http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/rss/festivalreview.xmlLatest Edinburgh Festival Reviews from Scotsman.comen-GBCopyright 2011, Johnston Press PlcMon, 05 Sep 2011 11:15:05 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss30 http://www.scotsman.com/template/group/images/rss/SCOT_rss.gif http://www.scotsman.com 144 http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3385AT THE end of what has been a genuinely successful music programme at the Usher Hall - EIF director Jonathan Mills’ best so far - the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra’s closing concert, under its suave principal conductor Jonathan Nott, might best be described as nice.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3385Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:13:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3384Last year was a bumper one for outstanding performances of Chopin’s piano music to mark the composer’s bicentenary.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3384Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:09:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3383OF ALL the shows in all the festivals in Edinburgh this August, this was the one I wanted to like the most. Ea Sola’s 2011 re-creation of her 1995 work Drought and Rain is embedded with so much pain and emotion, it couldn’t fail to move.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3383Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:05:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3381CHOREOGRAPHER Shen Wei travelled to Tibet, Cambodia and China before creating the three works that make up Re-Triptych.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3381Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:23:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3380AS SHE LAUNCHED straight into Seven Early Songs by Alban Berg on Thursday evening, it was immediately evident there was no messing with Karita Mattila.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3380Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:21:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3379OF THE French songs performed yesterday morning in the unusual combination of voice and harp, those by Chausson and Duparc worked more effectively than those by Debussy and Fauré, with harp taking charge of the role more readily assigned to piano.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3379Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:19:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3378Certain pieces of music that fit well into unconventional settings and Erwin Stein’s ingenious arrangement of Mahler’s Symphony No 4 is one.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3378Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:17:53 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3377This show has a lot going for it - Eric Lalor is a chummy Irishman with a listenable line in chat.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3377Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:16:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3375PUTTING a whole new perspective on the traditional male voice choir, San Francisco’s Chanticleer is a 12-piece ensemble with as many soaring sopranos as deep-voiced basses. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3375Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:57:45 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3374WHILE it was a disappointment that violinist Janine Jansen had to call off her appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Charles Dutoit, last night - as she did for an entire BBC SSO tour last year - there could have been few complaints about her substitute, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, although this required a change of programme from Tchaikovsky’s hefty Violin Concerto to Liszt’s lesser-sized, less fulfilling Piano Concerto No 2.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3374Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:56:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3371IT IS EXHILARATING to hear what happens when a composer pushes a soloist and their instrument past the normal technical limits. In Kodály’s demanding Sonata for Solo Cello Op 8., Jean-Guihen Queyras more than rose to the occasion with his virtuosic account of music heavily infused with the biting rhythms of Hungarian folksong tradition.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3371Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:57:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3370Something “rock’n’roll-ish” was what conductor David Zinman suggested composer Anders Hillborg should include in his new work for the Tonhalle orchestra.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3370Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:54:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3369THE world premiere of Alasdair Gray’s Fleck, on the closing day of the Book Festival by a cast made up largely of writers, groans under the weight of superlatives: the most ambitious event staged at the Book Festival; the first successful performance (albeit as a rehearsed reading) of a play purportedly rejected by many theatres.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3369Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:51:05 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3349THE Edinburgh Fringe is not a particularly friendly setting for a good, strong, conventional-looking production of one of the most familiar classics in the whole theatre canon.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3349Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3348IT'S not so much a show as a straightforward poetry recital, this performance by Roy Hutchins of poems by the famous and eccentric British counter-culture genius, Heathcote Williams.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3348Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3347THERE are two definitions of the word andquot;wretchandquot;; one is an unfortunate person to be pitied, the other is a contemptible person to be despised.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3347Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3346THESEUS has gone to battle and, when believed dead, his queen, Phaedra, confesses her love for his son, Hippolytus, who also has claim to the throne. Branded as a psychological thriller, this adaptation of Racine's Phaedre is not quite as clever as it would have us believe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3346Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3345Sometime in the future, drastic measures will have to be taken if life on Earth is to be sustained. Somewhere in the countryside, a village is reducing its emissions by banning socks.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3345Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3344THERE'S a terrific poetic talent somewhere behind this intense one-hour play, presented by the new Revolving Shed student company from the LSE.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3344Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3343Archie is gay and blames his Eton education for confusing his sexuality; Lottie is still recovering from years of boarding-school bullying and parental neglect, while various other public-school characters have something to moan about too.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3343Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3342LOOSELY based on The Great Gatsby, playwright Robert Cousins's absurdist satire on money's all-pervading importance is packed with sound and furious existential angst but never really engages beyond intellectual showboating.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3342Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3341TO COMPLAIN that any stage show about Liberace might be a little camp is surely to give it a ringing endorsement, but there's the air of the 1980s variety performance about this comedy-biography.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3341Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3340IF ANYTHING in 21st century society needs a thorough satirising send-up, it is the sanctimonious posturing of America's Christian right, with its famous unwillingness to accept those biblical strictures on rich men, camels, and the eyes of needles.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3340Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3339IT'S HARD to say what I was expecting from Palindrome Theatre of Austin, Texas, and their 90-minute version of one of Ibsen's finest plays; a post-modern mash-up, maybe, in which Hedda would encounter Lady Gaga on a walk in the garden, and consider the possibilities of self-reinvention.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3339Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3338IN A crumbling tower on a rock outcrop somewhere in the Highlands, husband and wife Lawrence and Shelley await the arrival of a wealthy American couple in their helicopter.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3338Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3337I've had enough of televised talent competitions. So, too, have these three contestants as they recount the events of their day to unravel a mysterious trap that could have been laid out for them by the show's producer.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3337Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3336Exsomnia promises screams, but sadly elicits none. Creating a dream-turned-recurring-nightmare scenario, oversized tea cups and actors in black one-piece Lycra suits struggle to turn abstract vignettes into truly scary material.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3336Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3335Tackling the somewhat taboo subject of female incarceration, three women become unlikely friends in the most dire of circumstances, each imprisoned indefinitely for crimes ranging from assault to drug dealing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3335Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3334THERE'S no doubting the powerful good intentions behind this one-hour monologue, presented by the Folkestone-based company Transport at Whitespace in Gayfield Square.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3334Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3333DIAMOND Dick, loosely based on F Scott Fitzgerald's short stories, blends the glamour and neurosis of the inter-war period with the glamour of the movie business.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3333Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3332CUSP has the potential to be something very beautiful. A woman on the edge of what we can deduce is womanhood has many choices while being inspired and driven by many things.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3332Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3331A TROUBLED, pregnant young woman ignores her doctor's advice, shutting out her boyfriend and family as well. It quickly becomes apparent that something is terribly wrong yet Demi (Hollie McGovern), a stubborn soul, refuses to open up to anyone.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3331Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3330IF YOU'RE looking for a great way to round off your Fringe - one that will put a spring in your step and a song in your heart - look no further than this delightful solo show (suitable for all the family) starring pianist, singer, bass player, kazoo-ist and generally funny guy Joe Stilgoe (yes, son of Richard).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3330Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3329Opening his free show with a game of Boggle, James W Smith enjoys messing about with language and the conventions of comedy, an early routine about his adoration of ham indicative of how far he's prepared to go with an audience's boundaries and patience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3329Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3328A DREARY corner of a dreary shopping centre is the appropriate venue for a monologue about a rough Birmingham pub - and one barmaid's efforts to escape it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3328Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3327AT THE top of this review, you'll see a four-star rating: it reflects the poise and elegant design of the event I attended, and the conceptual boldness involved in planning and executing it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3327Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3326IT'S WELL over a century now since modernism, absurdism and abstraction began to make themselves felt in European theatre; and it's an open question whether those forms that were avant-garde two or three generations ago have had their day, or still have something to offer, in a world struggling to make sense of itself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3326Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3325Three men enter a lift together as strangers and leave as friends. They begin at different stages of manhood: a teenager angry at his father, a young man scared of becoming a father, and a man scared of losing his children. After the lift breaks down, the men are forced to communicate with each other, benefiting from talking about their disparate life experience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3325Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3324There's a combination of invention and intention about this experimental piece which promises a huge amount and almost inevitably fails to deliver.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3324Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3323Oldham Youth Theatre have put together a work here which succeeds entirely on its own terms, a cautionary tale about a young man, his best mate, his mum and his girlfriend, and the cause and effect of a fatal car accident which changes all their lives forever. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3323Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3322That isn't one title, more the titles of three individual short plays by sometime analogue writer Emma Jowett. Each word represents the single physical action which changes the character involved's life forever.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3322Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3321Sherica is a andquot;working girlandquot; in Manchester with a varied list of clients, including a teacher called Michael and a 14-year-old bully, both from her sister's school. A campaign of blackmail ensues to reveal Michael's out-of-school antics.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3321Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3320andquot;Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846 and elected as president in 1860; Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 and elected president in 1960,andquot; belts out one of the Richard Parkers in the play of the same title by 3D Theatre Company. But is this presidential fact all just a coincidence or is it engineered by fate?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3320Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3319ON THIS Fringe, debate about the Medea story - one of the great founding myths of the west - has been dominated by the huge success of Zecora Ura's eight-hour Hotel Medea at Summerhall.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3319Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3318This andquot;meditation on the life of lettersandquot; starts off so well, with seven young performers squeezed in to sit at one long table, scribbling away as the audience walk in and then asking us to think about who we might like to send a letter to and why.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3318Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3317It's not often you get to see a clown putting on his make-up, but this delightful little show, superbly performed by Jean-Luc Bosc and Marie-Emilie Nayrand (members of the French company Le Voyageur Debout), celebrates such a moment, rather than trying to hide it, in a way that is typical of an open and honest charm throughout.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3317Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3316I HAVEN'T spent much time in the Home Counties but I would be very surprised if people there sound like the characters in this play. All three of them speak in a weirdly verbose and stilted style with an intonation reminiscent of that heard in 1940s British cinema.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3316Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3315There is a great atmosphere at the heart of this new play by the York-based company Flyaway Theatre.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3315Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3314This one-man story-telling session launches off from a very strong position, although the many pleasing elements in the show don't add up to something much greater.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3314Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3313The title of this show is the question asked of all four characters in this intimate two-hander, which attempts to present the flipside of legislation allowing civil partnerships: gay marriage is like any other marriage, and cracks can appear.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3313Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3310Incorporating puppetry and poetry into a timeless tale of familial strife in rural Scotland, Fetch portrays two estranged brothers struggling to cope with the death of their father.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3310Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3309A SWEET and tender play which skirts the margins between joy and despair, this one-woman show features Paula Penman as Donna, an adult playing a 14-year-old. Overweight and dorkily bespectacled, but also unique and lovable, Donna is bullied at school by girls who pin signs saying things like, andquot;Donna eats shitandquot; on her back.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3309Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3308IN THE disconcertingly ordinary surroundings of Princes Mall, a young woman is giving a rather odd conference.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3308Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3307Most notable for starring David Schaal (The Inbetweeners, The Office) in one of the three roles, this is a gentle, sitcom-style piece about two brothers, one just out of jail, the other a successful barrister. Refereed by the successful one's wife, the pair rake over old wounds and differences over dinner, all set to their shared reminiscences of the punk era.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3307Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3306Joe has just got fired from his job thanks to his superiors andquot;pulling strawsandquot; to decide who to sack. It means that he has to get back on the dreaded job trail.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3306Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3305HUMAN relationships were complicated enough before we had the internet; now though, with chatrooms, Facebook, online dating sites and cybersex thrown into the mix, we've entered a brand new stage in our history - an era of ultra-fast ultra-connectivity which has created opportunity and confusion in equal measure.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3305Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3304Oooooo what a lovely little show. Aidan Goatley and his dad didn't communicate much when he was growing up. Instead, they watched films together. Now Aidan has put ten of the films they watched together into a sweet, funny show about fathers and sons.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3304Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3303Enjoyably silly, this twisted blend of schlock horror, rootsy junkyard blues and slapstick from Australia has a chaotic charm that carries it through the weaker elements of the story. Melbourne's Suitcase Royale are a unique kind of theatre company, employing homemade props in periodic bursts of live rag 'n' bone music as much as strewing them around their elaborate set.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3303Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3302Consolidating the display that won her best newcomer at last year's Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Roisin Conaty is a breezily charming presence at the mic, deriving slightly too many laughs from sporadically correcting herself after blurting out something by mistake.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3302Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3301Perhaps not the emergence of Crosbian Theatre that Matthew Crosby hopes becomes a byword for dramatic excellence, AdventureParty is nevertheless a reasonably entertaining debut from one-third of the Pappy's sketch troupe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3301Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3300Mark Nelson is the kind of comic I could listen to all night. His show is really nothing to do with guilty pleasures - the concept gets a namecheck half-way through the hour, but no more than that.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3300Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3299Laurence Clark's life has been intimately tied up with the National Health Service since birth, when midwives partying at New Year's Eve neglected his mother, the resulting complications causing his cerebral palsy. Moreover, his wife recently gave birth to their second son under its care, so he's an interesting cheerleader for trying to sell it to the United States.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3299Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3298These are talented boys. And immensely likeable. Head Gimp (by the way they are not real gimps, they are comedy gimps.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3298Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3297Reunited as The Behemoth after three years away from the Fringe, John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil effortlessly draw you back into their absurd playfulness, consistently surprising and confounding with their richly inventive sketches.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3297Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3296There have been outright successes and less impressive hours in the Idiots of Ants' ongoing Edinburgh career but this latest, irresistible show belongs wholeheartedly to the former category.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3296Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3295There are some wonderfully deranged ideas lurking in the minds of Max Dickins and Mark Smith, they just have a little trouble selling them as such.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3295Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3294No-one does character comedy quite like Colin Hoult and few imbue their creations with the same degree of grotesque detail. After the memorable monsters and villains of his previous two shows, here he offers a gallery of heroes, each damaged, compromised or overlooked in some way, obtaining a degree of salvation through recognition.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3294Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3293Despite crowdsourcing his memorable show title from suggestions submitted over Twitter, Carl Donnelly is sceptical about social networking, maintaining that its brevity and instantaneousness is eroding the skill of storytelling.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3293Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3292Jumping out of the crowd, Cariad Lloyd effectively plays down any hype about her Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award best newcomer nomination, labelling her free show andquot;a bit hit and missandquot;. She's not wrong, but in terms of potential you quickly appreciate why the judges bestowed her with their favour.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3292Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3291Johnny andquot;Showaddywaddyandquot; Sorrow is having a tough time. He used to warm up for The Krankies, and was runner-up on New Faces in 1983 but recently, times have been tough. He has been blackballed by Dudley Labour Club and he is not happy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3291Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3290BY SOME distance this is one of the best free shows I've ever witnessed at the Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3290Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3289There's an interesting disconnect between Sticky Back Theatre's interpretation of their show and what the kids make of it.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3289Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3288
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3288Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:34:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3263Renée Jacobs, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and a sparkling cast brought an unexpected injection of pure theatre to the Usher Hall last night.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3263Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:27:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3262A piece which emerges as less than the sum of its parts, Zanniskinheads offers often sublime examples of mime, clowning, slapstick and physical comedy as hyperactive, Anglo-Gallic ruffians Ribbon and Peenut (Jean-Luc Grandin and Christopher Hawes, both wearing odd rubber masks designed by director Antonio Fava) goon their way around the world like teen football hooligans in search of a pair of golden balls (no relation to David Beckham). http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3262Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3261This monologue by Michael Smoker aims for punishing psychological interrogation of a child murderer's mind but ends up feeling a bit aimless. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3261Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3260andquot;This is cheap and trivial,andquot; announces one character, addressing the audience towards the end of the show. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3260Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3259The opening exchanges of this all too contemporary drama by Siren's Production Company are well worked, capturing the vernacular of online chatroom conversations and translating them into speech. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3259Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3258Two men dressed in grey shirts and grey ties with grey faces to match find their lives ordered by the giant clock which ticks away in the background of their living room. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3258Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3257The retelling of a trio of frightful short stories by Edgar Allan Poe seems like a relatively undemanding ask for a Fringe company. Backhand Theatre have imbued their show with the visual and stylistic originality you would expect from a company producing their own work. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3257Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3256It IS difficult to describe what happens in this play without revealing too much about what goes on.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3256Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3255THERE'S something disconcertingly formal about this monologue, written and performed by Sarah Goddard. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3255Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3254Mick Sergeant has been unemployed since 1993, his wife has left him and he lives in a bedsit. On the plus side he has been on a comedy course and passed. And this show is, he promises - and Mick seems like a man of his word - andquot;crammed with subtext and symbolismandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3254Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3253Anna Lehr and Louisa Thornton are a great double act; funny, sinister and slightly mad - ideally suited to hosting a grisly storytelling session for grown-ups in fact. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3253Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3252The third of three new plays at Hawke andamp; Hunter by writer Murray Matts, this one is also the best. It threatens to be very good indeed, in fact, before losing its way a little in the final act. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3252Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3251Manchester's Quarantine theatre company specialises in putting the lives of real people on stage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3251Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3250Despite the DIY nature of its production and a younger cast who can't quite play the span of ages required for a group of characters seeing their lives unfold over decades, playwright Martyn Grahame has produced a tight enough piece of writing that the actors' job is made so much easier. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3250Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3249With ravers taking over squats and partying in the face of capitalism, and the police turning up to shut the noise down and being greeted with unrest and violence, there's a very contemporary sensibility about this play. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3249Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3248The Fringe, as always, has thrown up a host of shows dealing with urgent contemporary questions, whether it's Zinnie Harris grappling with war in The Wheel at the Traverse or Emma Jowett considering headline news in Snap.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3248Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3247It's difficult to create a spoof of the 1960s Batman TV series, as it manages to be entertainingly silly enough on its own. This young company have a good crack at it though, drawing in the equally ridiculous film Batman and Robin. While it's all good-natured stuff, it needs to be much funnier and slicker to work. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3247Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3246THE funniest thing about this new comedy, set in the annual general meeting of a group of superheroes, is the audience. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3246Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3245Book-ended between a mock airplane take-off and landing - in which the audience participates - are three vignettes brought to life by Matteo Cionini, a loose-limbed mime artist who occasionally tries to speak, only to be scolded by a disembodied female voice.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3245Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3244There are some very fine performances in this ensemble work, so we can't lay the blame for this show not quite working at their feet. Where Muscle goes wrong is trying to fit too many lives, too many stories and too much emotion into 70 minutes.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3244Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3242I WAS a little dubious about seeing this show due to the flyer - Danny andquot;Slimandquot; Gray dressed as the Mad Hatter bestriding Lewis Carroll's fantasy land, like some whimsical Kid Creole.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3242Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3241Sketch trio Sheeps are better writers than actors but given time these Cambridge Footlights graduates could really shake up the genre. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3241Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3240Through romantic adversity, mental breakdown and religious pilgrimage, Imran Yusuf has taken his time finding himself. And he's still straining to discover his unique comic voice. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3240Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3239Not many comics have a feminist rape gag in their repertoire, still fewer brag about it. But Lou Sanders is not a conventional act. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3239Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3238A DILEMMA for comedy bands is that delivering sufficient surprise and variety in their songs can undermine the group's identity. This is especially true when, as in the case of Dead Cat Bounce, only lead singer James Walmsley has a distinct (somewhat precious) persona on stage. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3238Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3237Chris Ramsey isn't the only stand-up complaining that the internet overwhelms us with information, or andquot;offermationandquot; as it's been dubbed. But he has channelled this phenomenon of endlessly spewed trivia into a consistently funny, ultimately warming show that dissects a round robin letter he receives every year from dimly-connected relations whom he scarcely even knows. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3237Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3236Two chunky, likeable Americans pack this show with physical comedy. Most is silent and all of it is friendly, silly, knockabout stuff.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3236Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3235Close your eyes and you are hearing the voice of Armando Iannucci. Open them and you see a speccy, beardy man with a jolly approach to an audience and a bag of assorted gags.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3235Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3234Having ascended the various Gilded Balloon rooms, finally reaching the Debating Hall and cheekily predicting a move to the Pleasance next year, Australian comedy rockers Axis of Awesome evoke an air of expectation that they regrettably deflate somewhat by opening with their best track. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3234Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3233IRVINE Welsh seems to delight in being the bad boy of the Book Festival. He and Christopher Brookmyre vie with one another in late-night sessions to see how many obscenities they can fit into an hour, while their scandalised audiences chuckle with glee.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3233Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3232andquot;Like father, like sonandquot; is not a phrase often applied to tenors, especially of this calibre. Christoph and Julian Prégardien are exceptional. Both have magnetic voices and personalities which draw the listener close no matter what the repertoire, in this case a sampling of classical German lieder by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3232Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3231Rene Jacobs, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and a sparkling cast brought an unexpected injection of pure theatre to the Usher Hall last night.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3231Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3230FLIGHTY, yes, but cheap isn't a word you readily associate with Fascinating Aida. For 28 years, in various incarnations, sweet FA have been adding a touch of class to the British cabaret scene. Truth be told, along with Kit and the Widow, they own the area of satirical songs.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3230Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:15:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3227IN THE wake of Black Watch, no Edinburgh Fringe would be complete without at least a couple of shows packed with army grunts in fatigues revealing their troubled inner lives against a backdrop of dehumanising combat pressure.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3227Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:51:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3226Exceeding the expectations raised by their eye-catching debut, sisters Sarah and Lizzie Daykin have been performing as Toby for less than two years. But as this rich, strange and delightful hour implies, they have been rehearsing all of their lives.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3226Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:51:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3224Critiquing Russell Kane feels redundant - he does it so surgically himself, from the moment he steps on stage and later, curled into the andquot;resetandquot; foetal position on his mother's kitchen floor.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3224Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:51:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3211I WAS quite enjoying this subtle reboot of James Bond in the credit crunch era, wondering where Jack Brooks was going to take 007 after his costly thwarting of Blofeld's Operation Financial Meltdown led to his suspension from MI6.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3211Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3210For anyone genuinely interested in comedy and comedians, this is the must-see show of the festival. Much more than an improv show, Set List not only gives you an hour of comedy, but also the clearest view there has ever been into the comics' minds.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3210Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3209OBSESSED with the beautiful, enigmatic star of a peepshow, an unhinged, baseball bat-wielding psycho prowls the streets of an unnamed city by moonlight, beating to death all those who put money in a slot to ogle his beloved.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3209Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3208SPANNING much of recorded history, from Ancient Greece to modern-day Iraq, and dealing with the age-old theme of how women cope when their menfolk go off to war, there's certainly no shortage of ambition in this multifaceted drama, written and directed by Kat Smith.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3208Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3207Purporting to present andquot;a more balanced and positive view of the paranormal than is usually portrayed by the mediaandquot;, Voices is thinly-veiled propaganda for alternative therapy that advocates following benign supernatural commands in one's head.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3207Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3206Penny Gunter's new play for Jam Jar Productions, after last year's Following Wendy, is a more jumbled affair that revolves around a teenage boy capturing a tooth fairy and chaining her up in order to persuade her to save the life of his premature baby brother.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3206Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3205IN A small garden shed at the Botanics, with morning sunlight pouring through gaps in the planking, a tiny Japanese woman - Makiko Aoyama - is dancing for an audience of seven or eight middle-aged theatregoers. The shed is decorated in red plush, Aoyama's little jacket is red, and the walls are lined with mirrors, in which we see our complacent selves reflected.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3205Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3204ITS FORM is strange, and only partly theatrical; its subject is one of the most difficult on Earth. For those seeking to understand the forces that drive suicide bombers though, this new monologue from the Open Theater of Israel - written and performed by leading actress Anat Barzilay, and intercut with documentary-style filmed interviews with other characters - offers a powerful speculation on the pressure experienced by fictional female suicide bomber, 50-year-old Samira.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3204Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3203Beyond the simple gimmick of staging this two-hander in the site-specific location of C venue's roof terrace at the top of Adam House, this is a work of real clarity and depth from UnWish Theatre.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3203Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3202All bright build-up and eventual let-down, this one-man piece from the El Toro Theatre company starts with an intriguing proposition - that the unnamed male character is getting married, and that the audience are all his guests: his hired guests, because he's booked a 400-capacity venue and can barely find 50 friends.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3202Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3201IT STARTS off like a Hammer horror tribute and promises some cheaply-won laughs at the expense of a corny old Dracula parody emerging from his coffin and welcoming us to his horrible home.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3201Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3200ON A FRINGE full of jugglers and mimes, acrobats and dancers, it is both sobering and tremendously enriching to come across a play like 15th Oak Productions's Minute After Midday, which depends entirely on the fundamental relationship between three fine actors, a powerful, beautifully-written text, and an audience sitting quietly in the dark, utterly enthralled and moved by a story that could scarcely be better told.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3200Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3199IT'S MESSY, it's wordy, it's over the top and sometimes all over the place; but still, there's no resisting the indiscreet charm of this latest show from Sherman Cymru of Wales, which creates a mighty car crash between traditional Welsh culture - the Eisteddfods, the song, the language - and the world of a bunch of gay men, aged between 15 and 50, on a night out in Cardiff.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3199Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3198Antoine de Saint-Exupery's treasured book - ostensibly a children's story but one which makes profound points about life, human nature, love and beauty - has existed in all sorts of forms, including a Lerner and Loewe musical, since its publication in 1943.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3198Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3197A RECLUSIVE, elderly photographer has his peace and quiet interrupted by a supremely annoying woman who wants him to accept a lifetime achievement award from the Photographic Society.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3197Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3196Actor Silas Carson is a sci-fi fan's dream, having played the characters Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi-Mundi in the Star Wars prequels and the voice of the Ood in Doctor Who. This thoughtful and personal one-man show is cut from an altogether different cloth, though, as Carson tells us about his Indian-English heritage, his homosexuality and the influence of one upon the other.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3196Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3195A FAMILY drama with a sinister difference, this piece from playwright Jonathan Lichtenstein and director Gari Jones offers an opposite view of religious fundamentalism than the one we're usually confronted with.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3195Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3194Paris, 1884, on the eve of the Exposition that saw the building of the Eiffel Tower, and Georges Seurat is sketching studies for his latest painting. He's on the island of La Grande Jatte, with his model and lover Dot.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3194Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3193WHATEVER it is Lillian Boutté runs on, it should be bottled and distributed throughout this fraught world as a universal tonic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3193Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3192After a witty opening exchange, this double bill, purportedly looking at 'the joys of work', descends into the kind of theatrical self-indulgence that leaves you feeling robbed of an hour of your life.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3192Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3191Six recent graduates of the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, having left behind the comfort of the education system, enter the real world via the Edinburgh Fringe, only to find that choreography which would have received approving nods at the end of term show, isn't really enough for a ticket-buying audience, even when you dance it nicely.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3191Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3190IN AN Edinburgh with more than its fair share of hopeless hopefuls and shows which are the triumph of ego over ability, it is a joyful experience to sit and watch Worbey and Farrell.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3190Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3189Still waters run deep with Mearns, the roistering compere of The Stand, who's rarely seen so vulnerable and being so frank about his sensitive disposition. Sharing a title with an NHS film he made in 2008, Everything ... boasts solid routines from his club set structured around more personal anecdotes.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3189Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3188Many of the best shows are driven by a personal passion. Uri Geller might seem an unlikely object of a man's passion, but Nathan Penlington has been fascinated by his from an early age, has all his books, all his albums, all his games and now all of that - and more - are onstage in the Wee Coo in Penlington's show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3188Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3187I REALLY wanted to like this show but, as it wore on I became increasingly irritated by Workman's mannered and studiedly andquot;surrealandquot; approach.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3187Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3186She may have quoted Fidel Castro in a redundancy speech but Juliet Meyers admits to being more talk than action in this light but enjoyable show about activism. Such a fan of the film Spartacus that she makes a couple of audience members recreate the infamously censored, homoerotic bathing scene, Meyers has all the right hippyish intentions but quit veganism after she was heckled about it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3186Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3185For his solo Fringe debut, the almost self-parodic Joe Wilkinson reflects that discussing his life up to this point won't be much help, as he really hasn't done anything.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3185Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3184A DOUBLE-BILL of two of the stand-up circuit's more promising newcomers, this is nevertheless a mixed bag of a show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3184Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3183This is a little gem of a show. And Big Dave does, literally, sparkle - from the glitter on his silvery shoes to the rhinestones on his sporran. Dave is the cuddly one from Four Poofs and a Piano. And if you want the goss on the boys' saucy secrets, Big Dave is ready and willing to dish.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3183Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3182TV makes good Fringe fodder. The downside of this is that it has been spoofed many times. Then again, the telly landscape is ever-changing, so a sharp troupe will always have fresh targets.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3182Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3181IN A programme that bravely encompassed early Messiaen, late Tchaikovsky and the up-to-date sounds of South Korean composer Unsuk Chin, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra presented us with a refreshingly complete musical experience and - especially in Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony - an illustration of how powerfully they play under chief conductor Myung-Whun Chung.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3181Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3180FIRST astonishing fact: a novel by Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø, is sold every 27 seconds in the UK.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3180Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3178One of Britain's hottest theatres is at the Fringe's hottest venue this week, with a collection of new shows - many of which are part of the British Council showcase - scratch performances and interactive one-on-one experiences.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3178Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3174LIKE a double helix, the journeys most worth making in life fuse the outer and inner: a sharp, poetic eye for surface detail, but a sense of deeper purpose beneath. Colin Thubron's journey round Mount Kailas, a mountain sacred to four religions and a fifth of the planet, is such a journey, and he describes it with his customary elegance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3174Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3171andquot;Carry on talking while I tuneandquot; said Amjad Ali Khan, establishing a relaxed atmosphere as he sat cross-legged in a sumptuous red velvet salwar kameez, and prepared to start the first of six morning ragas. His intimate approach, including an elegant, concise explanation of how the fretless sarod works set the scene.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3171Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:51:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3169This show has obviously had a great deal of time and money put into it. But, albeit performed with great conviction and enthusiasm, it was performed with little talent and a clichéd, predictable script that can best be described as Vagina Monologues Lite. I had hoped we had got past the andquot;XX good, XY badandquot; school of theatre.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3169Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:10:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3167PLAYWRIGHT and director Boris Mitkov deserves credit for trying to tackle the vampire genre from a more thoughtful, less sensational angle than most - in the programme notes for Unnatural Selection, he says he set out to write a play about andquot;people struggling with the philosophical implications of immortalityandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3167Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3166IF YOU like your theatre madder than a sack of badgers, catch this almost indescribably bonkers promenade performance before it's gone forever.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3166Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3165Goodness knows what drives people to hire a theatre, dredge the unconscious and create the play they have always dreamed of performing. But the Fringe would not be the same without them.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3165Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3164Domestic tensions and secret desires spill out over cups of tea in Wendy's tearoom. Barbara, it turns out, has a few things to say to her bullying husband Derek; Julie is trying to write a andquot;Dear Johnandquot; letter; Sarah has a revelation for her ambitious go-getting friend Jo; after meeting a dishy park-keeper, Laura is dissatisfied with her marriage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3164Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3163This may be the most depressing musical ever written - and I'm not a fan of musicals at the best of times. The story concerns two love affairs, one of an old man and his wife, married for more than 60 years, the other of a young couple together for three.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3163Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3161THERE are some ingenious moments of physical theatre in this devised piece by the eight members of Lyrebird Theatre Company, who trained at the Lecoq-based London International School of Performing Arts, but unfortunately they're harnessed to a rather anaemic, two-dimensional story.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3161Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3160Here are the words of Bela Zsolt, a Hungarian Jewish journalist who survived forced labour, prison and internment during the Second World War and whose work was banned in the Eastern Bloc for several decades.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3160Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3159There is an excellent folk band that deserves at least three stars in this new play by Fine Chisel; a company based in the south-east of England. Unfortunately, there is also an ambling script and a group of performers who are far better singers, dancers and musicians than they are actors.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3159Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3158Renowned and sometimes controversial Scottish playwright Iain Heggie returns to the Fringe, after an absence of six years, with what is possibly the least convincing gay relationship I have ever seen on stage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3158Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3157In a space carpeted with black and white feathers, a confused young man is assailed by his evil mother-in-law (or possibly mother) and finds himself flitting in and out of obscure scenes with his own twin self and a mysterious young woman who purports to be his conscience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3157Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3156IF YOU fancy a well-turned-out, laugh-a-minute sitcom to send you home happy after a day on the Fringe, you could do much worse than this latest show from Edinburgh's startlingly gifted young company, Strangetown. Written by Tim Primrose (who also directs) with Sam Siggs, Hex is a deft 50-minute joke of a play that makes no claim to great substance or deeper meaning.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3156Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3155You wouldn't expect the words andquot;comedy rompandquot; and andquot;West Bankandquot; to sit well together, but playwright Richard Fredman and director Patrick Morris have produced a piece that's thoughtful and amusing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3155Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3154Sometimes you get the feeling a person has the inspiration to put on a Fringe show, then loses momentum before it begins.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3154Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3153The Leeds-based Aireborne theatre company has a track record of wonderfully inventive and well-staged small plays at the Fringe, although the fact that this year's offering (or at least this one of two, the other being a devised reading of King Arthur) is merely pretty good counts as something of a disappointment.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3153Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3152LIKE a powerful, atmospheric footnote to Fringe hit Mission Drift, this show from the You Need Me company is set in a trailer park on the edge of Las Vegas, where illegal migrants from Mexico compete with poor white people for scarce, badly paid work, and the rule of law hardly applies.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3152Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3151Although he describes his show as a play, David Lee Nelson's Status Update takes the form of a stand-up set.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3151Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3150This is a poignant and resonant piece of student theatre from Nottingham University's New Theatre (they're also putting on Beef at the same venue), thanks in no small part to playwright Adam H Wells' textured and thoughtful script.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3150Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3149Taking its title from the polished sheen of a soldier's boots, Black Mirrors reflects the experiences of a young officer at Sandhurst.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3149Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3148The somewhat oblique title of Rose Williams' play seems to refer to the cow which predicts the end of the world, or at least somehow tells Mark that the storm which has just begun won't be ending any time soon.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3148Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3147IF ATTENTION-grabbing gimmicks were stars and awards, then this ambitious New York show, crammed into a tiny space at the Radisson Hotel, would be one of the most celebrated in Edinburgh this year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3147Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3146Stuck on a train, strangers attempt to make sense of their situation by finding one thing they would do to make better use of their time once their journey continues. Some are as mundane as getting a haircut, as ransom as organising a flashmob or as life-changing as stopping a wedding. All are well-visualised, making what could be an average realisation of an overdone concept totally charming and believable.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3146Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3145The emotion is piled on with a trowel in this autobiographical one-woman musical set in a haematology ward.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3145Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3144Jazz pianist, visiting professor of andquot;make-it-up-as-you-go-alongandquot; at St Andrews University and pundit on Radio Scotland's Jazz House, Richard Michael brings 40 years' experience of playing and teaching to this hugely entertaining exposition on the history of jazz piano.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3144Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3143AS ASSEMBLY'S colourfully lit George Square continues to fizz en fate outside, a midnight showing of this 1920 masterpiece of German expressionist film-making takes you into a very different, theatrically surreal world, accompanied by the quartet Minima, who specialise in providing live scores for silent and avant-garde film.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3143Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3142Brazil's Trama Cia de Danca has valid points to make about the modern female: the pressure to be slim, to look the way we perceive men want us to look.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3142Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3141Protein Dance co-founder Jean Abreu has here teamed up with fellow Brazilian Jorge Garcia for a duet which should, in theory, be highly engaging and emotional. Both men have delved into their childhoods to create an abstract, autobiographical work - and both, Garcia in particular, have a movement style that holds your gaze.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3141Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3140For a show that deals with old age and death, there's a whole lot of life in this production from Barrowland Ballet.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3140Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3139Possibly the most intriguing show I have seen all month. Martin Croser looks like Charles Manson has pulled the ripcord and performs as if he'd rather be anywhere else.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3139Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3138A COMIC dictator slowly losing his grip on power, poet Tim Clare can't quite retain control of this audacious hour to the bitter end.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3138Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3137A FASCINATING show which gives comedy fans a rare chance to see four top comics in a completely different light, as they sit and play poker for an hour. And chat and quibble. Some turn out to be great at bluffing and some don't. Some come in relaxed and andquot;happy to play the gameandquot; but get visibly less relaxed as they start to lose.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3137Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3136Talking head style shows always call to mind those twin paragons of greatness, Alan Bennett and Joyce Grenfell. Few can stand the comparison, and I'm sorry to say Iain Heggie's one man show is no exception.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3136Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3135I'M RELUCTANT to damn a free show that's reasonably diverting and Ian Fox is a decent, amiable comic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3135Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3134Colm O'Regan is an affable enough comic. But it's a damning indictment of his stand-up that his lawyer didn't think he could convince a judge of the comedic value of one of his routines.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3134Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3133It's pretty much impossible for a child to be bored during The Enormous Turnip, purely because so many bits and pieces have been packed into this hour, there isn't time to get restless.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3133Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3132There once was an ugly duckling that turned out to be a swan. There was also once a swan that turned out to be an ugly duckling - at least in this new, quietly subversive puppet show sequel to the popular children's story by Chand Martinez and Lizzie Wort.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3132Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3131With incongrously cheerful balloons strewn across the stage, andquot;America's $1 funnymanandquot;, Neil Hamburger, slopes on with grimy tuxedo, phlegmy cough and an endless store of reprehensible one-liners about celebrities that could only emanate from his sick consciousness.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3131Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3130The Philharmonia Orchestra is surely the UK's finest. Under the swashbuckling baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen last night, this crack team gave an object lesson on how to bring some of the repertoire's most exciting and difficult music alive.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3130Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3129A DISCUSSION about religion is surely guaranteed to deliver contention, and The Future of Faith, curated by Joan Bakewell, as part of her series of events on andquot;Ideas Which Shape the Futureandquot;, did not disappoint on this score.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3129Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3128This is an unexpectedly sweet show. So be aware that, having shelled out for the tickets, they will not get you angry JJ, ranting JJ or wild boy JJ. They get you a new JJ - and he is quite delightful.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3128Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3127Having followed 2Faced Dance Company since its Fringe debut in 2005, this latest triple bill is quite a revelation. Back then, the Hereford-based group of energetic young men were still finding their feet, creating an interesting blend of street and contemporary dance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3127Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3126CREATING a comedy show that appeals to both kids and grown-ups is notoriously difficult, yet in The Adventurers Club Tim FitzHigham and Tiernan Douieb make it look easy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3126Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3124Any preconceptions of Ravel as a purely impressionistic composer were dispelled by this insight into his smaller-scale works.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3124Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3123One of the most promising stand-ups currently working in the UK, there seem few limits to how far Diane Spencer can go, both in terms of success and taste.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3123Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3122IF YOU haven't worn a pair of headphones, been blindfolded or had physical contact with an actor this year, then you probably haven't been going to the right shows. Il Pixel Rosso's And the Birds Fell from the Sky combines all three and is probably one of the most intense 15 minutes you can have at the Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3122Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3118RIGHT at the end of his usual bravura Book Festival performance, just after he had mentioned that in his lifetime only two politicians - Attlee and Thatcher - had changed this country's political weather, Roy Hattersley took a question from the audience. Surely, he was asked, Churchill would have come a close third?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3118Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:55:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3111Anna Cetti's intriguing one-woman show is less a dance extravaganza than an absorbing story of a girl's journey from bopping about in nightclubs to discovering the exotic world of tango.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3111Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3110The lights go up on a large, grubby wedge of wood and cardboard in the centre of the stage, torn old newspapers clotted around its base and spilling from a black rubbish bin. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3110Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3109Past Fringe First winner Nick Ward returns with a play adapted from Conrad's short story, An Outpost of Progress, with shades of Heart of Darkness thrown in. It's 1880 and two men, Kayerts and Carlier, are sent to The Point, a remote trading outpost in the further reaches of Africa.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3109Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3108We ARE in Sarajevo, it is 1914 and the Black Hand Gang is plotting to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and to liberate Serbia from its imperial oppressors. We know how the story ends. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3108Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3107Before entering the theatre for Hannah Silva's one-woman assault on political spin, we are each given the name badge of a famous political leader. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3107Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3106Four men of various ages dressed in navy overalls stand on wooden boxes adorned with heavy metal rods.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3106Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3105A DISTINCTLY amateur production which at least makes a feature of its enthusiasm, this jokey play is endearingly all over the place.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3105Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3104As the audience walks in, a lone guitarist strums a twee indie song. It's like an acoustic gig instead of a piece of theatre. Once seats have been taken, a casually dressed young man with jet black hair strolls up to the mic. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3104Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3103IT SEEMS churlish to criticise a play based on a true story for feeling too predictable, but almost as soon as we meet strong-minded Isabel and her uncomplicated soldier boyfriend Nick, it's all too easy to guess how things are going to pan out. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3103Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3102This wryly observed new play by David Kantounas, about a British writer's desire to andquot;do goodandquot; in an unspecified country in South America on the brink of civil war, shares a lot of similarities with Adam Brace's Midnight Your Time, also at the Assembly. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3102Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3101Galileo's conflict with the Catholic Church is often seen as a clash between religion and science, entrenched belief getting in the way of scientific progress. This one-man play, written by Nic Young for the 400th anniversary of Galileo's discoveries, reveals the situation to be more complex.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3101Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3100IT'S probably a bit racist of me, but I find it odd to associate Australians with erotica. This explicit play from the Red Rabbit Collective explores the world of fantasy sex and romance, from pulp romantic novels and classic erotic literature to bondage and animal porn.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3100Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3099ALTHOUGH he's based in Sussex these days, Raphael Rodan grew up andquot;on a little hill in Galilee, not far from where the Son of God once walked on waterandquot;. I wouldn't go so far as to describe his storytelling talent as miraculous, but his animated, wide-eyed performance style is certainly hugely absorbing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3099Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3098This is a delightful little piece of character comedy. A warm, well-observed, sweetly sad hour when almost nothing happens in the lives of a caterer, a couple of jobbing musicians and a part-time DJ. It is like a detailed miniature painting. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3098Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3097Melody and her mute twin brother Harmony have been brought up by their mad dad Vincent and battered mum Cantata to communicate exclusively through music - she sings her every utterance and he accompanies her on guitar. Both are unaware they have been the stars of a live Truman Show-style internet feed, the Melody Blog, since early childhood. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3097Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3096The central premise behind this new work by Edinburgh-based Elements World Theatre is an interesting one. Whatever became of the children in the nursery rhyme who were fed andquot;broth without breadandquot;, and all andquot;whipped soundlyandquot; before bed? The grown-up offspring in this confusing, esoteric and overly wordy piece are bitter, and eager for a confrontation with their mother. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3096Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3095andquot;If FLORENCE and the Machine were a dance company they would make work like this,andquot; says the flyer. And, indeed, Laura Gibson and Hannah Birch have such a strong connection that at times it feels they are moving as a single, beautiful machine. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3095Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3094Bounding on to the stage and shaking our hands with just a fraction more strength and gusto than is socially acceptable, James Flynch sets out his stall. He's a man who, although not entirely comfortable in his own skin, has his heart firmly in the right place. Not that Lydia cares. His partner of many years has just left him with a stinging note likening him to a dog looking for biscuits and calling him andquot;a ridiculous manandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3094Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3093Tucked away in a basement venue, with no raked seating to facilitate good vantage points, Dondeduendes is churning out pure gold against the odds. This superb five-piece flamenco troupe of musicians, vocalist and dancer is worthy of a more conducive performance space, where Mayte Beltrán's explosive footwork can be seen by all. Instead, those sitting further back have to make do with her snaking arms and powerful hips.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3093Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3091HE IS a class act, Mr Price, and his hour is a highly entertaining mix of reminiscences about his upbringing in Monmouth as a slightly podgy boy with a liking for Club biscuits and a mum who had mild cerebral palsy, to anecdotes from his current career as an actor. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3091Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3090Comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls are taking a year out from the Fringe to pursue solo projects ... at the Fringe. They tried to resist, but the pull was too strong. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3090Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3089With his reputation for bringing a light, thoughtful touch to comedy about weighty subjects, Keith Farnan makes light of the beleaguered Irish economy. Faced with the statistics and facts - that every Irish child born today owes the International Monetary Fund more than €60,000, and that former prime minister Bertie Ahern, the man at the top when the bubble dangerously inflated, is now advising Nigeria on finance - his robust sense of humour seems apposite. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3089Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3088For legal reasons, Joel Dommett can't name the Hollywood starlet at the heart of his enjoyable solo debut. I don't know if the speculation makes for a better hour or not, though. On the night I saw the yoof TV presenter perform Neon Hero, some idiot-savant in the audience, enjoying his first drink for three months apparently, incredibly pieced together the evidence and blurted out her name for all to hear. One of those hilarious, never-to-be-repeated Fringe moments, it's debatable whether Dommett dropping her pseudonym afforded the excitable newcomer any extra impetus or manic energy. But it undoubtedly thrilled the crowd. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3088Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3087As the show's name suggests, rather than being a misspelt homage to musician Joe Walsh, Bennett Arron is Jewish and Welsh, and throughout the hour he finds the funny in both sides of his identity. Intriguingly, he largely treats them separately, not as an integrated whole. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3087Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3086From the depths of disaster rise enjoyable, autobiographical Fringe shows. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3086Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3085A one-man variety night, Fred Cooke is lucky stand-up exists, as his grinning mania and singular skill-set might otherwise see him institutionalised. Sure, this exuberant Irishman was in The Cover Lovers, a band distinguished by his speedy alternation between lead vocals and the melodica, but wheezing, exhausted renditions of soft-rock's loss is comedy's gain. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3085Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3084Dismissive of stand-up being considered an art, Gregory Akerman is all about the fame. Presenting a history of celebrity, from cave paintings onwards, he concludes the only way he'll become a household name is through nepotism, corporate sponsorship or exploiting his brother's suicide attempt. Or by killing prostitutes and, to be honest, that seems more likely. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3084Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3083SOME comics embark on massive arena tours. Not Andrew Bird. He wants to play village halls, inspired by a good-cause night he agreed to mount in aid of the local cricket team - so rubbish they almost qualify as a charity.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3083Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3082THE King Arthur stories are a rich mythology, and a popular source of inspiration for theatre companies at the Fringe. Aireborne Theatre bear a solid reputation from Fringes past, and have done a pretty stand-up job with this adaptation for children here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3082Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3081Even going up the stairs of the venue you can feel the buzz about this show. The queues stretch round the block and when we finally squeeze into the cabaret space there are people standing round the walls and sitting cross-legged on the floor.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3081Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3080andquot;Believe everything you've heard - you won't believe your eyes,andquot; is the motto of Australian magician Bruce Glen, and even that confusing strapline has you struggling to figure out exactly what's going on. The same can't be said for all of his tricks, however. Glen is a more than capable magician, although in places the visibility of the odd tell might cause audience members who spot them to unsuspend their disbelief.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3080Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3079At THE heart of this moving performance by the legendary Ravi Shankar was a relatively short piece to honour the auspiciousness of the day, it being the birthday of Krishna, Hinduism's Supreme Being notable for pranksterism in his youth and the embodiment of love with age. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3079Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3077HAVING stepped in at short notice for a fleeting appearance in the Duruflé Requiem at the Usher Hall on Sunday evening, mezzo Sophie Koch was back on stage for her scheduled recital the next morning. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3077Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3075THE battle of the sexes rages for six long hours in Tim Supple's vast and colourful multinational staging of the great Arabic epic One Thousand And One Nights, which had its world premiere at the Royal Lyceum on Sunday; but alas, to much less effect than the theme deserves, at this critical turning point in Arab and world history.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3075Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3073Anish Kapoor is one of the stars of modern sculpture, but he didn't seem it in his recent major show at the Royal Academy. To put it politely, it revealed an infantile preoccupation with potty training and related substances, all rendered in lifelike brown wax. I hope it was an aberration. As bankers pay themselves grotesque sums just because they can, so successful artists are often tempted to do things they shouldn't just because they can. Kapoor's show was like that. He ran away with himself. It is a pity.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3073Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:14:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3065THE International Festival's theme this year, To The Far West, is a witty reminder to those who colonially regard Asian culture as exotic, or 'other', that this cuts both ways. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3065Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:13:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3063Internationally, the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa will inevitably be compared to his compatriot, the late Toru Takemitsu but, as the world premiere of his SCO commission Blossoming II revealed, he has his own distinct voice. With the strings playing almost inaudibly at the beginning, the music grows into a richly layered piece full of subtle shifts of tone and colour. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3063Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:13:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3061Run, do not walk, to this musical purporting to explain what happened to the ugly stepsisters after Cinderella swanned off with Prince Charming (to lead a dreary, dull existence, they'd have you know). Cheaper than Prozac, better for your liver than booze, and completely calorie free, Uglies Do Edinburgh is the perfect cure for depression, and a much-needed blast of sunshine in a city suffering unduly from stormy weather.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3061Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:26:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3060BILLED AS andquot;an epic tale of domestic proportionsandquot;, this new play from the company that created 2008 Fringe First winner Paperweight takes a familiar genre of lad comedy - the one about the two thirtysomething guys who still want to live like teenagers - and pushes it to a rare and intriguing extreme.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3060Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:26:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3059Combining mesmerising puppetry with a genius set, slapstick silent comedy to rival Charlie Chaplin and gut-wrenching pathos thrown in for good measure, three hapless coffee-artistes operate their slap-dash café from a cart on wheels that doubles as their home in this silent comedy treat. What's more, they have a special deal for you; buy a coffee and they'll find your soul-mate free of charge. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3059Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:26:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3058andquot;This is a lecture about artandquot; says Hannah Gadsby, as she takes her place behind the lectern. It certainly bore all the hallmarks of a lecture - lectern, screen with relevant slides, laser pointer - but this was funny and irreverent, personal and occasionally silly.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3058Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:26:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3055A COMPOSED study of grief, Unanswered, We Ride examines how different coping mechanisms can tear a family apart. Patrice O'Leary (Joy Barrett) is an Ohio mother struggling to deal with the death of her nine-year-old daughter in a freak playground accident.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3055Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3054The fact that we are the same person both in youth and old age, despite our changing physical appearance, is beautifully realised in this new piece of storytelling and movement by Theatre Ad Infinitum.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3054Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3053This happy-never-after wedding-set farce starts out eager to charm with a stream of repartee which isn't nearly as witty as it thinks and gets increasingly tedious the more pleased that it becomes with itself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3053Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3052AS SOON as the performance of Rathmore's Whippet I saw ended, the theatre started buzzing with conversation as the audience tried to make sense of it. It's that kind of show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3052Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3051Peter Mayo's entire knowledge of sex comes from Thunderbirds; specifically Thunderbirds 3 and 5. When he receives an inadvertent text from a stranger, thanking him for a wonderful night of passion, this starts to change.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3051Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3050In 2003, Francesca Millican-Slater bought a postcard from a knick-knack shop in Devon. Dated 15th July 1910, it was addressed to a Miss L Gibbs and said simply: andquot;Be Careful Tomorrow. AC.andquot;http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3050Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3049THE clever metatheatrical conceit driving Those Magnificent Men, written by Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon, is that the two actors playing pioneering aviators Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown have wildly different ideas about how their story should be told.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3049Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3048AS THE tale of rival dog owners competing to land their pooches the starring role in a dire Hollywood action movie, sharp satire this isn't. But upcoming writer Tom Glover doesn't seem to have any ambitions for this slight triple-hander beyond amiable entertainment and it's watchable enough if you've an hour to spare.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3048Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3047When you think of commedia dell'arte, the miners' strikes of Thatcher's Britain aren't the first image that spring to mind. And yet this imaginative new show, written and directed by Dean Poulter for the Queen Mary Theatre Company, combines the two in a way that fits together surprisingly well.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3047Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3046This is a sweet, sad, lovely little play - partly the comedy act and partly the internal monologue of one Eddie Ramone, once a Big Comedy Star and host of a game show, now playing the cruise ships on autopilot (him, not the ships) and going over and over in his mind the train of events that led him to this point.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3046Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3045There is an absolutely stunning set at the centre of Cambridge University ADC's new production of Macbeth.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3045Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3044IT'S amazing how quickly word of mouth travels on the Fringe. I rock up to the venue half an hour early and tell the bar staff I'm looking for Constantinople.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3044Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3043There's nothing wrong with reimagining Sweet Charity as the story of a gay man, and a gay Charity Hope Valentine might bring something new to it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3043Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3042THERE'S nothing like a classically butch name to give a gay-friendly rugby team the grrr factor, as Edinburgh's Caledonian Thebans know. If the boys come along to this musical they're likely to be charmed by the story of Northern Ireland's first out Sevens side.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3042Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3040You can't begrudge Rachel Blackman for with such a great title, though her one-woman show features neither compass theft nor driving north. No doubt her central character, a conceptual installation artist called Martin, would like to disappear when he finds out his mistress is pregnant.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3040Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3039What a crushing disappointment this turned out to be. Despite a level of financial and creative support most shows could only dream of, David Hughes Dance Company has failed to come up with something even remotely audience friendly.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3039Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3038After an introductory film about which of his 13 performances in Edinburgh is likely to be the best, Todd Barry takes to the stage. He peers at us from under perplexed-looking eyebrows and begins talking in a slow and motonous voice.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3038Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3037Steve Hall hasn't appeared at the Fringe since 2008 because he's been fighting a costly legal battle to bring his Australian wife to the UK.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3037Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3036TRYING to be helpful while queuing for a Virgin Atlantic flight, Shazia Mirza told the woman in front that the luggage weight limit was 30kg, not 23kg as the baggage handler said. Rather than a thank you, the woman said, weirdly, andquot;everything comes to he who waitsandquot; and called her a andquot;busybodyandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3036Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3035IF YOU want to see the true spirit of the Fringe, communicated through the medium of memorable, highly intelligent stand-up covering everything from shameless flattery through calypso and haiku to 17th century history, quantum physics, Buddy Holly, bottoms and a rap about matter, then this is the place to see it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3035Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3034A DISAPPOINTING solo debut from the former memeber of the sketch troupe Pros from Dover.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3034Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3033You won't find many stand-ups with a decent word to say about Tony Blair, or politicians in general, but Matt Forde's Fringe debut has plenty.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3033Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3032Martha McBrier has the critical acclaim. Yet damningly for those of us who have championed this intermittent performer, neither the audience nor the easy-to-find venue she merits.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3032Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3031Jeff Leach is the self-proclaimed andquot;wild man of comedyandquot;. His show is about wowing us with wild tales of his andquot;depravityandquot;, andquot;sordid private lifeandquot; and living on the edge.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3031Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3030ED BYRNE is a crowd-pleaser. Of that there can be no mistake. He's taken his witty, occasionally geeky but always affable schtick and whittled it till it has become so sharp that festival-goers are happy to queue up to see him in one of the Fringe's most commodious venues.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3030Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3029Delivering precisely what its title suggests, a show about the ultra-mundane topic of soil erosion, Claudia O'Doherty's hour is less a spoof lecture than a comedic exploration of endurance and myopia.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3029Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3028RIGHT at the end of this show, Alun Cochrane imagines Darth Vader at the barber, making small talk.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3028Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3027SOMETIMES one suspects that well-meaning thespians have decided to put on a children's show at the Fringe, complete with costumes, princesses, witches and wizards, but forgot to test them on actual children. So they often come laden with exposition, hokey stagecraft and gags which fly straight over the heads of anyone under four feet tall.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3027Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3026First, a disclaimer. I was bribed with more than £70 in audience whip-round in the course of this mind-blowing show. And I'd previously resolved never to use the term andquot;geniusandquot; in reviews again. But having interviewed Sanderson Jones about this mad venture, I still hadn't fully grasped the GNS of this abbreviation-loving, game-changing geek's undertaking.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3026Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3025Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen could well be the most consistent, most broadly appealing comedy act at the festival.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3025Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3024If you have difficulties with smoke, sweat, loud rock music, audience participation or extreme swearing then this might not be for you. And that would be your loss because this heaving, lovably shambolic show is the most fun you will have in a portacabin, punching the air and being loudly abused by a sweaty man with who does poems called The Dickhead, has a deep-seated fear of rap (which he conquers just for us) and who will surely be called before the MU any time now for appalling abuse of on-stage musicians.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3024Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3023IT'S not a fact that interests anyone very much, but at some point in the last generation, Britain quietly reached the end of its 400-year history as a broadly Protestant, not to say puritanical, nation.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3023Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3020Internationally, the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa will inevitably be compared to his compatriot, the late Toru Takemitsu, but as the world premiere of his SCO commission Blossoming II revealed, he has his own distinct voice.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3020Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3019IN a flat in modern Tokyo, a man is folding laundry, obsessively smoothing it into neat piles. There's no sense, though - as a thread of haunting song from live musician Bora Yoon launches New York-based director Stephen Earnhart and co-writer Greg Pierce's great new version of Haruki Murakami's acclaimed 1996 novel - that we're about to experience a story grounded in domestic naturalism.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3019Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3018HAS the Belcea Quartet lost some of its magic?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3018Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3017IT'S not a new play, or even one that's old enough to have come back into fashion again; it belongs to that time in the early 1980s when - with society becoming harsher, more competitive and less compassionate - people looked increasingly to their private lives for some kind of redemption.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3017Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3016andquot;I DON'T know how many people have actually tried to make theatre,andquot; our lone female host informs us, andquot;but it's very easy.andquot; Don't believe a word of it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3016Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3015Combining a programme description of andquot;intimate songsandquot; with a venue listing of Usher Hall made alarm bells ring as to how a solo voice and piano recital such as that offered by Simon Keenlyside and Malcolm Martineau would work in practice.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3015Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3014THE Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe's spectacular version of Hamlet provided a fresh perspective on both Shakespeare and opera. This Jingju style of performance, developed in the 18th century, brings together singing, speaking, acting and fighting in this incredibly stylised and carefully choreographed production. Every arch of the eyebrow, tremor of the hand or flick of a woman's long flowing sleeve is infused with meaning.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3014Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3012NO-ONE can accuse mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená and her rock-solid Israeli accompanist Yefim Bronfman of selling the traditional line to Saturday's Usher Hall audience. Instead they delivered an intriguing set of songs by Musorgsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, Rachmaninov and Bartók, none of which were particularly well-known.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3012Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3011MANY of the audience at Alan Hollinghurst's event at the Book Festival on Saturday night had already read his new novel, The Stranger's Child. Not only read it, but prepared highly literary questions about its themes and approaches.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3011Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:28:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2987It's hard not to feel guilty when crude and cruel give as big a belly laugh as the smartest satire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2987Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:24:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2980A few more shows of the calibre of Tamsyn Challenger’s tribute to the victims of Mexico’s drugs war would have given this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival a much-needed sense of global urgency and energyhttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2980Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:24:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3001When artistic director Jonathan Mills chooses a theme to build his Edinburgh International Festival programme upon, he can't always predict how apparent it will be to an audience. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3001Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:24:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2994IN A Festival predicated on centuries of fruitful and predatory cultural exchange between East and West, the music programme's diverse offerings might seem a little hard to get a handle on. But the resonances between programmes are what delight here, as one thread echoes back unexpectedly, a day or too later, in an entirely different context. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2994Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:24:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2993Ming and mayhem, ballet and backflipshttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2993Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:24:18 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2977NIKOLAI Gogol's short story The Overcoat has been the subject of countless screen and stage adaptations over the last century and a half, yet this new version by Edinburgh-born playwright Catherine Grosvenor, re-tooled for our recession-blighted age, still manages to feel fresh and immediate.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2977Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2975Compared to his delightful one-man comedy Gilbert, or Death By Obituary in 2008, American writer Michael Vukadinovich's new play is a bigger and more ambitious affair, loosely based on the real-life transcripts of William Kemmler, the first man to be put to death by electrocution.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2975Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2974IN A palace somewhere far away Snow White is growing up. Everything is fine until an incestuous grapple with her father, after which she is cast into the woods by her evil step-mother and ends up taking care of three dwarves with seven beds (the other four dwarves are inexplicably absent).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2974Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2973andquot;I KNEW Doris Day before she was a virgin.andquot; So said raconteur Oscar Levant, but it wasn't necessarily an insult - Day herself was irked by her snow white image, as she tells us at the beginning of this musical biography.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2973Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2972Michael Keane and Christopher Brett Bailey's fast-paced style of storytelling is defiantly irreverent and filled with self-knowing humour. Their latest piece is a skewed fairytale, with a slightly subversive - but mostly just plain silly - tone, set around an upturned triangular house, within which lives a girl, Misha, who isn't a princess but is still andquot;beautifulandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2972Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2971She hates herself; the way She looks, the way She lies to the man who loves her. She is struggling with body image, one of the great plagues of our time and something that is runs deeper than low self-esteem and stops just shy of self-harm.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2971Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2970andquot;The day I was killed was the worst day of my life,andquot; says the smartly-dressed Middle Eastern man with the heavy briefcase in a rueful tone.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2970Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2969The fact this show from the University of Surrey's Anthroperformic group is billed in the Fringe programme as being an hour and a half long yet clocks in at a little over half an hour would usually be a strong suggestion that it's decidedly undercooked. In truth it does end just as it's getting going, but there are still many more well-executed ideas here than most student productions of double the length can muster.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2969Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2968A LONELY Englishwoman finds a fragile thread of hope in her life by corresponding with a man on Death Row in Lois Baldry's new play for theatre company Chase The Crane.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2968Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2967A LOVE triangle set in a flat share isn't the most original of concepts, but Laura Lexx's critique of the media's effects on one increasingly delusional man hints at something more interesting.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2967Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2966Jonathan Dawson clearly loves movies and this off-beat little comedy - following everyman Gav, who lends his friend £1 and finds himself working for a gregarious Mafia boss in order to get it back - is filled with references to cult classics. It even has a parody of an opening credits sequence.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2966Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:29 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2965This one-woman show is well acted by Tammy Meneghini, who inhabits a series of female personas, selected from a longer sequence of monologues.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2965Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2964Set in a retirement home for the long-forgotten superheroes of the 1950s, this new comedy from writer/ director William Heslop, performed by Queen Mary Theatre Company, is clearly made by and for students.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2964Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2963With tins of vegetable oil, the recurring motif of an onion and the eyebrows of Frida Kahlo painted on every performer's face, Figs in Wigs' latest show is a refreshing burst of surrealism that defiantly flies in the face of more conventional theatre. andquot;I don't know what it was about, but I loved it,andquot; says an audience member at the end.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2963Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2962When Molly, the female lead mentions group sex (in the 70s her parents' idea of it was making love with the television on), she says she overcame her childhood stutter by andquot;screwing with the abandon of a fighter pilot on crackandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2962Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2961IT WOULD be wrong to suggest the Fringe has no room for more than one show about the existential dilemmas of a table-top puppet. But even if it weren't for the exemplary object theatre of Blind Summit's The Table, it would be hard to raise much enthusiasm for this one-man show by Rumen Gavanozov of Bulgaria's Theater Atelie 313.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2961Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2960THIS play-within-a-play involves three actresses - a mentor and both a former and a current pupil.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2960Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2959This one-man musical celebration of the life of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec alternates each day between performance in English and in Japanese with English subtitles.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2959Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2958YOU have to have an unusual sort of mind to develop an entire aesthetic and political theory based on the Care Bears.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2958Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2957One way to start a comedy review is to describe the performer. So thank you Mr Tony Law for making it easy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2957Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2956I DIDN'T realise until I saw her poster that this show is called Cavewoman. Apparently Tiffany Stevenson meant to write a show about evolution then decided to write about being a woman instead.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2956Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2955There's a tremendous back-story to Steve Pretty's show: the musician was presumed dead in the 2004 Asian tsunami, yet made it home to hear a friend's music mixtape compiled for his wake.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2955Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2954This is undoubtedly a more pertinent production if you're one of the one-in-four people affected by mental illness over the course of your lifetime. And, dare I venture, at an age where you've had most of your dreams realised or dashed.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2954Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2953With shows like Jesus: The Guantanamo Years, Abie Philbin Bowman has consistently delivered thoughtful, politically informed comedy that's easier to admire than to love.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2953Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2952How fabulous are these boys? Absolutely fabulous. From the moment they begin, they show sides to themselves you have never seen before.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2952Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2951Let's get this out of the way first - Paul Sinha does have a weird neck. It looks a little like the pictures you see of the women of the Kayan tribes who wear up to 20 rings around their necks. I only mention this because Sinha has been getting it in the neck about his neck and I thought it might help if you were forewarned. However, it is not as bad as they say it is.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2951Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2950This is a delightful show - and everything you would expect from David O'Doherty except a small electronic keyboard.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2950Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2949Notwithstanding his lack of academic qualifications and reputation for crying at rave tunes, it's a wonder Paul McCaffrey has endured so many dead-end jobs because he was obviously born to be a comic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2949Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2948It's odd Martin Mor has prominently included a quote from Frankie Boyle on his poster. The aimable Irishman with the extraordinary beard seems a million miles away from the sour Scottish miserabilist.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2948Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2947AT THE very least, Kerry Godliman is good company in which to spend an hour of your Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2947Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2946THESE three stars aren't just for Josh Howie - they're for the winning combination of Josh Howie, a 79 year-old lady called Maureen and her long-suffering husband Ted.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2946Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2945IN VIRTUALLY no time at all, The Horne Section has established itself as a Fringe institution - their late-night, loosely-curated blend of eclectic guests and unpredictable spontaneity an entertaining cocktail. Led by the understated, usually unflappable Alex Horne, the jazz, funk and whatever-else-is-demanded quintet back their guests with playful verve and a broad repertoire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2945Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2944His chancy, cut-and-paste, Johnny Cash intro notwithstanding, Gareth Richards initially seems to be suffering from second show syndrome. Last year's Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award best newcomer nominee opens listlessly, a real problem because even good lines likening suicide bombers to socially outcast smokers need some selling.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2944Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2943For a second successive Fringe, the misleadingly titled quartet of Ben Cottam, Jack Hartnell, Nick Hall and Tom Hensby have made an impressive case for consideration as one of the UK's best emerging sketch groups.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2943Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2942MERCIFULLY Dave Fulton does not look nearly as decrepit and grizzled in real life as he does on his poster. But he has decided to present himself warts and all in this show about real-life excess as a stand-up on the road.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2942Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2941MIND reader Chris Cox is at pains to point out that he doesn't actually read minds. Well, we all know that. What he really does is see your thoughts coming before you do. Here is a drawing he prepared earlier to confirm this.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2941Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2940Almost guaranteed to give you a memorable disaster to add to your Fringe memorabilia, Bob Slayer is the ultimate Off-Off-Fringe performer. He appears only to have the vaguest notion what is going on, is distracted by absolutely everything and rarely gets through an entire show. What he does do with impressive dedication and efficiency is drink.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2940Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2939LIKE a lot of comedians who live in London, Ava Vidal has decided to rewrite a section of her show to reflect the recent riots.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2939Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2938BOILED down to its essence, Tim and Light is a story about the friendship between Tim, an outsider kid who feels that andquot;being 13 is rubbishandquot;, and Light, a beautiful white stray cat he persuades his mum to let him keep. But there is a lot of embellishing detail, creative devices and mixed media to encounter before arriving at its central lesson on how to make and treat friends.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2938Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2937AS FAR as interactive theatre experiences go, there can be few that require such a leap of faith as this new piece from Look Left Look Right.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2937Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2935There can surely be no shadow puppets quite as expressive as those made by Canadian clown and puppeteer Jeff Achtem from bits of cardboard, junk and fabric in his shed.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2935Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2934Doing the complete works of Shakespeare in 90 minutes sounds marginally easier than converting Richard Dawkins' classic The Selfish Gene into a 70-minute musical. But this young company composed of four drama students plus their teacher, Jonathan Bex, makes it look remarkably easy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2934Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2933It's closing time at La Putyka, and the owner is trying to wash up glasses and call time. Unfortunately, his clientele has other ideas. This run-down Czech pub is like a second home to the disparate crowd populating it, and they're not for moving. Finally he concedes to andquot;one more beerandquot; - and we're included (well, those on the front row at least).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2933Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2932It's not often that you see a fairytale heroine get married after having had children with her one true love, who in this case also happens to be a bear (albeit a bear who turns into a man at night).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2932Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2930Evelyn Evelyn, the world's only known conjoined twin singer/songwriter duo, are connected from shoulder to hip, which makes playing the accordion quite a tricky exercise.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2930Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2929While not venturing as far east as the main leanings of this year's Edinburgh International Festival, Angelika Kirchschlager's morning concert yesterday looked sufficiently to the east of the Queen's Hall to transport her large and appreciative audience to another world.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2929Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2928The opulent Dans Palais Speigeltent is a perfect setting for this raucous and defiantly raw musical adaptation of the ancient, but ever popular Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2928Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2927It's often dismissed as being a gimmick, but use of new technology in theatre is enabling audiences and performers to connect with one another like never before. This year's Fringe is filled with interactive experiences and many of them wouldn't be possible without mobile phones, MP3 Players, iPads and iPods.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2927Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2926WOULD the Fringe exist without alcohol? Strictly speaking no, says Arthur Smith, because theatre was the invention of the Greeks in the service of the god of wine, Dionysus.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2926Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2925Amidst an ensemble cast populated by Brit School alumni, there are moments of resonance and effective performances here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2925Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2924Although it might be best appreciated by those who are already familiar with Sylvain Chomet's animated feature film, there's much to adore about this onstage adaptation.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2924Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2923EVEN now, at 80, even here, in Edinburgh, Edna O'Brien says, she still dreams of the small sandstone house she grew up in Scariff, County Clare.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2923Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2921Joe Dunthorne had a hard shift, launching Friday morning with a disappointingly sparse audience for his well-liked work. andquot;It's a bit like a book club in here,andquot; the young novelist observed. andquot;We could probably go round and take everybody's views individually.andquot;http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2921Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:28:27 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2916andquot;If I had a role model, it would be me,andquot; whinnies the rakish young man in the mismatched pink-flowered shirt and grey waistcoat combination. andquot;By the time I was 12 I had things largely worked out. I spent the next 12 years consolidating.andquot;http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2916Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2915Nick is in a coma after a car accident, trapped in a limbo realm where two mysterious figures, Lester and Simpson, force him to confront his relationship with his wife, Sarah, by reliving key moments in their life together so he can move on.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2915Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2914From an effectively creepy opening with a trio of bound and sentenced-to-death witches advancing slowly through the crowd upon the red-lit stage, this piece descends into mediocrity.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2914Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2913Awful Pie's adaptation of DH Lawrence's Women in Love, following the lives and relationships of two sisters in the early 1900s, attempts to mimic the kind of pent-up sexuality the author evokes so well, but turns out feeling like a hammed-up, paler imitation as a result.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2913Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2912TURNING the hysteria dial up to 11 early on in a piece of theatre can work if it's managed carefully, but it's always a bit of a gamble, and unfortunately it doesn't really pay off here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2912Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2911NOT to be confused with the comedy sketch group of the same name, but sharing a penchant for Victoriana and the grotesque, Penny Dreadful Theatre returns with a new show about three rival dentists in the 1800s. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2911Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2910A DETECTIVE story which takes the conventions of the genre and runs with them, this one-woman play is performed beautifully by Felicity Hopkins.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2910Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2909Part physical theatre, part drama, this new play by the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Theatre Ensemble is inspired by the work of Ovid, the Grimms, Andersen and more.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2909Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2908IN THIS new play by Georgia Coles-Riley, a company of young actors from Royal Holloway College practise their television acting technique for an hour or so in front of a live audience who can barely hear them, even in a small space at Surgeon's Hall.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2908Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2907Christopher Douglas has been playing the bitter and cynical writer since 2005 and, seven series of Ed Reardon's Week later, the Radio 4 character has a huge following - as witnessed by his pulling power at the Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2907Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2906A BEDRAGGLED, red-bearded Scotsman named Charlie Hunt awakens in the lost property office of Embankment station, unsure of how he came to be there.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2906Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2905A CULTURE clash of the most inevitably brutal sort, this deceptively tender piece places the mores of America and Iran up against one another, showing them to be incompatible for their similarities as much as their differences.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2905Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2904This is a genuine, lovely little play, an affectionate memoir of a night in the lives of George Mitchell's Minstrels beautifully written by Paul Haley, a man who actually spent his first job in theatre in Max Factor Negro 2, crooning his love for his andquot;dear old Swanneeandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2904Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2903Robin and Michael are here in the constant hope that someone from the telly will see them and whisk them off to The Big Time. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2903Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2902IN A time of civil disobedience, Rich Fulcher - from whom no sane person should ever take advice - has a series of modest proposals on how we can all stick it to The Man.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2902Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2901This is a debut show from a young comic who has a lot of confidence and control on stage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2901Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2900Some stand-ups look as if they are clinging for dear life to the stage, and some look like they own it. Jimmy McGhie is one of the latter.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2900Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2899This is a story about andquot;Richardandquot;, performance poet and playwright Richard Marsh tells us, a character similar to himself, but not himself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2899Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2898Luke Wright yearns for a time when people learned current affairs through popular poetry.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2898Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2897Who would have thought that Massenet's Thaïs was such a knock-out opera, given that all we ever hear of it is its much-punted sound bite, the Meditation?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2897Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2896TALK turned to festivals past at John Byrne's Book Festival event on Thursday. Specifically, the Fringe of 1977 when Byrne's first play Writer's Cramp played to sell-out crowds in Carlton Studios.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2896Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2895JUST so you know, there is a reasonable possibility that if you go to Le Gateau Chocolat's delightful debut show, you will end up on stage dressed in a brightly coloured Lycra catsuit, and then be sent off into the audience to hug strangers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2895Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2893The sunniest moments for the soloists of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra came in their second half performance of Schubert's colossal Octet.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2893Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2892WHAT a delight this show is - a joy from start to finish. Using a mix of puppets, actors, animation and back-projection, it is an imaginative and stylish adaptation of writer-illustrator Oliver Jeffers's award-winning picture book about Henry, a boy who develops a taste for words, then begins devouring sentences and is soon consuming whole books at a time.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2892Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2891Aisle 16 R hungover. But notwithstanding a few missed cues and a couple of slip-ups which make them shake with laughter, they deliver a brilliant, high energy poetry show which is big on laughs.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2891Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2888CHEEK was the order of the morning yesterday. Or perhaps rather, in the case of Michael Longley, a twinkling insouciance. andquot;It's nice to have a woman about the place,andquot; the venerable poet mused as the director of the Scottish Poetry Library passed him a glass of water. andquot;I am a feminist, you know,andquot; Longley told us, hurrying to atone. andquot;But I keep lapsing.andquot;http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2888Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:20:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2878This celebration of the 1970s northern soul allnighters at Wigan Casino peddles predictable period nostalgia for Sherbert dib dabs, Jackie magazine and patches on your satchel as well as the specifics of the scene from the rare records to the best brand of talcum powder for dusting the dancefloor.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2878Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2877Of all the Shakespeare comedies, Twelfth Night would seem to make ideal fodder for a musical adaptation with its blend of farce and romance, its central unrequited love triangle, the cross-dressing - and that's just Sir Andrew Aguecheek in a blonde bobbed wig - and the sexual confusion which ensues.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2877Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2876With so much of the Fringe concentrated around Bristo and George Squares, it's good to see some new blood in other parts of the city. Based at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, a venue with a year-round commitment to artistry and community spirit, the Leith on the Fringe programme is as diverse as the people who live there.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2876Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2875It's chucking it down with rain and I'm on an open-top bus tour, huddled in a poncho, watching the pages of my notebook dissolve into a ball of pulp. andquot;This is how much I love theatre,andquot; proclaims a fellow audience member as he takes a seat, simultaneously appalled and delighted by the prospect of such conditions. He leans into his girlfriend and takes a photo of them both as evidence. Ten minutes later, hurtling down Princes Street, our unconventional tour guide sneers at the people who climb the Scott Monument in order to get a certificate at the top. Why does an achievement only mean something these days if others know about it?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2875Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2874SET IN A depressed town somewhere in England where jobs are hard to come by, Michael McLean's new play is potentially one of the most interesting on the 2011 Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2874Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2873If BRAD Pitt needs some funny zombies for the film he's currently shooting in Glasgow, he need only nip across to the Fringe where a dozen of the undead - more by the end of the performance - are currently appearing at the Jekyll andamp; Hyde pub in this production which is free but encourages donations for andquot;Zombie-Aid - to rehabilitate zombiesandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2873Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2872There is a distinct sense of the unfinished about this piece from the amateur Scots company Neverland Productions, which far outweighs the better elements of the production. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2872Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2871This is a short, sharp, high-concept half-hour of ghostly thriller that's well worth the small investment of time it requires. Originally written as a radio play by Lynne Truss, the smart, metafictional device at the play's core sees lone actor Martin Miller appearing in a radio play as himself. Alone in an atmospheric, darkened radio studio designed by director, Simon Scullion, andquot;Millerandquot; has been called in to read, at the last minute, for a late night pre-recording of a ghost story.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2871Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2870When playwright Steve Hennessy wrote Wilderness in 2002, he would have been surprised to learn he had begun a decade-long exercise that would result in a quartet of plays. From an audience point of view, it doesn't seem very likely either. Who knew there'd be a Fringe market for four plays about late-Victorian murderers?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2870Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2869Australian company Rough Winds take on the challenge of carving a cohesive narrative from Shakespeare's sonnets, combining recognisable lines with even more recognisable scenes of modern courtship - from meeting in a bar to the early flushes of infatuation, and eventual arguments. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2869Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2868Livewire Theatre lives up to its name. Vibrant and dangerous, Frankenstein is a reimagining of Shelley's gothic classic as you've never seen it, examining the nature of creation from birth to man's own mechanical invention.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2868Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2867THERE'S an overload of charm in Biddy O'Loughlin's solo memoir of her early life as a girl brought up in Alice Springs believing she was Irish, who then sets out to discover Ireland for herself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2867Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2866One of those inoffensive high-concept productions which clutters the Fringe guide and promises very little, this tongue- in-cheek affair stands out from the crowd by aspiring to a degree of professionalism which eludes a lot of comparable shows. That, and writers Chris Fletcher and Richard Brook have actually gone to the trouble of filling their superhero spoof with proper jokes, something many comedy plays forget to do before hitting Edinburgh.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2866Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2865Action To The Word's new musical offering is an unsettling and visually gorgeous Gothic fairy tale. The eponymous sisters bring themselves up after their mother dies and their taxidermist father becomes a recluse in his workshop.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2865Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2864The premise of this show is a very good one, and I had glamorous visions of Chicago set in the Underground, strangers on their daily commute stepping up to share their woes in a cabaret-style musical extravaganza.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2864Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2863Writer Andrew G Marshall and singer-performer Ignacio Jarquin follow up their 2008 show Caruso and the Quake with another one-man performance about the notorious Italian tenor. This one charts the trial Enrico Caruso faced in 1906 for pinching a woman's bottom at a monkey house in the middle of New York's Central Park Zoo. Caruso claimed a monkey did it, but was convicted in a case that caused widespread scandal. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2863Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2862The presentation of a classic folk tale as a noir-ish adults-only Gothic is nothing new at the Fringe, but Milk Presents have reinterpreted Charles Perrault's story of a French nobleman who murders his wives with a compulsive, dark glee. Jacob Beswick's beguilingly camp narrator entices us into a world steeped in creepy Victoriana, a sinisterly-realised place where andquot;every little girl you know, wants to find a man, you knowandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2862Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2861An IDEALISTIC teacher sets up a showchoir at a small-town school with a jock, cheerleaders and a very camp young man among its members... are you thinking, 'obvious Glee rip-off'? I certainly was, but no, this show debuted in 2007, before Sue Sylvester bought her first tracksuit.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2861Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2860The real-life story of the villagers of Eyam, who sacrificed themselves to stop the plague from spreading across Derbyshire, is a potent tale dramatists are unable to resist.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2860Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2859Here's a tip: don't go to this show unless you're ready to be put through the old emotional wringer.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2859Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2858Full marks for ambition. Stephen Sondheim's and James Lapine's show throwing real human dilemmas at fairytale characters isn't a cakewalk. The music is rich, the lyrics demanding. It needs a sharp orchestra and actors able to put across emotion and comedy via tongue-twisting lyrics.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2858Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2857ANTONIO Forcione, long a favourite of the discerning musical Fringe-goer, can be an extrovert showman when in solo mode, dominating the stage with his presence and his often visceral amplified acoustic guitar attack.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2857Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2856The gloves came off after the first number - white silk ones, that is, a trademark of the late Anita O'Day, but Melanie O'Reilly's tribute to the singer who revolutionised the image of the girl jazz vocalist remained true, unsentimental yet affectionate, and it really swung.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2856Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2855On the cusp of 40, Zoe Lyons is assessing her life, remembering the antics of her youth (hitch-hiking from Glasgow to Glastonbury), marvelling at all the things she thought she'd have accomplished by now (chess, anyone?), and contemplating life as a doddering old dear pushing a tartan shopping trolley containing - well if I told you that, it would spoil a joke that made me laugh so hard I spilled my cider.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2855Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2854Scott Capurro tells the tale of his mother's death, and the effect it's had on him. Not the most obvious subject for comedy, but there's a universality to the theme which draws the audience in.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2854Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2853Don't even think about leaving Michael Winslow's show to go for a pee. If you do, he will provide the relevant sound effect for your progress up the stairs, out the door and right into the toilet cubicle (if you're a lady).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2853Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2852LADY Garden are now a quintet, but something more fundamental than a member has been lost from their sketch comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2852Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2851Simon Munnery has opened (for August only) La Concepta, an haute cuisine restaurant of the exclusive kind. Exclusive, I hear you say, how exclusive? Are we talking Martin Wishart? Heston Blumenthal?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2851Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2850This is not so much a show with audience participation as a tent with 50 people inside it singing along to the most predictable medley of camp pop since Mamma Mia.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2850Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2849Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler, comedy's most freakishly coquettish non-couple, are back at the Fringe and this time they have brought some friends with them. Welcome to their Hot Tub variety show, temporarily transplanted from its Brooklyn home. That riot of pimp-my-rollerdisco Lycra and spangles you just saw is house band Adira Amram and the Experience, who are here to help and occasionally soundtrack proceedings.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2849Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2848At the front of a large room, a small man with an even smaller voice is nearly dwarfed by the podium he stands behind. But that man is David Sedaris, whose talent as a comedic writer is so vast that he holds the room rapt as he reads from his work.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2848Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2847Time drags when you're waiting for something - as children know only too well. So it's perhaps no surprise that it's the kids who seem to get the biggest kick out of Hurry Up and Wait, a show in which two clowns are waiting for a parade.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2847Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2846Making puppets out of scraps seems like a breeze in this tale of a girl living in the shadows of her seven brothers, who are the strongest, the fastest and the cleverest.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2846Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2844The unlikely transformation of university lecture rooms into theatre spaces is all part of Assembly's move to George Square, but there can't be many shows for which the space is better suited than this. Sandy Grierson's solo show, which he co-wrote with director Lorne Campbell, begins as a lecture.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2844Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2842Although few, if any, of the cast members are old enough to remember it, Idle Motion recreates the andquot;Great Stormandquot; of 1987 with remarkable clarity, poignancy and wit. It's almost 25 years since the south-east of England was battered by 134mph winds, leading to 19 deaths and a trail of destruction that took months, in some cases years, to recover from.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2842Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2841GAINFUL employment; it's a simple phrase but to billions of ordinary working people, it represents the difference between a life that contains some hope, dignity and aspiration, and one dogged by poverty and humiliation.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2841Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2840I CANNOT remember the last time I saw a Fringe audience, as one, leap to their feet and give an act a standing ovation. Well, I saw it in the lovely Bosco tent on a ghastly, wet afternoon. And I found myself on my feet too.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2840Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2839If you have young children and you are afraid they might be too little, squeaky or fidgety to go to the theatre, then this is the show for you.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2839Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2838Though evidence to the contrary is there to behold, throughout Josie Long's disarming show I found myself marvelling that this child has been allowed out past her bedtime.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2838Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2837WIND back the clock 20 years, and one of the girls with the microphones for the Qandamp;A with the Famous Author in the Main Tent at the Edinburgh book festival was Maggie O'Farrell.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2837Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2836AT THEIR festival debut in 2007 the T'ang Quartet revelled in the theatricality of the contemporary music repertoire and this affinity was evident in the second half of this programme.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2836Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2835Arriving at the allotments off East Fettes Avenue, we're handed a cup of tea and a scone spread with jam made from home-grown blackcurrants. All the action in this 45-minute play takes place within the confines of the allotment belonging to director Kate Nelson of Nutshell Theatre.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2835Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2834IT CAN be tedious enough listening to someone talking about one of their sexual conquests, let alone one for every card in the deck. But New York-based performer Desiree Burch is such a funny, frank, eloquent, entertaining and perceptive raconteur that it was a pleasure, of sorts, to hear all the gory, explicit details of her ample carnal encounters in 52 Man Pickup.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2834Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2829A QUEUE formed right round the duckboards in Charlotte Square to hear Rabbi Julia Neuberger yesterday morning, testifying to the appetite we have for listening to those associated with faith communities talk intelligently about the larger questions of life. In fact, we got two such writers for the price of one, as Neuberger was in conversation with former Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2829Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:19:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2823IF YOU’RE keen to put a fresh spin on a classic tale, there can be few better choices than Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll’s characters - the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and so on - are so well known they form an easily recognisable currency ripe for further invention.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2823Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:14:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2821Optimistically pitched as andquot;The Crucible meets Father Tedandquot;, this intended comedy from Stay Curious Productions is sadly one if those amateur Fringe efforts that's so undercooked it's barely even out of the freezer.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2821Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2820What starts out in the vein of a Nuts In May-style camping farce, with placatory mum Linda, her know-it-all andquot;friendandquot; Bernard and surly teenage son Adam heading into the wilds of Wales - it's always Wales for camping, isn't it? - lurches in clichéd and unconvincing fashion, via a curiously muted case of mistaken identity and a succession of stretched, broken and repaired relationships, towards a domestic melodramatic conclusion.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2820Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2819AT AN unspecified point in the future, people from different planets congregate for the 17th Uniformation Ceremony, to celebrate the survival of the human race.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2819Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2818Old Grinburrell and his oddball band of storytellers have rolled into town for one last performance of their collection of grim fairytales.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2818Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2817The Moon Under the Water presents a quick (as in half an hour) succession of sketches around the theme of drinking and bar culture, zeroing in on the regulars at the eponymous pub.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2817Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2816Julian Sands' recital of Harold Pinter's poetry, directed by John Malkovich, chalks up what is probably the highest celebrity rating on this year's Fringe. Yet the result is underwhelming: a fine actor, directed by a fine actor, in a celebration of one of the country's finest playwrights - and yet the show is almost entirely undramatic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2816Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2815You can't really go wrong with Milton, TS Eliot and Dylan Thomas. George Innes has chosen his texts well.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2815Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2814THE borderlands between dance and physical theatre become ever more blurred and ever more densely populated, full of superb shows like last week's Fringe First winner, Pat Kinevane's Silent, which achieves a fine combination of dense text and exquisite movement.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2814Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2813Part-walking tour, part-family history, part-fairytale and part-tribute to female determination throughout the ages; Poorboy's epic piece of promenade theatre is rich in content and ambitious in scope.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2813Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2812They used to call war reporter Orla Guerin the Angel of Death because every time she went anywhere people started being murdered.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2812Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2811With a monologue, the playwright usually has to find a reason for their solitary character to talk out loud. Evelyne de la Cheneliere, whose Strawberries in January played at the Traverse in 2006, takes a short cut by making her central figure, the eponymous Bashir Lazhar, talk to a lot of characters whom we can't see.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2811Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2810Greyfriars Kirk is not the most obvious place to hold a series of concerts encompassing all of Beethoven's piano sonatas.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2810Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2809Newly formed Rhum and Clay Theatre Company take two potentially great ingredients into this show - Lecoq training and a storyline about social control and surveillance - yet somehow manage to create a work that borders on tedious.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2809Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2808THERE'S a boy standing over a grating in the street, waiting. In Portuguese and broken English, he tells us that he is waiting for the rats to come out of the drains, so that he can kill them; and this becomes the central image of Brazilian writer and performer Eduardo Okamoto's solo performance at St George's West, written in 2004 to commemorate the Candelaria massacre of street children by police in Brazil, 11 years earlier.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2808Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2807The Justin Bieber of stand-up is having a rough gig. His pale blue eyes and his beestung lips may be plastered five feet tall on every wall in Edinburgh but he appears to have landed in a room which is just too big for him. What is worse, the Saturday night crowd is rowdy, with a group of people talking into their mobile phones.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2807Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2806IN AN old-fashioned lounge bar under North Bridge which most people from Edinburgh probably don't know exists, Canadian Sharron Matthews desecrates cabaret in very funny fashion.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2806Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2805Sarah Millican gets an audience member eating out of her hand, the pair of them scoffing a sweet denied them in childhood and fulfilling the Geordie comic's professed desire for adventure, to be more of a andquot;bumper carandquot; and less of a cautious andquot;dodgemandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2805Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2804A CHARMING collusion of epistolary and musical comedy, Pearl and Dave is the beguiling Isy Suttie's love letter to love. The Peep Show star has become marvellously accomplished at penning wryly funny songs suffused with tenderness for those lost, lonely souls desperately, silently grasping for happiness.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2804Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2803Moo-Dong, a character from a Korean watercolour, comes to life and leaps out of the painting in this offbeat, occasionally charming but ultimately irritating production - a mixture of dance, mime, puppetry and video visuals.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2803Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2801At LAST year's festival I accidentally sent someone an e-mail I shouldn't have. The person who received it wasn't very happy. It's moments such as this - ones where you realise you've made a mistake that you can't undo - that this interactive performance is all about.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2801Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2799WE WERE royally soaked en route to last night's near sell-out performance by the Orchestra symphonique de Montréal under Kent Nagano. But I'll wager none of those sitting in the front row of the stalls bargained for the drenching they got during the concert.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2799Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2798ONE of the inspired innovations of director Nick Barley, who took the helm at the Book Festival in 2010, has been to introduce andquot;guest selectorsandquot; - figures from the literary world who create a strand of their own within the programme. Of four guest selectors this year, the furthest travelled is certainly Audrey Niffenegger, author of the best-selling The Time Traveller's Wife.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2798Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2797ORIGINALLY from Beijing and with a well-stocked repertoire of Chinese, Japanese and eastern-influenced music, guitarist Xuefei Yang is something of a gift for a festival with an Asian theme.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2797Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2793SEBASTIAN Barry is talking, in his quiet, deep, mellifluous Wicklow way that he has, the way that makes every woman in the Main Tent fall in love with him, because he always sounds as though he is making up every answer to every question right here, right now, and just for you (and he probably is); anyway, Sebastian Barry is talking about why he writes about the Catholic loyalists in his family, the ones on the wrong side of andquot;that curious tiger, historyandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2793Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:12:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2789A MAN injects a lettuce with fake blood, he cuts it and it oozes red. Two women in the audience walk out.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2789Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2788The day of the funeral of Edward Kennedy, and traffic is heavy on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The booths on the Western Toll Plaza are buzzing with rumour: one of the staff has been selling drugs from his booth and has murdered his dealer.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2788Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2787Keefe Healy's play plunges us into the dirty world at the heart of the recession, the agents who "work" bad debts.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2787Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2786In a novelty piece of casting real-life father and daughter Art and Keira Malik take on the roles of a Middle-Eastern immigrant, Arthur, and his Britain-born daughter Rose.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2786Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2785There is some nice imagery in this new play from Handheld Arts about two soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder; one of whom has just returned from present-day Afghanistan, the other from the First World War. Folded paper cranes and pigeons are a recurring, if underused, theme, while projected images bring newspaper headlines to life in a way that is visually striking.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2785Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2784STEVEN Fales was born a Mormon, in a church which regards homosexuality as an aberration which can be cured. A gay man, he describes how he experienced years of counselling, therapy and coercion as he tried to submit to the Church and cure himself of his disease.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2784Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2783They say you should write about what you know and this young storytelling company has done just that - sharing with us their cherished tales of childhood.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2783Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2782Here are some tips for Fringe performers. Tell the audience where the show is taking place. Welcome the audience. On no account faff around hanging up curtains as the audience comes in.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2782Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2781Trish leads a double life. By day, she does her best to keep body and soul together in a mind-numbing HR job, and by night she comperes a terrible cabaret show, the star act being an incestuous singing sibling duo, the spurious connection between the two jobs being that she andquot;introduces ridiculous nonsense that no-one wants to hear/seeandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2781Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2780Britain's finest free-running outfit, 3Run, have so much to offer a crowd it's a shame they haven't been given a vehicle worthy of their talent to perform in.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2780Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2779Sabrina Mahfouz is an engaging and professional actor with an impressive CV (the strip bar waitress and performance poet elements figure highly here), but her David Schwimmer-directed full-length Fringe debut works more like an extended audition piece than a strong show in its own right.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2779Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2778Based on an ambitious premise to reinterpret the tales of the lead female characters in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata from a contemporary perspective, Kali Theatre's We Draupadi's and Sitas (the apostrophe is the production's own) features three elegant and expressive actresses dressed in wonderful Indian costumes bouncing monologues back and forth.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2778Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2777PUNCTUATED BY the ear-cracking thunder and boom of explosions deep underground, where new coal seams are being opened up with sweat and dynamite, this 2010 show based on the life and stories of the Welsh writer and thinker Gwyn Thomas marks a hugely theatrical and deeply enjoyable Scottish stage debut for the new English-language National Theatre Wales. Founded on a similar without-walls model to the National Theatre Of Scotland, it now takes the first steps in what could be a powerful creative relationship.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2777Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2776Three sad-faced girls lip-synch to the Spice Girls, inhale helium balloons, wield giant pencils, unwind a string of tiny puppets and wrap themselves up in bubblewrap.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2776Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2775Better direction and a bit of script editing could have made more of this tale of a manic Californian yoga teacher trying to make her way in London.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2775Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2774The word is long out that The Big Bite Size Breakfast makes a great-value start to your Fringe day, but for the benefit of those who haven't yet joined the crowds to settle down with complimentary coffee, croissant and strawberries, the deal is this: a company of four actors presents five pithy playlets by different writers from one of three revolving menus. If Menu 1 is any barometer, it would be worth returning to sample some more of their theatrical tapas.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2774Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2773In the future, the ice caps have melted, polar bears don't even have hunks of ice to cling to and rooftops are no escape from the rising waters.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2773Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2772Alon Nashman pokes his head through a hole he has cut in the front of Scotland on Sunday to show us the face of Alphonse, a boy making headline news after failing to return to the family home. This, however, is no case of abduction.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2772Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2771Based on Edwardian satirist Saki's short stories, this new musical by James Lark has a more traditional feel than his 2008 piece, Tony Blair - the Musical. Set around the escapades of an affluent family living in Surrey at the turn of the 19th century, it involves scandal with the servants, a lost baby and a precocious talking cat.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2771Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2770An attractive blend of Greek myth and contemporary musical sensibilities, Five One Productions' take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is remarkably light for a descent into Hell, and the sense of loss and jeopardy is muted.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2770Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2769NO DOUBLE entendre has been left unturned in this unashamedly fun musical from the London Gay Men's Chorus.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2769Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2768Love, loss, making up and breaking up are the themes that loosely connect the series of relationship dilemmas, predominantly based on real-life experiences, in this new musical.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2768Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2767Step out of a dreich Edinburgh street and find yourself in an Andalucian tablao - or at least in Edinburgh's only flamenco dance studio and tapas bar, a potently intimate setting for guitarist Andrew Robinson's mercurial playing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2767Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2766WHAT finer way to pass an extremely wet Edinburgh Sunday afternoon than to venture into the Canongate Kirk?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2766Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2765In 1911, when a fire engulfed the ninth floor of a textile factory in New York's Lower East Side, people on the street below thought rolls of material were being thrown from the windows. They were, in fact, the burning bodies of some of the 146 people (mostly women under 20) who leapt from the building in an attempt to escape the flames.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2765Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2764IT WAS already hot in the enormous, packed-to-the-rafters, Pleasance Grand - and then Flawless appeared on stage and really turned up the heat. Playing to an audience the size of which other Fringe dance shows could only dream about, the Flawless boys are proving that there is most certainly life after talent-show television.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2764Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2763ON A stage surrounded by colourful clothing, four dancers in white underwear give creative expression to a washing machine. Against the whirring sound of water and motion - including the spin cycle - they move their bodies as if on a quest to get clean.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2763Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2762THE expression andquot;hit and missandquot; doesn't even begin to describe the series of sublime peaks and godawful troughs that make up this anarchic hour from Tom Bell.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2762Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2761Hitherto apolitical and a perennial contender for the title of most affable person in comedy, no-one, least of all Tiernan Douieb, would have foreseen his Fringe hour becoming quite so spiky with zeitgeist.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2761Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2760There is a great five minutes in this 50-minute show. And from someone who spends at least ten telling us how experienced he is that is not enough.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2760Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2759Last year, Geordie comedian Seymour Mace scrapped his show before the end of his run, after desperately appealing to crowds for suggestions on finding happiness - a hint at his subsequent diagnosis with clinical depression.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2759Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2758IF EVER there were an irresistible comedy force, it is Phil Nichol. This year there is no Bobby Spade, no band, no nudity. Instead there is feelgood factor, funny songs, flirting, jokes and generalised silliness from a comic whose show has enough energy to run an entire tram system, were there such a thing around.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2758Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2757Divilment. It's Irish for mischief. And that's just what Neil Delamere brought into this easygoing hour, tales of an everyday life as distilled by a sharp comic mind.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2757Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2756This is a genuinely interesting show. Even before Birdman begins, we are intrigued by the huge onstage graphic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2756Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2755Looking a bit like Bob Downe's evil twin, Künt has been dancing up the dirt track to Fringe fame for many years.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2755Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2754Bursting on stage, this Irish sketch trio have almost enough energy to disguise the paucity of originality and creativity in their show. But not quite.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2754Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2753Craig Campbell looks like the kind of man who could wrestle a bear. Big and beardy, with wild, sparky, staring eyes, he bursts on to the stage in surf shorts and Five Finger trainers, his bounteous hair flaring out from his head like a demented mane.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2753Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2752There is some potential in this two-handed sketch show - isn't there usually, in all but the most deplorable ones? - and Sarah Campbell and Amy Hoggart are shrewd enough to recognise and develop their funniest curveball scenarios into running gags.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2752Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2751This is a beautifully crafted, beautifully performed little show. Goldstein is a brilliant comedy raconteur, covering the stage with a bestiary of glorious and ghastly characters as he tells the tale of how his father, hitting 50, had a midlife crisis and bought a strip club in Marbella.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2751Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2750There's a lovely irony in Benny Boot appearing in character as the big-wigged South African Walter Montgomery, the President of Stand-Up Comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2750Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2749NO-ONE rants like Andrew Lawrence. When something (it could be almost anything) incites his ire he unleashes a torrent of beautifully worded, rhythmically aesthetic invective that is entirely his own.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2749Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2748Charm. Without it, a stage magician is nothing. James Galea, with big smile, chirpy personality and Life Is Fun T-shirt, has it by the bucketload. He reminds me of Fringe favourite (sadly missing this year) Adam Hills, a big puppy of a man you immediately want to be your best mate.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2748Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2746There's nothing like a healthy dose of Handel to lift the spirits and, in this case, to give us a momentary break from the Festival's preoccupation with its eastern theme.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2746Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2745Bruegel's Tower of Babel turning to a heartbeat is the opening sequence to Naqoyqatsi - Life as War - the third Qatsi collaboration between director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2745Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2744HOW do you like your fiction? Small-scale, nuanced, controlled, hyper-real? Or big, fantastical, otherworldly, magical and manic?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2744Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2743Ingrid Calame’s abstract work brings new depth to the graffiti on our streets, though not all conceptual art is quite so successfulhttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2743Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2742I FERVENTLY hope that the Greeks were wrong, and that those whom the gods love do not die young, because it would be an unthinkable tragedy were the comedy world to be robbed of the extraordinary talents of Benet Brandreth any time soon.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2742Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2741THROW John Cage's gamelan-inspired Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano into the same programme as Scarlatti's delightful Baroque sonatas for the more traditional, un-tampered keyboard and what do you get?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2741Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2737ON THESE pages recently comic Tom Allen pointed out that audiences andquot;simply enjoy watching other human beings exchange wordsandquot;. This festival, there is no shortage of chances to do so via the format of the chat show - but it seems there's more than one way to skin this particular cat.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2737Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2736HE HAD no new book to promote, and many of his much-loved earlier works are no longer in print, but that didn't stop William McIlvanney selling out the Book Festival's main theatre. In fact, the love in the room was palpable: the author of Docherty and The Big Man has nothing to prove here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2736Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2735'VERBAL NITROGLYCERINandquot; was the phrased used by Creative Scotland's Gavin Wallace to introduce Ali Smith at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. And, sure enough, the hour spent in her company brought us blisteringly effective prose laced with funny, insightful commentary.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2735Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:34:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2728The extraordinary Buddhist-inspired trilogy Body Mandala, Speakings and ...towards a Pure Land by the British composer Jonathan Harvey were all written for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, but Saturday's Edinburgh International Festival concert was their first airing together, as the composer intended.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2728Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:55:46 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2727Mad, magical, and magnificent as ever, Camille O'Sullivan wafts across a stage strewn with fairy lights, vintage clothing, and toys, looking like a demented Red Riding Hood out looking for the Wolf, instead of her Granny.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2727Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:47:31 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2726He is a canny man, Fred MacAulay, and he tailors his set to flatter his audience like a Savile Row suit. We get some topical observations, some old headlines from the Press And Journal and the compulsory tram reference.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2726Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:44:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2723The old don't have the voice they deserve in society - but this play, which is remarkably affecting and thought-provoking, focuses on a character we've probably all come across: the old man who fought in the Second World War, and is still reliving it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2723Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2722LEAPING cardinals, hovering emissaries from the Almighty, home-made grappa and aerodynamically designed wellies to assist walking - nay, jet-planing - on water... All have their place in Ron Butlin's whimsically surreal tales about the composer Vivaldi.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2722Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2721People know about human trafficking, the cast of Sold points out. But they don't do anything about it. The latest in a line of Fringe productions that have addressed the subject, Sold faces the challenge of presenting it in a new way.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2721Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2720Young married couple Nick and Helen are looking through their old photographs on a projector. We learn about their marriage, holidays and child, before realising that all is not as it seems. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2720Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2719Queenie greets me outside, wearing pearls, white silk gloves and several dresses. She attempts to buy me tea and cake in the Greenside Cafe then invites me round to her andquot;shackandquot;, muttering darkly about andquot;the youngandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2719Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2718This is not the delightful Matilda created by Roald Dahl but the Matilda of Hilaire Belloc. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2718Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2717An HOUR of knob jokes with knobs on, based on the true experiences of individuals from around the British isles, who were candid (or drunk) enough to spill the beans on their fantasies and fetishes. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2717Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2716Rosalind Adler has created some very believable female characters in her one-woman play about internet dating.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2716Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2715There is a great concept behind this new show, from the award-winning Horizon Arts, about a man, Terry Orange, who has become so obsessed with comic book characters he can no longer tell what's real and what isn't. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2715Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2714Rap slam champion Harlequinade's one-man vision of the apocalypse initially seems like an impenetrable barrage of words, but quickly develops into a brilliantly lyrical critique of all that is wrong with the modern world. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2714Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2713It gives you an idea of the blandness of this adaptation of two whimsical stories by Mark Twain that when Eve helps herself to the forbidden fruit of the apple tree, it provokes no Almighty wrath and no fall. Instead, it just makes Adam amorous.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2713Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2712As the son of a real-life 1970s male porn star, Bobby Gordon has a potentially fascinating story to tell.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2712Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2711Caroline Carter strikes you as a woman who gets her way and, although she stresses that her country songs are inspired by stories she gathers on the road, this show says more about her than anyone else. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2711Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2710An INABILITY or lack of desire to grow up is a common theme in each of Belt Up's three shows at this year's festival. Exploring Lewis Carroll's life and character through one of his final novels, Sylvie and Bruno, Dominic J Allen gives us an insight into a man trapped between a serious medical condition and a child-like imagination that refuses to die.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2710Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2709Isobel Cohen has chosen a fascinating subject for her latest dance/theatre piece, and one which deserves to be remembered. It's set in Soviet-dominated East Berlin before the wall fell, and she captures the plight of those trying to climb into the West - and the heavy handed authoritarians trying to stop them.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2709Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2708A WOMAN has breast cancer, but rather than describe what she's undergoing as a battle or fight - words which she sees as implying there is someone to be fought - she tells us of her experiences through a 'story' instead. A mixture of dance, drama, projected visuals, and the audio recordings of cancer patients and medical professionals make up this story. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2708Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2707This new piece from State Of Flux dance/film company is really very special. Despite the star rating, there is some wonderful work at play here, in the form of text, film and dance. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2707Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2706On an absolutely foul day Steve Day made my day with this joyful, heart-warming, funny, well crafted show. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2706Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2705The latest in a long line of spoof self-help lectures at the Fringe, with a supposed expert in more pressing need of psychological help than their audience, Emily Watson Howes' show (one of three she's brought to the festival) is fatally underwritten and overlong at 45 minutes. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2705Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2704Lewis Schaffer is Free Until Famous is a show so good he does it twice. Once as this one in the Ballroom and once in the smaller room where it is called Lewis Shaffer is Free Until Famous in a Smaller Room at an Earlier Time. He reassures us, his Ballroom audience, he is andquot;hysterically funnyandquot; in the other show. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2704Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2703With blistering intensity for a show beginning so close to midnight, Lee Camp delivers an agitated, virtually all-encompassing tirade against America, its cultural, political and social mores.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2703Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2702This is a sweet, sometimes surreal hour from a proud Catholic, dressed in Papal regalia, discussing faith and education, the problem of having a dodgy Pope, being married to a devout atheist, http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2702Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2701A COMEDIAN with his own, unique voice is always something to be admired and Andrew O'Neill is particularly admirable.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2701Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2700Ever looked at the photo of a pouting sexy woman and thought I want to be like that? Or I want to be with someone who looks like that? If so, this is a play for you. The increasingly excellent RashDash's work takes a darker, more subversive twist this year and is all the stronger for it. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2700Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2699Two comedians, alike in hilarity but entirely separated by genetic make-up: Sammy J and Randy are back to cut a swath through Edinburgh.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2699Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2698Poets and sages have pondered love down the ages, but few with the penetrating self-mockery, insightful social commentary and dreadful teenage verse of Richard Herring. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2698Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2697The second of the Qatsi films, Powaqqatsi (Life in Transformation), focuses on human toil, particularly the hard physical labour undertaken on a daily basis by the world's poorest people. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2697Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2696TAIWANESE actor and director Wu Hsing-Kuo makes no secret of the fact that his solo King Lear - supported by nine musicians, but otherwise performed entirely by himself - is intensely personal. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2696Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2695This was one of those mildly frustrating concerts that took time to warm up to its true potential.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2695Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2693THERE'S a lazy assumption around the Edinburgh festivals that if you want fun, you go to see a Fringe show; whereas the official Festival is for serious stuff.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2693Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2689While the Edinburgh International Festival's opening Usher Hall concert was full immersion in Schumann, it was wall to wall Mahler for the first one at the Queen's Hall on Saturday morning. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2689Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2685IF THIS year's Edinburgh International Festival is all about east meets west, then Festival director Jonathan Mills has found the perfect melting pot in The Peony Pavilion. Based on an ancient Kun opera, written by Tang Xianzu (China's equivalent of Shakespeare) in 1598, this ballet adaptation brings together old and new forms, eastern and western styles and quite possibly the best looking set and costume design you'll see all Festival.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2685Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2681In HIS introductory speech to Friday night's Edinburgh International Festival opening concert, festival director Jonathan Mills referred to Robert Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri as andquot;a monument of magical inventionandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2681Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:25:27 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2918The easy option for someone adapting one of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street novels would be to book a big theatre, cast a well-known name and pack 'em in.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2918Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:15:05 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2824andquot;You don't get this in the Underbelly,andquot; quips one of the Blind Summit team as a man does a one-armed hand-stand, his bandy legs flailing in the air in body-popping style.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2824Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:44:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2792During the opening film sequence of this exuberant new show, composer and band leader Rembert Egües arrives into Havana’s Jose Marti International airport. It’s a fitting start, because for the next hour, we too feel as though we’ve paid a flying visit to Cuba.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2792Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:28:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3373Home really is where the art is this year as Dance Base is transformed by comfy sofas and wallpaper, but there is nothing homely about some of the shows, which combine innovation and pure beautyhttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=3373Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:41:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2669There are a few solid moments in this dance/theatre triple bill, but not enough to sustain an entire show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2669Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2668It's a little thing, but the fact these Texas Tales are told in the authentic accent of the state makes a lot of difference.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2668Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2667IN NOVEMBER, writer and actor Chris Larner accompanied his terminally ill ex-wife to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. By then, multiple sclerosis had robbed Allyson of most of her physical abilities and left her wracked by pain. With the clinic's help, she was able to choose to end her own life.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2667Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2666Lanarkshire theatre group Practical Magic's 11th show at the Fringe focuses on a group of middle-aged friends, who reform their childhood band in an attempt to get into Eurovision.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2666Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2665This free show, taking place in a small back room, is so popular that sitting in the audience is like being trapped in an underground train at rush hour. Putting my pint of lemonade in my handbag, I try to avoid elbowing anyone in the face.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2665Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2664A scaled-back Belt Up return to this year's festival with three, rather than nine, shows. With a large chunk of the company currently playing the pirates in York Theatre Royal's Peter Pan, this new, one-woman interactive monologue (inspired by Dickens's Miss Havisham) feels intimate, less raucous than some of their previous outings.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2664Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2663There is a fair risk of sound leakage from the café at this venue but you take your opportunities where you can find them at the Fringe and it would be worth straying slightly off the beaten track to witness this manic character comedy from Shropshire's Tin Shed Theatre Company which follows the misfortunes of Albert Lymes - a hero in the hapless mode who loses his job, his dog and all his worldly goods in one day.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2663Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2662IN THE decidedly inelegant surroundings of a blacked-out hotel meeting room, this amateur but stylistically robust production sees the music of the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi used to retell the myth of Echo and Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphoses.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2662Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2661IT'S ALL gone a cappella in Edinburgh. FORK, a Finnish four-piece with definite Eurovision appeal, are already big stars throughout Scandinavia, where they are used to performing their fancy-pants Pink Noise show in arenas.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2661Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2660Serial killers, by definition, are exceptionally careful and proficient at what they do, an accusation you really can't level at Mark Olver.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2660Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2659Ever fancied white-water rafting but been put off by the possibility of drowning? You can get much the same rush simply by going to see Sam Simmons' show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2659Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2658For the performers in Didim Dance Company, drumming has been a way of life since they were four years-old.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2658Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2657When John Osbourne was a student living in Norwich he entered a competition to win a selection of records from John Peel's shed. He won.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2657Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2656Jason Cook continues to carve a rich, deep, consistent groove of humour at the Fringe. While The Search for Happiness isn't the definitive oracle on finding Satisfaction, Pleasure, Contentment, Love and Intense Joy - those big sub-headings he's chosen to give a rudimentary structure to his anecdotes - this is an hour that incontrovertibly lifts the spirits.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2656Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2655IT TAKES quite a performer to move a member of his audience to make an unsolicited proposal of marriage in front of a packed house. That is the effect Doctor Brown had on a giggling blonde when I saw his show.He is a bewitchingly watchable performer and an extraordinary talent, for whom comedy is more of an art than a craft.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2655Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2654A DEFIANTLY low-key affair, this one-woman, multi-character verbatim piece is a textbook example of both educating without preaching and of keeping an audience absolutely gripped with just one voice onstage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2654Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2652Come hear the music play, see the band, blow your horns and start celebrating, there are the familiar song and dance acts-with a bit of flesh - but also some true crazinesshttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2652Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2651It is a tribute to the energy, talent and engaging openheartedness of this show that the audience stayed with it despite a) a 35-minute delay starting and b) the fact that the show was, unexpectedly, 90 minutes long with an interval.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2651Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:43:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2644andquot;Every day,andquot; says lovelorn former aquarium employee Laura, andquot;we think over 60,000 thoughts.andquot; http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2644Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2643Tucked away in an empty unit of a shopping mall is a translation class. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2643Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2642Responding to pleas from her grandchildren, 72-year-old Andreea Kindryd sets out to tell the stories of her family history, and her own colourful life.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2642Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2641It's not hard to see why the world of the circus freak show has an irresistible draw for theatre-makers. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2641Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2640If our society has reached a crisis-point in the long struggle between an economic system that values people only for the wealth they own or the profit they can generate, and a social system that tries to place an intrinsic value on each human being, then this seems like a fine moment for a fresh encounter with the work of Robert Burns. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2640Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2639This Anglo-American collaboration is built on the inspired idea of Odysseus as a present-day war veteran, returning home after a long tour of duty. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2639Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2638Staged in the venue's Cabaret Bar, this one-man show offers a blend of songs and monologue from Australian performer Josef Salvat. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2638Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2637An exceptional young group who consistently produce terrific work, Newbury Youth Theatre's latest piece is a new adaptation (by Amy and Tony Trigwell-Jones) of a short story by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2637Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2636So I am walking along Cumberland Street, with a woman's voice ringing in my ears.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2636Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2635They were both loved by the people, both famed for their little black moustaches and, in their very different ways, great icons of their age. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2635Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2634Death is something to be laughed at, rather than feared, in this charming new show by Village Idiots. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2634Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2633This epic and moving ballad begins at a funeral, then transports us to a world where random acts of kindness rule and where bigotry and hatred are overcome.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2633Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2632If there's one aspect of science that the kids, mums and dads learned about at this Free Festival show, it's energy. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2632Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2631Tom Goodliffe's show is late starting due to technical difficulties, so he tells us he's going to andquot;rattle through itandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2631Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2630After the nice-lad-turned-kinky-charmer reminiscences of his debut Fringe hour, Stuart Goldsmith needed something special to rival the prurient interest of that compelling 55 minutes. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2630Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2629Probably the break-out act of the past two Fringes, with their latest glittering spectacle, Frisky and Mannish seem to have come too far too soon, their transition to mainstream stardom bringing with it a temptation to play to their adoring fans more than surprise them.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2629Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2628Like the career of Moustache Man of the Year 1939, Frank Sanazi's show starts well and ends badly. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2628Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2627There comes a point in the career of every rock band where they start writing songs about being on tour and living in hotel rooms. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2627Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2626This year every other room holds a new comic with their first Fringe show, and I have not really seen a bad one yet. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2626Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2625It is lovely to see a well-crafted show and Andrew Doyle's Crash Course In Depravity is exceptionally well-crafted. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2625Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:37:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2621According to their own research, the typical Barry and Stuart fan is under 40, has a Twitter account and eats meat (bombing me out on every count). http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2621Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:31:46 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2620ONCE, the appliance of science was the keystone of our culture, the rational endeavour that powered western civilisation to its dominant position across the globe. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2620Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:31:46 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2619Should your intestinal tract be dysfunctional or your pelvic floor weak, you may well already be familiar with Vikki Stone from her portfolio of TV adverts.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2619Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:04:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2618Phil Nichol launches this rapid-fire one-man show with a description which confuses the ordering of dessert in the local caff with his doing something unspeakable to the pretty Lithuanian waitress. Nichol plays Kevin, a man who wilfully and habitually confuses reality with fantasy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2618Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:04:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2616You don't need to be more than 20 years old to remember a time when the idea of America - andquot;the world's only superpowerandquot; - still bestrode the world like a colossus; but now, it seems the colossus is toppling, or at least crumbling at the foundations.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2616Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:04:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2609The hills are alive with the sound of eight happy wanderers, fraulein backpackers embarking on an alpine adventure with much hearty harmony singing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2609Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2608Peter Tate's one-man show clocks up at little more than 20 minutes, yet it takes him half of that time to get to the point.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2608Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2607Bored and unfulfilled in the Rio favelas, Gilda is a feisty flirt who attracts men like flies round the pigs and chickens she summarily slaughters and cooks, and who regularly escapes her daily grind through film fantasy as her screen siren namesake.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2607Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2606ON ONE of those festival days when you wonder what traipsing around in the rain is all for, a show like this one is a welcome surprise.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2606Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2605A PERCEPTION of helplessness in the face of cuts, wars and economic crashes has bred a widespread passive acceptance to such events.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2605Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2604The now habitual Wimbledon match-up between Andy Murray and Roger Federer becomes a metaphor for a marriage in conflict in Gerda Stevenson's domestic drama.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2604Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2603andquot;Trample on this Celtic tiger with steel toe-capped Dr Marten boots,andquot; is the invitation from the angry man in the Eire football strip, reflecting the timely air of kitchen-sink bitterness which pervades this piece by Ireland's Gaiety Performance Theatre Company.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2603Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2602The sense is that this original piece by the Shanghai Repertory Theater has been written to fit its cast rather than cast to fit its script.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2602Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2601A TEACHER, a journalist and a psychiatrist walk into a bar. They proceed to mourn the state of their love lives and careers, like old friends do.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2601Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2600The simple metafictional device at the heart of this piece has all six players performing as actors performing as the six wives of Henry VIII.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2600Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2599THEY say a butterfly flapping its wings in Amazonia can create a tornado on the other side of the world.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2599Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2598This student company from Hull University take Einstein's definition of insanity - andquot;doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different resultsandquot; - as the starting point for a contemporary dance show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2598Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2597Billed as a solo, non-verbal piece of andquot;neo Japonesque mime artandquot; depicting Shakespeare's Richard III, this show was always going to have a niche appeal.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2597Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2596The enduring memory I have of Tom Green's show is of his overwhelming niceness, his affable modesty and his obvious keenness to please the crowd packed into the belly of Violet the Cow.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2596Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2595Paul Foot is an accidental charmer - this sweet, if somewhat anal, man with the hairstyle of Brian Eno circa 1973 and the voice of a Carry On actor (a bit Kenneth Williams, a bit Kenneth Connor) gets flustered about the formalities of performance, is given to comic bouts of frustrated anger and has the audience onside within the first minute or so of his sotto voce off-stage announcement, giving him the latitude to indulge in 20 minutes of what he terms andquot;informal humourandquot; before his andquot;officialandquot; entrance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2595Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2594Kate Smurthwaite argues with idiots for a living, and may be familiar to fans of BBC radio, or those who tune in to see The Big Questions on BBC1.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2594Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2593John Robertson is a captivating storyteller and he knows it. Grinning madly, the young Australian actor unveils a booming voice and penchant for the bleak and perverse, instructing the audience to call him Old Uncle John.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2593Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2592The trouble with a show that depicts a loser having a breakdown is that if you can't convince the audience that what's on stage is entirely fictional, you risk it being a very long hour.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2592Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2591The comfortably ramshackle downstairs bar at the Tron is a proper comedy space. And David Morgan, a preppie chap with a There's Something About Mary quiff, fills an hour down there with perky, funny anecdotes and smart observation.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2591Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2590If, AS she claims, the inspiration for this show is true - that sexy, gorgeous Andi Osho can't get a date - then what hope is there for the rest of us?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2590Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2588WHEN the big beasts of British stage and screen roll out their latest work on the Edinburgh Fringe, two things can be guaranteed.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2588Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:14:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2585Their name means andquot;new Sowetoandquot; in Zulu. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2585Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:09:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2584AS THE subtitle suggests, the new production from New York's Company XIV is Pinocchio, but not as we know it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2584Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:09:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2582If GEORGE Orwell had been around to write an episode of Terry And June, he might well have turned in something like this three-hander by Matthew Osborn. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2582Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:09:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2581There is some kind of wonderful to watching a great idea well written and expanded into a brilliant sketch, performed to perfection and squeezed until its comedy pips squeak. Adam Riches is exactly that kind of wonderful. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2581Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:09:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2576In THE late 1960s a new kind of revolution spread across the campuses of America. Students and lecturers alike began experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. Barriers broke down, new concepts emerged and old ways of looking at the world seemed to have changed forever.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2576Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2575When her childhood sweetheart cheats on her, the young heroine of Kate Gilbert's story is plunged into a dark fairytale. She is turned into tin, and lives in a shop of tin creatures that come to life every night, until she is bought by a frog prince, and so on. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2575Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2574The grand upstairs room of the Freemasons' Hall needs very little done to make it a courtroom, and so is the ideal setting for Liam Rudden's piece of interactive theatre. Each night a jury chosen from the audience will decide the fate of Charles Brand, accused of raping Jennifer Lyons in an Edinburgh nightclub.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2574Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2573The old heaven-as-bureaucracy theme comes out to play in this knockabout comedy from Newcastle University Theatre Society, as rock singer Ed Brash, lead singer of Eargasm, binges himself to death in a hotel room and awakens at the pearly gates for a andquot;week's trial periodandquot;. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2573Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2572Telling the true story of salesman Eric who becomes café owner Rachael, Lucy Danser's play is sweet but feels like having a conversation with a stranger who reveals intimate details about herself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2572Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2571Earlier this year, members of new graduate theatre company PartingShot stopped commuters on the London Underground, asked them to write down their thoughts and used some of what they collected to help create this devised piece. Gradually, out of a barrage of monologues, bitching, complaining and daydreaming, characters emerge.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2571Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2570There is a lot of warmth and wisdom in this play from US author, feminist and self-defence expert Ellen Snortland. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2570Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2569Over the course of a busy night in a throbbing club, 25 women - portrayed by five young actresses - troop in and out of the ladies' loo. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2569Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2568Working in Mr Grind's jigsaw factory can be tough, so Jim gladly accepts an offer to visit Wavaria, to photograph a castle for a new puzzle. But the castle is not what it seems. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2568Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2567Adapted from Bruno Vincent's children's book of the same name, Teasel Theatre's one-man show is self-knowing enough to entertain audiences of all ages and has just the right amount of grisliness to avoid scaring anyone - although a tale involving a baby mistaken for a loaf of bread comes close. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2567Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2566There is a tendency among readers of certain mid-market tabloids to blame the ills of the world on working-class youth. There is almost the opposite tendency in theatreland, where middle-class audiences show an inordinate amount of fascination with the urban poor.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2566Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2565Possibly the best musical GBP4 worth you'll find on the Fringe, Los Angeles pianist Louis Durra's lunchtime spot at The Jazz Bar finds him gelling nicely with local sidemen Brian Shiels on double bass and Chris Wallace on drums. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2565Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2564Inspired by James Thurber's 1950s short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, this new work by SMITH dancetheatre has all the ingredients for a great show:http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2564Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2563Margaret Cho is in need of a fag to hag, she tells us, preferably a young fag. And, judging from her show, she would be the most entertaining of hags. She gets straight down to business and quickly warms up an audience cold and wet from the embrace of an Edinburgh summer. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2563Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2562For those who are not regular CBBC viewers, Little Howard is the six-year-old animated friend of real-life Big Howard, a comedian, actor, illustrator and writer better known to his mum as Howard Read.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2562Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2561From the moment she greets us with hand-crafted fans, to her farewell handshake and andquot;thank youandquot; as we reluctantly troop out the door, Jessica Fostekew is the soul of amiability.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2561Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2560Relax, dear readers, the death of the novel has been greatly exaggerated. Fiction is in rude health. But The Gentlemen of Leisure's show, dipping a toe into the foam around the shallows of the ocean of literature, could do with a bit of narrative development.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2560Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2559MS DOUBLE G has great charm, great confidence and, it has to be admitted up front, great breasts. Out of these assets (the charm and the confidence ...) she fashions an entertaining, information-packed hour, complete with illustrations, statistics (vital and less vital) and jolly breast-related music. She has a nice line in dry asides and the show is really a lightly themed, mild stand-up set with information plugging the gaps when there are no jokes. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2559Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2558Delete the Banjax are like the student comedy revue team who didn't break up on graduation. Now they make like slightly creepy kids' TV presenters, able to summon bouncy enthusiasm for whatever silliness is going on in the moment.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2558Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2557A GREAT Fringe icon has returned to add gilding to the Gilded Balloon, and he doesn't seem to have aged a day.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2557Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2556For the benefit of those who eschew reality television, Pete Bennett won series seven of Big Brother, charming everyone with his guileless goodness and his tendency to spit out the word andquot;wankers!andquot; at all hours of the day or night.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2556Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2555This is an aptly named showcase for these three upcoming Scottish comics, all of whose acts rely to one degree or another on subverting stand-up norms. James Kirk is the most conventional, exploiting his tubby, ginger appearance to convey a socially inhibited, misfit persona. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2555Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:36:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2553WE DON'T do epitaphs any more. For those who have them, modern gravestones are laconic in the extreme.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2553Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:37:47 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2537ONE OF THE CREEPIEST aspects of our media-driven, image-led society is its growing intolerance for real difference. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2537Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:32:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2530If I say physical comedy, dance, lyricism, nudity, whimsy, cartoons, sex and Bohemian Rhapsody (and not necessarily in that order), please don't let it put you off seeing this show. Productions like this one are why you come to the Fringe. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2530Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:06:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2526It's 3:20 in the morning, I'm in an all night andquot;theatrical experienceandquot; that lasts six hours and I'm feeling surprisingly great. Zecora Ura's interactive promenade production of Euripides's myth is a multidisciplinary extravaganza that combines music, dance, live video streaming and the chance to get into pyjamas and drink hot chocolate in a bunk bed.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2526Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:06:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2525There's no overriding theme to Hannibal Buress's Fringe debut, precious little linking his routines and no obvious indication he even wants to be in Edinburgh. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2525Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:06:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2517Performed by a group of young actors from Newcastle Theatre Royal, this new play sets a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of amateur boxing in the North East.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2517Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2516What with all the murdering, the plagues, the child abuse and the incest, Oedipus is not the obvious choice for a comic rewrite. But the tale of the tragic king who tried to escape a terrible fate is retold here with lashings of silliness by theatre company Dumbshow.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2516Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2515IT BEGINS with a rug called Keith, who has big ambitions in flooring. He is shortly followed by two Australians and a battered suitcase full of tales.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2515Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2514Francis of Assisi was a highly modern saint. He was practically an environmentalist, and his attempt to make peace between Christians and Muslims during the Fifth Crusade seems centuries ahead of its time. Deborah Dennison's play, staged by a fine Anglo-American cast, sets out to tell his life's story.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2514Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2513Julie and Susan are friends, living in New York, who have their evening of drinks and conversation unexpectedly interrupted by Julie's geeky internet date Jared.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2513Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2512A YOUNG couple await the call for their honeymoon flight, when Jack makes the fateful mistake of agreeing to look after an old man's worn brown suitcase.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2512Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2511Agnes grows up in Colombia with her Finnish mother. They practise her English by dancing together and singing along to Abba records.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2511Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2510The class of 2011 is about to graduate from St Mallory Academy, but a group of girls have kidnapped the guest speaker, the CEO of a dodgy mutlinational.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2510Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2509This stream-of-consciousness play brands itself as a modern fairy tale and its down-and-out heroine Eliza Price inhabits each of the five actors individually and occasionally simultaneously as her struggle with First World problems reaches fever pitch.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2509Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2508Trying to portray a great actress on stage is a tricky matter - particularly when you are dealing with someone with the extraordinary delivery of Bette Davis or the arch style of Joan Crawford.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2508Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2507This macabre modern-day fairytale is Waste of Paint's first attempt to create a play for adults rather than children, and its subject matter is delightfully dark.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2507Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2506First things first - despite the star rating, the dancers are all, without question, superb. Each has been classically trained, before adding gymnastics, jazz and hip hop to their CV.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2506Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2505Italy's LTDance Project promises andquot;domestic life as you have never seen it beforeandquot;. While this statement has an element of truth (it's certainly not like this round our house), it also suggests that something new and innovative is at play here, when sadly it isn't.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2505Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2504He is an entertaining mixture, Tom Stade: part dude, part devil, great charm and a foul mouth, camp sibilant enunciation and shouty delivery in a voice that sounds like it has been scraped, screaming over razorwire, international politics and domestic sex.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2504Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2503Still at what you might call the beta stage of its development, this is nevertheless a promising one-man comic playlet.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2503Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2502Hal Sparks could not be more aptly named. On stage he looks borderline combustible as he hurls himself at a broad sweep of topics from the effect Aids has had on music, through lazy Americans, old people, religion, sexuality, space travel, dinosaurs, insomnia and the misuse of the concept of eternity.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2502Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2501Bandana, denim waistcoat, Flying V guitar - check, check and triple check. Sprayed-on gold Spandex leggings that leave nothing to the imagination? Ewwwww.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2501Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2500Making their Fringe debut, this trio of young comics from Sydney have a shambolic charm.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2500Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2499After last year's eye-catching Secret Door, Asher Treleaven's Fringe return is rather more straightforward but no less enjoyable.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2499Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2498Tino McGoldrig (short for Valentino, after Rudolph) is homeless. His habitation is a dirty brown blanket in the doorways of Dublin. In Pat Kinevane's compelling one-man show for Irish new writing company Fishamble, we learn how he came to be there.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2498Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2496andquot;DON'T BE old, don't be ill, don't be ordinary.andquot;http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2496Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2491For one of the performers in Circolombia, being in this show is literally a pain in the neck. The closing routine in this atmospheric high-energy show is called The Perch, and just watching it can bring about muscular discomfort.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2491Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2489I'm an underwater sea spirit, tempting sailors to their death along with my ethereal sisters, half of whom I last saw ten minutes ago in the queue, having their tickets torn.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2489Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:42:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2484ALL OF these reviews are based on preview shows so allowances have been made for first-night jitters, techie problems and so on.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2484Sun, 07 Aug 2011 15:57:13 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2480LIGHT and dark, optics and energy, scientific experiment, chance events and good old-fashioned risk, these are the threads that one might draw together from the first wave of the opening exhibitions at the Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh International Festival which include a sculpture that perpetually makes and remakes itself, a glass pavilion that bends light and shadow and a photographer who bends electrical energy and time itself.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2480Sun, 07 Aug 2011 15:57:13 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2443A DOUBLE bill of two emerging saxophone-led bands seemed a good way to round out the jazz festival, and if it didn’t quite live up to the brochure’s suggestion that it might be “the surprise of the festival”, it confirmed that both bands - currently at different stages of development - will be worth watching.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2443Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:35:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2442“SHE is a sly one,” sings Curtis Stigers, launching into the slinky shuffle of You’ve Got the Fever.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2442Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:32:17 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2441THE last night of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival got off to a jubilant start thanks to the Edinburgh-based Nova Scotia Jazz Band, which included two special guests: Jack Wilson on drums and Brian Kellock, the pianist who recently won the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Instrumentalist in the UK, and who has probably notched up more diverse jazz festival engagements this week than any other single musician.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2441Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:29:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2436THERE must be an awful lot of musicians who are kicking themselves for not having dreamt up the concept for Django à la Créole, the quartet which fuses the gypsy jazz style and line-up with that of the traditional New Orleans jazz clarinet.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2436Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:38:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2435SAXOPHONIST Rob Hall has worked with visual artists before, notably in a project incorporating the paintings of James Hawkins at the Highland Festival a decade ago. Here he revealed that the idea of using photographer Susheila Jamieson’s evocative images in this concert had come from the jazz festival’s co-director, Roger Spence.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2435Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:36:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2432“THIS is the Hypnotic house party,” we were instructed midway through the show, “so take your shoes off and relax.” Bare feet probably wouldn’t have come away from the dancefloor unscathed, but there was no denying the atmosphere here was uncommonly friendly.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2432Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:22:19 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2431IF KEN Peplowski and Brian Kellock send in notes from their mothers to excuse them from the rest of the jazz festival, it would be perfectly understandable, given the energy and sweat expended at Tuesday night’s concert of the music from West Side Story.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2431Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:20:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2430TOMMY Smith’s hard-hitting quartet made their debut in the jazz festival last year, and revealed a new direction in the saxophonist’s music, incorporating strong rhythmic influences from rock and funk along with electric keyboard and Kevin Glasgow’s six-string bass guitar.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2430Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:18:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2426THIS fine big band may only exist during the jazz festival, but it has quickly become established as a major feature of the programme. The first of their two concerts featured American trumpeter Tim Hagans as conductor in the first half, and soloist in the second.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2426Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:56:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2422The suspicion that drummer Magnus Öström was the prime instigator of the rock influences in the music of EST where confirmed with his own band's festival debut. They are a rock band with jazz sensibilities, and even looked that way with a line up of electric guitar, keyboards and electric bass.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2422Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:37:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2421THE blurring of musical genres has been a major preoccupation in much contemporary jazz, and you never quite know what might lurk behind that four-letter word these days. Trio AAB are certainly a jazz outfit, but for this collaboration with the Indian trio Ganesh Kumaresh, they took on a new guise.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2421Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:36:04 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2420WHETHER it was the Spiegeltent audience's enthusiastic reception or the fact that they were able to play their favourite tunes - as opposed to being limited to one or two composers' output - the musicians of the Classic Jazz Orchestra were in especially fine form for their Sunday-night session.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2420Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:34:44 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2419LIKE the football season, the Edinburgh Jazz andamp; Blues Festival opted for an earlier than usual start this year. The opening night brought a return for Courtney Pine to a hall that - as he told us several times - he loves to play in. He even said that he wrote a section of his Europa project with this acoustic in mind.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2419Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:33:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2418Over at the Dans Palais (a Spiegeltent) in George Square, American saxophonist James Carter served up a swaggering set that merged classic soul-jazz organ trio tropes with a much more contemporary twist.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2418Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:31:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2417SATURDAY night's programme at the jazz festival offered the chance to hear two contrasting jazz trios, differentiated not only in musical style but also in instrumentation, with only drums in common.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2417Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:28:49 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2407THE excellent Bird Bridge begins with an exquisite soliloquy from main protagonist Gordon (Simon Alexander) and goes from strength to strength from there. Set in an apartment in Shoreditch in the present day, it charts the development of several individuals’ relationships over the course of an almighty, decadent binge.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2407Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:49:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2403AS A celebratory tribute to conductor Sir Charles Mackerras, Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival, who died just a few weeks before he was due to appear at the Usher Hall, Wednesday evening’s concert there could not have been bettered.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2403Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:20:05 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2402THIS year’s Edinburgh International Festival theme of “oceans apart” landed on the shores of Australia for the European premiere of the EIF co-commission from Peter Sculthorpe, String Quartet No 18. This explored the topical issue of climate change in musical language which combined the best of western traditions with the haunting indigenous chants and songs of the South Pacific.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2402Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:17:10 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2401Harry Joy could almost be Reggie Perrin. But instead of voluntarily faking his death, he awakens from a heart attack and momentary clinical death, to discover that the true nature of his life has been a living hell. Time to leave it all behind - the job, the wife, and everything else that seemed to suit him before. In his search for a simpler, more truthful way, he finds bliss.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2401Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:12:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2398Scottish pianist Steven Osborne just seems to get better every time he gives a concert. For his recital programme at the Queen's Hall, his versatility knew no bounds.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2398Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:52:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2397To describe James Crabb simply as an accordionist is to underestimate the power of his free-bass orchestral instrument, which allows both hands to play melodies and chords with a dynamic multi-octave range.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2397Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:47:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2396Under the baton of conductor Mariss Jansons, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at full tilt makes a sensational sound, as was evident in the second half of Monday night's concert, featuring the entire orchestra.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2396Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:45:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2393I SINCERELY hope that playwright Zoe Cooper hasn't experienced a relationship breakdown as shattering as the one depicted in this bittersweet 50-minute playlet, but how else to explain the fact that every single line of dialogue rings so poignantly true?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2393Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:57:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2390MAKING Richard Mills’s luminous song cycle, Songlines of the Heart’s Desire, the centre of this concert was a clever piece of programming. It introduced a lovely new piece, and allowed the 19th-century European lieder of his songwriting forebears to radiate from it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2390Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:08:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2389If, occasionally, in the first part of James Crabb and George Vassilev’s tango-based recital, accordion and guitar sounded like virtuosos not quite at one, by the encore of Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango they were musically bound at the hip.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2389Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:06:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2388THIS was the best orchestral performance of the International Festival so far. And with it came a remarkably slimmed down Osmo Vänskä, who now looks a foot taller than he did when resident in Scotland as chief conductor of the BBC SSO almost a decade ago, and even more animated.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2388Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:03:39 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2387THE driving force behind The Man Who Fed Butterflies- the second of the two shows presented at the King’s this week by Juan Carlos Zagal’s extraordinary Teatro Cinema of Chile - is that at the moment of death we are somehow more alive and able to resolve our lives than at any other time.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2387Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:54 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2385Nobody, not even the late Pina Bausch, could tell you what Água is about - so I won’t presume to make head nor tail of it here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2385Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:28:49 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2384Robin Ticciati, the SCO’s new principal conductor is fast gaining a reputation for his innovative programming and absorbing performances of new works, as this concert demonstrated.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2384Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:25:33 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2383Regardless of what one might make of Charles Ives’ Piano Sonata No 2, Concord, Llyr Williams’ playing of it on Saturday morning at the Queen’s Hall is one that is the sort of festival experience not easily forgotten.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2383Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:23:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2382THINK of live theatre, and the key element that comes to mind is the sense of a living interaction with performers who are breathing the same air, and almost close enough to touch.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2382Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:21:06 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2381In a thrilling set imbued with mellow emotion and punctuated by off-beat banter, John Etheridge paid as much tribute to his own band playing alongside him as he did to his mentor, violinist Stéphane Grapelli and musical partner Django Reinhardt. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2381Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:16:48 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2380Casting aside the irony of BP sponsoring a programme with an American theme, this performance by the BBC SSO, under its chief conductor Donald Runnicles, was fuelled by the utmost refinement.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2380Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:11:31 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2406SAY the name “Paul Robeson” today, and huge numbers of people on both sides of the Atlantic no longer have any idea who you mean. Yet back in the mid-20th century, Robeson was one of the most famous men on the planet, not only the greatest singer and actor ever to emerge from black America, but a powerful campaigner for civil rights in the United States, and for the dignity of working people everywhere.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2406Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:53:40 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2405Last year, I gave Peter Buckley Hill five stars. Under which he laboured, he tells us. Risking what he calls andquot;the power of the Scotsman's poo pooandquot; he explains to his rapt audience the problems that visit a comic like him when they get five stars. I apologise, but, even at the risk of ruining his career, I cannot give him fewer than four this year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2405Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:27:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2376Probably the only Fringe show you'll see which features a woman being raped by a bedside table, at least this year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2376Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:41:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2375It's hardly surprising to see capitalism under fire on this year's Fringe. Righteous Money, however, written and performed by Michael Yates Crowley, offers up a particularly sharp satire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2375Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:41:22 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2374Purporting to andquot;explore the good, bad and ugly sideandquot; of social networking websites, like Facebook and Bebo, this unbalanced drama does nothing of the sort, with a condescending, shallow understanding of its subject.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2374Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:40:52 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2369I'm frequently amazed by the awful things audiences laugh at when they think they should. Here they initially find rape, Parkinson's disease, stoning and the phrase andquot;I want to bruise a woman's titsandquot; hilarious, before giving up pretending to understand this pseudo-intellectual, but mostly pretty dubious, new play written and performed by Freddy Syborn. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2369Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:40:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2367Written by Scots poet and writer Janet Paisley and debut-directed by her actor son David, this solidly-crafted and entertaining piece acts as a pseudo-biography of Robert Burns' life, with one very telling difference in perspective. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2367Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2366Arriving to the pounding pop of the Backstreet Boys, high-fiving and strip-teasing, the ebullient Jarred Christmas knows how to get a gig started. A celebrated compère, he's instantly engaging, warming us up for a string of anecdotes loosely themed on the accountability of putting andquot;stand-upandquot; as his profession on his daughter's birth certificate.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2366Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2365While recognising what's wrong with this one-man show, it's important to recognise all the things it gets right.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2365Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2364JAMES Link is living a life of drink, drugs and women. His only friends in this lonely existence are Dr Fiddes and his part-time lover Susie. When their love lives intertwine, they all pay the price.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2364Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2363Some become comedians before they've acquired life experience, while others, such as Charlie Talbot, flit from occupation to occupation without any definable career plan, ultimately opting to unburden themselves of their tale in stand-up.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2363Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:39:12 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2362I THINK the main problem with this lively whores-and-pirates murder mystery set in St Lucia in 1750 is that it perpetuates the stereotype of the happy hooker.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2362Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:38:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2361Cabaret and cross-dressing have long made a comfortable home for themselves on the Fringe, and no artist whose act consists of both is breaking any moulds or boundaries by bringing it to Edinburgh.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2361Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:38:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2360There are some choice moments in this sinister comedy about two white-face cabaret performers working the stage in their hidden basement club.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2360Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:38:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2359There's an interesting statement on the drugs industry at the centre of this absurdist drama that sees an elderly grandmother swallow a fly and then a host of other animals, as per the song, only in this instance following the orders of a andquot;doctorandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2359Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:38:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2358While the title might fool you into believing this is some kind of straight stand-up show, perhaps the subtitle might be more revelatory. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2358Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:38:24 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2357The setting for this high-quality reinterpretation of Bram Stoker's original vampire tale has been perfectly chosen. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2357Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:36:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2356andquot;Do I need tissues, am I going to cry?andquot; an audience member tentatively asks as we are shown into a room, within which an old man sits on a raised stage, quietly shaking.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2356Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:36:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2355David O'Doherty is probably incapable of performing a bad show and this talented Irishman appears thoroughly at home in a venue the size of Pleasance One.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2355Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:36:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2354BY THE final week of the Fringe, frazzled reviewers start to develop a sixth sense about certain things: the best place to get a late drink, the best place to get an early drink, exactly how long it takes to sprint from one venue to the next and - most importantly of all - which venues are most likely to deliver surprising, original shows that really get your mental juices flowing.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2354Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:36:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2353THE emerging sketch troupe were one of last year's Free Fringe stand-outs, and expectations were high to see how they would tackle performing at the Pleasance. They've retained much of 2009's lark-about intimacy, welcoming their audience in and giving them paper to sketch caricatures of them on.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2353Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:36:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2352This regency play by Arthur Murray was originally staged in 1760 with David Garrick in the leading role.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2352Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2351IN THE middle of the stage, a grey pebble sits alone at the bottom of a glass fish tank. The cries of seabirds fill the air. An angry woman starts shouting at them in Japanese.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2351Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2350If COMEDY had sections like music, Sean Lock would be in the Easy Listening section. This is gentle, observational material that keeps the mood and the laughs up for a solid hour.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2350Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2349If you want to see how cabaret is done, go to see Peter Straker. The man could be busking on the Royal Mile and he would turn it into a classy cabaret bar, by sheer force of personality and performance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2349Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2348IT'S perhaps a measure of the trauma of the war in former Yugoslavia - which began some 18 years ago - that plays about it are relatively rare, even today.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2348Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2347Written, directed and performed by Trish Knight-Webb, this one-woman show inverts Charles Dickens's classic novel Great Expectations so that it no longer tells the life story of the young orphan Pip, but rather concentrates on the history of the bitter Miss Havisham.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2347Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2346One MacGuffin sold the Old Vic for Peggy, one played Noah Claypole in Oliver!, and one has the face of a cat. Poor Matt has all of his andquot;voicesandquot; dissed, is ordered around like a servant and has an ongoing disagreement with the other two about the importance of celebrity names in sketches. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2346Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2345Imran Yusuf is an immensely likeable comedian with a cheerful, confident delivery. His material manages to be friendly and accessible and at the same time thought-provoking - about Americans and suffering anti-English prejudice, about cultural identity and personal insecurity, depression and redemption, religion and the BNP.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2345Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2344Were you a young child, and David Topliff your father, then bedtime stories would be the highlight of your day.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2344Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2343It is a privilege to listen to the voices of Cambridge Univeristy's Shadwell Opera. That is as true for A Midsummer Night's Dream, in their second year performing at Rosslyn Chapel, as it was for The Magic Flute, their inaugural show.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2343Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:35:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2342Charlotte Square is so bustling with squawking children and soulful-eyed poetry lovers and murder-minded Morningside ladies that it is sometimes easy to forget how the ebb and swell of history can be felt beneath its rain-washed canvas, too.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2342Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:34:58 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2341THE title of Bartok's Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano rather gives the game away as to what this Benny Goodman commission is about.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2341Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:33:55 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2258Even considering the creative nadir Woody Allen has hit of late, this modern day drawing room comedy pales next to his work, from which it obviously takes several cues.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2258Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2257A MEDITATION on the act of storytelling, this familial drama explores a student's estrangement from her father from a series of different perspectives. Slowly emerging from beneath a pile of children's toys, Sarah is encouraged to share and modify her tale by a narrator principally concerned with conveying it entertainingly for an audience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2257Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2256THIS is the second elevator-set drama I've seen on the Fringe this year, and while it can't really compete with the crackling emotional intensity generated by Zoe Cooper's brilliant You Can't Go Swimming With Your Ex-Husband, its gentle, almost elegiac tone is still something to be savoured.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2256Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2255If you didn't know who Edwardian composer Martin Shaw was when you entered, you'd be none the wiser an hour later. And even if you do, you'll be baffled. The show starts in the middle of nowhere, and wanders off mid-anecdote.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2255Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2254A DEPRESSED student comes face to face with his alter ego, the embodiment of all his pent-up frustration and rage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2254Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2253THE New Salisbury University players have come all the way from Maryland to present this thoughtful one-hour drama on the Fringe; and although it's not a new work, its theme remains both significant and timely.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2253Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2252Young actress Holly Kavanagh has set herself a tall order here, by taking on the role of every character in this tale of a dating club set in a working class Wakefield pub.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2252Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2251It's hardly surprising to see capitalism under fire on this year's Fringe. Righteous Money, however, written and performed by Michael Yates Crowley, offers up a particularly sharp satire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2251Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2250OK, STEPHEN Sondheim virgins, this is the show for you. Forget the lazy claims that the work of the greatest living composer of musicals is andquot;difficultandquot;, with few hummable tunes. Unless it's lowest common denominator to the point of nursery rhyme, any song will take a few hearings before you can sing along.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2250Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2249SOMETIMES you remember a sporting occasion not necessarily for the event itself but for the events surrounding it. In Poland 3 Iran 2, two men explore the memories, both good and bad, evoked by the 1978 Olympic football match between the two nations.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2249Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2248In 1974 Frenchman Philippe Petit fixed a tightrope between the Twin Towers in New York and walked from one side to the other.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2248Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2247Born exactly two weeks after Elvis Presley died, Ansuya Nathan must have taken on board the heartbreak her mother felt at the news by some kind of strange foetal osmosis.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2247Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2246Probably the only Fringe show you'll see which features a woman being raped by a bedside table, at least this year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2246Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2245This exploration of the friendship between stars of the silver screen and stage, Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, hints at a fascinating and little-known relationship.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2245Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2244This is an absorbing piece of theatre, set against a wonderful soundscape by Aldis Ozols (described as a andquot;noise artist'andquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2244Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2243I'M NOT totally sure if it was the fault of the writing, the direction or the performance but I found it very hard to sympathise with the drag queen at the centre of this story. We are backstage in her dressing room and the drag is having a conversation with her dead mother about why she did not go to her funeral.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2243Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2242This is an inept, uninspired and rather depressing account of the state of play between a group of twentysomething men and women in Wales.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2242Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2241The kind of hopeless high-conceptry for which the Fringe is sadly infamous, as poor suckers are invited to shell out their hard-earneds and gaze at an empty, soundless stage for 20 minutes.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2241Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2240Purporting to andquot;explore the good, bad and ugly sideandquot; of social networking websites, like Facebook and Bebo, this unbalanced drama does nothing of the sort, with a condescending, shallow understanding of its subject.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2240Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2239It's the end of the world - and four women are hiding in a bar in Edinburgh with only a shortwave radio, a car battery and some hair straighteners.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2239Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2237Balance is a crucial element in performance, particularly when a duo is as unevenly matched as the violin and piano.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2237Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:48:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2236Watching Alonzo King Lines Ballet perform, you get the impression that King doesn't just choreograph his dances, he sculpts them - a feeling compounded by the fact that all his dancers look like works of art.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2236Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:47:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2234Isadora Duncan was, and remains, one of the dance world's most fascinating figures. Born in California in the late 19th century, Duncan's modern style found a far more receptive audience in Europe, which is why this moving one-woman show is littered with references to Paris, Venice, Berlin and other stops on what, at first, appears to be a glamorous life.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2234Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:05:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2233Despite being the third show from this modern-day barbershop quartet to fuse tight harmonising with riotous comedy and outlandish storylines, this popular series continues to feel as fresh as ever.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2233Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:05:51 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2231How do you research a novel? And, more interestingly, how do you then mould that research into fiction?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2231Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:05:50 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2228In their latest incarnation, the Pros from Dover return with more gleefully absurd, occasionally sublime sketch comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2228Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2227A WEIRDER double act you're unlikely to see, as Australian comedian Matthew Hardy, a self-confessed obsessive about the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory since the age of five, teams up with Julie Dawn Cole, the actress who played child brat and cult heroine Veruca Salt in the movie.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2227Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2226Based on the short story of the same name by HP Lovecraft, this one-man show captures a dark and eerie mood through some great uses of sound and lighting, as well as an arresting performance from Michael Sabbaton.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2226Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2225Both the subject explored and technology employed in The Sum of it All... are ripe with potential.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2225Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2224Oscar Wilde's fairytale version of the Christ story is retold here by a group of youngsters with silver painted faces.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2224Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2223There are a couple of plot twists too many in this psychological drama about a soldier who goes to Afghanistan to escape a doomed love affair.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2223Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2222Inspired by Luke Rhinehart's cult novel, The Dice Man, this competent two-hander blends physical theatre, text and a smattering of Abba songs.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2222Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2221When your other Edinburgh gig is a play called Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, you could probably do with some light relief. The respected Fringe actor David Benson unleashes his inner (holiday) camp host for this simple, feelgood show which demonstrates that communal singing is good for the soul.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2221Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2220Undergoing something of a career renaissance after supporting Kevin Bridges and Lee Mack recently, Simon Evans' first visit to the Edinburgh Fringe in seven years finds him on reliable form.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2220Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2219Olly had a post in senior management, a bachelor pad in London and a sports car when he, as a member of the Territorial Army, was called up to serve in Afghanistan.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2219Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2218It's the 1970s. We know this because there's a detective character in a brown leather jacket who shouts and the mortician who gets too emotionally involved with his corpses sports facial hair appropriate to the period.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2218Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2217THIS venue has more wow factor than the Tattoo and the Ladyboys of Bangkok combined. It is sexier than Storm Large - and, as anyone who has seen her knows, Storm Large is sexy. Michael Zegarski fits the place to a Gandamp;T. Albeit it is just the G (with a scent of vermouth) he is drinking from a generously proportioned cocktail shaker.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2217Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2216As A Financial Times columnist, it makes sense when the prudent Mrs Moneypenny admits she's performing here as a means of earning her family a holiday in Edinburgh.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2216Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2215Should you be fascinated by and knowledgeable about the life and works of Christopher Marlowe this play will irritate and bore you.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2215Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2214Cabaret is a bit of a misnomer for this event, which is a celebration of Professor Richard Demarco and his particular vision of the spirit of the Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2214Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2213WHAT is the brilliant Fringe veteran Jack Klaff up to in his latest solo show? At one level, he seems to be telling us a story about his life in showbusiness, and the bullying and abuse of power he has sometimes encountered.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2213Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2212Historyonics Theatre Company have given themselves the Herculean task of condensing the history of Britain humorously into two hours.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2212Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2211The long-time session bass player for Pink Floyd might not be a first choice contender for public figure most likely to transfer successfully to a stand-up career.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2211Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2210Perhaps this piece has been misfiled in the Fringe guide's theatre section, because there's precious little narrative theatre here. There is, however, an imaginative, entrancing and funny abstract dance performance featuring a strange and amusing array of physical theatre interludes.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2210Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2209Apparently trying to do for David Cassidy what Mamma Mia! did for Abba, this cheery comedy is aimed directly at those for whom the summer of 1973 is a halcyon childhood memory, although any girl (or boy) who held a childhood crush on bands like Spandau Ballet or Take That will find themselves represented in this show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2209Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2208Written by Miranda Prag, this all-female three-hander details a totalitarian world where the populace are sent to work in honour of The Leader and brutal guards punish them with impunity - until one day two workers and their guard find the balance of power shattered by their inability to understand what kind of order from The Leader a traffic cone might represent.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2208Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2207OF ALL the stories of sexual abuse and trafficking told on this year's Fringe, none is more tragic than that of the Korean andquot;comfort womenandquot; forced, during the Second World War, to service the needs of the Imperial Japanese Army.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2207Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2206It is not an easy thing to write a piece of drama about reality television. For one thing actors and theatre people often hate the genre which has dominated our TV screens for the past ten years. There's also the fact that, whatever actors believe, it is very difficult to imitate reality television - which has its own peculiarly compelling quality precisely because it is real.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2206Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2205A COUPLE of engaging South African troubadours, the guitar-wielding Simon and Dylan sadly suffer from a drought of jokes in their repertoire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2205Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2204A REALLY compelling, surprise package of a show, Asher Treleaven's solo Fringe debut marks him out as a risk-taking individual and talent to keep tabs on for future festivals.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2204Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2203andquot;This show is about happiness,andquot; a young woman on a Roland keyboard called Becky joyfully exclaims before launching into a rousing song that more than proves this. After last year's The Honeymoon, RashDash return with a new piece equally delightful, but with a stronger narrative that makes things hang together much better.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2203Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2197In a generously filled programme at the Queen's Hall yesterday morning, Gerald Finley and Julius Drake testified to the versatility of not only themselves as performers, but something of the wide range of musical material for baritone and piano.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2197Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2196Last night we saw two star writers at the height of their powers, both frequently described as national treasures, discuss their very different genres of work in two of the highlights of the Book Festival so far.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2196Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:37 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2194Some of us in the Critics' Circle have been working on a top-secret Reviewing Machine for several years now, so imagine the consternation down Holyrood Road when we heard about Charlie Fletcher and his Story Machine.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2194Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2192A HUGE factor in ensuring the success of this splendid concert performance of Ravel's one-act opera L'heure espagnol was a cast prepared to think in operatic terms. With only the vast Royal Scottish National Orchestra as a backdrop, under its musical director Stéphane Deneve, the onus was on the five characters to sell the narrative and bring it alive.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2192Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2191CHARMINGLY self-deprecating Jackie Kay thanked her sell-out audience for turning up andquot;when there are so many other things to be atandquot;. Kay, who is a compelling reader of her work, read various sections from her memoir, Red Dust Road, in which she describes both her upbringing with her adoptive parents in Glasgow and her journey to trace her birth parents.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2191Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:21:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2186andquot;People are always making false assumptions,andquot; says Lewis Carroll (Michael Maloney) in Gyles Brandreth's andquot;play with songsandquot;. Certainly they've been making assumptions about the creator of Alice in Wonderland (real name Rev Charles Dodgson) for more than a century. And Brandreth's play addresses this, albeit obliquely, drawing on new findings about the writer's life.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2186Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:59:50 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2185COMING on stage looking like a cross between Joyce Grenfell and Katharine Hepburn, all aristocratic features, pipe and tweed trews, Felicity Ward quickly won me over. Convincing an audience she's the most self-deprecating woman in the world, while addressing us with huge confidence, isn't easy, but the Australian manages it with her latest Fringe show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2185Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:56:38 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2180On an absurdly large, red sofa, a husband and wife expand upon their marital difficulties while a garish, half-puppet marriage counsellor perches above them. Or rather, they try to expand upon them, but the man, Archibald Cramer, is inordinately self-absorbed, and his wife, Jane, is a negative space of meek deference.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2180Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2178Serious Enid Blyton acolytes may wish to look away now. OK, shall we begin? There was once a young boy called Dick whose mother was very, very ill so he climbed the Magical Faraway Tree to a very silly fantasy realm with adult content which most certainly did not spring from the imagination of one of our most revered children's authors.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2178Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2175IN TYPICAL blockbuster hyperbole, a voiceover announces: andquot;In a world where it's difficult to differentiate between real and virtual...andquot; It's a tongue-in-cheek touch which, like the drama itself, might come across as glib were it not for the extremes of frivolity and danger running through this engaging play. There's a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder, his commanding officer, and a blind girl whose brother was killed in Afghanistan; a mental patient, a girl about town blogger, and an artist who creates work using the blood of combatants.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2175Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2174Following his 2007 show about living with Parkinson's Disease, Paul Betney returns with a new one-man performance in which he once again demonstrates a miraculously upbeat perspective when facing a terrible illness.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2174Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2173ONCE a-pun a time, Tim Vine had Edinburgh audiences gagging with a show made up entirely of wordplay. He's back again, to show just how many jokes you can pack into an hour.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2173Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2172Told entirely in verse by the three characters involved, this story comes across as just a bit too schmaltzy as a result. It deals in the weighty matter of a married, 30-year-old teacher who has an affair with one of his teenage, male pupils, but the stated intention of using the method of telling to andquot;make that (theme) more bearableandquot; might also rob a little of its dramatic weight.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2172Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2171This two-handed character comedy may not be to all tastes, but no-one can deny that its creators Warwick Allsopp and Tamlyn Henderson are powerful comic talents. Fans of The Young Ones' ludicrous cartoon savagery or Reeves andamp; Mortimer's clowning eccentricity will be particularly pleased by a show which is as daft as it is extremely well put together. Allsopp and Henderson are Loman and Leigh, jingle-writing half-brothers who share a flat with one another. Such a down-to-earth scenario doesn't tell you the half of the lunacy involved.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2171Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2170Meet two socks with dreams. The duo who make up the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre want to make it big on the box, so present the audience with suggestions as to genres in which they might gain a toehold. These include historical drama, sport, cookery, gardening and finally, biopics, at which point we get to suggest the subject for the final playlet.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2170Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2169A LAMENTABLE pop spoof with not an ounce of comic timing, this piece is a prime example of how to get a Fringe show utterly wrong.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2169Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2168Somewhere between Siouxsie Sioux and a renegade art school graduate, Laura Eades gives us an insight into her life as an unemployed actress, through unusual songs, monologues and self-drawn animated cartoon pictures, with the help of a live band.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2168Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2167Kiki Kendrick is an affable middle-aged actress from the north of England. In this real-life comedic exposé of her own career she's devised a narrative which boils down the life of the jobbing stage and screen performer into a tale for anyone who's ever followed a dream or been worn down by the daily grind. It's a story which every actor on the Fringe will recognise, but in terms all will understand.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2167Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2166There can be few more queenie performances on this year's Fringe than that of Sam Thackray here, which is really saying something.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2166Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2165In a world where comedy can often be confused with testosterone-fuelled high-decibel ranting, it's refreshing to stumble across a man who takes a more leisurely approach to his art.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2165Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2164Rumours of Lord Byron's death have been greatly exaggerated in this new play, presented by Ba-Laylah Productions, which follows his return to his favourite brothel for a succession of assignations.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2164Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2163Credited as being andquot;based on true accountsandquot;, it's unclear if this piece, by writer Trace Curran, is a work of verbatim theatre or one written from his own memories of serving with the Royal Marines in the Falklands conflict.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2163Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2162AS THE National Theatre of Scotland is about to learn, Edinburgh in August is not the most sympathetic environment in which to explore the wilder reaches of the Scottish national psyche. Half of the audience don't care, and the other half are often seeking a holiday from the arduous business of Scottishness; which makes it all the bolder of Matthew Zajac's Dogstar Company, of Inverness, to choose one of the trendiest venues on the Fringe for the launch of Henry Adam's Jacobite Country.

http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2162Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2161Sarah Ruff is either a genius in the making or completely mad - probably both. In this fusion of live action, animation and poetry, she splices together odd little stories that are, at their best, sublime, and at their worst, quite disgusting.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2161Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2160Slovakian playwright Silvester Lavrik clearly likes his female characters to be sexually gregarious, irritatingly needy and ideally pottering about in elaborate red lingerie.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2160Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2158This ensemble piece deals in a challenging subject, but the ultimate air of amateurishness undoes its good work.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2158Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2156Originally billed as a two-handed character comedy piece, this show seems to have evolved into a package stand-up gig featuring a bunch of young comedians from Perth, Australia.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2156Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2155Broderick Chow is a comedian I really want to see again. This is not a great show, but it has such potential to be. Chow experiments with more colours on the comedy palette than most guys in Edinburgh. One day he will get the mix right and I want to be there.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2155Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2154This show, which has been renamed andquot;Arthur Smith's Cobbled Up Shamblesandquot;, has everything you could ever wish for from the Fringe. There's a dancing bear, some nudity, a bit of lovely singing, some slightly worn but very funny gags and a languid philosophical theme holding the whole thing together.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2154Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2153Perhaps that non-committal title should tell you all you need to know about this passionless, two-handed scene, although in this case, alright is taking it quite a bit too far.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2153Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2152In the city of murderous cadaver salesmen Burke and Hare, this compelling, macabre drama has echoes of CP Taylor's acclaimed play Good, in which a decent man is gradually implicated in horrific acts and must decide if the end justifies the means.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2152Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2151Odd, enjoyable and with an utterly retro feel, this production, from Gallimaufrey Performing Arts, is the world premiere of a lost musical by sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, writer of Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes, itself recently adapted for the stage by the National Theatre of Scotland.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2151Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2148Despite the silly, kids' TV show premise of this ensemble play, it's actually a fun and frivolous piece performed with a lightly humorous touch, answering the previously unasked question - what if the contents of your larder could talk?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2148Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2147THIS imaginative linking of quartets by Britten, Haas and Beethoven worked surprisingly well with each composer, in their own way, testing new musical waters.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2147Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2145From Birmingham to Bolivia seems quite a leap. But with South American early music specialist Jeffrey Skidmore as their conductor, the Brummie singers and instrumentalists of Ex Cathedra were a natural choice for a celebration of Latin American Vespers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2145Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:20:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2141The true operatic impact of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West would have been quite magnificent on Monday night had Scottish Opera's music director Francesco Corti not fallen into the obvious trap, when presenting opera in concert, to allow his orchestra - unleashed from its normal habitat deep in the pit and placed centre stage - to dominate the performance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2141Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:04:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2134As hip-hop shout-outs go, andquot;do we have any ovulating women in the house?andquot; is certainly an unusual gambit. But Baba Brinkman is an unusual rapper. He's a self-styled andquot;new mutation in the human gene poolandquot;, who spits out complex rhymes about real boffin shit, and bagged himself a Fringe First award last year for that very skill.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2134Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:03:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2133RARELY has the Main Theatre in Charlotte Square been filled with so much laughter as yesterday afternoon with Elaine C. Smith taking centre stage. The actress, activist and andquot;national treasureandquot; took time out from the Glasgow run of Calendar Girls to visit the Book Festival to speak about her memoir, Nothing Like A Dame.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2133Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:03:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2131Graham Greene would apparently have liked the fact that Jeremy Lewis was speaking about him to an Edinburgh crowd, because he was a great admirer of Robert Louis Stevenson. He even considered Stevenson close family, though they were only distantly related. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2131Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:57:22 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2123I WALKED into the theatre with a spring in my step and a song in my heart and walked out an hour later feeling nauseous.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2123Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2122The testosterone-fuelled life of a young up-and-coming footballer comes under the spotlight in this new play by Reuben Johnson. Johnson, who is clearly some talent, also directs and takes the leading role in the drama - which opens with the young footballer Jake waiting for a meeting which will somehow decide his fate.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2122Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2121WHY do some children's shows succeed in captivating their target audience while others provoke nothing but incessant fidgeting and a chorus of fractious sighs?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2121Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:36 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2120There is not a more instantly likeable comic than Susan Calman. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying an hour in the company of this warm, down-to-earth, articulate, quintessentially Glaswegian woman.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2120Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2119Fortunately, Stephen Carlin himself notes the absurdity of his being announced on stage with a blast of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2119Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2118Perhaps fate alone isn't enough to keep love alive, suggests Terry Saunders' sometimes subversive, yet mostly warm and cosy one-man romantic comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2118Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2117Two million people (80 per cent of them women and children) are sold into slavery each year. Worldwide there are ten million people enslaved. 300,000 Debt Bond Slaves keep Indian carpets cheap and available.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2117Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2116This exceptionally young cast admirably attempt to highlight the horrors of war as they follow a brother and sister caught up in an unspecified conflict.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2116Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2115Invited back to her convent school to give a talk on her life, Roisin Conaty, who's 31, single, and recently moved in with her gran, surveys the chaos of her existence.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2115Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2114andquot;Solidandquot; is probably the best word for this update of Richard Herring's 2001 show. andquot;Honedandquot; and andquot;polishedandquot; might do. andquot;Retreadandquot; would be lazy, ignoring how far his confidence and craft have developed recently.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2114Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2113As the Mighty Boosh's most demented associate, Rich Fulcher doesn't have to try too hard to get laughs. This a late-night boozy show where the audience comes tanked up and ready to guffaw regardless.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2113Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2112If the mere thought of shouting andquot;it's behind youandquot; makes you shudder, then this probably isn't the show for you. If, however, pantomime is the highlight of your Christmas, then Dan and Jeff will keep you suitably entertained for 70 minutes.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2112Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2111Nathan Caton's grandmother Stephanie rules the roost in his family, an openly racist West Indian matriarch who can't hide her displeasure at his decision to forsake an architecture degree to pursue stand-up comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2111Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2110This light-hearted reworking of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood as a contemporary commentary on modern communication and celebrity-obsessed culture is well-directed with a good feeling for physical theatre, but fails to draw out a clear and comprehensible narrative.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2110Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2109It's not often that you get to see the perspectives of elderly women on stage, or in any other areas of popular culture for that matter. Through this emotive piece of physical theatre, Maison Foo celebrate the beauty to be found in the lives and characters of people who are frequently marginalised or just ignored.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2109Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2108He's the ginger bloke from the Crunchy Nut Cornflakes ad. He's pretty funny in that too. Here he reveals embarrassing moments ranging from the scatological to the contraceptive.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2108Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2107Do not expect to understand the text or to follow a linear story, warns Russia's Teatro Di Capua in the programme notes. Which is just as well, because you could wear out valuable brain cells trying to figure this one out.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2107Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2106A rocket blasts off, a car crashes, a box is moved by telepathy and fireflies dance in this deceptively simple series of scenarios set in an empty attic. Of course, none of this actually happens. Instead, The Ladder and the Moon is a celebration of a child's ability to conjure the most outlandish action from the most mundane objects.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2106Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2105This is a clever show. Too many comics come to Edinburgh with shows that bear absolutely no relation to the title they thought up in February. Not Josh Howie, who manages not only to give us a comedy account of the years he spent living with his 86-year-old Grandma (as promised on the poster) but adds a bonus set of one-liners, asides and little diversions.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2105Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2104This potentially touching story of two 17-year-old boys whose friendship is tested when one reveals he is gay has lots of scope to be an insightful coming-of-age story, but the tired acting and a script that fails to fully capitalise on its subject matter makes for a drawn-out show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2104Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2103The lives lived behind the closed doors of the flats on a communal stairwell provide the framework for a collage of stories in this play by Pint-Sized Tom Productions, a Glasgow-based company of students and graduates which concentrates on new writing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2103Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2102It's a tough job to portray one of the great romantic heroes of English literature, and while Colin Firth smouldered in the role, William Mickleburgh does not quite have the necessary swoon factor to embody Jane Austen's Fitzwilliam Darcy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2102Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2101LEAFING through the Fringe programme, it's easy enough to find a show for children but, as with all things in life, teenagers are much more problematic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2101Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2100Cross the threshold of Bec Hill's show and encounter adulthood. That's the tongue-in-cheek message of this entertaining hour, which opens with a delightfully juvenile intro and one of the few amusing Stephen Hawking gags around - the playful Australian making herself the butt of the joke.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2100Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2099Very much a work-in-progress, this disparate hour reminds us of Andrew O'Neill's status as one of the most distinctive, imaginative comedians emerging today.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2099Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2098This exploration of fraught race relations in Zimbabwe follows the true stories of a white and black farmer, both of whom are the victims of criminal activity.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2098Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2097WHAT would life be like if, on 30 October 1979, in a bid to conserve resources, the Great British public had voted to exterminate the handicapped, the terminally ill and everyone over the age of 65?http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2097Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2095POSSIBLY the most striking feature of yesterday's Queen's Hall morning recital by baritone Simon Keenlyside and pianist Malcolm Martineau was how they work together as a partnership.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2095Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2094IF YOU'RE looking for a relaxed night at the theatre, don't go to see the Wooster Group's astonishing version of Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré, a show that demands almost as much of its audience as it does of its extraordinary six-strong cast.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2094Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:35 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2092AFTER a captivating performance as Idamante in Idomeneo at the Usher Hall on Friday, anticipation was running high for mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's return to the hall last night and her recital with pianist David Zobel.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2092Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2091From Birmingham to Bolivia seems quite a leap. But with South American early music specialist Jeffrey Skidmore as their conductor, the Brummie singers and instrumentalists of Ex Cathedra were a natural choice for a celebration of Latin American Vespers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2091Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2090The true operatic impact of Puccini's La fanciulla del West would have been quite magnificent last night had Scottish Opera's music director Francesco Corti not fallen into the obvious trap, when presenting opera in concert, to allow his orchestra - unleashed from its normal habitat deep in the pit and placed centre stage - to dominate the performance.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2090Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2089Part of the wonder of the Fringe is being able to watch comedy, dance, music and circus show all in one evening. Sometimes you don't even need to leave your seat, as is the case here. Soap! The Show is one of those big ambitious affairs that tries to be all things to all people and very nearly succeeds.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2089Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2088THE question of how fiction addresses contemporary life remains a hot topic of conversation in Charlotte Square: whether the traditional novel is up to the task, whether new forms are necessary, and what these might look like.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2088Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2086Graham Greene would apparently have liked the fact that Jeremy Lewis was speaking about him to an Edinburgh crowd, because he was a great admirer of Robert Louis Stevenson. He even considered Stevenson close family, though they were only distantly related.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2086Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2085Beyond the apparent anarchy ofAbstract Expressionism there’s a lot more than meets the eye...http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2085Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2084Aindrias de Staic is the stuff of which legends are made. If they were casting The Wild Rover, he'd be their man. You can virtually see the thought bubbles above the heads of the young girls in the front row that read: andquot;I wonder if my dull boyfriend drank more Guinness ... would he be like this?andquot; He is the dark-eyed, Irish gypsy boy, all flashing teeth and flying fingers (on the neck of his violin, I hasten to add).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2084Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:07:34 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2187This is a great little show - funny, fresh and smart - by Becky Donohue, who is also funny, fresh and smart.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2187Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2081It's always difficult to give stars to cabaret shows as the line-up changes each night and the quality can vary drastically between acts. However, it's impossible to award the show I saw, with Dillie Keane from Fascinating Aida, Pippa The Ripper and Circus Trick Tease anything less than four stars, even if some other performances left much to be desired.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2081Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:12:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2077Despite being listed in the theatre section of the Fringe programme, this light-hearted show about animals battling to make their way on to Noah's Ark is probably best suited to a young audience - although there is much to enjoy for grown-ups too.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2077Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2076The show opens with a pathway lighting up in the on-stage blackout. Right down the middle strolls Stephen K Amos, and that is exactly where he stays - strolling in the middle.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2076Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2075OFFERING a much-needed antidote to psychics, mind-readers and chancers who claim to be able to commune with the dead, mentalist David Such is refreshingly honest about the way he uses suggestion, psychology and magic tricks to achieve apparently supernatural results.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2075Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2074This show is one of those lovely, unexpected, comic gems, and if you happen to find yourself in the centre of town at lunchtime I recommend you pop along and see it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2074Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2073This flat-sharing two-hander plays like an underwhelming sitcom episode. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2073Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2072Tim Lynskey and Matt Rutter of Big Wow Theatre Company begin by telling us that this year they're doing an improvised show on the Fringe.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2072Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2071Comedy's anti-hero is back and working through the admin at the top of the show: his Comedy Charter, the Good Practice Guide, possible reasons for the show running under or over time and a SWOT Analysis.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2071Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2070Jade Blue gives a beautifully measured portrayal of a girl with mental illness who sees everything in terms of numbers and probability in this one-woman play.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2070Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:57 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2069Most of the comics at The Stand in August have been performing long enough to start deconstructing their act, exploring the consequences of telling lies to strangers for a living.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2069Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2068For 37 years the Kronos Quartet have been at the forefront of cutting-edge contemporary music, commissioning an impressive body of new work, particularly from emerging compositional voices such as Aleksandra Vrebalov.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2068Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2067During his long and fruitful relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the late Sir Charles Mackerras combined the best of period and modern performance practice to produce a fresh and authentic sound for this type of repertoire.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2067Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2065Throwing contemporary dance, classical ballet, jazz, tap and salsa into his choreographic cooking pot, Rodrigo Pederneiras has created a dish that leaves you satiated yet is light as air.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2065Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2064Like all the best stories for children, Peter Pan has a psychic strangeness that makes it intriguing and uncomfortable for adults and imaginatively rich as a springing-off point for new work.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2064Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2063IT'S easy enough to understand the concept behind Lee Breuer and Jim Telson's mighty Gospel At Colonus. On one hand, there's the grandeur of Sophocles' play, which shows an aged, blind and broken Oedipus arriving with his daughters in the village of Colonus, and recognising it as the place where he will die, provided he can first make peace with the gods.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2063Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2062Hopefully, Harry Christophers and his celebrated vocal ensemble the Sixteen didn't feel too put out by the growing exodus as their splendid concert of music by Spaniards Tomás Luis de Victoria and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla neared its conclusion.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2062Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2061With the first half of her Saturday morning recital devoted to songs by Richard Strauss and the second to The Book of the Hanging Gardens by Schoenberg, Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn gave not so much the opportunity to compare and contrast these two masters of song-writing, but rather the different approaches she takes to performing their work. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2061Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2060Few classical singers can bridge the divide to jazz vocalist, maybe because of a life learning from scores rather than by ear.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2060Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2059THE Darien expedition of 1696 was Scotland's first and only attempt to establish an overseas colony and trading-post of its own, and the enterprise was such a comprehensive disaster - involving death, disease, and the outright loss of more than half of Scotland's capital wealth - that it effectively finished Scotland as an independent nation, and left psychological scars that remain visible today, in the strange mixture of vainglory and self-contempt with which many Scots still view their national identity. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2059Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2058A shoo-in for the unofficial award of best reader at the Book Festival so far is Andrea Levy. The audiobook of The Long Song, read by the author, has been nominated for a Best Audiobook of the Year award. Watching her electric one-woman dramatisation of two extracts from the novel, complete with Jamaican accent, it's easy to see why.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2058Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2056IT features five new half-hour breakfast plays by leading British and Irish writers, fabulous actors, and a ground-breaking experiment that involves the intensive filming of the rehearsed readings, with interviews and background material, before this evening's live transmission of all five plays to cinemas across the UK.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2056Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2054IF YOU'RE looking for a relaxed night at the theatre, don't go to see the Wooster Group's astonishing version of Tennessee Williams's Vieux Carre, a show that demands almost as much of its audience as it does of its extraordinary six-strong cast.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2054Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:36:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2008There's a lot going on in this adaptation of Euripides's Orestes that turns the classic tragedy into a contemporary farce via a superficial modern world filled with cosmetic surgery, celebrity wannabes and the kind of twisted relationships that wouldn't be out of place in an episode of Dallas. Also drawing parallels with Beckett's Waiting for Godot, it's highly ambitious and jam-packed with ideas, as well as frequently being very funny.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2008Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2007According to a programme left on the seat, Lucy McGreal is a professional performer and clown.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2007Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2006DESPITE a rather off-putting title this one-man show about a string sexual conquests and, yes, an STD is really just a romantic love story - albeit one where Rob, our self-defined 'middle class' host, seems to get together with a surprising number of women he isn't actually attracted to and/ or finds annoying.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2006Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2005A BATTLE between two impressionists, trapped in a relationship with each other and the voices in their heads, forms the basis for this play by Jonathan Brittain.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2005Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2004There are some interesting ideas in this play set in a newspaper office in the not-too-distant future.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2004Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2003This intriguing dystopian scenario had audiences scratching their heads as they exited.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2003Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2002It's fantastic to walk into a theatre to watch a free lunchtime show and find 50 or more people in the audience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2002Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2001andquot;I AM no longer able to comprehend myself,andquot; states one of the characters at the end of this insufferable piece, which lost me much earlier in the chaotic blur of declamatory entrances and exits, unwarranted, nerve-jangling screeching about terribly crucial trivia and quasi-philosophical observations about... something.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2001Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2000Interspersing anecdotes from his time as Viz co-founder with five characters, Simon Donald can only sporadically channel the magazine's anarchic, juvenile humour to winning effect.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=2000Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1999It's probably a bad idea to call a play Shakespeare, then mangle the English language for an hour.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1999Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1998HOW does Jonny Collis-Scurll do it? As deeply troubled boxer Flynn, in this 50-minute monologue by James Gaddas, he manages to deliver huge chunks of text with effortless precision while throwing barrages of punches at invisible opponents and sweating through gruelling sets of press-ups and sit-ups.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1998Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1997Despite the presence of an intermittently snoozing punter in the front row - whose disruptions regrettably didn't end there and repeatedly knocked Seann Walsh clean out of his stride - the Brightonian still demonstrated sufficient prowess to reiterate why he's one of the most hotly tipped young stand-ups in the country.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1997Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1996Eve, formerly Jane, is getting married. We don't know to whom, so cue flashbacks to a sub-Bridget Jones round of dating disasters. Among tales of longing over a drystone wall and supermarket disappointment is a case of date rape, which sits about as well with the rest of this one-woman play as a sausage does with a samosa.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1996Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1995If CLASS is the great unexplored fault line of British stand-up, frequently dismissible in a stock reference to hummus by self-loathing, university educated comics, then Russell Kane is the exception that exposes the issue, picking at the subject again and again through his problematic relationship with his father.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1995Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1994The rap artist who makes being intellectual seem cooler than a pair of Aviator shades, Baba Brinkman is back with his trademark combination of fast-paced, lyrical debate and breathtaking analysis of classical literature, pop culture, science and theology.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1994Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1993An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and humanity has one last-ditch plan to stop it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1993Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:43 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1992This musical retelling of a children's folk tale about a strong-willed princess who falls for a foolish woodcutter and helps him seize his destiny is performed with good intentions but sadly little professionalism by Korea's Bibimbab Theatre.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1992Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1991In this stylish comic drama about compassionate farming, a middle-class couple prepare to welcome a special guest who has been brought up on a reservation where animals and humans live in harmony.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1991Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1990The conflict between sex and religion is at the heart of this one-woman show by Arlette George, and sex seems to be winning.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1990Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1989WELCOME to 20YAEF - 20 years after the Economic Fall. The good news: there don’t seem to be any computers any more. The bad news: there are still piles of paperwork to get through and impossible targets to meet, and the the vicious cycles of financial exploitation that blight society today still exist with bells on.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1989Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1988BUILDING a drama around a bed-bound ME sufferer was always going to be a difficult task, and on more than one occasion writer Lizzie Bourne seems to signal her awareness that she is on a seriously sticky wicket here.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1988Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1987HORRIFIED by their experiences of the First World War, two Welsh scientists set out to build a time machine with the aim of changing history for the better. Trouble is, they're so riddled with angst and indecision they spend most of their time bickering.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1987Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1986THE 15th-century Spanish folk tale of the wailing woman bears a striking resemblance to Euripides' take on the Greek myth of Medea.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1986Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1985If Henrik Ibsen had been alive in the era of Guantanamo, he'd surely have written a play every bit as scintillating as Lidless.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1985Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1984Carving a splendid niche in creating brilliant, multi-character narratives performed solely by herself, Laura Solon's The Owl of Steven is every bit as entertaining and tangentially animal-related as 2009's Rabbit Faced Story Soup.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1984Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1983Writer/singer Dee Mardi presents a whimsical compendium of songs, recitations and voiceovers with the tagline andquot;life is a cabaret of clean and dirty laundryandquot; -_a metaphor she stretches to fit a series of menopausal observations on the domestic dreaming and drudgery of women of a certain age.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1983Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1982Father Ted has a lot to answer for, hilarious though its caricatures of the Catholic church were.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1982Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1981This powerful duet for male dancers draws on two different worlds. Firstly, choreographer Filip Van Huffel and the dancers studied the behaviour of children with disabilities as they tried to express their emotions. Secondly, Van Huffel revisited his past as a teenage jiu-jitsu black belt.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1981Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1980There's a lot to be said for the guaranteed crowd pleaser, and Kit andamp; The Widow's crowd is always very pleased, in a thoroughly entertained way.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1980Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1979After shows on racism and the death penalty, Keith Farnan turns his attention to one of the prevailing issues of this year's festival - sex trafficking, or more broadly, sexual inequality.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1979Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1978If only Bell Shakespeare could be sent out on loan to every primary and secondary school, learning about the Bard would be so much easier. The energetic Australian company know exactly how to make Macbeth accessible to the uninitiated (and equally good fun for those in the know) without losing any of the play's key strengths.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1978Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1977A PIECE of character work by Hull comedian Jim Higo, this pub-set monologue tells the tale of comic Billy Bly (possibly no coincidence that's also the name of a Hull City legend of years gone by?), whose obsession with comedy and drinking the hard stuff leave him needing a liver transplant and ostracised by his family.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1977Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1976AS PART of last year's Superclump sketch collective, these two stand-ups clearly got a taste for the dramatic, and here they've produced an outlandish, two-man romp that frequently sees them alternately playing the same character.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1976Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1975Developing into a character of depth, Toby Williams' deliciously dark creation Doctor Ryegold is back and revealing more of his background this year, exceeding the bad-taste lines and creative euphemisms that characterised his promising 2009 debut.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1975Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1974PSYCHOLOGISTS define theory of mind as andquot;the ability to attribute mental states ... to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one's ownandquot;.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1974Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1973With sibling rivalries, sexual tensions and an eye-averting rape scene, this play conforms depressingly to type as far as edgy relationship dramas on the Fringe go.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1973Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1972Ezra LeBank wrote {Extinguish.}, performs it, hands out the programmes, takes your ticket and lights the stage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1972Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1971Eric is a sweet man with a sweet 40 minutes, but I feel a little like I have been invited to dinner and offered a fun-size packet of Haribo and some Capri-Sun.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1971Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1970This is not so much a play as two actresses messing about for an hour. Taking clothes out of a dressing up box, they tell us the tale of two flat-sharing actresses (how inventive) who have a tiff and storm off in different directions, one to LA and one to India.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1970Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1969A DEVILISHLY good-looking man, Mike Bishop was a model and bit-part actor in Zulu and Day of the Triffids before narrowly losing out to George Lazenby for the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1969Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1968Apostrophe Theatre Company have come up with a neat gimmick for this boy/girl two-hander.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1968Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1967Flying Solos is a show about taking risks and meeting challenges, and Celia Pacquola has met her own by producing a stand-up hour that's every bit as compelling as her assured Fringe debut last year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1967Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1966There's plenty to recommend this musical by PlayMouse Productions of Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University, with a promising, wonderfully physical introduction featuring four black-clad dancers flowing across the stage like rainwater.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1966Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1965An odd piece of theatre but obviously one produced with passion, this show sees Bulgarian actress Irina Diva transformed from a wiry brunette into a more buxom blonde, thanks to the dressing help of a male assistant.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1965Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1964If you've ever seen Adam Hills you'll know that funny as his stories are, the banter with the audience is often even better. The Aussie has heard this so many times over the years that this year he's not brought a script - Mess Around is an hour of ad libbing.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1964Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1963Despite some overacting and the low-budget staging, the central premise here is interesting.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1963Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1959We're about to see much more of the Pavel Haas Quartet when it takes up the first ever artist-in-residence slot at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall this season, so yesterday's Queen's Hall recital was a good opportunity to catch up with the Czech-based ensemble.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1959Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1958I remember the first time I saw Lee Nelson, in the Pleasance Dome 2005, as part of a comedy showcase. I found him more irritating than contact dermatitis. Well one of us has changed because I is well happy I blagged myself into his show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1958Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1957TWO strong women took centre stage at the Book Festival yesterday morning, AS Byatt and Janice Galloway.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1957Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:11:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1953IT'S been a dash to the top for Bridges and for those who hoped to see him fall flat on his face, the bad news is that he coped exceptionally well in the barn-like Music Hall.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1953Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:06:20 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1952IN a waiting room, two men bang a door.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1952Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:04:49 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1951On the face of it, Molly Naylor's account of her experiences during the 7/7 terrorist bombing in London ought to send a chill down your spine and put a tear in your eye.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1951Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:01:56 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1950THE BELGIAN company Ontroerend Goed have become true stars of the Fringe over the last four years, with a series of fierce alternations between intensely adult, one-on-one theatre, and shows created with a teenage cast that try to embody the emotional, political and erotic chaos of post-modern teenage experience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1950Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:06:54 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1948IN the midst of all the Fringe theatre with its potential sightings of young blood on the way up, it is sometimes good to sit back and take in a production that features an old hand, performing to their strengths.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1948Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:46 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1947STRONG storytelling and bright staging ensure that Edinburgh Theatre Arts sustain their overlong production of Michael Frayn's adaptation of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. If the production waffles a bit around the edges, with the odd character being over-prone to standing around sighing, there are some excellent central performances. And even the wafflers bring it together for the most important scenes.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1947Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:46 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1943GYNAECOLOGICAL, metaphysical and strangely touching, Brendon Burns' Udderbelly show managed to be all these things as well, of course, as rib-fracturingly funny.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1943Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1942HAND-CRAFTED, beautifully designed, exquisitely polished and impeccably delivered gags are what Ardal O'Hanlon, pictured right, does and whilst he doesn't get the belly laughs that many of the banter-merchants on the Fringe receive he still leaves his audience with a pain in the cheeks from the fixed grin they carry around afterwards. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1942Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1941AFTER the success of Don Juan in Soho last year, N10 Productions come back harder with this unforgettable play.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1941Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1940‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello, what do we have ‘ere then? The Bill’s Reg Hollis undercover in a kilt and pith helmet in a Scottish version of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here? Swapping Sun Hill for a sporran, actor Jeff Stewart is the star name in a trilogy of absurdist comedies which take a sideswipe at modern society. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1940Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:11 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1924RINGMASTERS of contemporary circus No Fit State make a return to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in four years with Tabu, and if you do venture to see it, it's more than worth your while.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1924Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1923Light and superficial theatre is set next to powerful, heartfelt recollection in Arkle Theatre's double helping at the Royal Scots Club on Abercromby Place. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1923Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1922The works of Samuel Beckett are an acquired taste. Take First Love here, for example, one of the Irishman’s early novellas. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1922Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1921THE slow-burn of comedy combines with the dark whiff of hypocrisy in EUTC's excellent new play by company members David K Barnes and David Leon.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1921Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1920Sometimes a venue and a gig go together like Michael Jackson’s hand and a white sparkly leather glove. And so it is for Hedwig. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1920Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1919CURIOSITY might kill cats, but then again not every cat is as cool as Reginald D Hunter. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1919Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:57:21 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1913FOR THOSE who like a little gothic gore at lunchtime, Virtuous Flock is a fiendishly frisky romp which owes as much to Hammer Horror schlock as it does to its stated Grand Guignol influence.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1913Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1912andquot;A SATIRE of bourgeois hypocrisy where the burglar turns out as the virtuous one.andquot; So says the publicity blurb for this play and it certainly does what it says on the tin. Over the course of an hour we meet an Italian thief and his wife, and two monied couples. When it's obvious the jig is up, the burglar just wants to accept his punishment and get out of the flat in which he's locked with the criss-crossing adulterers. But the couples are desperate to cover up their indiscretions, so want the burglar to stay and back up their deceits.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1912Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1911THERE are explosive quantities of talent on stage in Philip Stokes's latest play, Uber Hate Gang, presented by Horizon Arts of West Yorkshire.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1911Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1910Refining their ramshackle appeal with direction from Stefan Golaszewski, Two Episodes of MASH still stand apart from their sketch show peers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1910Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1909The recent death in poverty of snooker legend Alex Higgins brings an extra poignancy to Joe Wenborne's play about fictional Glasgow snooker ace, Derek Hodges. World champion at 17, Hodges had it all - money, fame, as many women as he wanted.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1909Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1908This solo turn from Japanese actress Shoko Ito retains kitsch appeal, both for her overplayed manner and use of Japanese pop from the 1970s.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1908Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1907Sisters Sarah and Lizzie Daykin have been together as Toby for less than a year, but already show signs of developing into a really entertaining act. Ostensibly a sketch duo, their skits are created to fail, the appeal being the bickering between the ill-paired siblings when they do so.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1907Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1906Like a kind of Lord Byron from North-East England, Tim Turnbull delivers humorous poems in a dry and laid back style, looking like he's stepped out of another era.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1906Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1905With the inexorable devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan still in the headlines, Australian writer/performer Ali Kennedy-Scott recounts survivors' stories from another recent disaster in this quietly engaging solo show.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1905Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1904There is undeniably some very funny writing in Robin Johnson's spoof of the Frankenstein story, which mixes up Mary Shelley's original with scenes and characters from various cinematic versions of the tale.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1904Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1903BBC journalist Kate Peyton was shot dead while on assignment in Somalia in February, 2005. From the moment she took the call, in the Charing Cross Road rush hour, her sister Rebecca found herself marooned in the strange and often surreal territory of grief.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1903Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:01 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1902Choreographer Tom Dale is known for creating atmospheric works, and Roam is no exception. A steady supply of dry ice billows on to the stage, streams of dim light illuminate the dusty air and the sub-bass sounds of Sam Shackleton fill our ears. Dressed in casual baggy sweat pants, layered sweatshirts and socks, the dancers may look laid-back, but their moves have a more urgent feel.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1902Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1901This PLAY recounts every teenage girl's fantasy from the autumn of 1993 - that River Phoenix didn't die of a drug overdose outside the Viper Room in Los Angeles, but lived, secretly, to hide out in their basement instead.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1901Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1900Ten years ago, writer and performer Jonathan Young fell in love with an Icelandic woman and went to live with her in Reykjavik. What he found there was not city-break Iceland, but a place altogether stranger and more alien. Those who join him on this semi-autobiographical journey must wear a protective suit and enter a white, cocooned world.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1900Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1899IT'S amazing to remember just how recently it was illegal to be homosexual in this country - and this two-hander takes us back to that era, focusing on the love affair between a successful, older actor and his younger lover - who also happens to be a theatre critic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1899Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1898From storyteller Rachel Rose Reid and Phillip Breen, director of previous Fringe successes Cowards, Party and Stefan Golaszewski is a Widower, this low-key monologue has a lot to live up to.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1898Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1897As we are welcomed by our amiable host, Richard Layzell, on to the penthouse floor of the Point Hotel, it's clear this is going to be no ordinary dance experience. Apart from anything else, there are 13 house rules for us to adhere to, but given that two of them are relax and enjoy, they're far from worrisome.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1897Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1896Dickens should make for good theatre. Not only was he (by all accounts) an innately theatrical figure, he also gave celebrated dramatic performances of his own work. In the hands of veteran actor Pip Utton, he should make for a palpable hit, yet this one-man show struggles to sparkle. A comparison with Simon Callow's highly successful Dickens show of several years ago is unhelpful, but inevitable.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1896Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1895Now there's a catchy title. It's what the deputy leader of the British National Party, Simon Darby, accused Paul Sinha of demonstrating on the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 last year.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1895Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1894Louise is infertile, but that's OK because husband Jimmy hates kids and loves bikes. Then Louise becomes fertile but doesn't tell Jimmy, instead planning to get pregnant and present him with a fait accompli. Or baby, as it is more commonly known. Once Jimmy has his own baby he will think differently, she says.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1894Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1893Fringe veteran -- and no, that doesn't mean wrinkly, she's actually a bit of a fox - Jo Caulfield is back to show the trendy young Turks how it's done.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1893Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1892Lynn Ruth Miller packs a lot into her hour. She is a stand-and-deliver American comic in the good old-fashioned mould of Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1892Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1891ONE of the more regrettable crazes sweeping last year's Fringe was the practice of picking a word that might conceivably pull a crowd, adding the suffix andquot;The Musical,andquot; and then cobbling together a weak one-hour show that tenuously justified the eye-catching title.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1891Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1890Imagine a future where men's and women's sex lives are determined by the government. Here we are in just such a place and time, with a man and a woman, Marcus and Beth, meeting for the first time in a bare room with a bed, where the walls are decorated with pictures of ideal families.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1890Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1889This mercifully short show features a collection of occasionally very good sketches damaged beyond repair by a cast of four who have all the comedy skill of a Tunnocks Caramel Log.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1889Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1888A comically flustered woman waits impatiently at the Gare du Nord in Paris, with more battered old suitcases than one person can possibly need.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1888Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1887It has been five years since Chris Addison brought a show here, and this one wasn't worth the wait. You can't deny that he's skilled, and smart, but it feels like he could do this set in his sleep.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1887Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1886The condition of the rural poor is - mystifyingly - insufficiently explored in contemporary British theatre but this play works hard to compensate for that.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1886Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1885From an enticing high concept, Michael J Buchanan-Dunne (call him Moz) has created a one-man show that's neither as edgy nor as amusing as it could have been.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1885Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1884The lesser-known tale of the young people who lost their lives in the Battle of Azincourt is well-suited to being adapted into a musical for a cast made up entirely of 10-13 year-olds (from Willington School in Wimbledon).http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1884Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1883An enjoyable hour with two of the more promising young comics on the circuit, this Free Fringe show bodes well for Joe Lycett and Andrew Ryan's ongoing careers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1883Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1881Formerly a double bass player with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, Edicson Ruiz was snapped up by the Berlin Philharmonic's Simon Rattle, who recognised the young Venezuelan's outstanding talents.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1881Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1880IAN RANKIN likes to refer to the leafy streets of Edinburgh's Merchiston as the Writers' Block, home as it is to himself, J K Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith and others.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1880Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1879LET'S BE honest, nobody knows exactly what the 'Big Society' really means. Possibly including the Government. And I'm not sure that the andquot;What will the 'Big Society' look like?andquot; debate made things much more clear.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1879Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1878Last night's programme by the Russian National Orchestra had the potential to be a scorching and probing display of wit, weight, wisdom and woe. But what transpired was little more than a run-of-the-mill display that never quite matched its promise.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1878Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:00 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1877It's a moot point that possibly the only piece of music recognisably Bolivian in conventional terms came right at the end of this beautiful concert when, for the encore, Florilegium director and flautist Ashley Solomon produced an Andean bamboo quena flute and played a traditional piece learnt from a Bolivian master, while the four singers became percussionists marking the rhythm with llama-hoof shakers.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1877Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:09:59 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1875THE HOUSE lights are dimmed. The expectant audience gazes at the stage. A pure, magical voice emerges from one side of the room. Frances Ruffelle is starting as she means to go on.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1875Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:29:22 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1874IF YOU know Caroline Rhea at all, you're probably about 30 and a one-time viewer of US teen sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, in which Rhea played twinkly Aunt Hilda. It turns out Rhea is magic in real life, able to turn a hall full of curious Sabrina fans into Rhea-boosters.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1874Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:29:22 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1873Well hand me the microphone and call me Kylie, these guys are good. Still rocking the house and rolling them in the aisles after anything between 40 and 70 years (according to Jordan, he's the one that looks like Jack Black. Well Jack Black with a beard now) as a musical sensation.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1873Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:29:22 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1865Neil Hamburger remains the greatest comedian I’ve seen the greater majority of an audience walk out on. No-one was leaving their seats this evening though, as this peerless performer - Andy Kaufman’s deluded lounge singer act Tony Clifton notwithstanding - shocked and delighted in equal measure.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1865Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:18:28 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1862Michael Groce is indirectly responsible for his mother being shot and paralysed by the police, an event that triggered the Brixton Riots. In this show he tells us of how this terrible occurrence came to take place and explores his feelings of guilt and redemption, aided by two young performers and a projected film.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1862Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1861LOOSELY based on Edward Lear's nonsense poem, The Owl and the Pussycat, this Sh*t Happens production feels even more whimsical and insubstantial than the source material, if that's possible. In fact, it's about as close as you'll get to daydreaming at the theatre while still concentrating on the action on stage.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1861Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1860Last Fringe, Theatre Ad Infinitum wowed us with its epic one-man show, Odyssey (also on again this year), proving that a good script and fine acting can make a solo performance fill the stage. Well they've done it again, this time with female actor Amy Nostbakken.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1860Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1859Ahoy, me hearties - there be no dialogue in this dastardly pirate swashbuckler chronicling the exploits of Captain Hatebeard and his motley crew of clueless brigands through the medium of dumb show, hand-scrawled signs and deliberately shoddy props, which are all part of its throwaway charm.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1859Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1858Swap the dull grey clothes for something more colourful, shave the last ten minutes off and Musical becomes a lovely way for pre-schoolers to learn about shapes and sounds.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1858Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1857Someone once said that it is not enough to have talent, one must have talent for having talent. Miles Jupp has extraordinary talent for using his talent.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1857Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1856What sets Mary MacDonald Hamill's autobiographical one-woman play apart from the crowd is that it has lines from Shakespeare woven into the story.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1856Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1855IT'S 22 YEARS since the terrible night just before Christmas when Pan Am Flight 103 fell from the sky above the Borders town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people; yet the shock waves from that explosion ripple on, through British and global politics.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1855Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1854The Fringe is a great leveller. No matter how experienced or respected the performer, you have to prove yourself in this very particular gladiatorial arena.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1854Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1853The cast works hard to deliver period Italian 18th-century farce in the setting of a busy Italian restaurant on Leith Walk, with Claire Jenkins ably anchoring this dinner theatre production of Goldoni's comedy romance as the bosomy inn owner who reduces all and sundry men to declarations of love.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1853Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1852A YOUNG life caught between the battered estate lands and an ineffectual social care system is the focus of this new play devised by graduates of the BRIT school. In it we follow Levi as he copes with foster homes, bullying and growing up fast after he is given up by his mother, with only her jumper to keep him company.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1852Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1851She's appeared in American Pie, Legally Blonde, Joey, Best in Show and now here's Jennifer Coolidge in the Assembly's Wildman Room. Talk about a great surprise - I was expecting the Hollywood star to be in one of the big halls, but here she was, close enough to make eye contact with her audience.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1851Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1850A GROUP of disparate friends - when would a chav and a goth ever be part of the same crew of mates? - jet off to andquot;Shagalufandquot; for predictably boozy larks and bitching in this thoroughly incompetent, totally pointless mess of a production.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1850Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1849Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to meld the Bard’s basics to puppets, a wannabe mum, showtunes or some child’s toys…now, that is the questionhttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1849Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1848Rising from the grave after Hamlet's death scene, George Dillon draws the audience into an absorbing and thought-provoking one-man show. He takes one of the world's oldest literary mysteries and turns it into an Elizabethan drama. Shakespeare scholars may shake their heads, but the evening's a romp, and a clever one.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1848Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1847A WELL-considered piece from the young Unique Voices company about the murder of Robert McCartney in a Belfast bar in 2005, For The Love Of Robert uses an all-female cast in the roles of the victim's three sisters and fiancé.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1847Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1846At sea there are no laws, no rules, just traditions, we are told by one of the lone figures who makes the ocean their livelihood in a new play by Jesse Briton, performed by graduates from East 15.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1846Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1845andquot;By THE time he was 25, Orson Welles had written, directed and starred in Citizen Kane.andquot; So begins Alma Mater, a play about a group of four 25-year-olds who have achieved somewhat less, and are feeling it.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1845Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1844ON AN idyllic English country hillside a man clutches a plastic jar to his chest and dreams of a pretty young bride in her wedding dress. The bride is joyously happy, and dances to Tears For Fears' Head Over Heels. This song brings back fond memories for the man, even as he clutches the urn filled with his wife's ashes to his chest on the spot they were engaged.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1844Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1843Dressed in uniform black and white and wearing headsets, a line of call centre workers stand on a stage lit by dangling neon lights. We are in a response centre, run by a huge corporation, which is handling the emergency helplines during a huge international disaster.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1843Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1840A trio may only be one instrument short of a quartet but this can make for a dynamic shift in the content and performance of the music. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1840Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1838It was a hard shift for Jon McGregor, starting the day with the job of entertaining a small morning audience on the subject of his novel about a dead alcoholic.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1838Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:42:08 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1837The musical journey from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro offered by Ensemble Le Sans-Pareil under director Bruno Procopio was intrepid in bringing together lesser heard 18th century pieces.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1837Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:38:32 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1836The second programme from the Cleveland Orchestra was based on rather tenuous links between the expansive lyricism of Brahms, the serialism of Berg and the Hollywood glitz of Korngold.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1836Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:38:32 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1835THE future of books and of publishing is a subject which has raised its head again and again at this year's Book Festival as the changes wrought by new technology seem poised to shake the business of writing to its core.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1835Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:38:32 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1866Storm Large is distracting. She distracts by telling the room this is like our first date, and that she’s debating whether to finger us or not. She distracts with snippets of autobiography, talking about the doctor who told her she was doomed to go crazy, just like her mother, and about the heroin addiction she embarked upon to serve as a bad example to her lover. She distracts with explicit tales of her teenage sexploits, and her love of masturbation. She distracts us by looking like the impossible love child of Charlize Theron and Sophie Dahl.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1866Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:23:03 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1830The show I watched will never happen again. All the acts are students apart from one who is a philosophy tutor. MC Rob Wells has no idea who the second act on the bill is, and come Headliner Time, Ben Target just hasn’t turned up, so Dr Donnchadh O Conuil (the philosophy tutor) is requested to do five more minutes. Then the cry goes up: “Is there a stand-up in the house?” There is.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1830Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:39:15 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1829The famous cowboy mural at the back the The Stand Comedy Club is covered over. We are not in Edinburgh. We are in Baltimore in 1974, at Bertha’s jazz joint. And this is not the Perrier-winning bouncy Canadian Phil Nichol who we see before us - it is Bobby Spade, jazz poet, lover, loser and emotional wreck. Bobby Spade’s life is a living nightmare, and he’s going to take us right there with him.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1829Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:34:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1828After a year away from the Fringe, Josie Long returns with a tremendous show that’s warming like her porridge fetish and passionate like her political convictions.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1828Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:31:25 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1827Like his comic hero Les Dawson, John Moloney’s beautifully crafted gags are rooted in everyday life with a touch of pathos at the core.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1827Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:18:31 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1826It’s not often you can say you really didn’t want a show to end, but when Sam Wills walked off stage, I wanted to tie him to a piece of string and bring him back.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1826Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:54:07 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1825Here’s an unusual mix, as stand-up routines go - stories of growing up in Australia interwoven with tales of a much-loved father. There’s the potential for a maudlin hour of saccharine reminiscing, but Dave Thornton is better than that.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1825Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:37:45 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1824Here’s an unusual mix, as stand-up routines go - stories of growing up in Australia interwoven with tales of a much-loved father. There’s the potential for a maudlin hour of saccharine reminiscing, but Dave Thornton is better than that.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1824Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:37:44 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1819VANITY thy name is . . . well take your pick really. Sly Stallone, David Hassellhoff, Madonna and many more all have their words thrown back in their highly-paid faces in this wonderfully enjoyable and bitchy show at the Cowbarn.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1819Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:42 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1818A WOMAN wanders the streets at night, weeping for her lost children, her offspring with a handsome Spanish conquistador.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1818Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1817The Roaring Boys have decided that, this year, their hour in Edinburgh should be used as a grounds for protest, specifically against the inanity of flagship BBC magazine programme The One Show. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1817Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1816CHARMING and sparky by turns, Anita Parry has found a delightful creation in Susan, a mum whose children have just flown the nest and who has been sent on a team management training course by the supermarket for which she works. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1816Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1815TAKE one swing park, an enthusiastic guinea pig, swing a swing until it's level with the bar above, then jump off it, kicking the swing itself so it wraps itself over the bar.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1815Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1814UNLESS they'd caught some of her stand-up on the internet, most people in the UK's exposure to Caroline Rhea would have been limited to the family sitcom Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Therefore, before going any further, a word of warning, this show is not family entertainment. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1814Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1813OTHER comedians must look at Stephen K Amos and weep. They sweat blood trying to structure a clever, thought-provoking act to bring to Edinburgh; he sweeps in, fills the biggest venue at the Pleasance and with pretty weak material gets laughs by the bucketload. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1813Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1812Triple Perrier nominee Dan Antopolksi has returned to Edinburgh with his new hour-long offering Turn of the Century. As befits a Fringe favourite, it was standing-room only with any late-comers shoehorned into the Ace Stage of the Pleasance Dome. Antopolski is most at ease when riffing with the poor souls in the front row.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1812Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1811UNDOUBTEDLY you will see slicker improv shows this year. Almost certainly you’ll see them in better, bigger and far more comfortable venues, but it is extremely unlikely you will see funnier or a more purely enjoyable show than The Noise Next Door. http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1811Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:37:41 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1799We've seen the likes of Zambezi Express at the Fringe before, but don't let fatigue for impeccably produced displays of glorious gospel harmonising and vibrant traditional dance set in.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1799Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1798The London Gay Men's Chorus follow up their 2009 Fringe hit Oklahomo! with another heroically camp display of their assets.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1798Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1797Problems with the sound are not the only issue with this witless musical tracing a tabloid journalist's commission to uncover the story behind the story of ample-bosomed andquot;celebrityandquot; Eddie Bel.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1797Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1796This comic play, set in the crazy world of TV continuity announcers, where employees get their kicks competing for complaint ratings with their mildly offensive links, probably didn't set out to prove that this was not a fertile environment for sitcom-style comedy.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1796Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1795At the start of this sharply executed but otherwise predictable relationship drama, a critic in the audience - who may or may not be real - is dragged onstage and made to hand over his notebook.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1795Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1794If your laughing bits fancy a glorious comedy adventure then take them to see The Incident. Don't expect to understand, just ride the comedy waves. It feels like Sam Simmons and David Quirk have taken Waiting for Godot, added essence of Point Break, a hint of Monty Python, and served it in a cartoon.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1794Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1793There are few laughs to be had from this double bill of comedic plays, and in such an intimate space they are more than likely to be of the polite, dutiful variety anyway.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1793Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1792andquot;Medic troupeandquot; tictek productions have at least made sure the terminology in this farce, which riffs on the core ideas of films such as The Andromeda Strain (with dinosaurs) rings true.http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1792Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:17:02 GMThttp://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewreview.aspx?id=1791Ol' BLUE eyes is back. Except he's gone a distinct shade of pink. Scott Free enters the room in a sharp coral suit, complete with jaunty hat, and confounds expectations. Firstly, it's not all hits from the Chairman of the Board - there's My