Another day, another six shows! And today was a good day of powerful new theatre...
#7. Rebounding Hail
Disparat Theater
Underbelly Cowgate @ 11.20
Rebounding Hail is a thrillingly exciting piece, revelling in the power of storytelling. And, justly, it is a wonderful piece of storytelling itself. A strong, united ensemble led by Holly Kilpatrick are utterly gripping from the first moment to the last.
It is the story of a girl who lives in a room filled with unfinished books by some of the greatest writers to have lived - from Camus to Dickens, Bronte to Marx. Each time she opens a story it bursts into life around her. Suddenly, a new book is dropped into the room and despite the warnings of the voice in her head, the girl is determined to read the story held within its silver pages. The boundaries between what is real and what is fiction blur until the characters seem just as real and just as important - if not more so - than the people outside of the books.
The glimpses into unfinished works by great writers are wittily selected, creating a rich mix of time periods and characters slickly handled by the able, dynamic ensemble. It is directed with confidence and panache, and the space becomes filled with all the colour and life of the greatest imaginations.
Guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat and sure to surprise, Rebounding Hail is an impressive statement of intent from youthful company Disparat Theater, recently graduated from East 15's Acting & Contemporary Theatre course. Young artists to watch!
#8. Institute
Gecko Theatre
Pleasance Courtyard @ 13.00
Gecko's outstanding Institute is a mindful, intricate, bold, subtle, resonant, precise masterpiece; the team behind previous Fringe hit Missing have surpassed themselves.
A study of masculine inadequacies, real or imagined, and the crippling psychological impact these can have, the piece focusses on four inter-reliant men existing in some form of institution who have been debilitated by overwhelming awareness of their own deficiencies. One has been left by his adored fiancé, one was left unable to work following bouts of suicidal depression, another was shattered by the death of his father while the leader of the pack, a paternal authority figure himself and perhaps some sort of doctor, is himself terminally ill. They all seem desperate to be cared for, and determined to care for others. But, the piece seems to ask, is the care we give always for the best?
The ensemble work together impeccably, in terms of both the physical work and multilingual dialogue. It has a truly timeless, placeless feeling as the characters understand each other's languages effortlessly - two speak English, while the other two speak German and French. The movement and choreography is sublime; the storytelling through use of the body is second to none as the music cuts from ominous to jolly and back again. They are a resourceful group, using every inch of their joyously surprising, playful set to its maximum potential. Filing cabinets become portals, rooms, even glass cages, and double as watch towers and ladders. A floating space appears in the back wall, with a perpetually falling man plummeting through his hospital bed into a vast void, then unfeasibly swiftly reappearing only to descend once again.
It is moving, shocking and humorous in equal measure. The performance had me open-mouthed in awe, on the very edge of my seat. Institute is a thrilling piece of physical and visual theatre from a unique company destined for greatness. Do anything you can to see it.
#9. Tonight With Donny Stixx by Philip Ridley
Supporting Wall // David Mercatali
Pleasance Courtyard @ 14.45
Philip Ridley's latest long-form monologue, Tonight With Donny Stixx, is a painfully perfect companion piece to the overwhelming Dark Vanilla Jungle. An intense hour of theatre, it tells the story of Donny who, in his lust for fame as a great magician, has done something terrible.
In the same way as Dark Vanilla Jungle, it takes the form of direct audience address, as if it is a stand-up set or a television chat show, which quickly becomes a cruel, unforgiving trial by public opinion.
Ridley's writing is as strong as ever. It is full of that cutting East London rhythm, searing itself into your memory, not giving you any choice but to let it in as if Ridley has hold of your very spinal cord and will not release you until you have come through the experience with his character. It demands everything of you, but if you give it the piece will reveal unforeseen treasures. This is as good as anything Ridley has written before, and belies a true economy of form that suggests a real mastercraftsman at work.
Combined with Dark Vanilla Jungle, and in the canon of Ridley's work, a consciousness emerges of the damage done to people in childhood by unforgivable parenting, damning them almost inevitably to their final, tragic fate. The people truly condemned, it seems, are not the individuals themselves, but those responsible for forming that person. The begs the crushing question; could it all have been different? If only.
Sean Michael Verey's performance is a tour-de-force. It is phenomenally well observed, as he jumps into playing all the other people in his doomed story, from compulsive mother to stern father, doting aunt to his brace-faced magician's assistant. It is a masterclass in truth, transformation and stamina.
Director David Mercatali, now a seasoned Ridley interpreter, presents his latest with recognisable minimalism that is almost an affront. The bare space becomes full, almost stifling, in the oppressive heat of the story. Spit flies, sweat drips, tears fall.
Brimming with aggression and fizzing with vulnerability, Tonight With Donny Stixx will haunt you. Let it. It's worth it.
#10. Cell
Smoking Apples // Dogfish Theatre
Underbelly Cowgate @ 16.35
Smoking Apples were set up with the central aim of using their unique brand of puppetry to make difficult topics more accessible, to enable discussion and further understanding. In their collaboration with Dogfish Theatre, they created Cell, whose topic is Motor Neurone Disease. Not an easy one, presumably made even harder by the personal resonance for the creators.
Ted is the story's unexpecting but not unwilling focus. Through his story of discovery, diagnosis and dealing with MND, the creators have made a piece with real resonance. The puppetry is expertly handled, using a great blend of styles. Ted himself is beautifully manipulated.
This is a life affirming piece about full of love and laughter, but not shying away from the distressing truth of the disease. Inventive and playful, Cell is a joy to behold.
#11. If I Were Me
Antler
Underbelly Cowgate @ 18.05
Antler's latest work, If I Were Me, is a gorgeously bizarre, stupendously silly hour of theatre about feeling like you don't know who you are. A feeling, I'm sure, we all can relate to.
Phillip works in an advertising agency, unnoticed and unappreciated. Even Phillip doesn't appreciate Phillip. In fact, Phillip doesn't really know who Phillip is. Maybe Phillip doesn't want to be Phillip. Has he ever? For all his trying, he just can't make other people want to talk to back him, the words don't come out in the right order. And then there's the person with the binoculars who is, perhaps, no one at all. What of her?
Not easily understandable, it is absurd and ultimately jolly good fun. It makes some powerful points about the fallibility of our own closely held notions of identity. A strong ensemble, Antler are unafraid to break convention and form, playing and experimenting in all directions. The piece has a real sense of that free-falling sensation one has when one has nothing of oneself to cling onto.
Bold as ever, Antler's If I Were Me is a bit of a tricky one, and it may just escape you in its obscurity, but it is without a doubt engaging and entertaining. Who knows what Antler will do next!
#12. The Christians by Lucas Hnath
Gate Theatre // Chris Haydon
Traverse Theatre @ 21.30
From the team that created the Fringe 2013 hit Grounded, Fringe First Award Winner The Christians is a deeply intelligent, profoundly articulate play allowing a complicated debate to rage in a safer-than-usual arena. By this I mean that Lucas Hnath's play presents a fierce theological debate, forcing questions about why we believe what we believe and how securely attached to those beliefs we are, without allowing weak-willed mockery to reduce it to squabbling as seems to so often happen in reality.
It is a rigorous piece of writing that shows deep understanding of faith and scripture, without ever directly preaching at the audience. Despite its setting in a form of American super-church, with Pastor Paul holding court first delivering his sermon and then attempting to field criticism from all angles, it manages to maintain a real balance constantly forcing you as an audience member to re-evaluate who you agree with most, or disagree with least.
The cast of five, supported by a full and very authentic community choir (even if they were a little bit reserved for an American super-church), give confident performances under Haydon's savvy direction. The stylised nature keeps the piece on its toes, playing with the contrasting conventions of public address and private confidence. William Gaminara as the Pastor is particularly notable; a great balance of headstrong dedication and self-doubt, while Lucy Ellinson is moving as a passionate Congregant who emerges from the choir.
Frustratingly, the show fell short by not presenting a third way. There are two sides to a debate offered, which both presume an unshakeable fundamental belief in God. But what of other angles - what of the multifarious other paths that lead to the top of the mountain? For all its smart word-play and theorising, it got my mind working intellectually but didn't leave me reeling.
That said, Hnath's well-paced script asks wider questions about leadership, fluidity of values and identity, the need for communication, and adapting to the demands of a modern world. It is a brave and robust piece that is certainly worth a visit in its final week!
More to come...
