Jonathan Melville: Step back in time for reworking of classics

By JONATHAN MELVILLE
Published on 09/08/2012 14:58

BEGINNING with a stage show based on a classic 1940s movie and ending with another based on a cult horror flick, this week’s cinematic-themed Edinburgh Fringe round-up is almost as diverse as the Festival itself.

According to the blurb, Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut (Gilded Balloon Teviot) is a “lovingly disrespectful homage to one of the most classic films of all time”. Gavin Mitchell, Clare Waugh and Jimmy Chisholm play multiple roles from the Warner Bros classic in the style of Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains and co., affectionately recalling scenes from the black and white original.

Jimmy Chisholm also makes an appearance in An Appointment With The Wicker Man (The Assembly Rooms), another take on a film classic, in this case Robin Hardy’s 1973 Scottish chiller, The Wicker Man.

Chewin’ the Fat star Greg Hemphill leads the cast in this fresh take on the source material, which finds amateur dramatics group, The Loch Parry Players, staging a musical version of the film, only to have their lead actor vanish mysteriously. They then call a TV actor from the 
mainland, played by Harry Potter’s Sean Biggerstaff, to replace him.

Finally, Re-Animator: The Musical (Assembly George Square) is a stage version of the 1985 horror film which itself was based on an HP Lovecraft story based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Got it?

George “Norm from Cheers” Wendt is one of the stars in this tale of a young medical student, Herbert West, who discovers a serum that can bring the dead back to life. Needless to say things don’t go as smoothly as hoped for young Herbert.

Tweet me at @jon_melville with any more film-fan-friendly Fringe recommendations.

• Visit www.reelscotland for more film discussion.