171 Reviews for 2019 the Edinburgh Fringe and International Festivals (In order from most enjoyable to least)

 

Welcome to the 2019 version of my Fringe reviews.   This year is unlike any previous year because I have created the bulk of my schedule before I have even arrived in Edinburgh.  You can see my schedule at 2019 schedule.   Because I won’t have to spend as much time planning my schedule during the Fringe, I hope to have the time to write my traditional three sentence reviews for all the shows I see.  Because of the dearth of good theater in the evenings, this year I decided to join Tim at the International Festival for six shows.  Since comparing those six with the Fringe plays seems like comparing apples and oranges, I have a separate table for them below the main Fringe table.

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 177 reviews for 2018 Fringe, 151 reviews for 2017 Fringe, 171 reviews for 2016 Fringe, 189 reviews for 2015 Fringe, 165 reviews for 2014 Fringe, 152 reviews for 2013 Fringe, 135 reviews for 2012 Fringe, 175 reviews for 2011 Fringe, 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 on the right so that returning viewers can sort by it to see my most recent reviews.

 

Fringe Festival Reviews

 

Rank

Review

Venue

Begins

Ends

Date

       1.        

How Not to Drown (*****)

This is the true story of how an 11-year old boy made his way from Kosovo to England, and then spent his teen years in foster care and educational systems poorly equipped to deal with children who don’t speak English.  The play is careful to blame the UK systems, and rarely indicts individuals as intentionally mistreating him.  As a Traverse play, we are treated to a tilted wood square set that is creatively transformed into ships, and buildings as needed with just steel fencework.

Traverse

10:00

11:20

16

       2.        

James Rowland's Songs of Friendship (trilogy) (*****)

Rowland tells three stories about his two lifelong friends.  The tales move from dealing with the death of loved ones to James’ big crush to the challenges of integrating a new friend into the tight group.  We had seen the third story last year, but is more powerful with the extensive backstory afforded by the previous two.

Summerhall

21:00

1:00

18

       3.        

In Loyal Company (*****)

After the blitz of Liverpool, a young man joins the army, fights in Singapore, and becomes a Japanese POW in a “Bridge Over the River Kwai” camp building a railroad in Thailand.  The actor proves up to the task of blending the roles of the soldier, narrator, and a few secondary characters into a powerful whole.  While the privations of the POW camp take up much of the play, it is his tales of the air attacks on his transport that stand out for me.

Pleasance Dome

13:10

14:10

5

       4.        

Fragility of Man (*****)

This one man show follows the volatile life of an intense12-year old homeless fighter through the dark streets and penal system of the Thatcher era.  His sweating bare chested physique combine with his vivid, alliterative prose project an intensity that is both physical and psychological.  While his main character dominates the story, he easily switches into his sweet girlfriend to provide an important motivating contrast.

Pleasance Courtyard

16:45

17:45

31

       5.        

Out of the Blue (*****)

I traditionally see Out of the Blue on the last day of the Fringe because they never disappoint me with their great singing and exuberant choreography.  This version fulfilled my expectations.  This year was a little different from the past because they had more newer songs that I hadn’t heard before, but they were still fun, and seemed well justified by the age of the performers.

Assembly George Square

15:00

16:00

26

       6.        

Ed Byrne: If I'm Honest (*****)

Byrnes comedy centers on his own failings and dealing with his two young sons and wife.  Though it seems impromptu he carefully crafted his show to “drift” between a variety of topics with his fathering serving as touchstones.  From super hero movies to seeing himself in his children to his final sarcastic interaction with his wife, his gentle humor had me wiping tears of laughter from my eyes throughout.

Assembly Rooms

21:00

22:00

1

       7.        

Buzz (*****)

With a huge video screen displaying the space race images and scenic landscapes a backdrop, and accompanied by a woman playing an odd assortment of instruments, an actress relates a tale of a Norwegian boy, Mattias, who idolizes Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.  As the quirky story roams from Norway to the quiet Faroe Islands, the whole performance gels into Mattias’ surprising mix of contentment and social ineptness.  Most memorable, and telling, are the events at a high school party where Mattias wears and homemade space suit and stalks the girl of his dreams.

Summerhall

10:00

11:10

11

       8.        

Until the Flood (*****)

An actress recreates several people who live near Ferguson, Missouri where a policeman shot and killed an unarmed Black teen.  The characters range from teen to senior, Black and White, racist to peacemaking pastor.  I admire the play for allowing every character to present their views without injecting the playwrights judgement.

Traverse

18:15

19:25

13

       9.        

I Run (*****)

A long distance runner uses his training for a marathon as a way to deal with the death of his six year-old daughter.  You would think that the use of a treadmill on stage would feel like a cheap, theatrical device, but it work surprisingly well to reflect his emotional states.  I normally do not like plays that jump around chronologically, but a video screen indicating the time in days away from her death allowed such time changes to work well.

Pleasance Courtyard

13:55

14:55

18

      10.       

Bismillah-An Isis Tragicomedy (*****)

In Iraq, a captured British soldier must deal with his ISIS jailer who is from London.  This show does a remarkable job of balancing job of developing the humanity of both characters while reminding us of the horrific situation of the condemned soldier dealing with his executioner.  I often felt conflicted as they and I laughed and smiled as they discovered their common heritage between bouts of the assertion of the prisoner’s powerlessness.

Underbelly Cowgate

18:40

19:40

9

      11.       

On the Other Hand, We're Happy (*****)

A loving couple who have grown up together must make decisions about marriage, having a child, and/or adopting.  Their love suffuse this whole piece as the plot evolves in a natural way to explore the many decisions facing a couple creating a family.  The edgy character of another mother sets out in high relief the calm love of the couple. 

Summerhall

14:15

15:25

23

      12.       

Choir of Man (*****)

This musical is set in local tavern in which the men chose to sing rather than form sports teams.  This is classic revue that mixes upbeat singalong songs with dance with solo ballads with audience members invited on stage to be the center of attention.  I saw this show in 2017, and the vibe was just as great this time, as audience joyfully joined the pub men.

Assembly Hall

19:30

20:30

5

      13.       

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show (Menu 2) (*****)

These five shows covered, in order: a couple trying to address his bucket list; a considerate wine salesman serving a troubled woman; a couple dealing with the woman’s mixed feelings at her ex’s wedding; a trio finding that the apocalypse wasn’t what they had expected; and a woman responding to her boyfriend’s accusation of being a coach potato.  Whether reality based or fantastical, each short play took their premise and cleverly mined its humor in a very satisfying manner.  I was particularly impressed by how their endings punctuated the theme of each story.

Pleasance Courtyard

10:30

11:35

1

      14.       

Best Girl (*****)

A young woman must learn to love her trumpeter friend while dealing with her family’s past.  The premise sounds ordinary, but her acting, and the nuances and plotting of the script make this exceptional.  The symbolism of her father’s hands brought tears to my eyes.

Pleasance Courtyard

12:05

12:55

31

      15.       

Islander: A New Musical (*****)

A young woman on a small, moribund Scottish island comes upon a strange, dispirited, young woman on her beach who seems quite out of place.  From their opening duet, the voices of the two captured my soul as there was something ethereal as they intertwined with the help of a music looper.  This well suited the spirit of their mythic tale of forgiveness and redemption.

Summerhall

10:00

11:00

3

      16.       

The Shark is Broken (*****)

While making “Jaws, ”Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss share many hours aboard a boat while waiting for Bruce, the mechanical shark, to be repeatedly repaired.  Watching the hard drinking, irascible veteran Shaw berate the career conscious newcomer Dreyfuss provides much of the spark and humor of this piece while the working class Scheider acts as the level headed mediator and peer of Shaw.  Shaw’s son wrote the script, and one nice touch is watching his father repeatedly rework a scene throughout the show until it becomes a powerful finale.

Assembly George Square Studios

11:00

12:10

10

      17.       

Endless Second (*****)

When both have been drinking, the lover of a now barely conscious girlfriend has sex with her even though she clearly mumbles “Not tonight.”  This finely written piece provides a balanced view on how both people slowly come to grips with the event that they both regret.  I particularly appreciated how the man is portrayed as sensitive and caring, but confused and conflicted.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:10

16:10

19

      18.       

The Nights by Harry Naylor (*****)

A newspaper woman tries to convince a British Iraq veteran to lambast an ISIS sympathizer who wishes to return to the UK.  This taut play deals with the directly with the way people’s morality can be pushed askew by war.  The veteran’s tale of a cricket match using prisoners as targets is unforgettable.

Gilded Balloon

16:15

17:15

21

      19.       

The Claim (*****)

A Congolese asylum seeker must deal with miscommunication between him and his interpreter and his harried interrogator.  This play nicely conflates the subtle issues of mistranslation between desperate cultures with the exigencies of an overworked bureaucracy with the added pressure of unwanted social advances between co-workers.  The whole becomes wonderfully exasperated as we know what he is trying to say, as the bureaucrat tries to force his simple story into the special box she wants to fit it in.

Summerhall

12:50

13:55

23

      20.       

Camille O'Sullivan: Cave (*****)

The Irish singer focused this concert on the works of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  Their work perfectly suited Camille’s mix of boisterous rock and roll, and ballads.  As usual her banter between the songs felt natural, and proved winning.

Pleasance Courtyard

21:15

22:30

25

      21.       

Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd (*****)

The standup comedian tells the true story of a middle aged high powered lawyer who has been stalking him for more than five years, and how the legal system has been of little help.  This is not intended to be humorous, and his projection of her text messages, and replays of her voice messages provides powerful evidence of how the woman could use her legal training and past stalking experience to avoid the behavior that the legal system needs to justify a response.  Despite a recent temporary injunction, he does an excellent job of conveying how she has haunted his life and mind for years, and even now attacks his family using insidious techniques.

Roundabout at Summerhall

18:25

19:30

2

      22.       

Butterflies (****)

This show explores how social media affects the lives of three diverse young women.  Whether dealing with a dating site, creating podcasts, or an online gaming boyfriend, each finds that such media can lead to frustration and pain.  As one who generally avoids social media, I found the three different stories quite illuminating.

Zoo Playground

20:05

21:05

6

      23.       

The Professor (****)

David Calvitto plays a history professor who decides to give a wide ranging lecture intermixed with recent events from his life.  His quick delivery is laced with sly bon mots about life and culture that reminded me of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”  His adventure in the Louvre is sophomoric, but its punchline makes it worth it.

Assembly Rooms

15:20

16:20

15

      24.       

The 27 Club (****)

A troubled artist prepares for an exhibition of his art while contending with a much ignored girlfriend and intrusive gallery mates.  I don’t want to give anything away so I will simply say that the plot twists beautifully as the story unfolds looking at his personal history.  I appreciated that it ended without providing an easy solution.

theSpace on the Mile

13:50

15:00

11

      25.       

I Am (****)

An ensemble of nine uses dance, song, and short vignettes to explore a variety of prejudices and how a person should withstand them.  I was initially leery of a large cast, but was won over as they dealt with racial, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and gender issues in turn using a range of effective dramatic treatments that avoided being preachy.  Among the most memorable was a small man being rejected by both a team of female cheerleaders for being a man, and a group of football players for being too small.

Greenside @ Royal Terrace

11:15

12:30

8

      26.       

Daughterhood (****) or (*****)

After caring for her ill father for four years, a woman must deal with the return of her activist sister from university.  This play evolves beautifully as their fraught relationship moves through many stages as they interact more and more.  I was confused because the men in their lives is played by one actor whose roles I could not differentiate, and thus gave it four stars, but Tim said he could easily tell who he was playing based on the clear differences of his accent, and thought it was best he’d seen thus far.

Summerhall

11:20

12:30

14

      27.       

Rust (****)

Two people, married to others, arrange a weekly tryst in a flat that has a bedroom full of pillows.  As time passes, we are treated to a panoply of interactions as sex, family, and the vagaries of any relationship bear down on their cozy ivory tower.  This well-crafted play takes its ten written, but unspoken rules, and tests them beyond their breaking point, and yet the couple’s obvious attraction keeps drawing them back to each other.

Assembly Roxy

12:40

13:55

16

      28.       

Daliso Chaponda Blah Blah Blackchat (****)

The Malawi standup comedian has created a good hearted routine with stories that range from Richard Pryor’s change of heart when he deals with MS to the topic of racism to the treatment of role models.  He often polled the audience to elaborate on a topic, but never abused us.  I found his long story about his father, Minister of Education in Malawi, dealing the changing political winds there most entertaining. 

Gilded Balloon

18:30

19:30

12

      29.       

Black and White Tea Room – Counselor (****)

A Black man arrives for his first appointment with a White counselor who has had great success with clients by developing their trust.  While the acting is superb, the plot kept our attention locked to the stage as the cogent story unfolded.  The director changed the setting from Korea with subtitles last year to English this year, and the play lost some of its power because racism and constant loud arguing replaced a mysterious relationship and quiet punctuated with sudden outbursts.

Assembly Rooms

18:20

19:20

7

      30.       

To Fall in Love (****)

An estranged husband and wife set about answering a set of personal questions they found in an article to help them avoid divorce.  The questions work well as a device to provide the starting points to explore their individual and shared pasts as well as the source of their current impasse.  While the introduction of whiskey creates a truce of sorts, I was pleased that the play avoids taking the easy path, and continues to seek a deeper solution.

Greenside @ Infirmary Street

22:05

23:05

8

      31.       

War of the Worlds (****)

This play intertwines a recreation of Orson Welles’ 1939 radio play about an Martian invasion of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey that many Americans took seriously, and a woman creating a podcast about a 13-year old girl who was left alone in her house by her family in Grover’s Mill when they drove off to escape the Martians.  As the twin stories unfold we learn how podcasts of the 21st century may be thought of as the radio of the 1930s.  The plotting is clever, and the story is even educational for those unfamiliar with how commercial podcasters develop their stories.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:20

16:40

11

      32.       

Four Woke Baes (****)

A fellow and his three buddies camped out for his stag party find that they must share their campsite with an attractive, feminist woman who has very strong opinions about sex and relationships in general.  Though this is a well trodden path, the acting is superb with each character providing a distinct, credible view of the topics at hand.  I liked how a rifle served many purposes in the plot.

Underbelly Cowgate

17:05

18:20

9

      33.       

AJ Holmes: Yeah, but Not Right Now (****)

Holmes, a star of “The Book of Mormon” musical, tries his hand at standup mixed with music, and succeeds.  As he accompanies himself on piano and guitar we hear the great voice that made him a star, but also the clever songs he has written since he was 18.  Beside a few jokes, most of his humor is in the form of tales from his career path combined with self-deprecating stories from his social life.

Underbelly Cowgate

16:30

17:30

10

      34.       

Fishbowl (****)

The stage is three adjoining one-room rooftop flats: one white and sterile, another a crowded conglomeration, and the third decorated in pink for its sexy woman occupant.  This physical piece explores how they deal with their own uniquely designed rooms as well as their social and physical interactions with their neighbors.  From a goldfish that travels through the piping to a dance routine of trading partners to a toilet that appears when someone claps, the show had me laughing throughout at its mostly slapstick comedy.

Pleasance Courtyard

13:00

14:15

12

      35.       

It's True, It's True, It's True (****)

Based on a true story, a sixteenth century Italian teenager charges a famous painter with rape.  The three actresses clearly differentiate the multiple characters each must play.  The simulation of a thumbscrew to test the validity of her claims was an excellent reminder of how little the court valued her testimony.

Underbelly Bristo Square

13:00

14:05

25

      36.       

Crocodile Fever (****)

After being away for many years in prison and fighting, an IRA fighter returns to home to visit her sister when she hears that her father is dead.  The plot twists and incremental elements of weirdness make this macabre tale a delight.  Little touches like an infrequent croaking frog and shared taped music keep this quirky tale surprisingly touching.

Traverse

10:00

11:30

20

      37.       

Noise Boys (****)

Four tap dancers, a pianist/singer, a guitarist, two beatboxers, and a rapper mix and match their talents to create an engaging review.  The tap dancers are the core talent, and they don’t disappoint as they display their individual skills and then perform complex choreography in unison.  Given their expertise, I was surprised that they didn’t have a soft shoe routine to break-up the loud numbers.

Assembly George Square

18:00

19:00

17

      38.       

Bryony Kimmings : I'm a Phoenix Bitch (****)

Bryony explores her battle with depression, and dealing with her dangerously ill baby.  Her tale is heart wrenching, and it is clear that it took a tremendous effort to find her way back to mental health.  The set is surprisingly complex for a Fringe show, particularly the final mountain that actually climbs.

Pleasance Courtyard

17:30

18:50

19

      39.       

Einstein (****)

The master imitator, Pip Utton, is back with a new show playing the wild haired German theoretical scientist reviewing his life and discoveries.  Upton does a good job mixing together moments of his life with criticism of his treatment of his wife as well as trying to explain critical theoretical physics in layman’s terms. 

Pleasance Courtyard

14:00

15:00

31

      40.       

Josephine (****)

Tymisha Harris plays Josephine Baker as sings, dances, and orates through the life of the impoverished black Missouri girl who rose to fame in Paris only to find repeated troubles whenever she returned to the USA.  Harris has the voice and body to pull off her imitation of the singer who originally achieved fame through her burlesque dancing in Paris.  I appreciated that she integrates the personal life in chronological order to reveal the star’s altruism as she spied for the Allies, adopted twelve children, and made speeches with Martin Luther King Jr.

Gilded Balloon

20:00

21:00

31

      41.       

Watching Glory Die (****)

This is the true story of a wild teen’s suffering in the Canadian prison system, and how a guard and her mother deal with her plight.  The acting and story were compelling, and left me vexed as to how the problem should be addressed.  I had originally undervalued this show because it followed another depressing show, so I recommend you see it after something lighter.

Assembly Rooms

13:50

15:05

1

      42.       

Pizza Shop Heroes (****)

Four men who came to the UK as unaccompanied teens five years ago, along with their counselor tell of their harrowing journeys to freedom as well as the tribulations of trying achieve asylum and become assimilated in British culture.  Though it is clear they are not actors, their authenticity easily overcomes their lack of dramatic training.  Unlike another immigrant show the focused on legal and housing issues, this one takes a larger view including their “rules” for how to become a successful asylum seeker including preparing for their trip, to how their families back home may react to their “success.”

Summerhall

17:40

18:40

3

      43.       

Naughty Boy (****)

In a mental ward, a rough fellow from the streets tells of both the exploits of his gang of violent friends as well as his own contradictory remorse.  The story provides insight into the twisted code of anger that could “justify” his actions.  The short scene about a duck being accidentally shot provided a potent counterpoint.

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

15:15

16:15

2

      44.       

The Trojans (****)

Using excerpts of Euripides play about the suffering of the Trojan citizens after their defeat as a touchstone, a large cast of Syrian immigrants to Scotland tell of their experiences in Syria, and in their new home.  The Greek’s words and the Syrians own laments resonate perfectly.  I found it heartwarming to see their children run on the stage at the end.

Pleasance at EICC

16:30

17:30

7

      45.       

Funny in Real Life (****)

A stand-up comedian starts talking about his wife when she suddenly interrupts him from the back of the room.  The show works well as he tries to accommodate her proposed limits on the subjects covere in his routine.  Early on he chose me as his confidant, and I gave him a sweaty, comforting hug toward the end.

Gilded Balloon Teviot

11:15

12:15

18

      46.       

Legally Blond The Musical (****)

A fashionista decides to enroll in Harvard Law School to win back the heart of her boyfriend.  Everything works well with this: most voices are strong, the lyrics appropriate and clear, the dance numbers fun, and, despite its fairy tale quality, the plotting holds up.  I was pleased that the cast was diverse in body types, but surprised at the lack of people of color.

Assembly Rooms

10:00

12:30

15

      47.       

Passengers (****)

Three actors play three separate personalities of the playwright: brash, overconsiderate, and thoughtful.  The play works well as he tries to find a way to deal with the three in a way that allows him to function fairly normally in society.  The use of a scaffold as a metaphorical prison was an inspired device that the show uses to good effect in many scenes.

Summerhall

14:30

15:30

14

      48.       

Enough (****)

Two flight attendants, one single and the other married, who have shared flights for twenty years, cannot seem to find contentment.  One line from the play sums it up, “It is hard to take care of yourself when the world is not designed for you.”  I found that the device of having the actresses often alternate lines made this dense play much more difficult to imagine their stories than it needed to be.

Traverse

11:00

12:10

13

      49.       

Detour: A Show About Changing Your Mind (****)

A comedienne tells of her search for fulfilment as her career moved from dancer to history doctoral student to standup.  As one might expect from a graduate student, she carefully crafted her words into a treatise on rejecting culturally imposed roles using meditation and alternative spiritual paths.  It did bother me that she placed gender bias as the source of much of her troubles at finding a satisfying career while ignoring her childhood and the fact that others of both genders have the same quest.

Underbelly Bristo Square

14:35

15:35

10

      50.       

You and I: A New Musical (***)

A young woman has an incredibly advanced, but ignorant, android delivered to her door that was secretly built by her deceased sister.  The play combines scenes of caring about her sister and the robot, with the fun of introducing him to the life of twentysomethings.  Both her emotional journey, and his humorous evolution to thinking individual provide a thoughtful core to this interesting tale of self-discovery.

Underbelly McEwan Hall

17:10

18:25

16

      51.       

She Sells Sea Shells (***)

We follow of the working class woman who unearthed many of the most important Paleotonic fossils in the UK without receiving attribution until late in life.  It seems that her mother was smart enough to haggle the prices for the fossils.  It was both inspiring and disappointing that she could teach herself to read both English and French, and argue with the renowned scientists of her time, and yet be dismissed by the scientific societies of her time.

Underbelly Cowgate

13:30

14:30

24

      52.       

Cardboard Citizens: Bystanders (***)

Four people use verbatim testimony, and vignettes based on real life to present four noted homeless people who suffered at the hands of some authority.  The show breaks each story into parts that then alternate with the other stories which makes each more difficult to follow.  The use of videos and news clips from the actual cases at the end proved to be a powerful epilog.

Summerhall

11:30

12:30

22

      53.       

My Father the Tantric Masseur (***)

A young bisexual woman tells of her sexual experiences starting from early childhood in a family that openly discussed such things.  It was refreshing to hear of a mother who quickly, and warmly dealt with her daughter’s sexual concerns.  It was cool how she treated her father’s discovery of sexual massage late in life with lightness and humor.

Assembly George Square Studios

22:10

23:10

2

      54.       

Frankenstein : How to Make a Monster (***)

Graduates from the Beatbox Academy combine to provide complex poly-rhythmic songs.  The competition between two randomly chosen members permitted them to really show their stuff.  The final song in which the leader would point at a member to continue the ad hoc song for a short time required both poise and mastery of the participants.

Traverse

16:00

17:30

20

      55.       

Hitman and Her (***)

A blabber mouth middle aged woman has an appointment with a middle aged hitman in a bar to arrange the murder of her husband of eight years.  This comedy well mines her indiscretion in openly discussing murder, as well as his focus on movies and television.  I loved his paean to the original “The Italian Job” movie as he lauds its stars, director, composer, and lack of CGI.

PQA Venues at Riddles Court

17:50

18:50

10

      56.       

The Fishermen (***)

After a long absence a Nigerian man who is an accused murderer secretly returns to his village and talks with his younger brother about their lives and the events that led to his life on the run.  The story is interesting slice of Nigerian life, but their accents made it difficult to follow it at times.

Assembly George Square

12:15

13:25

19

      57.       

Shakespeare for Breakfast (***)

This revue sets Romeo and Juliet as a battle between two family owned coffee shops.  This script mines the story for all the puns and quips they can find. 

C venues - C viva

10:00

10:55

24

      58.       

The Crown Dual (***)

This is a comedic take on the life of Queeen Elizabeth II portrayed in the recent Netflix mini-series.  Though I generally dislike audience participation, the tenor of this show was well suited to it.  Prince Phillip comes in for the most ridicule as his desire for a new title figures into many of the scenes.

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

16:20

17:20

18

      59.       

Gun (***)

One fellow with clunky props portrays all the characters in his humorous take on movie westerns.  His story has everything from white hat sheriffs to femme fatales to evil connivers to a bad brother with a golden heart.  This was a preview, and many of the laughs arose from the quick witted comedian dealing winningly with the vagaries of collapsing props, missed sound cues, and a low ceiling.

Assembly Rooms

17:10

18:10

1

      60.       

All of Me (***)

After an introduction full of apologies, a woman tells of her life of dealing with depression and her imagined, demon-voiced sister it produces.  Despite the dark subject she sprinkles in little humorous bits that provide productive breaks.  The cluttered stage with its dripping sand bags help contribute to the feeling of chaos that is her life.

Summerhall

15:10

16:20

22

      61.       

Hyde and Seek (***)

This one man show has a 19th century stage doorman deals with Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and their showgirl lover.  Flickering lighting, shadow projections, a ventriloquist dummy, a crate that opens on its own, and even a bloodied Punch puppet combine to give the show a very creepy feel.  I was impressed how he only subtly changed his expression to differentiate between Jekyll and Hyde.

Underbelly Cowgate

11:30

12:30

5

      62.       

Devil of Choice (***)

This story tries to update Faust’s bargain, by transferring it into a modern story of adultery.  The problem lies in that in the original story good and evil were clear, but here the pain of the two women and inconsistency of the devil husband belie the attempt.  Without the false comparison, I think the story of three complex people would have been much stronger.

Assembly George Square Studios

12:15

13:15

2

      63.       

America is Hard to See (***)

A real town in Florida filled with pedophiles on payroll tries to become more integrated into the surrounding communities.  While it is clear that many of ex-cons misrepresent their guilt, their stories of trying to reclaim normal lives are heartening.  In particular, the effort by a new pastor to have the Christian ex-cons accepted in conservative, but shrinking, congregation showed that progress was possible.

Underbelly Cowgate

19:45

21:00

20

      64.       

Surveillance (***)

This show has three humorous sketches: three government people use the Internet to discover an amazing amount of information about people of interest; in order to read a message a man is asked to reveal a lot about his personal life that is promptly shared; and a dean of a college launches a campaign to inject little RF chips in the hands of the students and faculty to reduce crime and make life easier for everyone on campus.  All three are informative, and serve as warnings about the extent that our personal data is now available.  The third story about campus RF chips is by far the longest, and becomes de-railed as it unnecessarily veers into the social lives of its two protagonists.

theSpace on North Bridge

11:20

12:10

12

      65.       

44 Days (***)

With contemporaneous photos as a backdrop, a large cast portrays the lives of auto workers in Flint, Michigan before and during their 1936 sit-in strike against General Motors.  Much of the power of this work arises from the real dismal conditions of the workers and their heroic effort to confront the largest corporation in the world.  I appreciated that the show made a point of highlighting how the workers’ wives volunteer brigades prevented thugs and police from invading the factories.

Greenside @ Royal Terrace

9:15

10:05

9

      66.       

Ejaculation-Discussions about Female Sexuality (***)

With her lover providing beautiful musical accompaniment, a woman describes her own voyage of sexual self-discovery after a bout with depression.  This quiet show imparts its new information about female sexuality, including female ejaculation, in an easy, non-threatening manner that is a nice contrast from the in your face sexuality of most of the Fringe.  Her simulation of female ejaculation was a nice humorous touch.

Summerhall

20:55

21:55

23

      67.       

Le Coup (***)

A cirque that centers around staged wrestling matches that neatly highlight the gymnastic abilities of the two partners/competitors.  Though there were no tricks that I had not seen before, the premise provided a new setting and use for their skills.  Because we were sitting in the front row, we had greater appreciation for the height of the three performer lifts. 

Underbelly Circus Hub

18:00

19:00

20

      68.       

I Will Tell You This for Nothing (***)

A woman tells of the true life experiences of her raconteur mother who had been a nurse in World War II.  The thorough tale covers everything from her training to D-Day transport to serving in a front line hospital to helping 40,000 starving survivors at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.  It is full of little details like sleeping in trenches full of frogs that bring the story to life.

Assembly George Square

11:30

12:30

6

      69.       

NewsRevue (***)

The troupe accomplished their task of lampooning recent news events in a workmanlike fashion.  The ditties were clever, and the impersonations fun, but nothing really stood out.

Underbelly George Square

18:10

19:10

18

      70.       

Up and Away (***)

A young woman and her director/friend who have created a successful streaming channel invite a troubled animator to collaborate with them.  The elements of this story of drug addiction arising from original oxycodone prescriptions are compelling, but their non-chronological organization in the play weakens their power.  There is also a scene describing a stay in a Chicago hotel that is, and feels, superfluous as it takes place.

theSpace on the Mile

20:15

21:35

9

      71.       

Bobby & Amy (***)

A socially ostracized girl and an autistic boy become fast friends, and help a rancher together.  The story is touching but the initial introduction of the many characters by the two actors shifting quickly among them lost me.  It was only after the play settled down, and focused on the couple interacting that story started really solidify for me.

 

 

 

 

      72.       

Status (***)

An American fellow compares his experiences in foreign lands with that of the native.  Now that he has toned down his guitar, his prose songs work in a Sondheim kind of way.

Assembly George Square

10:25

11:45

19

      73.       

Fudge (***)

A naïve gay man, an experienced gay man, and their woman flat mate party late into the night to commemorate the experienced fellow moving in with his lover.  As the booze and drugs flow, and the woman acting as sage advisor we are treated to the history of the two men, and the complexities of their relationships.  Though many of the events are run of the mill party stuff, the underlying love of the two gay men keeps poking them in interesting ways.

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

19:45

20:45

25

      74.       

The Patient Gloria (***)

This is a feminist re-enactment of three psychotherapy sessions filmed in the 1960s to be shown in university psychology courses, but later played for the public despite Gloria’s objections.  The director’s note had led me to believe that this would be a hatchet job on the three male psychotherapists, but at least Carl Rogers came across as a reasonable fellow who championed the acceptance of a client as an important aspect of therapy.

Traverse

13:00

14:25

20

      75.       

The Red (***)

In his will, the father of a man 20-years sober asks his son to drink a bottle of fine wine bought especially for him on his son’s second birthday.  The play has the son and the spirit of his late father discuss whether the son should break his alcohol fast for this request.  Though the Alcoholic Anonymous arguments for remaining sober are strong, seeing the joy wine brought his father and having matured in twenty years provide a good challenge.

Pleasance Dome

16:00

17:00

25

      76.       

Fox (***)

A new mother must deal with post partem depression, a demanding baby, and a homeless man living outside her door front door.  We feel her increasing desperation as her depression prevents her from seeking help from her husband, friends, and society.  As she acts as a voyeur of the life of the homeless man society’s efforts to help him make her isolation all the more stark.

Pleasance Courtyard

11:30

12:30

17

      77.       

Will Gompertz:Double Art History (***)

A professor of art history gives an informative lecture on the development modern art from Monet forward.  This well prepared presentation has many slides that allow him to not only show paintings but close-ups of telltale brush strokes.  We even had a written test at the end, on which I only earned 5/10—so pay attention!

Underbelly Bristo Square

15:35

16:35

24

      78.       

The Archive of Educated Hearts (***)

The small audience gathered around a table to learn how all of the women of the storyteller’s family have dealt with breast cancer.  The gentle review is aided by family photos slowly added to a pile on table at the center of the shed.  The cluttered set was well suited to the short tale.

Pleasance Courtyard

19:30

20:05

8

      79.       

Freddie - One Night with Freddie (***)

A piano playing Freddie Mercury imitator leads a rock through 90 minutes of Queen’s songs with lots of invitations for the audience to sing along.  The entire band was quite capable, and the crowd enjoyed the whole show.  While many in the audience, particularly the women, could sing along with most of the songs, there were a few obscure ones that no one seemed to know.

The Old Doctor Bells Baths

20:00

22:00

7

      80.       

My Darling Clemmie (***)

A senior actress plays Winston Churchill’s wife recounting the events of her and Winston’s lives.  Her portraits seem balanced as hear of her own foibles as well as Winston’s along with letters that reveal their love and differences.  The juxtaposition of her dislike of their Chatworth home with his and their family’s love of it made it all the more real.

Assembly Rooms

12:30

13:30

4

      81.       

My Leonard Cohen (***)

Backed by a band of four, singer/pianist Stuart D’Arrietta looks and sounds like Cohen as he tells of Cohen’s life and sings many of his songs.  Though I was never a big fan of Cohen, hearing of the origins of each song, particularly that of his ode to Jewish concentration camp death march bands, added a lot of power to them.  Though the performance was often louder than I like, there were times that the driving rhythms seemed a perfect fit to the voice and sentiment of Cohen/D’Arrietta.

Assembly Rooms

18:30

19:30

1

      82.       

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show (Menu 1) (***)

The five shows this day explore, in order: a young woman who prefers to kill her dates instead of saying no to a second date, two men faced with deciding who should kill the other, Dr. Johnson carrying on a conversation with his mistress Mrs. Thrale using an extremely limited vocabulary, a world war relying on flying comedians to do its battles, and office workers taking revenge on a food thief.  The first two have some nice plot twists and word play that make them standout.  The whimsical war is fine British humor gone amok, but the effort to use different intonations of the same few words in Dr. Johnson’s conversations fails miserably, and even the fine example of whimsical British war humor could not escape its taint.

Pleasance Courtyard

10:30

11:35

31

      83.       

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show (Menu 3) (***)

These five short stories are, in order: a couple touring a home to purchase discover some unexpected additions; a couple assuming the Bogart and Bacall roles from the movie “The Big Sleep” to try to understand its plot; three couples react to an apocryphal discovery by an amateur astronomer; a very proper posh gentleman tries to create a politically correct stag party; and three prim and proper ladies who kill “deserving” people must try to come to terms with one of their members deciding to marry.  All of the stories are humorous and generally well acted, but also shallow.  Still, it is a nice way to start the day; just don’t expect it to be as good as Menu 2.

Pleasance Courtyard

10:30

11:35

2

      84.       

Musik (***)

Frances Barber portrays an old singer/actress recounting her fictious arty life including her exodus from Germany, starring in an avantgarde film, and working in Truman Capote’s Factory using photoshopped photos.  Tim knew that her character was based on a minor character in a film from the early 2000s, and loved it as a send-up by a great actress.  For me, she was an old actress in a lousy wig who was a poor imitation of a wonderful older Fringe singer I hung out with ten years ago.

Assembly Rooms

21:40

22:40

20

      85.       

Ivory Wings (***)

A young woman in a flight alternates between playing her young mother when she was ferrying planes during World War II, and her old mother suffering from Alzheimer’s.  The adventurous tales of flying disabled planes kept me riveted, but the oft told Alzheimer’s vignettes, though touching, felt like a misuse of valuable script time in comparison to the unique flying stories.  Her recreation of the harrowing tale of flying through fog, clouds, and friendly fire with a plane with severe mechanical problems kept me on the edge of my seat.

Assembly Rooms

11:50

12:50

11

      86.       

Don't Be Terrible (***)

A comedian invites a heckler on stage, and then commits to teaching how to do stand-up in six weeks.  It is a clever premise that works well with the comedy-challenged “normal” guy trying to find “his” comedy while their love lives go awry.  His final five-minute routine is a good combination of her lessons, and the events in his average life.

Pleasance Courtyard

23:00

0:00

24

      87.       

The Gray Cat and the Flounder (***)

This is a multimedia adaption of the cartoons drawn by a husband of he (flounder) and his wife (cat) as they shared 47 years together.  We donned special headphones to listen an ensemble of strings and woodwinds as a narrator told of the couple’s life in the Pittsburg art scene as well as the adventures of the cat and flounder.  Two actor/singers as well as shadow puppets provided a range of visual presentations for the accessible show.

Assembly George Square

14:05

15:05

7

      88.       

I Pilgrim (***)

An older actor presents a travelogue of he and his wife’s walk of the 800km Camino de Santiago in Spain.  From his blistered feet to an unbearable couple to beautiful scenery there is nothing exceptional here.  After so many fictional Fringe shows, it is just a nice, real tale of a couple who refresh their love for each other later in life.

theSpace at Surgeon's Hall

17:05

17:55

2

      89.       

Tartuffe (***)

A businessman is so enamored with a charlatan that he places his guru above his family’s needs and desires.  I have seen this farce several times before, and I was impressed with how forceful the wife was in this version.  I think the brevity of the seduction trap scene hurts its traditional farcical potential.

Assembly Rooms

17:00

18:00

15

      90.       

There She Is (***)

This physical theater piece begins with a Romanian immigrant standing in a London underground station when a whale suddenly appears on the tracks.  She uses buses, hails taxis, rides ferries, and swims to try to reach the “better place,” but she has problems communicating with everyone.  I imagine that the whale’s unintelligible vocalizations as a “fish” out of water was meant to be symbolic of the general theme of the communication problems of immigrants in the UK, but I didn’t realize that until now and have improved my impression of the piece.

PQA Venues at Riddles Court

20:00

21:00

11

      91.       

Lobster (***)

A cute twentysomething woman recounts her challenges using online dating.  We are treated to samples of initial messages and photos from a long series of fellows who are clearly unsuited to a woman looking for a lifelong partner.  I was struck with her revelation that online dating is so easy that it makes people greedy to find that perfect spouse instead of accepting people with some flaws.

Underbelly Bristo Square

12:00

12:50

24

      92.       

Shaving the Dead (***)

In their funeral parlor, two low key undertakers who have been partners for many years share a few long held secrets while watching over a mysterious coffin.  As befits the setting, this quiet, slow paced comedy finds its humor in the little things in life.  Nonetheless, the highlight is when one of them plays some music on his smart phone, and they each slowly break into dance.

Assembly George Square Studios

12:30

13:40

10

      93.       

Back of the Head with a Brick (***)

A 29-year old man presents his girlfriend with a tale of the recent events in his life.  His prose is beautifully constructed at times, and the story of the fraud perpetrated on his grandmother is interesting.  However, his work is still rough, with lines forgotten, banal prose at times, and his choice of disruptive, blaring music from a cellphone to separate his scenes.

Summerhall

11:30

12:30

23

      94.       

Redacted Arachnid (***)

This show follows the expensive development of the most expensive Broadway show in history based on Spiderman.  The show provides lots of information about the troubled production starting from its first inception to more than 150 days of previews to opening.  Though the timeline was fraught for the producers, since they are never fleshed out as people, this show never connected with me other than elaborate lecture.

C venues - C aquila

22:40

23:40

17

      95.       

The Kiss (***)

In the 1930s, two Russian soldiers, one shy, and one rough and gregarious, visit a general’s fancy party, and the shy one leaves changed.  This is a buddy show with each helping the other with their weakness.  Though being true to his character, it is too bad that the rough one applies his diminished code of honor to his friend as well as women.

C venues - C aquila

16:55

17:40

8

      96.       

Paradise Lodge (***)

An entertainer hires a woman to help entertain the residents of a senior, memory care home by singing the songs from World War II.  Besides old songs, he treats his regular audience with respect and understanding.  The two actors change into two senior characters often to provide touching scenes demonstrating their challenges.

Underbelly Bristo Square

13:15

14:15

26

      97.       

Anguis (***)

A feminist doctor interviews Cleopatra while dealing with her own malpractice case.

Gilded Balloon

15:00

16:00

21

      98.       

Predictably Irrational (***)

A fellow demonstrates how the commercial world can manipulate our thoughts.  Using research into everything from beer glass shapes to Starbuck’s use of three sizes to presenting a wrong number, he provided fascinating insight.  I was a bit bothered that he drew unsupported causes from some studies.

theSpace at Surgeons Hall

16:10

16:55

17

      99.       

Moby Dick (***)

One actor assumes the mantel of Ishmael to narrate the whole of Moby Dick in one hour.  The short script does a surprisingly good job of exploring both the characters and the core hunt of the book.  It was a preview, so his fumbling over some lines is understandable, but somehow, the elaborate language gets in the way of the thrill of the adventure.

Assembly Rooms

16:05

17:05

1

     100.     

Enigma (***)

In World War II, seven women from quite different backgrounds are hired to decipher the encoded messages used by the Japanese.  As the play progresses we learn of the groups successes and failures as well as little about their lives from letters they received, but the large size of the group meant there wasn’t enough room on the stage, nor in the story for any of the individual stories to come alive.  I was left with the feeling that the producers were trying to cash in on the two recent films that dealt with the subject.

Greenside @ Nicolson Square

17:30

18:20

4

     101.     

Being Norwegian (***)

A woman proud of her Norwegian roots visits a shy man in his flat only to find him too conflicted to continue their romance.  The story works because her Norwegian openness and conviction provides a potent counter to his Scottish guilt and sullenness.  Their shared love of watching the city at night provides convincing evidence that they do indeed have somethings in common worth pursuing.

Venue 13

18:55

19:35

4

     102.     

Umbrella Man (***)

At a bar near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, an addled Scottish tour guide introduces himself and uses poetry, storytelling, and songs to tell of his life.  He plays the piano well, and his music is beautiful, as is his sometime incoherent poetry.  It was a nice, quiet way to start the morning.

Summerhall

10:00

11:00

22

     103.     

Stepping Out (***)

An assorted group of several women and one man take a tap dance class, and then train to perform in a charity benefit.  With so many characters receiving fairly equal time, we do learn of an aspect of each, but none but the teacher ever becomes a whole person for us.  The finale is not quite what I had expected, but, nonetheless, was quite satisfying.

theSpace at Niddry Street

19:30

21:00

3

     104.     

Traumboy (***)

A real 29-year old Swiss gay prostitute talks a little about his life, and a lot about his work.  The show works well because his approach to sex and work is open, clear, and sincere.  Though he trained as an opera singer for a while, his costumed finale felt like a bittersweet delusion to me.

Summerhall

20:10

21:25

2

     105.     

Hughie (***)

In the 1930s, a down on his luck gambler tires to impress the desk clerk who replaced his recently deceased friend.  As his braggadocio continues, we come to understand how significant this lowly clerk was in his shallow, lonely life.  Though the tale unfolds at a steady pace, it does seem to be a one note piece.

Gilded Balloon

13:45

14:45

2

     106.     

E8 (***)

After school, two troubled teens find refuge in their classroom with the two teachers assigned to nine such pupils.  The brash, smart girl dominates the play as the lives of the other three become secondary to trying to placate and/or control her.  The lead teacher is so soft hearted, that the play becomes simply about when, and not if, the girl will get whatever she wants.

Pleasance Dome

16:10

17:10

5

     107.     

Breakfast Plays: The Future Is [..] “Kit Kat” (Play 1) (***)

After trying to nurse an injured squirrel back to health, two 8-year old’s go on a hunger strike to save the world.  Though one of the little girls speaks a little too well for a child, their core naïve idealism still permeates the play.  The lead actress had a pitch perfect voice for her 8-year old character.

Traverse

9:00

9:50

13

     108.     

Trying it On (***)

A successful playwright reviews his life as well as those of other radical leftists of his youth to see how they have changed.  Though some of their views were interesting, the presentation of them together on the back wall confused me as it was difficult to discern who was speaking.

Traverse

10:00

11:10

21

     109.     

Woke (***)

Apphia Campbell presents a picture of the discrimination against Blacks in the USA justice system with emphasis on Assata Shakur a Black Panther woman now hiding in Cuba, and a fictional college freshman from Ferguson, Missouri where a deputy killed an unarmed Black teenager.  After seeing the more balanced “Until the Flood,” Campbell comes across as a woman who ignores some of the facts about Ferguson killing to permit her self-righteous anger full vent that are grounded in other wrongs.  One of those wrongs that she does clearly describe involves petty ticketing by Ferguson police that lead to large fines and jail time.

Gilded Balloon

16:00

17:00

23

     110.     

Romeo and Juliet by Curious Pheasant (***)

The version of Shakespeare’s play has the Capulets and Montagues, including the women, cast as two rugby teams of three gay men each.  I think that the play just doesn’t work because of the incongruity of having a rough rugby Juliet being lovingly wooed by her competitor.  Because of its brevity, the play is further weakened by having Nurse act as both a caring confidant and a murderous thug.

Assembly Rooms

13:00

14:00

15

     111.     

Cruel Intentions The ‘90s Musical (***)

A brother and his stepsister set out to corrupt two young virgins to the songs of the 1990s.  Because I did not know the popular songs, and my old ears could rarely understand their lyrics, I found most of this sex centered story of little interest.  However, Tim loved it, and thought it destined for London.

Assembly Palais de Variete

20:30

21:45

12

     112.     

Drowning (***)

This show attempts to recreate the lives of four Austrian nurses who drowned more than 200 of their patients.  Though the events seemed plausible, since the court documents were sealed, most of the play is just guesswork rather than based on the reality of the four.  I came away feeling that I had just witnessed a fictional drama dressed up as a documentary.

Pleasance Courtyard

14:30

15:30

25

     113.     

For All I Care (***)

A young, depressed shoplifter is placed in care until there is no room for her and invited into the home of one of the care givers.  Whether it was because I was tired, or the story poorly told, I cannot tell, but I just could not get a handle on this story until friends helped me with it.

Summerhall

13:30

14:30

22

     114.     

Fake News (***)

An earnest speaker tells us media interns how he accidentally produced fake news.  The actor speaks quickly and clearly as he lays out his instructive fable.  The problem for me was that he was too sincere, and I kept waiting for some black humor to creep into the story.

Assembly Studio

14:40

15:40

16

     115.     

The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord (***)

After their deaths, the three fellows mentioned in the title find themselves locked in a room with each other and grapple with their different interpretations of the Bible.  Dicken’s love of words, Jefferson’s love of reason, and Tolstoy’s spiritual quest means that their approach end up being at odds with each other, and seemingly irreconcilable.  While Jefferson and Tolstoy seemed real enough, Dickens seem too self-impressed, particularly in the presence of Jefferson, to be anything but a caricature.

Greenside @ Infirmary Street

14:00

15:30

4

     116.     

Confirmation (***)

A winning young, gay man tells of how growing up in the most conservative part of Ireland affected his life and his belief in his own magic.  His innocent belief in his ability to change the world sets this apart from other Fringe autobiographies.  Nonetheless, as the glitzy finale confirms, the show conforms to the Fringe stereotype of a person who thinks they are more talented than they are.

Pleasance Dome

16:10

17:10

4

     117.     

I Lost My Virginity to Chopin's Nocturne in B-Flat Minor (***)

A young couple constantly argue with each other in biting ways.  We wondered why they would even stay together.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:00

16:00

18

     118.     

Community Circle (Trevor Lock) (***)

The audience is arranged in a circle, and after an introduction to this play without content, Lock asks five people to volunteer to write their ongoing thoughts in journals he provides, and then proceeds to pick up the journals and read them out loud as the session continued.  I generally feel that dramatic shows built around audience participation may be fun, but lack depth, and, despite Lock’s winning personality, this was no different.  There were many laughs as one woman took on the role of media documenter a little too seriously, as she took photos of every little thing. 

Summerhall

13:00

14:00

14

     119.     

Tales from the Garden (***)

While tending a garden tray on stage, a young woman from South Africa tells of an ugly sexual experience on her trip to London and dealing with its aftermath.  While her experience was dire, it closely followed the path of many other such shows at the Fringe with little new to recommend it.  The opening scene has her claw rose petals from her mouth which, though symbolic, seems incongruous with the jaunty attitude she immediately assumes afterwards.

Assembly Rooms

11:00

12:00

7

     120.     

Where to Belong (***)

Victor Esses, a Lebanese Jewish gay man, has been aware of how hard it is to fit into life ever since his family moved to Brazil when he was a boy.  He combines the events from his life with questions of the audience to explore what it means to “belong.”  While I understand that videos and pictures of his life are used to demonstrate his sense of belonging, they, and the bulk of the show, seems too self-centered.

Summerhall

10:10

11:10

23

     121.     

Relational (or a Writer's Guide to Loves Lost and Found) (***)

A writer tries to figure out where his life went wrong by directing different aspects of his character to follow edited scripts from his past.  The device of an author handing scripts of his life to actors to explore possibilities and better understand his past is ingenious.  However, the scenes are too disjoint to provide any revelations other than frustration on his and our part.

theSpace on the Mile

13:05

13:55

8

     122.     

Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran (***)

This show attempts to integrate Instagram into the performance focused on how one spoiled rich kid came to die in a car crash in modern day Tehran.  The images and movies from the fellow’s life certainly contributed to a sense of his life being cutting edge, but the lack of bandwidth in the Traverse made the Instagram feeds badly out of sync with the performance.  Between trying to repeatedly trying to connect to the feed, and then hearing the actual performance with multiple delayed echoes on our smartphones the whole play became one big jumbled failed experiment.

Traverse

13:30

14:40

13

     123.     

Breakfast Plays: The Future Is [..] “Work Life” (Play 3) (***)

A laid off factory worker for a petroleum country must figure out what she should do next, and seeks help from her estranged mother.  The play takes a nice twist when she visits her mom, and discovers that she is not doing what she had told her.

Traverse

9:00

9:50

24

     124.     

A Rock'n'Roll Suicide!  (***)

The former singer for a semi-successful rock band in the 1980s tells of his life of drinking and women while touring for the past 40 years.  I will give him credit for not being apologetic for his years of dissipation, but his acknowledged Attention Deficit Disorder meant he had to read much of his script.  I must admit that admired him for being true to his self, and continuing to make his way from Birmingham in the music business for all these years.

Zoo Southside

21:00

22:00

24

     125.     

Genesis: The Mary Shelley Play (***)

Set in stormy villa, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Piercy Shelley, and two others while away the time exploring the spiritual world and trying to write ghost stories.  Byron dominates the play as he seduces the poet, and bullies all the others.  Though the play does provide a series of events that may have led to Mary’s creation of the Frankenstein story, the focus on Byron’s chronic misdeeds cast a pall over the entire production.

C venues - C cubed

17:05

18:15

11

     126.     

Honeypot (***)

Several women explore a variety of situations where women can support the empowerment of each other.  Many scenes were poorly defined so it took a while to understand their topic.  The use of music from the 1960s that explicitly described the role of women both provided counterpoints and enlivened the whole piece.

Greenside @ Nicolson Square

20:55

21:55

10

     127.     

From Judy to Bette The Stars of Old Hollywood (***)

A singer proposes that Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Betty Hutton, and Lucille Ball are the four women who changed Hollywood by asserting themselves against the system, and then sings songs from their careers.  Since only Garland’s songs are still well remembered, this show is full of obscure songs that lack any resonance with the audience.  Though the actress provided brief descriptions of each woman’s “battle” with the system, the lack of more personal details made it feel like a dull history course.

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

19:30

20:30

10

     128.     

Apologies to the Bengali Lady (***)

A woman discusses how the British colonial rule affected the role of women in Bengal.  She uses as her starting point the necessity of using Bengali prostitutes for the roles of women in Shakespearean plays because of the imported Victorian code of prim and proper.

Greenside @ Nicolson Square

17:15

18:15

24

     129.     

Ladybones (***)

A young woman with psychological issues participates in an archaeological dig that discovers the bones of a young teenager from 16th century England.  The needless use of audience members to help re-enact her therapy sessions bothered me.  I did find the track of the unearthed skull both clever and touching.

Pleasance Courtyard

11:25

12:25

9

     130.     

Marx in Soho (***)

Karl Marx returns from the dead to tell of his life, and frustrations.  Though I learned a lot his constant intensity made the show unpleasant.  It seemed like whether it was escape from Germany, or the visit of a Russian for dinner everything required Marx to be agitated.

PQA Venues at Riddles Court

19:00

20:00

24

     131.     

Arrivals (***)

After a drinking binge a fellow awakes in an empty Budapest airport lounge with only a talkative woman for company.  The self-centered woman is purposely annoying from the start, and the plot moves forward slowly as it reveals his path to the airport.  The story is just a little too surreal to be effective.

theSpace on the Mile

15:30

16:30

8

     132.     

The Burning (***)

The cast of four women follow the persecution of women from the time of the witchcraft trials to the 19th century through the letters found by a woman intent on selling her inherited estate.  While the mistreatment varied, there was little new here to hold my interest.  As an American, the final call to action to save the moors from fire was both confusing, and out of place.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:15

16:15

12

     133.     

Bible John (***)

Four office mates discover that they all secretly love true crime stories, and set about listening to a podcast that attempts to solve the Bible John serial killer case.  As they tried to pursue the clues provided in the podcast, I found it hard to keep awake.  When they came to the end, and presented the lessons they had learned, I felt that the play had pandered to the audience instead of proving their point.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:50

16:50

6

     134.     

Claire Dowie's When I Fall If I Fall (***)

The lesbian activist plays an old cancan dancer reliving her life while dealing with Alzheimer’s.  Though she portrays well both the physical and mental infirmities of age, the play suffers from the concomitant repetition.  The story has uplifting moments, but seems thin.

Summerhall

16:00

17:00

14

     135.     

Breakfast Plays: The Future Is [..] (Play 2) “First Woman” (***)

In the future, a woman agrees to run an automated plant on the moon so they she can be the first woman to set foot on the moon.  A decent story, but forgettable. 

Traverse

9:00

9:50

14

     136.     

Zounds! (***)

At Zeus’s command, the Olympian gods eat dinner and drink while they can only watch the Greeks and Trojan fight a war that their brethren caused.  While the play does serve as a good refresher for the Greek mythology you have forgotten, but it just too long.  Despite Athena and Aphrodite having the most substantive roles in the war, it is the flamboyant Hades that steals the show.

theSpace at Surgeon's Hall

21:55

23:25

3

     137.     

Breakfast Plays: The Future Is [..] “Mooning” (Play 4)

A journalist joins a cult at their retreat, and is attracted to a woman who is a believer.  While he is skeptical, her sincerity does challenge him.  The final scene is quick and to the point.

Traverse

9:00

9:50

25

     138.     

With Child (***)

The actress/playwright set herself the task of portraying stories of pregnant women that did not revolve around their pregnancy.  While she appears pregnant in all six vignettes, other than that conceit the stories lack an overarching theme that would give the whole some power.  While I, as an American, could only detect three different accents, afterwards a Brit told me that she clearly portrayed six different women.

Pleasance Courtyard

15:30

16:30

31

     139.     

Resurrecting Bobby Awl (***)

Three woman attempt to reconstruct the life of a mentally disabled fellow who roamed Edinburgh in the early 19th century.  Much as their evidence is fragmented and odd, the play seems to have no clear path, but to provide disjoint vignettes from his life that never really make sense.  In particular, the play starts with the display of a boot with a cloth in it that was supposedly where he was found as a baby, but is way too small to hold a baby.

Summerhall

16:00

17:00

3

     140.     

Art is Shit (***)

A real professor of Art lectures on the business of modern art starting with Duchamp’s 1917 “Urinal” using photos torn from some publication.  Most of the time he simply read his notes from the back of the photo pages, then repeated them, and added little else.  When the emcee called time, he still had a stack of pages to do, and left me with impression of a poorly prepared presentation given by a likeable man who was out of his depth.

New Town Theatre

20:10

21:10

17

     141.     

Chasing Aces (***)

Students portray a researcher, a counselor, and eight teens going through group therapy to deal with their troubled lives.  As each teen speaks, we learn of the abusive parents, missing fathers, and poverty.  The good hearted story does mention many sources of risk for the kids, but the short time allotted to each prevents us from getting to know any teen well enough to really care about them.

Greenside @ Nicolson Square

12:45

13:30

7

     142.     

A Beautiful Way to be Crazy (**)

Backed by trio (including her dad as drummer?), a 33-year old singer/songwriter tells of her difficulty to find her voice in the music industry.  She seemed nice enough, but she just doesn’t have the talent of her idol, Joni Mitchell.

Underbelly Bristo Square

11:45

12:45

26

     143.     

Hetaira: A Mythic Cabaret (**)

A talented singer assumes the role of 2500 year-old woman who has figured in many historical events.  The story line just doesn’t work as she as she progressively assumes the mantle of both a debater of Socrates and muse of Mozart, among other prestigious positions—it would have been better to have been their minstrels.  The show really goes awry as it ends by suddenly jumping backward in time to blame the Viking god Loki for her troubles.

Greebside @ Infirmary  Street

10:20

11:10

17

     144.     

Burgerz (**)

After having a man throw a hamburger at him on the Waterloo Bridge, a trans person has created a student where they invite an audience member to help prepare and cook a hamburger.  Though we do hear of the tribulations of growing up trans, much of the show is spent interacting with the surprisingly thoughtful volunteer.  To me, dramatic shows that depend on volunteers, particularly when the audience is not thoroughly warned about the level of participation required, are cruel, lazy, and usually full of wasted time that could have been spent better other ways.

Traverse

15:45

16:55

13

     145.     

It's Beautiful, Over There (**)

A woman uses her three names as a starting point to tell of three (or more) deaths that affected her.  The range of her relationships with the people allows the show to explore their different impacts on her.  In particular, the death of grandfather, who built her a complex dollhouse, meant that she would not have his help and company when creating the small furniture for it.

Venue 13

20:10

21:05

4

     146.     

Dexter and Winter's Detective Agency (**)

The son and his playmate try to prove that his mother was not involved in a jewelry burglary.  Though many children’s shows work for both the children and their parents, this is not one of them.  While I approved of the moral lessons sprinkled throughout, and the children in the audience definitely enjoyed the show, the general hyperactivity of the three adults portraying the characters played well only to the kids.

Roundabout at Summerhall

11:20

12:10

3

     147.     

Ane City (**)

Accompanied by a guitarist, a young woman describes the night she returned to her Dundee friends after spending two years in Glasgow as a university student.  The show is almost a perfect example of the classic Fringe play where a young adult puts on an autobiographical play exposing her revelations as if hers were something new to the world.  From the drug filled pub scene to the encounters with irate ignored friends to her poorly sung songs the whole show offers little beyond the banal.

Assembly Roxy

14:20

15:20

3

     148.     

Oh Yes Oh No (**)

A woman presents a show that tries to advocate for women to enjoy any aspect of their sexuality, but to object whenever the culture forces them to be submissive.  From its show’s title to the opening scene of the Ken and Barbie dolls having hard sex to the huge messages projected on the scene (“I want to be slapped.” “Subjectivity is boring.”) the play does not emphasize enough the power and right of a woman to say NO.  Rather, the show spends the bulk of its time saying that it is OK to say yes to such acts.

Summerhall

19:20

20:30

23

     149.     

The Passion of the Playboy Riots (**)

In 1902, William Keats and a Irish woman from the gentry form a theatre company to promote Irish identity and nationhood.  The staging is unique as the two of them sit on the stage as if they are in a balcony above their theater’s stage watching a play as a cast member mimics snippets of the sounds of a performance, including those of the audience.  Though the story portrayed their difficulties with the government and their audience over the years, it never drew me in.

PQA Venues at Riddles Court

22:00

22:50

11

     150.     

Numbers (**)

After a drunken bout with a mirror, a troubled young man rebuffs his girlfriend and seeks counseling.  The play gets its title from his incessant effort to quantify both the things and events in his life, eg. “I have had 15 girlfriends.”  I was coming down with a cold, but it still seemed that the play went nowhere.

C venues - C aquila

17:50

18:50

5

     151.     

Myra's Story (**)

This a a tour de force of acting portraying the life of an alcoholic homeless woman in Dublin.  With just a park bench for a set, we learn of her baby Patrick, the one bright spot in her otherwise dour life, and even he proves a disappointment.  Despite a spot on evocation of the drunk, ninety minutes of unrelenting misery with virtually no relief from props, sets, or pleasant events became unbearable.

Assembly Rooms

12:00

13:30

1

     152.     

Richard Herring: RHLSTP (**)

For his podcast, the comedian starts with about five minutes of stand-up on the news of the day, and then interviews two performers from Fringe shows.  My lack of enjoyment arose not from the actual show, but from my own mistake in thinking I would be seeing Herring performing one of his wonderful solo shows instead of a podcast.  The people around me, who knew what they were in for, seemed pleased with the show.

The Stand's New Town Theatre

13:30

14:30

6

     153.     

Sold (**)

Based on the first autobiography of slave woman published in the UK, a woman tells of her life as a Bermuda slave from childhood “nigger” to a master’s child to heavily abused servant to a woman who would not allow her to buy her freedom at any cost.  I found that the lack of providing her lengths of service as she was repeatedly sold from one master to another made it unnecessarily difficult to understand how she would have interacted with others, let alone survive.  While I was repulsed by the privations she described, from the outset, the evidently self-important congo player who accompanied the actress consistently spoiled the whole experience by playing too loud for the small room.

Pleasance Courtyard

12:45

13:45

3

     154.     

Father (**)

In Russia, the daughter of an abusive father must deal with her successful daughter whose personal life is a mess.  Simply put, I couldn’t stay awake for this show.

Greenside @ Infirmary Street

20:50

21:45

8

     155.     

Happy Hour (**)

In the future, two oblivious siblings play with each other, go to his soccer (football) practice, and take her ballet classes, as their lives are absorbed into a horrific fascist world.  This surreal show paints with a broad brush that leaves many things unexplained, but does create the ominous feeling of disturbing world just outside their understanding.  Though the plot slowly moves forward, the constant repetition of their childish games serves less as a touchstone, and more as an impediment to a clarity that never comes.

Pleasance Dome

10:15

11:30

4

     156.     

Pops (**)

An out of work young woman must return to live with her mentally disabled father.  The play is full of long, awkward silences mixed to scenes where the two actors talk to each other without being heard.  In one scene, she repeatedly enters his room and receives the identical response from him each time, but we are left to determine if this is a sign of his dementia, or a montage of time passing in a monotonous relationship—it is ironic that a play about miscommunication fails to communicate with its audience.

Assembly Roxy

18:35

19:35

31

     157.     

Fifty Shades of Shakespeare (*)

A large cast uses snippets of Shakespeare’s plays that deal with love and sex and the love potion from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to create a montage of sex scenes.  The attempt fails miserably as the snippets are too short and out of context to have any emotional content, and the short lived, anonymous characters are too fleeting for us to care about them anyway.  The only memorable aspect was having four actors support the horizontal fairy queen so she could “fly” over her victims to apply the potion in their ears.

theSpace at Niddry Street

14:25

15:00

8

     158.     

R'n'J: The Untold Story of Shakespeare's Roz and Jules (*)

Rather than dying, a pregnant Juliet joins Rosaline in an murderous attempt to escape the revenge of the Montagues.  While purports to be a “Thelma and Louise” spree, the production is so chaotic with a mix of nonsense videos and characters running in and out of the auditorium that the farce falls flat.  The ending was emblematic of the whole incoherent mess as Juliet still has the bulge of pregnancy after giving birth.

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

12:45

13:45

17

     159.     

BoxedIn Theatre Presents: Shellshock! (*)

A recent graduate finds work for an oil company that is suffering from repeated public relations disasters.  I felt like I was watching an unintentional implementation of “The Producers” strategy as this musical had a chaotic plot, banal lyrics that rarely rhymed, and weak singers who couldn’t carry a tune.  The only aspect that seemed even slightly professional was the guitar player.

Pleasance Pop-Up: Dynamic Earth

15:45

16:45

9

     160.     

Shakespeare Up Late! (*)

This late night take on Hamlet has his father’s ghost in a wheel chair, Polonius as a hand puppet, and Ophelia as a blow-up doll.  Though there are elements of the play to be seen, virtually none of the beautiful language is to be heard except in snippets.  All in all, I couldn’t wait for it end, and evidently the rest of the audience agreed since we all voted for Hamlet “not to be”.

C venues - C aquila

21:35

22:25

4

     161.     

Moot Moot (*)

Two virtually identical men sit in chairs and portray radio hosts of a call-in show who constantly repeat the mantra “Get in touch.  It is all about you and your opinions” despite never taking any calls.  This absurdist comedy relied on so much repetition that the bulk of the audience were resting their heads in their hands sharing bored looks with each other.  The only break in the tedium was when the two explored the many configurations of their office chairs.

Summerhall

13:30

14:30

9

     162.     

Die! Die! Old People Die! (*)

The play begins with an old man and woman shuffling to a table for five minutes, and then continues its snail’s pace for the balance of the show!  We kept hoping they would break from the tedium with some great black joke, but they never did.  The only funny part was when she slowly gave him a blowjob (out of sight behind his coat), but that was certainly not enough to satisfy the bored, irate audience.

Summerhall

17:40

18:40

22

     163.     

Crowned with Glory and Honour (*)

Although the description in the Fringe Programme describes this as a play that examines how people and societies “…determine which people are valuable and which people are disposable,” I was surprised to find that it was a Christian show that at its core was arguing against abortion.  Though there was a character who did not regret her decision to have an abortion, she was portrayed as having an empty, lonely life now.  I felt betrayed by the producers who advertised their play in such a misleading way.

Carrubbers - High St.

18:00

19:30

6

 

International Festival Reviews (no stars given)

 

Rank

Review

Venue

Begins

Ends

Date

1.      

Red Dust Road

We learn of the life of the author Jackie Kay who was born to a Scottish mother and Nigerian father, and adopted by a loving Communist couple.  The show does bounce around chronologically as she searches for her birth family, but it still works well.  The love of her adopted parents seems to keep her grounded throughout as she confronts discrimination for being both Black and a lesbian.

Royal Lyceum Theatre

19:30

22:00

14

2.      

Oedipus

A Dutch production that shifts the Greek tragedy to a modern political campaign headquarters on election night.  The update worked well as the ugly revelations about his accident and his birth loom ominously over the his election.  I could not see some of the action because the dining room table had been placed too far to the left, and I later learned that the production had had a similar sightline problem on the left side at an earlier performance.

Kings Theatre

20:00

22:15

16

3.      

Fireworks

Despite the four hour wait, this remarkable concert and fireworks combination continues to be a wonderful way to end my Fringe experience.  The concert started with Bizet's Carmen and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, with Edinburgh-born mezzo soprano Catriona Morison joining Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and then the fireworks accompanied Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila Overture, Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Berlioz’  Symphonie fantastique.  I must admit that Disney’s Fantasia made The Sorcerer’s Apprentice especially touching for me.

Princes Garden

17:30

22:00

26

4.      

Orfeo and Euridice

I haven’t been to an opera for decades, but found this surprisingly accessible.  I suppose I found the Baroque music light enough to compensate for the comparatively heavy singing.  I found the third act the most enjoyable because there was a lot more interplay between the singers, and I could finally perceive the repeated melodies.

Usher Hall

19:30

22:00

15

5.      

London Symphony Orchestra

The concert began with John Adams’ Harmonielehre, and then the Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 after the interval.  I found that the repetition of Harmonielehre made it easier for me to follow, and gave it a soothing flow that I enjoyed.  Despite Tim’s prediction, I found the Rachmaninov less accessible, more work, and less enjoyable.

Usher Hall

20:00

22:15

21

6.      

Hear World!  Naihati Woman

A large cast of Nigerian woman explore the discrimination against women in their homeland, and exhort them to reject it.  Though the short vignettes are touching, there are so many that the thread of a call to action is obscured.  I could see how this show would be effective in Nigeria, it felt like it was preaching to the choir here.

Royal Lyceum Theatre

20:00

21:15

19

7.      

Manon Lescaut

This Puccini opera has a fellow run away an 18-year old Manon, then loses her to a rich old lecher, woos her back but has to follow her to Louisiana after she was sentenced for prostitution.  As with the other opera, the light music made for easy listening.  However, I still don’t find the notes held for a long time enjoyable.

Usher Hall

19:30

22:15

22

8.      

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

The performance began with Kirill Gerstein playing the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2, and then Christina Gansch sang the poem in the Mahler Symphony No. 4.  I enjoyed the dynamics of the piano concerto, but found the incredibly fast piano playing more a blur of exhibitionism than musical.  Though I was rapt with some of the Mahler, the poem left me cold.

Usher Hall

20:00

22:30

13

 

I am a 66-year old retired Computer Science lecturer from the University of California in Davis who thinks even a bad play is better than no play at all.  I have been to the Fringe thirteen times before.   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 venues that are close to each other 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 1000 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.

 

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