Camden Fringe Festival - A metric arseload of previews
The Camden Fringe Festival takes place from the 2nd to the 29th of August. Illustration by Alan Hindle
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Several million years ago some lucky monkey managed to get its grasping, recently be-thumbed hands on a dead stegosaurus. It doesn’t matter if the beast was killed by a doughty warrior with a pointy stick, or was found at the bottom of a steep cliff, when it was finally dragged it back to the tribe the ape began telling everybody embellished tales of catching dinner. As the stegosaurus turned slowly on a very large spit (the wheel not yet being invented, but every cave already having a rotisserie barbecue in the garden) theatre was invented. Before music, painting, literature, and psychiatry there was theatre, the first art form. And the grilling of fine meats.
Fringe Theatre Festivals are, I think, a modern approximation to that first exhilarating experience of telling and hearing a story. The idea is freshly caught, prepared in short order and presented still fairly raw- some parts possibly undercooked, some burned, but much is perfect- sizzling and spitting mouthwatering juices.
Strings Attached: The Birdman, Monkey Biz, and Happy Everyday!
Entering the Puppet Barge, currently moored at Little Venice, is like descending into a gypsy’s submarine. Deep, African red walls of ribbed and riveted metal are hung with dozens of traditional marionettes from around the world. As the lights fill the tiny stage the barge seems to double in size, like Dr. Who’s box as decorated by Terry Gilliam.
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