Scotland Archives - Page 57 of 91

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 Joe...

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 t...

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 is...

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 necklac...

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 ...

An Evening with Christopher Bliss – Monkey Barrel Comedy

6Aug

By Rita BryceNo Comments

Scotland

An Evening with Christopher Bliss – Monkey Barrel Comedy

Fringe veteran and Shropshire born novelist, Christopher Bliss (Rob Carter’s alter-ego) this year welcomes the audience for a Q&A hour with a chance to ask questions about their own novels- being offered paper slips to write down their pitches as we enter the show. Having seen Christopher’s work previously and encountered the different ways he has framed his work I was familiar and excited for his short (literally never more than two sides of A6) stories which are wonderfully silly, joyfully obscure and a true masterclass in British absurdist comedy. Christopher, blue anorak freshy washed ready for another fringe, banters with the audience with ease. Carter is a gifted character comedian who knows his creation inside out. Compared to other offerings from previous years I d...

Tourist – Edinburgh Zoo Southside (Main Hall)

6Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Tourist – Edinburgh Zoo Southside (Main Hall)

The queue was taking an age to move long after we’d had the infernal QR codes checked on our phones. It proved to be perfect preparation for the theme of the first half of this show; the relentless discomfort of the modern air travel experience. Corralled onto the stage by means of those stretchy elastic barriers we’re allowed to proceed one by one through the ‘security check’ to our seats. Just don’t dare bring a bag. It was an amusing start and once safely back to our role as the audience we were free to observe an artful, accurate representation of airport hell. On a screen behind was displayed an American Airlines poster from the days when airports were exciting, giddy spaces and planes and their staff glamorous and amenable. They probably still are if you have a truckload of cash b...

Lucy & Friends – Pleasance Courtyard, Forth

6Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Lucy & Friends – Pleasance Courtyard, Forth

After going to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre recently and seeing Lucy McCormick play Saturninus in their production of Titus Andronicus, I thought I would see what Lucy does without the constraints of the Bard’s pen work, and The Globe’s policies to rein her in. This was my first experience of McCormick’s alternative side, and the two could not be more different. McCormick likes to greet her audience as they arrive, mingling with them, and I guess the title of the show gives you a hint as to the reason for this, we are to be her friends! Some members of the audience are given jobs to do, she is short-handed, so needs help with some tasks, this inclusion within the show creates an amazing atmosphere within the audience, as we see fellow audience members (sorry, friends), become...