EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: OPTIMISM, Royal Lyceum Theatre, August 17
Clare Maddox puts the bad times behind her at the Royal Lyceum Theatre
Malthouse Melbourne Theatre's Optimism is a glossy affair. Staging short scenes from Voltaire's Candide, it charts the servant's physical and philosophical journey into disillusionment with the beliefs of his mentor Dr Pangloss, set to a soundtrack of shiny pop.
It didn't begin as the best of all possible worlds for poor old Candide, who was interrupted by a lone heckler only minutes into the performance. But you don't mess with a comedian, and veteran Fringe performer and one-time Perrier Award winner Frank Woodley appeared unfazed by the irate commentary, delighting the audience with hastily-improvised responses ( "I don't want to be rude, but...you do.").
The candyfloss presentation sits a little uncomfortably alongside the suffering Candide endures and witnesses during his whistle-stop tour of the globe. Rape jokes and tales of people being "sodomised to death" are mixed with call-and-response yodelling and exuberant dance routines, and the affecting scene when Candide meets the slave in Surinam is backed by the musical delights of Altered Images' I Could Be Happy.
The production succeeds, however, in updating Voltaire's satire for the modern world by commenting on current-day calamities such as global warming. The dominance of air travel quite literally takes centre stage, with much of the action unfolding on a plane amid dancing stewardesses and gyrating apes: this is satire as a Vengaboys video. The colourful costumes and outrageous sense of fun recall the Scottish Ballet's Vivienne Westwood-meets-Andy Warhol production of Cinderella, but Optimism manages to send a deeper message that all the jollity, sherbet fizz and hi-jinks can't quite erase.
Videos
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Seven Drunken Nights - The Story of the Dubliners Cast Doncaster (5/22-5/22) |
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Count Arthur Strong - And it''s Goodnight from Me! Royal Spa Centre (3/06-3/06) |
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Count Arthur Strong: And It''s Goodnight From Me! Scarborough Spa Theatre (2/26-2/26) |
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Skysteamer to Athens: Steampunk Storytelling Extravaganza - Ventnor Fringe Pier Street Playhouse (7/24-7/24) |
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Fawlty Towers Revisited 13/06/2026 Belfast Castle (6/13-6/13) |
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The Hanging Stars at St Matthias Music - London St Matthias Church, Stoke Newington (11/13-11/13) |
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Michael Spicer - Hope All''s Well Royal and Derngate (10/28-10/28) |
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St Cecilia Orchestra 'Music for a Summer's Evening' Holy Trinity Church (6/13-6/13) |
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New Love Madlenianum (12/16-12/01) |
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