Sweet Grassmarket
Aug 21-27 (20:20)

Script:  Stagecraft:  Performance: 

Golem is a stark, matter-of-fact recanting of a very ancient tale, that of the man-created monster, which once inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Villa Diodati in 1816. Returning us to its primal origins is Golem’s creator & sole actor, Richard Waring, who wakes up on stage as some middle-aged Jewish tinker with a drama-chiseled face perfect for the fancy, declaring, ‘I am still here!’ & proceeds to shimmer through the play as if he was in a permanent state of mild electrocution. In a recent interview with the Mumble, Waring, described the hoped-for effect his play would have on audience members as being;

that people will look at the things that they hold true in their lives and question them. I do believe that this version is really relevant to what is happening in the world today

Through Golem, Waring asks for us all some of the fundamental questions of life, to which matter an eerie smattering of phantom sound effects have elevated the trance. His rich, slow, caterpillar dialogue reminds me of some religious procession through the streets of Jerusalem, while his dramatic body movements help Richard to achieve an absolutely riveting delivery of his play. ‘Under the wings of the Exalted One,‘ we follow the day-by-day progress of his creation, which is then superseded by the arrival of a classic, curly Jew, who proceeded to tell us a series of Jewish stories & jokes &…. well, it was all quite surreal & heady-headed, but fascinatingly morbid enough to hold one’s attentions, especially when caught in the grip of Waring’s fiercely lyrical performance.

Reviewer : Damo