Fringe Festival Web Report #9
Friday, July 13th

By JON KAPLAN

There's no question which show wins the top award for energy during the Fringe - it's Shakespeare's Rugby Wars, a manic attempt on the part of Upstart Crow Theatre to cram four of the Bard's history plays - the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III - into an hour. And to make it all fit within the framework of a rugby game.

I admit that I approached the show with some trepidation. The Henrys cycle, which recounts the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster (represented by a red rose) and the York (whose symbol is the white rose) are among the most difficult of Shakespeare's pieces to stage, in part because they sprawl all over the place. As power shifts back and forth between the parties, it's hard to keep track of who's on which side, who's related to whom and even who the characters are.

Add to the problems with the script that I'm not a big sports person - give me a theatre performance any day over any contact-sports match. Especially rugby, about which I know nothing.

Well, it's a great hour of theatre. Not really Shakespeare, and I think probably not really true rugby, but lots of fun. Thank co-adaptors Chris Coculuzzi and Matt Toner for a lot of it, as they blend bits of the Bard and some contemporary lines into the convoluted history. But it's not just the game that holds us, it's the commentators and referees. We start with Christopher Marlowe (Toner) and John Falstaff (Stephen Flett) - yeah, that character Shakespeare created in Henry IV and The Merry Wives Of Windsor - as analysts from the booth. They're helped on the field by Rafael Holinshed (Seamus Dudley), a historian who fills us dummies in on the rules of rugby and does interviews from the field.. When Marlowe's bumped off in a pub brawl, referee Robert Greene (Cliff Makinson) - a playwright and contemporary of Shakespeare - takes over his seat, while Shakespeare himself (Coculuzzi) remains the sole ref in the field.

Lots of ad libs, from the large cast and the commentators - Flett and Toner are really fast with the lines - and the fans in the stands. Even the neighbourhood chips in their two cents. At the show I saw, someone in the apartment building - bothered by the amplified sound - yelled at the company to shut the fuck up several times. Response from someone in the company? "Shut up yourself - the critics were here last night."

Upstart Crow got off to a good start with the show. Looking for media sponsors, they latched onto Red Rose tea - the Lancaster house, remember? - and then went after Tetley Tea for the white-rose faction.

All the house managers work hard to make the Fringe work, getting people in and out on time. Andy Bunker at the Tarragon Mainspace and Nick Tracey at the Poor Alex even make a bathroom run to insure that audiences aren't left stranded there when a show's about to go up. But house managers are also responsible for gathering Tip The Fringe money - to pay for rentals, programs, house technicians and so on - in some silly plastic watering cans. And each has his or her way of doing it. Some go for straight speeches but the best reach for something a little different. Mackenzie Muldoon at the Tarragon Extra Space proves she can shake it - both the can and the body - as audience members put in their loonies, toonies and bills. Chris Sheasgreen at the Factory Studio Cafe writes a poem each day which he recites to the audience. Sam Nicolds at the Glen Morris Studio lets her Muppet-like character do the talking and performing.

But the queen of the house managers? It's Nicole Stamp, NOW cover girl and director of Christian Values. Last year she juggled for money. This year, beaming energy, she sings a cappella for the crowds in a husky mezzo with a two-octave range - Gershwin's Summertime for one show, a spiritual for another.