I know that critics and theatre-makers are natural enemies, but I am taking this personally. There's a bunch of shows at the Fringe that are intent on reminding me of my past, dragging up memories of terrible pain from my years as a Latin teacher. I mean, aren't drug dealers a far more fertile subject. Must we be subjected to educational trauma?
Dickson Telfer is in my bad books, and I don't care if Alan Bissett, who has written some of the best plays of the last few years, thinks he is great. Secret Weapons is about the class from hell, the one that makes the teacher throw it all away and join the critical circus. Mind you, the plot does involve the teacher getting some tricks to fight back, so maybe I'll get some vicarious satisfaction...
Gryphon Venues at Point Hotel, 22-26 August 2012
Then other memories come to mind. It's my first ever lesson and I shout. I shout a great deal. And when I am finished the class begin a slow hand clap. So along comes a company and call themselves Slow Clap, has a successful show in 2011 - The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic, a rare example of dance working alongside comedy - and returns to tell the Truth.
The Slow Clap style is as suited to the Fringe as I was not suited to the Latin classroom. Humorously blending movement and storytelling, they exaggerate the character to get at the story, racing to a conclusion at a fair clip.
Underbelly, 2 -26 August
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