A Fistful of Snow is a wacky but delightful comedy, written and performed by one man, Danny Alder. Its about an Australian writer, set in arctic Norway, but theres a local connection as he - and the production - are haunted by Nick Cave, in a variety of ways.Chester James is paralyzed by the success of his first book, which has also been turned into a film, musical, ice-dance spectacular Its so well-loved that everybody wants him to write more of the same, and he cant. His other efforts have all failed, and in an effort to overcome the drought, he has taken a job care-taking a seed bank in the arctic circle. However, his relief hasnt arrived and hes been there for eight months. The isolation is getting to him, and so is the ominous presence of an unopened box that his wife sent soon after he arrived, and reality is breaking down but in hilarious ways.This is a box of delights. The title is the first of a host of puns and comic references strewn through the piece. The character also breaks into numerous other forms to illustrate the story, including sitcom, crooning, line-dancing. Theres a stack of other stuff besides, but I wont spoil your fun by telling you about it, although I should mention the hungry polar bear that keeps ringing the doorbell for a chat. Other than that, go and see for yourself.In terms of production, its quite a busy set, but that all adds to the atmosphere, and together with the knockabout style makes it a classic fringe production, which will do well at Edinburgh.
