188 Reviews for the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe (In order from most enjoyable
to least)
Welcome to the 2024 version of my Fringe reviews. I am a 71-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. You can see my schedule at 2024 Schedule.htm. You can find out about me, and my extended thoughts about reviewing at the bottom of this page.
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. Sorting by the Date column on the right allows returning viewers to see my most recent reviews.
Fringe Festival
Reviews
|
Rank |
Review |
Venue |
Begins |
Ends |
Date |
|
1. |
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
(*****) This huge gathering of bands and
dancers warrants seeing if you have not.
The production values are high, the bands first rate, and the dancers
fun. The rifle twirling and tossing of
the United State Nave Ceremonial Guard had the audience regularly gasping in
awe. Note: I realize that comparing
the Tattoo with Fringe shows is like comparing ripe apples to young oranges,
but I had to mention it, so I have restarted the ratings below. |
Edinburgh Castle |
21:30 |
23:00 |
1 |
|
2. |
Edinburgh's Old Town--History
and Tales (*****) Our guide, Kofe, gave us a
thorough tour, starting with a view of Carlton Hill, then High Street and two
of its closes, then Grassmarket, and finishing in Greyfriars cemetery. He was knowledgeable, well spoken, and
personable. As a former teacher, I
appreciated how he used cliffhangers to prepare us for an upcoming highlight. Note: As with the Tattoo, comparing a tour
with shows doesn’t make sense so I restarted the numbering below. |
Hot Toddy |
10:00 |
12:00 |
18 |
|
1. |
Cyrano (*****) This updated version of the long
nosed master orator has a woman playing the lead, and the references firmly
grounded in the 21st century.
The chorus of three disparate actors is a constant source of wit
besides. From the beginning to end
this is a joy to watch, though the last few minutes lack some of the wit of
the rest. |
Traverse 1 |
19:00 |
20:20 |
6 |
|
2. |
A Knock on the Roof by Khawla
Ibraheem (*****) A Gazan mother repeatedly
practices trying to evacuate her seventh floor apartment to prepare for a
potential Israeli bombing. Though we
also hear of regular Gazan life with its privations, it is each unsuccessful
attempt to reach safety in five minutes that ratchets up the stress in the
play. We cannot but help but
sympathize with her as the little things she easily forgets would leave her
in stranded as her apartment collapses. |
Traverse 1 |
10:30 |
11:50 |
13 |
|
3. |
David William Bryan: 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. Note: I had
seen this twice before, and recommended it to my wife, and feel it deserves
another entry here. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:00 |
16:10 |
20 |
|
4. |
David William Bryan: Fragility
of Man (*****) A 12-year-old orphan, with a
devastating right hook, spends much of his life in and out of prison. This is a literally a tour de force as the
actor/playwright muscles his through his alliterative script of fights,
drugs, prison, and love. Whether
fighting a ferocious man or drug addiction there are no cheap shots here—it
may be a one man show, but it fills the stage. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:00 |
16:10 |
19 |
|
5. |
Dissociation (*****) This clever play is about the
competing aspects of a person’s personality, and their relative strengths and
weaknesses. From the initial mime sequence
through real and dreamed scenes, it consistently explores the issue without
psychobabble, nor easy solutions. The
simple use of sweaters and coats served to unobtrusively and effectively
differentiate the characters and personalities. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
11:25 |
12:35 |
2 |
|
6. |
Alice Diamond and the Forty
Elephants (*****) When her brother and his London
gang leave to join the World War I British army, at the behest of her mother,
Alice takes over his criminal territory, and uses the women left behind to
shop lift and steal instead of armed robbery.
The leads and huge cast all flawlessly recreated the many crimes and
parties of the historical gangs and their “queen”. The family dynamics and her relationship
with her second-in command added depth to the story. |
Pleasance Dome |
13:30 |
14:30 |
4 |
|
7. |
/ and Her
(*****) This lovely
show follows the lives of two girlhood friends, one of whom is Jane Grey, the
betrothed of King Edward VJ, and destined to rule England for nine days
before being executed because of her religion. From Grey’s initial, shy introduction to
her new friend to sharing a love of Plato to the effort of tightening each
other’s corsets we feel their times and their love for each other. The scene of a tween Grey baptizing two
dolls sets the tone for much of the rest of her life. |
C ARTS | C
venues | C alto |
20:15 |
21:15 |
22 |
|
8. |
Casting the Runes (*****) A professor who prides himself on
debunking supernatural frauds seemingly accidently comes to posses a paper
containing some unusual runes. This
big show in a small space combines a cleverr set, scattered full size
puppets, fine acting, and a properly mysterious plot to give you would want
from a spooky Fringe show. The
changing image in a book was a simple, but effective trick, but having lamps
go out as he walks by seemed inappropriate to the supposed level of
supernaturalism. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
11:35 |
12:35 |
-31 |
|
9. |
Polishing Shakespeare (*****) Based on a true story, an
American billionaire offers a theater’s artistic director and a playwright a
grant to “translate” Shakespeare’s plays into “American” English. The show uses finely wrought prose to
explore the unavoidable battle between a donor’s power of the purse, and
art’s criticism of such power. I
appreciated that the playwright character provides a legitimate, albeit
short, example of a proposed adaptation of “Henry VIII”, which was Shakespeare’s
own homage to his benefactor’s family. |
Assembly Rooms |
15:30 |
16:30 |
18 |
|
10.
|
Born in the USA (Leaving
Vietnam) (*****) This one man show has a Vietnam
veteran tell of his experiences in Vietnam as an enlisted Marine, and how
they continued to influence his life for decades. His bond with a medic provides a touchstone
for the taciturn autoworker’s tale.
While I am not a veteran, his confrontation with the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington D.C. mirrored my own deep appreciation of those
soldiers. |
C ARTS | C venues | C alto |
16:00 |
17:05 |
10 |
|
11.
|
Frankenstein (On a Budget)
(*****) Take a single actor trying to
recreate the whole Frankenstein book, a host of cardboard props, and penchant
for puns, and you get a bonkers comedy a la Rock Horror Picture Show. We were in the mood for some whimsical
comedy, and he delivered on the cheap without veering too far from the
original plots. It’s probably a 4-star
show, but it just tickled our funny bones. |
Pleasance Dome |
11:50 |
12:50 |
26 |
|
12.
|
Tiny Little Town (*****) When the mayor of a very small
town mistakes a grifter for a federal inspector, he organizes the civic
leader s to roll out the red carpet for the impostor. This music is snappy, and the choreography
out of this world. The mayor, with his
Ronald MacDonald hair cut sets the tone for this fun show. |
Bedlam Theatre |
18:05 |
19:35 |
8 |
|
13.
|
Radium Girls (*****) In the late 1920s, young women
who had been painting watches with radium began to contract cancer at an
inordinate rate, but their employer asserted that they had proof that it
wasn’t due to the radium. With one
worker and the president leading this large cast, this show maintains the
legal and medical tension throughout the year of their struggle. The show does a remarkable job of
presenting the facts both from her medical treatments, and the university
research in a clear and riveting fashion. |
Greenside @ George Street |
13:50 |
14:45 |
10 |
|
14.
|
I am George Massey (****) A fellow suffers from depression
(PTSD?) after experiencing 9/11 when he was eight years old. Despite counseling and prescribed
medications, he slowly becomes radicalized and slides to the edge of society. His portrayal is riveting without
sensationalism. |
theSpace on the Mile |
10:20 |
11:25 |
16 |
|
15.
|
Across a Love Locked Bridge
(****) The playwright reads his
beautiful, evocative poems from four phases of his life. His introduction to each phase provided the
background that made some of the poems even more wonderful. Since he doesn’t have a book of the poems
available, I cannot cite lines for examples.
|
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:55 |
11:45 |
23 |
|
16.
|
Spy Movie: The Play! (****) This spoof of the James Bonds
films had me laughing from the outset, and I rarely laugh outload. As my wife would say, “it is absolutely
bonkers”, without going overboard into the chaos of zaniness. A perfect example is when two people are
driving, and a card says they are now in England, the two actors switch
places. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
12:00 |
12:50 |
25 |
|
17.
|
5 Mistakes That Changed History
(****) A sequel to last year’s play of
the same name, the historian found five other “mistakes” to elaborate
on. These ranged from Alexander the
Great leaving no heirs to tomatoes thought to be poisonous to the emperor of
Japan sending five women to be educated in USA in the 19th
century. His research is thorough, and
entertaining. |
George Square Studios |
16:40 |
17:40 |
25 |
|
18.
|
Via Dolorosa by David Hare
(****) A playwright recounts his
meeting with the people, both famous and average, of Israel and the
Palestinian Territories in the mid-1990s.
From his dinner with a British cultural exchange consul in a tony Tel
Aviv restaurant to the illegal settlers in their California-like suburbia
homes to the Arab leader ensconced in a posh hotel amid the Gaza Strip
squalor, he finds fervent opinions among the Jews and Arabs that cannot be
reconciled—even among themselves.
Somehow, a heated argument at the settlers’ dinner table about the age
of a girl in the Bible who carries water for camels seems a perfect metaphor
for the intractable nature of the dilemma of the area. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
9:45 |
10:55 |
2 |
|
19.
|
Playfight (****) Three fifteen-year old girl
friends deal with their blossoming sexuality in very different ways. While that sounds like just another coming
of age story, the frank discussions of their new sexual feelings as well as
the unspoken changes in their friendships separates this from such mundane
stories. One scene up in their home
tree is both dramatic and wonderfully subtle. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
17:30 |
18:30 |
5 |
|
20.
|
The Lady Boys of Bangkok (****) This rite of passage for Fringe
goers has ten lady boys, one drag singer/comedienne, and four male dancers
who dance and lip sync to pop hits with two aerialists added for a little
circus feel. The costumes are great,
the lip syncing perfunctory at times, and the dance routines fairly good. One male dancer/singer was particularly
energetic and personable, but, unlike in 2003, it seemed that many of the
“ladies” had had breast implants. |
The Sabai Pavilion |
20:15 |
21:55 |
20 |
|
21.
|
Avenue Q (****) In a world populated with people,
puppets, and puppet monsters, a puppet who is unsure of his purpose in life
rents a room in a mixed race apartment house, and falls in love with a
monster puppet. The music was mundane,
but the lyrics were good, if not witty.
The variety of relationships that develop help to keep the play
interesting. |
Saint Stephen's Theatre |
21:25 |
23:40 |
17 |
|
22.
|
NeuroChatter (****) For the actress, she really has
three split personalities that actually know of each other, and are quite
verbal as they argue about who should dominate the next piece of her
life. In this show we see how the
three work together to help her to be effective in life. This is a remarkable show because each of
the three must act their parts for the hour of the show. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
23:15 |
0:10 |
21 |
|
23.
|
Trawled – When Adventure Becomes
Survival (****) Eion Ryan tells of his six weeks
working aboard a trawler in the South Pacific when he was 25. From unlashing a boom in shark infested
waters during a raging storm to having to fight the captain he makes the
harrowing journey come alive for us. I
have had cracked ribs, and his vivid description having to do brutal work
with broken ribs had me sympathizing with his plight. |
theSpace @ Venue45 |
16:05 |
17:05 |
12 |
|
24.
|
After Shakespeare – Richard III
(****) This two hander has ten scenes
from Richard’s life that argue that, despite Shakespeare’s characterization,
he was an honorable man who advocated for the masses at the expense of
creating enemies among the ruling class.
Nonetheless, the play does not ignore that he ordered a number of
people executed on the advice of Buckingham.
Each scene is well chosen, well acted, and well scripted. |
theSpaceTriplex |
18:05 |
19:05 |
10 |
|
25.
|
RUM by Joe Mallalieu (****) This one man show has a man
plaster a wall as he tells tales of his trade and its history in his
family. He paints a portrait of hard
mens’ lives with an ethos from the past.
Having been a general contractor, I relished the verisimilitude of his
plastering and description of tradesmen. |
Underbelly, Cowgate |
17:50 |
18:50 |
20 |
|
26.
|
Is the WiFi Good in Hell? (****) We follow a fearful gay 13-year
old with a speech impediment from the slum seaside of Margate through a
London university student career as he tries to cope with a world in which he
has few safe places. Though he has a
close childhood friend, and a lover later, he never seems to fit in. We cannot but empathize with the plight of
the sensitive outsider. |
Underbelly, Cowgate |
12:40 |
13:40 |
14 |
|
27.
|
Amazing Stories of Blues and
Soul: The Road Trip (****) A blues band of now old men,
complete with a horn section, describe the background and then perform songs
from ten American cities that demonstrate distinct strains of blues and soul
music. Despite their age, these guys
can really rock their tunes, and get the audience moving. Their little lessons about the songs’
source is the icing on the cake that makes this a completely wonderful
experience. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
16:50 |
17:50 |
3 |
|
28.
|
Bonding (****) An actor combines exploring the
James Bond films with the audience, and describing his own life from grandson
of a coalminer to sharing Bond films with his father to how his acting career
developed and was perceived by his friends and father. The fact that the room only holds 16
people, and was half full made this a particularly personal experience where
he often sat on the stage and told his stories as if in a conversation. As we approached the end, it became
apparent that a second interpretation of the title referenced his deep
feelings for his father. |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
18:25 |
19:20 |
3 |
|
29.
|
Influenced (****) A shy young fellow finds his
place in the world as a political influencer.
As he tells his tale we see him blossom, and then learn of his own
misperceptions of the world. His revelation
serve as a good reminder of the power and naivete of such people now. |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
20:45 |
21:35 |
9 |
|
30.
|
Italians in England by Action
Theatre (Italy) (****) A young man connives to have a
tryst with the young wife of a rich old man by arranging a dinner at the
villa of a shared old doctor friend.
From an abused fool to a cowardly captain to the rich cuckold, all of
the elements of Italian commedia dell’arte are here, and performed perfectly
and exuberantly. The bawdy jokes,
broad humor, and ribald plot form a perfect blend. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
12:25 |
13:15 |
13 |
|
31.
|
Shellshocked – An Explosive New
Play (****) During World War I, a young,
fragile veteran applies for an apprenticeship to an artist. The play moves slowly, but this reinforces the
sense of underlying cunning of the painter.
The soundtrack and late twists keep the show taut throughout. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:50 |
12:00 |
21 |
|
32.
|
Out of the Blue (****) The twelve guys from Oxford are
back with their great harmonies and fun choreography. I didn’t enjoy the song
selection as much as I use to because they are selecting newer songs. However, their final medley of older rock
songs got the crowd and me really going. |
Assembly George Square |
14:10 |
15:10 |
26 |
|
33.
|
Slash (****)’ This murder mystery has three
friends accidentally meet in the bathroom at their high school reunion only
to find a fourth friend murdered. The
plot evolves nicely; as the facts are revealed our suspicions shift to each
friend. The plot twists are fun,
except that the “solutions” never explain how they came to be in the bathroom
at the same time. |
Bedlam Theatre |
16:55 |
17:45 |
8 |
|
34.
|
Rogues So Banished (****) We heard this story of the travails
of three escaped convicts in the jungles of 19th century New South
Wales penal colony right after we saw “Bonding”, and it was also in small
room with only eight audience members.
Unlike in “Bonding”, the actor did not break the fourth wall, but the
small crowd made it somehow like a group around a campfire hearing a ghost
story—except this seemed like an absolutely true story of deprivation and
resourcefulness. The text, his bare
chested visage, and his movements made the story come alive with nary a dull
moment. |
Scottish Storytelling Centre |
20:00 |
20:55 |
3 |
|
35.
|
Jive Aces (****) This hot band, complete with a
horn section, delivers what it promises—jive.
The rhythm section keeps a toe tapping beat, and the vocalists do a
serviceable job with the lyrics. When
the pianist has solos, you can see Jerry Lee Lewis’ influence. |
Pleasance at EICC |
20:00 |
21:00 |
18 |
|
36.
|
Sex Lives of Puppets (****) The show lives up to its
title. Puppets without genitals nor breasts
have all sorts of sexual encounters with humor pervading them all. Debbie loved the orgy finale, while I liked
the straightforward talking old couple. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
21:30 |
22:30 |
11 |
|
37.
|
Every Brilliant Thing (****) When six years old, to combat
his mother’s depression, the playwright/actor began making a list of the
brilliant things in the world, and then kept at it. As we entered he gave each of us
a slip of paper with a numbered item from the list, and during the show he
would call a number and the member holding that item would read it out loud. There is a building momentum of
joy as we learn of his life as the list grows, so it is hard not to enjoy
this show. Note: I saw this show in
2014, when it was 98th out of 165, which is evidence of nothing in
particular. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
11:45 |
12:55 |
5 |
|
38.
|
Olga Koch Comes From Money
(****) As the title indicates, Koch explores the impact of coming from a wealthy family had on her life. She successfully mined many different effects for humor. My poor hearing often interfered with my understanding her fast talking, and much of her pop culture references were lost on this Yank. Note: This was a preview, which by their very nature are a bit rough and humorless at some points. |
Monkey Barrel 3 |
17:40 |
18:40 |
-30 |
|
39.
|
The Sound Inside (****) An English Writing professor at
an Ivy League university has an unexpected visit from one her freshman students
with whom she shares articulate and knowledgeable views on a variety of
books. Though there is an undercurrent
of need, is their love of words that really drives this story. It is the lyrical choice of words that
makes this show both engrossing and challenging |
Traverse 1 |
10:00 |
11:20 |
6 |
|
40.
|
A Singular Deception (****) Two actors portray Dr. James
Barry, who revolutionized 19th century military medicine, and his
manservant as Barry held posts throughout the Empire. From carrying out the first successful
Caesarian births to developing treatments of sexual and mental diseases to
challenging the medical quality of the British establishment, Barry was at
the forefront of medicine, but made a lot of enemies along the way. From the opening scene, it is apparent that
a woman is playing the lead, but she hides her gender well, as did Barry. |
The Royal Scots Club |
19:00 |
20:15 |
9 |
|
41.
|
Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show
(Menu 1) (****) The premises of the five short
plays are: garden gnomes discuss whether they should leave the garden; two
super heroes, Blunt Woman and Captain Polygraph, go out on a date; a pompous
actor pontificates to his understudy; a woman who plays role playing games
plays chess for the first time on a date; and a TV game show host encounters
his ex-girlfriend as a contestant.
This menu is the lightest and most fun of the three. The gnomes skit is a great start, and the
RPG woman’s approach to chess is perfect. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:20 |
11:30 |
12 |
|
42.
|
Masquerade Mask (****) Three performers from Bologna,
one of whom spoke perfect English, introduce the traditional characters of
the Italian Commedia dell’arte using that very style. The combination of education and meta
demonstration proved quite winning. It
was fun to see the antecedents of MacBeth’s witches, Shylock, and
Shakespeare’s many fools. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila |
11:30 |
12:20 |
1 |
|
43.
|
Kev Campbell Was He (****) This one man show has a young
working class Glaswegian crosses paths with a gay ,erudite college student
who is impressed with his insights into “The Great Gatsby”. I was impressed by the surprisingly subtle
approach the story took in dealing with conflicts encountered as the
protagonist deals with his possible enlightenment. This is a Glasgow of words and feelings,
and not violence. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
19:15 |
20:05 |
2 |
|
44.
|
Why Did I Crush My Balls? And
Other Tales from the Generation of Too Much (****) A man seriously argues that nis need
to have his balls squeezed to achieve orgasm is like any other fetish. This sounds like a premise for a zany,
sex-oriented show, but it is not.
While it is somewhat surreal with squirted blood pelting him, the
plotting and his character are quite serious.
His life’s story and interactions with his girlfriend are gripping. |
Bedlam Theatre |
21:30 |
22:20 |
8 |
|
45.
|
Dick (****) The play starts with a
discontented fellow at his 26th birthday party asking his four
friends for their strangest sexual experience. As the play continues the interesting
conversations reveal over time that two of the friends seem to have their
lives together, and the other two are still trying to find themselves. I found the final advice to “do the work”,
didn’t sit well with me as much “learn to be thankful for what you have”
would have, but I’m 71. |
Paradise in The Vault |
17:05 |
18:05 |
23 |
|
46.
|
Little Deaths (****) Two childhood best friends grow
up sharing all aspects of life. While
I couldn’t always understand them, I never doubted the depth of their
friendship. Though they both love to
dance, they differ in health, family, and career paths which causes some
fiction, but mostly was lovingly shared between them. |
Summerhall |
20:55 |
22:05 |
16 |
|
47.
|
Conspiracy (****) Based on real documents, this
play recreates a meeting in Berlin of 14 German military and civilian leaders
that determined the best way to deal with Jews. The discussion is chilling, and pragmatic
with the need for forced labor workers arguing against execution. Though their anti-Semitism was universal,
they used the word “evacuate” when they knew it meant to put Jews on trains
to death camps. |
Hill Street Theatre |
20:15 |
21:45 |
19 |
|
48.
|
Ruby Carr: ebae (****) Ruby is a bright, gentle soul
who has worked card to create this comedy routine based on her obsession with
e-bay. She found humor in everything
from auctioned unwanted gifts to Victorian collectibles to losing an
auction. Her show proves that a good
comedian can mine anything, and find laughs. |
Underbelly, George Square |
19:20 |
20:20 |
13 |
|
49.
|
Sleepover (****) Three tweens have a sleepover
with the appropriate childish concerns and behaviors. Whether its telling the 8-year-old sister
that menstruation is bleeding from her butt, or gasping about a celebrity
divorce their portrayals of the girls’ naivete was perfect. While I was originally put off by a bizarre
dream or look inside a young mind, I came to appreciate how it tied into the
earlier imagery of the girls. |
Greenside @ George Street |
10:10 |
11:05 |
17 |
|
50.
|
Breathe (****) Three puppeteers populate a
miniature forest where an oak seedling roams both above and below ground
until it finds the perfect spot to lay down its roots. Beside the seedling, there are insects, birds,
leaves, worms,, and roots that come alive.
While the large video screen facilitates us imagining his world,
watching the camera work deal with the many miniature sets was fascinating. |
Pleasance Dome |
12:00 |
13:00 |
12 |
|
51.
|
27 (****) The “Glasgow Three” are three
twenty something men who met at drama school, and now live together going
nowhere while they hold dead end jobs.
Though we hear how one earned his nickname, and how the group
initially met, the meat of the play is how all three now deal with one of
them planning on committing suicide at the party the night before his 28th
birthday to garner noteriety for the other two. While there are a couple scenes of drunken
parties, the explicit demonstrations of caring raise this above your typical
frat boy show. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aurora |
21:05 |
22:00 |
2 |
|
52.
|
The Glasstown Conspiracy (****) This appropriately young cast
portrays the Bronte children as they each develop their own style of character
for their literary creations. Each
must deal with unruly characters the demand their author’s attention, with
Charlotte at one point finding herself surrounded by a mob of her characters. I reveled in the unexpected quality of
acting of the tween and younger cast. |
Space on The Mile |
9:40 |
`10:10 |
19 |
|
53.
|
Edgar Allan Poe: The Murders in
the Rue Morgue (****) In 1841, a private detective and
friend try to solve how a woman could be murdered and stuffed into a chimney
inside a room that has its windows nailed shut, and its door locked from the
inside. I could not but help but
notice served as the original template for modern detective stories. The explanations of precise deductions of
the detective are closely echoed by Sherlock Holmes. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
12:05 |
12:55 |
23 |
|
54.
|
Screen Test (****) In 1935, an ingenue arrives in
Hollywood from England, and starts out at the bottom of the stardom ladder
with a lineless part until an anvil drops on the girl with two lines. That sets the stage for a comedy of screen
tests with one liners, slowly growing arts, and a few dance numbers. It is all good fun with a seven year plot
that touches on all the expected scenarios, with only the macabre ending out
of place. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:10 |
16:10 |
24 |
|
55.
|
Per-Verse (****) A sexually confident woman
offers doggerel on many aspects of dealing with men. The rhymes are fun, but her disdain for the
ineptness and affection of her pursuers makes her seem heartless. I was reminded of my age by her seemingly
now acceptable lack of interest in emotional ties. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila |
23:10 |
23:50 |
16 |
|
56.
|
Fire Ignites (****) This short show has an Iranian
you woman demonstrate in several scenes the plight of lesbians and women in
general in Iran. The scenes run from a
hidden lesbian’s homelife to songs of protest written by actress to her
burning her hajab in public and then suffering beatings and
imprisonment. Each scene has a searing
sincerity with an occasional real tear. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
9:20 |
10:10 |
23 |
|
57.
|
Planetarium Lates: You are Here
(****) This live astronomer narrated
show starts with an aerial view of the building, and then slowly zooms out to
Earth, then Solar System, and on until we see the observable universe of
innumerable separate galaxies. He id a
great job without a script. I’d seen
this when I was young, but it was a good reminder of our place in
reality. |
Dynamic Earth |
18:00 |
18:45 |
21 |
|
58.
|
Will Pickvance: Wonky (****) Pickvance tells of his life
playing the piano while giving examples of his expertise. His initial, classical piece demonstrated
his virtuosity, and the range and blending of his medleys was impressive. I wish he had fewer songs in his medleys so
they could be longer. |
Summerhall |
17:55 |
18:55 |
11 |
|
59.
|
Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera (????) This rating is simply a place
holder. We had to leave after five
minutes because I simply could not understand enough of his words with music
masking them from my hearing aids. I
just wanted to have some historical note for myself. Please ignore this. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
18:50 |
19:50 |
5 |
|
60.
|
History of Paper by Oliver
Emanuel and Gareth Williams (***) A man and his wife go through a
box full of papers they found in his recently deceased father’s house. Each paper makes a touching contribution to
a picture of a the man’s life. The
script is wonderful, but the music and lyrics leave a lot to be desired. |
Traverse 2 |
20:00 |
21:20 |
10 |
|
61.
|
Highly Suspect Murder Mystery –
The Great British Bloodbath (***) A woman is found dead in her
dressing room for a TV baking contestant, and the groups in the audience must
figure the who and how of the murder when given a folder of clues. This is an escape room quest adapted into a
play. My wife and I had a good time
solving the various puzzles, but failed to figure out the how. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
17:05 |
18:10 |
16 |
|
62.
|
Naomi Grossman:
American Whore Story Naomi tells of
her love life, and the wide range of jobs she held until she became a star on
the American Horror Story TV show.
Whether she is tending a lover in a coma, teaching Spanish as an
Argentinian native, or driving a Red Bull Mini this overachiever finds
something funny to say about it—even if she never was a prostitute. Nonetheless, her love life pales in
comparison to her employment. |
Gilded Balloon
Patter House |
21:00 |
22:15 |
23 |
|
63.
|
MacPlebs (***) Two actors, who play messengers
in “MacBeth”, take on the whole play when the rest of the cast are killed in
a “tram related accident.” By
asserting that they have never read the play, they permit the show to veer
off the rails in wonderful ways. All
of the plays highlights are here, with even a few key lines, but their twist
keep it all fun and yet within the bounds of a good farce. |
theSpace on the Mile |
21:45 |
22:35 |
12 |
|
64.
|
Casual Encounters (***) A middle aged couple decide to
try wife swapping to solve their marital troubles by inviting a couple from a
swapping website into their home.
Thing go quite awry in the invited couple are not what they
expected. The plot is well crafted to
have a variety of scenarios to mine for comedy. The other couple provided a great contrast
to the staid homeowners. |
Hill Street Theatre |
15:30 |
16:20 |
23 |
|
65.
|
Jeromaia Detto: MUSH (***) An almost mute fellow involves
the entire audience step by step in a series of fun tasks. He masterfully guides individuals to behave
in a given manner through sometimes subtle gestures. He worked hard to successfully turn the
entire audience into an orchestra that he could conduct. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
17:10 |
18:10 |
22 |
|
66.
|
Planetarium Lates: Pink Floyd's
Dark Side of the Moon (***) This is a 2023 animation that was combination of the first visit to the moon and a psychedelic trip that I saw last year, and joined my wife this year. It was well done, the music has held up over time, and I gave it four stars last year. There is one scene of an approaching sandstorm that again had me on the edge of my very comfortable seat. |
Dynamic Earth |
19:00 |
19:45 |
21 |
|
67.
|
Love's a Beach (***) A gay couple are influencers in
separate spheres who try to deal with a public separation when one agrees to
work in Dubai for a month. The initial
ad for incontinence underwear confused me, but once I understood the theme of
a loving couple that panders to their followers and sponsors, I could
appreciate the bitter sweet satire.
The ending is a perfect recapitulation of the story. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
12:45 |
13:45 |
|
|
68.
|
State of Grace (***) An actor portrays the Australian
prostitute Grace Bellavue who made a name for herself advocating for sex
worker rights. Between her sex work,
social media, singing, and writing magazine articles shw was very busy. There was a quick portrayal of a day in her
life that was quite informative, but the play pretty much ignored the depressive
side of her bipolar disease that caused her suicide. |
Assembly Rooms |
19:05 |
20:10 |
23 |
|
69.
|
Dead Mom Play (***) An 18-year old man barely tends
his dying mother in last weeks while the grim reaper makes several
appearances. This fast moving,
self-conscious play is a too witty approach to his denial. The technique of quickly alternating,
almost overlapping, soliloquies was impressively acted, but I found that it
forced me to concentrate on one actor at the expense of the other, which as
dissatisfying. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
9:40 |
10:40 |
15 |
|
70.
|
Eric's Tales of the Sea – A
Submariner's Yarn (***) A real submariner tells of his
career in the silent service, and his great friendship with sailor. Whether talking about his harrowing
experience with the practice emergency dive tank, or the antics of he and his
friend, he made it all come alive. His
encounters with sharks, particularly landing on one with his bare feet are
particularly memorable. |
Just the Tonic at The Caves |
14:50 |
15:50 |
21 |
|
71.
|
Daughters Of Roisin (***) In the `910s, a
seventeen-year-old unwed Irish girl is pregnant, and her family has such
disdain that they refer to the fetus as the illness. The play wants to draw our attention that
many such girls are still sent away, and their babies whisked away right
after birth. Though touching, she
often spoke too softly to be understood by my wife and me. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:00 |
14:00 |
24 |
|
72.
|
Outpatient (***) This true story has a
thirty-something decides to write an article on dying by interviewing people
who are dying, but then finds out she may be.
The excerpts from the interviews provide the range of approaches
taken, and provide a reference for her own approach. She handled the acoustics of the circular
room pretty well, but I still missed many of her words. |
Summerhall |
10:30 |
11:30 |
25 |
|
73.
|
This short physical theater piece has a mute clown stuff
towels in his shirt to become fat, and then present a beautiful, skillful
interpretative dance. It wasn’t until
now that I realized that the carrots that we and he eat may symbolize a diet
that allows him to lose the towels and then transform into a slender, sleek,
golden godlike figure. This is one of
those works where I really appreciated the artistry of the performer, but
didn’t enjoy the piece as much as others because it was short, and I missed
the text of regular theater. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila |
14:40 |
15:10 |
12 |
|
74.
|
Heartbreak Hotel (***) A woman discusses the
physiological aspects of the phases of heartbreak with a a backdrop of her
own break-up with a man. The couple’s
interactions were right on point, and the science interesting. However, the musical interludes were a
waste of our time. |
Summerhall |
16:10 |
17:25 |
11 |
|
75.
|
Birdwatching (***) After hiking five miles from the
legal campgrounds, three young women pitch their tent in a remote
clearing. As night approaches they
play a variety of games that reveal
the fragility of their relationships as well as their fears as little sounds
in the dark portend ill. I found their
acting superb, and the devolution into horror legitimate though unnecessary
and unexpected on my part. |
theSpace on the Mile |
9:55 |
10:55 |
4 |
|
76.
|
Sisyphean Quick Fix (***) Two Maltese sister, one of whom lives
in London, must care for their alcoholic father. The play does a good job of exploring how
the share responsibility can impact the sibling’s relationship. They each reach their breaking points in
different, but dramatic ways with one by stealing his shoes. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
11:05 |
12:00 |
24 |
|
77.
|
Is There Work on Mars? (***) A young Chinese woman applies to
become a worker on Mars for a Elon Musk
company by participating in a semi-automated application process in a
room with only two chairs. Though the
process is supposed to be neutral to cultures and neurodiversity, she soon
finds that the job she wants actually has cultural requirements. The her final disposition is appropriately
chilling. |
theSpace on the Mile |
21:50 |
40 minutes |
22 |
|
78.
|
My Mother’s Funeral: The Show
(***) An impoverished playwright must
write a new play in two weeks to pay for her mother’s funeral. As her artistic director keeps imposing his
vision on her developing play, the stress of the situation builds at the same
time she and her brother deal with their different experiences with their
mother. She conveys her desperation
perfectly, while the ending seems valid. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
14:40 |
15:50 |
5 |
|
79.
|
Shroud Maker (***) An old shroud maker in present
day Gaza retraces her life from being a daughter of a Palestinian who lives
with a British couple until the British leave in 1948, then becoming a U.N.
refugee in Gaza, and finally a shroud maker.
Her young life, and that of her adopted son provide two different
takes on the privations of the Palestinians.
The play is a bit wearing, but that may well be because of the
depressing subject. |
Pleasance Dome |
11:05 |
12:05 |
19 |
|
80.
|
Cosmologist's Guide To Life and
Love (***) Using a well-crafted multi-media
PowerPoint presentation a cosmologist explores competing views of the
universe, with a minor diversion to love.
All the big names are there—Einstein, Shrodinger, Hawkings, and Sagan,
but in a very accessible way. There
was lots of laughs, and mental light bulbs lit. |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
17:30 |
18:25 |
4 |
|
81.
|
VL (***) This has two high school seniors
work out strategies for one to lose his VL (virgin lip) status. This raucous two-hander is fun, and yet
touching at times, as we are introduced to several characters from their
school. The misapprehension of one and
his coming out are the keys to making it so satisfying. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
20:10 |
21:20 |
5 |
|
82.
|
So Young (***) To the dismay of his two closest
friends, a recently widowed middle aged man falls in love with a self-assured
twenty-year old woman. The play makes
the source of the wife’s displeasure pretty clear early on, but that didn’t
help me enjoy seeing her misguided treatment of the lovebirds. Nonetheless, her final solution to the
roiling disagreement is well plotted, and brought tears to my eyes. |
Traverse 1 |
16:00 |
17:20 |
6 |
|
83.
|
Ambiguous Proposition (***) This one woman show has a human
resources arbitrator step in to defend her son against sexual harassment
charges. Her constant restatement of
“My son would never do that” started to ring hollow as she does not produce
the real evidence that may have been available. The ramifications to her own career seemed
a bit of a stretch. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
9:55 |
10:45 |
20 |
|
84.
|
Confessions of a Teletubby (***) A woman who played a Teletubby for
six years recounts how she got the job, and life inside and outside those
huge and cumbersome costumes.. She is
a delight, and has the personality and squeaky voice you would hope for. If found it fascinating that the
Teletubbies costumes had to be so large so that their proportions would match
that of a 3-year old, and that the films on their bellies always repeated so
that three-year-olds would feel empowered whey they could predict what would
happen. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
10:30 |
11:35 |
8 |
|
85.
|
My Mother Doesn't Know I'm Kinky
(***) A happily married middle aged
woman finds that something is missing from her life, and decides to dip her
toe into the BDSM scene without her spouse.
Her slow exploration was perfectly suited to here cautious temperament.
On the other hand, her graphic
description of her encounter with a dominatrix perfectly suits that latent
side of her. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
22:15 |
23:15 |
18 |
|
86.
|
Sun, the Mountain, and Me (***) To address his artist’s block, a
seemingly bipolar fellow looks at books for inspiration, and finds that the
tale of Icarus resonates with him.
Besides Icarus the story of an escaped World War II Italian POW in
Kenya is introduced with little justification. Both the Icarus and POW tales are
beautifully told, but have tenuous lessons for the painter, and use time
better spent on his mostly ignored depression. |
Underbelly, Cowgate |
12:20 |
13:30 |
21 |
|
87.
|
Did You Mean to Fall Like That
(***) A 38-year old poorly hands a
trial separation from his wife that she had sought. The actor does a great job of subtly
differentiating the many characters he meets
The play works well except that the crucial meeting with his wife was way
too short and belied all that had led up to it. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
11:35 |
12:35 |
22 |
|
88.
|
The Scot and the Showgirl (***) Frances Ruffelle and Norman Bowman combine to sing show
tunes, love songs, and a few Scottish oldies.
They both have great voices, and chemistry to burn. As it happens, I didn’t know many of the
songs, and their style of prolonging the last word made it difficult to
understand many of them. |
Pleasance Dome |
15:50 |
16:50 |
26 |
|
89.
|
James Whale: Beyond Frankenstein
(***) A single actor creates more than
twenty characters to tell of the life story of Whale, who directed
“Frankenstein”, “The Invisible Man”, and “Showboat”. Though the many characters proved breadth
from the his English childhood to directorial experiences to retirement life,
they were also confusing because the scenes were not in chronological
order. I thought the scene of Whale
directing the young girl and Karloff’s Frankenstein at the lake was the best
at showing Whale’s personality and generosity. |
ZOO Southside |
18:45 |
19:45 |
16 |
|
90.
|
Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show
(Menu 3) (***) The five stories for this show
are: NASA attempts to gin up support by sending celebrities into space; a gay
woman chooses to marry a gay man; an unfamiliar daughter returns from college
for Christmas; two foreign airline baggage clerks give a customer a hard
time; and a fortune cookie predicts the death of a diner. Though a little darker than in the past
years, most are skits are fun. The
plot twist at the end of the returning daughter added a lot. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:20 |
11:30 |
11 |
|
91.
|
Until the Next Wedding (***) A handsome man and a large woman
are surprised to meet other at a wedding after having not seen each other for
five years. At the same time that they
alternately draw closer and move physically apart we learn what attracts them
to each other, and, more importantly, what seem to be insurmountable
differences. The final scene is both
touching, and well justified. |
Paradise in Augustines |
10:00 |
10:55 |
3 |
|
92.
|
Buckets of Blood - Fairy Tales Not
for Kids (***) A storyteller presents the
original Grimm’s tales with all their original gore. I was surprised how many stories involved
chopping people up and cooking them in a big pot. I found the storyteller wiining, and his
discussion of various versions of the same fairy tale enlightening. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:40 |
16:40 |
-31 |
|
93.
|
Beach Boys Sounds (***) Three strings and two vocalists
gave their renditions of the pop group’s hits. Their performance was workmanlike, and
definitely entertained the crowd. The
lack of a keyboard, and attenuated vocals did detract from out enjoyment. |
Le Monde |
13:00 |
13:50 |
18 |
|
94.
|
A Montage of Monet (***) Monet sits with a projection screen
behind him to describe his life, and display the works of him and his
friends. His tale is clear,
informative, and full of little tid bitts that make him come alive. In particular, I had not known of his
repeated dependence on his stepdaughter/daughter-in-las. |
Greenside @ George St |
14:00 |
14:55 |
17 |
|
95.
|
Lies Where It Falls (***) The Ulster actor, Downton Abbey’s Ruairi Conaghan,
tells of his roles, focusing on a play about the Brighton IRA bombing, and
“Hamlet”. Though for the bombing play,
sitting across from the pardoned bomber was vexing for him, dealing with a
sudden case of fibromyalgia that sapped his strength for one hundred
performances of “Hamlet” had a much greater impact. He seemed to need to prove his thespian
chops by repeatedly yelling at the top of his lungs in our small room. |
C ARTS | C venues | C alto |
14:30 |
15:40 |
15 |
|
96.
|
It's the Economy, Stupid! (***) A fellow explains economic
theory of Thatcher’s privatization, and the later Clinton/Blair approaches
while his partner offers more conservative interpretations as well as magic
tricks. They work together well to
present understandable critques without getting buried in jargon. I learned how the plan to have renters
purchase their social housing made economic sense until the money didn’t go
to building more housing. |
Pleasance Dome |
13:10 |
14:10 |
12 |
|
97.
|
Jobsworth (***) A woman holds three jobs to make
ends meet, including supporting her snake obsessed, alcoholic father. While the plot was well fashioned to fit
the post-Covid Zoom employment opportunities, her consistent failure with her
dog watcher seems out of character.
The outrageous actions by her philandering boss make him look more
stupid than he would be. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:45 |
14:45 |
20 |
|
98.
|
Behind the Curtain (***) A large, very young cast take on
the roles of the back stage crew as well as the diva for whom they are
preparing. What they lack in volume
and talent they make up for with their exuberance. The music and lyrics are mundane, but
audience composed of family members didn’t care. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila |
11:00 |
11:45 |
9 |
|
99.
|
The Billie Joel Story (***) This four piece rock band
produced a workmanlike tribute to Billie Joel by covering all of his hits and
providing bits of his personal history as well as snippets from his
interviews. The whole band played and
sang well, but it had the feel that it was the end of the Fringe, and they
were happy it was over. The young
bassist/occasional keyboardist in particular never cracked a smile. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
18:05 |
18:55 |
25 |
|
100. |
Main Character Energy (***) A bit-part actress decides to
create a show to demonstrate her self-professed talent. The whole audience really got into
supporting her decidedly average
efforts at singing, acting and dancing. Though not a classic beauty, in the last
act her sexiness really showed through to us. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
21:40 |
22:40 |
5 |
|
101. |
Adequate Abridgement of Boarding
School Life as a Homo (***) As the title suggest, we follow
a gay young man through his time at a boarding school. The show depicts a wide range of his
activities from his initial hazing to classroom learning to his lovemaking. His long term relationship allowed the
story to have more depth than I had expected. |
Just the Tonic at The Caves |
11:30 |
12:30 |
3 |
|
102. |
Momma Drama presents
Stretchmarks! (***) We follow three women with
Mother Nature advising them,, through their pregnancies and the first three
years of their children. Mixed with
the many complaints and a few joyful moments are some sage advice. The last, in particular, seemed very
important: “If mommy is not happy, then baby is not happy—find time for
yourself.” |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
19:30 |
20:30 |
4 |
|
103. |
Wallace (***) A shackled Wallace tells of his
battles, capture, and execution. His
stories are appropriately grizzly for his time. I wish he had softened his brogue so I
could better understand him. |
Hill Street Theater |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15 |
|
104. |
Plotters (***) A company of four grave robbers
banter while going about their business in the early 19th
century. Despite having had a cup of
coffee this show failed to hold my attention.
The plot was just too thin, and the characters one-dimensional. |
Assembly Rooms |
14:10 |
15:10 |
18 |
|
105. |
Same Team (***) Five homeless women form a team
to play in an international football tournament in Milan. The variety of their backgrounds and
physiques provided many opportunities to explore their lives, and
approaches. In many ways, this was
your typical “team” show with the pulling together and overcoming obstacles, but
for me my hearing made the many loud football games difficult to understand,
and repetitive. |
Traverse 1 |
13:00 |
14:20 |
6 |
|
106. |
In Two Minds (***) A daughter must deal with her
visiting bipolar mother. While the
mother’s portrayal of mania and depression were spot on, and the daughter’s
reactions seemed appropriate, the lack of new insights or information
disappointed. The shared dancing to
her manic mother’s tape seemed to be the one time we see a real link of love
instead of just filial obligation. |
Traverse 2 |
15:30 |
16:50 |
1 |
|
107. |
Nation (***) An actor stands in the middle of
the stage and says something like, “Now, the speaker stands in front of the
audience…”, which establishes that we are supposed to be aware of our place
in the world. As his story continues,
we learn of a dead body in a little town and how the townspeople react to the
events that led to it. The unusual
approach to storytelling served the moral of the story well. |
ROUNDABOUT @ Summerhall |
10:30 |
11:30 |
5 |
|
108. |
And They Played Shang-A-Lang
(***) Four tween boys and four tween
girls must figure out how to deal with the opposite sex while their
understanding teacher often looks on.
From a boy bragging a girl let him see tissue filled bra to single sex
songs at a school dance to dates negotiated by friends the show feels well
attuned to the stress of early sexual interactions. I was impressed by how much the British
audience sang along with the many pre-recorded songs—not something I’d see in
the USA. |
Hill Street Theatre |
13:35 |
14:35 |
23 |
|
109. |
Surrender (***) This solo show has an
incarcerated woman trying to explain to her estranged daughter the events
that led to her conviction. The
actress does a good job of portraying a mother who doesn’t handle the
challenges of rasing a child well. Her
character seems real enough, but I grew weary of her whining—even if it was
in character. |
Summerhall |
13:55 |
15:05 |
11 |
|
110. |
How I Learned to Swim (***) A woman, who had always feared
the water, finally decides to learn to swim for deeply personal reasons. Her scary interactions with water, both as
a child, and adult convey the phobia perfectly. The plot is a bit thin, and the final scene
relies on an uninspired literary device. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
16:10 |
17:10 |
5 |
|
111. |
Camile O'Sullivan Loveletter
(***) The passing of two close friends
this year has Camile devote this concert to their music with a constant
undercurrent of melancholy. Since many
of the songs were new to me, I had trouble understanding the lyrics, and her
repeated straying from the microphone didn’t help. One song in particular was way out her
vocal range, and just sounded like yelling a screeching. |
Assembly Roxy |
21:35 |
22:55 |
-31 |
|
112. |
Last Incel (***) A Zoom group of four incels must
deal with a woman who has had a one night stand with one of their
members. The intial interaction among
the group and later with the woman seem true to form, but her lie is
dismissed too easily. The use of metal
rectangles as monitors for dance worked well, but the show would be better
served with more character development, and less dancing. |
Underbelly, Bristo Square |
17:30 |
18:30 |
-31 |
|
113. |
Addict (***) After receiving a reply to a
very popular text that threatens to rape his girlfriend, a man plots his
revenge. As his texting plot evolves,
we learn how texting can be abused.
The story is fine, but he repeatedly lowered his voice which made much
of what he said impossible for both of us to hear. |
theSpace on the Mile |
13:05 |
14:10 |
16 |
|
114. |
Bucket List (***) This show has a young man
announce that he is dead to his girlfriend followed by many, many short scens
of them catting. While the two
characters are incredibly likable, and each interaction enjoyable to watch,
the show as a whole was a mess. We
cannot easily tell when he is a ghost, if it is before or after he is dead,
and, more importantly, what are his ghostly physical characteristics—eating,
sex? |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
10:00 |
10:45 |
14 |
|
115. |
What The Veck? Songs in the Key
of Strife! (***) A personable former primary school
teacher takes up his guitar and sings short songs about such things as
dumpster diving and people’s self confessed embarrassing moments. He creates a friendly ambience that reminds
us of the simple, non-judgmental joys of childhood. He had one song that is a collection of
questions his four year old son asked, and another of incomprehensible jokes
from his friends kids that put the wonder back in our structured adult world.
. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
17:55 |
18:45 |
2 |
|
116. |
Four More Short Plays Loosely Linked
by the Theme of Crime (***) Three actors perform four
humorous plays with the following
premises: a pair of wild West train robbers trying to figure out what to do
with an usual cargo; a pair friends trying to decide whether to help their
friend commit a crime; a spiritualist hippie tries to convince his
conventional wife to commit a crime to fulfill the prediction of three
witches; and two thugs extorting money from a butcher constantly confusing
their statements with Cockney rhyming slang.
I found the first and last play quite amusing, but the middle two
seemed uninspired and weak. In
particular, the cargo of the first story was both realistic and fantastic,
and its three characters each keenly drawn and novel |
theSpace on the Mile |
15:15 |
16:15 |
3 |
|
117. |
Garrett Millerick Needs More
Space (***) Millerick is pessimistic about the UK’s current and future condition, and offers fanciful solutions with a bit too much ardor, and volume. His proposal for a new space race to mimic the effects of the Space Race of the 1960s based on the many parallels was creative. I had hoped that he would tie in his daughter’s humor to that of Apollo 8’s plumbing problems, but he didn’t. Note: This was a preview, which by their very nature are a bit rough and humorless at some points. |
Monkey Barrel-The Tron |
16:25 |
17:25 |
-30 |
|
118. |
Beyond Krapp (***) The spirit of a recently
deceased 15-year old Catholic man looks back with regret at not being able to
plan his own funeral. While pathos
permeates the show, it still has a light feel as he tells of oa living mother
and estranged girlfriend. In the end,
his imagined funeral of strippers and bands must lose out to his mother’s
ritualized one with her euology. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:45 |
14:45 |
-31 |
|
119. |
Dara O Briain : My Entire Life
is a Work in Progress (***) O Briain is clearly a well
established stand-up comedian who talked about a variety of subjects
including snow skiing and trying to find his birth mother. Most of the time he spoke so
fast I couldn’t understand him.
However, his tale of finding his birth mother has a nice twist. |
Assembly Rooms |
18:50 |
19:50 |
19 |
|
120. |
MILF and the Mistress (***) A married, middle-aged lesbian was
happily married but found something lacking, and looks into BDSM. It is an interesting story with nudity and
sexual recreations, but, oddly, not arousing.
Her matter of fact approach to the subjects makes it all the more
real, and more an exploration than exploitation. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
20:20 |
21:10 |
12 |
|
121. |
John Wayne Gacy, the Killer
Lown: Born Evil? (***) An actor assumes the role of
Gacy arguing that he was innocent of all charges. He plays the psychopath perfectly with his
sincerity being all the more disquieting because we know he is lying. It was a great reminder that I cannot tell
when someone is lying. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
19:55 |
20:45 |
14 |
|
122. |
Tartan Tat (***) An Edinburgh souvenir shop
suddenly becomes an internet sensation when its stock worker inadvertently
makes a pro-trans statement. This show
is a slice of retail store life mixed with ridicule of media frenzies. Without more character backstory, the
workers are just stereotypical stand-ins for which we don’t care. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
14:10 |
15:00 |
14 |
|
123. |
Plenty of Fish in the Sea (***) For this physical theater piece
has a shipwrecked man awakes to find that he is being attended by a French
nun, and her aid. With some French, and
a little English, he learns to fish, and of passion. I never really understood what was
happening, but maybe fishing, eating, and then indulging was all there was. |
Assembly George Square Studios |
11:25 |
12:10 |
14 |
|
124. |
Tom Lawrinson: Buried Alive
and Loving it (***) Lawrinson is engaging and
obviously enjoys interacting with the audience. He pokes gentle fun at his family,
recounting the time they spent as expats in Spain. Tales of schooldays, being the only brother
to three sisters, and, later, having to meet all their boyfriends makes for
an entertaining hour. Note: due to my
poor hearing I had real trouble understanding much of what he said so I had
my wife write this review, but we agreed on the rating. |
Underbelly, Cowgate |
21:05 |
22:05 |
7 |
|
125. |
Go to Your Womb (***) A mother with her actual teenage
daughter as an assistant cover motherhood from trying to have the perfect
birthing to raising a child who is happy with their upbringing. The initial scattered clothes across the
stage reflects the range of approaches used by the performer. Though at times fun, the general shambolic
nature left me cold. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
12:00 |
12:55 |
8 |
|
126. |
Little Beast (***) Lady Caroline Lamb pursues Lord
Byron, and then is jilted while her modern day counterpart deals with the
same fate. One of those plays that
left little impression on me. I just
didn’t care about either woman. |
theSpace on the Mile |
18:25 |
19:15 |
7 |
|
127. |
Sara Pascoe: I Am A Strange
Gloop (WIP) (***) Pasco was definitely in the
early stages of developing her act, and made use of that fact as a source of
humor. She spent much of her time
complaining about the hard work of raising two young children. While the children’s antics provide some
funny stories, her repeated whining wore on me. Note: This was a preview, which by their
very nature are a bit rough and humorless at some points. |
Monkey Barrel 2 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
-30 |
|
128. |
Loose Ends (***) A shoplifter invites a man to
stay at his flat after the fellow inadvertently helped him. This sparse show centers on the talkative
shoplifter with the taciturn fellow providing a fine contrast. The songs of Roy Orbison offer a haunting
backdrop the shoplifter’s fragile mental state. |
theSpace on the Mile |
10:05 |
10:50 |
7 |
|
129. |
Caged: The True Story of
Isabella MacDuff (***) The woman who crowned Robert the
Bruce stands in an outdoor cage for four years where travelers could abuse
her. She is unrepentant, and tells of
the Scottish events that led her to being there. The actress delivers her tale with the
courage and bite of a dangerous revolutionary. |
Hill Street Theatre |
22:05 |
22:50 |
19 |
|
130. |
44 Sex Acts In One Week (***) A website publisher hires an
author to implement the 44 sex act in a sex guru’s book. The actors stayed fully clothed for the
dozen acts they demonstrated with fruit often involved. Besides a sex book we have the sex guru
promoting her lifestyle, and an animal rights warrior involved in concurrent
stories that create too much zaniness for me. |
Pleasance Dome |
16:40 |
17:50 |
15 |
|
131. |
Whisky and Tales (***) A fellow leads the tasting of
four whiskies, and provides the background of whiskey and the four regions
represented. He is personable, and made
the two hours fly by. It was all could
hope for from a simple whiskey tasting. |
Hot Toddy |
17:15 |
19:15 |
26 |
|
132. |
Iain Dale: All Talk with Miriam
Margolyes (***) A substitute for Dale
interviewed the Jewish Scottish octogenarian comedienne/actress., and then
posed questions from the audience. My
wife liked her directness and self-confidence, but I, who knew little of her,
found little of interest. Though I did
find that her dealing with other celebrities, particularly Maggie Smith, did
catch my attention. |
Pleasance at EICC |
13:30 |
14:40 |
9 |
|
133. |
Margolyes & Dickens: The
Best Bits For my second encounter of the
day with Margolyes she started by reading passages said by her favorite
Dickens characters, and then for the second half she answered questions from
the audience. I’m sorry to say that
most the accents she adopted in her readings made her unintelligible to me. For the second time in the day, I heard her
tell of the story of her crossing the Edinburgh Meadow late at night, and
helping a soldier in a tree relieve his sexual tension. |
Pleasance at EICC |
16:00 |
17:10 |
9 |
|
134. |
Psyche (***) In the early 19th
century a younger sister is raped by the husband of her older sister as that
sister is giving birth which sets her on a path of promiscuity. Despite her frequent sexual encounters
described in the show, her icy tone keeps the whole story dark and dreary. She tells much of the tale while lying in a
bathtub which I’d guess may have represented a desire to cleanse herself, but
was never clear. |
theSpace on the Mile |
13:15 |
14:05 |
8 |
|
135. |
One More (***) Two men repeatedly try to make
time with two women, and fail. The
show does not differentiate the characters whey they are suppose to be
different people in some scenes. On
top of that, one of the actors rarely changes characterization throughout the
show which adds to the confusion. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:45 |
16:45 |
13 |
|
136. |
Fear and Misery of the Third
Reich (***) This well intentioned show about
the life and times of the people of Germany during the 1930s has a large cast
that just couldn’t fill the huge hall with intensity of the experience. Each aspect of the tale was broken into several
parts that were then mixed with the parts of the other tales which made for a
chaotic feel to the whole show—which may have been the intention. Presenting excerpts of text on white sheets
on a clothesline was acceptable, but having three people reading/singing them
contributed nothing. |
Central Hall |
21:15 |
22:30 |
4 |
|
137. |
Traditional Tales from Scotland
(***) A woman combines traditional
tales from different parts of Scotland with short songs in a pleasing
fashion. She accompanied herself with
a Scottish squeeze box that was set to a single long note for sections of a
tale. All in all it was an enjoyable,
if not memorable, hour. |
Scottish Storytelling Centre |
14:00 |
15:00 |
25 |
|
138. |
Psychobitch (***) After her lover accuses a woman
of crying four times during the yearlong relationship, she prepares a PowerPoint
presentation explaining each of the four.
Her reasons are varied, and permit the play to comment on a range of
issues. The character was too polished
for me to care about her tale. |
Summerhall |
19:45 |
21:00 |
15 |
|
139. |
Shakespeare for Breakfast (***) This version sets Shakespeare’s
“The Tempest” in a small contemporary university on a remote island. With a smattering of Will’s words, the
transfer is less zany, and less witty than I have come to expect from this franchise. I did find the cast personable and capable,
but they just had a dull script to perform. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aurora |
10:00 |
10:50 |
1 |
|
140. |
My English Persian Kitchen (***) An Iranian woman cooks a traditional
Iranian dish, ash, while providing short snippets about her life in Iran and
London. The food smelled great, but
the brevity of the text failed to engender much sympathy with her plight. For example, she never said how her husband
abused—just that he had. |
Traverse 2 |
18:00 |
19:20 |
1 |
|
141. |
At Home with Will Shakespeare
(***) Pip Utton tries to apply his
talent for impersonating celebrities to William Shakespeare, but it didn’t
work well because, unlike Hitler and Dylan, the author does not have a
recognizable public persona. Instead,
Utton just dons an Elizabethan costume and spends most of his time reciting
from the Bard’s works. The most
memorable aspect were quotes that sounded like Shakespeare, but were from the
likes of Ben Johnson and Marlowe. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:10 |
14:10 |
22 |
|
142. |
Evolutionary and Inescapable
Rotting of Girlhood (***) This university production has
three girlfriends supported by three fellows explore the issues adolescent
girls confront. The issues ranged from
wishing for “boobs” to bemoaning rashes from thongs to dealing with
boys. The entire production felt very
amateurish, but very sincere. |
Greenside @ George Street |
11:25 |
12:25 |
15 |
|
143. |
Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show
(Menu 2) Five of the plays were: an
attempted armed robbery goes wrong; an urban couple laments moving to the
suburbs; a bride is polled about her certainty on her wedding day; a first
time parachutist is joined by a woman without a chute; and a man discovers
there are people living in his attic.
The first and last were fun, but, on the whole, the show seemed much
darker than their usual fare. Having a
cold blooded murder, a discussion of suicide, and lamentation of the death of
son is not what I had expected early in the morning. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:20 |
11:30 |
10 |
|
144. |
4 Girls The First Letter E (***) Four tweens play a strange video
game in a room that is in a vacant building.
By mixing hallucinated voices with an evil voyeur this tale is either
spooky, or non-sensical. With
interactions among the girls being realistic for their age, I found the blend
of real and unreal confusing. |
Greenside @ George Street |
21:55 |
22:55 |
14 |
|
145. |
Zelda and Hadley: Together at
Last (***) Two women assume the roles of
Hadley Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald putting on a radio play based on one
their famous husbands’ books that is chosen by the audience. Their gin from glasses sloppily refilled by
an assistant transforms a potentially biting critique of “The Great Gastsby”
into a sophomoric farce. The two leads
seem to have fun, but I tired of their unneeded hijinks. |
Paradise in The Vault |
15:25 |
16:20 |
8 |
|
146. |
The Selkie's Wife (***) A nice young woman talking about
seal/women who are captured and turned into slave/wives. She tells a couple of tales, plays violin,
and sings ballads all in a less than riveting fashion. Her talent, and the script are just too
thin. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
14:05 |
14:55 |
7 |
|
147. |
BATSHIT (***) An Australian woman attempts to
show how her grandmother, and all women, have been differentially diagnosed
with mental illness throughout history using a wide variety of evidence. The show brough out the debater in me, and
I found the much of her evidence inconclusive whether excerpts from 1960s TV
interviews of pedestrians, or her grandmother’s mental treatment record. From her opening gagged song, to her contrived
moving uterus, to its final list of demonized women the show was quite
creative, but didn’t prove its thesis. |
Traverse 2 |
13:00 |
13:50 |
1 |
|
148. |
Dream of Being a Madame (***) A money hungry woman wants to
marry a man who will spend money on her repeatedly meets with her friend to
complain about her plight. I really
didn’t like her, and her friend’s life was given just cursory time. So, I had little interest in either woman’s
tale. |
theSpace on the Mile |
11:05 |
11:55 |
7 |
|
149. |
Rita Lynn: Life Coach (***) This slice of life of a cocaine
addict who finds that assuming the role of a life coach permits her to
maintain her drug dependent life.
While she portrays her cocaine addiction well, her character has 90%
of the lines, and we see no interesting development of the character, nor
plot. Without more character
development, I grew bored with the hyper antics of her and her addicted
secondary characters. |
Pleasance Dome |
19:00 |
20:00 |
-31 |
|
150. |
Mark Nelson: Getting Better Man
(***) Nelson is an edgy comedian who
is not afraid of presenting offensive opinions and ideas. Regretting Trump’s assassin’s poor aim is a
hidden thought of many, but suggesting a law to permit him to shoot his son
in his face was particularly humorless.
On the other hand, his story of taking his son to the Euros was both
funny and heartwarming. Note: This was
a preview, which by their very nature are a bit rough and humorless at some
points. |
Monkey Barrel-Hive |
19:05 |
20:05 |
-30 |
|
151. |
Badger (***) An administrative assistant
holds the whole office together as a badger disrupts a wedding on the
lawn. When an actor enters the office
in the first scene wearing a badger mask, I knew I was in for a zany show,
and, unhappily my fears were confirmed.
I rarely enjoy farces, with their penchant for way too over the top
antics and situations, and this one was no different. |
theSpace on the Mile |
15:10 |
16:20 |
7 |
|
152. |
Michael Odewale: Of Mike and Men
(***) Of the five comedians I saw the first
day, Michael’s set seemed the roughest, and unmemorable--even the same
night. Note: This was a preview, which
by their very nature are a bit rough and humorless at some points. |
Monkey Barrel-Hive |
14:50 |
15:50 |
-30 |
|
153. |
Cherry (***) A young woman
who is unsure of her sexuality asks almost everyone for advice. The whole play seems like it sole purpose
is to educate her, and us, how to be comfortable with such confusion with a
tilt towards lesbianism; it is like one of those films you would see in a
high school health class, but with swearing.
In particular, her willingness to reveal problem to virtually everyone
she meets seemed quite unrealistic. |
theSpace on the
Mile |
20:15 |
21:05 |
21 |
|
154. |
Signalman (***) This Dickens story has a railroad
signalman respond to an apparition that appears before and after a terrible
passenger train derailment. I don’t
know what it was about his delivery, but this ghost story never gripped me,
and I repeatedly dozed. I do know that
he repeatedly yelled at the top of his lungs which my ears could not bear. |
ZOO Southside |
14:55 |
15:45 |
16 |
|
155. |
Catafalque (***) A civil celebrant is tired of
her job giving eulogies for strangers until this one. While her reason for caring is deep, the
play spends too much time showing us why she is bored. The final scene with the coffin is
touching, but has too much drivel with little movement before it. |
Summerhall |
12:25 |
13:25 |
11 |
|
156. |
Leni's Last Lament (***) This one woman show has her
portraying the German actress/filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, trying to put a positive light on her affiliation with
Hitler and the Nazis. On a large
screen behind her we see photos her with many Nazi leaders, and scenes from
her propaganda films include “Triumph of the Will”. Her efforts to cleanse her record falls
flat, as does the play. |
Assembly Rooms |
17:25 |
18:25 |
18 |
|
157. |
Apricot (***) Two 18-year-old girls deal with
apricot sized fetuses induced when one girl has repeated abortions. From an inexplicable mitre, to a sudden
childish demand for a plea for mercy to her waiting slightly longer each
time, the show treated abortion with a disconcerting lightness that the topic
doesn’t deserve. If the goal of the
show was to show how childish 18-year old girls can be, then they missed an
opportunity to provide a counterpoint when the young father complains that he
wasn’t consulted, but, instead he was dismissed out of hand. |
rotheSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
12:05 |
12:55 |
4 |
|
158. |
Any Day Now (***) After the death of a childhood
friend, a young woman has more encounters with death. With hospice experiences at the center of
this story, it is not surprising that this piece is fairly downbeat until the
end. I suppose that hearing of the
revelations of a twenty-something is pretty tame for someone like me who has
repeatedly dealt with cancer. |
Greenside @ George Street |
17:30 |
18:20 |
9 |
|
159. |
Sardines (***) William Wordsworth drunkenly
agrees to accompany Samuel Coleridge on a 500-mile voyage in an inflated life
raft to Germany. The premise is crazy,
and so are there non-sensical experiences.
Some loved this show, but its general incoherence left me cold. |
Paradise in The Vault |
20:30 |
21:20 |
8 |
|
160. |
SOS BRN (***) Three friends try to help a fellow
who feels guilty for contributing to his best friend being in a coma. Their efforts are misguided, and the
introduction of ghosts is a cheap trick to allow us to hear his thoughts. Why they would cast a woman to play the
role of his male best friend is beyond me. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
16:20 |
17:30 |
21 |
|
161. |
Suzette (***) On the downside of her career a
silent screen star is invited for an audition that takes a surrealistic
turn. The actress carries off the
challenging role with great skill, except that she spoke so softly most of
time that neither of us could hear her, and we were sitting in the first
row! I was impressed with how she bent
down on one stiletto heel and then slowly swept her other leg around without
losing her balance. |
Greenside @ George Street |
13:00 |
13:40 |
10 |
|
162. |
I'd Like a Job Please (***) A woman repeatedly tries out for
jobs, and gets involved in a scam. Her
mother’s unexpected participation in a company getaway adds humor to the
otherwise depressing story. While
searching for a job is rarely fun, this slice of life didn’t provide much
new. |
Paradise in The Vault |
17:00 |
18:00 |
7 |
|
163. |
Peep (***) Two women stake out the
apartment of the man who jilted them both.
Their uneasy relationship feels right, but is not worth spending most
of a play on it. Unhappily, the naïve
actions of one of the women at the end of the play makes no sense. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
9:45 |
10:35 |
21 |
|
164. |
Sammy Blew Up a Toilet (***) A large cast of university
students play a kindergartner class and their teacher. They did a fair job of playing a chaotic group
of kids during recess with only the antagonist overplayed and too loud. The teacher had a tinny voice that was
difficult to understand, and the interactions with the antagonist were as
false as his characterization. |
theSpace @ Venue45 |
21:50 |
22:50 |
21 |
|
165. |
Knowledge from the Future (***) A young Chinese woman repeatedly
consults a fortune teller for advice on how to try to improve her life. The show moves so slowly that I lost
interest half way through. Just not
much there. |
Paradise in The Vault |
14:20 |
15:10 |
8 |
|
166. |
Importance of Being... Earnest?
(**) I generally think audience participation is a waste of valuable dramatic time, and from the start this version of Wilde’s play has an abundance of audience participation. By the final scene five members of the audience had speaking roles on stage. The show was so poorly constructed that the show ran longer longer than was promised. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:40 |
17:50 |
19 |
|
167. |
Gwyneth Goes Skiing (**) Six years after having a skiing
accident Paltrow was sued by the other skier.
The show uses several audience members to help recreate the day of the
accident and the trial. The show tries
to derive humor from the audience participants and ridiculing Paltrow’s
persona, as well some forest creature characters, but it wears thin quickly,
and runs way too long. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:30 |
16:50 |
22 |
|
168. |
Greatest Musical the World Has
Ever Seen by Randy Thatcher (**) An insecure 21-year-old fellow presents
his own musical that is set on two alien planets. He’s a very mice guy, but I am sorry to
write that the story, lyrics, and his singing are pretty weak. The music is mediocre with it all sounding
similar. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:40 |
17:50 |
24 |
|
169. |
Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words
(**) Just as the title states, Queen
Elizabeth I stands in front of us and recites words she wrote or said during
her reign. By having the actress stay
in unmoving, regally staid character throughout, the play is doom to be boring. Only her speech to rouse the crowd before
the battle wit the Spanish armada did she offer anything other than a
monotone talking queen. |
theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall |
13:55 |
14:50 |
13 |
|
170. |
Journey to Long Nose (**) It starts with a boy asking her
why she has a big nose, and another person asking her for her race. From there, her very personal search for
identity follows a circuitous route through her different cultural heritages
just put me to sleep. Between songs without
melodies and her “revelations” this came across as a classic Fringe vanity
project, except that she is a middle aged woman instead of a twenty-something
woman. |
Greenside @ George Street |
16:05 |
16:55 |
14 |
|
171. |
Why Do We Lie (**) This show has a large number of
short scenes of examples of when people lie.
Few are funny,, and few are instructive which leaves the play with
almost nothing worthwhile. It was a
bad idea poorly scripted. |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
18:30 |
19:20 |
22 |
|
172. |
Love's Concordia Bar (**) The audience enters a bar full
of scantily clad actors who are supposedly couples, including a half man/half
woman. Their dance numbers are well
choreographed and performed, but their social interactions are too broad to
be believed. The “Cinderella”, and little
girl screamed so loud we wanted to leave, but we were on the other side of
the room from the exit. |
C ARTS| C Venues|C Aquila |
21:20 |
22:50 |
24 |
|
173. |
milk teeth (**) A young Black woman carries a Black
baby doll with her on the advice of a counselor. I was tired, and this show failed to hold
my attention. Two days later I have no
memory of it. |
theSpaceTriplex |
22:40 |
23:40 |
23 |
|
174. |
Verbal Diary (**) A new housemate keeps a diary
for a year that his three housemates constantly secretly read. This low budget show has broad acting and
poor songs. There just is nothing
worth watching here. |
Greenside @ George Street |
18:25 |
19:25 |
17 |
|
175. |
Loft Clearance (**) Just as the title states, this
is simply a description of what a woman found when she boxed up her
loft. If you are about to clear you
own, and want to know how to dispose and consolidate your stuff, then this is
the show for your, otherwise skip it.
It was interesting to see the board games that her grandfather created
on large pieces of paper just for her family enjoyment. |
Greenside @ George Street |
11:40 |
12:30 |
17 |
|
176. |
Yes, We're Related (**) Two sisters plan a party for the
one year anniversary of their mother’s death.
Actors wearing squirrel masks, throwing her ashes, and splattering
trifle all happen in this shambolic mess.
The final reproachment seems like a cheap feel-good ending. |
Greenside @ Riddles Court |
16:20 |
17:10 |
17 |
|
177. |
Refugee! (**) This mostly mute physical
theater piece has four actors portraying the experiences of four refugees—I
guess. I understood none of it. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
23:10 |
0:20 |
22 |
|
178. |
Loose Lips by Lucy Frederick
(**) Two office workers make video calls,
catty comments, and spread gossip as quickly as possible. Between a death, and charges of interoffice
adultery there was plenty of gossip to keep the office interested, but not
us. The short, initial audience
participation section served no purpose except to put non-volunteers on the
spot. |
Laughing Horse @ 32 Below |
17:30 |
18:30 |
13 |
|
179. |
Waitin’ 4 Gaia (**) I came in five minutes late to
this adaptation of “Waiting for Godot”, but from that start it seemed that it
had all the meandering and seemingly interminable dialogue as the
original. The arrival of a third
character didn’t help clarify the mess.
In the end, it seemed to be 50 minutes of nothing—which, in a way, was
the theme of the original. |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
17:20 |
18:10 |
12 |
|
180. |
Lynn Faces (**) A woman who cannot play guitar
gathers three other non-musical women together to form a rock band, and then
put on a concert for us. The four have
no talent, and their songs are worthless.
I am guessing the idea is to see how bad a band could be, but, to me,
it was a waste of my time. |
Summerhall |
19:35 |
20:45 |
11 |
|
181. |
Natalie Palamides: WEER (**) Palamides plays a person whose
left side was a woman, and the right side was a man who think of each other
as completely separate people She
mined the possibilities of the situation for more than it was worth. This should have been a half sketch instead
of a piece that repeats ideas, like the characters of the death scene of
Romeo and Juliet re-animating four times, until each idea was beaten into a
boring gag. |
Traverse 1 |
21:30 |
22:45 |
6 |
|
182. |
Bellringers (**) Two men in a bell tower during a
lightning storm wait to ring the bells to cause the storm to magically end,
and die doing it. That is much of this
play that either my wife, or me could fathom.
There are snippets of the friendship that make sense, but, on the
whole, the story was incomprehensible to us. |
Roundabout @ Summerhall |
13:15 |
14:20 |
5 |
|
183. |
Tycho: Mankind's First Hotel on
the Moon! (**) A teenager falls asleep, and
dream that he is a special guest in the first motel on the moon described in
one of his comic books. Though the
bulk of the set in the hotel it seemed that nothing happened there that was
relevant to the final reveal. My wife
didn’t like the show, and I kept falling asleep from boredom (and not lack of
sleep). |
theSpace @ Niddry St |
16:25 |
17:10 |
4 |
|
184. |
A Series of Apologies (in
Response to an Unfortunate Incident in the School Lavatories (**) The title perfectly describes
this play performed by twelve high school girls. Initially, the various ways the school
administrators and politicians try to duck responsibility for their previous
apologies are biting and sometimes funny, but the one trick show quickly
becomes boring. The large cast
performs well, but they cannot overcome the repetitive nature of the script. |
C ARTS C Aquila |
13:55 |
14:55 |
3 |
|
185. |
Disco Dick (**) A daughter is caught in bed with
her girlfriend by her mother just before her grandmother was due to arrive
for dinner. This sophomoric farce is
rife with inexplicable behavior, including a father who suddenly delights in
wearing a discovered strapon, an actress who doesn’t move a muscle for ten
minutes, and an instruction sheet that flies from a bedroom to a dining
room. It seemed that playwright took
some funny parts from other farces without providing the accompanying
backstory to justify them. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
13:10 |
13:55 |
2 |
|
186. |
Addiction: The Truth (*) A former alcoholic argues that
alcoholism is a moral issue, and not a disease. As with “Divine Invention”, his absolute
sureness in his opinion grated on me.
Many of the things he asserted
as absolute facts, differed from my understanding of the world. |
Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 |
18:30 |
19:30 |
12 |
|
187. |
Divine Invention (*) A playwright warns us that he is
going to simply sit and read 30 short treatises he has written about
love. I quickly tired of his
self-referential stories and assertions using absolutes like “only”, “must”,
and “always”, often combined with unpleasantness like “pain”, “trapped”,
“death”, “suicide”, and “loss”, along with some false dichotomies. What made this particularly unenjoyable was
that I was sitting in the front row, and I couldn’t bear to publicly walk out
and disabuse him of his sincerely held opinion that his opus was of great
service to his audience. |
Summerhall |
14:30 |
15:35 |
2 |
|
188. |
3 Couples, 2 Breakups, 1 Barbie
and The Berlin Wall (no stars) I really cannot tell you what
this about because it is only the second Fringe show I have ever walked out
of. From the beginning it was loud,
with a bass saxophone playing loudly whenever someone spoke. Then, seemingly to overcome the saxophone,
the actors started to scream into microphones so loudly that it hurt both
Debbie and my ears, and we left. |
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila |
12:55 |
13:40 |
3 |
Last year I was alone for all but eight plays, and tried to see as many shows as I could. I saw 223 shows! That was a once in a lifetime effort. I expect to see between 150 and 175 shows this year. This year my wife, Debbie is here. Unlike me, she has an excellent memory, and has acted and directed. While my ratings of enjoyment will not be affected by her, my reasoning may be.ll see how I do this year! To facilitate seeing eight to ten shows in a day, I try to devote each day to a venue, or at least a small geographic area. The biggest problem is that comedy dominates the Fringe evening programming. Last year, I think I almost ran out of evening theater shows to see. You can see my 2023 schedule at 2023 Schedule.htm.
I hope to have the time to write my traditional three sentence reviews for all the shows I see. In 2020, I had a chemo treatment for neck cancer that left me with reduced hearing, particularly in noisy environments. I will note such problems in my reviews. I try to have a consistent star rating across the years with 5-stars indicating a show that is excellent in all aspects of its production. Usually only around 10% of the shows meet that criterion. Four star shows are usually excellent in many aspects, but have area(s) that were problematic for me. A three-star rating is not a condemnation, and just indicates that the show had provided normal enjoyment for me. It is problematic whether, in this era of star inflation, that I should post my three star shows to edfringe.com. In the middle of the Fringe last year I decided that I would not because a three star rating may hurt a play’s attendance. Shows that I give less than three stars have serious problem(s) for me, and I feel obligated to warn others on edfringe.com.
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 223 reviews for 2023 Fringe, 154 reviews for 2022 Fringe, 15 reviews for 2021 Fringe, 171 reviews for 2019 Fringe, 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.
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.