Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
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1927
The Guardian
Now this is what Edinburgh should be all about: a devilishly good piece of work from a young company you had never heard of before. The company 1927's theatrical cabaret may be all conceit, but it is executed with such breathtaking wit and aplomb that you cannot help falling for its witty, sinister charms. Drawing upon the techniques of silent cinema, the show combines live action and film with imaginative flair like that of Forkbeard Fantasy; it comes from the same weirdly twisted dungeons of the mind as classics such as The Vinegar Works and Shockheaded Peter.
Essentially this is a series of vignettes delivered with piano accompaniment. The Nine Deaths of Choo Choo Le Chat is a comic meditation on the surprising nature of death, while the Biscuit Tin Revolution is about revolting gingerbread men who rise up against the pastry chef and rape and pillage so that the streets run red with raspberry jam. Everything about this show is just so, from the precision of the writing to the exquisitely animated design and the delivery. Despite the show's disturbed mindset, there is nothing off-kilter about its staging.
My favourite segments feature two little pinafore-clad girls, sinister sisters whose blank faces recall the Midwich Cuckoos and whose parents, who came to an unfortunate end in a wishing-well accident, are buried in the family cemetery in the back bedroom. Things do not bode well for the lodger, or indeed granny, who in a superb piece of audience participation is lured to play with the girls in the wood. I doubt you will see anything this deliciously nasty all year.
12 August 2007
