SUBWAY. To 29 September.

Edinburgh 2007 Fringe/Scotland/London.

SUBWAY
conceived by Matthew Lenton.

Traverse 3, University of Edinburgh Drillhall, 41 Forrest Rd.
To 26 August 2007 then tour to 28 September 2007.
Tue-Sun various times (Traverse pwerformances).
Runs 1hr 20min. No interval.

TICKETS. 0131 228 1404 or Fringe BO 0131 226 0000.
www.vanishing-point.org
Review Thelma Good 15 August 2007.

Chilling and subversively, darkly funny fable.
Two excellent actors, an onstage seven-strong Kosovan band and a slanted set all combine under Matthew Lenton’s direction to make a chilling and subversively, darkly funny fable of the future in this Vanishing Point premier.

It’s Edinburgh 2032 and unemployed Patrick, aka Scruggs, arrives from Hull. He’s decided to get back in contact with his Dad. He doesn’t know where Dad lives but he knows where he drinks, in Leith.

So down he walks, down Leith Walk. At first he danders but then he changes his gait to the “dinnae bother me” walk, also using the “hood up” variety. Sandy Grierson’s Leith-accented Scruggs is a ducker and a diver but is also immensely likeable. But the 2032 surroundings he tells us about are an intense version of our increasingly controlled today. Once posh flats are sinking, the authorities constrain and survey the people, (the poor that is), there are automatic doors, DoorCorps charge to let you in and out of, and smokers….

Spotting his childhood friend Puggsie, there’s booze to be drunk, served by Flower. She’s the fastest bar maid in Leith, this impact being created by chuckle-making use of the band. Rosalind Sydney’s a nimble actor too; she and Grierson both produce performance-prefect physical characters. It’s clear why, in June, Grierson received the 2006 CATS award for Best Male Performance, and this production should be in the running for a few in 2007.

Music, musicians, story and actors are fused into a production rooted in the fabric of Leith, which gladdens the heart as much as it causes it to falter knowing the seeds of this imagined future are sprouting vigorously today.

Performers: Sandy Grierson and Rosalind Sydney.
Musicians: Mohamed Al Khazali, Flamur Lokaj, Festim Fanaj, Adorel Haxhia, Astrit Stafai, Ferdi Fanaj, Artan Rexhepi.

Director : Matthew Lenton.
Designer/Lighting: Kai Fischer .
Musical Director: Alasdair Macrae.
Dramaturgy: Nicola McCartney.

Tour:
3Sept Lemon Tree Aberdeen
4-8 Sept Tron Glasgow
11-28 Sept Lyric Studio Hammersmith

2007-08-17 03:15:24