Summerhall: Dissection Room

Aug 1 – Aug 24

£5.00-£11.00

5.20pm

“Any form of intellectual or mental insight or anything which resembles cohesion is quite

unintentional,” so reads the disclaimer on the projection screen which serves as a backdrop to

this slice of absurdist chaos. Imagine what a piece of theatre would look like if David Lynch

and David Byrne met in a pub then used a Ouija board to channel the spirit of Samuel Beckett

and Cabaret Voltaire. Klip is a movement-based, theatre piece of BIG, disparate ideas and in

the true spirit of Theatre of the Absurd there is no clear narrative. At one point, a grown man

irons himself and then tries to persuade the iron to come with him for a walk. Leeks are used

as weapons of assault. Colanders are worn hat-like on heads. A leg of ham is suspended

from the ceiling. A soliloquy is performed on the topic of, “What goes on in a chicken’s

head?” A man is suspended upside down from a harness and stays silently hanging there, as

the audience leave the venue.

Through all the chaos, there appears to be an underlying message conveyed about the

fragmentation of society. In one segment, a man croons a moving ditty over a cacophony

of arguing voices and you can’t help but feel that on some level, there is a nod being made

towards current global conflict versus the smokescreen of light-entertainment shows such as

The Voice and how they are used to distance and pacify us. Intellectual insight achieved.

Company director, Pete Livingstone’s original music is excellent, as is his voice and

soundtracks many a moment of playful madness through the course of proceedings.

Performed by a lesser theatre company, this show might have descended into ‘Legs Akimbo’

style Cringe Fringe, but Livingstone’s Kabinet execute it all with great style and conviction.

As you might have surmised by now, this show is not to be recommended to anyone other

than the seasoned theatre enthusiast and lover of all things wonky, quirky and oddball. It’s

shows like this however, that are the beating heart of the Edinburgh Fringe and embody the

variety-filled spirit of it all. Its 5 stars are richly deserved.FIVE STARS

Reviewer: Gill Monaghan

Assembly George Sq

12.25

3-25 August (not 11 & 12)

£10-£12

I was given a ticket to review this show on Wednesday, while cutting a rug at the Spiegeltent’s first erected outing in Saint Andrews Square.My first Mumble Mission. To review The Edinburgh Festival Magazine’s opening party. Brandon Carter liked my moves.

So, I arrived at the venue 12,25 am on Thursday. The Show opened with a dance sequence of body popping excellence, this really stoked my fires. Preparing me for the ride that was to follow.

This play takes us to an America, where the stink of Apartheid still leaves its aroma,a reminder of a not-too-distant past where people were hung from trees because of the colour of their skin and cultural background.Man’s inhumanity to man expressed by a passive aggressive statement.Three nooses are found hanging from the branch’s of a Tree in the school playground. A statement that opened a seeping wound of social injustice. Enough to add insult to the injury caused by the past brutalities of white mans fear,ignorance and racial intolerance.

A part of America that would prefer the uncomfortable truth to remain under the carpet. A nation that has been built upon the Pain Of Slavery. Is it any wonder White America is worried. There is a bleeding wound that is still in need of Healing.

Blood At The Root, has a message that is relevant and deeply moving & yes, guys, another five star review. Well deserved. 

Reviewer : Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

Assembly George Square

2-10, 12-25 August

16.10

£11

It all takes place in the bedroom. Two realities, one called Innocence and one called Maturity. Innocence is called Leah and is 15 years of age. A girl maturing into a Lady, excited about the cherry she will pop with the fittest lad in school.

Maturity’s name is Georgie, a thirty-something example of how the grief of experience, if left unresolved, makes one dysfunctional. Having recently lost her Dad, Maturity uses the unenlightened methods of coping. Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll. Throwing inhibition to the wind, without a thought of how her actions are compounding the shadow of her unresolved experience.

Innocence explores a girl’s world where none of Maturities neurosis exist an age before heart break and loss. Leah is at the beginning of her journey; pretty, clever and a clearly loved fifteen year old. So much so there was not a heart that didn’t melt in the audience.

Maturity and Innocence work it out together.

With a beautifully written script and an immaculate thespian presentation, we were invited into the brilliant mind and subconscious of the author. Bruntwood prize winner Anna Jordan.

This a five star show and am sure Anna will be receiving a lot more awards before the end of this festive season. Again, This will be a sell out. Its only a tiny theatre & like the performance it houses, it is all very Intimate.

Reviewer – Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert

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

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

Pleasance Courtyard

14.15

July 30 – Aug 24

£7-12

Byron’s emotive, highly charged account of his time sectioned under the Mental Health act is an uncomfortable journey for us that pushes us and reaches out to us asking for us for be more tolerant of people who have mental illness. He asks us to consider if the treatments that patients in this country receive for being officially “not normal” are worse than the illness itself. The list of side effects of his medication is astounding as is his courage to stand up and give a warts and all account of his journey to get to that point and the personal pain he has suffered by being placed in one of our psychiatric establishments. It’s a serious subject but he gives us moments of plenty of moments of levity.

An interesting and informed performance to make us think about how society judges those with mental illness and the power that those that draw the metaphorical line between sane and insane and the ramifications that that can have for that individual. This is brave and entertaining theatre. THREE STARS

Reviewer David McMenemy

Pleasance Dome

1-25 August (not 12th)

15.00

£7.50-£11

Jane Upton likes to put a bit of her life into her plays, as attested by 2011’s Fringe debut, Bones, which reflected her early years in Nottingham. Now living in the The Isle of White, she’s poured the very scent of the sea into her new play, Swimming, a sample of which you can see here;

The story plunges us into the world of teenage seasonal work, bringing three young ‘uns together to work out the interchanges & interplays of youth. This is done to the constant splish-splash of a wave-soundtrack, which really does soothe the senses as we immerse ourselves in the excelentl theatricals.

Jane Upton is a young writer, & this shines through in her choice of street-slang words & subjects, from masturbating blisters to cunts, cocks & minges. The lines are delivered with real confidence by the cast of three, which includes Bad Education’s Jack Bence. The stage is smartly set & there is one amazing scene where two of the characters strip off & wade into the Solent, which freaks out Mr Bence somewhat, who then simulates driving his car at his cowering semi-nude co-star.

Although aimed at the younger end of the theatre-going public, this play is a real treat & fully deserves its FOUR STARS

Reviewer- Damo Bullen

Gilded Balloon

July 31st-Aug 25th (not 11th)

£8-£10

12.30

And so it begins…

I got a free ticket for this show from a pretty frauline in Bristo Square, & so left it to Karma to commence this year’s fringe-a-thon. The play I was given took place in the Gilded Balloon in the University buildings at Bristo Square, a thought-proving hour which told the story of a young American bombadier in the Second World War – Howard Zinn. Through songs & tapped-out rhythms, Zinn’s musings on the end of the war & his own needless bombing of an innocuous French town form the core of this series of vigenettes which flows together quite seamlessly.

 A reading of some of the play

The company are based in LA, & bring that city’s sharpness & bombast to the stage with a wry aplomb, although with it being the first show of the run, & could feel that the players hadn’t quite gelled completely. They look good, though, five young actors & actresses clad in dining attire, with an equally black & white backdrop including a game of PONG – that mad tennis-game arcade game from the seventies.

So, I left the theatre satisfied, though not enthralled, & feel the show has laid down a great marker for future reviews this month – therefore I can only give it TWO STARS

Reviewer : Damo Bullen