Reviews
A Selection of Socialist Magic Reviews
Fringe Guru's four star review is here Morning Star's review ("Not to be missed") is here Ben Walters, Scotsman reviewer, includes the show in the "highly recommended" section of his mid-fringe round-up blog here Scotsman four star review is here. Chris Bartter's blog, with four star review is here. Ian Keable's review of the preview is here |
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"Ian Saville's one-man show is a gloriously witty and consummately theatrical manifestation of what could become a whole new concept in political theatre. Launching himself with gay abandon from the basic situation provided by Brecht's play 'The Good Woman of Setzuan', Saville provides a semi-autobiographical account of his own conversion from a mere purveyor of sleight-of-hand into a socialist magician.... |
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"A deft and funny routine ... captivating in its charm ... utterly infectious." |
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"After his act, he announces proudly, audiences are wont to rush out: 'They immediately want to get up and change the world.' Nobody showed the least sign of wanting to rush out when I saw him, for whatever reasons. I think they were too busy laughing." |
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"Saville deftly mixes this hotchpotch of skills and ideas into an entertaining and often hilarious whole, keeping his audience riveted from start to finish." |
John Willett, Brecht translator and scholar |
"You have found out how to conjure up a most credible Brecht. Much more successfully than many Brecht experts are able to do. And as a complex demonstration of Verfremdung (or Alienation? Or what? You name it) your dialogues with him could hardly be bettered. This really is magic. You make us laugh and think. What more could BB ask?" |
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"Would make the hardest liner laugh .... Ideologically sound and magnificently bonkers." |
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"Knitted with a dry humour and a mock sense of unsophistication, Saville's act is a delight." |
The List
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"Ian Saville, complete with comradely manner, is a master of fast, funny patter and his act should not be missed." |
What's On in London |
"Saville puts the magic back into politics." |
Morning Star |
"Good conjuring, good politics and very, very funny. Don't miss him." |
Abracadabra (Magician's Weekly) |
"Ian laughs at his own contradictions and invites us each to confront our own. I don't suppose Norman Tebbit would enjoy the show but almost anybody with a sense of humour would." |
Winnipeg Free Press |
"The mixture of radical politics and magic makes for an unusual but hilarious entertainment." |
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Look at it This Way (with Leon Rosselson)
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Look at it This Way [is] an evening of gently dialectical delights offered by socialist magician Ian Saville and Marxist songwriter Leon Rosselson, two lovely men with the worst haircuts in Scotland. No other show in town could offer you a trick that explains the injustices of gas privatisation, or a ventriloquist's dummy of William Morris exclaiming, "I had to minister to the swinish luxury of the rich." It's like two daffy uncles performing at a bar mitzvah, and done with stirring sincerity. "Now say the magic words, 'Mass Action for a Radical Transformation of Society'" They will stay on my lips until the end of the Festival. |
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Rejecting society's division between winners and losers, Ian Saville wants to make his way in the world doing magic "to change things". But being a socialist magician has its pitfalls - does commercial success compromise one's beliefs? His tough-talking cat certainly thinks so (a delightful piece of glove puppet ventriloquism). Singer/songwriter Leon Rosselson starts as Ian's Mr Worldly Wiseman but soon prefers to be Voice of Conscience, in a fierce yet amusing series of lyrics dissenting the evils of contemporary capitalism. A third character joins - the eloquent ghost of William Morris, an almost-large-as-life ventriloquist's doll. This clever touch is exploited to the full in wholly engaging style, and Saville and Rosselson leave us in no doubt that Morris' politics are far more relevant than his wallpaper. There is plenty of entertainment value in this witty political cabaret by a duo of distinctive talent. |