Edinburgh Festival 1993: Reviews

THE UGLY MAN

Canadian writer Brad Fraser's last play to be seen in Britain was Unidentified Human Remains, a darkly funny account of seedy goings-on in 'nice' Alberta. This time he delves even deeper into unacceptable behaviour, with a racy, lurid C&W adaptation of the Jacobean revenge tragedy The Changeling. On a wealthy ranch in the mid-West, Veronica is saving herself for marriage - at the insistence of her raddled, pill-popping mother (excellent Denise Clarke) - but exhibits an immodest curiosity about sex. The 'ugly man', a disfigured hired hand, spots his chance and gains control over Veronica by disposing of her inconvenient fiance. But as sexual exploitation begins to run the ranch, the ugliest desires of the characters start to bubble up. Fraser's writing is fast, funny and merciless, matched by Blake Brooker's slick, loosely jointed production. Sarah Hemming

Traverse (venue 15), Cambridge St (031-228 1404). Noon 31 Aug, 3 Sept. 3.30 28 Aug, 1, 4 Sept. 7.00 29 Aug, 2 Sept. See also today's conference details.

EMO PHILIPS

A typical Emo joke starts at an acceptable level of sick - 'Does anyone have a dog that drinks from the toilet?' - before killing you with the unthinkable - 'Tickles a bit, doesn't it?' (If you can't work it out then you're sparing yourself the blushes.) Time and again he repeats the double dose in that familiar halting wail, the child-retard persona set against some splendidly nauseous lines. When a passing bluebottle is picked up in the spotlight, he bleats, 'Did that fly come out of my crotch?' It's the pitiful nerd in him that engenders enough sympathy for him to get away with it. 'My neurologist called up. He said, 'Can you bring in a specimen of your urine?' I said, 'Sure. What year?' ' The one nagging worry is that he's playing it for real. Mark Wareham

Assembly Rooms (venue 3), 54 George St (031-226 2428). 9pm 29 Aug. Queen's Hall (venue 72), Clerk St (031-668 2019). 7.30pm 30, 31 Aug.

THE WOW SHOW

Watching greying, balding, beer-bellied men wearing dresses and acting drunk isn't my idea of humour. At least it wasn't. And the critic in the third row, ostentatiously scribbling and protesting aloud clearly agreed. But after a discreet period, the critic was outed as gang-member Lee Cornes (along with Steve Frost, Mark Arden and Paul Mark Elliot), and from there on in anarchy erupted and all resistance was toppled. Seldom has such chaos been so effectively planned and executed - water fights, nudity and an exodus out of the theatre and into the street. Puerile, but painfully funny.

Clare Bayley

Gilded Balloon (venue 38), 233 Cowgate (031-226 2151). 6.45pm to 28 Aug.

THE DIARY OF A MADMAN

A brace of productions at this year's Fringe have made stabs at staging Gogol's short story satirising the effects of 19th-century Russia's hierarchical bureaucracy. Though sharing the same content, the styles of the shows could hardly be more at odds. Graham Duff's solo version initially seems fusty, but his quill-sharpener Poprishchin has exactly the right air of self-regard. A sonorous bore, he enters thoughts in his diary, denigrating his colleagues and boss while entertaining poetic ecstasies for the boss's daughter. Duff etches the dreams of a clerk turning crank with real skill. By comparison Kak Touring Theatre externalises Poprishchin's delusions in a clowning tour de force. Colin McLaren's pyjama-ed protagonist is a slapstick turn harrassed by the absurdist figures of his evil superior, his love interest and by talking dogs and puppets. Though rich in imagery this production forfeits pathos.

Graham Hassell

Graham Duff is at Stepping Stones (venue 51), West Bow, Grassmarket (031-225 6520). 1.30pm to 30 Aug. Kak's run has finished.