Friday, March 29

Tag: Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Hi, I’m Zoë… – Laughing Horse @ Eastside
Scotland

Hi, I’m Zoë… – Laughing Horse @ Eastside

It's challenging to write about Hi, I’m Zoë, this one-woman show that attempts to be a satire of the world of online dating but ends up feeling like mundane barroom chatter, devoid of wit and bite. Anyone in the audience could have something more interesting to say about their personal life than Zoë, who also lacks any significant stage presence. The show's crux is meant to revolve around Tinder (already a tired and overused topic these days) and the absurd cast of characters one encounters online. However, there's hardly anything grotesque or genuinely amusing about it. In Hi, I’m Zoë, everything feels like a parade of clichés that have been seen and heard before, lined up like a shopping list without any narrative construction or structure. It is an hour that's difficult to en...
The Life Sporadic of Jesse Wildgoose – Pleasance Courtyard
Scotland

The Life Sporadic of Jesse Wildgoose – Pleasance Courtyard

Voloz Collective is known for its experiments in physical theatre, and after The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, they returned to the Fringe with a completely different performance. The Life Sporadic of Jesse Wildgoose is a coming-of-age story set in the world of finance during the famous 2007-2008 crisis. However, the story is not very conducive to a physical theatre performance, unlike The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, which blends thriller, adventure, and comedy seamlessly. The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose centres around the journey of Jess Wildgoose, a young American idealist who ventures to New York City with aspirations of finding success in the bustling financial district. Throughout her odyssey, she becomes entangled with the wolves of Wall Street, absorbing life's...
Heart – Roundabout @ Summerhall
Scotland

Heart – Roundabout @ Summerhall

In Heart, actress Jade Anouka’s debut play offers a raw and sincere exploration of femininity, love, trauma, and mental health. It’s a journey of self-discovery and self-empowerment, but it’s the mode of presentation that captivates: the actress transcends herself and presents a narrative, a sort of monologue, where music, trap beats, and storytelling blend seamlessly. In sync with beatboxer Grace Savage, who also happens to be her life partner, Anouka shares the story of a failed marriage, insecurities, societal pressures, and, ultimately, the process of rebirth in discovering her own bisexuality and her relationship with Grace. At the core are themes of mental health, often described as a dark beast capable of taking over, and the toxicity of social and romantic relationships tha...
Beautiful Evil Things – Pleasance Dome
Scotland

Beautiful Evil Things – Pleasance Dome

Deborah Pugh’s one-woman performance, presented by Ad Infinitum Theatre Company, a co-creation between Deborah Pugh and George Mann, draws inspiration from Greek myths, channelling their epic power through a contemporary feminist lens. Beautiful Evil Things revolves around Medusa and her story. As she recounts the events that led to her head adorning Athena’s shield, she captivates the audience with tales of three Greek heroines: the fearless Amazonian queen, Penthesilea, engaged in a captivating duel with Achilles during the Trojan War; the prophetic Cassandra, cursed with the gift of foresight but doomed to be unheard; and the vengeful mother Clytemnestra, who seeks justice for her slain child. With its grand storytelling and potent script, the performance envelops us with the...
Good and Gaslit – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall
Scotland

Good and Gaslit – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

Inspired by the film Gaslight starring Ingrid Bergman, Good and Gaslit delves into the concept of gaslighting – the more or less indirect manipulation perpetrated on women by a society that neither wants to see them in control nor to achieve success, a society deeply misogynistic that seems to harbour disdain for women. Good and Gaslit explores the perspective is that of a woman who has lived through a significant portion of her life's most meaningful events and looks back at them with disillusionment and newfound awareness. She revisits and reevaluates these events in the light of a rekindled feminism and the concept of gaslighting, something she wasn't familiar with in her youth. Written by Deborah Cincotta, an experienced TV producer and first-time theatre performer, and dire...
The Beatles Were a Boy Band – The Gilded Balloon, Patter Hoose
Scotland

The Beatles Were a Boy Band – The Gilded Balloon, Patter Hoose

In this 70-minute play, cleverly entitled The Beatles Were a Boy Band to appeal to a wide age range and both sexes, a network of social issues are explored: sexual predation mainly, but it is couched within the context of young people’s addiction to social media and trashy reality TV and the values it disseminates. It highlights those opportunistic young men who hide themselves within the cloak of anonymous tweets and memes and then torment and intimidate naïve young women, encouraged by this titillating diet of overtly sexualised media. There is an example of real-life intimidation: a woman comedian being heckled by the crowd. Unlike a male comedian’s experience, the drunken heckler was laser focused on the performer's physical attributes. As a woman, I know this to be true and someth...
The Kids With Nae Hame – C Arts, C Venues
Scotland

The Kids With Nae Hame – C Arts, C Venues

This new play gives a voice to children who have been taken into ‘care’. They are ‘The Kids With Nae Hame’. The script, written by Geraldine Smith, is based on the personal experiences of the care system by some of the cast members. The company formed to present this play is called ‘It’s About Time (Scotland)’. That title encapsulates the campaigning spirit of this play. Children in care have, for a variety of reasons, been taken away from their parental homes.  But sadly, in the care system they’re not necessarily getting the care and attention they need. In this play we see acts of emotional ill-treatment, even cruelty, by care workers. There seems to be a continuous battle being waged between the staff and the teenagers. The ongoing Scottish Child Abuse enquiry has hea...
007 Voices of Bond – theSpace @ Symposium Hall
Scotland

007 Voices of Bond – theSpace @ Symposium Hall

007 Voices of Bond is any James Bond fan’s dream. Brought to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Night Owl Shows, this hour-long concert takes the audience on a journey through the title tracks of Bond. Other than the opening number, Diamonds are Forever, the songs are performed in chronological order of release date, charting the evolving style of the music through the decades. Between each song either Maia Elsey, the truly phenomenal lead singer, or a pre-recorded video of ‘Mike’ (a hilarious yet informative M stand in), provide the audience with the context of each track. How they came to be made, what the meaning behind the song is, and its place within the wider world of music. These brief interludes were fascinating, and enhanced the experience from beyond just spectacle, to a genuine ...
Yippe Ki Yay – Gilded Balloon at the Museum
Scotland

Yippe Ki Yay – Gilded Balloon at the Museum

The phrase “Yippe Ki Yay” originated in the 19th-century Western United States, making its way into the 1988 film Die Hard entirely within the context of old Westerns: it closes a scene in which Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber accuses Bruce Willis's John McClane of having seen to many John Wayne films and the latter answers he always preferred Roy Rogers. Though the show adds the words “the Die Hard parody” in brackets at the end of its title just to be sure, I wouldn't imagine there is a soul on Earth that went into a show named Yippe Ki Yay looking for a musical about the Old West, such is the hold Die Hard now has over the phrase. It has since been said in every sequel (and a poster) without even an attempt at another cowboy reference, the franchise itself providing its context now. ...
A Night With Me, Myself and Bipolar Brenda – theSpace @ Symposium Hall
Scotland

A Night With Me, Myself and Bipolar Brenda – theSpace @ Symposium Hall

Bipolar UK ambassador Natasha Rea performed solo in this emotive and raw show which was part autobiographical drama and part persuasive monologue. Natasha is a talented actress who cares deeply about how her performance represents and advocates for the bipolar community. The show detailed the ups and downs of bipolar disorder (BPD) and everything in-between without romanticising the mental health condition. Personal antidote was interlaced with shocking statistics such as people with bipolar disorder are 20 times more likely to commit suicide. As the end approached Natasha made an emotionally driven plea for the audience to help make systemic changes to the Mental Health system through political action. She also urged us to do more for friends and family struggling with their ment...