175 Reviews for the 2011 Edinburgh
Fringe Festival (In order from most enjoyable to least)
Welcome
to the 2011 version of my Fringe reviews.
Since I tailored much of my schedule to that of my friend Tim’s, and my wife’s
requests, I will not be seeing as many plays this year. You can see my schedule here.
You can find out about me, and my extended thoughts
about reviewing at the bottom of this
page. I think that the most useful
aspect for my readers is the rankings. I
base the rankings on my enjoyment of the show, so they may not reflect the
quality of the script and/or acting. I
prefer plays to comedy acts, but work in a little of the latter for
diversity. I have discovered that I have
a penchant for true stories. The
comments are usually only three sentences long because I have little time
between shows, and, after all, I am here for the shows. You can also see my 200 reviews for 2010 Fringe, 177 reviews for 2009 Fringe, 153 reviews for 2008 Fringe, 162 reviews for 2006 Fringe, and 151 reviews for 2005 Fringe. I always enjoy chatting with both audience
members and dramatic artists. If you
wish to contact me, send e-mail to Sean Davis.
You
can change the sorting column of the table below by first clicking anywhere in
its header. Each succeeding click in the
header sorts the table by the column clicked.
Succeeding clicks of a column will reverse the previous sort order. I have now added a Date column so that
returning viewers can sort by it to see my most recent reviews.
|
Rank |
Title and
Review |
Venue |
Times |
Date |
|
1.
|
Casablanca: The Gin Joint
Cut (*****) This homage is a remarkable
mix of reverent recital and play-within-a-play antics. I’ve seen Casablanca countless times, and I
was amazed how the cast of three would play every touching scene straight,
but then add every sort of high jinx to the other scenes. I should warn the uninitiated that many of
their funny touches, such as air freshener sprayed all over the set to
simulate fog in the airport scene, will make little sense to you. (Aug 13 & 25) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:30-17:30 |
13 |
|
2.
|
Snap.Catch.Slam (*****) This show has three
independent stories: a harried high school teacher must deal with an
insubordinate student, a woman’s scream breaks a fellow’s Sunday routine, and
a lonely mother spends an afternoon waiting for her five year old to come
home. Though some stories have minor
support, these are essentially three monologues that felt perfect. The second story had the woman next to me
literally biting her knuckles. (Aug
13) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:50-14:50 |
13 |
|
3.
|
A tribute to the Blues
Brothers – Live (*****) A septet and three female
singers join Jake, Elwood, and Cab Calloway, to provide spirited renditions
of 1960’s blues and soul. Almost every
song had the audience clapping and/or dancing. I suggest that you sit on an aisle or in
the front row you can easily join the good times. (Aug 3 & 29) |
C Chambers Street |
23:00-0:00 |
3 |
|
4.
|
Richard Herring : What is
Love Anyway (*****) In his typical fashion,
Herring mixes research with personal experiences to provide an amusing exploration
of the meanings of “love”. Maternal
love, paternal love, love and lust, puppy love, teenage love, grandmother
love, and even corporate love all receive well-conceived treatment. I laughed until I cried as he described the
mathematical consequences of doubling the number of chocolates he gives his
lover each Valentines Day—imagine the UK covered with Egyptian pyramids of
bonbons! (Aug 4) |
Udderbelly’s Pasture |
20:50-21:50 |
4 |
|
5.
|
The Monster in the Hall
(*****) A 16-year old girl must prepare
her blind, multiple sclerosis plagued father for a visit from a social worker
that may remove her from her home.
This well crafted comedy lays out all of the quirky characters,
including Norwegian biker woman and a fashion conscious boy with a scheme to
prove he is not gay, and then creates a wonderful, albeit predictable,
jigsaw, with each piece fitting perfectly among the others. Only the scene with four people on a
motorcycle strained my credulity beyond the breaking point. (Aug 12) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
12 |
|
6.
|
Futureproof (*****) When attendance withers the
manager of a freak show decides that the performers should alter their acts
to be more appealing to the customers.
This play works at both the personal level where each performer must
confront change, and as a commentary on society as we confront our own
attitudes towards the disabled. Each
character has a depth that allows their actions to be unpredictable and yet
valid. (Aug 14) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
14 |
|
7.
|
Wasted Love (*****) Eight young men and women
have a group counseling together to help deal with being dumped. I rarely like young musicals, but this had
good lyrics, catchy melodies, strong voices that did not need microphones,
good acting, properly amplified music, and diverse tales of rejection. The design wisely placed the
pianist/counselor at the center of the stage for the play would not work
nearly as well without his musical virtuosity and good-natured
leadership. (Aug 16) |
C Chamber St. |
12:00-13:00 |
16 |
|
8.
|
The Golden Dragon (*****) Four stories involving
everything from Aesop’s grasshopper to stewardesses to illegal immigration to
unwanted pregnancy intermingle with each other in surprising ways. When initially the cast verbalize most
stage directions and descriptions it is disturbing, but as the play continues
they add rhythm and clarify which character an actor is playing as we often
shift from one story to another. This
rich play provided material for the most interesting post performance
discussion I’ve had this year. (Aug
25) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
25 |
|
9.
|
Translunar Paradise (*****) A husband slowly reconciles
himself to the death of his wife by revisiting old memories. No play could be designed to elicit more
tears than this one as it alternates between the joy of an occasion and then
returns to their spiritual parting.
The constant accordion accompaniment keeps our emotions shifting with
the scenes while the seemingly magnetic masks of the old pair emphasize his
withdrawal from each world. (Aug 29) |
Pleasance Dome |
15:40-16:55 |
29 |
|
10. |
Dave Gorman’s Power Point
Presentation (*****) Like the title says, Gorman
uses a huge video screen to present a Power Point Presentation that deals
with observations of life. Topics
range from him being mislabeled as a Jew in publications to the absurdity of
digital clocks all being set to 10:08 in advertisements. This is a very cleverly crafted show that
exploits Power Point to present cascading tweets, mosaics of photographs, and
blow-ups of magazine page sections.
(Aug 16) |
Assembly George Square |
19:40-20:40 |
16 |
|
11. |
Shylock by Gareth Armstrong
(*****) Guy Masterson assumes the
character of Tubal, Shylock’s only friend in the “Merchant of Venice,” to mix
a complete history of Jewish persecution with a retelling of Shakespeare’s
story from a Jew’s perspective. The blend
of historical facts with Shakespeare’s prose is at once lively and
informative. I particularly
appreciated how he presented a clear and concise synopsis of each scene
before moving on to dissecting it.
(Aug 5) |
Assembly Hall |
15:45-17:00 |
5 |
|
12. |
Swimming with My Mother
(*****) Choreographer David Bolger
pairs with his 77-year old mother to perform swimming inspired and ballroom
duets. From the opening entrance, as
she walks gently leading her prancing, agile son they establish the tone of
love and embellishment. As they piece continues,
they sometimes dance as a unit, but more often she dances as the melody, and
he adds the arpeggios. (Aug 21) |
Dance Base |
12:00-12:40 |
21 |
|
13. |
The Man Who Was Hamlet
(*****) George Dillon starts as Hamlet,
but quickly switches to the ghost of Edward De Vere telling of his life in
Elizabethan court. The play implicitly
argues that De Vere actually wrote Shakespeare’s work by having De Vere meet
an illiterate Shakespeare, and portraying other events in De Vere’s life that
end up in Shakespeare’s plays. In both
roles, Dillon presents a well-measured performance that enthralled me with
Shakespeare’s words and De Vere’s privileged but volatile life. I should note that this is my review from
last year because when I saw the play again this year I was a bit bored since
none of the revelations were new to me.
(Aug 22) |
Assembly George Square |
20:00-21:35 |
22 |
|
14. |
Barry and Stuart: Show and
Tell – The Tell (*****) This show follows the pair’s
magic show, “Barry and Stuart: Show and Tell – The Show,” and reveals to the
much smaller audience how all of the tricks for the magic show worked. Though I understood some of the tricks
beforehand, their thorough approach and innovations, as well as their
enthusiasm to teach the audience, made this a great experience. Note that you must see earlier, four-star
show that I reviewed below, to be allowed into this one. (Aug 12) |
Underbelly’s Pasture |
23:59-0:59 |
12 |
|
15. |
Pip Utton is the Hunchback
of Notre Dame (*****) Pip Utton assumes the
character of the Hunchback to tell his life story. As usual, Utton demonstrates his mastery of
character to create a real one-eyed, filthy, speech impaired hunchback
standing in front of us. Though all of
the story is heart wrenching, the pathos reaches its peak when he rejoices at
for once becoming one of the crowd when he is elected “pope” for a
parade. (Aug 17) |
New Town Theatre |
18:00-19:00 |
17 |
|
16. |
An Instinct for Kindness
(*****) Chris Larner describes his
ex-wife’s life battling with multiple sclerosis, and the complicated process
of fulfilling her wish to be euthanized in Switzerland. While this could be a play with unrelenting
sadness, Larner has included an occasional lighter note to relieve the
pressure. The aching phone calls from
her son pleading for her to change her mind are here, but so is his quip
asking his neatnik ex-wife if Switzerland was tidy enough for her? (Aug 19) |
Pleasance Dome |
16:10-17:20 |
19 |
|
17. |
Bellevile Rendez-vous
(*****) Based on the animated film,
“Les Triplettes de Belleville,” the show tells the tale of a grandmother who
helps her orphan grandson prepare for the Tour de France, and saves him from
the gangsters who kidnap him. The show
combines a jazzy accordion-led trio, physical theater moves, three puppets,
and minimal words to recreate the fantastic spirit of a cartoon. I had not seen the film, but I could still
appreciate their wonderful interpretation of such scenes as a car chase with
the cars leaning around curves. (Aug
9) |
Bedlam Theatre |
11:00-12:00 |
9 |
|
18. |
The Girl with the Iron
Claws (*****) After a princess becomes
enthralled with a golden band in one dream, she agrees to go away with a bear
that actually has the band. From the
simple puppets to the sparse, evocative bear costume, this Nordic fairy tale
is wonderful for both children (from age 6) and adults. I only wish that the few poorly sung songs
would have been replaced with prose spoken by the outstanding narrator. (Aug 4) |
Underbelly |
13:35-14:35 |
4 |
|
19. |
The Fitzrovia Radio Hour
(*****) This a recreation of a
1930s radio program that contains commercials and four stories with a few
added visual touches for the audience’s amusement. This perfectly designed show splits the two
long stories across the show so that we can experience real
cliffhangers. While the cast maintains
the “suspense” of the on air show, they must scramble around the studio producing
the manifold sound effects, as well as quickly changing hats. (Aug 20) |
Gilded Balloon |
16:00-17:00 |
20 |
|
20. |
Out of the Blue (*****) The large Oxford men’s a
cappella group is back again with their great arrangements and fun
choreography. This show seemed to have
better choreography and a lot more new tunes than the shows from the last
couple of years. I think that their
new venue is a little too large for their volume, with the weaker solos
becoming inaudible. (Aug 23) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:00-15:50 |
23 |
|
21. |
Pinocchio: A Fantasy of
Pleasure (*****) The tale of Pinocchio is
told with modern dance, and music that runs from opera to rock. This is a feast for the eyes and ears with
imaginative dance movements and a strong operatic soprano. The Pinocchio dancer uses a loose limb gate and his
marvelous gymnastic skills to create the marionette star. (Aug 26) |
New Town Theatre |
19:00-20:10 |
26 |
|
22. |
From the Fire (*****) A large cast portrays the lives
and working conditions of 146 immigrant girls who died jumping from the ninth
floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory when it caught fire in 1911. I usually do not like what I call Sondheim
musicals with their lack of rhyming lyrics, but the beautiful voices of the
women combined with their evocative lyrics won me over. The occasional projection of photos and
videos of the times reinforced the state of their working conditions as well
as providing historical context for newly emerging women’s unions. (Aug 20) |
Zoo Roxy |
10:30-11:45 |
20 |
|
23. |
Street Dreams (*****) A puppet who lives in a
garbage dump tires of dealing with animated banana peels, rubber gloves, and
plastic bags. The tale of seeking
greener pastures extends the garbage motif to a corrugated paper ramshackle
set, and a large holey umbrella that serves as a boat on a bellowing plastic
sheet sea. Except for a harshly
strummed mandolin, the flute and harmonica provide a nice lilting soundtrack.
(Aug 19) |
Underbelly |
11:40-12:40 |
19 |
|
24. |
Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler
(*****) A bored wife selfishly
manipulates almost everyone around her to entertain herself. I had not seen the play for many years, but
it seems that this abridged version has all the power of the original. Hedda, with her probing questions and sly
rejoinders hurting people but often thwarted in her aims, and her husband,
with his naïve honesty providing a clear contrast, are a core duo that form a
strong base for the play. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
14:15-15:45 |
7 |
|
25. |
A Slow Air (*****) This two hander has a
steady tile contractor and his estranged volatile barhopping housecleaner
sister dealing with her 21-year old son’s disturbing fascination with the
Glasgow bombers. This well honed
script eschews rhetorical flourishes in favor of solid monologues from clear
characters presented by skilled actors.
I loved the idea of an album of family photos with everyone caught in
midair while jumping together. (Aug 6) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
6 |
|
26. |
Sold (*****) From the cocoa farms of
Ivory Coast to the nightclubs of the UK, this show reveals how varied and
widespread human trafficking is in the world.
Unlike many shows on this topic, this one accuses governments of
providing little more than rhetoric, and then suggests actions for the
audience to take. The facts projected
on monitors combined with appropriately disparate stories combine well,
though I do grow tired of the prominence of the sex trade aspect when it is
just a small part of the problem. (Aug
8) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
11:10-12:30 |
8 |
|
27. |
Fantasmagoriana (*****) Based on a real event, Lord
Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Dr. John Polidori agree to compete to
write the best ghost story while Mary’s stepsister competes with Polidori for
Byron’s affections. The play brings
all five participants alive with dialog that matches their historical backgrounds. Though Byron was clearly the leader, and
his verse is sprinkled throughout, the play provides each character time to
develop so that we can witness a rich mix of romance and literary
creation. (Aug 21) |
C Aquila |
15:40- |
21 |
|
28. |
Remember This (*****) A working man and his posh
wife review their life together as they watch a slide show he has
painstakingly created. As they view
each slide, they reveal secret aspects of the situations which are quite
touching. The best was him revealing
that he was pretending to be still dating her close friend while dating his
future wife because he thought it kept her interested in him. (Aug 9) |
Bedlam Theatre |
12:30-13:30 |
9 |
|
29. |
Breathing Water (*****) A young man troubled by a
traumatic experience has a jock buddy and concerned girlfriend try to support
him while her sexual predator girlfriend does not understand him. I loved the way the protagonist spoke in
extended alliterative phrases that were also quite evocative. All of the acting and script suited me perfectly. (Aug 23) |
theSpace on the Mile |
13:35-14:30 |
23 |
|
30. |
Medea (*****) Medea plans revenge on her
husband, Jason of the Argonauts, when he weds the daughter of the king of
Corinth. Three strong performances by the
leads make this tragedy compelling.
Nadira Janikova’s Medea has an intensity that I’ve rarely seen on the
stage, and her Uzbekistani accented English gives just the right touch of a
Medea’s foreignness. (Aug 14) |
Assembly George Square |
18:30-19:35 |
14 |
|
31. |
Llwyth (Tribe) (*****) A gay Welshman who now
lives in London returns to go clubbing with his three longtime gay
friends. Though the men speak in Welsh
with English supertitles, and there were many British proper nouns unknown to
me, I still found the events quite affecting.
I cannot remember another show that portrayed gay men gently touching
each other when it conveyed genuine friendship with no sexual
undercurrents. (Aug 24) |
St. Georges West |
11:45-13:30 |
24 |
|
32. |
Sunday in the Park with
George (*****) The large young cast takes
on Stephen Sondheim’s musical about George Serat and the people in his painting “A Sunday
Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.“ With consistently strong
voices, good acting, and clear accompaniment from a small band, everything
works in this well proven play. It was
nice touch to have parts of a replica of the painting as an occasional
backdrop to provide a reference for the characters. (Aug 26) |
C Chamber Street |
15:35-17:35 |
26 |
|
33. |
Go to Your God Like a
Soldier (****) While four British soldiers
are penned down in an Afghan school, we see flashbacks and sometimes
confusing flash forwards of the individuals.
Not surprisingly for a play, each soldier has different issues in
his/her life, with the most touching being a divorced father who is not
granted joint custody solely because he is away fulfilling his duty. I liked how a large monitor in the
background introduced each scene by first drawing an outline of a room’s
furnishings and then filling in the details.
(Aug 19) |
Underbelly |
14:40-15:35 |
19 |
|
34. |
I, Malvolio (****) Malvolio, the officious
butler in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” complains of mistreatment in
this treatise on bullying by Tim Crouch.
In the first half of the story, Malvolio garners sympathy by as the
love struck conservative who is ridiculed and imprisoned simply for doing the
bidding of his supposed lover, but as the story continues Malvolio reveals
his own bullying side as he tells audience members what to do without so much
as a please or thank you. The play
starts with some very clever incremental absurdities matched by a slow
increase in volumes, but Malvolio’s complaints become repetitive as the play
continues. (Aug 16) |
Traverse |
varies |
16 |
|
35. |
Fresher the Musical (****) In their first week at a
university, two girls and three boys share a suite, and learn to get along as
they party and quietly talk about their needs. The music is very good, the lyrics clear
and well written, the situations straight out of first week, and the
characters are close enough to real to allow me to care for them. I just could not believe that the “good”
girl would fall in love with the mostly unrepentant mean prankster until he
demonstrated that he had changed. (Aug
12) |
Pleasance Dome |
15:50-17:00 |
12 |
|
36. |
Broadway
Swings (****) A
fifteen-piece band and thirty-five singers perform pop tunes as well as
Broadway hits. I loved “All That Jazz,”
“Mack the Knife,” and a Judy Garland medley bookended by “Over the
Rainbow.” During an instrumental, the
drummer had the traditional, but uninteresting solo, and the brass section
drowned out the five saxophones. (Aug
18) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
20:00-21:15 |
18 |
|
37. |
The Caroline Carter Show
(****) Accompanied by good
guitarist, Caroline playfully sings her own country songs. The lyrics are fun, and her warm
personality won over the whole crowd.
I even got to be bartender for the audience as she offered libations
for us all! (Aug 28) |
Zoo |
21:15-22:15 |
28 |
|
38. |
Youth and Will: a Portrait
of Shakespeare’s Young Characters… and us (****) Two actresses and an actor
describe how Shakespeare influenced their lives. During difficult emotional times the two
women found solace in characters sharing their plight, while the actor
identifies with Hamlet’s intellectual challenges. The ordering of the stories weakens the
play because it misled my expectations of its trajectory, but the story of
one actress’ loss of trust caused by the constant betrayal of her
director/lover had tremendous impact.
I must note that the actress is a friend of mine, but a disinterested
stranger in the audience volunteered the same opinion when I asked his
thoughts on the play. (Aug 6) |
C soco |
12:00-12:50 |
6 |
|
39. |
Camille O’Sullivan: Feel
(****) This is the third time I
have seen the Irish singer accompanied by a keyboardist, drummer, and lead
guitarist. Whether using a mechanical caged
bird hanging from her microphone stand to accompany her, or urging her
players to ramp up to another crescendo, she always brings a mischievous
presence to her often dark music. She
made it a truly spontaneous show as she good naturedly selected songs on the
spot to accommodate the tardy starting time of opening night. (Aug 3) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
20:00-21:00 |
3 |
|
40. |
Ed Byrne: Crowd Pleaser
(****) The nerdy Byrne follows the
standard stand-up comedian formula of exploring a few topics, and occasionally
querying the front row. As a new
father, domestic life figures prominently, though politics and a few random
jokes made their appearance. I laughed
often, and found his piece about what his cat brought into the house,
including a live pheasant, hilarious.
(Aug 17) |
Venue150 at EICC |
19:40-20:40 |
17 |
|
41. |
52 Man Pickup (****) With some help from the
audience, a woman describes her sex life by randomly going through a deck of
cards, each with notes on a man with whom she has had sex. Her energy, vulnerability, and bawdiness
combine to give her show an unimagined power.
While I have seen many one-woman shows, this is unlike anything I have
seen before. (Aug 6) |
Hill Street Theater |
22:30-0:00 |
6 |
|
42. |
An Imaginary History of Tango
(****) Anna Cetti tells of her
discovery of the tango, the nuances of the culture of tango clubs, called
milongas, and the world of non-verbal communication found there. Cetti combines dance, puppets,
storytelling, and audience participation to create a lovely atmosphere of
discovery for us. I particularly liked
how in the initial scene where she is dancing to quick pop music, she first
ever so minutely misses a beat and then progressively finds that the music
does not resonate with her. (Aug 21) |
C Aquila |
16:55-17:55 |
21 |
|
43. |
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast
– Menu 1 (****) The four-person troupe
present five short plays along with coffee, croissants, and
strawberries. The consistently
satisfying plays range from a man preparing to see an ex-girlfriend to a pair
of pro tennis players saying what they are thinking as they battle for the
match point. My favorite was a tale of
a wild horse ride by a Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan. (Aug 26) |
Pleasance Dome |
10:30-11:30 |
26 |
|
44. |
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast
– Menu 3 (****) The four-person troupe
present five short plays along with coffee, croissants, and
strawberries. These plays range a
groom dealing with a sleepy bride to a widower discussing with his wife her
eulogy. The highlights were a story of
woman preparing to return to the high wire after a fall, and another that had
a foreman help his laborer prepare for an acting audition by playing famous scenes
in a blue-collar style. (Aug 28) |
Pleasance Dome |
10:30-11:30 |
28 |
|
45. |
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast
– Menu 2 (****) The four-person troupe
present five short plays along with coffee, croissants, and
strawberries. The consistently
satisfying plays range from a modern couple choosing to live their lives
exactly as if it was October 30, 1942 to how two men’s video game obsession
have different effects because one is single and the other married. My favorite of this batch had a workman’s
repeatedly hiring a prostitute not for sex, but to fulfill his rigid fantasy
of having a long happy marriage, and then she rebels. (Aug 27) |
Pleasance Dome |
10:30-11:30 |
27 |
|
46. |
Foursome (****) This light comedy has a
pharmacist, a sex obsessed buffoon, a hung over fellow, and his concerned
girlfriend, preparing for lunch with her mother. There is no new territory explored here,
nor great cleverness, but the show has a comfortable TV sitcom feel to
it. Though after 50 minutes, I started
to grow tired of hearing of the buffoon’s sexual missteps, I could appreciate
his reasoning when he told a woman that she was a better lover than her
non-existent sister was. (Aug 12) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
20:50-21:40 |
12 |
|
47. |
The Overcoat (****) The cast of five transpose
Gogol’s short story of a socially inept clerk, Akaky, who becomes obsessed
with purchasing an overcoat to the modern banking world with its
technological advancements and dubious financial innovations. His continual mastery of each new computer
improvement is a nice interpretation of the original protagonist’s mastery of
copying documents. His ensnarement in
the financial crisis is also a creative parallel to the original Akaky’s
trouble with an insecure general. (Aug
28) |
Pleasance Dome |
12:25-13:45 |
28 |
|
48. |
The Butterfly Effect (****) Three middle aged Swedish
gentlemen present a wonderful array of tunes played instruments created from
everyday objects as well as a piano and an accordion. With one man providing percussion and
innumerable sound effects with his mouth, another singing and playing a
radio-ski slide guitar and bicycle harp, and the third hippy providing comic
relief as well as playing almost anything, this playful trio kept us smiling
throughout. The purity of sound
produced when one fellow rubbed more than 20 partially filled tumblers made
one Telemann piece surprisingly affecting.
(Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
11:15-12:00 |
7 |
|
49. |
Dust (****) As he is writing a book about
the 1984 miners’ strike under Margaret Thatcher, Arthur Scargill, the union’s
leader, is confronted by a fellow leader who personally suffered from the
repercussions of the strike. This show
endeavors to both teach political history as well as conveys the individual
suffering of the miners. I was a bit
confused about a key mine accident. I
spoke with a miner in the audience who had been with Scargill when the famous
strike photo was taken, and he said he did not like the play because he
rejected the portrayal of Scargill.
(Aug 18) |
New Town Theatre |
15:30-16:50 |
18 |
|
50. |
Two by Jim Cartwright
(****) A man and woman play the
estranged owners of a pub, as well as their many patrons. The vignettes range from domestic abuse to
a loving couple sharing a Western on the TV to and unfaithful rake trying to
wheedle money from soft touch girlfriend.
The explanation behind the couple’s constant bickering was troubling
because it takes them seven years to finally talk about it. (Aug 15) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
10:30-11:25 |
15 |
|
51. |
The Adventures of Alvin
Sputnik (****) The Earth is covered with
water, and a widower signs up to find an air pocket of vegetated land at the
bottom of the ocean. The one-man show
has the aquanaut puppet passing in and out of a projected screen that
sometimes displays the whole story as a cartoon, and sometimes just provides
the seascape for the real puppet. The
show has an extra dimension of tenderness because he chases the light of the
soul of his wife, which ends up guiding him on his quest. (Aug 12) |
Underbelly |
18:00-19:00 |
12 |
|
52. |
Ruby Wax: Losing It (****) With the help of her piano
accompanist, the comedienne explores her battle with depression throughout
her life. She has written a show that
maintains its good humor throughout her journey as we learn of her voice of
belittlement in her ever-busy life and her experiences in treatment
centers. She argues persuasively that
mental disease should not be shameful, and that, with one in four suffering
from it, sufferers should seek out other depressed people as well as therapy
to help them realize that they are not bad.
(Aug 11) |
Udderbelly |
16:10-17:30 |
11 |
|
53. |
One Night Stan (****) In 1954, after hearing that
Oliver Hardy is seriously ill, Stan Laurel sits in his dressing room and
describes his professional life.
Though most of the names of the performers are unfamiliar, it does not
detract from his thesis that Laurel needed a partner to help him create an
enduring character for film based on the low comedy of the 1910’s English
music halls owned by his father. I
learned that Laurel did much of the early production work while Hardy golfed,
and that Laurel thought the later orders to eliminate his pancake make-up
made the gags less funny because he looked less childlike. (Aug 3) |
Assembly George Square |
15:45-16:45 |
3 |
|
54. |
Confessions of a Mormon Boy
(****) Steven Fales tells of his
life as a gay boy battling his sexuality within the Church of Latter Day
Saints, and his life as a prostitute afterwards. Fales is a gifted singer, and this is a
clear, forthright tale of man who worked hard to mold himself to a
unaccepting system, and then using that same industry to provide for his
family in a most antithetical way.
Fales still embodies the traditional Mormon value for his family, but
he readily admits that the ever present Mormon smile has left him at
times. (Aug 26) |
Hill Street Theater |
21:00-22:30 |
26 |
|
55. |
The Trials of Galileo
(****) Galileo describes his
Inquisition trial for violating an edict that proscribed advocating
Copernicus’ theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. During his thorough discourse he covers the
effects of the rack, his own astronomical studies, his friendly meetings with
Pope Urban, and the legal maneuvering during the trial. All the pieces fit nicely together to
explain the verdict and his ingenious recanting. (Aug 27) |
C Aquila |
18:50-20:05 |
27 |
|
56. |
Rose (****) As she attending her
immigrant father in the hospital, a woman relives their life together in a
bedsit. His portrayal as a troubled
father trying to sternly guide his daughter in a new culture drives the play. Her development, in two-year installments,
works well except that her religious conversion shows up only
intermittently (Aug 29). |
Pleasance Courtyard |
17:25-18:35 |
29 |
|
57. |
Paul Daniels: Hair Today,
Gone Tomorrow (****) Daniels presents age-old tricks
almost identical to the other five magic acts I’ve seen this year, except for
Barry and Stuart who create new tricks.
With such a range of tricks available, why does every act have an
audience member sign a card, then have the card show up in some impossible
place? What separates Daniels from the
others is his smooth, friendly veteran patter that allows him to be both
clever, and interact with the audience in more than a superficial way. (Aug 16) |
Assembly George Square |
17:00-1800 |
16 |
|
58. |
Oedipus by Steven Berkoff
(****) The Oedipus, the king of
Thebes, must lift the curse on his city by finding the murderer of his
predecessor, who is himself. Berkoff’s
translation/interpretation and the fine acting makes the ancient Greek
tragedy accessible and powerful. I
loved how the messenger pranced around the table to indicate his journey, but
I hated how Jocasta constantly held her arms out as if she was a spirit and
not part of the rest of the characters.
(Aug 29) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:20-15:00 |
29 |
|
59. |
This abridged
version of the Dickens’ novel focuses on the interactions between the
protagonist Pip and the beautiful but remote Estella. The playwright does a fine job of
minimizing the outside scenes to only those that bear on Pip’s and Estella’s
romance so that there is enough time to fully render their dysfunctional
relationship over the first twenty years of the novel. We can feel how the both are hurt by her
upbringing. (Aug 17) |
Princes Mall |
16:45-17:45 |
17 |
|
60. |
The Table (****) This three (or is it four?)
part puppetry show starts with a great first act, and then tails off a
little. The first act has three men
controlling a puppet who describes himself and his table as well trying to interact
with a woman reading at the table. The
later white heads controlled by invisible hands act, and rolling credits are
fun, but not up to the originality of the table puppet. (Aug 19) |
Pleasance Dome |
22:00-23:00 |
19 |
|
61. |
Dances for Wolves (****) While five diverse
strippers compete for the attention of sheik, they describe their lives and
say what is going through their minds.
They often tell of their thoughts by providing clever alternative lyrics
to famous stripping songs. Most men in
the audience are singled out and described as the repulsive wolves the women
encounter in their club. (Aug 20) |
C Aquila |
21:30-22:20 |
20 |
|
62. |
Your Last Breath (****) This devised piece cycles
through four stories set at different times in Norway based on the medical
and frigid characteristics of a real 1999 skiing accident that involved
suspended animation. My favorite story
at times utilized two sets of clothes lines to form a huge grid while an
English cartographer maps the minimally hospitable north of the country in
1876. Surprisingly, I found the story
about the accident itself, the least appealing because of its reliance on
repetitive physical theater. (Aug 13) |
Pleasance Dome |
12:15-13:25 |
13 |
|
63. |
Barry and Stuart – Show and
Tell: The Show (****) The young magicians provide
a good show with a variety of tricks ranging from mentalism to sleight of
hand to escaping bonds. They are
excellent entertainers that know how to dress up a trick to make it even more
appealing to the audience. As someone
who has studied magic, I could figure out almost of them, except when they
poured previously tasted bottled water into a glass, and it became real red
wine. You must see this show to see
their five star show “Barry and Stuart – Show and Tell: The Tell” that is
reviewed above. (Aug 12) |
Udderbelly’s Pasture |
22:15-23:15 |
12 |
|
64. |
Bespoke Magic – On the
Fringe of Reality (****) Bruce Glen, the self-ascribed
Gentleman Magician, performs a nice range of magic tricks while using a
quiet, gentle patter. Though most of
his tricks are from the traditional bag, he deserves high marks for avoiding
almost all of the tricks that the other magicians at the Fringe are
doing. I still don’t know how he
touched one audience member, and had another feel it. (Aug 18) |
C Aquila |
18:10-19:10 |
18 |
|
65. |
Bashir Lazhar (****) Bashir is an Algerian
immigrant who takes over teaching a 6th grade class when their teacher
commits suicide. As he tries to help
the students deal with violence in their world, he must deal with the
physical violence of his homeland, and the political violence of his new
school. As a lecturer, I found his
enthusiastic lesson plans appealing, but his writing on his clothes with
chalk a distracting artifice. (Aug 21) |
Assembly George Square |
14:25-15:25 |
21 |
|
66. |
Free Run (****) Seven fellows and one weak
woman run, jump, and flip around a set of four large boxes of varying heights
while videos play on the huge back screen.
After the first five minutes, I realized that while quite athletic,
the range of tricks was surprisingly narrow.
The best scene was having four runners chased around the whole
auditorium by two hunters, but it ended badly when the runners are cornered,
tension mounts as we wonder how they will escape, and then the lights just go
out. (Aug 3) |
Udderbelly |
18:20-19:20 |
3 |
|
67. |
Dusk Rings a Bell (****) A 39-year old woman returns
to a beach house to retrieve a hidden piece of memorabilia, and meets an old
flame who is an ex-con who is still dealing with his crime. The whole play gets off on the wrong foot
with the woman giving a long, elaborate soliloquy describing her life, but lacking
any emotional content. The fellow’s
lines are much better written, and delivered with a sincerity that gives
power to the later scenes when the pair interacts. (Aug 3) |
Assembly George Square |
14:00-15:20 |
3 |
|
68. |
Phys
Ed (****) Neville,
the twin brother of a world famous rugby player, coaches his young team
toward the English School Rugby Invitational Cup while describing his own
childhood. This lighthearted tale
finds a rich source of material in the brothers’ problem of bed wetting that
well serves the story’s well-designed ending.
As a Sean Connery fan, I particularly liked his send up of Connery as
King Arthur in “First Knight” when describing Neville’s pursuit of his own
holy grail. (Aug 4) |
Assembly Hall |
16:15-17:15 |
4 |
|
69. |
Vertigo (****) This has the premise that
two plays were scheduled for the same time in the Bedlam so the two actors
alternate presenting one shallow play about the man’s fears based on
questionnaires and his experiences, and another about a woman’s search to
re-capture a once experienced emotion.
This is a slight play, but the sincerity of her search, and a plot
twist at the end, really warmed my heart.
Her constantly backpacked stepladder provided a prop metaphor for her
efforts to reach a higher plane. (Aug
8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
15:25-16:05 |
8 |
|
70. |
The Return of the Pink
Sinatra (****) Scott Free dons a pink
suit, and backed with a quartet sings a wide range of pop songs that Frank
Sinatra might have chosen. While last
year he was a fine Sinatra imitator, this year he eschewed Frank’s mannerisms
for my references to his own homosexuality, and expanded the set to include
songs from the likes of Sting and the Beatles. The band is tight, and Free’s voice has a
Boy George clarity that saunters through all of the songs with ease. (Aug 6) |
St George’s West |
18:55-20:05 |
6 |
|
71. |
Matilda and the Tales She
Told (****) While their uncle and
auntie are away for the evening, little Matilda and her “perfect” brother explore
Matilda’s imaginary world with the help of her doll. The performers wear colorful music hall
face make-up, often speak in rhyme, and occasionally break into short
songs. Though the children in the
audience were generally attentive, I thought the vocabulary is a little
advanced, and the rhyming words not accentuated enough. (Aug 4) |
Udderbelly’s Pasture |
12:15-13:15 |
4 |
|
72. |
Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat
(****) Four fellows perform songs
with odd lyrics in classic rock style.
This is the third time I’ve seen this humorous act, but it seemed
curiously formulaic this time. While
they had me smiling throughout, this time songs like one about a man denying
his sea kayak expertise seemed high on concept and music, but lacked truly
witty rhyming lyrics. (Aug 4) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
22:30-23:30 |
4 |
|
73. |
Jus’ Like That! (****) This play begins with the
magician/comedian of the 1940’s-1980’s drinking heavily backstage while
complaining about his wife in one-liners, and then moves on to his stage act. Because of the original backstage scene, I
thought that the play would be more about his life, or at least bookended
with some biographical notes, but it was not.
Nonetheless, from Clive Mantle’s portrayal I can see how the Brits
came to enjoy the wisecracking, bumbling, but adept magician. (Aug 5) |
Assembly Hall |
17:30-18:55 |
5 |
|
74. |
Scary Gorgeous (****) This tells the stories of a
woman asking another female bartender to join her new band as a back-up
vocalist, while a pair of 19-year old lovers explore sex. The acting throughout as well as the early
modern dances and rock songs are all great, but their later, louder songs
have unintelligible lyrics and less melody, and a later sailor dance piece
often reprises moves seen earlier. The
story of the sexualization of music and its impact on its listeners and its
performers is quite powerful. If I had
thought that the degraded later performances were intentional, then I would
say this is the best play at the Fringe, but the actual selling of CDs of the
score argues against it. (Aug 10) |
Bedlam Theatre |
21:00-22:30 |
10 |
|
75. |
Transformer (****) Three young fellows provide
sketch comedy on a wide range of topics.
I was quite pleasantly surprised that they avoided sex and drugs as
topics, while producing countless consistently funny short routines. Two days later, none is memorable, which is
the price paid for short sketches, but I still remember that one actor had
perfected his use of an arched eyebrow to great effect. (Aug 8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
18:00-18:50 |
8 |
|
76. |
The Prodigals (****) The older son of a colonel
follows the family tradition of military service, but the younger rejects it
and becomes a pop sensation in the drug infested world of rock and roll. Unfortunately, the musical suffers from
raised expectations as the enthusiastic, upbeat opening pop show songs and
dances are unmatched by the remaining slow ballads that focus on regrets and
despair. The show sinks as it has a
reprised ballad that tries to use the prosaic word “invisible” in its key
phrase, and turns what could be rousing military anthems into somber
dirges. (Aug 15) |
Gilded Balloon |
17:00-18:00 |
15 |
|
77. |
Show Me the World (****) The Glastonbury Festival is
the final destination for three rotating, independent stories: a closeted gay
high school student trying to come out, a bartender’s son whose longtime
girlfriend is leaving for South America, and a reserved young woman who has forgotten
how to live outside of work. All of
the stories have Facebook revelations that have devastating
consequences. The opening crowd scene
was too loud for me to understand their words in the reverberating Iron
Belly, but, thankfully, later scenes involved few people who only rarely
raised their voices too far. (Aug 17) |
Underbelly |
12:00-13:15 |
17 |
|
78. |
The Oxford Imps (****) Six men and two women
improvise skits based on audience suggestions. In most cases, the team created funny pieces,
though their disparate skill was plainly evident as some excelled, and others
often faltered. One fellow in
particular could create germane rhyming verse with seeming ease. (Aug 9) |
Gilded Balloon |
15:45-16:35 |
9 |
|
79. |
Tomboy Blues : The Theory
of Disappointment (****) Use clothes as a
touchstone, two women of radically different heights explore the difficulties
they had growing up as tomboys. From
the opening scene of a clothesline of panties ranging from pedestrian cotton
to G-String, the actresses maintain a light touch as they relate their
challenges to proclaim their identities.
I felt that they had focused only on lesbian tomboys for which there
is a social model while ignoring the more ambiguous position of a
heterosexual tomboy. (Aug 15) |
Zoo Southside |
18:30-19:30 |
15 |
|
80. |
Free Time Radical (****) Ali takes in his surfer
buddy Justin becomes homeless when a tsunami hits London, and most of the
city remains underwater. This odd mix
of scheduling the remaining food, surfing among the dead, monopoly, and
slowly emerging regrets is a little too surreal to be as touching as it could
be. The opening twin montages of the
men’s lives in picture-framed monitors are cleverly artistic and
prophetic. (Aug 15) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:10-14:20 |
15 |
|
81. |
The Animals and Children
Took o the Streets (****) A young woman and her
daughter move into a tenement in the slums of a city with the goal of helping
the children who run amok each night.
The three actresses interact with the full backdrop video screen
cartoon in many creative ways, including pushing a real broom that creates
animated dust. The style is fantastic,
but the story is depressing, and a bit thin.
(Aug 27) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:10-17:20 |
27 |
|
82. |
A Dish of Tea with Dr.
Johnson (****) Dr. Johnson, the English
genius of the mid 18th century fills his conversation with
aphorisms as he chats with his biographer James Boswell, the object of his
affections Mrs. Thrale, and a few luminaries of his time. Johnson’s wit permeates the play as we also
see his mixture of rough criticism and tenderness with the one drawback being
two substitute actors reading from scripts.
I was singled out and offered a real cup of tea, and so I actually had
a dish of tea with Dr. Johnson! (Aug
27) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
27 |
|
83. |
Swamp Juice (****) Jeff Achtem returns with a
shadow puppet show quite similar to his wonderfully creative “Sticks, Stones,
Broken Bones” of last year. While the
show on the screen can be fun at times, it seems that, even with 3-D, he has
exhausted his creativity. The actual
puppets are no longer whimsical amalgams of objects used to create surprising
shadows, and most of the acts, particularly the 3-D and audience
participation scenes, lose their novelty well before they end. (Aug 17) |
Underbelly |
14:00-15:00 |
17 |
|
84. |
The Sexual Awakening of
Peter Mayo (****) Peter, a 23-year old almost
virgins nerd, by accident follows a text message and befriends Dan who
introduces him to the world of online no strings attached one-night
stands. Dan provides Peter and us with
a thorough description of the mechanics of this subculture, while Peter demonstrates
the loveless nature of the arranged sex.
While Peter’s initial lack of confidence and ineptness is
understandable, his later awkward kissing with a repeated sex partner did not
jibe with his purported social overconfidence. (Aug 20) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
14:45-15:45 |
20 |
|
85. |
Somewhere Beneath It All, A
Small Fire Burns Still (****) The comedian Phil Nichol
begins this dynamic and touching story playing a man who imagines fantastical
sexual experiences with a waitress when all she is really doing is serving
him. His high energy quick delivery is
almost overwhelming, but a mid-show interlude provides a twist that adds
tremendous poignancy to the whole show.
I would have enjoyed this more had he not decided to stop the show and
pick on me after I had surreptitiously turned off the ringer of my cell
phone. (Afterwards, the people around
me had said they had thought he was joking because they had not noticed me
doing anything.) Of course, he was
thinking I was texting, but I still think it was unprofessional of him in a
non-stand-up comedy setting. (Aug 23) |
Gilded Balloon |
12:00-13:00 |
23 |
|
86. |
Encounters: Theater Uncut
(****) Actors read the scripts of
eight short plays ranging from allegory to polemic that all address the
recent large budget cuts by the UK government. The presence of the scripts was a minimal
distraction because all of the actors provided pitch perfect readings. While the allegory of a healthy man having
heart surgery was the most touching, the most amusing was a black comedy of a
hard hearted couple dealing with their arthritic cat by “helping” her by
placing her food at the top of some stairs.
(Aug 22) |
Traverse |
15:00-17:00 |
22 |
|
87. |
Anton’s Uncles (****) Though this has men based
on characters from Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” since I have not seen that play
for a long time, this show had to stand on its own. From the beginning, the cast established
that clever music and dance would be an integral part of the play. Their interactions with unseen characters
allowed the play to draw in the drama of Chekhov’s play. Those people in the audience who remembered
“Uncle Vanya” well, consistently said they would give the play five
stars. (Aug 8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
14:00-15:05 |
8 |
|
88. |
The American Family (***) A huge cast from two
universities on different coasts presents a pastiche of vignettes from all
aspects of American family life. This
derived piece has the concomitant strength of imaginative staging and
vignettes, but attending lack of structure and plot. The bookends of the play are a perfect
example with their metaphor of fabric sacs containing American family gametes
that emerge at the end as (needlessly topless) young American families
without any pattern of growth in the intervening time. (Aug 9) |
theSpace at North Bridge |
22:15-23:05 |
9 |
|
89. |
The Wright Brothers (***) The two brothers lecture on
their four year effort to create a heavy-than-air aircraft. While the interesting facts of their work
are here, the drama of the two different men and their efforts is not. Particularly troubling is the too small video
screen that made significant images quite difficult to see. (Aug 26) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:30-14:30 |
26 |
|
90. |
Darkness (***) A Croatian fellow applies
to work as a lumberjack for his English girlfriend’s fundamentalist Christian
family. The play tries to treat the
mini-sect with an even hand as we hear of their strong beliefs, and see that
they are sincere, and not hypocrites.
However, the unnecessary introduction of a top hat and Cliff Richard’s
white shoes undermines these efforts and the play’s potential drama. (Aug 16) |
Zoo Roxy |
15:30-16:35 |
16 |
|
91. |
Timothy (***) This comedy has a wife
summon her two close friends to help her figure how to deal with a situation
that she perceives will threaten her marriage. The bulk of the humor derives from the
women repeatedly jumping to conclusions based on the flimsiest evidence. Though the final scene invites the audience
to make a similar leap, I was unwilling to take it. (Aug 9) |
Bedlam Theatre |
10:00-10:45 |
9 |
|
92. |
After interviewing thirteen people, Adelind Horan
recreates them using their own words to describe the devastation and
remediation efforts of coal mining in Appalachia. The banjo accompanist and her attempts at
rendering the Appalachian accents help to set the Kentucky settings. Though the play definitely has an anti-coal
tilt, she does provide a couple pro-coal responses. (Aug 28) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
14:15-15:15 |
28 |
|
93. |
Death Song (***) As an illegal Mexican
immigrant waits on death row in Nevada we also see his last free year
recounted. This protective father, his
British advocate, his secluded but curious daughter, his new Southern
girlfriend, and the slightly slimy Mexican repairman all interact
beautifully. However, the wandering
through the audience makes the actors difficult to see, and the final plot
twisting criminal act makes the advocate’s actions unreasonable in
retrospect. (Aug 19) |
Underbelly |
18:35-19:35 |
19 |
|
94. |
Liberace: Live From Heaven
(***) Bobby Crush dons the trademark
sequin and fur costumes of Liberace, in this tribute to the closeted gay TV
pianist who was the highest paid entertainer in the world in the 1950s. Crush does a good, but not great, job of
playing the piano and assuming Liberace’s flamboyant persona. The overload accompanying music and his
overuse of the sustain pedal muddied much of the performance, with only his
final, unaccompanied, medley of ten songs suggested by the audience
impressing me. (Aug 11) |
Assembly George Square |
18:25-19:55 |
11 |
|
95. |
What Remains (***) This site specific show has
each member of the audience apply for acceptance into The Conservatoire of
the Anatomy of Music, while we trace the horrific experience of one of the
students. While the macabre ambience was
maintained throughout the production, the piece felt disjoint and
unfocused—more into atmospherics than a more engaging murder mystery at which
it hinted. The final scene is quite
memorable because it is set in a museum room with huge iron gates and two
elephant skeletons flanking the protagonist’s strange piano. (Aug 16) |
Travers at University of
Edinburgh Medical |
21:30-22:30 |
16 |
|
96. |
Blues! (***) An eleven piece band
presents a history the blues from the 1930’s to the 1990’s. The show is informative, and the band is
good, though a bit too reserved at times, with one female singer and a lead
guitarist clearly standing out. I do
wish they had stuck to strict chronological order rather than postponing Muddy
Waters and the topic of women. (Aug 5) |
theSpace on Niddry St |
20:55-21:55 |
5 |
|
97. |
Debbie Does Dad (***) The Bobby Gordon, the
25-year old of .a famous porn star of 1970s, describes how his father’s
profession affected him and his family.
Though Bobby made it abundantly clear that his father was a loving
husband and father, his fame and profession did have some unusual
consequences for the son. Gordon does
a fine job of mining the humor of the fatherly advice of “Grab your dick” in
times of trouble, and Bobby’s own sexual performance anxiety, but the final
politically correct manifesto for male sensitivity deflates the show. (Aug 8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
23:00-0:00 |
8 |
|
98. |
Mr Kolpert (***) An effete couple invites another
couple to dinner so they can watch the guests come to terms with the hosts’
hint that there is a dead body in a steamer trunk/table. This black comedy has the intial scene with
the hosts demonstrating just the right air of superiority and lust to give
this retelling of Hitchcock’s “Rope” a good start, but the guests seem a
mismatched couple from the moment they entered. As the show continues, this becomes a dark
farce that unsuccessfully mixes murder with self-realization. (Aug 20) |
C soco |
18:40-19:40 |
20 |
|
99. |
Pete Firman: Jiggery
Pokery (***) Firman mixes some time worn
tricks with a couple of new ones. I
must admit that this is my fifth magic show, and I am getting tired of seeing
a selected card palmed. and then reappear some “impossible” place. However, I am still impressed with the
mentalist routine of knowing a book so well that he can recall words from a
specific page. (Aug 15) |
Pleasance Dome |
20:30-21:30 |
15 |
|
100.
|
Now That She’s Gone (***) This autobiographic tale
has Ellen Snortland describing her life in terms of her
interactions with her emotionally remote Norwegian mother. From discovering the sexual joys of her
father’s vibrating recliner to directing TV shows to her participation in
est, Ellen has lived a varied and interesting life, but she seems more a
braggart than an entertainer. At one
point, she performs a long medley of mostly obscure show tunes that are not
so much for our benefit, but to “prove” the range of her talents. (Aug 4) |
Assembly Hall |
17:30-18:30 |
4 |
|
101.
|
Devil in the Detail (***) All of the characters wear
huge, expressive masks and did not speak in this story of a devious landlady
has a Mafia accountant, and a night watchman pay rent for the same room. The idea of taking a picture of the room of
the just departed occupant and then recreating the room of the arriving
tenant is wonderful to see once, but by the fourth time I cringed. The surreal masks, particularly that of the
landlady and night watchman, are a marvel because though they never change,
they seem to perfectly reflect the emotional state of their characters
throughout the play. (Aug 13) |
Zoo Roxy |
18:00-19:20 |
13 |
|
102.
|
Tonight Sandy Grierson Will
Lecture, Dance, and Box (***) Grierson follows the
adventures of Arthur Craven, his great grandfather, as he takes on varied
professions as varied as boxer to painter while seducing everything in
sight. Grierson gets the audience
involved by asking them to both take on undaunting roles of people in
Arthur’s life as well as each fold an origami shape from a sheet of facts on
Craven. The show works pretty well,
with even a real 1916 film clip of the short Craven ineffectively boxing with
a giant, but Grierson’s repeated assertion that he met Craven in 2010
continually discredits the story. (Aug
9) |
Assembly George Square |
19:50-20:50 |
9 |
|
103.
|
To Avoid Precipice Cling to
Rock (***) Eight young women form an
expedition to reach a high precipice into which their friend had fallen the
previous year. Entertaining, upbeat
songs and dances intersperse their monologues and interactions with spirits
of the mountains. I liked their
twinned takes on their lost friend, but found some of the spirit scenes
underwhelming. (Aug 8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
16:30-17:30 |
8 |
|
104.
|
Translator’s
Dilemma (***) A woman gives a
lecture on legal translation for a friend, and finds that she has a personal
interest in the case discussed in her friend’s notes. The setting is perfect for presenting the
facts of this real case of corporate asbestos poisoning, and the lecturer’s
initial fumbling with the lighting matched my own experiences. However, the script loses legal and
emotional focus when the lecturer starts to abuse a student volunteer. (Aug 19) |
Princes Mall |
13:00-14:00 |
19 |
|
105.
|
Diamond Dick
(***) On a hot set,
it’s been a long day in pancake makeup as a disgruntled cast makes a 1930s
movie revolving around a pair of rich siblings and the aftermath of World War
I. The script and cast of characters
of the movie fell nicely in line with the films of that time, but the off
screen scenes added little, and made the whole show seem long. I had a particular problem with Miss Lane
because she seemed like an old veteran off screen, but played a 19 year old
in the movie. (Aug 13) |
C soco |
19:30-20:20 |
13 |
|
106.
|
Penny
Dreadful's Etherdome (***) Based on true stories, in
the middle of the nineteenth century, a professor, an inventor, and a sly
businessman all vie to introduce the first anesthetic suitable for general
surgery. In typical Penny Dreadful
fashion, they use comedic melodrama to milk every possible horrific event for
all its worth. When I researched the
topic after the play, I was surprised to find that almost all of the events
depicted had happened, including petitions to Congress, misapplied ether, and
chloroform induced crimes by a gentle dentist. (Aug 9) |
Assembly George Square |
14:10-15:20 |
9 |
|
107.
|
The Oh F**k Moment (***) This site specific play
takes place in a meeting room with everyone sitting around a large table
while the two leaders guide us through exercises exploring the causes and
effects of our regrettable mistakes.
The two leaders were masterful in telling tales of both their own mistakes
and that of others as well as coaxing audience participation. However, their poems and efforts at
relieving guilt fell flat. (Aug 6) |
New Town Theater |
17:30-18:30 |
6 |
|
108.
|
Kitty Litter (***) After a druggy fight, Don kidnaps
a sexual assaulter, and then his four friends must deal with a manic
Don. The playwrights choice to
constantly jump around both temporally and physically throughout the play
adds unnecessary confusion to the play.
However, a similar technique where the cast trade earlier lines works
well to convey Don losing his sanity.
(Aug 5) |
theSpaces on the Mile |
11:00-12:00 |
5 |
|
109.
|
Hex (***) Against her doubtful
husband’s advice, a new age wife invites a pair of healers to their house to help
them with their problem. The first
half of the play is pretty mundane, but a sudden plot twist changes
everything and it becomes a joy to watch.
The opening act weakens the play when the otherwise considerate
husband intentionally terminates his wife’s meditation for a less than urgent
question, and then seemingly accuses her of insanity when he finds cabbage
inside the sofa. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
21:25-22:15 |
7 |
|
110.
|
Spielpalast Cabaret (***) This is a classic softcore
cabaret with a lewd emcee, a wide range of scantily clad young women, and a
small band. From fan dances to double
entendre songs, this is good amateur fun from the early part of the last
century. The variety of body types of
the women provided a nice change from the uniform tall, slender showgirls of
today’s Las Vegas. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
22:45-0:00 |
7 |
|
111.
|
Recursion (***) An amnesiac in a hospital
for the insane is aided by an obsessive-compulsive woman, as he writes a play
about a couple in a strained marriage.
I chose this play because “recursion”, a function that calls itself,
is an important concept in computer science, my field. While the play does a good job of
translating the concept to a life, it also suffers from the necessary
simplicity of such functions, which in this case are life events. (Aug 10) |
C soco |
16:30-17:15 |
10 |
|
112.
|
One Million Tiny Plays
about Britain (***) This site-specific show could
have taken place on any stage and present very short slices of current
British life. Most of the vignettes
were entertaining, but there a few that fell flat. Most memorable was where a fellow was
reading a book in a park and mother accuses him of being a pedophile. (Aug 27) |
Hill Street Theatre |
14:00-15:15 |
27 |
|
113.
|
The Historians (***) Two daughters of petty
criminals, nicknamed Mucker and Chucker, tell of the history of Halifax and
their lives growing up essentially fatherless there. Like the home town they describe, there
seems to be nothing special in the events in their lives. This is just an unremarkable story of two
girls sharing life and loves until they part company when they reach
adulthood. (Aug 18) |
Underbelly |
12:05-13:05 |
18 |
|
114.
|
The Seagull Effect (***) The unexpected hurricane of
1987 that wrecked havoc on the Southeast of England serves as the backdrop
for a treatise on the unpredictability of life. The ongoing story of an unexpected reunion
of ex-lovers seemed mundane and predictable.
They did make good use of umbrellas throughout the show, and I did
like the historical videos, though I think images of the devastation would
have helped. (Aug 24) |
Zoo Roxy |
16:20-17:20 |
24 |
|
115.
|
The World According to
Bertie (***) A young boy must deal with
an overprotective politically correct mother while other unrelated love
stories abound. The ever honest Bertie
character was adorable and fun whenever he had a scene, but the rest of the characters
seemed two-dimensional. Though having
the audience bunched in a circle with the play happening around them is a
novel idea, it made for difficult hearing at times in the reverberating
room. (Aug 29) |
C soco |
19:20-20:40 |
29 |
|
116.
|
Rain (***) A collector of rain from
around the world and his daughter offer samples and folk tales involving
rain. The pair’s expertise in
identifying rain sets a wonderful tone, but the explanation of how the
mother’s absence is justified to the daughter left me wishing they had
explored that back story more. Part of
the charm of this piece is that is performed outside under a roof of
umbrellas, and with walls covered with little jars of water each labeled with
location, type of rain, and time. (Aug
20) |
C Chambers St. |
17:15-18:15 |
20 |
|
117.
|
Unnatural Selection (***) A couple try to find the
vampires that bit them so that they can get revenge, and maybe change their
plight. As the director notes, this
has some cinematic quality, complete with strobe lit fight scenes, but there
are too many inconsistencies in the story.
For example, we see an important archivist escape from the vampires’
clutches, and yet we hear nothing of this later when they are speaking of
him. (Aug 12) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
19:30-20:35 |
12 |
|
118.
|
7 Day Drunk (***) Bryony Kimmings describes a
scientific experiment in which she was given progressively more alcohol over
a seven day period to see how it affected her creativity and moods. The idea was great, and some of the videos
of the week provide insight into her experience, but the balance of the show
seems a mish mash of ideas. I think
that people who have seen Kimmings before appreciated the very personable
performer much more than did I. (Aug
20) |
Assembly George Square |
20:00-21:00 |
20 |
|
119.
|
The Wheel (***) In this large production, a
woman takes a young girl through war ravaged areas to find her father. The play uses the slow appearance the
girl’s mystical qualities to explore diverse aspects of desperation found in
war including profiteering, torture, and famine. The big problem for this overlong play is
that its meaning eludes me still. (Aug
11) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
11 |
|
120.
|
I Hope My Heart Goes First
(***) A huge cast of high school
students dance and sing about the heart and love. Though there is a purity here, this still
feels like a show where anyone who applied had to be included. The initial group jumping to symbolize the
heart racing of new love was a nice idea, but by the third go around it had
no power except to make me look at my watch.
Again, my companion loved the show, and would give it five stars. (Aug 16) |
St. George’s West |
14:00-15:00 |
16 |
|
121.
|
The Carroll Myth (***) A manic Charles Dodgson
(Lewis Carroll) battles to keep a large cast of characters from “Alice in
Wonderland” from intruding on his real life efforts to continue to see the
eleven-year old Alice Liddell despite her parents concern. Though we do hear renditions of some of his
work, the play concentrates on his seemingly constant efforts to control the
appearance of his characters. The show
suffers from such a simple plot, and the cast’s inability to adjust their
volume to the small space. (Aug 10) |
Sweet Grassmarket |
19:10-20:25 |
10 |
|
122.
|
The Perils of Love and
Gravity (***) A naïve young woman who
grows up in a remote upside down pyramid shaped house discovers love. Her innocence, the quirky physical properties
of her house, and the sincerity of her tinker lover combine to create a
charming first act. From there, the
play confronts us with mundane repetition, a poor song, and a villainous
twist that add little. (Aug 8) |
Bedlam Theatre |
19:30-20:20 |
8 |
|
123.
|
Now is the Winter (***) Bess, a loyal cook of
Richard III, gives her view of the events portrayed in Shakespeare’s
play. This is a nice blend of imagined
“downstairs” gossip that seems fitting for a woman in her position, and some of
Shakespeare’s best prose. I wish I had
had the program of the play in the queue, so that I could have read the
synopsis of Richard III beforehand because it was hard to both keep track of
all the characters while at the same time dealing with the Shakespearean
manner of speech. (Aug 5) |
Assembly Hall |
12:30-13:30 |
5 |
|
124.
|
Lullabies of Broadmoor
(***) In 1872, in the Broadmoor
Hospital for the criminally insane, a guard tries to learn the reason the
great artist Richard Dadd murdered his father by introducing him to another
inmate who shares his interests in painting and Egyptology. Though each of the four players did a
superb job, the withdrawn schizophrenic personality of Dadd seems to permeate
the play, and I found my mind often wandered.
Because this was based on real people, I asked the playwright how much
was fact, and found out that some of the more intriguing details were his own
invention. (Aug 5) |
C Chamber St |
22:20-23:25 |
5 |
|
125.
|
Ethometric Museum (***) This site-specific play/installation
has the head of the museum give a short talk about “Ethos”, and allows the
audience into a museum of fabricate electrical instruments designed to
create, detect, and analyze its physical properties. Though the order of presentation of the
working instruments worked nicely as it went from mundane to extraordinary, I
felt that short lectures on each would added much to the show. Though each instrument had its label
dutifully inscribed in its Bakelite with its wonderfully scientific sounding
name, the dates in the 1700s made no sense for electrical instruments that
clearly were designed in the 1930s style.
(Aug 26) |
Hill Street Theatre |
18:00-18:40 |
26 |
|
126.
|
Magicians Do Exist (***) Chris Cresswell gives
examples and instructions on the style of the clown/filmmaker Jacques
Tati. Cresswell demonstrates how Tati
relied on silence and sound effects to find the humor in the small events of
life. Both my wife and I were invited
on stage to participate in scenes that conveyed everything without the need
for words. (Aug 26) |
Pleasance Dome |
12:10-13:00 |
26 |
|
127.
|
Silken Veils (***) A bride postpones her vows
while reliving her life in Iran. The
tale of the effects of revolutionary Iran’s on her passionate parents gets
muddled when a second family appears.
The use of marionettes and shadow screens also reduce the power of the
story. (Aug 28) |
Assembly George Square |
15:40-16:40 |
28 |
|
128.
|
Leo (***) With a suitcase, a two-walled
room, a horizontal “dangling” light, a video camera shooting from above
instead of horizontally, and a matching adjacent video screen, a man explores
the possibilities of the changed perspective of the camera. The first ten minutes are wonderful as he
learns to deal with a situation where gravity is not “down,” but to the right
on the video screen. However, the
remaining fifty minutes are filled with pale elaborations on the concept. (Aug 6) |
St George’s West |
20:30-21:30 |
6 |
|
129.
|
Manipulators (***) Two Australians perform
mostly sleight of hand tricks. These
fellows are pretty good, but I had seen almost all of their tricks many times
before, and could sometimes see the palmed objects. I must admit that I was a bit put off when
I walked in and discovered that one of the performers, Vyom Sharma, was the
annoying fellow in a queue and another show the night before. (Aug 13) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
20:35-21:25 |
13 |
|
130.
|
Simon Callow in Tuesdays at
Tescoes (***) An older transgender man
cares for his father on Tuesdays despite his father’s adamant refusal to
acknowledge the son’s gender choice.
It took me a while to become accustom to an obviously old man in drag,
but that was the point of this slow story of his travails. Because the character of the son often
spoke in quiet, short, severely clipped phrases with the last word
unintelligible, the whole play became a lot more work than it should have
been. (Aug 5) |
Assembly Hall |
14:00-15:15 |
5 |
|
131.
|
Mary Blandy’s Gallows Tree
(***) In 1752, on the day of her
hanging for poisoning her father, Mary Blandy still hopes that her lover will
arrive to exonerate her. This
one-woman show is a mix of the details of life in a 16th century
prison, and the particulars of Blandy’s own case. While I found the description of dreadful
prison fascinating, the mania of the desperately innocent Mary made the
disjoint tale both real and confusing.
(Aug 4) |
Sweet Grassmarket |
11:00-11:45 |
4 |
|
132.
|
Spent (***) The bankruptcy of Lehman
Brothers triggered the economic collapse, and serves as the starting point
for this series of chronological sketches.
The early sketches lampooning foreign correspondents and the president
of Lehman Brothers worked well, but the extended story of two traders that
survive their attempted suicides proved tedious to me. In particular, one scene where one of the
pair eats and defecates paper money seemed a sophomoric way to convey
avarice. (Aug 15) |
Pleasance Dome |
14:55-16:00 |
15 |
|
133.
|
Meryl O’Rourke – Bad Mother
… (***) O’Rourke provides standup
detailing her life as the child of an old Irishman and, more importantly a
Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany.
Meryl wastes time trying to get the afternoon audience prepared for
her swearing laced routine, when she would have been better served to get
started with eccentric family. The
stories of her mother’s obsession with TV stars, including writing letters
using Meryl’s name, are quite humorous, and I am surprised to see that she
has not learned that all the “f**king” actually detracts from her
stories. (Aug 10) |
Underbelly |
14:45-15:45 |
10 |
|
134.
|
Sailing On (***) This site-specific play
takes place in the ladies loos in the New Town Theater where the ghosts of
Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Virginia Wolfe try to help a woman deal with a
tragic event in her past. It surprised
me how much could be done in a three stall bathroom despite a crowd of six
people. Though both the story and
props were minimalist, the three of us audience members had a good time
drawing each other’s attention to some muted aspect of the play. (Aug 6) |
New Town Theater |
16:15-17:00 |
6 |
|
135.
|
I, the Dictator (***) In 1939, a Polish tap dancer
who is making a movie using swastikas and Hitler’s toothbrush moustache is
approached by a German producer offers to buy the movie and put the dancer
under contract. Though the insidious
efforts at Nazi hegemony permeate the one-man show, the personal conflict of
the dancer seems mild by comparison.
While I never understood why he spread body lotion on his arms and
face, worse yet was the fact that I was distracted by a dab of lotion by his
right eye that he unknowingly never removed.
(Aug 18) |
New Town Theater |
14:00-15:00 |
18 |
|
136.
|
The Dark Philosophers (***) In the early 20th
century, Welsh coal miners must deal with a difficult life exacerbated by a
harsh mine manager. For me, the mix of
a huge puppet, masked Death/???, an occasional TV interview, and three
primary story lines was just too chaotic.
I did find the scenes with a miner’s wife the most compelling. Again, my companion found the show
wonderful. (Aug 14) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
14 |
|
137.
|
Man of Valour (***) On an empty stage, a mime
portrays a shy white collar man who deals with his own demons as he decides
whether to bury his estranged father’s ashes in his mother’s grave. When the settings conventional, like an
office, kitchen, or train, I could usually understand and enjoy this
performance, but other times, particularly when he enters his video game
world, I became lost and tired of trying to understand his movements. The three other men of my generation with
me had the same problem, but younger, more video game savvy loved it
throughout. (Aug 11) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
11 |
|
138.
|
Some Small Love Story (***) This is somewhat
embarrassing, but after two days and a foggy mind from a cold, I remember nothing
of this play except that I thought it earned a low three stars, and the
lyrics were poor. (Aug 8) |
C eca |
21:30-22:25 |
8 |
|
139.
|
Paper Tom (***) A soldier in World War I,
and another in Afghanistan lose comrades in their wars, and cannot integrate
back into society upon their return.
While stories of Post Traumatic Stress Diagnosis are always touching,
this somber show covers little new territory.
The scenes of folding origami swans at the beginning, middle, and end,
do work well in their contexts of loss, estrangement, and the start of
healing. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
12:30-13:45 |
7 |
|
140.
|
Viewless (***) We watch as two
bureaucratic policemen of a bizarre witness protection agency create identities,
and then walk a witness through the entire weird process. Their surrealistic world begins with one
bureaucrat peering out of a satchel and continues with countless inexplicable
events including them breaking into dance on an elevator, and a window into a
world of white noise. The play does
have the witness processing as a plot, but no sense of purpose. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
18:30-19:45 |
7 |
|
141.
|
Bette and Joan – The Final
Curtain (***) Hedda Hopper and Louella
Perkins order the ghost of Joan Crawford to guide the ever irascible, but
dying, Bette Davis to the afterlife.
All too often this premise interrupted the interesting comparison of
the “actress,” and the ”movie star.”
When the overload video of the gossips columnist appeared the show
would drag, but the pace would quicken when the rivals would simultaneously
describe the parallel events in their lives with just a few critical words
different. (Aug 3) |
Assembly George Square |
12:15-13:35 |
3 |
|
142.
|
What Goes Up (***) A woman, her new male
friend, and her son go camping, and deal with the logistics of camping and
introducing the son to the man. The
character of the mother seemed a fine mix of caring and competence, but the
play provides no explanation of why the man had become so incompetent and
mentally troubled. I admire the cast
for managing scenes while erecting and collapsing the unwieldy tent right on
the stage. (Aug 14) |
C soco |
22:45-23:45 |
14 |
|
143.
|
Mr. Darwin’s Tree (***) Murray Watts presents Charles
Darwin’s life including his voyage on the HMS Beagle, marriage to his devout
wife, Emma, long delayed publication of “On the Origin of Species,” and his
final internment in Westminster Abbey.
While this is a fairly thorough biography it is too dry as we learn of
his deeds, but not the human being.
For example, Watts tells us Darwin hesitated publishing his theory for
fear it would strengthen the arguments of atheist, but Watts takes little
time to explore Darwin’s turmoil. (Aug
20) |
The Playhouse at Hawke and
Hunter |
12:00-13:10 |
20 |
|
144.
|
Criminy (***) After a series of tussles
over bank plans and maps, three strangers agree to join forces to rob a
bank. This show follows the form of
slapstick silent films with no words used, but some great music. Unfortunately, the plot and physical
theater rarely rise above the mundane, with some snaking through a laser beam
field made of two red sticks being an exception. (Aug 16) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
18:10-18:55 |
16 |
|
145.
|
Enclosure 99 – Humans (***) This site-specific show
takes over an empty exhibit at the Zoo to present a collection of fifteen
people standing, laying, and moving in a glass fenced area. This is not so much a dance as it is
spontaneous combinations of previously discussed movements by individuals
and/or groups. While I was there, the
choreographer sat in the stands and never stopped talking on her cell phone,
which both removed the idea of it being just another zoo exhibit, but also
provided an interesting counterpoint to the mute humans. (Aug 18) |
Edinburgh Zoo |
10:00-17:00 |
18 |
|
146.
|
Beowulf – A Thousand Years
of Baggage (***) A septet, two back-up
singers, aid four people presenting the English epic pose of a Norse warrior
Beowulf battling the monster Grendel and his mother. This zany interpretation combines bass
trombone led music with actors cast against body type and modern phrasing to
create a whirl of action. I found many
of the lyrics unintelligible and the music generally lacking. On the hand, my wife loved the whole
show. (Aug 23) |
George Square |
16:00-17:10 |
23 |
|
147.
|
Julian Sands in a
Celebration of Harold Pinter (***) Sands tells a few stories
of the writer’s life, but spends the bulk of his time reading Pinter’s
poetry. Though initially I enjoyed
hearing the poetry, after a while I grew tired of it. On the other hand, my companion, who chose
this play, loved it, so I think it comes down to whether you would enjoy
listening to fine, complex poetry for an hour. (Aug 13) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:00-16:00 |
13 |
|
148.
|
My Best Friend Drowned in a
Swimming (***) A few days after the
funeral of a young fellow who takes too many drugs at a party, his four
friends must deal with his death and each other. Each player, including the seemingly
perfect deceased, delivers a monologue that is often mundane. At their final cocaine party, when the
deceased returns from the grave, we are left wondering why he would care that
his best friend had had sex with a woman who is not the drowned man’s
girlfriend. (Aug 3) |
C soco |
21:45-22::40 |
3 |
|
149.
|
Bepo & Co (***) Starting in 1892, a
traveling circus keeps finding itself at the site of either personal or
global tragedies. The play starts out so
frenetic that many of the actors’ words are lost amongst the mayhem. As the pace quiets, each performer’s story
becomes more touching until the final candle lit moral is quite poignant.
(Aug 3) |
C /soco |
17:00-17:50 |
3 |
|
150.
|
May I Have the Pleasure…?
(***) This site specific piece
has the audience as guests at a wedding reception with Adrian Howells leading
a discussion of such events as well reviewing his role as best man in six
weddings. This is not about entertaining
us, but instead is a sometimes humorous, but always self-centered show. While the video of his first toast as a
best man in 1984 was fun, his reading of a list the 60 weddings he has
attended was just one of many boring events.
(Aug 24) |
Traverse at the Point Hotel |
19:45-21:30 |
24 |
|
151.
|
The Infant (***) Two interrogators
repeatedly twist their victims’ answers to fit their preconceived
notions. Once the play establishes the
unreliability of torture, it has little more to say. With the near constant verbal abuse from
the interrogators, the play was virtually flogging a dead horse. (Aug 14) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
14:35-15:35 |
14 |
|
152.
|
Murder at Warrabah House
(***) In 1930s Australia, an old
man and his sister are asked to visit a wealthy family’s house to solve a
jewel robbery. I saw this play twice
because I continually nodded off the first time, and thought I was at
fault. I realize now that the actress’
monotonous delivery, as well as the quick and dull solution to the mystery
were more to blame. (Aug 15 & 16) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
22:35-23:30 |
16 |
|
153.
|
The Old Woman Who Lived in
a … (***) Twenty years after escaping
the abuse of the old woman in the shoe, two of her twenty children return to
seek revenge. While the underlying
concept of using the nursery rhyme as the springboard for a atale about
desperation and tough choices is inventive, its execution is muddled. The opening scene has inconsistent rhyming
that is disconcerting, and a later fairy tale touts fearlessness as an
essential virtue but that virtue is never mentioned in the final moral to the
play. (Aug 15) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
12:15-13:00 |
15 |
|
154.
|
Rockertinkler (***) After writing an insulting
letter to a billionaire, an unemployed roommate inherits his wealth. The intial wordplay between the two
roommates has some strong polemics, but the play touches the plot points too
softly to work well. The men kissing
makes as little sense to us, and it does to the characters. (Aug 14) |
Zoo Roxy |
21:00-22:10 |
14 |
|
155.
|
In for a Pound (**) In desperate need of buying
a pack of cigarettes, a fellow follows the trail of a pound he lent a friend
until it leads to a Mafia boss. The
wooden actors cannot carry off trying to bring a “Pulp Fiction” style to a
screwball comedy story. At one point,
for no reason at all, after having sex with a woman all night, the fellow
discovers the woman is actually a grizzled man. (Aug 21) |
Sweet Grassmarket |
13:00-13:50 |
21 |
|
156.
|
Dirt (**) This black comedy has a
woman who is trying to camp with an inept scientist starts to hear her
mother’s voice speaking from animals.
Despite their best efforts, none of the characters engaged me. Half of the play takes place in a worm
kingdom that feels dull, even when the king tastes corpse brains. (Aug 17) |
C eca |
21:05-22:05 |
17 |
|
157.
|
Mission Drift (**) An unemployed Las Vegas
worker watches a re-enactment of the progress-obsessed lives of the ancestors
of her two former employers starting with their impending departure for
America in the early 1600’s. The show
has a trio that provides music as the same couple repeatedly overcome the
frontier with little thought to the physical and social damage they have
wrought. While the lead singer has an
amazing voice and the music is very good, the super-titled, but still
incomprehensible, lyrics completely wreck the show. (Aug 6) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
6 |
|
158.
|
Jawbone Of An Ass (**) After a devout woman’s husband
disappears, her best friend invites a crass evangelist to come to their small
Minnesota town to help find him. This
lampoon of extreme evangelicals takes so many potshots at so many different
targets that its denouement is an indictment of its lack of coherence rather
than a paean to its cleverness. This
play suffers from oft-repeated ritual lines that might have been funny in
sketch comedy, but over a whole hour become just boring filler. (Aug 7) |
Hill Street Theater |
20:00-21:10 |
7 |
|
159.
|
Twelve Men Good and True
(**) A man accused of murdering
children argues that he is innocent by graphically describing gruesome
murders of the past, and showing his revulsion. This is one of those plays that is superbly
acted, but has such a distasteful subject that I see no reason to put an
audience through it. At the end of the
twenty-five minutes, we are suppose to judge his guilt or innocence like a
jury, but virtually all of the critical facts of his particular case have
been omitted. (Aug 15) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
21:45-22:10 |
15 |
|
160.
|
Coal Head, Toadstool Mouth,
and Other Stories (**) While the opening scene
with a human marionette with arms strung to a puppeteer drew me into the
play, the rest of the show proved soporific.
As the quirky tales continue, the monotonous narration of the mostly
mute physical theater action caused both my wife and I to drowse. Because the tales are bizarre, if you do
nod off for a minute, it is difficult to make sense of what is going on. (Aug 25) |
theSpace at Symposium Hall |
20:30-:2200 |
25 |
|
161.
|
Ten Plagues (**) Accompanied by a pianist
and an occasional video, Marc Almond sings music inspired by the epidemics of
the London plague of 1665 and AIDs. I
drank two cokes to prepare myself for this modern piece, but to no
avail. Though both performers were
superb, I just have a tough time when there is no tune, and little lyricism
to my ear. Not surprisingly, my more
sophisticated companion loved it. (Aug
15) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
15 |
|
162.
|
Rosie Thorn, Butter Would
Not Melt (**) In an insane asylum, a
woman, once the model of propriety and culinary excellence, tells how a
perceived rivalry led to the destruction of many of her town’s citizens. This one-note black comedy goes too far in
make-up, as she smears lipstick on her face to indicate her progressive
insanity, and too long. One female
audience member noted that when the insane woman mounted a placard after her
first misdeed, and the viewer saw that there were five placards she cringed
at the thought of four more slow descriptions. (Aug 13) |
theSpaces at Surgeons Hall |
21:55-22:45 |
13 |
|
163.
|
Standing Count (**) Kenny, a young man turns to
boxing at Riley’s gym much to the pride of his father, and concern of his
mother. The story of redemption threw
boxing is mundane, and much of the acting wooden. I think that the unnecessary decision to
have actors play multiple roles real hurt them and confused the play—a
consistent Kenny would be less confusing to the audience, and having Riley
stay himself instead of acting as narrator and cheering kid would help him
find his role. (Aug 10) |
C eca |
13:00-13:50 |
10 |
|
164.
|
Gutter Junky (**) A manic idealistic young man
ventures to a South American country with the goal of helping the rebels by
writing a book about his experiences living with them. The first scenes when he lives with a
depleted fellow journalist work fairly well though the language is a bit too
witty for the intended grittiness, but the play crashes in the second
act. It is unbelievable that he would
return from 42 days among the native people in the jungle, and still only
speaks complex English, and virtually no Spanish, to his native girl
friend/victim who knows no English.
(Aug 4) |
Assembly Hall |
15:00-16:00 |
4 |
|
165.
|
Waterloo (**) This one-man show has two
retired soldiers, one English and the other French, recount their heroic
deeds at Waterloo. Combining a minimal
story with a very slow delivery made the Englishman’s tale quite boring. The Frenchman’s tale was faster and more
involved, but was still too slow for me.
(Aug 7) |
New Town Theater |
16:30-17:30 |
7 |
|
166.
|
Wondrous Flitting (**) When a wall crashes through
his living room, an unemployed 24-year old takes it as a sign from God that
he is meant to do something special that day.
While the initial adsorb dialog with his supportive parents makes a
good start, and a later conversation with a burned out counselor is well
performed, the bulk of the story just is not enjoyable to experience. I suppose I just feel uncomfortable around
total incompetence, and having bad things happen to such a person makes me
want to either step in or leave. (Aug
25) |
Traverse Theatre |
varies |
25 |
|
167.
|
A Day in November (**) This is a mundane day in
the life of a puppet of a one hundred year old man. He takes naps, looks at his cucumbers, and
mistakes his reflection for another man.
That’s about all there is to this boring show. (Aug 28) |
Zoo Southside |
17:00-18:00 |
28 |
|
168.
|
The Tour Guide (**) The tour guide of bus
decides to retire and takes the bus on a surprising trip around
Edinburgh. What could have written as
a journey of exploration of change was instead a sparse, depressing litany of
the woes of the working class. Though
the view of Edinburgh from Leith was striking, his dour commentary, broken
only by his five-minute visit to a bowling club while we waited on the bus,
dragged the whole experience down.
(Aug 25) |
Departs from
Market Street |
18:15-19:15 |
25 |
|
169.
|
Cusp (**) Six women use physical
theater to portray a young woman trying to find her identity. They convey the fact that there are now a
huge array of choices available, but seem to stop there without any
resolution or guidance. For one scene,
a woman stands on a platform and speaks Korean for many long minutes without
subtitles or translator to provide us with anything useful. (Aug 22) |
Laughing Horse
at The Counting House |
13:15-14:15 |
22 |
|
170.
|
Imaginarium (*) On moving day, a teenager
falls asleep, and becomes Wendy in Peter Pan.
This high school play has all of the expected problems of an inclusive
production on opening night. However, it
was nice to see all of the supportive parents applauding their wide-eyed
children. (Aug 28) |
Gryphon Venus at the Point
Hotel |
19:00-19:45 |
28 |
|
171.
|
Scott Capurro: Who Are the Jocks? (*) I think this gay man’s goal
is to use his caustic wit to offend every group possible in less than hour
using sex as his primary focus.
Besides pronouncing his misogynistic views, his insults targeted
Blacks, Muslims, Welsh, English, Scots, as well as many other
nationalities. He was consistently
abusive of his audience as well, first by asking a young couple intensely
personal questions and ridiculing every answer, and then, worst of all,
callously querying a deaf woman about the recent funeral of her mother. (Aug 19) |
Pleasance Dome |
20:00-21:00 |
19 |
|
172.
|
Le Cochon Entier (*) When a couple opens a shop
to sell pork in a vegetarian town, demand outstrips their supply. This slow, dark, minimalist show failed on
so many levels it is hard to narrow the list: over-amplification made the
initial voice over introduction frequently unintelligible; a dresser twisted
the apron one of two main characters so it covered little; when stabbed
instead of bleeding the head of a cardboard pig fell off; one actor was
incapable of shielding her head from view using the giant puppet head that
she was holding; the serious guitarist devoted himself to one atmosphere the
whole time; and finally the slow,
shambling movements of the two large characters made all actions
incredibly dull. What could have been
a biting, dark theater piece was instead a demonstration of a production gone
completely wrong. (Aug 14) |
Zoo Roxy |
20:00-20:50 |
14 |
|
173.
|
Fear of a Brown Planet (*) Two brown Muslim
Australians take on racism in the current world. When they are talking about their own
experiences as Muslims and brown in a skittish WASP world their comedy works
very well, but when they speak of others their hypocrisy is particularly
grating. While he deplores his own
racially motivated treatment, Nazeem sees nothing wrong in belittling Indians
as a whole, nor refusing to marry any white woman simply because she is
white. (Aug 4) |
Gilded Balloon |
19:15-20:15 |
4 |
|
174.
|
At the Sans Hotel (*) This one-woman show starts out
by passing around an invisible audience multiple-choice survey for which she
supplies witty options, but the show soon becomes incomprehensible. I thought that maybe I had just missed
something, so after the show I asked two Fringe veterans and two novices for
their views. All four gave it one
star, with one woman calling it “audience torture.” (Aug 5) |
Assembly Hall |
19:20-20:35 |
5 |
|
175.
|
Odd Man Out (no stars) An older gay man sits in
his small, dark room and vents his bile towards his cat and the world as he
bemoans his lost lover. The acting is
fine, but the play is only 15 minutes long when the program says 30
minutes!. After the play ended
abruptly, the actor gave no apologies, and the three off us in the audience
all felt ripped off. (Aug 12) |
Zoo Roxy |
10:45-11:00 |
12 |
I am a 58-year
old Computer Science lecturer from the University of California in Davis who
thinks even a bad play is better than no play at all. Besides teaching, I work as a house painter /
handyman to earn the extra money to pay for my travels. I have been to the Fringe seven times
before. Eight years ago, after two weeks
touring France, my wife and I spent nine days of our honeymoon at the
Fringe. We shared 45 plays, and I attended
ten other events besides. In 2005, I
fulfilled a dream of seeing an entire Fringe Festival. Since then, I have been here for the whole
Fringe every year except 2007. I have
learned to devote most days to only one venue to maximize the number of performances
I can see. I expect this year to be
similar to last—many performances, and many new friends.
After
attending more than 800 performances, I have a much better idea of my biases
and prejudices in the role of a critic.
To limit my analyzing shows during their performances as much as
possible, I have intentionally avoided any training in criticism and the
dramatic arts, both formal and informal.
I find that I prefer fact to fiction, innovation to repetition,
coherence to creativity, the concrete to the symbolic, and cleverness to
depth. I realize that many of these are
antithetical to the spirit of the Fringe, but I cannot deny my nature. In particular, I just do not like shows that
push the bounds of creativity beyond my ability to make sense of them. Because I choose to fill time slots with
whatever is available, I still expose myself to such shows, and do not
mind. However, I do feel a little guilty
giving a low rating to a show on which a company has worked so hard, and with
such commitment. Nevertheless, I
envision that that is my role—to accurately report my enjoyment so that others
may better use my ratings. In all but a
very few cases, I admire the effort of each company, and wish them well.