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Double Bill: AGAIN + RIBBON
Edinburgh - Greyfriars Kirk House - August 03 - ('Again' only)
Colchester - Arts Centre - April 03
AGAIN
Verdict: Brother on the edge
It's often said the strength of Christianity is that you only have to love your brother - you don't have to like him. Again's brothers Dave and Pete exemplify this. The seminal relationship of Again is equally that between Peter's hand and Peter's peter. If you thought Wanking was a town in China, prepare to be disabused by Peter's self-abuse.
Podgy Dave in glasses is on with worried Pete as adults - dressed to match. Dave's come to visit, and renew the torment he's imposed on 'different' Peter since birth
Progressively, the lads regress, focusing on Peter's meticulous sequences for every daily activity, and bewilderment at the changes of adolescence. His behaviour's on the autistic spectrum, and Dave's to him varies from a cruel contempt to a dawning understanding.
Again is a stunningly perceptive play about difference. Nick Waters delivers a Peter caught in a world he's not sure of. It's a gentle, sensitive and finely convincing performance, warm, and with touches of humour. Mathew Cranfield provides a delightful David, most cleverly handling his conversion through perception and understanding of his brother from harsh and bullying outsider to a fumbling and profoundly moving readiness to understand - and love.
Again benefits from a smart, imaginative set, conjuring from simple contstruction a convincing sitting room, hall, bathroom and front door. Excellent lighting and sound create a range of powerful moods. Lucy Traube's searing writing sees and reveals the heart of obsession.
Credits - Again: (alpha order): Mathew Cranfield (David). Nick Waters (Peter).
Credits - Company: Written and directed by Lucy Traube. Lights - Neville Milsom. Sound - Chris Moss. Company - Gag Theatre Company.
RIBBON
Verdict: Tu-Tu Divine
The charming Ribbon (Review of Ribbon at Edinburgh 02, Taking Ribbon to Edinburgh - by Lucy Traube) is developed further in this production. The Edinburgh version is trimmed, given an imaginative new set, with excellent lights and sound. Lucy Traube continues in the central role, the other parts are played by two actors instead of Edinburgh's one.
Credits - Ribbon: (alpha order): Francis Foster. Cheryl Pascoe. Lucy Traube.
Credits - Company: Written and directed by Lucy Traube. Lights - Neville Milsom. Sound - Chris Moss. Company - Gag Theatre Company.
AGAIN and RIBBON as a double bill
The coupling of two contrasting (and in one way related) plays creates a strong evening of dramatic theatre.
Ribbon focuses through the mind's eye of a woman who's seen the world and isn't wholly satisfied. Again uses the tensions of brotherhood to sweat out the fears and perceptions of a man caught in a separate world. Two apparently different territories, but with a common focus on the mind versus the external. Lucy Traube's edgy probing of these parts of the human condition produces electric theatre.
Credits - Venue: Colchester Arts Centre: Artistic Director - Pasco Kevlin. Technical Manager - Mark Butchers.
END
John Park
reviewed Wednesday 2 April 03 / Colchester Arts Centre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
www.fringereport.com
