Simple Simon

The Subway, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Harland Hamstrings Theatre Group

Mark Tyson

Simple Simon sets out to be a commentary or satire on contemporary culture. Reality TV, Pop Idols, Popstars, and the like are all targeted. The dumbimg down debate, however, is not straightforward. For example, dumbing down doom- mongers may bemoan the tabloid reading habits of the masses; but the dumbing down skeptics may reasonable counter that a century ago, only half a dozen people in the whole of the country could read at all!

The spread of popular culture is not in itself a bad thing, and artistic ingenuity can arise in the most unexpected places. The problem occurs when society loses its ability to make intellectual and aesthetic judgments or to appreciate genuine excellence.

The plot of Simple Simon is a bit weird, psychedelic and difficult to follow; but there is a lot of loud music and dancing which is great.

The play leaves us with an ominous warning. The irony, however is that we have already lost our sense of tragedy and we have an ambivalence towards ominous warnings. Maybe we are resigned to our fate, or maybe, in truth, we don't really believe our own apocalyptic propaganda.

'It's the end of the world as we know it…'; and you can sing the rest.

All articles on this site © Culture Wars.