Venue 13

August 18-22

14:00 (1h 15m)

£8.00

This highly emotional performance deals with an array of social issues. Set in the 1950’s, Martin Luther King played by Mark M. Cryer is staying at a motel when he orders room service and gets more than he bargained for. Venue 13 is set in a building usually used as a church hall. But when entering the theatre space you are enclosed from the outside world. The fluency gets faster as the play progresses and as we bond with the two characters: Mr King and a service maid named Camae, played by Kiana Sosa. The few of us who turned up, a total numbering 6, found ourselves laughing at intimate moments.

Bare Naked Theatre challenge the norm by bringing important issues to the fore. A quick search on Youtube shows that the issue of racism is just as relevant today as it was then. There is a refreshing interplay between the two characters in this regard. The set is stark. His room in a motel. The dialogue is crisp and the story is crisper. Emotional ties are examined and become broader and deeper reflecting the importance of King’s very great achievements as a human rights activist. His relevance in the fight for equality resonates with his fellow African Americans who are represented by Camae’s character.

The play uses dialogue in a powerful way building up the story and the subject offering a righteous but humble portrayal of Mr. King’s more personal feelings about what he did and importantly what he did not do. There is a light hearted progression from start to finish and I left the theatre with a broad smile on my face. The maid used the crowd for her method. Watching her engage the crowd involving them with the power of her stare was both tender and touching. When Mr. King spoke his voice demanded to be heard, highlighting the man known for the quality of his powerful speeches. Theatre like this should be seen by as many people as possible. FOUR STARS

****

Reviewer: Daniel Donnelly

Greenside @ Nicolson Square
20th-22 – 24 – 29 August
15:05
£8-£10

*****

This is a traditional play from the island Okinawa in Japan. Tradition seems to be the word. The traditional costumes, wooden instruments and folk music were just awe inspiring, if explosive was the start I couldn’t wait to see what was next.  Following the story of Sanla and his wife, embarking on this exotic love story the cast of 8 (including the musicans) proceeded to take us on that same journey..

With acted scenes of village life, fishing, farming and beautiful dance the wooden drums and violin touched your heart. At this point I got goose bumps !!!  The acting, the back drops, the music , the costumes and the miming all added to the magical atmosphere that had engulfed the room. To be presented with such a well written, acted and delivered piece of Japanese life was a true privilege . Looking around the room at the audience I could see that they felt the same as me, spiritually uplifted with what was happening in front of them…

The cast hard worked hard at perfecting this, with the classical Ryukyu Court dance came a  delicate but beautiful piece of magic. With the sound of the Sanshin in the background (a type of Japanese guitar), this part of the show moved like silk from a spiders web, capturing that moment in time.  The drumming was thunderous but soothing at the same time, whilst the violin just tweaked your heart strings.  From courtship, to marriage to the birth of their child, this was a wee peak into daily life on the island of Okinawa , I must add that all the cast are from Okinawa and did their island proud…

This show has travelled to many places around the world and we should be glad that they have returned to Edinburgh to let us be part of their life”s..  In so many words, this show was spectacular , beautiful, colourful, awesome , inspiring, uplifting, warm and  very well presented..   There was also a wee touch of Scotland added in, I am sure I heard the violin treating us to the sound of Amazing Grace !!!!   Well done to all the cast of Okinawa Sansan for a true look at Japanese life and culture…  I will be going to see this show for a second time before it ends. FIVE STARS

 Reviewer : Spud

Summerhall

20th-30th (not saturdays)

14:00

£6

Divines itinerary of Wednesdays reviews and witness began at Summerhall for the rather refreshing “Womans Hour”. Before hand I had a jolly good tinkle on the ‘Anatomy Of The Piano’ Man’s Piano, at the entrance of Summerhall. It was a musical day. So a light hearted Lesbian Romp was just the ticket. There were lots of pictures of of some beautiful examples of the vulva, cinder-cooked bra masturbation scenes and lots of surreal silliness.

Believe me, Women’s Hour by Sh!t Theatre is very sexy and will appeal to gay girls and straight men in equal measure. This was a massive fuck you to homophobes everywhere!! The essence of the play is feminist, yes, but done with tongue firmly in cheek that’s a real treat to witness. Yet, the silliness detracts from what are really quite core issues in the modern world, & one finds oneself not completely willing to laugh along. Yet…

*

It was loud.
It was proud.
It had all the right ingredients for a mid-afternoon orgy. Take a cushion and a box of tissues!

Reviewer : Make ‘Calvert’ Divine

Queens Hall
19 – 22 August 2015
The Queen’s Hall
20.00

Divine is not well read up on Scottish Literary Talent. So before I went to this immaculate presentation and celebration of the life of a stranger. To be honest I didn’t have a clue. Now this is nae surprising. Paul Bright was a Glaswegian hooligan turned actor come play write of sorts, who was celebrated by a select few, He somehow managed to secure an Art Council Grant to make a film that was only seen by the select few. He enjoyed taking acid and made his film at Traquaire. Spooky coincidence No1. Divine loves Traquaire and has taken Acid there.

*****

*****

There is much to be taken from learning about the life of a man that didn’t as much make a dent of an impression on his critics. They hated his work, he got slated. I actually felt more akin with him than anyone else in the audience tonight. George Anton, tonights host. shunned Paul, once George Anton had achieved well paying roles in London, he told Paul that the relationship between them was over and that he had moved on. Paul died young at 47, leaving George Anton the executor of his estate. His estate comprised of one box. In that box was a tape of the telephone message that George left on Paul’s answering machine, ending the relationship between them. Were they lovers?

Or was this whole presentation the work of one man’s guilt at not been there for his friend?

Paul was Punk as Fuck. the whole Punk ethic of do it your own way shone through here. But what I dinnae understand is, What did he actually achieve? An unfinished film? A published book. Surely there are artists who are more deserving of the reverence that came forward tonight for a man that, well to be right fare, didn’t achieve much at all. I think this is why I enjoyed this lecture so much. What was represented tonight was a tribute to a misunderstood Genius who was never given the opportunity to heal from the battle scars of life Who knows what would have become had Paul been given the opportunity to heal. FIVE STARS

*****

Art is a funny thing.
But I’m not laughing.
I’m thinking!
A tragedy, a fitting epitaph and a moving lesson in performance art.

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Traverse

8th-30th (not mondays)

Times vary daily

£7 – £18

A Gambler’s Guide to Dying is written & performed by the one-man, up & coming theatrical behemeoth that is Gary McNair. Last year his sell-out ‘Donald Robertson is Not a Stand-Up Comedian‘ was pretty a damn fine piece of writing, which now seems more a part of McNair’s juvenilia when compared to this masterful & mature piece of stagerie. Directed by Gareth Nicholls, the theatre was again full & I took my seat before a no-expense spared set of mothball carpets & cardboard boxes. On entering in clothes clearly rifled from his grandpaw’s wardrobe, McNair invites us into the pre-millennium Gorbals of Glasgow, where life expectancy is low, drinking his hard, fights are harder & everyone likes a flutter. According to McNair, back in 1966 to avoid the grievous depressions that watching England win the world cup created north of the border, his grandpaw – Archie Campbell – placed an accumulator bet on the World Cup, citing England to win… & win he did, a small fortune that would eventually be laid on another bet later in life, to see if he could beat pancreatic cancer & live as long as the Millennium. Basically, the guy’s bucket-list was all about distracting his loved-ones from his inevitable & painful demise.

   Archie was the kind of guy – or so he says – who would fall in the Clyde & spring up with a salmon in his mouth. His windfall at the age of 32 was the starting block for McNair’s examination of familial relationships, the fuzziness of memory-collation – the version of a version of a man – & the ancient rags-to-riches folk motif dearly loved by all. There was even a spot of the Aenied in an opening passage quite remarkable in such a young playwright, when as Aeneas entered the underground & looked forward to the Age of Augustus, so did McNair spin through his grandpaw’s post-win life with the same epic ease.  A fantastic piece, that flows all warm & funny – if it would have had a couple of the later, perhaps superfluous scenes, cut out, it would have been an easy five stars, but in the end a very worthy FOUR STARS.

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

Venue 13

 ****

 ****

CalArts Festival Theater’s Francesca, Francesca portrays American photographic virtuoso Francesca Woodman as she matures from student to working artist and finally to her despondent death. Suffering from paranoia and little faith in the power of her work jarred with her incongruous narcissism. Incongruous because it was at polar odds with the shyness that Woodman just couldn’t shake which is evident in her shrinking self portraits. This brave lady got smaller and insignificantly blurrier as her short career of roughly a decade progressed culminating in her throwing her twenty two year old self out a high rise in New York in the early eighties.

****

 Unfortunately like Amy Winehouse and Alexander McQueen the tragic end of such enviable capability cut short while riding high on the crest of their respective careers overshadows and cloaks them in an air of mystery that becomes another complicated layer to peel off. Talking about peeling off there has to be reference to nudity to portray Woodman with any sense of conviction but the adult content warnings could be revised with a more honest Warning : contains some clothing! Actresses Chelsea DuVall (Francesca) and Skylar Hamblen (Sloan) are convincing, acting oblivious to their nakedness which may well be a tool to convey their tender friendship in this biographical fictitious but partially true tale of driving ambition and personal angst. This gives the audience a more uncomfortable feeling of inappropriate spying like we are looking at an uncurtained life and I wonder if this voyeuristic edginess is indeed intended and appropriate to get us into her headspace. Conceptually aware at such a tender age due to artistic parents who furnished her with a sketchbook at every museum they visited,Woodman was known to be the best photographer at Rhode Island School of Design.Cindy Sherman cites her as an important influence in crafting her artistic voice.

****

****

Exploration of self and gender were Woodman’s missions, analyzing her representation of the body in relation to its natural or man-made environment. It is fitting that her small and highly personal photographs are projected in the small space of Venue 13 where the multimedia performance is projected onto a rusty roll top bath that makes for sharp screen viewing that is less lucid on the muslin backdrops behind.At times serene this work shows an obvious fascination for and insight into Woodman’s working methods and experimental approach to her subject matter.Directed by Megan Lewicki,written by Chelsea DuVall with considered set deign by Jesse Garrison.Objective theatre that challenges the bias that negatively enshrouds Francesca Woodman.This team deserves its significant kickstarter sum and our support. FOUR STARS

 ****

 Reviewer: Clare Crines

Greenside @ Nicholson Square

18-22 / 24-29

12.20

****

“If you stop for a second then maybe you wont start again”

****

Tom is an ordinary father in on ordinary world. As a kid he was read the heart-warming tale of Ferdinand, a bull who preferred to smell the flowers rather than fight with the other bulls. Then he grew up, fell in love & had a boy, who he also called Ferdinand. Then he lost his wife & became a very hard-working single father. A one-man show played by the male half of the husband-wife theatrical team that are Tasty Monster Productions (Luke Tudball & Heather Bagnall),  the way Tom brings his wee son Ferdy to life is a wonderful piece of conjuration.

****

****

Ferdy’s growth curve is given us in a series of life-slices in front of a lovely set, with the central scene being the son’s tenth birthday party. Tom is called to work & the sadness of this invisible young boy really reaches out to the heartstrings. An excellently realistic piece, its stirs our deeper emotions with a placid simplicity, & like the perfect hollywood animated film, is designed to please both the children & the adults who accompany them. A wee gem. FOUR STARS

****

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

Having a personal interest in the bardic literature of the Welsh (I have translated Y Gododdin) I was delighted to take my seat in the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s lovely wee theatre for Land of the Dragon (gwlad y ddraig) by award-winning  puppeteers, PuppetSoup, of Wales. This magical show mixes the most marvellous gothic puppetry  with the Mabinogion, a collection of tales first collated in the 11th century, a time-capsule of much earlier material stretching back to the age of King Arthur (6th century AD).

*****

 *****

On entering the theatre we are meet with a bleeting sheep, so realistic that it drew a child from his seat to gently stroke its fleece. Behind was a stage of keenly made grotesquerie, a fine backdrop for these tales hewn from the ancient Bardic tradition. Taliesin himself turns up, as the infant babe of the sorceress Ceridwen,  controlled by two puppeteers in order to extend her supernatural presence, especially when she jousted with a dragon.

 *****

 *****

The major story of the show is that of a man, a dog & an egg – when the excellent stagecraft of the Puppetsoup collective goes into overdrive. I loved to see the egg grow & the people/puppets shrink, as every trick of perspective was employed, along with lights & super-atmospheric  music which helped to give the puppets genuine emotions – the perfect realism-inducing mix.

King Dome – Pleasance Dome

6th Aug 2015 – 30th Aug 2015

15:30

*****

*****

Passionate and powerful. Potent but tender. Poignant and bewitching. Mesmerizing and responsive to the extremes of imagination. Electric is not substantial enough to describe fully what a gift this festival oblation is. The ebb and flow between Selma Roth, Guillaume Pige and Alex Judd enthrall as they render our emotions speechless like their act. This third production from Theatre Re will not fail to impress you because everything has been pushed to perfection. First rate lighting and musical score become our language here as the cast journey us through the eyes of a musician who has never seen but responds to ‘the supernatural,the magical and the emotional sparks that seep into us when the eyes are closed.’

*****

*****

This is a rare breed of theater/mime that will etch itself to memory making it impossible to forget which you will be grateful for. Exemplary choreography makes this exceptional meditative magic a massage for you brain.This is a Fringe highlight worth its weight seized.Stop reading – just go before it sells out! FIVE STARS

*****

Reviewer : Clare Crines