DEARLY DEPORTED. To 26 August.
Edinburgh 2007 Fringe.
DEARLY DEPORTED
by Charlie Brafman.
Baby Belly, Niddry St.
To 26 August 2007.
Every day. 12.20pm.
Runs 1hr. No interval.
TICKETS. 08707453083 or Fringe BO 0131 226 0000.
www.ankleproductions.co.uk
Review Thelma Good 24 August 2007.
Well-judged humour.
Kafka’s The Trial is set in the present day in this new version from Ankle Productions. Charlie Brafman doesn’t overdo the dialogue; there’s enough to let us understand without feeling we needed telling twice. Joe could be us one day, we realise with increasing exasperation as he continues, against the evidence, to assume that his threatened deportation will be overturned.
Sitting in the audience you find yourself resisting ensuring you have documentation to prove who you are. A few years on and we could be anxiously checking for our IDs. Yes we’re nearly living in Kafka’s fable now and that’s scary. What’s good about this version is the way Brafman uses humour rather than brute force to get the point across. He’s also good at observing the way we are in modern life, too busy and self absorbed distracting ourselves from what’s really going on.
He’s no slouch as a director either. His narrator needs to speak slower but, as he says at the beginning, it’s a poorly written part. The rest of the cast turn in detailed performances, containing both the irony of the piece and its feel of real people: David Stephenson’s not quite realising how serious things are Joe K, and Philip Raperport’s wiser Uncle as well as his French conceptual artist Trademark are notable, but the young actors all work well together, as a chorus and taking on particular roles.
The production benefits from original music and from costumes which are simple but effective. We need wake up calls for where we are in the state of losing our freedom. Dearly Deported is one, with well-judged humour.
Guard/Secretary/Steve/Block: Frances Brennand Roper.
Molly: Ann Dubuis.
Inspector/Angel: Emily Medhurst.
Narrator: Sam Morris.
Dung/Huld: David Netherton.
Zane/Uncle/TradeMark: Philip Raperport.
Guard/Manager/Magistrate/Heroine: Clare Slater.
Joe K: David Stephenson.
Director: Charlie Brafman.
Lighting: Amanda Kerstein.
Composer: Edward Poole.
Costume: Daniel Xavier Vizer.
2007-08-25 10:08:55