Fringe
Fringe: High schools, musicals and acrobatics
Filament are a young troupe of talented dancers and acrobats – and they will get even better over time. The performance is more acrobatic physical theatre than circus. The theme is ‘coming of age’, rather High School Musical in storyline. The trials and tribulations of growing up are all there; geeky boy accepted into the…
Read MoreFringe: Lucie Pohl offers a mixed bag of laughs
Okay, here’s a few things you should know about stand-up comedian Lucie Pohl. Firstly, she’s a short (5ft 1in) and hyperactively talented German-born New Yorker who dances like no-one’s watching and is inventively potty-mouthed. Despite being pint-sized, this failed former actor (her words) nevertheless exudes the sort of charisma which registers on Geiger counters. She…
Read MoreFringe: A timely reminder of historical horrors
A young woman rescues a drowning man on a beach in South America and the ensuing conversation between the two reveals the true nature of the man – and why he is what he is. This is not a play about the well documented mass murder and experimental atrocities committed by Josef Mengele, it is…
Read MoreFringe: From Russia with confusion
The pedigree of the performers in Forest is thoroughbred, all alumni of the legendary Moscow Art Theatre established in 1898 by Stravinsky. The performers of this prestigious theatre school are part of The Brusnikin Studio. The production, to me, was bewildering. Had I not read the leaflet beforehand I would have been at a loss…
Read MoreFringe: A Sinatra show – and not what you expect
If you are expecting a tribute singer to Frank Sinatra you are in for a disappointment. This production cleverly weaves the biography of the old crooner through a clever song collection. Sinatra is reminiscing his life, exploring his Democrat liberal views, his ruthlessness with those that crossed or stood in his way and his exploits…
Read MoreFringe: Any job will do in entertaining Not Quite
Cassie Symes and Georgina Thomas are 2016 graduates from CENTRAL drama school. Not Quite is written and performed by the two artists. It is an amusing and well observed comedy about the absurdities of interviewing for that first tenuous grip on the job ladder. With pithy wit it regales us with their desperation for employment.…
Read MoreFringe: Bringing prohibition USA to Edinburgh
For those that don’t know the work of Damon Runyon he was a short story writer that encapsulated the prohibition era in America. His colourful characters were gangster and hustlers with wonderful 1930’s names such as Harry The Horse and Good Time Charlie. Runyon’s work is best known as the basis to the musical Guys…
Read MoreFringe: One man and his bagpipes with a sad end
Thunderstruck is a one man show written and performed by David Colvin who acted in the acclaimed play The Black Watch. David tells the story of Gordon Duncan and how this Highland genius bin cleaner of a bagpiper changed his life. Gordon Duncan was, like so many exceptionally talented musicians, gifted with both the classical…
Read MoreAn interactive show will get you dancing
The dividing line between dance and physical theatre can be confusing, the first is an artistic movement of non-verbal communication with a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music. The latter is describe as any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primary and secondary physical…
Read MoreFringe: Warm laughs delivery with wit and speed
A stand-up comedian’s life is a difficult one. I know an audience’s response can blow oxygen onto the wit, speed and delivery of the patter but today Maria Shehata was on her own. The audience mostly there as the show was a ‘voluntary contribution’ entrance fee. Like all things in life there is a direct…
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