Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007

Limited serie of hand-printed posters by Mikko Keski-Vahala

Photos of the preview night in London

A viewer's review on edfringe.com

a visual and intellectual treat 15 Aug 2007 reviewer: Gerdi Quist, United Kingdom

From the moment the show starts with shuffling feet rushing in to set up and mark out the theatrical space, you know you are in for a visual and intellectual treat. The audience needs to make its own interpretation of events as there is no discernable dialogue (unless you know Polish). But this does not stop you from enjoying the piece. The performance given by Mira Rychlicka is immensely rewarding, subtly humorous and keeps you engaged all the time, even if you can’t fully understand what is being said. If anything, this probably heightens the audience’s perception to clues given to help you interpret what is actually happening on stage. Clues include the repetitions of the scene where a Magistrate arrives at a house in the middle of the night, suggesting to us we are not seeing a linear plot, but different interpretations of events; we can also tell the Magistrate is fancying himself as a detective as he thinks the arrows on the floor are clues to solving what he imagines to be a murder; and most significantly, the presence of the creaking windmill suggests the Magistrate, like Don Quijote, is suffering from an overexcited imagination. But, even without understanding the plot fully, this show of ‘object based theatre’ is very enjoyable and atmospheric through the use of stunning and suggestive stage props, the use of masks and puppets, and a haunting original musical score performed live by a guitarist. If you like your theatre to be more than simple entertainment, you really should not miss this show.

http://www.edfringe.com/reviews/read.html?id=4622

Scotsman Review 13-08-07

A Funeral For Don Quixote

***

SALLY J STOTT

ROCKET @ DEMARCO ROXY (115)

"IT'S GOING to be sensational," proclaims a man, before we are ushered inside the dark and gothic Rocket and into the vast heart of this converted church. It's a formidable place to be at midnight, tremendously well suited to the sinister tale of ritualistic death that follows. A co-production of Central Saint Martins College of Art, this is an experimental piece of object-based theatre that relies on symbolist imagery, non-naturalistic language and a multi-media landscape to tell its story. However, quite what this story is about remains pretty abstract.

Based on Witold Gombrowicz's novel Cosmos and short story A Premeditated Crime, it supposedly tells the tale of a son who believes his father has been murdered. However, you would never get this unless you'd read the press release. Using images from Don Quixote (such as a clunking windmill), the play relies heavily on the nightmarish, ultimately very surreal, world it creates. We get treated to an autopsy, a hanging, some freaky puppets, an even freakier family and some truly disturbing masks.

Yet, while highly atmospheric, horrible and downright scary in places, unfortunately it often makes very little narrative sense. Mira Rychlicka is a wonderfully expressive, compelling actress. However, scenes are overly long and indulgent, with events taking ages to properly form.

A Funeral for Don Quijote is less sensational than it is disquieting, but the Rocket is a wonderful place for it. Beware that it will probably give kids (and me) nightmares for weeks to come.