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(produced by Blue Inc.)
Philadelphia Citypaper, September 12-19 2002
-Debra Auspitz
"Lecoq-trained performers take the audience
through the history of film at break neck speed. The group uses mime,
snippets of dialogue, hilarious puppetry and props to recreate everything
from Charlie Chaplin to 2001. The show rarely feels contrived, which,
in a piece about movies , shows the real strength of these talented
performers."
Philadelphia Weekly, September
5 -11, 2002
"With the widespread recognition garnered by the unique talents
of the Pig Iron Theatre Company and New Paradise Laboratories, Philly-style
physical theatre has become the city’s most notable contribution
to the international theatre community. But in tracing the roots of
this movement one must visit Paris, the residence of the late Jacques
Lecoq’s school Ecole Internationale de theatre. The disciples
of Lecoq include not only several members of Pig Iron, but also those
of Blue Inc. The Canadian foursome who descend on the Fringe with
their critically acclaimed show, Splice, Winner of the Best Production
and Most Creative Production awards at the 2001 Toronto Fringe Festival.
Mixing Physical theatre, masks, puppetry and music, Splice recreates
'the images and icons' from a host of classic films, including Sunset
Boulevard, Psycho and Star Wars trilogy. A beguiling combination of
visual prowess and plasticity, Splice apparently contains a surprise
or two, which we can only hope includes a scene of Luke Skywalker
impersonating his long-dead mother."
Terminal city Weekly, Vancouver BC, September 14-20, 2001
-Mia Perry
"A history of cinema in sixty fun, fleeting
minutes. Four very talented performers from the UK company, Blue Inc.,
collaborate in a devised piece of physical theatre taking us through
a world of film. Splice is a feast for the senses. Chaplin arrives
in his hobble and hat; flocks of furious birds fill the space to depict
the Hitchcock classic. Marilyn Monroe shows off her legs and her lips,
and after the well known sound effects and a big cardboard fine, the
leg of a Jaws victim descends from behind the ever changing backdrop.
Like movies of today, this is a fast pace piece of theatre, with rapid
and precise scene changes, snappy dialogue and all the familiar melodrama
that draws our minds to the best, and the worst of Hollywood. The
difference, of course, is that it is presented to us by actors on
a small stark stage. The simplicity of set, sound and lighting, manipulated
in precise performances by the actors, embrace the conventions of
theatre. Four moveable, multi-functional flats make up the set; the
lighting is simple and often only flashlights; and the sound - only
voices. The voice work provides one of the highlights of the show,
from classic jazz singing to alien space-crafts, brilliant sounds
resonate powerfully in the intimate space that the Performance Works
provides.
"Splice was a treat - the show left me smiling,
impressed and in excited anticipation for more Fringe fun to come."
The Vancouver Sun, Wednesday, September 12, 2001
-Peter Birnie
"Trying to translate film into live theatre
seems like cramming square pegs into round holes. Blue Inc. does it
with such gleeful good spirit that this tribute to a century of cinema
is a weird and wonderful confirmation of theatre as a medium that
can with very little budget, do anything.
One man and three women bustle about, each using a tall white screen
as framing device for little vignettes. Chaplin pops out form behind
one, Harold Lloyd hangs before another. Turn a screen around and it’s
black and the exact shape of that monolith from 2001: a Space Odyssey.
Cue the monkeys.
"One montage is a tribute to Hitchcock, with shower scene from
Psycho highlighted by a flashlight, Jimmy Stewart clinging endless
stairs in Vertigo and Tippi Hederen fussing with her mimed purse in
The Birds. It’s all extremely clever, although a sci-fi montage
was slightly less successful because it got tough to differentiate
Close Encounters form Potergeist from Indiana Jones. Mind you, you
can’t go wrong with a jazz scat tribute to Star Wars that starts
off riffing on the Death Star theme."
Vancouver courier, Vancouver BC, September 9th 2001
Movie Magic without a Silver Screen.
"Space being limited
in today’s arts section we’re going to devote part of
K&K to a Fringe show we enjoyed and think others will as well.
It’s called Splice and it’s at Performance Works Sept,
12,14 and 15.
"For one fast-paced hour, Splice will
inventively and imaginatively take you through the last century of
cinema from the silent film era and The Godather up to Run Lola Run.
Four performers from the Blue Inc. physical theatre company in London,
England interpret the essence of a couple dozen movies while making
effective use of minimal props. The show proves that you don’t
need elaborate sets and large wads of cash to put on a darn fine show.
"Not all movies are obvious - unless you’re a fanatic cinephile
- but some are sheer genius. The actors use the simplest of props
to great effect to climb the church stairs in Vertigo, re-enact Jaws
without water and create the TV scene in Poltergeist. Equally impressive
and funny are the jerky bodies, blinking eyes and rapid mouth movements
to represent silent films. And no props are used at all for the cute
and novel Taxi Driver Sequence."
The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC, September 6-13, 2001
"Here’s physical theatre at its wildly inventive best.
Blue Inc. creates a loving tribute to motion pictures using nothing
but bodies, voices, and simplest of props. Performers Peter Bramley,
Carolyn Cohagan, Lucy Egger and Ann-Marie Kerr exhibit seemingly boundless
imagination as they present familiar images -from the batting eyelids
and furiously moving mouths of silent-film stars to legendary scenes
from Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg movies - in radically new
ways. And they keep things moving at a brisk pace, with lightning-quick
changes of perspective and scale: in scene from Alien, Bramley wears
a hat with flashing coloured lights to represent the space-ship, wagging
his fingers like the helpless legs of an abductee: seconds later,
he’s doffed the hat to become a full-sized person watching from
the ground. The company’s virtuosity and the challenge of trying
to keep up with their ingenious edits make Splice a real treat."
Weekend Edition, Victoria, B.C., Canada 2001
The best of the Fringe defies genres.
"One of the most
talked about shows on the Fringe circuit this year is Blue Inc’s
physical theatre show Splice.
"Splice, devised and performed
by Peter Bramley of London, England, Lucy Egger from Sydney, Australia,
Ann-Maire Kerr of Toronto and Carolyn Cohagan from New York, idealizes
the international aspect of the Fringe. The four met in Paris at the
Ecole Internationale de Theatre. Having completed theatre school and
returned to their home countries, the creative process for Splice
took place over a year by e-mail.
"'It isn’t a
drama; I wouldn’t limit it to comedy,' says Bramley. 'It’s
a performance, a dramatic use of the body.'
"The Theme
is 100 years of film, compiling different scenes form classics including
Psycho, Singing in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Sunset Boulevard, The
Godfather, The Graduate, 2001 a Apce Odyssey and many more. Splice
doesn’t re-create the actual scenes but the theatrical ode to
cinema re-imagines the scenes in a visual performance in a fun and
inventive fashion.
"'We didn’t write. We didn’t
start with a script. We just sat and watched films we loved and took
it from there,' Bramley says.
"He advises Fringe folk
not to be turned off by the descriptive of physical theatre, which
is often thought to be complex and difficult to understand. The term
is simply used to separate certain productions from the idea of a
play. He says Splice is a fun show. 'It’s lots of fun to watch,
lots of fun to do. It isn’t too deep.'
"Voted most outstanding production and the most creative production
of the 2001 Toronto Fringe Festival by Now Magazine, Splice runs Aug.28
to Sept. 3 at Venue 3, the Downtown Activity Centre."
Times Colonist, Victoria, BC Thursday, August 30 2001 (REVIEW)
**** 4 Stars (out of 5)
-Adrian Chamberlain
"Splice is proved that ours is indeed
a movie obsessed culture. One need only see a shark fin and hear the
ominous quotes 'da-dum', to know its Jaws, or witness a woman twirling
her fingers around each ear to realize we are seeing a send-up of
Princess Leia from Star Wars. Such iconic shorthand is the bread and
butter of Splice, a clever and affectionate review of moviedom. Splice
looks at everything from silent film to the recent German flick Run
Lola Run (naturally, we see the same live 'clip' of Lola running over
and over).
"Blue inc. is a Lecoq-trained company, which likely accounts
for the cleverness and originality shown in this comic physical theatre
piece. Pre-talkie films are suggested by a few seconds of manically
fluttering eyelids; Dustin Hoffman's jittery Benjamin Braddock in
the Graduate is reduced to a shaking hand clutching a cocktail glass;
and in one of the most successful scenes, a gory shooting in the Godfather
is transformed when the victim's death-throws become a surreal tap
dance. Not everything works wonderfully. Some films such as Terms
of Endearment are too cerebral to translate well into short visual
parodies. And the Hitchcock montage adds little to already well-trodden
ground. Other sequences - including a four-piece jazz scat interpretation
of Star Wars - are rather inspired."
Times Colonist, Victoria, BC Wednesday, August 29 2001 (PRE-PRESS
ARTICLE)
SPLICE OF LIFE
-Adrian Chamberlain
"Having a hot fringe show isn’t
a ticket to stardom and riches, but it does pad a theatrical résumé
with good reviews.
"One minute, New Yorker Carolyn
Cohagan was rehearsing in a borrowed community hall in Blind River,
a small town in Ontario.
"The next thing she knew, the
29-year-old found herself starring in one of the hottest tickets of
Canada’s fringe festival circuit.
"Splice has
just touched down in Victoria where it plays at the Downtown Community
Activity Centre (755 Pandora Ave.) until Sept. 3. A zany send -up
of classic movies such as Psycho and The Godfather, it was voted both
most outstanding and best production at the Toronto Fringe Theatre
Festival. The 60-minute spoof has been consistently well-reviewed
and has attracted sold-out houses at festivals in Toronto, Minneapolis
and Edmonton.
"'It’s going great' said Cohagan,
phoning from Edmonton. 'We’re thrilled, thrilled, thrilled today.
We just got a five-star review, so we know that means we’ll
be full for the rest of the festival.'
"Mounting a show
on the fringe theatre circuit is a fine way to test new material,
play to enthusiastic audiences, and - with any luck- collect a scrapbook
of laudatory reviews.
"But it’s by no means a
fast track to big bucks, even if the houses are full.
"Cohagan’s
troupe, Blue Inc., consists of three other actors - an Aussie, a Brit
and a Canadian - all in their late 20’s and early 30’s.
They met while studying at the famed Jacques Lecoq school in Paris.
"With Splice “we’re just looking to break even”
Cohagan admitted.
"She’s a fringe theatre veteran
who’s previously performed solo shows at the Edinburgh International
Fringe Festival and the Adelaide International Fringe Festival. Originally
from Austin, Texas, Cohagan began her career in New York City as a
stand-up comic. There, in a pattern familiar to all fledgling comedians,
she’d wait up to four hours to do a five-minute routine at such
venues as Caroline’s Comedy Club and The Comic Strip. It was,
at times, a frustrating experience.
"'Now , doing these
festivals I’m spoiled, because I’m used to having an hour
for myself.' Cohagan describes Splice as more of an affectionate tribute
to the movies than a satire. The show includes such off-beat bits
as the Star Wars Trilogy performed in just eight minutes. There’s
also an Alfred Hitchcock montage featuring send-ups of Vertigo, The
Birds and Psycho. In the latter, Cohagan plays the Janet Leigh character
from the infamous shower scene. Blue Inc. pokes fun at Hitchcock’s
editing style (the originals scene used more than 70 cuts) by recreating
the sequence as a series of still images using a low-tech device:
flashlights.
"The members of Blue inc., who trained
together at the Lecoq school in 1997, spent a year corresponding in
preparation for the show. 'It was', says Cohagan, 'all done through
emails and faxing.'
"In June, they finally assembled
to rehearse in Blind River, the home town of troupe member Ann-Marie
Kerr. The actors persuaded the town to lend them the local community
hall free of charge.
"Cohagan was keen to play the
Canadian fringe theatre circuit because she’d heard good things
about it form other performers at the Adelaide fringe festival.
"'They just went on and on about the circuit here, and how
fantastic it was and warm. And how wonderful the audiences were.'
"She says the Canadian circuit is establishing a growing
international reputation as a great place to perform. Meanwhile, some
of the most famous fringe theatre festivals are regarded as too large
and expensive.
"Take , for instance, the Edinburgh International
Fringe Festival - the grand-daddy of them all. Its entry fees are
comparable to those of other festivals. The problem, however, is performers
must locate and pay for their own venues, and pay for their own lodgings
(in Victoria, venues are provided for no added charge, and billets
are available for actors). This is expensive, especially since Edinburgh
residents typically rent out their lodgings for three times the going
rate during the fringe. High costs make it difficult for would-be
participants with new and untried productions.
"Edinburgh
is still a tremendous lure to international performers. Hit shows
sometimes go on to bigger and better things.
"'In many
ways, the festival has become the Broadway of the fringe festival
circuit,' says Cohagan.
"'But it’s starting to become so you can’t really
do a show in Edinburgh until it’s an established show. Which
really goes against the entire spirit of the thing.'"
Edmonton Journal, Friday August 24, 2001
***** 5 Stars (out of 5)
-Liz Nicholls
"FILM HOMAGE LIKE VAUDEVILLE IN OVERDRIVE
- Star wars meets Jaws meets The Godfather in rapid-fire Splice. At
a festival devoted to the live, 3-D, ingenious and cheap - i.e. the
actor in the flesh - there are a couple of shows that demonstrate
how much fun you can have if you tackle the classic offerings of the
silver screen in that vein. Splice assembles an international cast
(Brit, Yank, Aussie, Canuck, as billed) to serve up a physical comedy
homage to the movies. It's sassy, inventive, sharply timed entertainment,
in which the human body (times four) armed variously with a few props
- the odd stick, a hat or two- has a go at the history of blockbusters.
Spielberg to Hitchcock, The Godfather to Jaws to The Graduate to A
Clockwork Orange: they're volleyed into your court at top speed, laced
with familiar fragments from the great celluloid collective consciousness.
And they're juxtaposed in very funny ways. It's vaudeville in overdrive.
And the style changes every moment.
"There's a cliff-hanger
scene in which the quartet recreates Vertigo using poles they reconfigure
constantly. There's Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond deploring how
small the pictures got. Splice to a Godfather scene using grotesque
masks, in which another gory demise is danced acrobatically, using
stick-on red patches. There are cut-out puppets. There are peek-a-boo
scenes as we watch bits of Mrs. Robinson and other bits of Benjamin.
The Birds needs no props at all. There's the absurd business of auditioning
for parts in the wrong movies.
"My personal favourite
has the diva star trying out for The Muppet Movie. But Star Wars as
done by a jazz quarter in pretty snazzy, too. All the aural clues
are person-made, on the spot. This is a labour intensive business.
The is theatre, dammit. Frankly, my dear...it's a rosebud of a show
and...Argggh, I'm melting...I see dead people. Shamelessly theatrical."
Vue Weekly, Edmonton, August 23, 2001
**** 4 Stars (out of 5)
"Splice - A diamond in the
rough. This international physical theatre company bolts through 100
years of cinema by abbreviating iconic scenes form famous films (the
seduction scene in The Graduate, a shark attack from Jaws) down to
a series of gestures or vocal sound effects, a few simple silhouettes
or props.
"The Hitchcock material is especially brilliant, notably the
Psycho shower scene edited by a pulsing flashlight. While other segments
are less successful - the five minute musical version of the Star
Wars trilogy, for instance- all are ingenious, energetic and hugely
expressive."
The Edmonton Sun, Tuesday, August 21, 2001
***** 5 Stars (out of 5)
-Fish Griwkowsky
"THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! - LOOK AT THE
SILVER SCREEN IS A REEL ATTENTION GRABBER "My God, it's full
of stars." If you recognize that quote, don't even think twice.
Get up off you couch and go and see Splice. The concept dancing with
the actual execution of this clever tribute to all things silver screen
is so flawless and creative it's that most rare of plays, more worthwhile
than catching an actual film. I actually had tears in my eyes at a
couple of points as the four brilliant actors armed with nothing but
poles held up as handrails precisely brought to mind Jimmy Stewart
climbing those stairs outside of San Francisco in Vertigo, the poles
spun around in front of him to recreate the pulling back with the
camera while simultaneously zooming the lens forward for a vertigo
effect.
"But it's not just straight aping of dozens
of silent movies, then classic studio films, all the way to The Sixth
Sense, that gives Splice so much spice. From the opening choral wailing
taken right out of the mean monkey scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey,
these four actors poke serious, often musical, fun at Alfred Hitchcock,
Steven Spielberg and especially the audition process, in which they
roast Taxi Driver, Star Wars, A clockwork Orange and, best of all,
The Muppet Movie, an underrated classic of our time.
"Jaws
is hilariously fused with E.T., the Close Encounters homage is spooky,
and, again, the creativity in the Psycho scene must be seen. Things
get a little slow with Mrs. Robinson looking through cubby-holes during
The Graduate, but that's nothing compared to how fine costuming takes
you right back to the slo-mo grit of The Godfather.
"My favourite part, though, and sorry for being a big space dork,
was the Star Wars medley. The Imperial march was done like slutty
Holly Cole jazz number, exact enough to include the 'Yub yub' of the
Ewoks and the 'I love you', 'I know', interaction of Han and Leia,
perfectly driving home once again what was lacking in Phantom Menace.
Oh, it's exhausting to think about how fat with applied knowledge
it is. Just go. You'll see when you sit on the edge of you seat, waiting
to see what happens next. By the way, the quote at the onset of this
review was from 2010:The Year We Make Contact, just in case that was
still itching you."
St Paul Pioneer Press. (Express Liftout) Wednesday August 8th,
2001
-Dominic P. Papatola and Mark Peiken
"Splice by blue inc. packs the entire history of film into about
50 minutes of song, shadow theatre and spiffy movement. A quartet
of adroit performers from Britain whirl and spin their way through
everything from the silent movies to Hitchcock up through 'The Godfather',
'Star Wars' and 'Run Lola Run'. It's relentlessly inventive stuff,
and un-ending series of movie in-jokes (a costume gag concerning the
'Wizard of Oz' alone is worth the price of admission). The more film
literate you are, the better the show is, but even film-o-phobes will
find something to like in blue inc's scattergun storytelling."
Star Tribune Saturday, August 4th, 2001, Minnesota U.S.A.
-Jaime Meyer
" The guffaws start within the first five seconds and don't stop
for the next 57 minutes in this piece by blue inc., an International
Physical Theatre Company. Fast, funny, physical and fiendishly freakish,
this quartet of mime-trained actors from three nations drags you through
the history of American cinema by acting out a few seconds of the
most memorable scenes at a time. It's done mostly without words, and
with props made from electrical tape, old bed sheets and cardboard.
Splice is like watching people on acid play charades. (Hennepin Center
Studio 6A)"
Now, Toronto's Independent Weekly July 19-25, 2001
Pre
press article
Review
Eye Weekly, Toronto July 2001
Review
The Toronto Star, Wednesday, July 11th, 2001
-Richard Ouzounian
"Splice is the best of the bunch. The Toronto production marks
the premiere of this wacky tribute to the world of Hollywood. A talented
quartet (Peter Bramley, Carolyn Cohagan, Lucy Egger and Ann-Marie
Kerr) have their way with an assortment of cinematic Icons from King
Kong through Obi Wan Kenobi.
"Their style is movement based but enriched by merciful dollops
of verbal humour. It's a joy to watch how they pay homage to all of
Hitchcock - from Vertigo through The Birds with a shower break at
Psycho - using nothing more than a flashlight and a few pieces of
wood. They deconstruct The Godfather, knock the stuffing out of Spielberg
and turn Star Wars into a Bob Fosse musical.
"Best of all is a running gag about a series of inappropriate
auditions for great roles. (A proper Brit trying to cope with Taxi
Driver, a wholesome ingénue going out for A Clockwork Orange,
etc.)"
The Saturday Sun, Toronto Wednesday, July 11th, 2001
-Jim Slotek
"Finally, one show that was nothing but funny was Splice, the
movie tribute by England's blue inc. troupe that is nothing but scores
of ingenious riffs on scenes from famous films-including Sunset Boulevard,
ET, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, The English Patient, The Graduate,
The Godfather, The Sound of Music, The Birds, Psycho, and Terms of
Endearment. High Points - The Birds and a Fosse-style dance treatment
of the entire Star Wars trilogy ('Chewbacca! Chewbacca! A-wookie-wookie-wookie!')
A must see for film fans."
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