Edinburgh Fringe Festival's take on 9/11

["D OC" <donaloc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Shadow over the Fringe

For those mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming anniversary of the
11 September attacks, the Edinburgh festival may prove a less than
comfortable time.

Nearly a year after the terrorist attacks, the programme for the Fringe is
shot through with 11 September-themed shows, in every category from comedy
to dance and physical theatre.

And some are certain to leave people shifting in their seats in a festival
year where the satire will be more than acerbic and the wackier side of the
Fringe may offend.

Nashville drag queen Tina C's Twin Towers Tribute is being publicised with a
photo of the strapping country singer towering over a New York skyline
bereft of the Twin Towers.

Featuring songs like Kleenex to the World and Stranger on the Stairwell,
Tina could hardly be accused of taking a pious line ahead of September's
remembrance ceremonies.

But an in-character Tina says her mission is to "try and understand what
went on and discuss the aftermath" and maintains the show will not leave
audiences offended.

"I would be surprised and so upset if they were, if they are maybe it is
cultural differences."

"It isn't about 11 September, it is about the aftermath. I'm not talking
about people who are directly involved. It is about emotions and global
grieving - this is not a show about politics."

Tina C is the creation of British comedy writer and performer Chris Green,
who insists his Alan Partridge style "character comedy" will not upset any
Americans sitting in the audience but admits they could tire of constant
references to last year's attacks.

Switching out of Tennessee twang-mode, he insists: "It is good timing just
before the year anniversary.

"There is a Woody Allen quote from Crimes and Misdemeanours: 'Comedy is
tragedy'."

And it is clear that after the tragic events of last year, the war on terror
will provide material for a host of comics across the Fringe.

Perrier winner and perennial Fringe favourite Rich Hall joins Mike Wilmot
for Pretzel Logic, which is likely to be the funniest dissection of George W
Bush and his now legendary verbal gaffes.

The respectful ceasefire offered to the president by patriotic comics in the
aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks has now vanished in a puff of
corporate scandal, and the American contingent will be happy to return to
pillorying Dubya alongside their British counterparts.

But the Fringe will be without the scourge of the American establishment and
Louis Theroux-mentor Michael Moore after the comic-cum-campaigner had to
pull out of his one man show on President Bush due to the death of his
mother.

British comic Omid Djalili makes much of his Iranian roots in his act, and
as somebody filed in the books of Hollywood casting directors as "terrorist:
Middle Eastern" he is likely to have an unusual perspective on the events of
the last year in his Behind Enemy Lines show.

On the serious side is The Guys, US journalist Anne Nelson's story based on
her efforts to help a fire captain write eulogies for eight of his men
killed in the attacks.

Featuring Hollywood couple Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, its two-night run
is likely to be one of the hot tickets of the festival.

Bodies in Crisis will examine the "internal tension between American
identity and the American body" after 11 September through Japanes Butoh
dance, while Project 9/11 features seven accounts from actors and drama
students of being in New York during the tragic events.

Odyssey: Kosovo to Ground Zero will see a company of Eastern European,
Serbian and American actors try to convey the changes that have swept their
respective countries in recent years.

But perhaps the most provocatively-titled show to touch on the aftermath of
11 September is Jumpers.

This "dark comedy" tries to tell the story of four New Yorkers coping with
the Draft and promises in the Fringe programme to leave the audience with a
"wonderfully uncomfortable feeling".


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