REVIEWS Archives - Page 176 of 548

Finding Splashman: Aunty Ginger – Assembly George Square Studios

6Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Finding Splashman: Aunty Ginger – Assembly George Square Studios

At last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, I was lucky enough to review Aunty Ginger’s highly entertaining show I Consent. So, I was excited, if a tad nervous (what if it didn’t live up to last time?) to go and see Finding Splashman. I’m thrilled to say that I was not disappointed. Aunty Ginger is as engaging, sassy and stupendously fun as ever. This time round, she’s hired a director, and it shows. Mikey Smith brings an element of fluidity to the performance that was slightly absent last time. Now her hilarious gags and segments, including ‘Aunty Ginger’s Problem Area’, in which she solves all kinds of explicit sexual problems, flow seamlessly from one another. It no longer feels like she’s jumping from sketch to sketch, but rather a complete performance. Another welcome addition was the int...

I’d Like A Job Please – Paradise at the Vault

6Aug

By Susan CohenNo Comments

Scotland

I’d Like A Job Please – Paradise at the Vault

This show follows Sarah Snelson, a recent graduate looking for her first ‘real’ job. Rejected at interview for the position of barista (‘it’s coffee, how hard can it be?’), she teeters on the edge of being drawn into a scam - a wellness cult - by an immediate offer of a ‘job’ (‘you only make money if you sell’ … ‘just read from the script’ … ‘absolutely, it’s all backed by science’ …). She's bombarded with misinformation and prejudice from what sometimes seems like every angle, including a misogynistic get-rich-quick podcast. From the off, it becomes obvious that this is no ordinary comedy sketch show for although it definitely delivers the laughs, it’s also cleverly woven into a coherent, often surprising and thought provoking narrative. Accompanied by live key...

6Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Ghost Light – the Space @ Niddrie St

In 1865's London, aspiring author Henry Webster befriends Edward Price at the local Ghost Club. The latter tells Henry about a real haunting at a nearby lodging-house, where the ghosts of two young children apparently wander the house in search of light... The two men decide to investigate. Orange Works' Ghost Light is a classic ghost story, being set in Victorian England, including candlelight wanderings, ghostly children's chants and vengeful spirits. It even name-checks the most famous ghost-story writer of the era, Charles Dickens (well, at least for A Christmas Carol and The Signalman). This gives the production a somewhat predictable quality, though not entirety in a negative way: these tropes are classics for a reason, and the cast are good-storytellers, their voices being vi...

Michael Brunstrom: Copernicus Now – Hoots @ Potterow, Big Yurt

6Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Michael Brunstrom: Copernicus Now – Hoots @ Potterow, Big Yurt

Recommended to me by a friend, I tootled along to the Big Yurt to see how you can possibly make a comedy show out of a Renaissance polymath called Nicolaus Copernicus and his work. Well, if your name if Michael Brunstrom you can! Drawing his material from the mathematician/astronomer that was under his microscope, his show is both clever and ridiculous. We are briefed about his process, which lures the audience in his balmy scheme, but he is so endearing, that you want to come along for the journey. His material is refreshing, no mother-in-law jokes here, but the fact that he chooses to use such a high-brow intellectual as the subject of his humour, makes this show so interesting. Brunstrom has a natural delivery, a self-deprecating humour which you cannot help ...

Athens Of The North – Edinburgh Hibernian Supporters Club

6Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Athens Of The North – Edinburgh Hibernian Supporters Club

Riveting from the first sentence to the last, the words ‘drop’, pin’ and ‘hear’ came straight to mind. Mark Hannah’s representation of delivery driver Alan, London meteorology (and holiday romance victim) student Liam and ageing Embra senior Maureen faultless in every respect. A trip to the Hibs Supporters Club (venue 449) on Sunnyside is off the beaten track for Fringe-goers but the daunder will be well worth it, if only so you can say ‘I saw Mark Hannah before he was…’ He plays all three characters intersecting at different points on the same day and it’s Alan’s story that sets the scene, adrift from his partner and desperate to see his daughter Erin perform at St Giles Cathedral. He’s had a rough morning having to deliver a mattress to an address near Peffermill he has his own re...

The Phantom of the Opera – The Edinburgh Academy Magnusson Theatre

6Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

The Phantom of the Opera – The Edinburgh Academy Magnusson Theatre

With a challenging operatic score, some of the most memorable tunes in musical theatre, and a huge reputation to live up to, “The Phantom of the Opera” is a bold choice for Captivate Theatre. However, they are more than capable of doing it justice, with a talented cast and near faultless vocal performances. The musical needs little introduction, but tells the story of Christine, a chorus girl in the opera who is thrust into the leading role after a strange incident causes the prima donna Carlotta to storm out. Christine has been tutored by the Phantom, her “angel of music”, a shadowy figure who lives in the sewers of the opera house. New owners take over the company, including a rich patron named Raoul, who is Christine’s childhood friend. They rekindle a friendship which turns into lov...

I Am Yours Sincerely – The Space Triplex

6Aug

By Susan CohenNo Comments

Scotland

I Am Yours Sincerely – The Space Triplex

It’s quite something when you’re lucky enough to come across that kind of theatrical magic which happens only once in a while – that thing where the audience gets lost in the performance and the story just starts to sing. And what a story! Ed Saunders-Lee is the writer and performer of the life story of his step-grandfather, First Lieutenant John Cox, a member of the Special Operations Executive who was parachuted behind enemy lines in France and Burma during WWII. In this single hander, Saunders-Lee manages to convey a sense of the passage of time and with it, a battled hardened growth of experience – from naïve young student to war hero who witnesses the horrors of war, with all its complexities. The performance takes place in an intimate space in the round, wi...

5Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

After Troy – the Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

Following the battle of Troy, what was left for the survivors? Homeless and suffering the loss of loved ones, the women of Troy grieved on the past, and faced uncertainty about their future. Based upon the tragedy ‘Trojan Women’ written by Euripides which was first performed in Athens in 415 BC, this exploration into the aftermath of the defeat of the Trojans following ten years of war, tells the tale of the women who were left behind to pick up the pieces. Presented by Badminton School, the story is weaved with actual threads, each character has her own thread, and when they share their experiences, they weave another part of life’s tapestry. Andromache is grieving over the loss of her husband; the Trojan prince Hector, she must now face the loss of her chil...

Phil Hammond and Dame Clare Gerada: Fifty Minutes to Save the NHS – The Space @ Surgeons’ Hall

5Aug

By Susan CohenNo Comments

Scotland

Phil Hammond and Dame Clare Gerada: Fifty Minutes to Save the NHS – The Space @ Surgeons’ Hall

Well, this is a show that achieved the impossible! I still can’t quite figure out how discussions of subjects such as assisted dying and addiction seriously informed and engaged the audience, whilst making them properly belly laugh time and time again. This show is an impressive piece of work. No doubt about it. The fast paced banter and sparky chemistry between these two eminent doctors – unmistakably authentic, evidently passionate – was right up there with Morecambe (Phil Hammond, step forward) and Wise (Clare Gerada, you played the straight woman as easy as breathing). The well prepared method of delivery also allowed the voices of fellow members of the NHS to be heard – some serious, some hilarious, some outrageous, all raw, moving and honest. ...

A Show About Tomorrow – Paradise in Augustines

5Aug

By Susan CohenNo Comments

Scotland

A Show About Tomorrow – Paradise in Augustines

What happens when a 21st birthday party is interrupted by a Breaking News bulletin that the world is about to end? A lot, it turns out! This is a musical telling a story at breakneck speed, oscillating between impressive ensemble vocal harmony pieces (most definitely the cast pulling together at their best), dramatic vignettes and showcases of individual vocal talents. Everything was thrown at the audience during the performance but in truth, possibly a little less would have offered much more. Undoubtedly, this young company is just bursting with energy and talent. Their chemistry is evident and at times, moving. However, just because you can do everything possibly doesn’t mean that you should. Still, the twist at the beginning of ...