Les Enfants Terribles Ernest and the Pale Moon is currently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This production did a UK tour prior to the festival and Annie (@corieltauviart) saw it at Pwllehl's Neuadd Dwyfor in June. Here is her review:
Ernest
and the Pale Moon
Les Enfants Terribles, Neuadd Dwyfor Pwllheli
12th June 2014
Les Enfants Terribles Ernest and Pale Moon
Photos credit: Les Enfants Terribles (http://lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/)
Seemingly
a gothic pastiche of a silent movie, Ernest and the Pale Moon opened with a
single chair and it's inhabitant. A stark, simple yet strangely eerie set;
moody and exaggerated lighting and a grimly stirring soundscape of accordion,
cello, glockenspiel and song, this is a story of an obsessive voyeur watching a
woman in her window from the safety of his window and also watching with the
inner workings of his soul ; and the strange, troubled characters and history
which surround the pair.
The
plot is centred around obsession,voyeurism, social ineptitude, insanity and
guilt. The two principal male characters are obsessed voyeuristically with the
lead female character, although their obsession takes very different forms, but
both constrained by their own social
ineptitude.
A
short, hour-long, effective piece of drama, I believe this production is more
suited to fringe theatre than the mainstream,the play is strongly reminiscent
of the era of silent horror movies: exaggerated facial expressions emphasised
by white-painted faces, movement and action often replacing words to create the effect of
physical theatre, each of the four actors swapping between characters,and
becoming narrative voice, musician and even part of the set and backdrop in
some scenes. The dramatic soundscape and lighting accomplished much of the storytelling
alone.
Set,
characters and story flow seamlessly through remembered events: the memories
and experiences of the characters before and during the story woven together
into a tapestry which moves back and forth through time until the ultimately surprising
ending.
Evocative
of Hitchcock movies, Edgar Allen Poe's
writings and the Hammer Horror films, this is an entertaining and disturbing,
highly stylised, almost kitsch production which is curiously enjoyable.
Review by @corieltauviart
May I take the opportunity to say thanks to Annie for doing this review. This exciting production is currently on at The Pleasance in Edinburgh. The production is running until 25th August 2014 and ticket can be booked via its website.
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