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Assembly @ George St - Edinburgh Suite - 10.45 (12.00)
WORLD PREMIERE: Australian award winning playwright and civil rights lawyer, Suzie Miller has combined all her talents to create a scintillating drama in the style of 12 Angry Men. Anna and Mitchell, jurors on a high profile murder trial, conduct an illicit affair while confined during deliberations. Two years on they arrange to reunite in a chic hotel room and uncover some buried truths.
 Theatre Tours International Incorporating Guy Masterson Productions present six shows at this years Fringe Festival of which Reasonable Doubt is the first I am getting to see. What first attracted me to anything associated with Guy Masterson I just can't remember but I do know anything he is vaguely associated with is Quality and that by going to see it you will be viewing a superb show.
In Reasonable Doubt we meet Anna (Emma Jackson) and Mitchell (Peter Phelps) having met two years ago as jury members in a murder trial, which ended with no majority decision. Hearing news of a retrial Anna plans a reunion of all the original jurors who had spent time together in a downtown hotel never dreaming she would end up back in, all be it one of the plushest, a hotel room in Sydney with Mitchell. She has had an obsession with him since their first day in the courtroom and despite her guilty vote and his not guilty they seemed to form some sacred link. We hear about the actions and reactions caused by their first meeting "justice, truth guilt, honour and courage must now be faced by both of them". Has this unspoken love between them shaped their lives in such a way the possible consequences could destroy them?
Every successful theatrical production has certain requirements, a well-written script, sympathetic yet exacting direction and talented performers. Sets lighting, props, sound technicians etc are also important but without the basic backbones the rest is wasted.
Written by Susie Miller this piece of theatre was so fascinating I was almost straining every sense incase I missed the slightest nuance. Guy's directions so natural paying attention to the tiniest detail it would seem the two superb performers are not acting but reliving some hours of their own lives over each day.
Finally this superb piece of theatre left me wanting to stand up at the end and scream "No you can't leave it there!" but actually an alternative ending just wouldn't be as effective.
Shelia Jack (one4review.com 05/08/08)
THE set says it all: a double bed filled with those pointless silk cushions that only hotels have, a mini-bar and a telephone. You can smell her perfume over-sprayed in nervous anticipation as she inspects the mini-bar and admires the lilies, while he oozes worldliness and soon-to be-slaked lust. Australian actors Peter Phelps and Emma Jackson create an incredible almost unbearable sexual tension between the classic older pent-up predator and naive young beautician. But is she so naive? Australian playwright, Suzie Miller, who is also a civil rights lawyer, explores the subject of truth and how it shifts depending on perspective, through the device of a couple who met while serving on a jury. They meet two years later to rekindle their passion - but a lot has happened in two years. As the evening progresses, the audience itself becomes a jury; trying to decipher what did happen between the lovers two years ago and to what extent they are telling the truth now. Urgent and compelling, you will be emotionally exhilarated from start to finish.
Nell Nelson (Edinburgh Evening News - 08/08/08)
Two people, a man and a woman, luggage-less, enter a hotel room. The woman is delighted at the quality on display, the man ,minimal and silent. What unfolds is a story with twists and turns, and a taughtness that holds tightly to the audience's attention.
This two-hander, written by Suzie Miller, starring Peter Phelps and Emma Jackson, is set in a hotel room, at the time of a retrial for murder, a stone's throw from the Sydney Opera House. The two have met together after a reunion of jury members at a trial where he was convinced there was no murder and she, inspired by his fervour in favour of reasonable doubt, still holds to the guilt of the accused. This is the neat backdrop to a personal narrative that explores the nature of truth, reality and the doubt we have of our own behaviour towards each other. What is really true in the sphere of human relationships?
Phelps and Jackson turn in faultless performances - their interplay creates just the right moments of comedy and intensity set at a pace and level that allows the tension of the play to build and the emotions underneath to bloom just at the right moment as the narrative progresses.
The set of the hotel in this one-location piece is perfect for the "walls closing in" feel of a story which is based on a series of revelations as the "truth" of their stories finally comes out. Guilt, justification and understanding are at the heart of this emotional journey. It's a gripping story.I won't give any of it away.
The writing has a heavy quality to it. There are so many words spoken that, too often, the actors are working overtime to deliver the script. There's too much exposition and revelation, almost too much to take in sometimes. This is what "heaviness" in a play is: it is when the script - the sheer volume of words and amount of textual content forces itself through the mouths of the cast. Less would be more in this case, but it is a testament to skilled direction and the quality of the acting, that the play still manages to engage and draw the attention in right to the very end of the play. The story itself is so well plotted that it still manages to carry the hour and a quarter.
This is top-notch acting, in a sharply directed play well worth seeing.
PL (fringereview.com - 10/08/08)
Punters' Reveiws:
Complex exploration - (15/08/08) reviewer: Sean Davis, USA
Just before a re-trial verdict is to be announced, two former jurors meet in a hotel room to explore their differing views of the case and their own relationship. This onion-layered play does a masterful job of exploring how new facts can change the perceptions of events. Only a short, unconvincing scene on the bed taints the superb acting. This ranks 7th of the 83 shows I have seen so far. I expect to see more than one hundred by the end of the Fringe. Rankings and similarly short reviews of all the shows I have seen can be found at http://www.cal.net/~ssdavis
Strong and powerful - (09/08/08) reviewer: Bobby Stodel, United Kingdom
This was a fantastic piece of drama and a wonderful way to start the day. We have seen many shows and this is one of the best. A very strong story is brought to life by passionate actors. Don't miss it.
Go and see this! - (05/08/08) reviewer: Margaret, United Kingdom
If your fed up watching rubbish on the fringe and would like to see what real theatre, full of suspense, with a great story line,, believable characters and professional production and direction can do then get to this play.ignore the fact that it starts at 10.45 am. It's a real treat!
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SCARAMOUCHE JONES
Assembly @ George St - Supper Room - 12.20 (13.40)
Justin Butcher, award winning author of Breaking Strain, The Madness of George Dubya and A Weapons Inspector Calls, teams up with solo-show maestro, Guy Masterson finally to take the role he originally penned for himself in 2000.
Justin Butcher gives what is almost certain to be the finest performance on the Fringe this year as his own creation, a centenarian clown. He is helped by playing in a more compact space than Pete Postlethwate used in London some years ago for the same role.
Scaramouche Jones is both the inheritor of the Commedia dell'Arte mantle of his namesake and an unofficial chronicler of the first half of the Twentieth Century, from a proud, English perspective.
Starting with his character's birth in Trinidad as the century dawned, Butcher is magical, revealing the seven white masks that together symbolise this sensitive man's colourful life.
The highlights include growing up with a gypsy prostitute mother, apprenticeship to an educated, Anglophile snake charmer from Somalia and, movingly, a job in a concentration camp which leads to an appearance at the Nuremburg trials.
Scaramouche Jones is a masterpiece of solo Magic Realism, impeccably written, perfectly performed and well directed by Guy Masterson. It should be seen here, if possible, and is bound to tour.
Philip Fisher (British Theatre Guide)
It is a rare opportunity to watch a writer act out his own play when the creation and implementation are equally brilliant. Justin Butcher 's play had its world premiere in Dublin seven years ago when Pete Postlethwaite played Scaramouche. Apparently, the play still is touring around the world, having been translated into five languages. This is the play's debut in Edinburgh.
This is the first collaboration between Butcher and Masterson, although they tried twice unsuccessfully to bring another Butcher play to the fringe. Playwright/actor and director were able to start anew, making this production a fresh and wondrous experience. It is nothing short of enchanting. This staging is riveting, an odessy of human adventure across half the world.
Butcher's performance is spellbinding. He thrusts around the stage in dramatic fashion without a wasted motion. With wonderful make-up and costume, Butcher's character often seems larger than life.
The set is captivating and Butcher uses it to full effect. It is not surprising that the production was directed by Guy Masterson, because quality shines throughout.
Rarely have production values ever been so high in a one man show. The audience was rapturous, not wanting the performance to end. This show is the best one hander seen by this reviewer over the last 21 years, demonstrating what the fringe is all about when at its best.
It is an epic one man show, a rare occurrence having one actor travel such imaginary distances. As a one hander, it stands out as the best of the genre, a testament to what can be accomplished by one person under able direction. In short, it's magic from the start with the clown's bows and entrance through to the narration of life's great adventures.
Scaramouche Jones may be an early show, but it's not to be missed. In fact, it is a perfect way to start a festival day.
Kerry 4 (fringrereview.com 07/08/08)
A clown, battered and bruised across the whole of the twentieth century, finally breaks his silence
Midnight on the last day of the year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and Scaramouche Jones is waiting to die. Breaking a fifty-year silence, his swansong is an account of his life, which spans the entirety of the previous century. Perhaps the beauty of this play for a largely British audience lies in its insistence on the enduring quality of the British Empire and the comforting awareness of a certain stability that goes along with it.
In a maelstrom of misfortune and suffering, the most important thing to the young Scaramouche is that his father is an Englishman. Here performed by the playwright himself, Scaramouche Jones is a perfect boys' own vagabond story of rags-to-riches, or at least rags-to-a greater understanding of the world. As Scaramouche is battered, blown and knocked about at the hands of fate between The West Indies, Africa and Europe his experiences and ordeals crystallise into the form of white masks, marking him forever.
Butcher's performance is well-measured and physically entertaining, evoking far-off bazaars and each colourful character with skill. The clown-figure has always been, as Scaramouche notes, a tragic as well as a comic performer, hovering between worlds, at once observing and at the centre of the action. As Scaramouche is cast away from home, beaten by gypsies and sold into slavery, so he witnesses the great events of the world as the terrible twentieth century unfolds. This play has not lost its huge variety of charms, and its Edinburgh début is long overdue.
Lucy Jackson (FEST 3/08/08)
The tale of Scaramouche Jones, a clown on the cusp of death, sees an aging performer tell of the adventures, trials and tribulations of his life. Set on the eve of the millennium, Scaramouche recounts his last 99 years, taking us across continents and oceans and introducing us to Arab traders, African snake charmers and Italian princes. Justin Butcher's performance is energetic and animated, and his crazed eyes hold your attention well. The writing (also by Butcher) is well crafted, perhaps overly so, and the rambling plot is delightfully implausible. Indeed so unbelievable is the tale that one wonders if Scaramouche's monologue is in fact one last performance; a final conjuring trick of fantasy, rather than the unmasking of the truth.
Yet Scaramouche's tale has a darker side, his makeup covering a life of tragedy and pain. From the outset we learn of his gypsy mother, a "bottomless receptacle for the semen of many nations" selling herself to sailors in Trinidad. Buffeted by fate, like some modern day Odysseys or Candide, Scaramouche is exposed to many of the horrors of the twentieth century; decaying Empires, slavery and genocide all making appearances. It is only his pale clown-like skin which alleviates some of his misfortune. Yet these events serve merely as misfortunes to the clown, and the play could have just as easily been set in the nineteenth century. While references to symbols of empire such as Elgar, Laurence of Arabia and Disraeli abound there is no serious attempt to comment on or satirize the many events Scarmouche's life touches. This would have added an edge to an otherwise sharp and well written play.
Neil Simpson (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine 13/08/08)
Punters' Reviews
Completely mesmerizing - (03/08/08) - reviewer: Lindsey Goodman, United States
Justin Butcher, writer and actor, has just been added to my pantheon of performer personal heros (with percussionist Steve Schick and puppeteer Ronnie Burkett). This amazing one-man show had more words than the entire Ring Cycle, and yet the beautifully-crafted nature of each sentence and the absolute cellular-level ownership of the material on behalf of the actor made the play one of the most enthralling theatrical experiences of my life. Detailing the *incredibly* hard life story of the titled clown, its my favorite kind of narrative art: one which shows the goodness of humanity in the most unlikely of circumstances. I will most certainly see this show again, and I would pay 40 quid just to hear Justin read the phone book to me. Five undisputable stars.
Brilliant Performance - (06/08/08) - reviewer: Jules, Edinburgh
The best piece of theatre I have seen so far in this year's Fringe. A brilliant performance. Totally enthralling. Definitely a show that I have been recommending to everyone. Try not to miss it.
Powerful and moving - (09/08/08) - reviewer: Geoff Brown, UK
Brilliant from beginning to end. Powerful performance of a moving story with excellent acting and script.
Scaramouche Jones - (11/08/08) - reviewer: EdinburghStraightFringeCut, UK and Proud of it
I've seen several shows whilst in Edinburgh that reveal a life storyn (real or imagined) of some kind or another. However within seconds of the actor appearing on stage I was hooked. I felt an affinity to Scaramouche Jones immediatley. The way life beats you to a pulp and sends you on your way in no particular direction was central to this story as the hero of the piece stumbles his way through europe from egypt to the concentration camps of poland to wind up a clown is both moving and funny. I love listening to stories like this and the actors ability to tell it is just fantastic. Both energetic, and fascinating. I look foward to next years offerings.
Red Nose Day - (14/08/08) - reviewer: Basil, Sorrel, Parsley, UK
Superb! If you don't see anything else at this year's Fringe, see this one man show. This performance deserves a better venue though, as periodically a dance troupe took to the floor above and was a distraction from the magnificent dialogue.
Diverse and Entertaining - (15/08/08) - reviewer: Sean Davis, USA
On his hundredth birthday an unnaturally white faced man relates his well travelled life, from son of a Dominican Republic whore to an African snake charmer's assistant to Nazi concentration camp grave digger/clown. I marvel at how the writer successfully links the wildly diverse and entertaining chapters of his life. I must admit that when he had only told of his first fifty years, I was afraid that tales of the next fifty would make the play interminable, but, thankfully, he skips them. This ranks 16th of the 83 shows I have seen so far. I expect to see more than one hundred by the end of the Fringe. Rankings and similarly short reviews of all the shows I have seen can be found at http://www.cal.net/~ssdavis
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Assembly @ George St - Drawing Room - 12.45 (13.55)
Weights is an extraordinary story extraordinarily told. Poetic, lyrical and potent, yet most movingly of all... true... and told by its protagonist, Lynn Manning who, thankfully, lived to tell the tale.
WINNER: FRINGEREVIEW.COM TEAPOT 2008
Something I have noticed in recent years at the Fringe is that productions that have any kind of life-affirming qualities or ultimately positive messages, tend to hit a glass ceiling of f'our-stars,' no matter how truly outstanding they are. It is in fashion to be slightly disapproving of life-affrimation as art.
Lynn Manning's one-man tour-de-force, "Weights" has achieved several four-star ratings at the Edinburgh Fringe 2008, and I believe it is time at least one reviewer who isn't afraid of applauding both positivity AND outstanding theatre and presenting this production with a well deserved five star rating to a play in which the "universal oneness of all things" is shared and made practically evident. This is a piece of theatre that isn't afraid to chart the darkest hours of a person's biography, yet equally to celebrate, and even offer up to an audience, a happier outcome, and a message that the lowest places we sometimes find ourselves in are the places from which the steps can only rise upward.
Lynn Manning, actor, writer, commentator on life, and occasional comedian of the stage, has a rich vibrant voice, which tells a tale so evocative and resonant, it received regular whoops, sighs and spontaneous rounds of applause from audience members. Manning shares his own personal story, creating the voices and gestures, so well observed, of over a dozen characters, in a journey that takes us through his childhood, the sixties, the seventies and toward the now.
The violent act that led to his blindness is re-charted and played out with superb pacing, observation, poetry and not a small amount of hindsight-humour. This is fine writing realised on the stage through direct story-acting. We find ourselves in L.A, on Hollywood's famous Vine Street. We stare down the barrel of a gun with Manning, and we stare with him down the tunnel of years that represents his past, present and a future without sight yet brimming with insight. I stopped taking notes after ten minutes, the reviewer's notebook and pen dropped, and I had to just watch and listen.
As a performer, his authenticity and directness is refreshing. This is a man on a "free ride to wasted", who takes us beyond the darker years and into a place where he is realising himself through the creative opportunity that blindness has brought him. Manning performs with an economy of movement, a large but graceful soul, his delivery is so on top of his material that it feels as if he is telling the story for the first time. The ability to do that confirms this as outstanding work.
A story of loss of sight, of growing up, and of learning to experience the inner light of creativity, so well described by writers such as Jacques Lusseryan, Manning has succeeded in bring a life-affirming story to the stage that never descends into sentimentality and firmly confronts the harsh realities of life. A story of loss of sight, perhaps; but Manning has helped the rest of us to see a little more clearly with this fabulous play.
PL (fringereview.com 10/08/08)
Doing my usual, ok where am I next, I frequently arrive at a venue knowing only the name of the production I am about to see and in this case that it is part of the Theatre Tours International & Guy Masterson Productions, the show 'Weights'. Not much of a clue in that, ok sit back and enjoy as you know you are about to witness a superb performance.
On stage we meet Lynn Manning a six-foot plus vision of a good-looking man with a superb physique, this Afro Caribbean gentleman proceeds to tell the story of his life but there is something about his face. At first I can't put my finger on what it is but as the show progresses I realise, through his performance it is true he is blind.
This autobiographical play only reaches from childhood to his mid 20's when he was shot in the face and slightly beyond to show his determination to become a writer. The admiration I have developed for this man is not through sympathy but my respect for what he has been through, the goals he has achieved and this performance itself. He concludes the show by reciting one of his own poems which is absolutely beautiful.
This cleverly written and excellently performed piece is an absolute must for fans of the one person show, those of quality theatre and anyone wanting to get excellent value for money. Lynn portrays the characters in his life extremely well. Robert Egan's directorial job would appear to have been a reasonably easy one.
My only regret is that I did not see 'Weights' during its Fringe debut in 2007!
Sheila Jack (one4review.com 08/08/08)
This is the second visit to Edinburgh for Lynn Manning's engrossing one-man show, which tells the story of his life from his disrupted Los Angeles childhood through to his being blinded in a bar-room shooting and his subsequent emergence as an independent poet, playwright and actor.
Last year, the show was based down at Theatre Workshop, but this year it will hopefully reach an even wider public at the Assembly Rooms. Manning cuts a striking figure from the off. A tall, muscular former world Blind Judo champion, he is dressed incongruously in an outfit that seems to belong more to a Florida beachwalk than the mean streets of LA.
His attitude, however, quickly brushes any confusion aside as he begins to lay out in stylish, absorbing detail the events of the day that changed his life for ever, a day (as he says) that was "tipped way too far into the positive not to go tumbling headlong into the negative." His story then winds back from the shooting to talk about his family. His mother had nine children by the time she was twenty-nine years of age. The kids had several different fathers, and the one that Manning talks of most, Bill, was sexually abusing at least two of Manning's younger siblings.
It's obviously a sad and harrowing state in which to live, but Manning tells it with not a trace of self-pity; on the contrary, his fluid, quasi-rap style glows with the lustre of his resilient optimism. This trait also brings him into conflict, post-shooting, with a trauma counsellor who simply won't believe that he has accepted his blindness within days rather than taking the three or four months that her textbooks say he should.
Lynn Manning is clearly a naturally gifted storyteller with a vivid and distinctive style. I found his description of how becoming blind transformed his world and allowed him to "see" what he'd been missing through "the distraction" of sight fascinating. I'm sure you will too.
Lorraine McCann (Edinburghguide.com 08/08/08)
Lynn Manning was shot and blinded in an L.A. bar at the age of 23. This is his story. The monologue is both written and performed by Manning who delivers a meandering tale of abject poverty, abuse and ultimately prevailing optimism. However do not be misled by this grandiose description – this is a one man play without pretension and a narrative of true drama.
The script dives in and out of different stages of Manning's biography detailing the incident in which he lost his sight and subsequent aftermath and reminiscences of his largely bleak experiences of growing up in 1960s L.A. This could have been an opportunity for sentimentalism or self-pity to creep into the script but Manning avoids both and here even the most appalling of stories are narrated with a remarkably rounded perspective.
Whether it was blindness that spawned Manning's appreciation of language or if it was a talent given at birth is a question which only really he can answer, but what is undeniable is that this author and performer boasts a fine grasp of poetry. It is not only in his use of poignantly knowable imagery but also in his obvious appreciation of the phonetic resonance of words that one can recognise the potency of this natural lyricist. The script is confident and informed both linguistically and emotionally.
Manning the performer is animated; he successfully manages to incorporate the voices of many different characters and the poetic interjections which occasionally interrupt the flow of the narrative. Although the pace was initially a little hasty it didn't take long for Manning to settle into his surroundings and relax into a more measured delivery which was flawlessly engaging.
For an education in both poetry and optimism Weights is surely one of the best bets at the Fringe.
Chloe Edworthy (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine 13/08/08)
A see and eye shotgun tale
Poet, playwright, actor and former judo champion Lynn Manning knows all about loss. Raised in penury in California, Manning lost his parents to the bottle and his siblings to the foster care system. Then in 1978, aged 23, Manning lost his sight in a shooting incident in a Hollywood bar full of 'tourists, punks, junkies and juicers'.
Having spent 20-odd years creating Weights, Manning performs catharsis by monologue on these events and those that followed. Alone on a minimally furnished stage, Manning freeform scats his way through what he has called his 'interminable memoir'. Funk and jazz guides him through the memories, from 'days of sour plums and pixie straws', before his parents 'climbed inside a wine bottle' to that fateful night and beyond. Taking his lead from the first person autobiographical narratives of Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, Gil Scott Heron, Ray Shell and Claude Brown Jr among others, this is moving, witty and all too raw, Manning laying out a powerful mandate of self-reliance and hope. It's a captivating journey, one that you will not forget in a hurry.
Paul Dale (The List 08/08/08)
Punters' Reveiws:
Weights - (11/08/08) - reviewer: EdinburghStraightFringeCut, UK and not upset by a parking ticket!
I had no idea about what was on offer. It's better that way! It was only when the story teller Lynn Mann came onto the stage in a very deliberate and exact manner that I realised he was Blind. Lynn is a man of incredible Charisma and character and his stage presence is awesome. The story he tells is that of all of us. The world revolves around you, you can't put a foot wrong, then it all goes pear shaped. For me, after a great weekend it was getting a parking ticket, for lynne, it was having his optic nerves severed by a bullet. Life is put in perspective and the adversty Lynne has overcome is heroic and all the more poignant because it is a true story told by the man himself. Go see this. It will put a smile on your face and a lump in your throat! Great!
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Assembly @ George St - Edinburgh Suite - 18.05 (19.15)
Veteran of twenty Fringe festivals, Perrier Nominated stand-up comic, poet, award winning playwright and actor, co-star in the three biggest theatrical hits in fringe history, 12 Angry Men, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The odd Couple, Owen O'Neill has penned a new, uncompromising, darkly comic play'
Acclaimed for his brilliant monologues such as Off My Face and It Was Henry Fonda's Fault, O'Neill now teams up with Rachel O'Riordan - director of 2003 solo smash hit Hurricane with Richard Dormer.
This play is a one hander but manages to hold the audience's attention on almost every word and movement by the actor. It is a difficult subject, one the Catholic Church would rather go away.
Alas, it seems to plague the Church with outbreaks around the world. Owen O'Neill deals with child abuse, an understatement of the horrific ordeals perpetrated on children by priests, by becoming an avenging angel, meting out justice when long overdue. If God has turned a blind eye, someone had to end these abominations.
This show is Owen O'Neill's seventh productions that he has written and performed. He is a passionate and consummate actor. He never misses a beat, never wastes a motion nor fails to deliver a stunning narrative that rises and falls with each execution. Working in a stark set, O'Neill swings through a wide range of emotions. The stage set and design often convey a sense of prison where we wonder if O'Neill has been jailed after all for his crimes. But, are they really crimes or preventive acts?
The story has a neat twist at the end, not all together surprising, but welcomed. While the audience was sparse, this show should be seen by many. It is a difficult subject handled well. It is certainly Fringe First materials. Don't miss it!
KN (fringereview.com 01/08/08)
In this day and age of political correctness and the uproar surrounding the Catholic Church and alleged child abuse I suppose it is not surprising that we have a play on the Fringe round this topic.
Priests are dying in very nasty ways or are just plainly disappearing. "Peter knows why and wants to tell all". Is he a madman or does he really know something? This is a very dark almost dismal production with pockets of humour, some of which seem almost forbidden or wrong. The basic room we are looking at could be in any institution or even a prison it is so bare and stern. The single occupant of the room awakens from sleep slowly gets dressed then describes the deaths of several Priests in graphic and physical details. With one final revelation that is as startling as it is unexpected.
I know Owen O'Neill is a comedian but I have only seen his stand-up once. He is also a multi award-winning writer and actor he has both written and performs 'Absolution' which displays all his talents to their utmost. Cleverly directed by Rachel O'Riordan, whom I expect had her work cut out, having to direct Owen from whose imagination the whole thing came. It is also part of this years TTI & Guy Masterson Productions.
Praise where praise is due I would never have thought of this material as producing a fascinating, thought provoking yet funny show but it has. Owen puts 200% into the performance and must be exhausted after every show. I certainly recommend it as one to see along with 'Reasonable Doubt', 'Weights' and 'Vincent'. I have also heard great things about 'Scaramouche Jones'.
Sheila Jack (one4review.com 07/08/08)
From its shock opening to a really unexpected final twist, Absolution held every member of a packed house enthralled and eager to hear what happens next to an unnamed protagonist.
Like John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, this perfectly paced, one-man play performed by the author, goes to places that many would prefer to ignore, especially the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
Dressed in unflattering underwear in what is apparently a prison cell, our man first describes a castration and murder to get his audience in the mood for much more.
As the hour develops a pattern, this seeming psychopath talks in graphic detail of more and more gory murders, gradually donning his clothes as he does so.
Amazingly, when this ginger-haired Irishman asks the question as to whether we should see him as a serial killer or an avenging angel the answer is indisputably both.
O'Neill questions our views on religion and morality by focussing on a stream of priests who heartlessly abused children as young as six, protected by the banner of the Church and hide behind the "secret, sacramental, confessional shield".
This is a topical subject and Absolution will not be the last word. However, it will be one of the most powerful and considered plays about a tragedy that far too many, like the protagonist's father, would still prefer was ignored.
Philip Fisher (British Theatre Guide 06/08/08)
IT'S hard to believe that writer/performer of this one-man show, Owen O'Neill, is a Perrier nominated stand-up. So bleak and brutal is his vivid script, and so violently commanding the delivery that O'Neill at times is terrifying.
He portrays a man who has dished himself the "avenging angel" task of meting out justice to child-abusing Catholic priests. With relentless detail, O'Neill recounts the various grim accounts of their crimes and punishments, whilst the audience are left to form their own judgement on his particular method of justice.
The subject matter makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing throughout but, perhaps not unlike his character, O'Neill has found his own way of dealing with an issue that sorely needs examining. Runs until 25 August (not 11).
Lucy Ribchester (The Evening News 09/08/08)
Absolution delves into one of the most controversial topics of our era: abuse perpetrated by ordained members of the Roman Catholic Church.
It presents the fictionalised testimony of one man's reaction to such acts, chronicling the murder of five priests all guilty of abusing children.
This un-named character is played by Owen O'Neill, who also wrote the hour-long monologue. He presents the audience with a complex character. There is no sidestep into background or unnecessary commentary; instead, he spends the entire time simply detailing each murder. Shades of the character reveal themselves throughout the hour, but the focus primarily remains on the 'why' and 'how' this man came to take each life.
The production's greatest asset is that it doesn't try to be anything other than a dramatisation of an individual's statement. There is no directorial commentary and the writing doesn't give the audience any easy answers or excuses. The audience must take every word and action depicted and come up with their own interpretation.
In fact, it is completely up to the audience to decide whether the character deserves absolution or not. Whether you believe every word of the story and whether you see the character as a serial killer or an avenging angel is entirely up to each person. The production takes a great risk in trusting the audience to do all of the work. It is a risk that pays off.
O'Neill is to be commended for both his acting and writing. The piece is always riveting without being sensationalised or overdramatic. There is enough evidence to allow the audience to reach any conclusion it wants to draw. The character is also not a black/white incarnation; he's sincere enough to be sympathetic but violent enough to be feared.
Director Rachel O'Riordan has the difficult task of dramatising a production that must not look dramatised. O'Neill's work requires a mostly naturalistic setting, which is exactly what she has achieved. Slight sound and lighting effects are used mostly to highlight the actual killings, but O'Riordan still finds ways of balancing the stage, allowing the character to slowly evolve throughout the performance.
Upon leaving the theatre, I overheard an audience member tell his partner 'Every Festival, there's always 'The One'!" With its intelligence, highly literate script, compelling performance and blatant challenge to the audience, Absolution may in fact be this year's 'One'.
Michael Cox (On Stage Scotland 13/08/08)
Amazing - (14/08/08) reviewer: Eoghain, Ireland
Yesterday I commented that I had seen 30 good shows, this year, but I was still waiting for the show that would really blow me away. 'Absolution' is that show. It's my favourite Fringe show, so far, this year. Owen O'Neill gives a great performance, filled with passion and subtlety, of a script that he also wrote. The story is simple but exquisitely layered and I felt every nuance and outburst from Owen O'Neill. I'll be recommending this to everybody I meet!
Another O'Neill gem - (11/08/08) reviewer: Darren Shan, Ireland
I've been coming to see every show that Owen O'Neill puts on the Fringe for the last 6 or 7 years, and this is up there with the very best of his work. A dark look at a man on a mission to rid the world of child-abusing priests, it isn't as one-dimensional as it might have been in lesser hands -- this takes us inside the mind of a tortured soul, and also tries to give depth to the targets of his hatred. This is the least humorous of any of O'Neill's shows, though it does end on a wry, unsuspected note that lets you leave with a dark chuckle. Thought-provoking, must-see theatre.
Absolution - (06/08/08) reviewer: Margaret Kennedy, Ireland
Excellently weaved script starting with a tragic and gripping depiction of the shame surrounding abuse and small town mentality that prevailed througout the times ensuring the silence of children not just by the abuser but those who knew.... I found the kung fu sytle girating on stage jarring and distracting. Excellent twist at end comically negating the need to judge on the madman vs. avenger question of the role of judge, jury, executioner.
Disturbing But Brilliant. - (05/08/08) reviewer: Gilly, United Kingdom
Yes the subject matter is horrific but this piece is riveting. Beautifully written and performed I barely dared breath throughout in case I broke the spell cast over the audience. A difficult but brilliant piece.
Fantastic - (03/08/08) reviewer: Fiona Hunter, United Kingdom
This has a really compelling story and is told with such energy and amazing compassion (ironic given the subject) I will try to catch this again before the end of the run.
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Assembly @ George St - Edinbugh Suite - 16.25 (15.40)
Paris 1890, Theo van Gogh mourns the suicide of his beloved brother Vincent a week earlier - who died in his arms at the age of 37. Four years later, Theo himself died, leaving Vincent's life story in the form of five hundred soul-revealing letters to his younger brother...
Leonard (Mr. Spock) Nimoy trawled through these letters and retells Vincent's story in Vincent's own words. American actor Jim Jarrett gloriously recreates the world of the misunderstood genius. Nimoy's powerfully moving play was performed by Nimoy himself on Broadway for which he garnered a Tony© Award. Jim Jarrett began performing the work eleven years ago and has since given over 1000 performances to universal acclaim.
I have never been what you might call an arty person in that I do not often go to galleries and look at pictures I am however aware of some of the "Masters", Vincent Van Gogh" being one. The fact that the UK Premiere of the one-man show 'Vincent' is being performed this Fringe under the TTI & Guy Masterson banner was one contributing factor to encourage me to go and see it. The other being that it was written and initially performed by Leonard Nimoy (Mr Spock).
Jim Jarret has been performing the work for 10 years and has given over 1000 performances, whether the production chooses the performer or the performer evolves in to the subject I just don't know but I was amazed just how similar Jarrett is to some of the self portraits projected on to a large canvas on stage.
My admiration for solo performers is well documented and Jim Jarrett does a very good job alternating between the main character Theo Van Gogh and his brother Vincent. Theo unable to talk after his brothers funeral takes the chance at this gathering of friends and family to say now what he could not then. This history is taken from letters and writings from and about the artist.
This is an interesting informative production well performed and directed by Jim Jarrett includes projected images of paintings and drawings both well known and lesser known.
Sheila Jack (one4review.com 07/08/08)
Edinburgh Festival 2008: Vincent Van Gogh still has the ability to fascinate
The turbulent life of Vincent van Gogh has long attracted dramatists. Like the 1990 movie Vincent and Theo, by Robert Altman, Vincent, a one-man play by Leonard Nimoy (of Star Trek fame), focuses on the relationship between the painter and his brother. The basis for the drama is Theo's oration about Vincent the week following the artist's death.
Drawing upon the correspondence between the two men, the monologue takes us chronologically through Vincent's biography: his fiery Christian evangelism among the working poor; his worship of fellow painter Paul Gauguin; his famous act of self-harm; and, always, his close, but often strained, relations with the brother whose financial and emotional support did so much to make his work possible.
This is not a play of great imagination or ambition. Much of it is dramatised readings of the letters themselves. However, Van Gogh's story is so irresistible, and American actor Jim Jarrett's self-directed performance so engaging that Vincent makes for a rewarding piece of Fringe theatre.
Mark Brown (The Telegraph 08/08/08)
With impassioned strokes like those of a Van Gogh canvas this one-man show paints the relationship of brothers Theo and Vincent. A week after Vincent's suicide Theo holds a memorial service to fittingly portray the gravely misunderstood man, and we hear his address to the congregation. American actor Jim Jarrett expresses with colour and immediacy the intensity of the relationship, and as he reads from Vincent's letters there is an overwhelming sense of something very private being exposed. The projections of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings accompanying Theo's candid words only add to our immersion in the brothers' world. 'Vincent' is an intimate, vivid, and enlightening portrait of the artist and of the brother who supported him so devotedly.
Dora Petherbridge (Three Weeks 15/08/08)
Vincent: This monologue in the voice of Vincent Van Gogh's brother Theo was written by actor Leonard Nimoy around 1970, for himself to perform in the days he was trying to break away from his Star Trek persona.
For the past dozen years, Jim Jarrett has toured with the show, bringing to Edinburgh a highly polished and fully developed characterisation and presentation.
Inspired by the fact that Theo oddly did not speak at Vincent's grave, Nimoy imagines him too overcome by grief then, but driven to make up for it later, at an event that is openly a celebration of the artist's life and work.
Theo's portrait of his brother is unabashedly adulatory, finding joy in all of Vincent's foibles, interpreting everything as a product of the intense experience in life that made him a great artist and absolutely denying, notwithstanding all the evidence, that he ever was mad.
Where Nimoy originally played Theo as a rather formal man, lecturing sternly on the facts of Vincent's life, Jarrett's Theo is defined by the joy of loving his brother and of having the opportunity to share that love. He has a smile on his face throughout and roams the stage, delightedly picking up fragments of Vincent's letters to illustrate the artist's total immersion in everything he did and felt, good or bad.
Jarrett allows us to sense a state of denial in his speaker, as Theo brushes past the ear-cutting episode or Vincent's stay in an asylum a bit too glibly and tries to put a positive spin on the darkest periods in his brother's life, but that makes even stronger our sense of the brotherly love that is the real subject of the play.
Jarrett is backed by projections of dozens of Vincent's paintings and drawings which, being undeniably works of genius, constantly threaten to upstage the actor, but his willingness to run that risk is a measure of his confidence in the power of his story and his performance.
Gerald Berkowitz (The Stage 14/08/08)
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Assembly @ George St - Wildman Room - 18.15 (19.15)
Young, idealistic and fervent, Palestinian actor Yasser Mansour prepares in his dressing room to play Shakespeare's classic Jew, Shylock. He shares his first name and his ideals with Arafat, but Mansour discovers that the Arab perhaps understands Shylock better than anyone else...
Fluent in Arabic, William el-Gardi, last seen at the Fringe in 2007's The Container takes on Benali's challenging, divisive Mansour... Dutch winderkind, Teunkie van der Sluijs directs.
Bursting onto stage, Yasser (William El-Gardi) startles us with his immediate anger, frustration and perhaps nerves. A charming and likeable individual, he effortlessly draws us into his tale.
Yasser is due to perform the part of Shylock Shakespeare's Jewish money lender in a performance of The Merchant of Venice, in an hour but his suitcase has been stolen.
William leads us on a journey back to his childhood, up to present day, sharing with us his angst ridden memories of his father and the passion for his country, while he questions if a Palestinian should be playing a Jew?
Interplayed with this, rather odd announcements over the theatre audio system can be listened, which brings an original if jarring touch to the performance. Although humorous in places, they act as a gentle reminder that time is ticking away, adding to Yasser's dilemma.
Skipping back to his childhood and then to present day sometimes confuses the audience and with a lightning fast pace its easy to get lost. Buying the program is essential as this gives a structure which to follow and some helpful knowledge of Palestine and the occupied territories.
Well acted and full of fascinating insights into the important characters in a man's life this is an excellent production.
Humorous and intelligent, Yasser is highly recommended.
Michael Bulman (Hairline 08/08/08)
At 33, Abdelkader Benali is a multi-award winning writer and a famous name in the Netherlands, but, as is often the case with continental writers, their success takes a while to come into the English-speaking world. Thanks to Guy Masterson's inspired choice to co-produce the English version of this monologue, Benali stands a good chance of becoming a household name in England too. Not least because the action of this potentially controversial piece is hereby taking place in the the depths of English suburbia - the Middleton Theatre, Harrogate.
Captivating and emotionally supple, William el-Gardi is Yasser Mansoor - a vein, self-absorbed, occasionally pathetic, but immensely talented Palestinian actor who is about to go on stage as Shylock the Jew. Only he has lost his nose and potentially lost his beloved Lucy, too.
El-Gardi seems to put every fibre of his being into this performance, even if at times it remains difficult to see past his nuanced portrayal into the core of the play itself. This may be because Benali is consumed with a youthful enthusiasm to cover a lot of ground in a short piece - love, ideals, politics, Shakespeare, Arafat and "teaching humanity what respect is". But at least it's a promising debut and well worth the effort.
Duska Radosavljevic (The Stage 18/08/07)
An original take on the Middle East conflict.
The concept of national identity becomes ever more fragile in the absence of a nation state. A people bereft of the glue that binds modern communities together - whether real or imagined - risk having their identity defined by others, moulded by 'enemies' to become disenfranchised from their own history.
The Palestinian experience is obviously one that many modern works of theatre have attempted to do justice to. Too often, however, grand historical narratives loom over the everyday, with the banalities and frustrations of a generation being cast as mere footnotes to the current conflict in the Middle East. In contrast, Yasser, which focuses on a young Palestinian actor preparing to play Shylock, succeeds in illuminating the intricate crevices of the conflict where other works fail.
As the play states, it is almost the case that to be born Palestinian is a political act in itself. The piece depicts the mutual incomprehension of Yasser and his British girlfriend at his mother's shame on learning he is to play a Jew, opting to concentrate on a small-scale human conflict where many would opt for the polemic.
All of this is cemented by William el-Gardi. He is a first-rate actor, as evidenced by his appearance in last year's The Container, a moving site specific piece about human trafficking. His performance here provides further evidence of his enviable talent.
Miles Johnson (The List 14/08/08)
If you don't know anything about The Merchant Of Venice or Palestine, I would probably give this show a miss. Then again, Yasser performs so compellingly that even if the name Shylock means nothing to you, this play is worth seeing. Yasser explores everything Palestinian whilst drawing parallels with Shakespeare's famous Jew, whom he is playing at a depressing theatre in Harrogate. He revisits his childhood, and expresses his frustration at the general ignorance and misunderstanding of Palestinian culture and history. His bitterness is palpable: "The Arab understands Shylock better than anyone", he declares, when speaking of the feeling of being an outsider. The action is interspersed with some excellent moments of Shakespeare, making this piece altogether gripping and thought-provoking.
Alexandra Hilliard (Three Weeks 09/08/07)
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