Showing @ theSpace @ Symposium Hall, Edinburgh until Sat 10 Aug @ 19:00
John Watts‘ The Last Picasso is rather like the proverbial curate’s egg – it’s very good in bits. Most notably, the staging itself is an inventive and engaging idea: the performer interacts with a projected video recording interspersed with live music to tell the story. There is however a weakness in both the performances and the script. Watts himself veers between emotionless and hammy but either way lacks credibility, and the actress who plays his daughter in the filmed clips sounds as though she’s simply reading a script – which is itself often clunky.
The music, barring some awkward lyrics, is very good. John Watts has a great voice and it’s plain to see that he is most at home when delivering a song: for these musical interludes his presence shines. One feels Picasso would also approve of the talented chorus of three young and attractive women who support the much older, balder man.
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