Michael Roy Andrew as George in Of Mice and Men
Arts Correspondent ANDY MOSELEY reviews a sample of shows from the first week of the Edinburgh Festival
Of Mice and Men
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This adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic, strips back the original leaving only the two main characters – George and Lenny –on stage. Beginning as they camp down on their way to the latest in a long line of ranches where they earn their living in 1930s America, Michael Roy Andrew as George and Nigel Miles-Thomas as Lenny, perfectly capture the dynamic that ties the two men to each other.
Much as Lenny is a burden that George could do without, he is also the one person who needs him. Looking after Lenny gives George a purpose and company, as he imagines a better life for both of them.
Key scenes are brought to life, as Andrew as George reacts to conversations and provocations from characters that are neither seen nor heard, and tries to ensure that Lenny understands how he has to control his urges and instincts.
While the format inevitably means that some of the rich detail in the novel is lost, it also provides an opportunity to give Lenny a far greater depth than he has in the book. A show-stealing monologue by Miles-Thomas is superb as it turns him into a complex and multi-layered character. Well worth seeing for anyone who has read the book.
Assembly Rooms (Drawing Room) 1.55pm
6 – 30 August (not 18th, 25th)
Krapp’s Last Tape
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One of several Samuel Beckett plays getting revivals at this year’s fringe, Krapp’s Last Tape has the extra pulling power of being directed by Stockard Channing. However, to give this as a sole reason for seeing the show would be both underplaying the strength of David Westhead’s performance in the title role, and over stating the extent to which any director can stamp their own mark on the work of a playwright whose estate prevents and deviation from the dialogue or stage directions as written.
What Westhead and Channing have created is a production that perfectly captures and elevates both the script and concept that underpin it. On a minimal set, surrounded by the detritus of a life reduced to the remnants of its past, Krapp celebrates his 69th birthday by randomly selecting and playing back one of many spools of tape he has recorded to mark the end of previous years. Much of the rest of the play sees him reacting to words emerging from thirty years previously as the recording is played back.
The mixture of present day emotions Westhead conveys provide a perfect counterpoint to the varying memories from three decades ago, showing a sense of despair at the pretentions of his early midlife sentiments, regret for what he may have incorrectly dismissed as inconsequential and an ironic acknowledgment of how his response to reaching 39 now sounds to a man who is a year short of 70.
For Beckett aficionados, or anyone who is only aware of his best known work Waiting For Godot, this is an essential show to see this year.
All proceeds from the show go to the Wembley to Soweto Foundation (Wembley To Soweto – Learning Through A Lens: Over a decade of positive impact, operating globally, changing lives) a registered charity, providing photographic training and life-skills to disadvantaged young people, enabling them to move their lives forward and, ultimately, make a positive contribution to the society in which they live.
Assembly Roxy (Upstairs) 1.25pm
5 -31 August (not 17th)
11½ Angry Men
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With a script by Owen O’Neill, co-adaptor of The Shawshank Redemption, direction from Guy Masterson and a cast including Joe Pasquale, making his Fringe debut alongside fringe veterans such as Stephen K Amos, Phil Nichol, Terry Alderton and Tom Stade, as well as O’Neill himself, this spoof of the classic movie with a similar name, is undoubtedly the star turn of this year’s fringe. Sadly, the biggest crime in the production is the wasting of all the talent involved in it.
Flipping the idea of a single juror standing up for the innocence of a young man accused of killing his father, in this play Juror number 8 is the only person who wants to find him guilty, and who spends most of the 75 minutes of the play convincing his fellow jurors to change their vote.
Juror number 8, played by Ian Coppinger, is a small man, hence the reference to ‘half’ in the title. And that is about as good as a most of the jokes get. From the crime itself, a vegetarian accused of choking his dad using a sausage, through the puns that pepper the script, it all feels tired and obvious. Many of the performers have their own shows at the Fringe, this will help them cover the costs of those shows, but is not worth the money audiences will spend seeing it.
Pleasance at EICC (Pentland Theatre) 2.30pm
5 – 22 August (not 9th)
Mark Steel: What the F*** Is Going On?
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Mark Steel returns to the fringe with a topically titled show that, on first glance, poses a question that could take longer than the 90 minutes running time to answer. People familiar with Steel’s politics may assume that his answers are going to have a hard left feel to them, but this is not the case.
While still nowhere near the centre of British politics let alone the right, Steel has mellowed somewhat and is more interested in what unites us than divides us, looking for common ground with people of different political persuasions, rather than the us and them mentality he sees on both sides at present.
He takes aim at people who have a blanket objection to gentrification and would rather eat something that is four months past its sell by date in a local café than have a slice of carrot cake in a delicatessen. He also explores the shared frustrations most of us feel when confronted with technology that means it takes longer to pay for a car park space than to do what you came into town for, or being unable to turn a TV on and watch a programme without having to go through a lengthy registration process.
There is still a political strand running through the material, but this is solid social commentary and comedy that should appeal to anyone who has ever asked the question in the title.
Assembly Rooms (Ballroom) 4.45pm
6 – 16 August (not 9th)
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