*****
Two years ago, Conor Linehan and Eva Meier's programme of German cabaret songs graced the Fringe. Their return, after extensive touring and recording, is more assured and comfortable, with seamless transitions between songs and shifts of mood, tone and style. We tend to hear only the same handful of Kurt Weill/ Brecht songs performed, but this selection demonstrates the richness, depth and wit of their collaboration. It also includes songs by another Weimar composer, Friedrich Hollaender, and recent compositions by the film composer, Peer Raben. Even in this inappropriately formal venue, Eva Meier is a chanteuse to whom the - rather stagey - glamour of another era clings like a second skin, while Conor Linehan's accompaniment appears effortless. A treat.
Tonight At 10 p.m.
Stone Ghosts
Temple Bar Gallery
***
We meet Camille Claudel in the mental home where she spent the last 30 years of her life. She met the great sculptor Rodin when she was 19, and became his lover for 15 years. But he had another, senior mistress whom he would never leave, and the affair eventually ended.
Claudel went on to live in seclusion in Paris, and later began to destroy her own sculpture. She became destitute and paranoid, and died at 79 in the asylum. Author Sue Mythen plays her in this hour-long work, with Geoff Minogue as Rodin.
The work plays more as an animated reading than a dramatisation, with near-balletic movement and background mood-music. It does not penetrate the artists' creativity, or even their mutual passion. It simply tells the story of a significant relationship in a kind of stage miniature. The two actors are simpatico, and Karen Egan's direction of them is controlled.
- Gerry Colgan
At 7 p.m., until Wednesday
Wolfie . . . Le Petit Mozart
Alliance Francaise
***
It's like a multimedia music lesson in French. Slides, narratives, readings, live and piped music assemble a colourful collage chronicling the childhood of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although we are not introduced to him, this production develops a human image of the child prodigy by using the original letters of his father, sister and the maestro himself in the script. We imagine a child enjoying the innocence of youth but also suffering from his genius.
Wolfie's sister Nannerl is played by writer and director Brigitte Bladou whose piano accompaniment makes one realise just how incredible the achievements of this precocious youngster are. However, Bladou's performance as the forgotten, talented sibling suffers from a lack of direction and from Frederic Gay's strong portrayal of the dominant, guiding father. This delightful, short play is aimed primarily at children but the language barrier could prevent them from fully understanding the material.
- Simon Carswell
Tonight at 7p.m.
Sonate a Constance
Alliance Francaise
**
This second production at the Alliance, again based on the life of Mozart and written and directed by Brigitte Bladou, documents the relationship between the composer and his wife Constance. Like Wolfie, this play is also told through the use of letters. But this is where the script stumbles. Too much concentration on this material prevents fuller characterisation.
Alain Vitale's energetic Mozart, together with annoying laugh, is reminiscent of Tom Hulce's depiction in Milos Forman's 1984 film, Amadeus. The narration is provided by the beautifully raucous voice of Georges Descrieres but spoiled by very loud music inserts. Although Bladou's accomplished piano-playing adds atmosphere, one can't help wondering why Mozart isn't given a chance to shine on the keyboards. Her overall contribution to the production leaves me wondering whether this is more a vehicle for Bladou's talents than a character-driven story about Mozart and Constance.
Tonight at 9 p.m.
- Simon Carswell
New South Wales
Andrews Lane Studio
*****
A journey from London to Cardiff by taxi sets up the premise of Ian Rowland's excellent play New South Wales. A bisected black cab gives the audience access to the exchange which passes between driver and passenger. Tony Longhurst and Scott Bailey are compelling as the Cockney cabby and his Welsh fare, and their encounter is both hilarious and profound in equal measure. Their talk turns to maps, both real and imagined, as they try to make sense of the directions and limits of their own lives. Rowlands has a fine ear for dialogue and, in the same way as Jim Jarmusch's film Night on Earth, his play capitalises on the narrative potential of random intersections between travellers. The lighting in this production deftly conveys the lull and sweep of night driving and registers the sense of provisional intimacy between the men. New South Wales is an hour-long night journey well worth taking.
- Heather Johnson
Tonight at 8.15 p.m.
***** - brilliant
**** - good
*** - more good than bad
** - more bad than good
* - bad
Fringe information/booking on 1850 3746438