To see or not to see: Edinburgh fringe ’s startling plays about perception

Two new shows at the festival question senses of hearing and sight in engaging and eccentric waysSeeing is believing, right? That is a phrase used repeatedly by Mamoru Iriguchi and co-star Gavin Pringle in What You See When Your Eyes Are Closed/What You Don ’t See When Your Eyes Are Open (★★★★☆). It is an amusingly hand-stitched investigation into ways of seeing, performed in one of Summerhall ’s small basement rooms at the Edinburgh fringe. The production treats the challenges faced by people who are blind or visually impaired as a creative resource. The costumes are bold, the lines distinct, the faces larger than life and, in the most idiosyncratic way, everything is captioned and des cribed. It is surreal and, despite its deliberate repetitions, never predictable.If seeing really was believing, we would accept that the man in the outsize Mamoru Iriguchi mask, his grey suit outlined in thick black lines, his enormous glasses showing sleeping eyes, was indeed Mamoru Iriguchi. We would also surmise that the giant cyclops standing in the centre of the room, in a bushy coat of orange tassels and a purple head concealing a live video projector behind its gigantic single eye, was his husband, Gavin.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Edinburgh festival 2023 Stage Theatre Culture Ray Bradbury Books Blindness and visual impairment Deafness and hearing loss Disability Psychology Source Type: news