REVIEWS Archives - Page 84 of 340

England & Son: Mark Thomas – Roundabout @ Summerhall

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

England & Son: Mark Thomas – Roundabout @ Summerhall

The lights fail, but Mark Thomas does not. He shines. Performed in characteristically physical style by larger-than-life Cockney, Mark Thomas in this intimate, in the round tent setting, he gets in the mud with us, he lays out Ed Edwards words for us, and we hear them. From humorous tales of his dad’s waste metal business and his dark previous life in the British army colonising the former Malaya, we get a rich understanding of the legalised violence passed down from returning soldiers to their families, and the debilitating effect on abused partners and damaged children. At turns veering from funny to ferocious, Thomas lays out the inevitable path of his childhood, from dysfunctional home life to youth detention centre, courtesy of Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw’s contro...

7Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Boudica – Greenside at Infirmary Street

This play is a modern interpretation of the life of Boudica, who was Queen of the ancient British tribe of the Iceni, who led a failed revolt against the Roman Empire in AD 60/61. At this point in Boudica’s life, her husband Peter (King Prasutagus in the ancient world), has recently died, and Boudica (Jo Scherer) and her daughters Gallia (Bella Yow) and Aoife (Lila Patterson) are at the funeral mourning his loss. Following the funeral, Boudica hears from Cato (Buster Van Der Geest), that there is no Will, and therefore, as her husband had run up debts within the company, her husband’s assets now belong to the company. Cato has replaced Boudica within the company so now has control of the company, and her finances, but offers her what he feels is a sweet deal to help her dau...

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Apple of My Eye – Paradise in the Vault

This is the musical story of the life of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, set in a subterranean vaulted space (it’s chilly and slightly creepy, is this a horror?). Lit quite effectively by the steady blue light of four appetisingly shiny apple Mac computer screens, arced around to face the audience. As a self-confessed computer nerd, I’m intrigued to hear the story, get the information, read the data and the motivations that created Steve Jobs. And to some extent Joel Goodman’s script delivers this, albeit in a (perhaps appropriately) mechanical and monotone way. Using the computer screens as a power-point backcloth to Stephen Smith’s musical monologue is a clever device. However, I am struggling to understand why Smith is using a radio head mic down here in this tiny space with a ...

Alexis Dubus 3 Star Show – Edinburgh La Belle Angele

7Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Alexis Dubus 3 Star Show – Edinburgh La Belle Angele

What a pleasure. What a lovely hour. But it’ll only garner three stars. ‘Be under no illusion,’ began Alexis, ‘this will not be five-star. Despite how good the beginning’s been…’ This show refreshingly addressed the elephant(s) in the room; reviews and reviewers. Currently it’s estimated anyone who’s lodged an e-mither address (I do confess) with the Fringe as a reviewer has well over 150 offers of free tickets in return for roughly 300 words and a star rating. The maxim ‘don’t read your press, weigh it,’ has never been more appropriate. And which reviewer’s going to murder a show by anyone who, however bad, has still put in a massive amount of time and effort to attend the Fringe, will depart with a small mountain of debt, showbiz ambitions in tatters? The fact that many of these reviews...

Alan Turing: Musical Biography – Paradise @ Augustines

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Alan Turing: Musical Biography – Paradise @ Augustines

We are asked: What does the name Alan Turing mean to you? AI champion? Inventor of the modern day personal Computer? Breaker of codes, Saver of 14M lives? Trailblazer of LGBT rights? Put that way, its probably time that a lot more of us knew a lot more. This musical, which had its Fringe debut and practically sold out in 2022, composed by two music teachers, Joel Goodman and Jan Osborne, with a new script by Joan Greening provides an excellent summary through the extraordinary life of Alan Turing. It presents experiences of his early life and motivations, including the death of his closest school friend, Alan's key role in the Second World War as well as his continuous struggle with his concealed homosexuality. This beautifully balanced two-hander has Jo...

7Aug

By KJ EwanNo Comments

Scotland

Coma – Summerhall Terrace

Half an hour in a pitch black, binaural horror scape goes by quicker than you’d think. Not for the claustrophobic, Coma is a show where your own fears are pulled from the darkness. Sterile white bunks, each with a set of headphones on the pillow, is what waits for you in the shipping container outside Summerhall. When the lights go out, the darkness is so complete that you can’t tell whether your eyes are open or closed, and you’re left fighting the instinct to flinch as footsteps and voices and undecipherable noises move around you, ebbing closer and further and closer and further. The immersive sound tricks you into thinking that there are things in the darkness with you. Right next to you. Waiting to do things to you. It feels like something nasty is paying very close attention ...

6Aug

By KJ EwanNo Comments

Scotland

An Oak Tree – Lyceum Studio

Tim Crouch’s fiercely respected set-less, rehearsal-less, prop-less look at how we interact with one another is the most complicated piece of theatre I’ve ever seen. The basic premise is so simple – a hypnotist invites a volunteer on stage – but in only an hour you are tangled up in a precision bit of chaos that is impossible to get out of. And you can’t even go back to make sense of what you saw with a re-watch, because the nature of the play means that each performance is completely unique. This isn’t just because Crouch stars opposite a different actor each night. It’s because each new actor has never read the script or seen the play for themselves before – Crouch simply introduces them to the audience, explains what will happen, makes it clear that they can stop at any time, and...

Einstein! – Celebrating 100 Years of General Relativity, Edinburgh Fringe Online

6Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Einstein! – Celebrating 100 Years of General Relativity, Edinburgh Fringe Online

Today is Nobel Prize winner, Sir Alexander Fleming’s birthday and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer continues to show the life story of the father of the atomic bomb in cinemas, so it seems like the perfect time to visit Einstein and the formation of his Theory of General Relativity. Written and performed by Jack Fry, Einstein! Celebrating 100 Years of General Relativity, is a unique one-man show, combining scientific theory, irreverent humour, and poignant reflections on the life of everyone’s favourite genius. The show’s director, Tom Blomquist opens the play with a projection of a graveyard and a soundtrack of tinkling bells, rattling chains, and howling winds, reminiscent of the appearance of Jacob Marley in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This creates the feeling that what we will see i...

Daniel Foxx: Villain – Pleasance Courtyard

6Aug

By Rita BryceNo Comments

Scotland

Daniel Foxx: Villain – Pleasance Courtyard

If you have browsed social media AT ALL in the last few years, I am sure at some point you will have come across Daniel Foxx - His slick shock of silver blonde hair and even slicker comedy clips have taken the internet by storm with characters like ‘The Super Villains Gay Assistant’… Not to mention a ton of impressive appearances on BBC One, BBC Three and Comedy Central UK. Daniel brings his debut hour ‘Villain’ to the Edinburgh Fringe this year in notorious hot box, the Pleasance Baby Grand. The stage is set with green lights, billowing smoke and a keyboard, leaving nowhere to hide. Having seen artists who struggle to translate their short form clips into longer shows I did have my reservations, but Foxx surpasses every expectation. With a chic two piece, a dazzling pearl neckla...

Tim Murray is Witches – Underbelly, Bristo Square

6Aug

By Rita BryceNo Comments

Scotland

Tim Murray is Witches – Underbelly, Bristo Square

I am a sucker for something silly. And when 6 ft 2 Tim Murray, dressed in a 5 ft long black wig, knee-high heeled boots, clawed and waggling latex gloves, glittering cape and full green Elphaba makeup hits the stage with a devastatingly brilliant opening number, I know I am in for one of those Edinburgh Fringe hours that make the trip worthwhile. Tim is a comedian, writer and actor from LA who has hopped on his broomstick across the seas to bring to his brand-new show to the Fringe- and thank Hecate he did. Tim oozes an unteachable stage presence; with KNOCK OUT vocals, an easy charm and an infectious delight, which seeps out of his witchy fingertips (along with heaps of green confetti) and fills the room. Whisking on us on a journey through his formative years the show is...