike McShane) spend an entertaining hour riffing on audience suggestions for household objects, movie genres, Sherlock Holmes mystery titles and the like, creating sketches on the hoof. Luckily, most of these hit home - although it's the nature of the improv beast that some fall a little short of the funny-bone target.

For the most part, however, this was good, (mostly) clean fun and the sell-out crowd lapped it up. It would seem churlish to pick fault with something as good-natured and clever as this, so I won't. Except maybe a little (with a spatula, in the style of a silent movie, whilst pretending to be a fireman).