REVIEWS Archives - Page 6 of 623

The Golden Age of Hollywood – Usher Hall

25Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Golden Age of Hollywood – Usher Hall

Well, this was something special, what a sound! And I have a particular reason for loving the sound of an orchestra arriving beneath a musical. Having been involved in numerous amateur musical productions over the years, one of the moments our cast always looked forward to was band day. Usually sometime during the final week, because that was all we could afford, the musicians would finally arrive. Suddenly, the show we had rehearsed for months acquired another dimension. Everything lifted. The Golden Age of Hollywood was band day times ten! John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London make their Edinburgh International Festival debut at the Usher Hall with an evening devoted to the great Hollywood musical tradition, much of it reconstructed from original MGM orchestrations which Wils...

2050: A Manifesto – Greenside @ Riddles Court

25Aug

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

2050: A Manifesto – Greenside @ Riddles Court

2050: A Manifesto promises a lot but fulfils very few of those promises. The show sounds exciting! Clowning, comedy, social criticism of tech-bros and the AI-centric futures they’re trying to sell us. Then why is it that most if it ended up being jokes about balls? The beginning was promising. We see a typical sci-fi inspired set and costume on writer and performer Alexander Hentrick. And to be fair, there was some decent comedic timing and deadpan humour that got a chuckle out of the audience. But it doesn’t go anywhere. The character doesn’t progress and more and more jokes were falling flat. It’s clear that he was trying to make fun of performantive men and tech-bros, but Hentrick just seems like one of them. Maybe if this was an actual clown persona or performed by a Drag King i...

25Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Brodie And Co – Paradise in Augustines

Disclaimer: Due to the age of the performers in this production, the contents of this review will be strictly based upon the creative choices and writing of this musical Deacon Brodie is a local celebrity in Edinburgh, so it was a brave choice for Shrewsbury School to bring their new Deacon Brodie themed musical to the Edinburgh fringe, especially when having to adopt non-native Scottish accents. Complete with brand new musical numbers, questionable history and the age-old habit of having school children play sex workers, Brodie and Co doesn’t really hit its mark. As its title suggests, you may assume that the musical will centre around Deacon William Brodie: a cabinet maker and member of Edinburgh Council who had gambling issues and took to theft, but the story decides to ...

Selina Mosinski (Puss in Boots – A Working Class Fairy Tale) – Pleasance Dome

25Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Selina Mosinski (Puss in Boots – A Working Class Fairy Tale) – Pleasance Dome

What a free-wheeling frolic. Or, as the 90’s Ladette-obsessed tabloids would’ve had it, a runaway romp. And the answer to the frequently asked question, ‘how did Charity Shop Sue get to the top?’ Or, well, Bulwell. Led by her ‘unruly undercarriage’ to an insalubrious spot behind the brutalist bike-sheds the ambitious teenage Randy Cain attends to the task of her own deflowering. And a task it indeed resembles given the unsatisfactory effort put in by Daz. Although she isn’t Randy Cain yet, but an aspiring performer wondering how the feck one gets oneself out of Derby’s estate-land to the bright lights of London. Help is at hand; advice and encouragement is dispensed from the screen behind by a (N Conti-masked) fairy godmother Sylvia Young, though the initial dose is little more than...

My Beautiful Brain – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

25Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

My Beautiful Brain – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

“Believe in yourself, Hannah.” This is the show’s mantra and over fifty energetic minutes Hannah Rose Curtis exemplifies exactly what an autobiographical play should be, giving us unhinged access into her world. The examination of invisible disabilities in theatre is usually led by personal experience. This might sound obvious, but the performer’s challenge is striking a careful balance of what to share. Too much information and we’re in the territory of hubris. Too little and modesty guards exposure. In the case of Brain, or should we say Brian, the difficulties of living and achieving with dyslexia are revealed in layers of undeniable quality, fragility and vulnerability. Curtis lays out her insecurities on a highly effective and simply designed set, taking us through a potted his...

25Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Aufguss x Nils Frahm – Sauna Theatre

My sixth and final visit to Summerhall’s Sauna Theatre this year was an unusual one in that I attended with my wife, the only time I shared one of these sauna experiences with her. It proved a rather lovely way to round off my time in what has surely been one of this Fringe’s most intriguing new venues. With around 35 people attending, the sauna felt comfortably populated rather than crowded. Aufguss x Nils Frahm takes the familiar ritual I had encountered across my previous visits, but this time sets it against the music of composer Nils Frahm, ranging from the neo-classical Wintermusik (2009), through Spaces (2013), to Graz (2021). Frahm’s combination of piano, electronica and more rhythmic material proved particularly well suited to the gra...

Against The Grain – Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St

24Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Against The Grain – Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St

At the Institute of Plant Industry in Leningrad, two scientists Olga (Turku Koksel) and Nina (Rosan Tan) protect and analyse a seed bank, to ensure that if there is ever a famine, that humanity can be saved. The scientists that have volunteered for this role, face starvation themselves, as during World War II and the siege of Leningrad, German and Finnish forces cut off the city to starve them into submission. We find the two scientists with minimal food, knowing that some of their colleagues have already died. The play interrogates why this group of scientist are prepared to put their own lives on the line for the sake of humanity. Written by Darren and Griffin Katz, and directed by Ben Evans, the one-act play is set entirely in the one seed lab, as they dis...

Mary Mac – Hail Mary: The Tartan Songstress – Assembly George Square

24Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Mary Mac – Hail Mary: The Tartan Songstress – Assembly George Square

Scotland’s very own drag superstar, Mary Mac, makes her debut at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Blending gentle comedy and song, this is a fun hour with a home-grown talent. Born and raised in Glasgow, Mary Mac takes her drag name from her mother. Originally trained as a musical theatre performer, she has now been doing drag for the past 16yrs, and her experience shows in her stage presence and confidence. She normally spends a lot of her time on cruise ships and peppers the evening with stories of life on board. Her CV is impressive – taking on roles in La Cage Aux Follies and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, as well as supporting Bianca Del Rio and appearing in panto. This musical theatre experience is evident in her vocal talents. There’s a very funny Cher impression, ...

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Kirsty Mann: Corpse – Summerhall

Summerhall's Red Lecture Theatre is a particularly appropriate home for Corpse. I always find it a slightly creepy, intimate space, but graced with comfortable, nicely raked seating that focuses attention firmly on the stage. There is something about the slightly institutional atmosphere of this particular lecture theatre that feels rather well suited to the ghost story that is about to unfold. And Corpse begins with a premise almost too good to resist. Kirsty Mann is a real-life doctor, a rational, scientifically minded woman who, with her husband Mark, buys a surprisingly cheap house in an area of London where they had never expected to be able to afford one. Immediately, alarm bells ring. Why so cheap? Then strange things start happening. Even the purchase it...

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett – Underbelly’s Circus Hub

24Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett – Underbelly’s Circus Hub

International cabaret star Bernie Dieter returns to the Fringe with her spectacular line up of performers. Prepare for full frontal nudity, bodily fluids and death-defying stunts, all wrapped in sequins and served with a shot of pizazz. Club Kabarett is a show which begins from the moment you enter the tent. Impossibly glamorous performers strut amongst the audience, handing out flags labelled “slut” or “freak”, whilst certain members of the crowd are clearly rethinking their front row seating choices. However, when Bernie herself bursts onto the stage clad in head-to-toe sequins, she quickly makes it clear that no one is safe. This a cabaret which encourages interaction, some of it deeply touching. Bernie expertly shifts the mood from comedy to pathos, asking us to hold the hand of a s...