Review by Kate Gaul
James Rowland is a Fringe Festival stalwart, and his shows are what I would describe as quintessentially fringe. I really cannot imagine them working anywhere else (but I am sure they do) and that is exactly why “James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show” is high amongst my top ten picks of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Go buy tickets NOW!!!
James has been making shows on his own (with loads of friends, directors and dramaturgs) for 8 years now, he tours the UK most of the time and hangs out with his partner and cat the rest. He tells stories. And the stories are the star of the show. He genuinely shares these stories with an audience. We feel part of them (the opposite is when storytellers speak AT you! Ergh!!). There is little in the way of technical support – he works with his iPhone, a speaker, and a floor light. He is dressed in a mostly open hospital gown and a pair of pantyhose, mis matched socks and bright red crocks. He carries notes to which he may or may not refer.
“James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show” is the final part of a trilogy. There is no single narrative – rather this show finds connections through anecdotes, observations, smaller stories, music inspired by thinking of his mortality. A visible clock counts down behind him – a visible reminder of time’s winged chariot! But it is not a sad show or a show about grief. Rather it takes life and love by the horns and finds the joy in existence. We journey walks through moments in his life: his love for football, his holiday in France, his favourite art installation where papers are flying away.
One of Rowland’s first anecdotes - and one to which we return - is the remarkable story of Dr Carl Sagan and the making of the golden record sent to outer space on Voyager I and II in 1977 and how Sagan fell in love and married his colleague Ann Druyan (and a reminder that Sagan was in fact married at the time to a previous colleague – he had a type!). The story of the golden record is one that fires the imagination and can provide a perspective on what it is to be human. Robin Hood occupies most of the piece. With rambunctious zest Rowland inhabits many characters as he tells of Robin Hoods life, loves and conquests. Finally, we watch Rowland shoot one golden arrow across the sky towards his final resting place.
In an interview, James Rowland described his intentions with “James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show” - “I want it to be joyful, to be totally honest I want it to be riot, I'm trying to make a show that people are delighted they came to.”
Go see “James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show” for an hour of genuine joy and to witness a master storyteller at work!
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