Monthly Archives: August 2014

Head in the Clouds : The Peregrinations of Marie Marvingt

Posted by yodamo

Summerhall

2-25 August

£7-£10

13.25

“Head in the Clouds: The Peregrinations of Marie Marvingt” is a charming and whimsical show revolving around the extraordinary life of Marie Marvingt. The story of Marie’s life, tragic love story and passion for flying is unwoven through props, audience interaction, mime, songs on the ukele and occasional conversations with a pigeon called Pierre.

Helen Aldrich is a very strong performer, creating warm and personable characters with well sustained accents, good physical performances and mimes, and more than enough charisma to sustain this one person show.

The only point of criticism would be that although it starts off strongly with audience interactions suitable for family audiences these seemed to trail off quite quickly (although this may be due to an entirely adult audience at the time of review) and it seems not quite certain if it’s aiming towards the family market or more towards the physical theatre market. It is certainly a refreshing break from the darker, more harrowing physical theatre performances on the fringe. If you want to see a highly capable performer, and a show that will leave you with a warm sense of nostalgia, Head in the Clouds is certainly worth a visit. FOUR STARS

Reviewer – Lydia Mason

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Broke

Aug 1

Posted by yodamo

Pleasance Dome

16.10

£10-£12

1-25 Aug

(not 12)

To see a queue curl round like a lock from a judges wig before August is impressive but to throughly entertain and educate an audience is tougher. ‘The Paper Birds’ production ‘Broke’ is already a triumph.

Jenna McDonnell and Kylie Walsh show fabulous versatility in performing various characters and scenarios explaining what and how it is like to have financial difficulties in modern Britain. Shire professionalism is shown from the off with quirky projections and animations. Thorough research is presented with statistics and voice clippings from interviews.

The real charm of the show comes from composer and third performer Shane Durrant, adding a relatable dimension to McDonnell’s and Walsh’s full bodied acting/timely movements – look out for Shane’s game show hosting ability!

Explaining what it is like to be broke today is already a difficult task as a different scapegoat can appear in the public eye weekly. Without having an aggressive political stance ‘Broke’ explains the social problems of finance and class in a witty, warming and emotional way. Truly well thought out and original. FIVE STARS

Reviewer – Tim Biglowe

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Outings

Aug 1

Posted by yodamo

Gilded Balloon Teviot

1-25 August (not 13)

13.00

£12-£13

It was the my first Fringe outing,I met Foxycat Nina for coffee on the Meadows. We decided to see which Shows would be given to us for free. The first was Outings.A play by Mathew Baldwin and Thomas Hescott at the.Gilded Balloon. Stories experienced by Gay people about the pains of coming out since Homosexuality was made Legal in 1967.

The Story of a young lads experience of being called Puff, Queer,Homo,Quentin. Through out his schooling. This brought tears to my eye’s as it reflected my own experience and could totally empathize with the three years of hell,he was describing.

I know that I have always been a Gay girl trapped in a mans body.To hear this experience being described as Trans Gender, was very affirming.

I can not recommend this wonderful piece of theater enough..

Five Stars

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

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