Where to start? Well, outside in the line for the show. One of the three performers appeared to be apologising for the late start. He looked uncomfortable, and I wondered if he was calming his nerves. I suspect it was all part of the show.
This is a show unlike most others you might encounter in Edinburgh this August. It doesn’t appear to have a beginning, middle or end as we know it. The audience is invited to a party, offered a mask – black or white – to wear (your choice tells a lot about you, it is insinuated), and asked: if you had to kill your partner, what method would you choose? So has the performance started? Yes, of course it has. And it continues in this odd, sinuous way, leaving uncertainties and questions scattered all along the way.
Paul Spera is utterly and captivatingly beautiful; Sean O’Callaghan is Donald Sinden-like, and Alessia Siniscalchi benignly witch-like.
There is original music, echoes and quotes from Capote, and a lot of ‘Dad’ dancing. We are invited to the party – to be the party. GARDEN PARTY – Truman Capote’s Black and White Celebration, for me, was a contrivance that didn’t work. I didn’t want to wear a mask or get up and dance, nor be interrogated about how I might kill someone. Don’t go if you don’t like audience participation – or if you are self-conscious about dancing during a Fringe show. I felt uncomfortable and out on a limb: perhaps that’s part of the show – see what it feels like to be different, an outsider?
GARDEN PARTY – Truman Capote’s Black and White Celebration won’t appeal to all, and if you really want to know more about Truman Capote, go elsewhere. For me, the show was self-indulgent and at times just plain silly. It lost me before it had really got started. And the end – well, was there one? It ended with an invitation to continue the party outside. The audience seemed confused – was this real or just another illusion?
