This no holes barred play, written by Joanie’s friend Donald Freed, had me on the edge of my chair, in the front row, close enough to the two amazing actors to be spit upon, but luckily they faced each other most of the time. Ignatius Anthony played the part of General Noriega, formally of the CIA, Panama and now I believe in a federal prison in Florida. (Someone tell us if that’s not the case.) It’s Christmas Eve, 1989?, in Panama City and the US has just bombed the shit out of a lot of innocent people trying to kill Noriega, as he has stepped away from his role as US lackey and ventured out on his own to capitalize on the cocaine route to the north and the money laundering possible outside conventional banking. After taking cover in the swamps for three days he seeks asylum with an old friend, Archbishop Jose Laboa, played by Peter Dineen.
Laboa is trying to get Noriega to turn himself in while Noriega tries to get Laboa to arrange sanctuary in Spain. Meanwhile the Americans are trying to force him out of the church by blasting rock and roll through the walls. Hendrix starts it out with the opening guitar on Star Spangled Banner just to give you an idea. Donald has managed to write an inditement of US blunders, indiscretions, double-dealings, murders and torture into an hours worth of conversation between the two men. I might have been the only American in the audience but was certainly the most informed on the background and situation with Reagan, Bush I, the Iran-Contra debacle etc. They even mentioned Vietnam drug trafficing and Air America, Evergreen’s claim to fame! Despite the seriousness of everything being said there was a whole lot of irony and one liners that were hysterical given the context of the situation. Really, I was the only person laughing and had to put my hand over my mouth once to not lose control as they moved on. Well, you can tell I’ve been impressed by my first Fringe theatre. Donald and Patty have invited me to join them after lunch tomorrow when I finish a book talk and they bid goodbye to Edinburgh. I haven’t met them yet so it will be quite exciting.
When I left the theatre i was stunned by what I’d just seen and it took me awhile to feel back to myself and remember I AM IN SCOTLAND! So I walked towards the Book Fest for my next event and stopped on the way at small Mexican Rest. with tables outdoors and had a margarita, tomato soup and a veggie enchilada. Don’t even think El Primo! It was in a class way beyond that and I even took a photo of my lunch to remember it and the street scene on Rose Lane today.
The Book Fest. was 2 authors reading from their first novels, both about Ireland. One of the book’s main character was Professor Stephen Wolfe, the same name as our friend from Linfield, and I can’t help but wonder if the author knows him or knows of him. She’s a professor herself and although I wanted to ask her, the queue was just too long to wait. It was very inspiring to hear them talk about how they went from an idea to a published book in their hands. Maybe that will be me some day, aye? Well, I’m home at the B&B, going to get some extra sleep tonight to get ready for another fantastic day in Edinburgh. Did I mention there’s statutues, art museums, cafes, bookstores, domes, castles, monuments and people everywhere? Love, Ellie
