Altamont by John Stenhouse
Peppermint Muse
Venue: C Nova
There seem
to be a lot of one-man shows at the Fringe this year, and the one we pick – Altamont – was written and performed by
John Stenhouse for Peppermint Muse. It’s told from the first-person viewpoint of
American music fan Joe, who gets caught up in the burgeoning horror as the last
great hippy festival of the 60s turns murderous.
It’s
testament to the talent of middle-aged actor John Stenhouse that he manages to
evoke all this purely through words and body language. There’s little in the way of multimedia
assistance beyond some simplistic lighting, a few costume changes and the odd
snatch of music, and the script tells us nothing new – but every character
comes vibrantly alive, from horrified innocent to drug casualty to vicious Hell’s
Angel.
Stenhouse is
a well-built man of a certain age, but his brief impression of a young Mick
Jagger, imprisoned on his own stage while the world falls apart around him, is physically
accurate and uncannily moving.
Perhaps
allied to a second solo performance piece of a similar length (it lasts abut an
hour), this would make a great touring production.
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