The creator of One Man Star Wars returned to the Fringe last year to put on One Man Lord of the Rings - a certain hit for all who are fans of the book, and one that clearly has had a lot of time and effort put into this very pleasant performance.But one man shows have to be viewed objectively, they cannot just appeal to LOTR avid readers and film watchers, and Charles Ross' performance sometimes is guilty of lapsing away from building up the storyline to allow all to get a full understanding of Tolkien's classics - not that this is an easy feat for anyone to perform in the space of an hour (after all, Peter Jackson needed over half a day's worth of final film reel).What Ross' performance does best is to bring some of Tolkien's characters to life in a different style from each other - Frodo and Sam particularly are ably differentiated - while his portrayals of Gandalf and Gollum, in their juxtaposing roles of powerful wizard and obsessed Hobbit, are excellent.Worth a viewing if Ross replicates his successful regional tour after the Fringe, but probably best to have swotted up on the book and film before attending, if you're not one of the fortunate few to already know the text off by heart.
