‘Exposing Edith’ is a multi-award-winning cabaret tale of the legendary Edith Piaf, performed by chanteuse and raconteur Michaela Burger and guitarist Greg Wain; who have brought their charming and heartfelt show - running at just over an hour - to the Edinburgh Fringe. And I couldn’t think of a better way to pass a rainy August afternoon than in a university lecture theatre, soaking up the wealth of talent that is undoubtedly in evidence in this performance, well deserving of its accolades.
After a lyrical, scene-setting guitar intro by ‘Gregoire’ (as we are asked to refer to him...this is Paris after all!) the diminutive ‘Edith’ makes an exuberant appearance, immediately drawing in the audience through a combination of skilfully paced narration and song, intertwined with numerous brilliant embodiments of the varying characters that touched Piaf’s rich, highly emotional and often tragic life; as well as comparisons with Burger herself (“You were 4 foot 10; I am four foot 11. You were from the gutter; I am from Australia…..!”)
Tragedy and humour are perceptively combined as we learn such juicy facts as the gruesome murder of Edith’s original manager; her insatiable appetite for soldiers (“they give me a sense of belonging, even if I don’t know their names”); her feisty determination to dictate song-writing terms; and quite fascinatingly, her membership of the French Resistance during WW2 - singing with utter gaul to Nazi soldiers whilst at the same time smuggling prisoners out of concentration camps - disguising them as members of her ‘orchestra’. It exposes her many ‘soul mates’ - in particular her deep adoration of Marcel, a world renowned boxer whose plane went down over the Atlantic after adhering to Edith’s repeated demands to join her whilst performing a long run of shows in New York. It was something she never forgave herself for as she spent the remainder of her days as a serious drug addict and alcoholic, to the extent of being injected with not inconsiderable doses of morphine every time she went on stage.
Michaela Burger’s portrayal of Edith Piaf is nothing short of incredible. Vocally she gives stunning renditions of many of Piaf’s classics such as a powerful, emotionally charged ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’ - her vocal range, tone and timbre extraordinarily close to the original that was Piaf’s electric, highly distinctive voice. Her interspersal of various characters along the journey are brilliantly delivered with verve and humour; as is her composed narrative delivery of the ups and (mostly) downs of Edith’s life. In her embodiment of Edith herself, there is a wonderful section near the end where she both physically and vocally interacts with her audience - a highly effective piece of improvisation conveying the charm, wit, cheek….and utter fear she instilled into her adoring, faithful public. And yet alongside the multi-faceted richness of Edith’s own life this is also a very personal autobiographical story about how Burger came to find Piaf, and their ‘relationship’ ever since. And not forgetting ‘Gregoire’ who provides beautifully played accompaniments to both original Piaf’s
songs and the more contemporary music composed specifically for the show - juxtaposing two eras with an authentically ‘vintage’ French sound.
If you are coming to the largest festival of its kind on the planet this season, it is so easy to be utterly overwhelmed by the thousands of shows on offer. You could however do a lot worse than to invest an hour or so at the Assembly George Square’s Studio 3 - starting time 2.20pm, running until August 26th.
Reviewer - Georgina Elliott
on - 6/8/19
No comments:
Post a Comment