Edinburgh Fringe Archives - Page 4 of 15

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...

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 ...

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), becom...

The Real William Shakespeare…As Told by Christopher Marlowe – Greenside at Riddle’s Court

6Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

The Real William Shakespeare…As Told by Christopher Marlowe – Greenside at Riddle’s Court

The elusive Christopher Marlowe (Nicholas Thorne) is a character from history that intrigues us today, how did he die at age 29, was it a bar room brawl or was he murdered? Was Kit Marlowe the real author of the Bard’s plays? Many books have been written on this subject, and we are no closer to knowing if any of the theories are true. Matchmaker Theatre Productions have put forward another theory, from the pen of Shaul Ezer. What if he was killed for being a playwright? The play examines Marlowe’s colourful character, building an image of a homosexual, atheist poet, playwright, and spy, living his life like his backside was on fire, running from one hairy situation to another. Ezer brings in a character called Laura (Kirsty Eila McIntrye), who lives...

Bitter Lemons – Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath)

6Aug

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

Bitter Lemons – Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath)

Two women, both in their twenties, are high fliers in careers traditionally associated with men. One is a professional footballer, the other a banker. They are both on the cusp of even greater success. But their lives are changed for ever by something that can never happen to a man - they get pregnant. This is a wonderful new play, beautifully written by Lucy Hayes. It is transferring next month to the Bristol Old Vic. The writing is spare, often poetic, and crackles with energy. There is gentle humour, too, especially in the descriptions of the women’s relationships with their mothers. Apart from a brief meeting at the end, the women never interact. They tell us their stories and we in the audience are their confidants. We are never told their names, but these women are sp...

The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria – Pleasance Dome

6Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria – Pleasance Dome

What a cracking beginning to my Edinburgh Fringe Festival! After seeing Out Of The Forest Theatre’s Call Me Fury at The Hope Theatre in London in 2019, I was compelled to pay a return visit to their newest play. Here is a rough synopsis. Boris III became King after his father abdicated in 1918 after World War I, he married Princess Giovanna of Italy and in 1937 his son Simeon was born. Neither Boris, nor his father Ferdinand were Bulgarian due to the Turks occupying Bulgaria for 500 years, but they carried the burden of taking care of the people of Bulgaria now that Bulgaria was independent. Here is where the play begins, with Boris III, now married and the country is peaceful. Until of course World War II began! Boris (played by Joseph Cull...

6Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Tennessee, Rose – Pleasance Dome

The Tennessee in the title refers to playwright Tennessee Williams, the writer of such greats as The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, and Rose was his sister, who has also been described as his muse. Tennessee, Rose examines the relationship between Williams and Rose by travelling through time with Rose to her childhood, and how her experiences shaped her future, leaving her with scars, both mental and physical. It is very easy to think of this show as a play about a playwright and his sister, but this play is so much more than that. The lack of understanding of mental health meant that Rose’s treatment was severe, without any care for her feelings, but only on the impact that her unguarded action and speech had on others. Clare Cockburn has written a re...