More, but not of the same

Orlando
Of the few shows I planned to see during the Fringe, Virginia Woolf's witty biography Orlando was low on the list. Until I noticed it was promoted in Jenner's department store window and that it had been awarded five stars. I don't often go on reviewers recommendations, but this time I did and it paid off handsomely.

Orlando was played by Glasgow based Judith Williams in bright crisp tones, easy to engage with throughout the performance. The sparse set design brought to life with lighting, projections and original sound track were all admirable and enjoyable. The costume design was almost the best aspect with an inventive changeover from male to female attire achieved with convincing effect. Conveying the main adventures in Orlando's long life in an hour was managed without diluting the impact of the charm and romance of the book.

Any performance in Edinburgh is up against the vast competition across the city and even five stars did not guarantee capacity audiences for this one, but at least on the day I went it was fairly full and very well received.

1001 Nights
Swept up in enthusiasm I agreed to accompany Sig Other to six hours of Alf Layla wa-Layla at the Lyceum. The Festival programme says of this production:

Erotic, brutal, witty and poetic. One Thousand and One Nights are the never-ending stories told by the young Shahrazad under sentence of death to King Shahrayar ... is told in two compelling parts each of which can be seen and enjoyed on its own; or see both in the same day and fully immerse yourself in these remarkable tales for a truly intoxicating Festival experience.

It was indeed an experience and one that's left conflicting thoughts. The first half was more brutal while the second was more witty; the poetry ran throughout this Arabic, French and English performance.

This is a wonderfully international production with cast, musicians and creative team from many Arabic and some European countries. It was written by Hanan Al-Shaykh who adapted the tales and emphasised their feminist message about misogynist men being made aware of their cruelty to women.

Certainly the first half amply demonstrated this cruelty, but the second half brought realisation and understanding to the Caliph and the other men in the tales. They resolved to change. 

Much was made of the tale of the five sisters who lived together, and their choice to continue so after marriage went wrong for all of them. Frequently, they were referred to as 'living alone' as if five people in a household were alone if there was not a man amongst them. This is similar to the old feminist saw of two women in a bar being approached by smoothy male with the opener "What are you ladies doing on your own?"  Apparently women in whatever quantity are alone if there is no male there.

Part of my conflicting thoughts are that I'd only narrowly agreed to see both parts and I wonder what I'd have been left with had I only seen part one. Overall, it was the correct decision to spend the day in this way, but I'm not sure I'll be persuaded by the enticement of a theatrical 'experience' again.

I was rather relieved that the comfort of the seats in the Lyceum meant I was not cramped and stiff by the end.