Edinburgh festival `99 Reviews: Pick of the Day
IF YOU GO TO SEE ANYTHING TODAY, THEN CHOOSE FROM ONE OF THESE SIX MUST-SEE SHOWS
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Your support makes all the difference.l Drummers
Traverse Theatre, Venue 15 (0131-228 1404), times vary, to 29 August
Max Stafford-Clark's knockout production illuminates every thrilling detail of Simon Bennett's tragi-comedy about a bunch of burglars. Everyone has banged on about its authenticity - Bennett did time for theft - but its really striking qualities are the comedy, self-control and compassion. A magnetic Peter Sullivan is outstanding in a flawless cast. Great. Gripping.Go.
l Rich Hall aka Otis Lee Crenshaw
Pleasance, Venue 33 (0131-556 6550), 10.15pm, until 30 August
Entertainment can be the only rehabilitation for Otis Lee Crenshaw aka Rich Hall, the most charming monster to spring from a US penitentiary. With his bourbon-soaked brand of country and western, Hall's alter ego strikes a perfect balance between self-effacement and smugness, sensitivity and sleaze. Only he could turn a song about jail rape into an epic love poem.
l So I Killed a Few People
Komedia@Southside, Venue 82 (0131-667 2212), 8.50pm, until tomorrow
David Summer's portrayal of a serial killer on Death Row is fascinating and compelling as he explores mankind's most intimate desires, perched on the brink between sanity and psychosis. His ability to control the audience is brilliant and terrifying - he shows us the demons lurking in our own minds. One of the most powerful actors in the Fringe.
l Car
Pleasance, Venue 33 (0131-556 6550), 4pm, until 30 August
The play zips with adrenaline speed through the chaotic mentalities of four boys who have stolen a car. It also examines the reaction of Gary, the car's owner, who is alarmed to discover that the theft has produced feelings of violence and a desire for revenge that jolt his law-abiding facade. Breakneck momentum, hardcore dialogue, and in-your-face entertainment.
l Count Arthur Strong and Terry Titter
Gilded Balloon, Backstage 1 (0131-226 2151), pounds 7, 6:30pm, to 30 August
Comic character Count Arthur Strong gives an authoritative masterclass on the business of acting: cry with laughter, ache for oxygen and watch in awe as his mind and gnarled body willing, but his mouth and tongue flailing, he makes one attempt after another just to say the word "masterclass". His portrayal of a tortured old-timer, with his comic partner for the first time in 30 years, is the funniest thing at the Festival.
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