ED2013 3/5 Reviews ED2013 Theatre Reviews

Bonanza (Berlin / Big in Belgium / Richard Jordan Productions / Drum Plymouth / Summerhall)

By | Published on Wednesday 14 August 2013

During festival mania, the town of Bonanza can sound, initially, like a paradise. Now home to just seven residents, it is an introvert’s utopia. However, as this documentary unveils, life is far more complicated for those who occupy this tiny former mining town, still echoing with the ghosts of its industrial past. Capturing the decidedly separate perspectives of Bonanza’s inhabitants on five cinema screens, which switched and merged to disorientating effect, this show illuminates how small communities can implode in on themselves. Matched with a beautiful scale-life model of the town, ‘Bonanza’ is an eye-opening account into existence beyond the confines of normal town life but, at times, lengthy and underwhelming, not quite a true bonanza of a production.

Summerhall, until 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 4.30pm.
tw rating 3/5 | [Katharine Wootton]



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