Shadow over the Fringe

The anniversary of 9/11 is approaching

By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Online entertainment staff

For those mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming anniversary of the 11 September attacks, the Edinburgh festival may prove a less than comfortable time.

Nearly a year after the terrorist attacks, the programme for the Fringe is shot through with 11 September-themed shows, in every category from comedy to dance and physical theatre.

Some have questioned the tastefulness of this poster

And some are certain to leave people shifting in their seats in a festival year where the satire will be more than acerbic and the wackier side of the Fringe may offend.

Nashville drag queen Tina C's Twin Towers Tribute is being publicised with a photo of the strapping country singer towering over a New York skyline bereft of the Twin Towers.

Featuring songs like Kleenex to the World and Stranger on the Stairwell, Tina could hardly be accused of taking a pious line ahead of September's remembrance ceremonies.

'Cultural differences'

But an in-character Tina says her mission is to "try and understand what went on and discuss the aftermath" and maintains the show will not leave audiences offended.

"I would be surprised and so upset if they were, if they are maybe it is cultural differences."

"It isn't about 11 September, it is about the aftermath. I'm not talking about people who are directly involved. It is about emotions and global grieving - this is not a show about politics."

Tina C is the creation of British comedy writer and performer Chris Green, who insists his Alan Partridge style "character comedy" will not upset any Americans sitting in the audience but admits they could tire of constant references to last year's attacks.

Rich Hall will be mocking George W Bush

Switching out of Tennessee twang-mode, he insists: "It is good timing just before the year anniversary.

"There is a Woody Allen quote from Crimes and Misdemeanours: 'Comedy is tragedy'."

And it is clear that after the tragic events of last year, the war on terror will provide material for a host of comics across the Fringe.

Perrier winner and perennial Fringe favourite Rich Hall joins Mike Wilmot for Pretzel Logic, which is likely to be the funniest dissection of George W Bush and his now legendary verbal gaffes.

The respectful ceasefire offered to the president by patriotic comics in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks has now vanished in a puff of corporate scandal, and the American contingent will be happy to return to pillorying Dubya alongside their British counterparts.

Unusual perspective

But the Fringe will be without the scourge of the American establishment and Louis Theroux-mentor Michael Moore after the comic-cum-campaigner had to pull out of his one man show on President Bush due to the death of his mother.

British comic Omid Djalili makes much of his Iranian roots in his act, and as somebody filed in the books of Hollywood casting directors as "terrorist: Middle Eastern" he is likely to have an unusual perspective on the events of the last year in his Behind Enemy Lines show.

Susan Sarandon's reading of The Guys will be a major draw

On the serious side is The Guys, US journalist Anne Nelson's story based on her efforts to help a fire captain write eulogies for eight of his men killed in the attacks.

Featuring Hollywood couple Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, its two-night run is likely to be one of the hot tickets of the festival.

Bodies in Crisis will examine the "internal tension between American identity and the American body" after 11 September through Japanes Butoh dance, while Project 9/11 features seven accounts from actors and drama students of being in New York during the tragic events.

Odyssey: Kosovo to Ground Zero will see a company of Eastern European, Serbian and American actors try to convey the changes that have swept their respective countries in recent years.

But perhaps the most provocatively-titled show to touch on the aftermath of 11 September is Jumpers.

This "dark comedy" tries to tell the story of four New Yorkers coping with the Draft and promises in the Fringe programme to leave the audience with a "wonderfully uncomfortable feeling".

The Guys is at the Royal Lyceum between August 14-15.

Omid Djalili Behind Enemy Lines is at the Pleasance Courtyard and Over The Road between 4-26 August.

Tina C's Twin Towers Tribute is at the Pleasance between 31 July to 26 August.

Rich Hall and Mike Wilmot's Pretzel Logic is at the Assembly Rooms between 2-4, 6-11 and 13-26 August.

Bodies in Crisis is at the C between 31 July and 26 August.

Odyssey: Kosovo to Ground Zero is at the Demarco-Rocket@Apex Hotels.

Jumpers is on at The Smirnoff Underbelly in Edinburgh Central Library between 1-12 and 14-25 August.