Tempest In The Firth of Forth

12-15 August

Meet at the Summerhall

14.15

£16-£20

However ephemeral the Fringe may pass, as it hits the city like a mid-west, typhoon, there was one element of constancy that obstinately refuses to leave Edinburgh every August, the evergreen Richard De Marco.  However, this year, De Marco has left the city, after a fashion, & has invited us all along to his favourite Shakespeare play, The Tempest.

Richard De Marco

The adventure begins at the Summerhall, where the audience is ushered onto a bus & driven beyond South Queensferry to the Hopetoun estate. It is there, by the side of the Firth of Forth, crunching sand & shingle with the waverush in our ears, we are treated to a most beautiful experience. The Tempest is set on an island  & its shores, & as I watched one of Shakepeare’s more perfect plays unfold, the suspension of disbelief provided by such a natural setting multiplied manifold.

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The cast is young, chosen from the cream of Saint Andrew’s university only three months ago. A talented bunch, from the accompanying musicians , including dulcet harpistry, to a marvellous Ariel, whose magical aura was enhanced by playful sea-zephyrs blowing breezelings through her hair. The whole experience is a sensuous delight & I urge anyone with even only a vague interest in the theatre to sample this unique dramatic experience.

Reviewer – Damo Bullen

Hag

Underbelly, Cowgate

1-25 Aug

15.30

10-11 pounds

The cavernous Underbelly is the perfect setting for this macabre tale of a girl and a child-eating hag called Baba Yaga: “I only eat the ones who deserve to be eaten”.  The story has its roots in Slavic folklore but  theatre group The Wrong Crowd (www.wrongcrowdtheatre.co.uk) have skilfully brought it to the stage instilled with flair and wit.  The Wrong Crowd has a festival hit in 2011 with “The Girl with the Iron Claws” and on this evidence they may have another good year this year.

The theatre company was only formed that year by writer/director Hannah Mulder and designer/puppet director Rachel Canning.  The whole production from the acting, puppetry, lighting, set design and costume is top notch.  The story of a girl trying to find something that was given to her by her dying mother, along the way encountering and eventually defeating the previously undefeated Hag.  Accessible, polished production  and delivery.  The best play I have yet seen at this year’s Fringe.

Reviewer – David McMenemy

Goose

Venue 13

3-24 Aug

10.30 AM

£6-£8

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Goose is an unusual piece of theater, which takes the form of a monalogue performed by a boy upon his 13th birthday. Using digital projections he unleashes the full force of a teenage mind opening itself to the wonders of the universe, while at the same time ruminating on life’s disappointments. The monologue was delivered with a sure & confident diction, & though recited with much maturity, the piece seemed more like a performance of science poetry, than theatre.

Then came the twist, & the arrival of the boy’s imaginary goose, pinned to the body of a ballet-dancing teenager. Now the backdrop becomes blue skies & white clouds & we are borne into the air with boy & goose on the same flight that helped the play win first prize at the Kennedy Center American Colleges Theater Festival. Goose is a unique & rewarding piece, & its early slot could provide a lovely foundation stone to a day at the fringe. THREE STARS.

Reviewer – Damo Bullen

Grounded

Traverse

 Friday 2nd to Sunday 25th August, times vary

£14-£19

Safe

Space @ North Bridge

2-10 / 12-17 / 19-23 Aug

 

Double Booked

Pleasance Courtyard

1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25 August

(other days are the sequel to this production)

12.40

£8-10

Double Booked is written and performed by Ginny Davis (http://ginnydavis.com) and is the first play in a 4 part saga charting the rather banal goings on of Ruth Rich and her family.  Ruth is a housewife mother of three and all the characters from the ageing granny to the teenage son are played by Ginny Davis in this solo performance.  Her acting is better for some of the characters than for others but I have no complaints over the standard of her performance – her delivery of lines is excellent and the script is well produced.  It’s the subject matter that bores me.

I don’t really find the humdrum of a middle class family life (and a rather dull family at that) are the stuff to excite festival fans.  There are a few laughs in there that tickled some in the crowd but not me.  I understand that Ginny likes to specialise in plays about family life but maybe she could inject some excitement into the storyline keep the paying public awake in this attic hotbox.  For those who do the sequel to this play in on alternate days. TWO STARS

Reviewer –  David McMenemy

All That Malarkey Presents…

Venue 13