ED2013 4/5 Reviews ED2013 Theatre Reviews

The Seer (Penn Dixie Productions)

By | Published on Wednesday 14 August 2013

Rimbaud and Verlaine are the go-to poets for narcissistic teenagers and this play cuts through such reverence, represented by an out-of-touch biographer who clings to his Rimbaud anthology, with razor sharp wit. Rimbaud is portrayed as selfish, violent and pompous and Verlaine as preening and manipulative. The play is greatly post-modern, as the fourth wall is repeatedly broken, to the point of a cast member violently kissing a man in the front row. It’s chaotic and hilarious, with the details of their love affair and Verlaine’s paternal strifes rushed through at eye-watering pace. You won’t get all the details first time, perhaps because large sections are in French, but that just means you’ll have to come again, which will be no bad thing.

Underbelly Cowgate, until 25 Aug (not 13), 10.30pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [James Hampson]



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