Pleasance Courtyard Archives - Page 5 of 5

Room – A Room of One’s Own – Pleasance Courtyard

19Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Room – A Room of One’s Own – Pleasance Courtyard

Room- A Room of One’s Own, written and performed by Heather Alexander, is a refined, intimate, and literary pleasure. A room for the soul, where one can meditate, reflect on contemporary reality, be enchanted by the beauty of prosody, and let oneself go with hope, not only in the future but also in an illustrious past that still lives within us. Everything, from the scenography to Dominique Gerrard's direction, is impeccable. With just a few props, Alexander moves around the stage in a monologue, almost a stream-of-consciousness, transporting the spectator to a very precise era, a very precise environment, and a very precise mind. We are in the early 1900s in the room, or instead at the desk, of Virginia Woolf, the author of One Room of One's Own, and the words, the reflections, and the...

Matt Forde: Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right – Pleasance Courtyard

16Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Matt Forde: Clowns To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right – Pleasance Courtyard

This is NOT what The Fringe is about. This was neither odd, unpredictable, nor strange or thought-provoking. This was bold, polished, glossy, mainstream entertainment featuring an already established star. Big venue, big star, big prices, this was not the ‘fringe’ of anything. If you want to talk haircuts this was the City Worker’s £120 bespoke side-parting or the Sunday League Footballer’s Peaky Blinder. If Mullets were still a thing it would’ve made more sense because Matt’s clearly a Viz fan. Thank heavens for the Laughing Horse and PBH’s Free Fringe et al for it’s via these channels that all the whacky, shambolic, disturbing, unsettling, inspiring delights still slip through, it’s where the fascination associated with the Fringe can still be found in 2022. Polemic over. Matt For...

14Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Pauline – Pleasance Courtyard

Pauline is a pure example of storytelling where the words, voices and testimonies of three generations of women meet and confront each other in what turns out to be a moving and necessary memoir for all contemporary women. An all-female story, with a strong feminist character that always remains intimate and never aggressive. A veritable exposé of human nature, of what it means to be a woman, of weaknesses, insecurities, sins even, and of the great moral strength that such a gender role seems to bring with it, the play lays bare three characters, three women who are different but bound together by blood and art, by a love of storytelling and telling. An excavation in the memory of the actress, alone and unique in this one-woman show, who seems to want to cling with all her might to what sh...

Fiji – Pleasance Upstairs at the Pleasance Courtyard

14Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Fiji – Pleasance Upstairs at the Pleasance Courtyard

After reading the press release, this is one of those plays that you walk-in to the theatre, not knowing what to expect. Co-written by Eddie Loodmer-Elliott, Pedro Leandro and Evan Lordan, the inspiration of the play (scarily), came from real-life events. Omnibus Theatre have joined forces with Clay Party and Conflicted Theatre to produce an alarming, disturbing play that revolves around the theme of cannibalism. For most of us, (hopefully), this will be a subject that does not feature in your daily life, and one wonders what inspired this delving into the culinary skills of a cannibal. The play begins with Sam (Sam Henderson) arriving at Nick’s place (Eddie Loodmer-Elliott) with his suitcase. Sam is nervous and it becomes clear that Sam and Nick have never met before but have chatte...

Charlie Russell Aims to Please – Pleasance Courtyard

13Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Charlie Russell Aims to Please – Pleasance Courtyard

Charlie Russell wants to create a show that will please absolutely everyone by trying to hit as many solo Fringe show tropes and styles as possible within an hour, based on what her audience likes the most. Though as a person/character Russell might just be trying to please an audience, as a show concept this is a quite challenge to them. You might know going in a comedy show is supposed to make you laugh, but it's something else for a performer to point out that's what they're trying to do, tell you they've failed if you haven't and give you a second and more controllable way of giving or with-holding approval: it's a gauntlet that more mischievous or combative audience members might take some convincing to just put back on your hand. Or maybe that's just her being a more positive (in ...

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – The Grand, Pleasance Courtyard

12Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – The Grand, Pleasance Courtyard

Based upon the award-winning book by Kate Pankhurst descendant of the great suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst, this musical tells the story of inspirational women from the past, who act as a guiding light for any girl or young woman of today. Beginning with an upbeat number, which is sure to strike a chord with children and parents alike, this group of very cool teachers share their everyday frustrations in this slick, witty opening song. Set in a museum, schoolgirl Jade (Kudzai Mangombe) has been separated from her school party and is lost. Frustrated that she feels that she has not be missed by anyone, she opens up about her parents impending divorce, and that she always tries hard at school, but she that in spite of this, she still feels invisible. Hearing her plea, the ...

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

11Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

You don’t have to love sci-fi to come along to this show, if you love comedy, you are in for a treat. Tony and Olivier Award winning companies, Mischief Theatre, Showstopper! and Austentatious are the cream of the crop when it comes to improvising, so to have their combined skills on one stage is a must-see opportunity. To set the scene, Celestia 7 was a long-running sci-fi TV series, and years later the stars have been invited to a fans convention where they reminisce about their series memories. In this episode the improvisers were Adam Meggido (Showstopper!), Ruth Bratt (Showstopper!), Henry Shields (Mischief), Nell Mooney (Showstopper!), Dave Hearn (Mischief), and Charlotte Gittins (Austentatious), with Ed Zanders providing the musical accompaniment (musical direct...

7Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Comedy Sassafras – Pleasance Courtyard

Hosted by Richard and Greta, alter egos of Nina Conti and Shenoah Allen, Comedy Sassafras is basically a variety show with only a couple of other acts, which change from night to night. As such one imagines the overall feel of the show might be slightly different every time, though the big role played by Richard and Greta and the largely consistent style of the performers suggests that may possibly not be the case. There was a very improvisational and loose feeling to the night, with the audience seemingly relishing the throw-stuff-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach (the closing number was performed by Richard playing guitar with Greta singing on his shoulders because why not?), even on the occasions when it didn't quite work. The small number of overall acts also contributed t...

The Importance of Being… Earnest? – Pleasance Courtyard

6Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Importance of Being… Earnest? – Pleasance Courtyard

“A show goes wrong” is a theatre staple (see Noises Off, The Real Inspector Hound) and, coupled with the equally popular genre of improv-comedy, nowhere is the resulting sub-genre more popular than at the Edinburgh Fringe. Here, it seems, one cannot throw a stick without hitting a shit-faced Shakespeare, musical, or a show that was supposed to run normally until somebody threw a stick at them. To this “[Insert IP] but it goes wrong” genre comes The Importance of Being... Earnest?, as the “Oscar Wilde But It Goes Wrong Show”. And it's a lot of fun, both in how it uses its audience members and how it gives its own actors characters, arcs and jokes to play with through-out the show. It's not every improv related show designed to be different every night that has through-lines and gags ...

28Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Making Mischief in Edinburgh Again

Mischief are the award-winning company behind The Play That Goes Wrong, Magic Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery as well as the BBC comedy series The Goes Wrong Show and they are back in Edinburgh for this year's Fringe. CHARLIE RUSSELL AIMS TO PLEASE Written and performed by Charlie Russell Pleasance Courtyard (Below) 3rd – 27th August at 3.15pm https://bit.ly/3PHe8Mi Charlie Russell wants to do a show in Edinburgh, but all she can think about is what she wants people to think of it and ultimately, of her. So rather than focusing on what she wants to say, she’s just going to create a show that will please absolutely everyone by trying to hit as many solo fringe show tropes and styles as possible within an hour. That’s doable, right? MISCHIEF MOVIE NIGHT ...