culture

 

september 18, 2002

 

Derek Brans - Vancouver
Venue 2 Studio 16
September 9

 

TANDEM
PRODUCTIONS

 

 

 

Samuel Beckett

Tandem Productions - Vancouver
Venue 5 Waterfront Theatre
September 6

 

Johannes Galli - Germany
Venue 5 Waterfront Theatre
September 8

the other press

Fringe Review

Sarah Gignac
OP Contributor

NO FEET IN THE PIE PLEASE
AND OTHER TALES

Derek Brans tries. He really does. No Feet In The Pie
Please is brimming with well meaning intentions. It
falls just a smidge shy of being entertaining.

I arrived at the theatre expecting to see a dance
number called Instinctual Impulses. But for reasons
no one seemed able to divulge, it had been replaced
with Brans’ musical show. I can only assume it was a
last minute swap and poor Brans just didn’t have
enough time to prepare. He attempts to amuse the
audience with a few slow-paced stories interspersed

with some very cheesy music, mostly love songs that
seemed inspired by The Rose. While some parts are
very funny, the rest resembles the guy at a party that
is way too high and just keeps telling a story that no
one wants to hear.

No Feet In The Pie Please certainly did not live up
to the Fringe guide’s description of being a “sexy,
dark, and vivacious glimpse of human nature.” But
it had potential, and Brans’ obvious enthusiasm
holds a certain charm. Better luck next year, Brans.

AN EVENING WITH BECKETT

Tandem Production explodes onto the stage with its
sure-to-be Fringe hit, An Evening With Beckett. The
Company showcases five of Samuel Beckett’s short
plays, each more bizarre than the last. From disem-
bodied mouths to the victims of a love triangle for-
ever trapped in urns, Beckett's montage of peculiar
characters and surreal settings will confuse and
delight audiences of all kinds.

An Evening With Beckett combines the talents of

EVE & CILITH

Devotion versus impudence. Morals vs. motives.
Prude vs. slut. Two of our oldest archetypes: nice
wife Eve and unruly mistress Lilith duke it out in
this imaginatively stunted examination of, you
guessed it, women.

Here's the storyline. Lilith is having an affair with
Eve's husband. Eve comes to Lilith’s love-den to con-
front her. They fight. Nothing is resolved so they
both go to bed, where they share a dream of biblical
Eve and Lilith and their struggles with Adam. They
wake up, don’t remember the dream, and keep fight-
ing. And fighting. And fighting. Finally, they agree
that while nothing has been changed, they at least
understand each other a little better. End of play.

What makes this bland plot worse is that it is bro-

five directors and twelve actors. Unfortunately, the
company lacked a program, so I can’t credit any of
the plays to any of the performers. But I can say that
each short has a unique style that is individually
amazing and equally enjoyable. It’s not often you get
a chance to see Beckett in Vancouver. Tandem
Productions is providing us with a unique opportu-
nity and a definite must-see.

ken up with long segments of what can only be
described as clown pieces that have nothing to do
with the story. Before Eve goes to bed she decides to
clean up Lilith’s apartment, doing so in a weird
dance with even weirder music playing. Towards the
end of the play the characters decide to swap roles
and change clothes on stage to the beat of bad 80s
techno music. These sections detract from the main
storyline, making the already weak narrative even
harder to follow.

At best, Eve & Lilith encourages women to feel
better about themselves. However, this message
could have been reduced to a short skit instead of
taking up a whole hour of theatre-goers’ precious
time.

 

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