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Fringe veteran appearing in 3 productions |
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George Dillon, winner of a Herald ‘Angel’ Award and Stage ‘Best Actor’
nominee last year, and veteran of 11 previous Edinburgh Festivals will be appearing in 3 productions and giving a total
of 43 performances over 26 days in his 12th appearance on the Edinburgh
Fringe in August 2001. In the mornings/early afternoons he will be acting in the Komedia production of Samuel Beckett’s CATASTROPHE, and then in the early evening he will be performing one of two solo shows he is presenting this year - BERKOFF’S HELL AND DOSTOEVSKY’S DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN and his award-winning adaptation of Steven Berkoff’s GRAFT - TALES OF AN ACTOR.
However, this will not be Dillon’s busiest year on the fringe. In 1993 he gave 45 performances over 25 days in 4 different shows! |
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| Catastrophe late plays by Samuel Beckett |
| Komedia presents a unique combination of Beckett’s
late works - including Ohio Impromptu, & Catastrophe
- directed by David Lavender with George Dillon, Denise Evans
and Mark Hewitt. |
| 2.15-3.45pm 2-7th, 12.15-1.45pm 8-14th, 11.45-1.15pm 21-27th August |
| Venue 8 - Komedia St. Stephen’s - 0131 558 3853 |
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| Berkoff’s Hell and
Dostoevsky’s Dream of a Ridiculous Man |
| A must-see double-bill of solo-specialist Dillon’s
greatest hits. Two would-be suicides and their haunting visions
of heaven and hell. An emotional roller-coaster with a uplifting,
life-changing finale. "Dillon translates powerful prose into disturbing, dangerous theatre." - THE GUARDIAN "This is the craft of acting carried to a pinnacle of virtuosity." - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY |
| 5.55-7.25pm 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 16-19, 21, 23, 26, 27th August |
| Venue 41 - Hill Street Theatre - 0131 226 6522 |
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| Graft - Tales of an Actor by Steven Berkoff |
| George Dillon blows the whistle on the acting
profession in his own adaptation and award-winning performance
of Berkoff’s collection of stories about ever-struggling actor,
Harry. "The most compelling storytelling you
will see." - THE HERALD "A performance that Berkoff himself would
be hard-pressed to top. " - METRO |
| 5.55-7.15pm
4, 6, 9-11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24, 25th August |
| Venue 41 - Hill Street Theatre - 0131 226 6522 |
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A promo CD-Rom is available (on request) containing
QuickTime™ (.mov) video extracts, high resolution .tif
and .jpg images (suitable for publication) and pages
of reviews, biogs etc. in .html and
Acrobat ( .pdf)
formats. |
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Unique double-bill of virtuoso solo shows |
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| George Dillon |
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WINNER: The Herald ‘Angel’ Award • about.com’s ‘Best Actor’
& The Stage ‘Best Actor’ nominee for ‘Graft’ @ Edinburgh 2000... |
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Steven Berkoff’s |
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Hell |
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Fyodor Dostoevsky’s |
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Dream of a Ridiculous Man |
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| Two journeys into other worlds... an emotional roller-coaster from despair to salvation... Steven Berkoff’s ever-failing alter-ego Harry, having died of loneliness, renders his ultimate appeal for a little sympathy and company in Hell... and disturbed by memories of a moment’s compassion, a would-be suicide dreams of a paradise which he himself destroys but awakens to a glorious vision of ‘the Truth’ in Dostoevsky’s late masterpiece, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, a feverish and ever-relevant manifesto for a more caring world... |
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Images for publication
can be downloaded from
http://www.georgedillon.com/pr/
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| "The best example of someone to watch how to perform is George Dillon." |
| - Steven Berkoff in THE LIST, August 1994 |
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LISTINGS:
George Dillon’s Vital Theatre
Winner: The Herald ‘Angel’ @ Edinburgh 2000 |
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Berkoff’s ‘Hell’ & Dostoevsky’s ‘Dream of a Ridiculous Man’
A powerful double-bill from solo specialist and Berkoff veteran, George Dillon |
3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 16-19, 21, 23, 26th & 27th August
5.55-7.25pm, Hill Street Theatre, EDINBURGH
Box Office: 0131 226 6522 (from 3rd Aug)
Fringe Box Office: 0131 226 0000
Tickets: 3 & 5th: £4 (£2 Concs) 7-27th: £8 (£5 Concs) |
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| From 1990, when he was nominated for the Independent Theatre Award for Stunning the Punters, to last year, when he won a Herald ‘Angel’ Award for Graft and Other Tales, was named ‘Best Actor’ by About.com and nominated for The Stage’s ‘Best Actor’ award, Berkoff veteran George Dillon has created six highly acclaimed solo shows. The two stories in this bill are from Stunning the Punters (1990) and Hell & Other Tales (1992) and present Dillon at his best - passionate, stylised and totally compelling. |
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A promo CD-Rom is available (on request) containing
QuickTime™ (.mov) video extracts, high resolution .tif
and .jpg images (suitable for publication) and pages
of reviews, biogs etc. in .html and
Acrobat ( .pdf)
formats. |
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Return of award-winning solo show |
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| George Dillon |
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WINNER: The Herald ‘Angel’ Award • about.com’s ‘Best Actor’
& The Stage ‘Best Actor’ nominee for ‘Graft’ @ Edinburgh 2000... |
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Graft |
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Tales of an Actor |
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Steven Berkoff |
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| Harry is a dedicated artist, often out of work, rejected and desperate to practise his craft. In Graft - Tales of an Actor, Steven Berkoff, world-renowned actor, director, playwright and author, draws his breath in pain to tell Harry’s story, from auditioning at the local Town Hall for a drama school grant, through occasional working highs and low encounters with agents and directors to his final exit at Leicester Square Tube. |
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Images for publication
can be downloaded from
http://www.georgedillon.com/pr/
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| "Brutal, compassionate, brilliant. Examines the actor’s soul with a precision that is acutely painful and appallingly funny." - Richard E. Grant |
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LISTINGS:
George Dillon’s Vital Theatre
Winner: The Herald ‘Angel’ Award for ‘Graft’ @ Edinburgh Fringe 2000... |
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‘Graft - Tales of an Actor’
by Steven Berkoff
A funny, moving and award-winning performance exposing the sick heart of the acting profession |
4, 6, 9-11, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24 & 25th August
5.55-7.25pm, Hill Street Theatre, EDINBURGH
Box Office: 0131 226 6522 (from 3rd Aug)
Fringe Box Office: 0131 226 0000
Tickets: 4 & 6th: £4 (£2 Concs) 9-25th: £8 (£5 Concs) |
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| George Dillon, gives an award-winning performance in this frequently hilarious, ultimately devastating staging of Steven Berkoff’s short stories of the life of an ever-struggling actor. Premiered in Edinburgh last year, Graft - Tales of an Actor is a must-see show for anyone interested in the craft and/or the business of acting. Dillon is a veteran of 11 Edinburgh Festivals and 12 productions of Berkoff material, including 3 with Berkoff and 4 world premieres of Berkoff’s writing staged by Dillon. |
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A promo CD-Rom is available (on request) containing
QuickTime™ (.mov) video extracts, high resolution .tif
and .jpg images (suitable for publication) and pages
of reviews, biogs etc. in .html and
Acrobat ( .pdf)
formats. |
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George Dillon’s Vital Theatre |
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| Since founding Vital Theatre in May 1990 George Dillon has produced and extensively toured 5 highly acclaimed solo shows plus a revival of Berkoff’s Decadence and a controversial production of Hamlet. Since first acting in East at Manchester University in 1979 he has worked on 12 productions of Berkoff material, including 3 with Berkoff as an assistant director/performer and 4 World Premieres staged by Dillon. |
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Dillon has appeared on the Edinburgh Fringe eleven times in 17 productions, his busiest year being 1993 when he gave 45 performances in 4 shows over 23 days. Last year, Dillon’s own adaptation of Steven Berkoff’s Graft - Tales of an Actor won The Herald ‘Angel’ award and has since toured in the UK and in Europe. |
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Dillon has also appeared in films, t.v. and repertory theatre, and conceived and directed an internationally acclaimed solo version of Under Milk Wood. Recent roles include Victor Frankenstein, Johnny Rotten and Charlie Chaplin and a voice-over for the English pilot of the Norwegian cult animation Two Wasted Wankers. |
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Productions on the Fringe
• Graft - Tales of an Actor [2000] George Dillon’s award-winning World Premiere staging of Steven Berkoff’s sketches from the life of an ever-struggling actor. • Hamlet [1995] The greatest tragedy stripped bare. 7 actors, 2 musicians and a talking dog in 2 hours of sex, comedy, murder & madness! • The Remembrance of Edgar Allan Poe [1993 & 1997] A dream-like tribute to the master of Gothic Horror, woven entirely in Poe’s own words. • Hell & Other Tales [1992 & 1993] Three Berkoff premieres. An actor taking stock of his world, both sides of a sordid brief encounter, and the ultimate appeal for a little sympathy and company. • Judgement [1991] Barry Collins’s epic monologue (three hours with no interval) telling a true story of murder and cannibalism during World War 2. • Stunning the Punters [& Other Stories] [1990 & 1993] Three stories of imagination run wild. An out-of-work actor’s frustration explodes over breakfast, an ex-skinhead tells a tale with a ghostly twist and a would-be suicide dreams of paradise. • Decadence [1984, 1985 & 1993] After Berkoff and Marlowe, George Dillon and Denise Evans were the first to play in Decadence in 1983. Ten years later, staged on a park bench for negative-equity Britain, this two-hander still hit home.
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A promo CD-Rom is available (on request) containing
QuickTime™ (.mov) video extracts, high resolution .tif
and .jpg images (suitable for publication) and pages
of reviews, biogs etc. in .html and
Acrobat ( .pdf)
formats. |
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What the press said |
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about GRAFT
Dillon’s performance holds the audience so rapt that at points I am convinced we collectively stopped breathing. Dillon clowns as much as he grimaces, strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage in a way that is intuitive and inventive - the most compelling storytelling you will see.
- The Herald
An assured and confident performance that Berkoff himself would be hard-pressed to top. - Metro
He doesn’t hold the stage for an hour and a quarter: he is the stage on which Harry’s life unfolds, sweeping the audience along with irresistible force... The text is Berkoff at his best... The play should be compulsory viewing for all who want to take up an acting career... But above all else, excellently written though the play is, it is Dillon’s performance which sticks in the mind, a virtuoso performance to cherish and a standard for the rest of the Fringe to live up to! - About.Com
about HELL
In turns funny, harrowing, real and surreal, this daring performance is nothing short of brilliant. - Edinburgh Evening News
Dillon translates powerful prose into disturbing, dangerous theatre. - The Guardian
There’s a definite buzz in the sell-out crowd for the opening of a new Berkoff by one of the most-praised solo performers of recent Fringes. If you thought Berkoff was all arch bombast, then try this ... it’s both unique and fascinating. - The List
One cannot be unaffected by Dillon’s virtuoso performance in this world premiere of Berkoff’s monologues. It is a tour de force in which the actor and his material become one and the fusion of life and theatre is complete. - The Scotsman
about DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN
George Dillon is one of the most uncompromisingly compelling performers I have seen. He has the vocal precision of a Gielgud, the physical presence and skill of Marceau, and a heart, mind, and attack that are all his own. - The Guardian
Nowhere in the world will you hear a sharper sermon about human frailty this Sabbath... Dillon commands dramatic effects as if he were Marcel Marceau wired into a Wurlitzer. This is the craft of acting carried to a pinnacle of virtuosity. - Scotland On Sunday
...my spirits are restored by George Dillon’s display of theatrical technique, timing and diction of flawless precision... His Dream of a Ridiculous Man is my Fringe discovery. - The Sunday Times
A compelling piece of theatre: make haste to catch it... - The Times
This is one-man theatre at its most intelligent and most powerful. Don’t wait to be told about it, or to read another critical paean - go and see for yourself.
- What’s On In London |
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A promo CD-Rom is available (on request) containing
QuickTime™ (.mov) video extracts, high resolution .tif
and .jpg images (suitable for publication) and pages
of reviews, biogs etc. in .html and
Acrobat ( .pdf)
formats. |
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