theSpace @ Venue45
Edinburgh Fringe, 2023

Hinc Illae Lacrimae

Intimacy – is it about pleasure, compassion, love – all of the above? This new two-hander by Sarah Nelson, staged by Watershed Productions, raises complex questions about where and how people seek intimacy and their different needs for physical pleasure and emotional connection.

Chloe (Caitlin O’Ryan) is interviewing Nel (Imogen Greenwood) for her masters thesis and the questions pertain to her sexual history and values. It’s highly personal but Nel is an empowered character and confident in her sexuality. There is overwhelming judgment from Chloe, it seems, so Nel stridently defends herself and together they unpack their respective interpretations of sexual culture.

This play lays everything out where, despite Nel’s assertiveness, Chloe also divulges highly private experiences and their connection deepens. Both characters agree with the discrimination and unequal power dynamics that women are subjected to on a daily basis but each have distinctly different journeys to arrive at their individual sexual cultures.

This presents a contrast that celebrates difference, but also allows a dramatic tension to develop, where conflict is understandable and relatable, without anyone being correct or incorrect per se. It’s interpretive and honest and, in this process, the audience are challenged to negotiate an ethical map without necessarily being sure where the footholds are.

There were some strong elements to the writing but much that rang as unnatural and expositional to me – although I was wondering whether that might have been the actors being distracted because there was an infant/baby making significant noise throughout the play (which was being filmed too, poor guys). For the first half, the listening wasn’t particularly strong which meant the behaviour was self-generated and a little artificial. It felt like only at the end of the play, was the contact between the actors deep enough to make me believe they were naturally interacting and I wonder whether they would have been strong the whole way through if it wasn’t for the distraction.

I did enjoy how the play crescendoed as the pressure-cooker built. A strong twist and strong emotional catharsis arrive in the second half and the characters must find new levels of compassion to be able to process their situation. The characters end up learning that intimacy isn’t just about knowing your partners but also knowing yourself and finding compassion for others.

Stuart Bruce

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
Edinburgh Fringe, 2023

Ex Pede Herculem

Despite his most famous reputation, the biography of William Shakespeare is scanty short on details. A signature here, an obscure anecdote there, it is down to a metemimesial study of the plays & poems themselves to tell us more about the man. The rest, by the way, is just made up, or we might use Tudor-Stuart materielle yet extant to flesh out the meager skeleton of Shakespeare that we have. Create a whole dinosaur from a single tooth, kinda vibe.

& so to Upstart, by Mary Jane Schaefer. First things first, what an absolutely adorable set, one’s receptacle mind is instantly plung’d into that in which Shakespeare plied his pen & trade. The costumes & back-drops are beautiful, & when wedded to Tudor songs & a dialogue fully-form’d of Elizabethean & Jacobean phraseology, the suspension of disbelief is exceptional.

The play consists of two elements. The first of these, & how the play begins, is the elder Judith reminiscing on her famous father. Immediately one is struck by the quality & authenticity of the language which Schaefer has put on the lips of Judith. I mean hearing phrases such as ‘‘twill serve’ – I love that sh!t. The second element of this play is an imagin’d account of Judith’s younger self & her interactions with her famous father – including classic Shakespearean motifs, well Commeddia dell’arte really, of cross-dressing disguises

‘His muse was a trollop who’d ran off with lesser men‘

A major figure in this reworking was a lady of color from London who of course would have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets. There’s a great seen when Anne, Shakespeare’s wife, is reading the sonnets c.1609 v- in fact gossipy Stratford villagers are leaving copies outside her house showing her husband not only loved the handsome youth but also the Dark Lady & her wiry hair. Classic stuff, altho’ of course the real Dark Lady was in fact the Turkish noble woman who frees William Stanley from his blasphemical incarceration in Istanbul. Well, that’s what I think anyway!

Yes, an absolute darling of a piece is this – all the performers are adorable to watch & I would advise anyone with a hint of a love for Shakespeare to see this – he really is brought back to life with eloquence & energy better than any cinematic attempt. The humanity of the great brooding poet is on show for all to see. My only gripe was how politely handl’d, or skiff’d over, was the ‘second best bed’ offering by Shakespeare to his wife in his will. This was a perfect chance to kick a nail out of his coffin & hammeringly ram it into Anne’s heart – it was far too nice an ending, but why not anyway?

Damo

C Aurora
Aug 27 (18:20)

Exceptio Probat Regulum

The ‘Holy Trinity,’ let’s say, of Christianity, is form’d by the Gospel accounts of Jesus, the teachings of St Paul, & the lives & martyrologies of the later saints. Among the latter group, the Confessions of St Augustine, completed about 400 AD, is one of the key texts for the encouragement of conversion to Christianity, of how to step from the dirging slurge of a sinful life into a virtuous blissdom of bright & shining rightness.

A massive best-seller, let’s say, in previous millennia, by 2023 the Confessions are being sidelined, somewhat, from mainstream culture. I don’t think I would have pick’d it up to read myself, but seeing Stephan Callaghan‘s one man version of the play yesterday has fill’d that gap, broadening my gnosis in the process.

The play begins with me realising why the play is call’d Oggie Oggie! Oggie – of course, it is short for Augustine, & all of a sudden we are whipp’d to Maryhill or summat in Glasgow listening to Augustine‘s mis-spent youth metamorph’d into a dodgy, beer-swilling Weegie. I mean, it is brilliantly play’d, but a strange start because it’s not too long afterwards that all trappings of modern Glasgow are lost & we are spirited into the 4th century times of Saint Augustine & his tale. 

As a performer, Sephen is flawless, & energetic, & his powerful, clear voice projects so well – he really is quite commanding of our attention. The production is also top class – great music, great lighting, great vibes. There are also some lovely audience interactions, rare in theater, but which really do work. Oggie! Oggie Oggie! Is ultimately a highly entertaining biopic, in which Augstine is brought back to life by the dramatic skills of Callaghan. A superb treat!

Damo

theSpace @ Surgeons Hall
Aug 26 (16:05)

Fabas Indulcet Fames

As a man who spent the first half of his life in the analogue era, & the second in the digital, I remain resolute & steadfast in my decision NOT to find someone via the internet to go out with on a date. Where’s the magic in that – no, my poetical spirit just finds the whole thing icky. Saying that, a lot of people have gone on to find meaningful & lasting relationships via the internet, two of which, altho’ obviously dramatical creations, are Wendy & Liam, a couple of Irish emotional misfits whose journey thro’ the seven spheres of love-falling is play’d out with a reyt sense of humor, like – I laugh’d harder & deeper during the Bad Daters than I I had even the best comedians I have seen thus far at the Fringe.

‘I’m bored out my tits – say something interesting or I’m out of here‘ – Wendy

Of our two characters, the star of the show is Wendy (Sarah Maria Lafferty) & her brooding underlooks, mainly because the man she meets, Liam (Brian Gallagher) plays rather a subdued-of-soul fella, a gentle foil to Wendy’s tempest. She comes across as a coarse-chopping, anxiety-boiling cauldron of entertainment that shouldn’t be in the dating game, but is driven by the primal need for the perpetuation of the species which drives us all into a need for a mate. Let the thawing of the Ice Queen ensue!

Other elements to this play include, of course, Derek Murphy’s incredibly canny writing, he is reyt on the pulse, like, but I also lov’d all the physical nuances the actors brought to the play, such as the one time Wendy look’d happy about spending time with Liam while speaking to her sister (I think) on the phone – a smile that Liam would never see, hidden as it was by her turbulent soul. Yes, The Bad Daters, this flaw’d & fluttering humming of harden’d hearts, is a pure paean to the awkwardness of love-matching, & is a proper bangin‘ treat!

Damo

Underbelly Circus Hub
Aug 25-26 (18:20)

Every Fringe I will always try & visit the Underbelly’s takeover of the meadows, just because they simply do bring us the very best in cutting edge circus. This year it was Peep Show, & what a truly magnificent spectacle it was! An acrobatically astounding series of stunts & stands, all escorted to rhythmic perfection by the deep & booming industrial beats of a DJ.

Sexy, erotic, quirky, quixotic, I really enjoy’d the constantly flowing, constantly evolving aesthetics of the show,it was all a bit like circus cubism, so tangl’d & twisting were the shapes elongating before our eyes. A swizzing, whizzing, fizzing phrenzie of ever-fluid, gasp-inducing & glorious performances of very clever stuff, it was a wonder. Loudly exclaim’d phrases like, ‘that was amazing,’ ‘that is actually insane’ & ‘that is so fucking cool, man,’ were constantly flicking off my tongue!

I’m definitely hetrosexual, like, & I’m not even ‘in denial’ or whatever, but to see the gladiatorial physiques of magnificent men combin’d with the deftest grace of the most delicate dancers was a real treat. I’m not gonna start composing a load of homoerotic sonnets, or anything, but boy are those boys beautiful!

Alongside them, of course, were the women, completing the yin & yang of nature in perfection. In all my times reviewing circussy stuff these ten years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a scintillatingly cohesive union of parts – I mean, the tiniest dip in performance levels & the whole thing comes crashing down, perhaps with leg-breaking, career-ending results. It’s like playing Russian roulette with your limbs – & yer neck!

Watching Peep Show does make you realise we Humans are capable of reaching well beyond the capabilities we think we possess. I’m about to treble the size of my epic poem I’ve already spent twenty years on – that’s what I do. But these guys at peep Show are also approaching the upper slopes of Parnassus where the acrobatic avatar of Terpsichore is preparing a reyt funky aftershow party for this young, supercool & phenomenally talented troupe.

Damo

Assembly Rooms, Front Room
Aug 25-27 (15:30)

Qui Desiderat Pacem Preparet Bellum

At its core, The Rosenberg/Strange Fruit Project is a diasporic tour of an America that created & envelop’d the bitter episode that was the trial execution of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, accus’d of giving atomic secrets to the Russians. Creating for us the frantic & society icing it’s way into the Cold War are two performers; the orator, award-winning actor/playwright John Jiler, & the clarinetist Sweet Lee Odom, who accompanies the words, along with occasional American life-sounds pip’d into the background for extra effect.

The play is essentially a monologue of disparate characters, unified by the desperate tragedy of the youngest son of the Rosenbergs, Robert, orphan’d by paranoid anti-communist McCarthyism & a heavily flaw’d prosecution. After this twist of the knife, came the twist of life which saw the Robert adopted by the man who wrote the song Strange Fruit, seared into public consciousness by Billie Holiday. Among all the scenes, the most moving was when Robert was visiting his mother in prison, with her maternal instinct playing down the best she could the fact that she & his father would soon be fried electrically at Sing-Sing. Poor thing.

The Rosenberg/Strange Fruit Project is heavily Americanised – Shylo, Bull Run, Ike leaving his balls in Normandy, Du Bois, etc.. Multiple references from Stateside history that over ninety nine percent of the Brits cannot relate to. However, at the end of this curious play, the whole room rose & ovated their hearts out with pure off-broadway adulation – perhaps they were mainly American, who knows? Alas, I didn’t quite share the praise-giving, let alone the prize-giving which my role as a reviewer entails.

Saying that, many, many nice touches abounded; subtle costume changes, mysterious jazz sounds cleverly caressing us into the story, & some top notch delivery from Jiler, all fashion a very pleasant spectacle – but I was never gripp’d theatrically. It felt more like non-fiction, rather than a play, however well it was perform’d. I think with such a complex story, more actors are vital – that was my instinct – because, altho Jiler is excellent, it was difficult to suspend one’s disbelief thro the rapidity of character changes. I think, if I wasn’t also trying to assimlate the American cultural references, it might have been easier, but it is a lot to take in otherwise.

Damo

Symposim Hall
Aug 22,24,26 (19:15)

Hodie Mihi, Cras Tibi

The dramaturgical work of Nia Williams was my gateway drug to my, in recent years, growing appreciation of Gilbert & Sullivan. I have accepted the inevitable & will now readily admit, I am a fan – & there’s nowt wrong wi’ that. I mean, her plays are not light opera at all, but the influence is definitely there.

Nia’s creation of Dexter is an ambitious project – I’d seen her Verity before, but we now see Verity’s fiance in a fantastically clever spin-off play all of his own. They are to be married, y’see, & while Verity (Jenna Elliot) is fussing & worrying over every tiny detail of the approaching nuptials, Dexter (Chris Jonstone) is fussing & worrying himself sick as to how he’s going to pay for it all now he’s lost his job.

Thro a world by pepper’d by bathbombs & peanut brittle, the play ticks over at an excellent pace, with our leading two being accompanied by an excellent supporting cast. The dialogue is snappy, inherently human & all the songs are great – I love the dissonant two-voice, three–voice, all-voice harmonies which pour from Nia’s mind to dance around the enchanting note-conjuring of her dancing fingers. The music is provided solely by Nia’s keyboard-piano, but the general effect is a sound much more than the sum of it’s spider-dancing index parts.

The story works its way out against the backdrop of the company of fraudsters to which Dexter had gravitated to in his desperate need for money. Along the way we meet other members of this workforce, who have their own sub-plots, while Verity’s supporting role, altho’ lacking the character depth of her own play, is still a pleasant watch & excellent listen.

My favorite moment was at the Hen Party, when from my angle at the far left corner of the room, all the ladies appear’d like Queen in the video Bohemian Rhapsody, rendering yet another of Nia’s superb multi-vocal’d, interweaving cantata. All-in-all, Dexter is a very modern play, perform’d with precision, & is, I think, an improvement on Verity, tho’ it’s been a while since I saw it. Nia is definitely onto something, here & I hope we get a third installment to complete the possible trilogy!

Damo

Pleasance Courtyard
Aug 22-28 (21:10)

Whow, Whow, Whow. Edinburgh Fringe sees the return of the magnificent seven ‘Showstoppers’ and their Jazzy Blues band. At 9.10pm every night until August the 28th, Something for the Weekend unleash their explosive and highly popular show Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. Like sardines caught up in a trawler’s net, the audience were wriggling with anticipation as the compere lit up the stage with his humour and wit. Scanning the audience like a barcoded steak going through a supermarket, the hunt was on for some subject material for tonight’s proceedings.

Hurling suggestions from all corners of the auditorium, the crowd was soon whipped up into a frenzy. With more ideas than Donald Trump has citations, they finally decided on a Supermarket or to be more precise a Big Tesco’s Supermarket, as their backdrop to this evening shenanigans. So how does Tesco become a musical? Well, we were about to find out. A single word can manifest into a single concept and the results with Showstopper can be miraculous.

Heading down aisle 7, the fruits of their labours were about to change their lives. Love, heartache, relationships, cheating and nearly every other human feeling was brutally attacked with improvised perfection. Thinking on your feet is a must-have skill for your average employee, but this cast are just genius. Like a stick of dynamite blowing up an unwanted tower block, Showstoppers explodes into an inferno of hilarious jokes and gags, leaving the now well-oiled audience in stitches of laughter. With Showstoppers there is no stopping. Sketch after sketch, this show picks up speed like a runaway train and has no intention of stopping at any stations, unless it has a Tesco, a Big Tesco.

This a remarkable show that brings much welcom’d consequences for a now exhilarated audience. Songs that incorporated Lidls, Waitrose, glasses of Presco and insecurities were gulped up in an instant by the hand clapping and cheering punters. Fruit can be bruised if touched too heavily but no other show at the Edinburgh Fringe can touch Showstoppers, certainly no bruising here.

This piece of comedy & musical theatre is straight shooting, straight talking, dirty, funny, honest and delivered with professional venom. Life isn’t a barcode or a trial, its everyday living, and Showstoppers The Musical reminds you to Live your Life. If all the cast members were Dart Players then they would be hitting a Bullseye every time. If its fun your looking for then this is the show for you – Pure excellence !!

Raymond Speedie

Assembly Roxy
Aug 24-27 (21:20 )

Dies Irae

The gods are angry and they’ve chosen the Mythological Theatre Co. to deliver a stunning smackdown at the Edinburgh Fringe – cue the smoke and heavy metal! A low drone of doom emanates from the deep, as through the enveloping plume a cavalcade of characters emerge from another realm to kick our asses. This is ‘Mythos: Ragnarok’ edition.

Classic Norse mythology with all the heroes and villains, legends and lore, this time being played by professional wrestlers. The scale is epic and the biceps are bulging. It’s quite a thing to behold, Odin, Loki et al in full flight and executing top-level combat choreography to gasps and guffaws from an enthralled audience. The directing from Ed Gamester (who plays Odin) is first rate, with the entrances of new characters perfectly placed throughout to keep us maintained at peak bloodlust. The design, costumes and atmospherics from Melanie Watson, are transportative and wonderfully visceral.

Staged in the grand Underbelly church, with its stone columns and rich history, the atmosphere is thick with anticipation. Gamester leads a truly stellar cast each with their own tremendous presence and personality. Richard Summers Calvert, playing Loki, shines, generating the most laughs and establishing strong rapport as the impish half-brother. Thor makes an appearance, except his IQ is struggling to get above his body fat percentage – a novel take on the famous character.

The audience lap up the rivalries and boasting, accepting that the final judgment must ultimately be determined in the ring. The athleticism is fantastic, and the moves made me think there was real injuring happening – but I guess I have scant experience with performance wrestling. The point is – it works – they’re amazing – go see it or you’re missing out.

In the second half the script unfortunately squanders the glorious levity and absurdism earned in the first half, presumedly to serve the tragic meta-narratives around death and sacrifice. I thought the playful tone would have been better sustained for longer but nonetheless, the fight scenes kept everyone in awe till the end.

Gamester informs us that pound for pound this is the most expensive show at the Fringe, which judging by the pounds of muscle on them, must cost a hefty amount to stage. Their dedication is immense and straight after they’ve finished the most physical show I’ve ever seen at the Fringe, they jump back in to pack down the set and clear the stage. Wow.

The only downside was the long seating array, which meant the back half got a markedly less spectacular experience than the front so I recommend getting there early to cue. This show should pretty much have mandated in-the-round seating or thrust, and I’d even lobby for it to get its own purpose built Thunderdome, Mad Max style. But maybe that’s the power of their creation – they have me pumping my dreams to a mythical scale.

It’s good to know that no matter how civilised we get, our blood still pumps for the brutal sport of hand to hand combat of gladiatorial ages past. This troupe captures this primal essence so well. This is how the gods taunt us puny humans with our love for bearing witness, as they smackdown, crash through and break each other apart in a live liturgy of immortal muscularity. See it.

Stuart Bruce

Surgeon’s Hall
Aug 22-26 (15:00)

In Tempore Opportuno

Moving, inspiring, memorable. Keith Alessi performs a powerful one-person show at the Edinburgh Fringe, unpacking his life’s journey to discover a deeper meaning. This is an uplifting piece about recovery and hope. “Every word of this is true” he intones, setting the stage for an hour of honesty and integrity.

The minimalism and directness achieved, in collaboration with director and producer, Erika Conway, has taken him to stages all over the globe and created an overall effect like a fireside chat – receiving wisdom from an elder. A refreshing change of pace and style to many of the shock-and-awe offerings that colour the Fringe, Alessi facilitates a profoundly contemplative journey, drawing on the power of simple truths to nourish you long after you’ve left the theatre. It’s not about getting a laugh from your belly, but rather a smile in your soul.

The initial mystery of how “tomatoes” factor in relates to his Italian heritage and he uses them as a potent symbol for the default programming drilled into him during childhood, which in his case caused him to live a less than fulfilling life. After a great wake-up call, the high levels of acid in tomatoes literally nearly killed him, which then metaphorically represents the high cost to living a switched-off life. The juxtaposition to what banjos offered him as a dual Canadian-US citizen, is manifestly dramatic and presents a compelling throughline as the spine of the show.

The audience were of the older demographic but this message is essential for younger or early-middle-aged folks and I wholeheartedly recommend everyone of any age should see it. “Why on earth didn’t I get my banjos out of the closet forty years ago?!” exclaims Alessi – a clarion call for young and old to start living as richly as you can. He gives us the taste of the sweetness on offer via the various interludes of banjo playing that punctuate the show. His love for the instrument positively lights the room, connecting you to feelings of nostalgia, tradition and humility. Confucious said that you live two lives, and the second one begins when you realise you only have one. This show bottles the grand arc of life and distills it down to the essence using words and music.

Alessi, an accountant by trade, shares that in common with my late father and I can’t help but think that this is the kind of show my Dad might have made had he made a turn to the arts and discovered a deeper passion to life. The Beatles lyric reads “and in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make” and Alessi’s ledger must be heavily in credit now. He enriches audiences all over the planet with a story built on simple truths, the same as good folk music. He’s an artist genuinely in the service of helping people find their best life and what a moving and inspiring project that is.

Stuart Bruce