Baby Reindeer. The Edinburgh Fringe smashes it on Netflix. All Hail Summerhall!

Baby Reindeer has been receiving some great reviews, and I am going to add to that body of opinion.

It was written by, and stars, Richard Gadd but with a supreme supporting performance by Jessica Gunning as Gadd’s stalker Martha. In the stage shows, which provided the inspiration for this 7 part Netflix series, Gadd makes it crystal clear that it is an autobiographical story, in the TV adaptation this is less apparent. But it is all true

We saw the Edinburgh Festival Fringe productions of Monkey See Monkey Do in 2017, at Summerhall, and Baby Reindeer in 2019, also at Summerhall but in the Roundabout.

My wife is not always the most likely to join a standing ovation at a theatre show but at Monkey SeeMonkey do she was the first on their feet. I gave both productions five stars and this nearly gets the same, apart from the fact that Gadd as a stage performer, telling his life story, is arguably better than Gadd as an actor playing a character, based on him, but actually is him, Donny Dunn. This subtle change takes some of the edge off his performance and requires him to act rather than perform. They are different things. I’m niggling though.

A big difference is that the stage shows were both one man monologues, albeit with AV back up, whereas he is graced with a supporting cast here, not least the miraculous performance by his stalker Martha who inhabits this sweet-as-sugar character with a dangerous she-devil interior that only raises its head when she’s not getting her way, and her way would be to own and ravish Gadd.

Gadd’s second nemesis is the theatre impresario Darrien played impeccably by Tom Goodman-Hill who subjects Gadd to massive trauma and was the main antagonist in Monkey See Monkey Do.

The combination of Darrien and Martha, and their collective trauma, create a stultifying inability for Gadd to do anything about his situation. His pathetic attempts at stand up comedy make any positive interest, from anyone, yes anyone, appealing at a subconscious level to Gadd and that may be why he rolls with the punches for so long against enemies that seem, to the viewer, so obviously easy to unlock himself from – but this is the way poor mental health and low self esteem can manifest themselves.

Whilst most of us could easily disassociate ourselves with these two monsters Gadd simply cannot and finds himself descending into blacker and blacker territory.

His only escape is through the fourth key character, the Mexican trans-actress Nava Mau, who plays Gadd’s sort of girlfriend, although it’s not easy. Gadd’s sexuality is so confused that he simply doesn’t know what he’s looking for and it makes for a pretty challenging relationship.

It’s billed as a black comedy and there are comedic moments, and yes, Gadd, is a professional comedian. But don’t come to this looking for laughs. It’s a profound, original and true exploration of the stultifying impacts of poor mental health and it’s performed with sensitivity and great skill.

Surely the year will end up with this on all the top ten lists, in much the same way that “I May Destroy You” did.

It’s quite simply brilliant.

Edinburgh Fringe and Festival reviews: Day 15

A right old variety of good and bloody awful today.

Mass Effect is a Danish dance show at Summerhall. Dance with a difference as, for most of it, there’s no music just five dancers (2M,3F) dressed as runners who do exactly that for the first half hour building up a considerable sweat in the process. There’s comedic nods and winks to the audience, knowing looks that had us in stitches. 

Of course, all that sweat can only be dealt with on one way, by gradually disrobing until all five are stark naked, as are several of the 15 “community” dancers who sprung from the audience and the wings to join in for the final act. 

It’s unexpected but great fun. Proper Fringe fare.

Next to The Hub for an EIF talk with Domo Branch, an extraordinary 23 year old jazz drummer from Portland who was interviewed by the king of pretension who hogged the event with his “I know more than anyone, including Domo” approach. He’s no Parkie. But we were treated to some extraordinary drumming too.

Our third show was the wonderful What if they ate The Baby by Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland who gave us the excellent deserved Fringe First winning And Then The Rodeo Burned Down last year. It’s playing this year too and both shows are must sees. The new show is another surreal clowning romp in which the two writers actors and choreographers tell a more Groundhog Day than the movie story of two mid American queer housewives who can’t consummate their passion for each other fully, but give it a go, because to be queer in 50’s America during McCarthyism, was a distinct no no. It turns out, from their show research that McCarthyism not only outed Commies but gay people too. It’s funny, but also incredibly sweet and lovable, their stock in trade.

We met them both after the show, as we did last year, and I, for one, sincerely hope they land back to back Fringe Firsts. Please go see both shows, they’re a treat.

Finally, another EIF show at the Festival Theatre. The Threepenny Opera. I walked out of a production of this a decade ago and sadly reached the same conclusion this time too. 95 minutes (act one) of grim Brechtian and Weillian discord and ham singing and acting (although I think it was meant to be – is it maybe theatre of the absurd?) with a very dated script, made it teeth grinding stuff. Too much for this luvvie.

Home James.

Edinburgh Fringe: Day 2

(Above image from Lucy McCormick’s Triple Threat)

A quite incredible day at the Fringe today. I spend months planning, choosing, scheduling and getting anticipatory. It can , of course, go horribly wrong but not today.

I opened at Roundabout at Summerhall with Daniel Kitson, a Work in Progress show. For years I’ve wanted to see him but never been organised. Of course, as per usual, his entire run is already sold out. This show is entirely Meta because it’s a show about writing a show, the wormholes back to his previous performances are endless, but the construct is interesting (a little like Every Brilliant Thing that also played at Roundabout and is available on Netflix) in that he has written a script and printed 125 copies of it (he will renew it as the Fringe goes on – it’s Work In Progress you see).

The scripts are individually numbered as “parts” and the audience play those parts. One of them is the show’s antagonist, Keith, and has about 200 lines, the rest have merely one, two three , maybe five. Of course I happened to be Keith and revelled in the spotlight. At the end I was applauded roundly and Daniel proclaimed me “fucking brilliant”. It was an honour.

It’s a great show, very, very funny.

Next up, a contender for show of the Festival already and a slam dunk 5 stars. Have you seen Netflix’s Criminal? It’s a bit like that. In Summerhall’s Old Lab it’s called An Interrogation written by Jamie Armitage (of Six fame) and starring Jamie Ballard and Bethan Cullinane, both West End luminaries, their performances are dazzling and they script scintillating. I shall tell you no more other than to see it. It must surely win a Fringe First. I was transfixed from the opening seconds. Truly great theatre. Not just Fringe Theatre. John MacNeill has a smaller, but no less important role and he is fantastic too. Simply breathtaking. I shall go again.

My third choice was the weird and, in my view, wonderful Party Ghosts at Assembly Checkpoint. It’s frankly mad. A physical theatre, acrobatics, clowning, slapstick, juggling and visual effect triumph. Laugh out loud funny antics about ghosts and death with a banging soundtrack and brilliant references to The Shining and Psycho, not to mention Adele. It was the winner of Overall Best Circus and Physical Theatre, Adelaide Fringe 2023. I loved it but Jeana and Lesley were a bit less sold on it.

Next we had the frankly jaw dropping Lucy And Friends by Lucy McCormick. Her highly sexualised and deliberately provocative comedy sketch theatre has shocked and delighted audiences for years and this, like Kitson a first for me, did not disappoint. It comes, rightly, with an 18+ certificate but it is a full frontal barrage of humour, mental health mayhem, and actual mayhem. It’s difficult to describe in too much detail but there were things going on with hairbrushes, vibrators and microphones that the Women’s Institute would have CONSIDERABLE problems with. There’s angle grinding, and just plain grinding to celebrate. It’s hilarious in parts and deeply disturbing in others. I thought it was a five star piece of experimental theatre and performance art that had us talking for ages afterwards. Not for the faint hearted or the prudish. But if you’re woman enough go for it. Extraordinary (and I use the word advisedly).

Last up was the huge, black, gay, perspiring American singer and comedian Larry Owens (known in the USA for A Strange Loop). He performed a mix of comedy and music. Man can this man sing. And he has comedy chops too, but quite American so I missed some of the nuance of his routine. That said, very good.

For me, two 5 stars, two fours and a three. you can work it out from the above.

I Hate It Here by Sweet Beef Theatre at Summerhall, Edinburgh. Theatre Review

A quickfire hour of searingly satirical, company-devised theatre has a lot to make you laugh in it, but also a lot to admire in the excellent script, direction by Jess Haygarth and a gender-blind cast of four: each of equally engaging presence.

There’s our overly familiar productivity manager, Shelley, who runs the show, and the other three cast members’ lives, as the recruiter of zero hours contract staff: a nurse, a care worker and a fast food junior.

Each is mired in a relentless monotony of impossible-to-hit targets, incessant work with no room to breath, or struggling with childcare and putting their kids’ lives at risk.

This Kafkaesque nightmare is life in modern Britain that disproportionately impacts the young and the female, and although the show is mostly humorous the blackness of the humour reminds us that this kind of life is shit, degrading, exhausting and ultimately dangerous.

Set against a backdrop of a countdown clock, every second of this taught production is there for a reason. Music and sound effects are used to superb effect to create a sense of urgency that counters the mundanity of these (mostly) young people’s lives.

The message is clear. Zero Hour contractors are mere fodder for the machinery of Britain’s industries, although the play either fails to or decides not to, land a blow on the Brexiteers who contributed to this mess by running those that fuel this carnage out of town.

It chooses instead to focus on Britain’s unfortunates who have to use this form of economic barbarism to put food on the table.

The four performers really are a joy to behold and the show is a rare ‘out of August’ treat at Summerhall (where we saw it, although it’s on tour) to bring back happy memories of The Fringe’s Summerhallery theatrical majesty.

I saw two 4/5 star shows in Summerhall’s Red Lecture Theatre, where this is performed, last year. “I hate it Here” would not have been out of place in such rarified company.

In fact, I loved it there.

Day 20 Edinburgh Festival and Fringe

(Freely encouraged to capture the action on stage at Work.txt)

I was delighted to attend the Scotsman Awards in the morning at The Pleasance Beyond and to see Manic Street Creature pick up the Mental Health award.

Later I popped over to Summerhall yet again, (my 11th Summerhall show) to see another great production called Work.txt, in which there is no cast and the audience become the performers. So it’s immersive and participative but not much of it is improvised as a very clever and funny script, projected onto a large screen, tells us as audience members, those who love/hate their work, earn more or less than 30k, are Geminians and so on (there’s a lot of ways of slicing and dicing the 100 or so in the room) to read out the next line, build a Jenga city out of oversized Jenga blocks (at one point the entire audience/cast were on stage beavering away.) It’s hilarious. 4 Stars.

(hard at work)

Next up, two Edinburgh Festival shows, The first is by Leith’s Grid Iron Theatre Company, who specialise in site specific work. This one was in Leith Academy and called Muster Station. It’s an immersive show in which the audience are moved around the school (the muster station of the title) as evacuees. Scotland (Fife specifically) has just hit 45 degrees and is about to be hit by a massive tidal wave that threatens our very being. Our destination is Finland. In the opening scene we are herded through an immigration check by a variety of (some kind, some brutal) immigration officers and put into a holding pen whilst some of the characters (some plants) are revealed to us. It’s a high point of the show and promises a great deal more over the next two hours, sadly it didn’t materialise. What we are treated to is five 20 minute plays within plays that fall short of scaring us, lack believability and are actually all a wee bit dull if I’m honest. A great concept that doesn’t quite come off. 3 stars.

Next Up The Jungle Book Reimagined, Akram Khan’s bold multi media show, taking the old jungle book story and again setting it in a post climate apocalypse. The cast are all dancers but there’s also a huge amount of projected animation and a rather cod script played through the PA which the actors lip psych to. The music for the show is diverse but not very joined up so what I felt I was witnessing was an embarrassment of riches, but not much dance (movement sure and very fine movement at that). Act 1 dragged and was frankly a mess. The interval, however, reset the show. Better music, more dance, less animation and a more striking and clear storytelling arc. It’s beautiful, for sure, but it fell way short of my expectations. 2 stars for Act 1 4 for act 2 so a 3 star experience overall.

Day 6: The Edinburgh Fringe.

(The amazing Mustard at Summerhall)

Yet another wonderful day of theatre as the gift kept on giving. I started with Ghosts of the Near Future at Summerhall. An existential tale (highly allegorical and pretty deep ie hard to follow) in which a Magician sets out on a North American Road Trip to play his dream venue Las Vegas, along the way he encounters various weird characters and settings. It’s made all the more interesting by the use of micro cameras and elaborate miniature Nevadan desert ‘sets” that chart the journey’s progress. There’s also considerable use of film projection and music. It’s a powerful combination and in the setting of Summerhall’s eerie old Demonstration Room. It’s challenging but extremely rewarding hour and It’s a four star for me.

Mustard, at Summerhall also, continues the run of FIVE STAR one women shows I’ve seen in Edinburgh this week. It really is an astounding piece of storytelling about a young Irish woman who, when her anxiety levels increase, can “fell the mustard coming on” in her brain. This translates into a form of self harming where she smears her body in mustard. In the story the self harming is induced by an intoxicating relationship she has with a rich London Professional cyclist that goes wrong. The depiction of her descent into a pit of self loathing and anxiety is something to behold and had the entire audience spellbound for an hour that felt like ten minutes. This is seriously good theatre and shouldn’t be missed.

Next up my Fringe Lottery choice. It was always high risk and, for me the gamble did not pay off (my sister, by contrast absolutely loved it) Taiwan Season: The Whisper of the Waves, again at Summerhall is bonkers. A mixture of dance (VG) poetry(not VG) and symbolism including much ancient Greek folklore talk (Icarus and Sisyphus both make an entry). Frankly it was torture. I’m not even gonna rate it as I was the wrong guy in the wrong place.

Breathe at Pleasance Dome is that rare thing this year. A one MAN show (although SK Shlomo now self identifies as They). They describe it as a play that turns into a rave. And that indeed is what it is. They were world champion beat boxers and played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in the long lost past. But this is another poor soul wracked with self doubt and anxiety, so that their life turned suicidal before music helped them back out of the mire. The story is told with incredible technical ability. Shlomo has a digital glove that allows him to loop sound: his beat boxing, the audience, a small keyboard sampler and create rave songs on the hoof. It’s remarkable. He weaves this musical magic around the tale of his rise, fall and rise again. It’s compelling, clever and highly enjoyable. Another 4 stars from me.

And finally, talking of music being made up on the hoof, we have Showstopper (very similar to Baby Wants Candy, although a little more complex and arguable more professional). The show we witnessed last night was called Red and set in communist era Russia to the style of Jesus Christ Superstar, Hamilton and Sweeney Todd. It’s eye-popping stuff but for me Baby Wants Candy edged it by a short head. Bursting at the seams in one of the Fringe’s biggest venues I imagine tickets will still be hard to come by. Recommended 4 stars.

My Edinburgh Festival and Fringe 2019.

It’s been great.

It always is.

Have I seen a life-changer yet?

Not sure I have, but I’ve seen a lot of class.  (Update, since I first wrote this I have.)

I hate star ratings, but for convenience I have chosen this methodology to save time.

Those in bold are official Edinburgh Festival shows

5*****

The Rite of Spring by Yang Liping’s Peacock Dance Company – This is the life-changer.  A mind-bogglingly beautiful contemporary dance show, weaving together the quiet innocence of Nepalese temple dance with the power and fury of Stravinky’s masterpiece.  Truly outstanding.

Ontroered Goed, -Are we not drawn onward to new erA – I’ve seen this bonkers Belgian political theatre company, from Ghent, before, doing LY£$.  They specialise in Climate Change polemics.

But this was a step up in class.  The entire play is a palindrome; as you will have spotted from the title.  This means it is performed backwards and then replayed in reverse as a film.  How they manage to speak backwards is simply brilliant.  And funny.  And thought provoking

The Patient Gloria – Traverse.  Outstanding theatre about a psychotherapy experiment from the 60’s by Abbey Theatre

Baby Reindeer – Richard Gadd’s masterpiece in the Roundabout at Summerhall.  Awe inspiring performance and story

Efterkalang – The Festival Music strand was a triumph this year.  Few household names but curated with love and real knowledge of quality.  Efterklang closed this year’s offering and they were simply terrific.

Villagers – The best live performance at Leith Theatre. Perfection

This is the Kit – (No this was).  A sublime performance both by TITK and support and beautifully lit by Grant Anderson.  Outstanding sound quality.

The Incident Room – superb story about the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry at The Pleasance

Peter Gynt – outstanding and hilarious take on mid 19th century classic at Festival Theatre

The Shark is Broken – Jaws – the back story at Assembly.  An amazing and very, very funny three-hander by actors playing Robert Shaw, Rod Steiger and Richard Dreyfuss

4****

Anna Calvi – wonderful performance at Leith Theatre

Matt Forde’s Political Podcast – Interviewing Nicola Sturgeon.  (Scotland’s First Minister.)  A delightful hour of Boris-bashing and independence speculation.

Crocodile Fever – tremendous co-pro between The Lyric Belfast and The Traverse.

Fish Bowl – Hilarious French physical comedy at The Pleasance

The Last of The Pelican Daughters – very funny Pleasance show that I had to leave after 30 minutes due to fire alarm

Oedipus – Would have been five stars but for the subtitles. The Kings

Shit – Ultra-sweary, hilarious but deeply moving Ausie show at Summerhall.  Brilliant.

Nightclubbing – Grace Jones inspired Summerhall Performance art.

Kala Kuti Republic – Tremendous dance show about Fela Kuti.  Met, and made best mates with, Bobby Gillespie at The Lyceum

Elgar’s Kingdom – Great tunes from The Halle and Edinburgh Festival Chorus.  Rubbish lyrics. At the Usher Hall

Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation – outstandingly original NTS show by Tim Crouch. At Festival Theatre Studio.

Once on This Island – Forth Children’s Theatre. My own company’s show.  A truly beautiful musical with a fabulous ensemble and several great performances .

Tartuffe,  Assemble Rooms – a great Scottish cast performing an abridged version of Liz Lochhead’s classic Moliere adaptation.  Very funny.  Great work from all four in the case (including Grant O’Rourke and Nicola Roy)

3***

The Burning – great performances but treacle-like script, at The Pleasance

Cométe – nice festival opener – pub band that may have gone to 4**** with a bigger audience

Who Cares – polemical Summerhall stuff about the care system but no narrative to properly engage with

The Crucible – too hard a story to tell through dance at The Playhouse

Best of the Fest – mixed bag, not the best of the Fest or it would have been 5*****

Ed Gamble – Work in Progress gig. Great warm up chat but the ACTUAL material was…meh.

Trips and Falls –  The spirit of the Fringe alive in this interesting but poorly cast and largely poorly performed Glasgow Uni production.  The Chief of police and the Granny were good though.

Square go – Started great but fell away, Scottish playground romp at the amazing Roundabout, at Summerhall.

If You’re Feeling Sinister by Avalon and BBC Arts in association with Tron Theatre at The Gilded Balloon.  Thios was always going to be tough to deliver a play about an album by Belle and Sebastiane, but by and large the two hander cast pulled it off .

2**

Teenage Fanclub – Boring.  At Leith Theatre – left after 45 mins.

Twin Peaks – Show about breast cancer billed as a comedy but not funny.

1*

Dynamite – it wasn’t – utter student improvisational crud by Bristol Uni Improv Soc.  Felt sorry for the excellent small girl with a pony tail (Katie) – not enough to save her blushes.

 

 

 

 

 

De Fuut by Richard Jordan Productions at Summerhall.

Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Theatre Royal Plymouth, RBC

De Fuut is a bird.  That bird above.

Birds feature thematically in Bastiaan Vandendriessche’s eery, creepy, threatening, really, really scary creepshow.

“What I would really like to do
is go to a desert island with Leda and Emma,
or sail away with the sperm whale
we are lying on the deck
in our swimming costumes
and I tell them stories about
the destruction of the world
about the futility of life
we compose 200 songs together
with the best ironic poetry there is
and I would never hurt them
I would just be very kind and they would too
and we would never go to sleep
they would kiss me on my neck
they kiss me on my neck”

You see, he’s a child molester.  A groomer.  A Sea Scout leader with a penchant for 13 year old girls.  But you know, not just little girls, he’s slept around with men and women.

He’s all cooled out at his desk, telling us of his exploits.  Not boasting, just sharing.  In his green Kaftan, His love of a Scandi solo performer (Ride?) is apparent as he shares his love for him with us.

The set is a shambolic corner of a large venue with us crammed in so he can get close and personal.  A lot of whispering happens in this show.  Sick whispering.  And shouting. Real anger directed at audience members.  This is not for the faint hearted.

It’s an emotional bastard of a piece.

It’s a bit sick, but it’s also a bit brilliant.

Vandendriessche is amazing.  Utterly hateful.  Utterly charming.  Utterly handsome. Utterly Nabokov.

You have to make your own decisions about seeing this very challenging piece of theatre.  It’s not for everyone, in fact it’s hardly for anyone.  But it’s why theatre is important and can challenge society.  It’s uber-Summerhall.  Thank fuck we have this venerable establishment.

Alongside the Traverse, that is pulling no punches with Underground Railroad Game and Ulster American, I have had a Fringe that already has delivered spine-tinglingly challenging thought provocation on a grand scale.  This does it in a very small, very intimate, very creepy, very Belgian way.

Then again, you might just think it’s a thing by a peado. (I didn’t think it was!)

Island Town opens my 2018 Fringe and Festival. ****

A good solid opener from Wales in the magic Paynes Plough Roundhouse (I think they tour with it) at the incredible Summerhall.  It’s an intimate 150 seat theatre in the round and this talented young cast made sure their story was shared equally with all the audience.

It starts hysterically and becomes gradually more hysterical as the humour of a life of deprivation loses its lustre and the laughs just aren’t funny any more.

I don’t want to spoil it by hinting at the storyline.  Just go and enjoy it.

Three great performances and an amazingly (in a good way) wordy (Sorkinesque) script by Simon Longman.

I recommend it.

 

Edinburgh Festival and Fringe 2018: my top picks

I’ve done a lot of research into the Fringe and Festival this year and have booked a lot of tickets – for 25 shows so far. All are based on strong recommendations from either myself, The Stage, What’s on Stage, The Independent or The Guardian. So to save you some research time you might want to look at what I’ve booked as a starter.

Top tip. Look at 1/2/3 August for cheap previews and 6/7 August as it’s 2 for 1 days. The restricted view seats at the Kings are not restricted and are a bargain too.

Festival

Five Telegrams – The free opening show featuring music of Anna Meredith

La Maladie De la Mort – theatre

Home – theatre

European Young Musicians 2018 Semi Final

Autobiography – dance

Love Chapter 2 – dance

Xenos – dance

Fringe

Goblin perform Suspiria (film and live music accompaniment – Sold out I think) – Summerhall

Sister Act – FCT

Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tour

Ulster American – Traverse

Janis Joplin: Full Tilt – with Hannah Scott on 7/14/21 August

8 Songs

My Left/Right Foot – The Musical (NTS)

Vertical Influences – a canadian Ice skating show – participative

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

Island Town – Summerhall

De Fuut – Big in Belgium at Summerhall

No Kids

Lights over Tesco Car Park

Carmen Funebre – outdoor spectacle

Killy Muck

Underground Railroad Game – Traverse

What Girls are Made of – Traverse

The Greatest Play in the History of the World – Traverse – with her from Corrie

Also on my list but not yet booked:

Jessie Cave

Our Country

Nele Needs a holiday – The musical

Insert slogan here

Giselle

The Moira Monologues

The Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe. The final Reckonings.

You’ve put up with me so far so here’s the final evaluation.  And the Gorman Awards.

Best show:  Nederlands Dans Theatrer.

Best Musical (excluding Pippin):  Les Miserables.

Best Play:  The Divide (Part 1)

Funniest Show:  Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tour

Best Venue:  Summerhall

5 stars *****

Nederlands Dans Theater

Rain

Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tour

Border Crossing

Richard Gadd: Monkey See, Monkey do

The Divide (Part 1)

Meow Meow’s The Little Mermaid

£¥€$ (Lies) by Ontroerend Goed

Gus Harrower

Adam

4 Stars****

Les Miserables 4.5*****

Lilith: The Jungle Girl

The Gardener

Dolly Would

Meet me at Dawn

Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon

Staffa

Sweeney Todd

The Divide (Part 2)

Into the Woods

Nina

3 stars***

Flight

Blanck Mass

Guy Pratt

Seance

2 stars**

Party Game 2.5***

The Performers by Irvine Welsh

 

 

 

 

The Gardener by Cumbernauld Theatre at Summerhall: Edinburgh Fringe Review

My goodness has Summerhall had an immense Fringe.  And I’ve only seen part of it.

It has been my main home for the Fringe having seen this show ****, Dolly Would ****, LIES *****, Charlotte Church ****, Richard Gadd *****, Blanck Mass ***, Border Crossing ***** and Seance ***.  (2 x 3 star shows, 3 x 4 stars and 3 x 5 stars.  That’s a pretty good investment in my book).

My main reason for seeing The Gardener was because Nicola Roy plays a supporting role in it to Crawford Logan.  She’s an unsung star of Scottish Theatre and one of our best comic actors. (It just so happens she is a delightful human being to boot.)

Any way, it did not disappoint.

To a deliberately very small audience of  20 we are shown into the bowels of Summerhall – the brightly lit ‘Machine Room’ which, it transpires, is the meeting room of the Pine Grove Villas ‘Retirement Community’.

There are no pines and “it’s an Old Folks Home” observes Frank (our host) “Should be called Altzheimers Acres.”

Frank is hosting a lecture on gardening to us, his 20 fellow ‘inmates’, but the lecture is merely a device to reflect on his love of gardening.  Fecund as he is in his ‘Cultivation of the Soil’ he is sadly less fecund in his life, with his beloved wife Joan who is three years passed.

Gardening is the great metaphor for a life that he constantly breaks off from the lecture to retell.

Initially hysterical, thanks largely to Roy’s interventions as the “only nice” carer in the home, it becomes increasingly sad, but Crawford Logan (brilliant as Frank) doesn’t milk the pathos.  He is a stoic character who sees life as what it is, with it’s inevitable outcome.

Tony Cownie has beautifully crafted a lovely Dramaturg by Lynda Radley and the cleverness of the design by Ed Robson has an ace up its sleeve as the show comes to an end, with no bows.

A poignant, heartfelt piece that will surely keep popping up around the country.  If you get the chance to see it.  Jump.

 

Dolly Would by Sh!t Theatre at Summerhall: Edinburgh Fringe Review

Well, this one comes from left field.  It’s a mash up of love, real love, for Dolly Parton (in which her legendary breasts feature very prominently and not just in the image above – from near the show’s conclusion) and the fact that Dolly the Sheep (named after Dolly Parton) was created near to Summerhall in the Rosslyn institute.  Given that Summerhall was previously a Veterinary School this is perhaps also appropriate.

The cloning theme is developed by showing the veneration Dolly Parton creates with clone fans galore (famously Dolly herself entered a Dolly Parton lookalike show and lost).

We are left in no doubt that Sh!t Theatre’s two players, Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit, are lesbian lovers and their love for each other and of Dolly Parton (not uncommon in the gay world as I realised with no uncertainty when I was in the crowd for her legendary Glastonbury legends gig) was a relationship-saving writing project.

Their love for Dolly has no bounds and this reunited them and has led to a totally insane celebration of her life during which the ridiculous treatment she received from the media, focussing largely on her looks and her assets, is ridiculed.

But also her own sexuality is deeply questioned.  Was her great friend Judy really her lover?

I liked the way they used the 1977 Barbara Walters interview with Dolly as a narrative musical device that was a recurring theme in the show, supported by a neat live music loop.

I suppose more questionable was the way they cut their vest tops to expose their breasts for most of the show.  It might make some of the more strident feminist wing of their devotees uncomfortable, but I was fine with it.

Some of Sh!t’s performance is shambolic (the balloon bursting scene for example) and wilfully amateur in its look and feel (a fair bit of corpsing occurs) but that’s all part of its charm.  And I have no doubt it is intended.

I loved it.  My wife hated it.

I guess that’s part for the course.

4****

 

 

 

 

Richard Gadd’s Monkey See, Monkey do at Summerhall: Review, Edinburgh Fringe

I was taking no risks seeing this.  Voted the hit of last year’s Fringe Gadd has toured the world performing it over 200 times.

what I was not prepared for was its kick in the heart emotional trauma.

This is billed as comedy but it’s so much more than that. (But, yes, it’s outrageously funny.)

The ‘more’ is an entire treatise on sexual abuse and the resultant depression.

The monkey of the title is Gadd’s subconscious creating massive panic attacks and extreme self doubt.  The show is a metaphor about running away from money demons (the monkey on your back) and so, to bring that metaphor to life Gadd performs it from a tread mill and his vest top gradually saturates as his one hour run slowly overwhelms him physically.

But the low-fi technical brilliance of the show with his sound and video designer, Phil, is what makes it so original and ultimately extremely moving.

My wife is not one to demonstrate her emotions by way of leading a standing ovation.

Until last night.

Bravo.

Bravo indeed Richard Gadd.

*****

Blanck Mass at Summerhall: Edinburgh Fringe Review.

I only discovered Blanck Mass the other day.  But have immersed myself in his magic vibe since then (but only when the Mrs is down corner shop, cos when she heard me training for the gig she said TURN THAT FUCKING SHITE DOWN. She is deluded.)

He is half of Fuck Buttons.

He is loud.

He is proud.

He is loud.

Really fucking loud.

And quick.

I clocked one number (the closer) at 200bpm, so I will probably need a fucking hip replacement next week. ‘Cos I was dancing along.

And a hearing aid.

And his videos are like sick (maggots and intestines doing peristaltic movement).

When he weren’t fucking our hips he went for ballads (80bpm), it was a wee bit dull.

But when he cranked it; it was FUCKING great.

Here’s to 200bpm.

Cheers man.  Short but sweet.

 

Border Tales by Protein Dance at Summerhall: Edinburgh Fringe Review

Another day, another Summerhall 5 star show.  This time it’s dance, but with a BIG twist.  It’s political and it features dancers that sing, act and deliver spoken word monologues that never outstay their welcome.

First off, can I just say the choreography is beautiful with monologues often delivered in brilliant flowing double-hander dance movements where the dancer/actor seems to flow like water supported by their counterpart whilst delivering their insights.

It’s mesmerising and the first time I’ve ever seen anything even remotely like this.

The show is about Britain’s rise of immigrantion from all over the globe.  The cast is led by a gruff Yorkshireman who displays many of the traits we regard as cliches, but performed with a humour and lightness of touch that protects it from parody.  I’m afraid there was no programme so I can’t name names but this central and leading character pulled a difficult gig off with ease.

The six dancers were supported by a Colombian multi instrumentalist who worked in tandem with excellent backing music and beautifully held the show together (he too could act when called upon to do so).

The remaining five in the cast represented a second generation African (Nigerian) Londoner fully immersed in UK culture, a Hong Kong Chinese man, A Taiwanese Chinese girl who, with her poor enunciation of English, became the butt of many of the Yorkshireman’s jokes, An Irish Catholic man and a hirsute Egyptian (parodied as an ‘Arab’) is he african?  Is he middle Eastern?

It all paves the way for questions about the value or otherwise of multiculturalism, some nice subtle digs at Brexit, debate about religion and which one (including trendy atheism) is best.

And it’s at times funny, always brilliantly delivered, original and downright fascinating.

A true melting pot of our times in a show you should do your best to get tickets for.

£¥€$ (Lies). Review. At Summerhall. (No spoilers)

Belgian shockmeisters, Ontroerend Goed, are renowned for creating immersive theatre that freaks out its audiences.  I’ve never had the balls (or got in fast enough to buy tickets) to actually see them, but I was quick off the mark this year.

I’m very, very glad of that because this fully immersive metaphor for the 2008 crash is a compelling and unpredictable experience; part casino experience, part theatre part competition it’s brilliantly managed from the sound design through to the temperature control of the room.  Both contribute to creating an atmosphere that winds up the audience from the get go.

It’s hilarious and fascinating in equal part.

I don’t want to say any more for risk of spoilers.

It’s completely sold out so I count myself lucky to have experienced this monumentally clever and wholly original theatrical experience.

Seance. Review, Summerhall

I saw Fiction at last year’s Fringe by the same creators (Glen Neath and David Rosenberg).  It was a mega creepy aural experimental show in a blackened out Potter Row and I loved it.  So I was full of anticipation for a Seance in a blacked out shipping container.  Whilst it’s creepy it’s by no means terrifying,  not by a long shot.

Some may be freaked by it.  Not I though.  Having said that it’s clever and brilliantly sound designed.  So, for a fiver, you get something good, just not great.

Retina Festival 2017. (Celebrating photography at its very best)

Get yourself along to Ocean Terminal in Leith to view the outstanding Emerging Talent show at the Image Collective Gallery on the top floor.

Retina is in its fourth year and over that period it has done more to showcase great photography in Scotland than just about anybody else.

This year is no different.  Indeed next Tuesday sees the opening of the Association of Photographers 2016 Photography Awards Show at Out of the Blue.

And there’s a great show by Hellen Van Meene and Bryn Griffiths at Summerhall until the 15th July.

But last night was about the newbies and I had the great pleasure of talking to two of them.  Both delightful human beings. Rod Penn

and Suzanne Forrest.

In particular we had a long chat with Suzanne whose architectural series called Ethereal Industry multi layers images of beautiful industrial and agricultural units to creat a ghostly world of weird but truly beautiful structures.  She rightly won a BIPP award for this collection.

It’s brilliant.

Edinbugh during the Festival and Fringe. Surely the best place on the planet. (Maybe even compared to Glastonbury, dare I say it.)

So far 22 people have stopped me in the street to admire my T shirt. That’s The Festival for ya.

Yesterday Jeana and I had the perfect festival day.

We started at 12 with Avenue Q by The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s MA students.  So, not a professional production, but as near as damn it because these guys are the cream of the student crop in Scotland, and beyond, and they’re in their final year.

It was devastatingly funny, extremely well sung and technically appeared flawless.  I had no previous benchmark to compare the show unlike many of the audience (the guy sitting next to me had seen it seven times in the West End and on Broadway – he loved it).  If you don’t know the show try to see it this week.  In a nutshell it’s Sesame Street gone bad.  Featuring a cast of human operated puppets it’s set at the seedy end of NYC (on avenue Q) where a melting pot of nationalities, sexual orientations and monsters live in a run down street.  We hear in musical form how everyone is a little bit racist, what to do if you find out you’re gay, How it ‘sucks’ be me, what to do with a BA in English and the pleasure of schadenfreude.

The numbers are universally good, the script cracking, the puppetry mostly really good but what makes the show sparkle is the interaction between the actors and their puppets.  You can’t decide which to focus on as the performance behind the brightly coloured characters by an all black dressed ensemble is electrifying.

An absolutely stand out show in a terrific venue (Assembly on the mound).  The future of Scotland’s (musical) theatre is assured on the basis of this.

After a light lunch and a pint of the highly superior Caesar Augustus (by Williams Brothers of Alloa) we returned to Assembly for the much lauded, multi-award winning Nirbhaya.  (The Indian word for fearless).

This was a stark contrast to our earlier entertainment.  If indeed it could be branded “entertainment”.

It was inspired by the brutal rape and murder on a Delhi bus of Jyoti Singh Pandey in December 2012 and brings us six cameo stories of Indian sexual abuse survivors.  These women all went through the stories they tell, for real, and one in particular by Sneha Jawale tells us how she was attacked by her husband with acid.  The result is there as plain as day to be seen,; her face and body mutilated and scarred, her story told through a flood of tears.

The show is book-ended by Pandey’s story and is dimly lit throughout with snatches of Indian and Western music that add atmosphere.

The stories are harrowing and half of the audience were openly sobbing their eyes out.  A young man we met in the Queue on the way in told us this was a life changing event.

I’m sad to say that for me (and Jeana) it was far from that.

You can’t take away the honesty and integrity of the piece or the clever staging, or the excellent performances but something failed to grip us.

Both of us.

Perhaps it’s too voyeuristic.  There was no programme and no notes about it so we weren’t aware if we were listening to stories of others or biographies.

For me I think the flaw lay in the direction which made it feel too staged, almost contrived in a strange sort of way, which is a shame because it is anything but.  As Lyn Gardner says in the Guardian “it veers dangerously close to well-meaning theatrical misery memoir”, and I agree.

Despite my reservations I have to recommend it though because you cannot ignore the importance of the message or the response (including a standing ovation) of many of the audience.

Afterwards the cast stood waiting to talk to anybody who felt the need.  That, for me, was the most moving moment.

After the show we had a beer with my Pals Mark and Fiona and my pal Vince’s daughter Louise which was great

Last stop of the day was a few relaxed drinks at Summerhall (the Dick Vet Bar) with David Reid and his lady Nicola Dunn.  I love Summerhall, it somehow recalls a bygone age of Fringe scuzziness.  It feels real, fresh and amateur despite its arms length awards list.  And they sell Barney’s Beer.

I also met the star of HeLa, Adura Onashile, a new one woman show who had been the case worker in Cora Bissett’s much lauded Roadkill.  And lovely she was too.