#13. Urinetown: the Musical
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Assembly Hall @ 11.45
I was stunned by this incredibly ambitious production of Urinetown, which was executed expertly by a cast of graduating students from RCS.
Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis' 2001 Broadway hit, recently seen in London in Jamie Lloyd's brilliant production, is a satirical comedy set in a dystopian future where a twenty-year drought has caused a crippling water shortage making private bathrooms unthinkable. All toilets are in the form of public amenities, run by the corrupt mega-corp Urine Good Company at extortionate fees as an attempt to control consumption. There are harsh laws forcing citizens to pay to pee, and if they don't they face being sent to the mythologised penal colony Urinetown. The oppressed masses rise up, as may be expected, led by the simplistic but big-hearted Bobby Strong, everything you'd expect in a musical hero, in an attempt to win free peeing for all! A pretty absurd concept, granted, but an effective one.
Our narrator is Officer Lockstock (strong turn from Joel Schaefer), a sadistic enforcer of the law under the thumb of UGC's CEO Caldwell B Cladwell. He is assisted by the cuttingly perceptive Little Sally, a street urchin. The show satirises politics, capitalism, bureaucracy, populism and socialism - in other words, no one is safe! It also satirises the musical as a form, in hilarious songs like 'Too Much Exposition', considering what factors might kill a show.
The production is slickly directed by Ken Alexander and exuberantly choreographed by Paul Smethurst, with a great toilet-like set and effective lighting. But the cast take the production to another level and it is to the production teams credit that we can keep our focus solidly on their performances. This cast are quite frankly phenomenal. Sublime voices, real energy and commitment and some memorable interpretations of some of musical theatre's greatest roles. I liked how many used their own accent; Scottish and Irish voices are prevalent alongside Bobby's expressive American. It is rare to hear regional British dialects on the musical stage; it is ever so refreshing.
The performances are pant-wettingly funny, handling the rapid plot and challenging songs with ease. All those in lead roles do so to an extraordinarily high standard, showing great ability as well as technique.
The cast I saw included a charming George Arvidson as Bobby whose voice soars, the wonderful Brigid Shine as Hope, a delightful Jenny Hayley-Douglas as Little Sally, and the ravishing, hilarious Ash Henning as Miss Pennywise who owns the stage better than some with decades of experience. They are supported by a fantastically strong, characterful ensemble who make a joyful sound. Run, Freedom, Run is a highlight, as is Ash Henning's raucous rendition of It's a Priviledge to Pee.
The cast I saw included a charming George Arvidson as Bobby whose voice soars, the wonderful Brigid Shine as Hope, a delightful Jenny Hayley-Douglas as Little Sally, and the ravishing, hilarious Ash Henning as Miss Pennywise who owns the stage better than some with decades of experience. They are supported by a fantastically strong, characterful ensemble who make a joyful sound. Run, Freedom, Run is a highlight, as is Ash Henning's raucous rendition of It's a Priviledge to Pee.
This production of Urinetown is a testament to the world-class training delivered by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Some of the best young musical theatre talent around.
#14. Idiots
Caligula's Alibi
Pleasance Courtyard @ 14.15
Another company founded on East 15's Acting and Contemporary Theatre course, in the last few years Caligula's Alibi have won several awards and started to make a real name for themselves. Idiots is a raucous, absurd, irreverent piece about Dostoyevski, his work, his life and his afterlife. It centres on his most autobiographical piece, The Idiot, and uses it as a lens through which to see a certain vision of a purgatory-bound Fyodor whose benefit claim is being examined by a Bureaucrat forcing confrontation of several age-old demons.
Jonnie Bayfield's performance as the famed writer - and as his character Prince Myshkin, and also as a form of existentialistic cabaret host - is something to behold. Although that said, his Dostoyevski is rather disparaging of blogs... Ahem. Awkward. Well, as he said, these days everyone has an opinion! It is a brilliant performance subverting any notion you may have had of the fourth wall, audience anonymity and passivity, natural plot progression etc. etc. etc.! Stewart Agnew, Adam Colbourne and Jessica-Lee Hopkins are fantastically theatrical in their own gaunt-faced, hollow-eyed roles. The performance is underscored tirelessly by Jonathan Hopwood live on distorted guitar, kick drum and various other noisemakers.
It is a passionately irreverent, comedically tragic look at the life and death of this great - or bad - man. How will he be judged? That's up to you.
Creators Will Cowell and Jonnie Bayfield have produced a wickedly funny, theatrical, unpredictable, crude, intelligent piece of theatre. Caligula's Alibi once again prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.
That's the lot! Fourteen exciting pieces of theatre from some extraordinary artists. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe should formally be appointed one of the great wonders of the world; it truly is one of the greatest catalysts of and platforms for new work. The artists who take part are often doing so at great financial, social and personal cost and all involved deserve to be applauded. I simply cannot wait until next August for another summer of risk-taking, rule-breaking, inspiring theatre.
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