THE OTHER SIDE
fringe review
THE OTHER SIDE – WORLD PREMIERE
Reviewed by Jacqueline Sharp
Gilded Balloon, Teviot, Edinburgh
Aug 7, 10 – 14, 17, 19 – 21, 24, 26 – 28 at 14.45 (1 hour) £9.00 (£7.00)
Aug 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 – 31 at 14.45 (1 hour) £10.00 (£8.00)
At first glance, I was delighted to see minimal props on set; nothing more than three to four black enamelled coat stands, a table, a chair and a telephone. Simplicity when describing war and conflict is perhaps best, without the fussy sets to glamorise, so this production was off to a good start!
The props were prominent and extremely effective, where each of the three actors moved each coat stand, separately or together, with such precision, for each scene. This must have taken such a long time to perfect, through practice. It's amazing at how many purposes coat stands could have.
Scene Productions, www.sceneproductions.co.uk, producers and co-creators of The Other Side, and director Gavin Robertson have together researched extensively to bring to life this World Premiere production, to Edinburgh Fringe 2009.
Company directors, Kelly Taylor Smith and Katherine Hurst, have stated they met Robi Damelin, the bereaved Israeli mother of her son David. www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/robi-damelin
David was killed along with four other people, (three of them little girls), on 4th September 2001, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in the busy Ben Yehuda Street, in central Jerusalem, when a refugee suicide bomber blew himself up.
David's story, is very touching in heartbreaking scenes where a mother speaks of sadness, anger, sorrow and speaks of her love for her son. In other scenes, the suicide bomber discusses how he feels, as well as involving his mother and the rest of his family.
Emotional scenes describe how four families from different sides are drawn into an ugly situation, caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One describes the rawness of how a young woman is left widowed; as her husband Yousef, was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The actors are seen as mere tools, brought to theatre, as to what life was like for each of the four families. Each audience participant can experience feelings of life and death, terror and distress, sorrow and laughter, tears and hope, fear and anger; marriage, family and relationships.
There is nothing false about The Other Side,. it helps explain through the eyes of theatre what life is like for these real people affected by the Middle East conflict.. Scene Productions got their inspiration from the BBC Radio 4 programme, “Calls Across the Wall”. They also interviewed members of “The Parents Circle”, www.theparentscircle.com, who are a group of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, working together in support of reconciliation and peace.
This production gets to grip with the reality of war and conflict on all sides and goes somewhat forward to encourage the sides to come together in peace and reconciliation.
For additional information go to;
www.familiesforum.co.uk/
www.gavinrobertson.com
www.justvision.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6948034.stm
THE OTHER SIDE – WORLD PREMIERE
Reviewed by Jacqueline Sharp
Gilded Balloon, Teviot, Edinburgh
Aug 7, 10 – 14, 17, 19 – 21, 24, 26 – 28 at 14.45 (1 hour) £9.00 (£7.00)
Aug 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 – 31 at 14.45 (1 hour) £10.00 (£8.00)
At first glance, I was delighted to see minimal props on set; nothing more than three to four black enamelled coat stands, a table, a chair and a telephone. Simplicity when describing war and conflict is perhaps best, without the fussy sets to glamorise, so this production was off to a good start!
The props were prominent and extremely effective, where each of the three actors moved each coat stand, separately or together, with such precision, for each scene. This must have taken such a long time to perfect, through practice. It's amazing at how many purposes coat stands could have.
Scene Productions, www.sceneproductions.co.uk, producers and co-creators of The Other Side, and director Gavin Robertson have together researched extensively to bring to life this World Premiere production, to Edinburgh Fringe 2009.
Company directors, Kelly Taylor Smith and Katherine Hurst, have stated they met Robi Damelin, the bereaved Israeli mother of her son David. www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/robi-damelin
David was killed along with four other people, (three of them little girls), on 4th September 2001, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in the busy Ben Yehuda Street, in central Jerusalem, when a refugee suicide bomber blew himself up.
David's story, is very touching in heartbreaking scenes where a mother speaks of sadness, anger, sorrow and speaks of her love for her son. In other scenes, the suicide bomber discusses how he feels, as well as involving his mother and the rest of his family.
Emotional scenes describe how four families from different sides are drawn into an ugly situation, caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One describes the rawness of how a young woman is left widowed; as her husband Yousef, was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The actors are seen as mere tools, brought to theatre, as to what life was like for each of the four families. Each audience participant can experience feelings of life and death, terror and distress, sorrow and laughter, tears and hope, fear and anger; marriage, family and relationships.
There is nothing false about The Other Side,. it helps explain through the eyes of theatre what life is like for these real people affected by the Middle East conflict.. Scene Productions got their inspiration from the BBC Radio 4 programme, “Calls Across the Wall”. They also interviewed members of “The Parents Circle”, www.theparentscircle.com, who are a group of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, working together in support of reconciliation and peace.
This production gets to grip with the reality of war and conflict on all sides and goes somewhat forward to encourage the sides to come together in peace and reconciliation.
For additional information go to;
www.familiesforum.co.uk/
www.gavinrobertson.com
www.justvision.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6948034.stm
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