David Benson - Star Struck
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Nokia Orange Assembly

Mark Tyson

While David Benson's contemporaries dreamed of being pop stars and footballers, he dreamed of being Judy Garland. Benson is a song and dance man out of his rightful time.

Benson charts his obsessions with Garland, Sinatra, Astaire et al, from youthful infatuation, to a desire to emulate them, and finally to the realisation that they were not gods but often flawed human beings.

Star Struck builds to an imaginary party at Noel Coward's house, where Benson meets his idols. Here Benson is in his element, playing all of the parts in the ensuing drama.

These days the great, the good, the rich and the famous, do not stay on their pedestals for long; there are endless media exposes and revelatory documentaries. Benson reminds us that part of the role of art is to delight; entertainers and performers forget this at their peril.

1 August to 25 August.

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