COVERING THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL SINCE 1996
Tibetan Book Of The Dead – The Musical (Laughing Horse Free Festival)
I’m utterly nonplussed by this performance, in which a dying man is philosophically coming to terms with this experience. His act is supposed to reflect ideas in the Tibetan Book of the Dead about death and rebirth, and there is immense tension, slight confusion and awkward silence among observers – then sudden, totally bewildering music. Four people leave. A woman remarks at the end she had felt ‘scared’ (don’t worry though, there’s no interaction; it’s just strange). A man says the guy was a ‘genius’. Were my tears of laughter completely inappropriate? For good or bad, this was my most unique experience at the Fringe. The acting is awful, the music is outrageous. But is that the point? I’m still not sure.
Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, 3-15 Aug, 7.20pm.
tw rating 2/5 | [Joe Mountford-Smith]
