Photo: Mark Senior
Paul T Davies reviews Saul Boyer in Man of 100 Faces at the Gilded Ballroom at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Man of 100 Faces. Gilded Balloon Edinburgh Festival 4 Stars Book Tickets I stumbled across a couple of stories of undercover agents at this year's Fringe and they couldn't have been more different. Here we have the true story of Sir Paul Dukes, at one time head of MI6 in Russia when the revolution was at its bloodiest. It's a remarkable tale of disguise, multiple escapes and 100 faces. Writer and performer Saul Boyer gives a powerful physical theatre performance, trained in Lecoq techniques, and if there is another one more energetic on the Fringe this year, I've yet to see it. He is commanding, compelling and his vocal strength matches his physical. It's like a Boys Own adventure story brought to life, and, at times, the frenetic pace overwhelmed the story a little and the plot begins to get lost. But as his shirt becomes drenched in sweat as the hour progresses, he leaves nothing behind. A fantastic, powerful, thoroughly entertaining performance. Aug 10-14, 16-29
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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