“Day 7, Shows 17-19: TheatreEddys Goes to the 2017 Fringe Festival”
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Adrian Berry
A father he has not seen nor heard from since he was two and a famed, gender-fluid rock star he has never met nor seen in live performance have shaped who Martin is as he now turns eighteen. A loner who has a severe eating disorder and sometimes does not come out of his room for days, Martin is only really alive when he is listening to David’s music (David as in Bowie), wildly prancing and dancing around his room with headphones escorting him into the only world where he is even mildly happy. But then on this eighteenth birthday, his mum (whom he does dearly love) hands him a package from the father who also was an avid — no, a crazed — Bowie follower and fan. Inside this package is a letter written specifically for him to read on his day, on the day he becomes a man.
Alex Walton is nothing short of stunningly magnificent as he embodies the boy whose hands are perpetually knotted tight like an old, arthritic man; whose body is often hiding curled as a ball in a dark corner; and who alternates between days of starving himself and an hour of cramming so much food into his stomach that all it can do is explode out again.
But when Martin reads his dad’s letter under the privacy of his bed with only a torch for light, he bounds into a hyper-energetic state to begin a one-day, thrilling journey that will change his life forever. Following the footsteps of a dad whom he hopes will be waiting to meet him on this most important day to-date in his eighteen-year life, Martin sets out to see and experience the important milestones of David Bowie’s life and career — stops on a map that were sixteen years before hand-drawn by Wayne (his dad) for Martin now to use in maneuvering through London.
Adrian Berry has created and directs a scenario and a script rich in excitement, discovery, and topsy-turvy corners — both for Martin and for us. Along with Martin, we learn and experience much about David Bowie’s remarkable life and music. Rob Newman becomes the channeled voice of Bowie who from time to time speaks to Martin’s searching mind. A fabulous soundtrack of Bowie’s songs accompanies Martin as he opens doors not only to understand finally what drove his dad to leave and never return but also to understand who he now is and what he must do to move on with his life as a blossoming adult.
Rating: 5 E
*******
The Flying Lovers of Vtebsk
Daniel Jamieson
“We are like a pair of opera glasses: We choose to see the same things and like the same things.” So says a Marc to his Bella, using just one of the many dozens of images that magically, whimsically, and romantically come to life in spoken and sung words, crafted body poses, and surreal properties of an extremely inventive set in Daniel Jamieson’s world premiere, The Flying Lovers of Vtebsk.
Throughout, familiar images from the famed artist’s paintings suddenly appear before us as Marc Chagall’s life and his lifelong devotion to his first love and wife, Bella, flies by (often literally) before us. Under the playful direction of Emma Rice and the color-rich designs of Sophia Clist, we see a bride flying and then the hand-in-hand lovers sailing across the sky, looking at the village below them. Green cows, red roosters, and blue fish come and go as a winged clock ticks and tocks through the years of the lovers’ lives.
Marc Antolin and Audrey Brisson singly and together bring an electricity that sparkles every moment they are on stage. When singing, their voices are crisp, bold, and unfaltering — always capturing both the Jewish and Russian origins of Marc and Bella in their authentic accents and manners of presentation. Ian Ross’s music is moving yet funny, familiar yet foreign, and of an ancient Hebrew people yet also of an early twentieth century’s period. The choreography of Emma Rice and Simon Baker sweeps actors into positions and combines their movements into steps that are straight from the artist’s imagination as well as from a chosen people’s traditions passed generation to generation.
History of a world where terrible things happen again and again — from pogroms to a Great War to a Holocaust — create a parallel story in great contrast to the fanciful and happy images of an artist whose canvas becomes a way of preserving a world he sadly sees disappearing. But in the end, this is a love story that helps launch an entire movement in art —Expressionism — as the creator’s imagination, wit, and depth of expression come to full fruition nurtured by the love for his bride, his family, and his people.
Rating: 5 E
*******
The Divide, Part 2
Alan Ayckbourn
Old Vic, Edinburgh International Festival & Karl Sydow Production
While some multi-part plays have the ability to exist singularly, Alan Ayckbourn’s world premiere The Divide, Part 2 needs its Part 1 in order to understand the context; the time period; and the particulars of rules, norms, and regulations so important to the story. Because Part 1 ends in a bit of cliff-hanger, it would ruin that half’s experience to relate via a review too much detail of even the initial set-up that begins Part 2.
But let it be said, the intrigue, fascination, and electrifying compelling nature of Part 1 continues with full aplomb in Part 2. The division of the sexes continues in this society almost 150 years from now where women have an infection that becomes active at the age of eleven and will kill exposed males within ten days when they reach sixteen. The rigid rules of “The Preacher” are even more upheld by the conservative sectors of the population, but there is also a rising and ever-more vocal group of moderate and liberal voices that are calling for some easing of rules that seem no longer to be necessary. And amidst this latter group, there are more radical practices being lived out behind the walls of same-sex, female couples in the Southern Divide — lives where colors beyond black, white, and gray and clothing beyond all-encompassing black robes, bonnets, and gloves (not to mention the black veils covering faces) are beginning to emerge.
As in Part 1, the discovered diary in the mid century of the 2200s of a teenage girl, Soween, is still the governing storyline of her and her adored brother’s (Elihu’s) lives as they approach the era’s definition of adulthood. Erin Doherty continues to be absolutely astounding in her role as the girl in her early teens. If anything, she is even stronger in her portrayal in this half as she confronts issues of severe ostracism and abuse by her peers, of a wished love where the other half only wants to be friends, and of decisions how much to rebel and how much to conform to the wishes of her parents. Her issues — while in a context extremely foreign to all but the most oppressive of 2017 societies — are yet the dilemmas, hopes, and roller-coaster emotions of teenagers in every era, including our own.
Jake Davies’s Elihu has matured in many physical and emotional dimensions in Part 2. Where his wandering eyes, his bubbling hormones, and his artistic passions take him is a key thread of what will eventually cause big changes for him, Soween, and the entire society around them.
Performances powerful in the first half become even more challenging and memorable in the second by Claire Burt as the severe-in-nature Mapa and by Thusithu Jayasundera as the softer Mama. Taunting, downright-mean-at-times girls (supposedly friends of Soween’s) are brilliantly played by Joanne McGuinness as Axi, Sophie Melville as Sassa, and Clare Lawrence Moody as Desollia. Weruche Opia and Letty Thomas take on key and pivotal roles as Giella and Grosh, respectively, while Martin Quinn continues as the fun-loving, best-pal (of Elihu), Fergo. Richard Katz reigns supreme in both halves in a series of pivotal roles, including two very different tutors of Elihu, one of which (Conrad) is particularly well-acted/portrayed.
An underlying score and sung chants by Christopher Nightingale and musically directed by Will Stuart flow though both Parts. But in Part 2, the music takes on an increasingly plot-enhancing role, with a rear-curtain opening and the appearance of the orchestra and particularly the large, mixed-voice chorus becoming one of the emotional memories to long savor from this remarkable, new work.
As I say in my review of Part 1, The Divide is a major and significant addition to the world’s stages. I believe there will be a long future for the two plays that speak volumes about the rise globally of oppressive societies where religious leaders try to control most/all aspects of people’s lives. But more importantly, in his The Divide, Parts 1 and 2, Alan Ayckbourn has tapped into universal aspects of the human experience and psyche that declare loud and proud what is essential to live a meaningful and productive life — whether in 2017, 2150, or 2250.
Rating: 5 E
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