Michael Cox reviews Underneath the Lintel, The Truman Capote Talk Show, Up 'n' Under, Soap! The Show and Stephen K Amon--The Best Medicine.
Today was a bit of a kamikaze day. I didn’t get into Edinburgh until 2.00 and yet managed five productions. Days like this might actually kill me (in a good way).
When preparing to write my dissertation at university, I remember reading a how-to book that warned students against getting lost in the details. In pursuit of knowledge and truth, it really is easy to fail seeing the forest for the trees, and facts can take on strange significance.
I wonder if writer Glen Berger had a similar experience, because his play Underneath the Lintel (****) certainly seems to come from a ‘been there, done that’ viewpoint. The play is a bit of an intellectual detective story. An unnamed librarian from the Netherlands is put on a quest when a book is returned anonymously 113 years overdue. His search for the culprit takes him on a global journey that may or may not have him in pursuit of a mythical character.
Lintel is a 90 minute one-man show, so its success is down to its sole performer. Luckily, the performer here is more than capable, playing a meek bumbling character driven by an obsession that seems as plausible as it is absurd, and it is rather fun watching his character go from timid to obsessive. It’s a very clever production that is funny, mysterious and playful.
Next up was The Truman Capote Talk Show (***). Bob Kingdom (who’s also playing Dylan Thomas in a show I reviewed on the 8th) plays Capote, who’s on a talk show set in some form of purgatory and has to retell his life to the audience.
As a production, Capote really is nothing special. Sure, there are clever moments and it does manage to hit all of the famous points and antidotes from Capote’s remarkably interesting life, but any modest fan will already know everything.
What is of note is Kingdom’s performance. Unlike his Thomas, which felt more life-like, his Capote is larger than life. It’s obvious Kingdom has studied Capote’s mannerisms and speech patterns, and his overall portrait is very convincing without being a soulless mimicry.
I might be at a bit of a disadvantage for Up ‘n’ Under (***). As an American who’s lived in the UK for eight years now, I have absolutely no frame of reference for this play. Was it well loved when it premiered in the 80s? It spawned a sequel and a film, so I’m guessing so. It still feels like almost every other sports story out there: a team ranked at the bottom do something drastic to win honourably. This time, they are coached by on old pro and go through physical training by (shock—gasp—oh my God!!!) a woman.
The play may not have aged all that well, but for what it is, it still is a fun piece. The characters are convincing underdogs and the final rugby match is rather well handled. However, I find it hard to get overly excited by a piece that offers nothing special or original, even if it is well acted, directed and designed. It’s harmless, and fans of either the story or rugby should be happy with it.
Soap! The Show (****) is a fun dance production that invades the Assembly Hall with large bathtubs. Most of the pieces involve either a bathtub or water, from cheeky operatic singing to beautifully choreographed images.
I rather enjoyed most of the production. The performers were all very good, especially the blonde who clowned her way into the hearts of the audience, but it wasn’t until the final few pieces that I was actually impressed. It is here that the sections stopped just looking slick and began to take some chances, from a fun juggling act to the final, soaked performances. It didn’t blow me away, but much of the audience gave it a standing ovation, and there are some pretty amazing, and hilarious, parts.
Stephen K Amos is a performer I’ve always enjoyed. I’ve seen him on TV and in some good acting performances during the Fringe, but I hadn’t seen his stand-up act until seeing The Best Medicine (***). Though he didn’t impress me as much as I’d hoped, I still found him to be an excellent performer. He’s got great presence and knows how to go after the laugh.
The act itself is rather pedestrian. He reads excerpts from his journal when he was a kid and makes observations on his life-then and now. It’s good, it just isn’t very rich in great material. However, whenever he went away from his script and engaged with the audience with impromptu observations and comments, he was fantastic and came across much warmer, and funnier, than when he stuck to his script.
A lot to cram in with only 8 hours to do it, but a satisfactory day on the Fringe. Tomorrow sees me on a much more limited schedule: I’ll be reviewing Flesh and Blood & Fish and Fowl (a play I actually saw last week but purposely saved), Apples and Markus Makavellian’s International Order. I will also start reviewing the Invisible Dot stories that can be found around the city.
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