The Last Night of Mankind; El Periferico de Objetos; Edinburgh International

The Last Night of Mankind; El Periferico de Objetos; Edinburgh International Festival; Royal Lyceum Theatre 11-13 August 2003; 19.30

0131 473 2000 www.eif.co.uk

The Emperor has no clothes, he's covered in mudWe start with a pile of bodies, naked and covered in primordial slime. They fight, rape, drink while sliding about in the gloom, surrounded by a dun coloured sacking type wall. The movement is restricted, dictated by the mud. There is music, oddly provided by harmoniums. What are they doing neatly wrapped up against the mud in this chaotic place?

Poetry rages loudly against humankind's failure to deal with its own cruelty. These are translated for us on screens in language with all the flow and elegance of a kitchen unit instruction sheet.

After three quarters of an hour the sloshing comes to an end, as the wall collapses freeing the bodies to move into the "hygienic interval".

In this first act everything is constrained by the surroundings, the logic of the muddy worlld is brutish, unconsidered: and except for the visual images which lack the depth to catch us for more than a minute, the ideas are boringly confined to the hectoring poetry.

Things look up in act 2 when we move to a white room. Here the setting does not completely dominate the performers, and they become more than bodies. This is like the Big Brother house but with older technology. A disembodied voice gives each a number and a bingo machine gives them jobs to do. Film, video, and vinyl records are interestingly used to define and create the hermetic world without any satisfactions these unfortunates are now trapped in.

The great thing about the Edinburgh festival is that the fringe represents a continuous challenge to a heavyweight festival-hopping event like this. Here, if you want to see what human cruelty does, and the strength of human spirit faced by it, then go to Hdeaway at the Gilded Balloon where two people with ten suitcases and no pretentions create a powerful and involving message, with perfect economy.

Actors:
Maricel Alvarez
Federico Figueroa
Emilio Garcia Wehbi
Roman Lamas
Eliana Niglia

Actor in Video: Norberto Laino

Texts: Dieter Welke
Directors: Emilio Garcia Wehbi, Ana Alvarado, Daniel Veronese
Set Designer: Norberto Laino
Lighting Designer: Alejandro Le Roux
Music for 1st Act: Cecilia Candia

2003-08-14 12:59:19