Saturday September 8th, 2012
I was so lucky to see 'Translunar Paradise' in Edinburgh.' It's one of those theater pieces that will haunt me. It was by Theatre Ad Infinitum.
I'll try and describe it, but I'll fall short. It was a 3 person piece..... a man and a woman who acted and danced, and one woman playing the accordion, whistling and singing. No spoken words, but they told a terrific love story. Sometimes the accordion would be used to play music, but also it would be tapped on, and used to make a whooshing, breathing like sound. Masks were used. A story was told of a couple who had loved each other for many years, the wife died, but the husband had a hard time letting her go. Sometimes the actors would re-enact things from the past, and mime and dance were used, and then ...whoosh, the masks that made them look old would appear, and they'd hold them in front of their faces, and they'd have the posture and movement of very old people. Seamless transitions....The choreography was beautiful, and precise. There was such passion and feeling. As an audience member you always hope for an experience like that. To feel transported.
Like any junkie I couldn't just stop there. I had to buy one more ticket. Just one more, then I'll stop.....The show had gotten fabulous reviews. It was featured on the cover of Fest magazine..... But, it started at 11 P.M. at night, and it was their final performance, so I think things were a little less structured than normal. maybe. Anyway, it was puppets fighting, with a lot of bad language. Not really my cup of tea. I did like when they pulled a bunch of champagne poppers and curly shiny purple streamers flew into the air. I also enjoyed visiting with a woman from Leeds that was waiting in the queue with me, before the show started. She was very nice and she recommended several Canadian productions that she thought might end up touring to Minneapolis.
Some favorite moments during my time in Edinburgh.
1. Walking up Aurthurs Seat and seeing a small girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old using a fancy adjustable (possibly graphite or aluminum) walking stick. Her parents and siblings didn't have anything fancy like that. So I imagine it was something she'd asked Santa for.
2. It was always super easy to wake up in the morning, since the mattress I slept on was made of broken silverware and crumpled up napkins.
3. The happy occasion when you're flyering, and you hand your card to another actor, who's also doing a show, and you both realize that your shows are at exactly the same time, so you don't have to lie to each other and say "I'll come to your show."
4. Handing my flyer to a gentleman at the half price booth, and he says to me "Is this a show about Bruce Lee?" "No" I reply, it's about Judy Garland. "Oh, sorry" he says, "I'm not wearing my glasses." LOL
Kung Fu Judy? Maybe next year.