REVIEWS Archives - Page 168 of 545

Craig Hill: I’ve Been Sitting on This For a While – Just The Tonic Nucleus

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Craig Hill: I’ve Been Sitting on This For a While – Just The Tonic Nucleus

This wis sae, sae funny! Seriously. It wis hilarious. I wasnae sure tae begin wi’. I thought it might be humour at others’ expense, but nah, nah, ye ken, it wis pure dead magic. Unlike my current attempt at a Scottish accent. I cannae dae it, hailing frae Essex, as I do. But Craig Hill can. He can take whatever the audience offers and make a comedic feast from the smallest offering. He can mimic accents and tonality with ease and create a personalised skit based on you alone. For some it is thrilling, for others maybe not so much, but this man knows his stuff and he’s not about to crucify anyone who’s not up for it. He’s got discernment. That’s what happens when you’ve garnered 25 years of Edinburgh Fringe shows under your belt and you’ve been blessed with a quick wit. He’s never...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

I’m Almost There – Summerhall Main Hall

This might just be the best day I’ve ever had at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve just come from Every Brilliant Thing, and now this! It is one thing to see the ubiquitous posters of Todd Almond running with his yellow umbrella (which seem burned into my retina!), it is entirely another to see and hear him in the flesh. Like an alabaster statue come to life, this David with his piercing blue eyes (I was lucky enough to sit in the front row!) has the audience transfixed from note one. Almond, the toast of New York, seated at piano for most of the performance, with a lazy laconic boredom reminisces over a modern queer love story. It’s dreamy, probably because I’ve been reviewing and writing my five-a-day for the last five days, but also because it’s just dreamy! Accompanied by Erin Hi...

Every Brilliant Thing – Roundabout @ Summerhall

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Every Brilliant Thing – Roundabout @ Summerhall

Every Brilliant Thing, by Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahue is back and goes straight in at number one on my list of brilliant things. And with Donahue himself performing it, this is better than ice cream. Like a prodigal son returning from distant shores, the womb-like space that is The Roundhouse, at Summerhall, welcomes back, Every Brilliant Thing, a play that has globe trotted after it’s first showing here in 2014. And the public cannot get enough of it, it is completely sold out, with two additional dates already added (sold out) but surely more to follow. (Check the Fringe web site, every five minutes!) It’s one of those shows that it’s best to know nothing about before you see it. I am therefore going for the mysterious, enigmatic vibe on this one. Lets just say it is the...

Sh!t Theatre: Or What’s Left Of Us – Summerhall Tech Cube

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Sh!t Theatre: Or What’s Left Of Us – Summerhall Tech Cube

Like a pair of iconic Midsommer maidens, in mediaeval garb, replete with silly Wicker Man – style animal head hats Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole prove that It is possible to be desperately sad and have fun at the same time. Incredibly brave to have put this on at all, set against the tragically young death of Adam Brace, the duo’s long time director (and Rebecca’s partner), this is a rollercoaster of a show full of laughs but also barely held tears, that leaves you admiring, nay loving, this duo even more. Along the way, we discover that badgers enter a torpic state, which is quite different to hibernation! We sing about John Barleycorn, some even drink the drink of John Barleycorn, but remember, There are rules! Much of the show focuses on their new found love of Folk...

Until The Next Wedding – Paradise in Augustines

9Aug

By Marcelina KruczyńskaNo Comments

Scotland

Until The Next Wedding – Paradise in Augustines

Until The Next Wedding was brought to us by Under the Rug Theatre. This “not so rom com” was written by Allie Willison, directed by Niamh Mcgarvey and executive produced by Bethan Murray. This new and exciting play was first previewed in Glasgow before landing at the Edinburgh Fringe. Until The Next Wedding is a two man show featuring characters Mandy and Eliot. Mandy is performed by actor and playwright Allie Willison. The second character, Eliot, is played by actor James Crutcher. As Willison enters the stage and begins to interact with the furniture and props, and tragically fails at smoking a cigar, it becomes clear that this is some sort of in-house library near the wedding. The whole play takes place in that library creating a link between each wedding the two characters at...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Lynn Faces – Summerhall Main Hall

It’s odd. Very odd! Following on from Laura Horton’s 2022 near perfect, sensitively written award-winning Breathless which focussed on mental illness and hoarding and which transferred successfully to off-Broadway, we have something of a hand-brake turn into her latest vehicle, Lynn Faces. The story follows almost-40 Leah, wannabe lead singer of newly assembled punk band Lynn Faces. We join them as they are about to play their opening gig.They wear masks of Lynn, the eponymous long-suffering, snazzy-cardigan-wearing assistant to fictional comedian Alan Partridge. Problems are racking up: firstly, none of them can really play any musical instruments (with the exception of an excellent grade 3 recorder solo!), oh, and the drummer hasn’t turned up. But, who cares, the show must g...

Ne’er The Twain – Mayfield Salisbury Church

8Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Ne’er The Twain – Mayfield Salisbury Church

Edinburgh People’s Theatre (EPT) has been at the Fringe since the very beginning. The members speak with pride of their heritage, of which Ne’er The Twain is a fine example. The play was written by EPT stalwart Alan Cochrane and premiered by the company in 1971. Some of today’s cast also performed in its 2012 revival, and this play is dear to their hearts. It is 1919, and the neighbouring towns of Leith and Edinburgh each have their own culture and identity. But Leith is about to become part of the City of Edinburgh, much to the indignation of its populace. The McIvors are Leithers, proudly working class, although their lavvy is across the border in Edinburgh. Their neighbours, the Burns family, are Edinburgh people and afflicted with an unfortunate dose of snobbery. However, the ...

Lads of the Flies – The Space @ Niddry Street

8Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Lads of the Flies – The Space @ Niddry Street

STAG (Student Theatre at Glasgow), takes the Fringe by storm with their latest production written and directed by Grace Donaldson. This quick-witted, fast-paced show tells the story of four “lads” lost on their Duke of Edinburgh expedition - two of whom, are coming to terms with their sexuality. Throughout the play we see them accept that they are in love, and they do in fact fit the rugby lad stereotype – they’re as gay as gay can be. Donaldson’s writing is incredibly sharp, with well-thought, quick-witted remarks from each character. The actors were steadfast in their roles – so sure of themselves that I really did see them as lads (even the one with pigtails). The group played off of each other wonderfully, really giving the audience a good chuckle. The...

8Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Dionysa – C Arts Aquila

I am on a roll with Greek tragedies at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the Wellington College Theatre Collective’s take on Euripides’ ‘The Bacchae’ is interesting. The company have loaded the play into a time machine and moved it into the 20th Century, 1920 to be exact. This play written by an Athenian playwright was set in Thebes, this remains the same, but we have a gender change, as the original play is based around Dionysus, a Greek god (also known as Bacchus to the Romans), of whom was originally a Thracian god, later adopted by the Greeks. This gender change makes Dionysus become Dionysa! The basic storyline is that Dionysa (Cressida Massey-Cook), is a god, born from a union between her father Zeus and her mortal mother Semele. Dionysa is enrage...

The Sex Life of Puppets – Pleasance Courtyard

8Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

The Sex Life of Puppets – Pleasance Courtyard

An interesting title, and an even more interesting show. Brought to the stage by Blind Summit Theatre, the play does exactly what the title suggests, it gives an insight into the private lives of a selection of puppets which sounds a wee bit twee, but this play is anything but twee! The puppets are not string puppets but hand-held puppets, which I assume would make them easier to manipulate for the subject of the show. The puppeteers use a table to sit the puppets down and the rest is down to the script and the puppeteers’ imagination. The puppets are all human puppets whose characters are brought to life by their handlers, they discuss subjects such as sexual wellbeing, what they like to name their genitals, nursing home sex, lesbian sex and many more. ...