REVIEWS Archives - Page 88 of 346

9Aug

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

South East

Bette & Joan – Frinton Summer Theatre

It’s likely even if you’ve never seen any of their movies, you’ve heard of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Such is the reputation of these Hollywood stars, that all these decades on from their most famous movies, their names are synonymous with the legendary times of that golden era. It was also a time when egos were big, pay cheques were big, and the arguments of epic proportions. Anton Burge has honed in on the feud between the pair, showcasing their lives, personalities and short-comings laid bare for the audience to see. Thrust together to make a movie when both are at the tail-end of their ailing careers makes for a novel platform to explore the starlet’s battle. The production is set in Joan and Bette’s dressing rooms, which face each other, mirror-style. It is an unusually...

Before The Drugs Kick In – The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

9Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Before The Drugs Kick In – The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

‘Three months ago I cut my wrists in front of my two children.’ No, this wasn’t an easy watch. Maria DeCotis plays 62-year-old Lynn T Walsh, a woman deemed a danger to those around her, isolated from her family for 20 years in a mental asylum in America. She’s given very little help but lots of ‘medicine’. Pretty much treated as a criminal, she points out the ridiculous double-standards at work given the behaviour of certain well-known film and TV people. Her ‘crime’; an almost subconscious emotional reaction to the stresses associated with bringing up a family more or less singlehandedly in a suburban setting where the simple act of going out for a walk attracts the wrong sort of comments. Incarcerated she may be but in her mind she becomes a 28-year-old stand-up and humorou...

Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel – Underbelly Bistro Square

9Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel – Underbelly Bistro Square

Witty, outrageous and almost Austin, Austentatious is a hit! Back from its successful run on the West End Austentatious brings you a Jane Austin novel like you’ve never seen before (literally! they make the whole thing up as they go along). With an excellent cast featuring Rachel Parris, Graham Dickson, Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Lauren Shearing, Charlotte Gittins, Daniel Nils Roberts, Joseph Morpurgo and Cariad Lloyd, these comedy masters are sure to put on a good show. As with most improvised performances at this fringe, the plot it created using audience suggestion, so come prepared with your best Jane Austin novel name suggestions. I’m afraid our selected one of the day was a little long for me to remember but what ensued was a lot of talk of trysting (if you know what I mean) , door ki...

Attenborough and His Animals – Gilded Balloon at the Museum

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Attenborough and His Animals – Gilded Balloon at the Museum

Jonathan Tilley and Jess Clough-Mcrae are a pair of talented physical mime artists and very entertaining. They both trained in Paris at the Jacques Lecoq clowning school and their skill shines through. When David Attenborough doesn’t turn up as expected they turn to improvisation to provide a show with a myriad different creatures and a commentary very like Sir Attenborough’s. It’s an interactive show. Clough-Mcrae is superb at acting out the animals and making eye contact with the audience. She picked out a family in the front row for special treatment and, honestly, those little ones have memories for life from that one hour. Their dad was singled out and they loved it! I loved the orangutan and the fish and the sloth and the lizard and the crab … okay, I thought it was all...

Yuck Circus – Assembly George Square Gardens

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Yuck Circus – Assembly George Square Gardens

Appropriately titled, Yuck Circus’s all-female troupe of gymnasts and contortionists gives a thrilling display of strength and dexterity. Their premise is to show that women can be as strong and powerful as men. And to do a little man-bashing (and wimpy woman bashing) along the way … challenge stereotypes and talk openly about menstruation (noting the fact it begins with the syllable, MEN - how ironic). I liked their balls! And the woman beside me liked absolutely everything, including screeching with laughter into my ringing ear and yelling her approval as if she were part of the show and should be noticed. I liked that they weren’t ridiculously skinny. They were all shapes and sizes, as women are, yet still able to do a wondrous amount of physically demanding work. I was...

Spontaneous Potter – The Stand’s New Theatre

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Spontaneous Potter – The Stand’s New Theatre

If you’re a fan of improvisation, you’ll enjoy Spontaneous Potter. As usual, the audience is asked to make suggestions and the suggestion with the loudest applause is the one that anchors the story. This time it was Harry Potter in Asbo Land. It worked. Jenny Laahs was a superb musical accompaniment to the action, sensing where things were headed and playing suitably emotionally laden music. Her contribution made a big difference. Stand up stalwart, Stu Murphy, took the reins to introduce the cast: Paul Connolly, Moira Jay and Emily. Just Emily. She was good! Between them they behaved in a silly way and carried the story forward smoothly. Stu Murphy seems to be the most experienced of the cast and he has a very sharp wit. His long hair is glossy and lush, his beard bristly and I tho...

The Rejects – The Space on The Mile – Space 3

8Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Rejects – The Space on The Mile – Space 3

We all struggle with rejection, some more than others but it’s how we deal with it that counts. When One (Robyn Reilly), Two (Jess Ferrier), Three (Abi Price), Four (Lex Joyce) and Five (Isla Campbell) all go for the same job, they know the chances of success are limited. After the nerves of the interview a drink is much needed leaving these very different personalities to hash it out over who’s truly worthy of the new position. We’ve all been in that interview, the one where you’re saying all the wrong things out of sheer nerves, praying the interviewer will see your potential shine through, give you the job despite your stutters. You can’t be too honest, but you also can’t lie or seem over enthusiastic about the position. From beginning to end this production presents characters that...

The Dead Ducks – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

8Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Dead Ducks – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

You can expect the weird and somewhat wonderful as The Dead Ducks troupe take the stage for a sketch show that takes place within a dead grandmother’s funeral, acting out scenes in which said grandmother has written in her will. The Dead Ducks are a comedy sketch troupe from the University of York, bringing another one of their sketch shows to the Fringe after a successful run last year. Made up of 6 young performers, the sketch team create the kind of strange content you would expect to see in a student’s showcase relying heavily on the element of absurdity to gain laughs. Whilst there are a handful of pretty funny scenes in this show, personally the set up did not quite hit my funny bone as often as I’d have liked it to, but that’s not to say they didn’t have other members of the ...

Victor, Vi and the Volvo – Paradise Green (Vaults)

8Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Victor, Vi and the Volvo – Paradise Green (Vaults)

Victor, Vi and the Volvo, is a humorous, powerful, and endlessly real original show. Writer and director Sam Milnes has created a play that wouldn’t feel out of place on the West End. Set both in the present day, and in the memories of Victor and Vi, it tells their story from the day they met, through to their efforts to raise their son Callum. The most impressive quality of this play is just how real all the characters feel. Throughout the runtime, there are endless relatable moments that make you feel like Victor, Vi and Callum could all easily exist. Victor and Vi’s uncertainty of whether to discuss with Callum a condom they found in a bin, and his subsequent embarrassment, was a particular highlight. These moments often allow for very real comedy. Milnes hasn’t tried to create ...

8Aug

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Dead Souls – Etcetera Theatre

The Eno River Players bring Mikhail Bulgakov’s (author of The Master and Margarita) Dead Souls to life, with a swirling sense of adventure. The cast of three tumble through the plot in a stylistically haphazard way, presenting the 19th century Russian story. Chichikov, the protagonist, embarks on a “get rich quick” scheme, scouring the land for “dead souls”, collecting the rights to dead people. On his journey, he meets a host of strange characters that lead him from one place to another. The set is full of random props, domineered by a central painting of the Russian leader, changing with the time. The bustle as they set up between scenes was rhythmic and characterised and gave the bohemian feel of a travelling troupe, but I think using slightly fewer props would have made the spa...