" Pigeon Man Apocalypse is a lean and loaded 50 minute missile"

Carol Midgley

theatre feature

Geir Kjelland

ThreeWeeks Quick Quiz

1. What is the one thing you'd recommend Fringe first timers do during their time in Edinburgh?
Watch shows, meet people, catch up sleep when you get home.

2. What's your best Edinburgh Festival memory?
Me and my friend Andy 'assisting' a german magician on stage, he was supposed to elevate, but fell flat on his face. Hilarious.

3. What's your worst Edinburgh Festival memory?
Doing my one man show for 5 people and the technician fell asleep – I could hear him snoring during the show and thought it was one of the audience.

4. What are you most looking forward to about this year's Festival?
To perform in two (not three) shows a day, and have time to watch other shows.

5. In 30 words (no more now) why should we come and see your show?
Crime and Punishment: Dostoyevski's brick novel in 45 mins.
The Seagull: Adapted, leaving 4 characters: Kostya, Arkadina, Nina and Trigorin, a physical take on Chekhov, hoping to be API's new 'No Exit'.

Geir Kjelland is performing in Crime and Punishment and The Seagull with Act Provocateur International.
Crime and Punishment, C central, 4 – 16 Aug (not 15), 11:15pm (12:05am), £8.50 (£7.50), fpp 157.
The Seagull, C, 2 – 27 Aug (not 13), 11:00am (11:50am), £7.50 (£6.50), fpp 202.

published: Aug-2006

[Clovis Sangrail]

The Seagull

Act Provocateur International

In a streamlined rendering of Chekhov?s drama about seekers of fame,
director/adaptor Victor Sobchak includes only the core characters. We
meet sensitive-souled writer Konstantin, his diva mother Arkadina, her
faithless lover Trigorin, and beautiful Nina, who wishes she was an
actress, or even better, a seagull. Konstantin?s emotional journey,
traced with edgy energy by Coryn Rhys Jones, provides the main
narrative. However the rest of the cast, while elegantly costumed and
deftly blocked, generally lack the emotional depth that is a necessary
component of this poignant classic.

[Sherri Kronfeld]

American Footbal

This loud, shoking production goes about depicting the recruitment and eventual downfall of a US
marine who is called up to fight in the Middle East. With much adult content this performance
is lined with humour whilst tackling some very difficult topics.
Right from the begining the cast aim to shock and awe the audience
with loud, strong language and bold acting.
You find yourself not knowing what to expect next from the show as it contends
with the issues of romance in the forces, video executions and prisoner cruelty in US
military prisons. Whilst this is a very serious piece it has its laughs along the way, but it is certainly
not one for the kids ot the fainthearted.

Lolita

Act Provocateur present a captivating and morally bewildering piece of
theatre which literally had me on the edge of my seat. A cassette-recorded
voice-over of Nabokov's original prose introduces Humbert, the intellectual
paedophile, allowing space for Mark Marlowe to create a physically
intriguing character. As the audience become jury to the central character's
depravity, the play creates a stomach squeezing intensity. The juxtaposition
of humour with sexually disturbing physicality meant that some of the
audience found themselves laughing along with Humbert's story - the chuckles
ultimately becoming nervous as the audience were forced to question their
reactions to such difficult subject matter. The plot is moved to England,
'Lolita' herself is contemporised, but Charlotte remains American, making
this a brilliant example of theatrical engagement in a relevant contemporary
debate.
tw rating 5/5 [js]

Festival Guide

Pigeon Man Apocalypse

The story is singularly depressing; charting the miserable, abused childhood of Arthur Cork, a man eventually driven wild and murderous by his demons and who, in an attempt to escape the world has bricked himself up in a disused building where he survives on rainwater and pigeons. This tortured soul, played with energy and conviction by actor Andy McQuade, is a social pariah comparable to Hitchcock's Norman Bates, indeed like the psycho character; Arthur also recalls his mother's taunts long after she is dead. I'd question the decision to give Arthur's mother a Scottish accent when Arthur himself is English, but given the number of voices McQuade employs perhaps this is a necessary device.

The staging of Pigeon Man is both engaging and confrontational; on one occasion audience members are actively implicated as accomplices in Arthur's torture. Questioning social apathy towards abuse and mental breakdown is, I suppose, the justification for staging this bleak show. I cannot damn it, the acting is excellent and the script engaging.
©Katy Wesley

one4review
American Football

Having recently seen and thoroughly enjoyed Pigeon Man Apocalypse which was written by William Whitehurst and performed by Act Provocateur International, I decided to go to see this play by the same combination.

Billy, Garth Maunders, bored with teenage pastimes and hanging round shopping malls is persuaded into joining the US Marines for all the wrong reasons, with a con pulled by the recruiting officers Marcus Sinclair and Nika Kitrova.

Billy, once trained and in action falls for Jasmine, Ms Khitrova again, a local Arab girl and when her brother objects, he kills him, cutting off his head, which outrages one and all. The story moves to it's conclusion via for me anyway a rather strange route.

The acting performances are as always with this company well honed and directed by Andy McQuade, but if I am being totally honest this was not as enjoyable as Pigeon Man. I found it hard to believe it had been written by the same author.

SCENE 4 MAGAZINE

American Football
Act Provocateur International
Violence, war, nudity, music, comedy...American Football by William Whitehurst has it all! This over the top comedy that is not a comedy after all, is the most outreageous anti war play I have seen in a long time, is a mixture of everything you can think of. Bored with shopping malls and video games, Billy (excellently portrayed by Garth Maunders) joins the US Marines and goes to war to find love meeting Jasmine (Nika Khitrova). The title is inspired by Harold Pinter's caustic poem, "American Football", and the play is the bitter sequel. A second war in Iraq, more violent and bloody than the first, and a second attempt to come to grips with the meaning of it, this time on the stage. At the same time, this is more than just an angry response to the current political situation, because the play deals with more fundamental things than the immediate political situation. Questions such as: why do young men go to war? What motivates them, really? Or alternately, how are they manipulated into it? What are the links between the sexual urge and the urge to kill? And then of course there is the twist that in fact what we are seeing isn't an American soldier torturing an Arab, but an American (female) soldier torturing other American soldiers...And ostensibly doing so for her "art"... This play isn't simply a diatribe against US imperialism in Iraq, but against war in general, and the message comes over in a very bitter way.Wonderfully directed by Andy McQuade ( with Susanne Albrecht, who also did the costumes and set design) and with a very strong cast (Garth Maunders, Nika Khitrova and Marcus Sinclair), this explosive mix of humor, violence, cruelty, sex and sadism will keep you breathless from the first till the very last moment!

one4review

Lolita

This is more like the Act Provocateur International I have become used to. Never afraid to take a chance, Vladimir Nabokov's controversial piece has been adapted into 55 minutes by Victor Sobchak and Andy McQuade and given a late night run at Fringe 2006.Humbert, Mark Marlowe, an admirer of young women, moves into the house of Charlotte, Anne Winkes and her young daughter Lolita, Sophie Brookes. His attraction to the nymphet is immediate and his obsession with her leads to him marrying her mother rather than leaving the house.

On her mothers death, his relationship with his step-daughter becomes physical and while he is in love, it is obvious her thoughts are different.

Garth Maunders plays Lolita's previous boyfriend, he drama teacher and latterly her husband as Lol's life progresses.

This play, directed by Andy McQuade, sensitively deals with the taboo, and the odd injection of humour eases the tension that builds within the audience.

As with all API productions I have seen the performances drawn from a fine bunch of actors is excellent, and no matter the nature of the subject material, they should be supported on this basis alone, however when added to a story of this quality, ten even more so.

one4review

Pigeon Man Apocalypse

There are two things one can be sure of on going to an Act Provocateur International production. Firstly, it will not be light and fluffy theatre and it will be well staged, directed and acted

I first came across API two years ago and have become an admirer of their work, planning to see several of their eight shows this Fringe.

This William Whitehurst play introduces us to Arthur Cork, played by Andy McQuade, who has walled himself up in a deserted building, living only on pigeons and rainwater.

Cork has been driven insane by an abusive mother, both physically and mentally and his story is told through a series monologues depicting incidents in his life from childhood to adult and help to explain his state of mind.

This powerful play is skillfully directed by Victor Sobchak and McQuade's performance is immense. This is certainly not an easy option to watch, but for a fine piece of early afternoon theatre it would take some beating.