REVIEWS Archives - Page 4 of 623

The Bowie Story – The Space Symposium Hall

28Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Bowie Story – The Space Symposium Hall

Having already seen Peter Marchant take on Freddie Mercury in Night Owl’s The Legend of Queen, I was intrigued to see what he would do with another of rock music’s most distinctive performers. The answer is something rather different, and wisely so. Night Owl Shows’ The Bowie Story is not an impersonation. Marchant makes little attempt to reproduce all those flamboyant, flowery twists Bowie could introduce into a vocal line. His delivery is straighter and very much his own, allowing the songs to speak for themselves while the show traces the extraordinary succession of transformations that defined Bowie’s career. Marchant is in great form towards the end of this Fringe run, and he is surrounded by musicians operating at the top of their game. The playing throughout...

28Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Clown Show – King’s Theatre

There is something deliciously appropriate about entering Edinburgh’s newly refurbished King’s Theatre, one of the city’s great theatrical survivors, to discover that Geoff Sobelle has built a crumbling American big top inside it. One theatre gloriously restored, another about to fall spectacularly to pieces before our eyes. I have been looking forward to Clown Show. Sobelle is one of America’s great contemporary exponents of physical theatre, and what he and his extraordinary company deliver here is less a narrative than a fever dream, a smorgasbord of images, sounds, illusions and catastrophes which gradually coalesce into a devastating portrait of America. The arrival is magnificent. Clowns troop through the audience towards the stage, singing as the curtain is gradually draw...

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Werewolf – Summerhall Techcube Zero

New Zealand collective Binge Culture's Werewolf arrives at Summerhall with considerable word-of-mouth behind it, and sizeable audiences suggest this immersive horror has certainly found its pack. I am less convinced. TechCube Zero provides a naturally effective setting. On arrival, I find someone sitting behind a desk ticking us off and conducting a headcount before reporting back to our three wardens, Joel Baxendale, Stella Reid and Hannah Kelly, who devised and perform the piece. We are Safehouse 656, apparently protected from the lycanthropic horrors outside, and we are informed that we will remain here for seven days. There is a timekeeper and gatekeeper, rules to follow and an initially convincing sense that we have entered a functioning emergency system. On eve...

My Life Is a Sonnet – theSpace on the Mile

27Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

My Life Is a Sonnet – theSpace on the Mile

The beauty of the Edinburgh Fringe lies in the fact that you, as an audience in search of a show, can stumble upon excellence. In a cool, simply lit and arranged corner stage Eric Daniel Weiner gives us a masterclass in resolved, structured storytelling and naturalistic, understated acting. Weiner doesn’t just hold a mirror to life; he holds it with a template in the shape of a Shakespearean sonnet layer over it then proceeds to demonstrate how each part of it fits. The journey takes place over a lifetime. Our hero, Charlie Katz attends school and is taught the wonder of language by a dying English professor in a small intimate class. The problem is Katz becomes pre-occupied with the mysteries of Sally Templeton, a transfer student on a Squash scholarship who orders her life by cont...

Call Me Elizabeth: from Burton to Humanitarian – Studio Two at Assembly George Square

27Aug

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

Scotland

Call Me Elizabeth: from Burton to Humanitarian – Studio Two at Assembly George Square

Karla Boye has flown into the Fringe with her part two series of Call Me Elizabeth; From Burton to Humanitarian. It’s 1985, the time when the HIV and AIDS epidemic was becoming a serious medical, social and political concern in the USA. The impact of AIDS affected Gay and bisexual men severely including Hollywood movie stars who were not exempt from the disease. Elizabeth in her privileged position as a movie star wanted to make a difference and raise the profile the AIDS by engaging other stars to support her cause. Ichard The stark relevance of the subject matter moves quickly to her relationship with Richard Burton and they’re on and off-screen relationship of fights, breakups, love and marriage. She narrates from a chair moving slowly to the phone, her drinks trolley and engages...

Horrorshow – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Horrorshow – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre

There is a good little play struggling to get out of Horrorshow. Written by Doug Deans for Chronic Insanity, this gig-theatre piece follows lifelong Isle of Wight friends Dan and Ollie through one final adventure together before their lives begin moving in very different directions. Deans plays Dan, guitar in hand, alongside Joe Matty as the more academically inclined Ollie on keyboards. Director Joe Strickland completes the live band on drums and percussion, as well as providing the voices of the other characters. Original music and lyrics are by Anya Pearson, who also provides musical direction. The writing has plenty going for it. Dan and Ollie are believable as two young men who have grown up together but are beginning to recognise that friendship doesn't necessarily mea...

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Truthmachine – C-Arts Studio

There is something inherently unsettling about agreeing to take a lie detector test, particularly when the results are going to be shared with a room full of strangers. Australian company Counterpilot has built Truthmachine around precisely that proposition, using real biometric sensors and live voting technology in a thirty-minute immersive experiment. This was a new C Venues space for me, above Victoria Street. Two flights up, we were ushered into a darkened room dominated by a long table, six seats on either side, each equipped with headphones, microphone and voting panel. At one end sat our questioner; at the other, an ominous chair surrounded by the equipment into which one of us would eventually be plugged. It is an impressive set-up: clinical, mysterious and tech...

27Aug

By Leanne RushtonNo Comments

North West

Burlesque the Musical – Regent Theatre

The Regent Theatre Stoke-on-Trent was welcomed to Burlesque in style. The 2010 film had been transformed into a stage show, which glistens in just the same way as its cinematic counterpart. When you entered the theatre, you were instantly met with three spotlit mirrors, transporting you into the vaudeville feel of Burlesque, with some modern twists. The cast slinked across the stage before the show began, creating an atmosphere like no other. The costumes were a sight to behold from the off, glittering under the lights. The iconic music from the film was incorporated into the show alongside some new songs written by the formidable Todrick Hall. You can tell his love for the material through how well all the music suits the piece. The new songs fit the vibe of the show very well. T...

Of Mice And Men – Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms

26Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Of Mice And Men – Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms

If like myself you were forced to read the book: Of Mice And Men in school you will already know what tragedy awaits you, but if you are new to the story beware. John Steinbeck’s famous novella takes to the stage this fringe as a 2-man, 1 act play and truly succeeds in capturing the essence of its lead characters Lennie and George. From the get-go we know exactly who these two characters are: George is the man in charge, aggressive and fed up with his life and Lennie is the simpler of the two, a very tall man whose strength is not in his mentally but his unintentional brute. Actors Nigel Miles-Thomas and Michael Roy Andrew successfully bring the opening chapter of the book to life, capturing the harsh yet somewhat loving relationship between these two men. Out of all of the given play t...

26Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Fruit Flies – TheSpace on the Mile

Produced by Fast Snail Productions, Fruit Flies begins when Ollie’s best friend from home, Maddy, travels from Ayr to Edinburgh to stay at Ollie’s and see the Chappell Roan concert together. Problem is, Ollie’s flat mate Steph and Maddy on meeting despise each other. And to make matters worse, it turns out there are only two tickets for the concert, not three. Steph and Maddy have to fight it out and prove to Ollie that they deserve to be the chosen one. This seems like a simple enough premise, until you watch the show and are completely blindsided. It becomes completely surreal as we are taken into a liminal space full of clocks and gags. One person must be killed to sacrifice to the yassifying mirror. With a very loose plot and jokes we’ve hea...