Sunday 14 November 2010

Aleister Crowley on The Royal Mile Edinburgh 2010


It was my great good fortune to meet up with John Burns at the Edinburgh Festival this year.  Before he took to the stage at the Carlton Hotel he was willing to pose for three sets of photographs and to share his experiences of dramatising the life of Aleister Crowley.  Over a Turkish coffee and baklava he gladly shared how the role was emotionally consuming and revealed that he had taken out some of the more extreme episodes for the Edinburgh audience.  I was able to take in the show twice and can say that the younger members of the audience were looking concerned at mum when a real person so close in the small theatre was saying certain words and performing quite intense acts.  The reaction of mother and child was I am sure a comment on our television tamed culture where we see too little live performance and do not know where and when to suspend rules and regulations when live action seemingly steps out of the television and becomes more real.  It was never going to be easy bringing the Great Beast to Life and the reaction that Crowley generates would always leave a recognizable fall out zone.  There is no great fear to be attached to Crowley and his extraordinary exploits but he did search for enlightenment from darkness and on stage John Burns stands out as a bright figure taking on the shadows that still shroud Crowley’s reputation.  This play is a revelation of the recorded acts of Crowley and it is John Burns’ own vision that we get on stage.  These pictures and the YouTube animated slideshow of them is my own addition to this venture.  I was glad to meet Mr. Burns and to stage three distinct photo shoots to record him in the guise of the Wickedest Man in the World.

John Burns has written and stars in A Passion for Evil.  This one man play explores the man, the myth and the beastly legend of Aleister Crowley.  Love him, leave him, loathe him or lionise him Crowley does have an enduring appeal.  His reappearance in Edinburgh in 2010 follows his dramatic persona being given to popular acclaim in 2003 by Periplum Tree.  John Burns offers an intense performance that reveals the ritual and the rigmarole of Crowley’s life.  If there is way to step inside the consciousness of Aleister Crowley then watching John Burns take on this role may allow the audience to become the Beast.  If you decide to take your seat in the auditorium and to take on the challenge of, “Being Aleister Crowley,” then be ready for an eventful inventive ride with the wickedest man stripped bare and ready for action.

HD films on YouTube

Pictures on Flickr

More info on the play


PHH Sykes
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Fancies


Aleister Crowley on The Royal Mile Edinburgh 2010 (102)

Aleister Crowley on The Royal Mile Edinburgh 2010 (110)

Aleister Crowley on The Royal Mile Edinburgh 2010 (108)



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