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DUBLIN ... Colman Higgins describes the scope and history of Dublin Gay Theatre Festival ... and reviews two of its shows ... Down Dangerous Passes Road ... Confessions of A Mormon Boy /// LONDON ... film on now ... La Question Humaine / Heartbeat Detector /// BRIGHTON ... It's on till 26 May and here's at least 20 Things you might want to know about Brighton Fringe /// PEOPLE ... Who was there at Fringe Report's First Monday 5 May - photographs & article /// CULTURE ... One Culture ... film screening 30 May booking now ... details
Tanyalee Davis: Little Do They Know
Verdict: Great story-teller
Tanyalee Davis's choice of starting the gig with a song about how short people 'got no reason to live' is initially startling, but it shouldn’t be. She's happy in her own skin. She's also happy high up on a stage to put her at roughly usual-head-height, and since she loves the song's irony, and quickly launches into an explanation of her dwarfism, she brings a relaxed atmosphere. She does talk a lot about her dwarfism – a specific kind, out of a range of 200 types. She has some great lines on the subject, as in her response to the doctor who could, by breaking all her bones make her '1 to 2 inches taller'.
She also has some great images, such as fighting another midget, and her mother's fetish for dressing her in frilly knickers – reincorporated regularly. There's a risk of the whole thing going into a bit of a 'poor me / aren't I brave' thing, but there's enough general life to escape the charge. In fact, some of Tanyalee Davis's best bits are where the show concentrates on her story telling. Because she can tell a yarn. Whether it's being an illegal alien in LA, or the fun-fair-staff flat-mate, or counselling lifers in a men's prison. She has a great line about 'reverting' moving back in with mum, is very comic about her now 9-year-strong 'green card marriage', and even makes her own car accident funny.
She does have her political moments, from 'same amount of horny in this body, it’s just compacted', to the Oxford Station manager with a grudge. However, this also doesn't take over, and the strongest impression at the end is that of a great story-teller. The one-liners aren't as thick and fast as some, but the tales intrigue, with enough giggles on the way through, and always a strong ending.
Cast Credits: Performer - Tanyalee Davis.
Company Credits: Writer - Tanyalee Davis. Director - uncredited. Stage Design - Steve Wallis. Technical Operator - Cara Newman. Producer - Tanyalee Davis. www.myspace.com/TanyaleeDavis
END
(c) Gill Smith 2007
reviewed Friday 3 August 07 / Pleasance Dome
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008