Stephen Unwin's Laughing Boy, adapted for the stage from Sara Ryan's Justice for Laughing Boy, is a powerful and moving story about a mother and a family that keeps asking questions despite the victimisation and harassment from the institution - the NHS - that was supposed to protect her son. It's a moving, celebratory account of a life cut short due to indifference held together by a remarkable performance by Janie Dee as Sara. It's currently playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre . Sara's son, Connor, is a little different to others. He is fascinated by buses and doesn't like things like loud noises. But as he becomes an adult, his seizures and unexpected outbursts mean the family turn to their local NHS for support. Little did they realise they would receive such little care from a service that was institutionally incompetent and covered up thousands of unexplained deaths of people with disabilities, including Connor's. The search for answers about why he
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Shows: Edinburgh Wrap
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A midweek trip to Edinburgh with Johnnyfox for the Fringe was brief but productive. Ten shows in three days and not too many were duds. This was a bit of good luck as the awful little secret that nobody dares mention is that... most of the stuff on in Edinburgh is crap. The Fringe Festival seems to be mostly run by students and staged by students so it helps to brace yourself and expect the worst. It was also entirely possible to see more shows in three days but it is important to allow time to savour the fine food of Edinburgh as well and then use your time at the shows trying to digest it... Anyway here are the shows I caught:
Sordid Lives was performed by the Tower Theatre company and had some fine performances. It was well worth putting up with the slow first half, particularly when it came alive with a great drag performance at the end. It finishes Saturday but will be in London next month.
The Improvised Musical performed by No Shoes Theatre. Apart from the fact that half the cast were wearing shoes, Wednesday night's uninspired performance set in a Job Centre highlighted the limitations of a concept when you have no idea about what is a musical, and you're just not that talented either. Still the team had balls for persevering while they were dying... And note to cast: don't laugh at your own jokes, it really pulls focus.
Thoroughly Modern Willie performed by the London Gay Men's Chorus's Far From Kansas. Well of course being in the LGMC I liked it. But there was some fine singing and a nice message at the end. Here's hoping the script is shortened and the bad jokes are banished at some point... It finishes Saturday but will be in London later... Slightly potty mouthed boo below...
Pension Plan performed by Leisa Rea. Johnnyfox and I were drawn to a show purely based on its title and it was quite a treat. In fact, it was stand up with treats... The treat was a biscuit in the shape of a foetus for the audience as Ms Rea runs through the mental illness and disappointments of her life. Funny and entertaining while still being a little thought-provoking...
Out of the Blue is an Oxford a capella boy group that can sing, harmonise, dance and blow an audience away. Popular with the ladies (and the men), these guys were comfortable singing either a ballad or Lady Gaga's Poker Face. Perhaps they could have applied their style to a few different genres but there was so much energy on stage that they were hard to resist.
Reel to Real the Movies Musical came recommended by someone who likes things that are crap and camp and it fit the bill precisely. Some fine staging of Singing in the Rain and Puttin' on the Ritz dance numbers could not erase the awful cheesiness and flat singing of the rest of it. The concept is to marry whats on stage with old MGM and Warner Brothers musicals. The only problem is the projections are dreadful and it feels like you're watching one a segment of the Oscars telecast... dragged out for an excruciating hour...
Celebrity Autobiography takes the concept of reading selective passages from celebrity biographies such as Peter Andre and Jordan and juxtaposing them for hilarious effect. There were some great performances from the readers as well. The audience took a particular shine to Ugly Betty's Michael Urie and Bridget Christie was hilarious. James Lance also gives a hilarious performance as Richard Burton when the biographies of Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher and Elisabeth Taylor are mashed up. This will be coming to London shortly and is not to be missed.
Girl Constantly F***ing Interupted was a good example of what most shows in Edinburgh are like. It aspires to be alternatively funny and dramatic showing the different personalities of one troubled young lady. It just was mostly dull and lacking both laughs and a range in the performance. It might have helped if she took the awful dress off which looked like a tailored potato sack.
We were stopped by a nerdy looking guy promoting Mysterious Skin on our way to see the above show. He talked about the cast and how they were slightly famous. What he should have talked about was the full frontal nudity and violence which was quite smashing. A great cast, and a great looking cast, tell the story about alien abductions and other sexual things... Intriguing story and well worth catching, particularly if you sit in the front rows on the right... The only other thing I will say is that Paul Standell is an actor with a big future ahead of him...
Finally, an early evening show of hot oompah players Oompah Brass: The A to Z of Oompah was a fitting way to leave Edinburgh. These guys (and one girl) turned any song into a oompah brass band. Particularly nice was the finale, Bohemian Rhapsody with a Bavarian lilt. And in the audioboo we discuss how the trombonist took a liking to fellow chorus member Feroze by blowing in his face. Not for those with sensitive ears but a great show... An hour of oompah is probably more than enough too...
Finally, the lesson learned form Edinburgh is that anyone can put on a show in Edinburgh if you have a good title. Here are some titles for shows that future Edinburgh Fringe creatives could consider:
Two for One
Queue for Returns
Cancelled Due To Serious Bereavement (actually I thought that was a show this year but it was a notice at a venue)
Don't Make Me Walk Downhill After Making Me Walk Uphill (potentially for a story about the history of Edinburgh)
She's Such An Evil Bitch
Which Booking Office Do I Go To
It Could Do With Another Week Of Rehearsals
It Suffers From A Bad Piece Of Casting
Eat Shite and Lose Weight (actually we could suggest that be a slogan for the Edinburgh tourism)
Unemployed Actors the Musical
I'm not sure I would go back to Edinburgh for the fringe, but might make the effort to go see Cancelled Due To Serious Bereavement...
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue . Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple. The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
