Fringe
Review: The End of the Line
On reading the themes of The End of the Line before I went I felt I was about to enter the very throat of the dragon that is modern woke: divorce, loneliness of the young, eating disorder, therapy, reality over expectation etc. it was all there. How very, very wrong I was about my preconceived…
Read MoreReview: Ciara Harvie stars with silver screen songs
I have no idea what the typical congregation turnout for a Sunday at the beautiful St Cuthbert’s Church is but what I do know is word of Ciara Harvie has got out. The number of attendees would be the envy of any clergyman. Ciara chose the theme of cinema songs set to her unique operatic…
Read MoreFestivals and venues adapt to new-look Fringe
WITH the Edinburgh Festival Fringe moving online this year, many of the city’s venues and festivals are adapting to a very different kind of August. The Edinburgh International Culture Summit, which would normally take place at the Scottish Parliament, has moved online. This year’s speakers include Assal Habibi, an assistant research professor of psychology at the Brain…
Read MorePhoebe Waller-Bridge supports Underbelly’s Fringe fund
FLEABAG creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge is among the artists who are supporting a new fund to help Fringe performers. Production company Underbelly has set up the fund to support acts that have lost out on the chance to perform at this year’s Fringe. It’s asking the public to donate £12 – the cost of an Underbelly…
Read MoreRecord audiences as 2019 Fringe comes to a close
This year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe draws to a close today having brought together artists, arts industry, media and audiences from over 150 countries, including over 750 shows from Edinburgh. More residents than ever before attended Fringe shows, with a record 856,541 tickets issued to audience members from the city. This year’s Fringe saw venues across…
Read MoreFringe: Tom Rosenthal’s comedy comes to the fore
Yes, I know it’s too late now, but note this performer for next year. Or if you’re in London late September, check it this show there. The talented Tom Rosenthal (of Friday Night Dinner fame) has an hour-long chat about one of the worst things that ever happened to him – the theft of his…
Read MoreFringe: NewsRevue is as topical and deadly as ever
I’ve been going to Newsrevue every year for two decades, though this slick satirical show, with a decidedly political bent, has, in fact, been running for twice that time. This is the world’s longest-running comedy show, and a deserved former Fringe First Winner. I think of it as the Cambridge Footlights for proper grown-ups. Four…
Read MoreFringe: 3, 2, 1… you’re back in the room
Call me a spoilsport, but I’ve always been a little sceptical about anything involving mind readers and hypnotists. Quite frankly, I can’t decide if a night with a Ouija board would make me want to run away screaming in fear or just make for a good night of entertainment among friends. So when I was…
Read MoreFringe: You’ll regret nothing if you see Edith show
Michaela Burger and Greg Wain have put on a very good production homage to Edith Piaf. It tells the tale of Piaf’s rise to global stardom from her humble beginnings of singing and begging in the streets of Paris to New York where 10,000 tried to buy a ticket to one of her performances. Eat…
Read MoreFringe: The art of satire is far from dead
Satire is defined as the ‘use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.’ Melinda opens the show by describing herself as a satirist, there was no need as that was apparent from the first verse of the…
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