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Picasso’s Women, Fruitmarket Gallery, review

August 27, 2018

Moving performances, and beautiful direction from Marcia Carr, make Picasso’s Women my favourite Fringe show of 2018.

The Fruitmarket Gallery becoming a Fringe venue for the first time in 2018 is a lucky occurrence for Picasso’s Women, as it’s the combination of the show and the venue that make it a truly unforgettable experience – and my favourite Fringe show of the year.

Over the course of 90 minutes, three women – Fernande Olivier (Judith Paris), Olga Khokhlova (Colette Redgrave) and Marie-Thérèse Walter (Kirsten Moore) – tell the stories of their life with the famous painter and womanizer Pablo Picasso. Told chronologically (as the women appeared in Picasso’s life), the three individual monologues are long but have more than enough detail within them to entertain for their duration, especially if the material is new to you and you know little about the the artist’s personal life.

For someone with some prior knowledge of his history, little is revealed – but the actors still hold your attention through consistently moving performances of the women who both enjoyed and suffered whilst crossing paths with Picasso. The actors are further helped by each woman having a signature stage-light colour (matching with at least a detail on their costume) and one signature prop, giving their roles additional character. It is a simple yet beautiful solution for a production of this kind.

Staging a show about Picasso’s treatment of women in a gallery context further involves the audience, who cannot escape their role of (in)directly supporting generally unacceptable behaviour of artists – ‘excused’, perhaps, by their creative divinity. I’m aware this is wishful thinking, but staging the production in a gallery which showcases the artist’s work would, of course, elevate the production even further if the company are ever given the opportunity.

The only thing, in my mind, which lets Picasso’s Women down are the transitions between episodes. While the three monologues are beautifully directed by Marcia Carr, the time in-between is filled by the tech staff preparing the props for the following act. Considering that the audience is sitting very close to the actors and everything is perfectly visible, this practice abruptly and unpleasantly takes the audience out of the story for a couple of minutes. Although only a small detail compared to the duration of the play, it serves as a mood-killer when you’re forced to exit and re-enter Picasso’s world – and it’s entirely possible the company could rehearse smoother, or more stylised, scene changes to keep you immersed in the world.

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Žad Novak
Žad Novak is currently studying Comparative Literature and German at the University of Glasgow, with Theatre Studies as her additional subject. When not at university, she volunteers/works as an assistant (to the) director in professional theatres in Zagreb, Glasgow and Berlin. Her passion lies in brining theatre, literature and film from non-English-speaking countries into the spotlight, believing that exposing people to artworks from other places helps battle inequality and xenophobia. She is one of the founders of Glasgow International Student Theatre, a theatre society at University of Glasgow aiming to stage translated plays from around the world. Nevertheless, none of this is to say that she cannot enjoy a good production of Shakespeare. She is deeply, deeply grateful to all the amazing baristas across Edinburgh, the unsung heroes that make her Fringe-Binge possible! When she is not involved in making theatre, she loves to talk about past productions, and complains about missing ‘the theatre life’. Recently, she has found relief in writing reviews. Her family and friends are grateful.

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