Hidden in the rubble of unworthy shows vying for your attention is this glinting jewel of a show. If you do nothing else this festival then follow this one piece of advice: walk up the Royal Mile, pass by the busloads of Tattoo touting tourists, and find Johnston Terrace, where, buried in a small venue, lies the extraordinary Lie Detector Truth Detector.
Peter Yates’s new political satire mocks the increasing infringement of the government as they step up the War on Terror. The play opens with a terrorist interrogation and from this intriguing start becomes increasingly surreal: CCTV, identity cards, passports and medical checks are all ripped apart to reveal a Big Brother nanny state.
The series of sketches are stomach-achingly comic and deadly serious, delivered by a stellar cast. In one memorable moment a smarmy civil servant sits on a giant pedastool, where, wielding, an oversized wacky pencil, he bestows passports on the few applicants who are considered risk free. The Alice in Wonderland absurdity combined with hard cutting dialogue is successfully executed in this play.
Lie Detector Truth Detector will itch at your mind, forcing you will to consider its implications far beyond the four walls of the theatre. It is shows like this that remind us about what the Fringe is really about: the gems that surprise us all.
[Picture: The Bomb Squad in Truth Detector]
Review in THREE WEEKS 11.8.07
In perfect mastery of their material, these comic talents know how to extract the maximum mirth and menace out of this sharp and enjoyable production.
Lie Detector Truth Detector
Random Cactus
When saying 'Piffle!' to a traffic warden is a criminal offence, all cannot be well on this fair isle of ours. A fresh look at the post 9/11 rise of 'National Security' and corresponding decline in civil liberties, this is an intelligent series of satirical sketches which thrust their meaning home with unexpected twists. In a world of overblown authority we meet megalomaniac traffic wardens, security guards who play God and a passport application process turned Kafka-esque nightmare. The masterstroke of these nightmarish visions is that even at their most absurd they remain unnervingly possible. In perfect mastery of their material, these comic talents know how to extract the maximum mirth and menace out of this sharp and enjoyable production.
Roman Eagle Lodge, 3 - 18 Aug, 10:00pm (11:15pm), £8.00 (£5.00), fpp 203.
tw rating: 4/5
published: Aug-2007
[Bianca Leggett]
Review in THE LIST 16.8.07
Even the most established theatre practitioners could learn a few things from this 21st century company.
Lie Detector Truth Detector
Welcome to 21st century Britain
Peter Yates’ play is made up of three thematically linked short plays. In the first a man accused of terrorism undergoes a lie detector test; in the second two security guards in a shopping mall abuse the authority of their uniforms, while the third, the longest of the three, tracks a woman’s struggle to get a passport in 21st century Britain. It’s a world of red tape where rights are a thing of the past, rules and regulations are unquestionably obeyed, people are machines under constant observation and judged by their outward appearance, power and corruption comes with a uniform and human instinct counts for nothing. Using humour, elements of physical theatre and a cracking narrative, even the most established theatre practitioners could learn a few things from this 21st century company. (Nicola Husband)
Roman Eagle Lodge, 226 7207, until 18 Aug, 10pm, £8 (£5).
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