Thursday 7 August 2014

天邊外劇團有限公司


Can I have some more of that fish, please?

天邊外劇團有限公司

I am so charmed by this show, it makes me hate the Fringe. In an under-appreciated venue, The Lu Tings is being performed to an audience too small.

I don't want to indulge in orientalism, but this show comes from a tradition I don't really understand. Brecht wrote about oriental theatre and western critics have been misunderstanding it ever since then.

The show has a story-teller, two live musicians and a cast capable of exquisite physical theatre-style choreography.

The umbrella becomes a sword, a symbol of tyranny. The fish-headed heroes of this mythical tale become a symbol of all victims of tyranny.


There are moments of beauty - when the Lu Ting swim in the sea. Then tragedy, when they are massacred. There's even some fun, when the fish headed outlaws try to learn the language of their oppressors.

Please go and see it. It is a political parable and has the energy of a ritual, or a community performance reminding the audience of their own heritage.

They begin by offering the audience a traditional fish dish. It tastes amazing.

The music rattles and howls and drives the action. Sometimes the actors preen, sometimes they battle.

'The story is told clearly and with passion, a charming introduction to a style of theatre that is equal parts poetry and dance: the political subtext is present but is never allowed to overwhelm the immediacy of the plot.'

The VileArts doesn't do stars. Sorry.


4-9 August 2014 11:30am (£9.00 full, £8.00 concessions)

Greenside @ Nicholson (Venue # 209)
Methodist Church, 25 Nicholson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX



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