Fringe
FRINGE REVIEW: “KIN”
“Kin” – Venue 20: Assembly Rooms – Music Hall – 3.05pm KIN, from the Barley Methodical Troupe, comes under the genre of “dance, physical [theatre], and circus”. If you type that into the search engine of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s official listing of shows then it come up with 154 productions. It’s a crowded field.…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “Movement Within Jazz”
Movement Within Jazz – Venue 209: Greenside @ Nicolson Square – Lime Studio – 1.45pm THIS show was headlined as, “Contemporary dance taking on the form of live jazz music. From a starting point of traditional, fully choreographed work progressing to an experimental style of improvised performance creating unique shows daily,” by the Hive Mind…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “About Money”
About Money – Summerhall – TechCube 0 – 10.20am IT’S an early slot, 10.20am, but worth setting your alarm clock to get up to Summer Hall to see About Money. Some people’s lives are easy, some less so, and some lives are very complicated and difficult. About Money is set in a deprived part of…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “Briefs: Bite Club”
Briefs Bite Club – Underbelly’s Circus Club on the Meadows – 8.45pm BOLD, brash, and – by their own admission – served with “a sprinkle of drag and a truckload of camp”, this is unapologetically adult entertainment. The well-known Aussie troupe consists of five performers whose mix of burlesque and cabaret will be familiar to…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “9 Circles”
9 Circles – Assembly George Square Studios – Studio Two – 1.30pm THE title is structured around the nine rings of Dante’s Inferno. Watching this gritty, hard hitting, and at times raw and troubling production leaves you rattled. That’s good theatre in my book. The play is based on a US serviceman called Steve Dale…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “Bloke and his American Bantu”
Bloke and his American Bantu – Assembly George Square Studios – Studio Two – 11.30am IT IS hard for productions to get noticed at the Fringe in a crowded field of 3,300 – it’s rather like being a solo soprano in a multi-hundred populated Welsh bass choir. Combine that with being allocated the death slot…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “Taiwan Season: Light of Life”
Taiwan Season: Light of Life – Assembly George Square Studios – Studio One – 1pm IF YOU don’t know what a “diabolo” is, I’ll give you a definition: it’s an “hourglass-shaped top that is balanced and spun on a string stretched between the tips of two sticks”. Doesn’t sound that exciting and seems to offer…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “The Black Blues Brothers”
The Black Blues Brothers – Assembly Rooms, Music Hall – George Street – 4.45pm SET in an Art Deco bar and scored to the music of the Ackroyd and Belushi film The Blues Brothers, this is a show that combines circus tumbling, music, dance, and comedically-timed miming. It’s fast paced and furious. The five Kenyan…
Read MoreFRINGE REVIEW: “I’m with stupid”
I’m With Stupid – Gilded Balloon Teviot, Billiard Room – Bristo Square – 9pm JEEZ, where to start with “I’m With Stupid”? I suppose the first thing to say would be that if you are someone who listens religiously to Kermode and Mayo musing on films, then this will be right up your street. In…
Read MoreEdinburgh Festival Fringe begins in style
THE world’s biggest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, kicks off in the Scottish capital today. Acts from 58 countries will mount nearly 50,000 performances of more than 3,100 shows between now and 29 August. The festival is marking its 75th anniversary this year, with previews of shows running over the past couple of days.…
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