Greenside @ George Street Archives

The Three Maria’s – Greenside @ George Street

23Aug

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

Scotland

The Three Maria’s – Greenside @ George Street

This play is centred around the dictatorship of Salazar and his regime known as the Estado Novo; it was an authoritarian and anti-parliamentary government in Portugal that continued over many years from 1933 to 1974. A time when women were censored and subordinate to men. Any sign of female independence was severely punished. The Three Maria’s “inspired by Maria de Fatima Velho da Costa, Maria Isabel Barreno, and Maria Teresa Horta are the authors of the New Portuguese Letters”. A book written by the Maria’s to celebrate their womanhood, sexuality and defiance in an opposing system that saw men holding primary power and privilege. Stoic feminists with a voice, open to opportunity, and penned their writings of poetry, essays and short prose to challenge their oppression. They risked prison ...

Bake-Off: The Great British Pantomime – Greenside @ George Street

23Aug

By Triona ScullyNo Comments

Scotland

Bake-Off: The Great British Pantomime – Greenside @ George Street

“Join our crew as they band together to defeat the world’s greatest evil: Ratt Lucas. Using the power of friendship and a predictable parody (or two), will they succeed in the endeavour? Or will there be egg on their faces?” Their publicity promised plenty of bad puns, and this young, vibrant, fun-loving theatre company delivered. What they lacked in experience they more than made up for in enthusiasm and really bad puns. From the get go this musical theatre show was high energy and funny in that dad-joke way pantomime is humorous. Carefully weaving their pantomime plot into the familiar format of the Bake-Off Semi Final – Pastry Week, the cast danced and sung their way through a series of challenges, with familiar tunes and numbers such as "Every cake you bake," "Winner bakes it...

23Aug

By Joe LangNo Comments

Scotland

Fish – Greenside @ George Street

FISH is far more than you might expect from a show promoted as a one-woman clown performance. Without giving too much away, what starts as a flawless piece of slapstick comedy evolves into a question about the human experience, leaving you feeling more connected and hopeful than ever. Funmi gives a sensational performance as a humanoid fish-clown woman who is both enamoured by humanity and seemingly exhausted by it - quite a reflection of how we all feel, I must add. The first 40 minutes are filled with non-stop laughs; Funmi certainly knows how to interact with the audience and is extremely skilled at creating moments that keep you enthralled in both the madness and genius of the comedy. Each second will have you anticipating what direction she’ll take the performance next, creatin...

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

19Aug

By Joe LangNo Comments

Scotland

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

"Best Worst Advice" is a show bursting at the seams with vitality and connection, as the three performers integrate the audience's questions into their flowing and dynamic dance routines. All my praise goes to Erin Tracy, Anne Gehman, and Emily Aust, who brought their absolute all to this performance and helped the show glide along as seamlessly as it possibly could. With the nature of this performance relying so heavily on audience participation, there’s always the doubt that perhaps the show will only be as good as the group watching. However, even with a not-all-that-enthusiastic crowd, each one of the three women was still able to grab hold of the moment and construct the 50 minutes into something memorable. For example, the show I went to see had two strangers in the audience b...

16Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Nocturne – Greenside @ George Street

Produced by One More Saga, Norwegian folk-musical Nocturne makes its Edinburgh Fringe debut this year. Inspired by a number of traditional Norwegian folklore tales, Nocturne tells the story of Solveig as she ventures into the enchanted forest in order to find her missing cow. The further she forges into the forest, the stranger creatures she meets - kind-natured and helpful, Solveig puts her own quest aside to free these fairytale creatures from the curse of Nøkken - “the water spirit of beauty and dread.” As the curse is lifted, the creatures remember their stories, and eventually, so does Solveig. Solveig is played by the multi-talented Hedda Rustad Carlsen, who also co-wrote Nocturne, working on the composition and lyrics as well as the book. Carlsen gives...

A Cold Day in Hell – Greenside @ George Street

2Aug

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

A Cold Day in Hell – Greenside @ George Street

A Cold Day in Hell is brought to Edinburgh from Armenia by the Armenian State Song Theatre. Written by Jan Quackenbush and directed by Hrach Keshisyan, this emotional one-man show tells the story of Charlie, whose wife was involved in a car accident, placing her into a coma. The story picks up 6 months after the event as we see Charlie navigate his grief and anger at the world. He turns on a video camera, intending to confess to a final act - switching off his wife’s life support machine and then ending his own life. However, with so many thoughts and complications in his head, will he ever go through with it? Nerses Avetisyan plays Charlie with fantastic, never-failing energy throughout the play’s entirety. From a powerful movement sequence at the show’s opening to gritty text, del...

Krapp’s Last Tape – Greenside @ George Street

2Aug

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Krapp’s Last Tape – Greenside @ George Street

Samuel Beckett’s one-act play Krapp’s Last Tape is brought to life by Shortcut Productions at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This solo show follows the titular character, Krapp, as he listens to a tape from 30 years ago, reflecting on who he was back then and the man he has become now. His younger self was an idealist, and perhaps somewhat naive, while in the present Krapp is clearly a very troubled and lonely man. Krapp is played by Kevin Short, billed as a Fringe veteran. From the outset, Short does a good job of inhabiting the character. He has implemented an abundance of mannerisms into his performance that showcase his skilled acting technique. This is particularly present through his use of breath, constant and unpredictable, giving the feeling that Krapp is never sett...

18Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

#NoFilter – Greenside @ George Street

Based on real stories gathered from conversations and social media, new musical #NoFilter follows three duos and the effects social media has on their lives and relationships. One pair are friends, Sina (Jamie Douglas-Turner), who runs an OnlyFans, and Ember (Vincenzo Dipasquale), who links us with the next two couples, Pandora (Eva-Marie Blaire) & Candor (Sirus Desnoes), and Savannah (Natalie Gray) & King (Aaron Andrews). The former's relationship is defined by social media, having started on Tinder and seemingly fallen apart through Instagram, while the latter's was formed in person. Dipasquale's Ember is the glue of the show, linking not only the characters but also stories and numbers through his narration, and Dipasquale's likable performance helps paper over some narra...

Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street

17Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street

2023's Fringe sell-out Twilight parody, Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story, returns in a shorter one-hour format as the "roasting of Edwin and Bea", a collection of highlights from the 2023 show (and, by extension, of the most famous moments from the Twilight franchise), linked together by the couple's daughter Regina (or Renesmee in the Sacred Texts). To anyone not still living the green-tinged mouth-breathing life, this might be a little confusing as the show definitely expects you to know who everyone is - or rather, who everyone is replacing - but clearly this was not an issue for the audience of (mostly) twilight fans, who were howling with laughter throughout. All the more well-known aspects get skewered. One Bea's performance (there is more than one: we all need stunt doubles) i...

17Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Covenant – Greenside @ George St

Set in an extreme but terrifyingly realistic world in which women’s bodies are controlled and monitored by the government, Turning Point Theatre Company’s Covenant highlights the impact that banning abortion has on women. Bonnie, played wonderfully by Nell Lang, wakes up after a night-out knowing something is wrong. Her friends Gen, Margot Pue, and Rachel, Catriana Tashjian, attempt to convince Bonnie that she is merely hungover but, when Bonnie discovers her own blood-soaked sheet, the true events of the previous night are revealed. I won’t discuss the plot here, much of the suspense derives from the twisting journey both Bonnie and the audience are taken on, but it is highly effective. Writer Laura Walker has crafted a script that simultaneously grips and haunts the audience. You ...