GHOSTS OF THE NEAR FUTURE at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★
“performance art fans will be intrigued by Ghosts of the Near Future, and won’t be discouraged by the disparate and random elements in this show”
Ghosts of the Near Future promises “a show about extinctions, climatic, cultural, civilizational” in this newest offering by performance artists Emma Clark and PJ Stanley, aka emma + pj.
In sixty minutes, the audience in the Demonstration Room at Summerhall is treated to a rather muddled mashup of what is described as magic realism. Ghosts of the Near Future gives the impression of an incomplete encounter with too much popular American culture. The show is entertaining from moment to moment, but it’s a struggle to connect it with the theme of extinction on quite the scale suggested in its promotional material.
Extinction is a big theme in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and with good reason. As scientific forecasts about species extinction, climate change, famine and plagues grow ever more disheartening, it’s important that artists tackle such big subjects. Art can illuminate data in ways that science cannot. What’s good about this piece by emma + pj is that, in a series of short scenes, Ghosts of the Near Future takes us out of the depressing reality of the near futures we are all facing, and presents us instead, with a dream of theirs. Spoiler alert: emma + pj’s is not any more cheerful, ultimately, but it’s a lot more fun to look at.
Clichés about the American West abound in Ghosts of the Near Future. Those who have been there can confirm that yes, it’s hot, and yes, it’s empty. If the point of all this is to show that the future of our planet may well look like Nevada, then yes, emma + pj are onto something. But how does the magic realism approach work with this? Why conjure up images of Las Vegas? To remind us that the showbiz glamour of this desert city is just a mirage? Is the point of this connection to make us realize that the achievements of our planet might one day been seen as just a magic trick, a dream? For generations of young people growing up amidst the ruins of the American Dream, I guess that’s true.
Ghosts of the Near Future is populated with white rabbits, magicians and showgirls. The imagination is caught, moment to moment, by enlarged images projected onto a screen, of plastic figures jumbled together in a glass tank; by pj’s sparkling magician’s jacket, or by emma dressed up as a showgirl holding a gasoline filled martini glass. The details can be captivating. Magic tricks do get performed, and there are some neat effects with cameras, lighting, sound and dry ice. Nice work by scenographer Georgie Hook and sound designer Patch Middleton.
All these details do not, in themselves, illuminate the theme of the show. Maybe the intent of Ghosts of the Near Future is to do this through playfulness, but the title of the show suggests otherwise. It is diverting to drift along with these likeable performers as they move through magic shows and various mythical encounters in the Nevada desert. As drifters know, however, such encounters are shot through with uncertainty. What did we really see?
Nevertheless, performance art fans will be intrigued by Ghosts of the Near Future, and won’t be discouraged by the disparate and random elements in this show. If that’s the case for you, go and soak up the experience, rather than trying to figure out its contribution to the subject of climate catastrophe.
Reviewed 9th August 2022
by Dominica Plummer
For dates and venues for all Fringe shows, click on the image below
“Fans of theatre history, and of the Restoration stage, will enjoy this story, even if it doesn’t quite capture the spirit of the times”
The Long Lane Theatre Company presents The Actress as part of a three play offering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. The Actress is set in 1660, just as the theatres are reopening in London thanks to the restoration of Charles Stuart as King of England. 1660 marks a watershed year in English history, but for theatre buffs it’s particularly important because it introduces a new kind of theatre in England. 1660 also marks the first time actresses appear on a London stage. Andrew Pearson-Wright, playwright and director, focuses not only on this latter historic event in The Actress, but on the rivalries between women competing to be that first actress. Pearson-Wright has clearly done a lot of research. The women he portrays, Margaret (Peg) Hughes, and her lesser known rival, Anne Marshall, are both scheming for the honour of being the first actress on the London stage.
Presented on a bare bones set in an imposing hall belonging to the University of Edinburgh, The Actress is rather overwhelmed by its surroundings. As is the story in this play. In focusing on the rivalry between actresses, Pearson-Wright leaves out some important details about the Restoration stage. Intriguing questions get left unanswered. Why is 1660 the time that women finally appear on English stages? And why would they want the job? Especially as it seems to be such an unpleasant occupation. According to Hughes’ patron Charles Sedley at any rate, the job of an actress, it seems, is more about being a sex worker, than being an artist. In The Actress, Peg Hughes is portrayed as a courtesan, used to this life. She’s traveled a bit in Europe, and seen women act on stage in France. She’s the sophisticate. Hughes’ rival Anne Marshall is the naïve young ingenue. Hughes, worried about losing her rich patrons as she ages, is looking for another source of income. She thinks acting might provide it. Marshall, in contrast, is presented as a young woman in love with Shakespeare’s plays, and determined to grace the world with her interpretation of Hermione in The Winter’s Tale.
The Actress presents a romantic idea of acting, more modern than Restoration. Modern audiences may relish the idea of two actresses competing for the honour of portraying Desdemona on stage for the first time, but audiences in 1660 wanted the witty, sexy dramas being written by the courtiers who surrounded Charles II, of whom Sedley was one. Shakespeare was already too old fashioned. There was a lot going on in this period of British theatre, and The Actress would be a deeper, more intriguing drama if more detail was provided.
For all the weaknesses of the script, however, there are some good performances in this show. Charlotte Price as Anne Marshall, and Eve Pearson-Wright as Peg Hughes, take centre stage and hold the attention. That’s quite a feat when the men alongside them (Andrew Loudon and Matthew Hebden) are chewing the scenery in an attempt to take over. Hattie Chapman also puts in a solid performance as Nell, a young woman who will do anything to be part of the theatre. If she’s who we think she is, (and the script never makes this clear) Nell will end up being a far more famous actress than Hughes or Marshall.
Fans of theatre history, and of the Restoration stage, will enjoy this story, even if it doesn’t quite capture the spirit of the times. The Actress has more than its fair share of anachronisms. For those who do enjoy them, however, there is the added bonus of hearing Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” being played on the lute as the show begins. Nice!
Reviewed 7th August 2022
by Dominica Plummer
Photography by Venus Raven
For dates and venues for all Fringe shows, click on the image below
