Paul Foot: Dissolve
Dissolve merges Foot’s abstract wit, endearing idiosyncrasies, and unbridled goofiness with a more serious exploration of the realities of twenty-nine years of mental illness
Character Flaw: 3 star review by Rosa Georgiou
Character Flaw is a vibrant show that celebrates the joys of neurodiversity, and is packed full of Dawson’s warmth and hilarity.
Crying Shame: 3 star review by Rosa Georgiou
Bright, bold, and brimming with potential
Miss Julie: 3 star review by Rosa Georgiou
This rendition of Miss Julie showed powerful potential, but the night's performance overshot in its volume of delivery.
Houdini’s Greatest Escape
Dunlop manages to position a tight storyline within a flyaway comedy, that’s well open to the farcical.
PHOTOGRAPHS
It’s sensitive and moving, whilst managing to portray, with endearing humour, the woes of grief and girlhood.
Hamlet: The Play The Panto The Musical – The Student
A rip-roaring reinterpretation of one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays, Hamlet: The Play The Panto The Musical, is a riotous romp through an age-old story. Wonderfully wacky, and full of charm, this genre-bending musical-mashup is Shakespeare how it should be – dark, witty, and very, very, camp. Written and directed by Hannah McGregor, and with a host of musical numbers created by herself, Sofia Pricolo, Giulia Lovrecich and Falk Meier, Hamlet is an exceptionally well-crafted play, which is per
Sara Barron: Hard Feelings Review – The Student
In a cosy room, tucked away from the hustle-and-bustle of Pleasance Courtyard, Sara Barron delivers an hour of utterly unabashed comedy. A lively performer, she finds a brazen, unapologetic, humour in the tragic, funny and filthy recesses of life. Tackling head-on experiences of ageing, miscarriage, and the occasional joy in being the ‘bitchy one’, this is a hard-hitting but hilariously honest stand-up show.
Warming the audience with an age-old bit about being an American living in the UK, Barr
Warming the audience with an age-old bit about being an American living in the UK, Barr
Michael Spicer: The Room Next Door Review – The Student
Walking out onto the stage wearing his classic red-hoodie black-top combo, Michael Spicer appears as though he’s stepped straight out of our lockdown Twitter feeds. To his right, is a large lecture podium; to his left is an overflowing, mug-laden desk; and behind him, a projector screen. Immediately adopting a droll, on-stage persona, he gives the audience a weary glance before beginning.
Describing the format of the show to be a part lecture on his experiences of going viral, and part ode to t
Describing the format of the show to be a part lecture on his experiences of going viral, and part ode to t
Film Club – An Improvised Comedy Review – The Student
Film Club is a cinematic-based comedy improv troupe that’s taking PBH’s Free Fringe by storm. Performing daily in Revolution Bar’s downstairs Function Room, the small group is introducing a fun twist on improvised theatre to their eager lunchtime audiences. Rooting a series of improvised scenes from a given movie genre, the group produced a quick-witted and cleverly crafted hour long-performance.
Opening with a brief spiel explaining the concept of the performance, Chris East quickly warmed the
Opening with a brief spiel explaining the concept of the performance, Chris East quickly warmed the
ZIP IT Review – The Student
Brought to Fringe by Annabel Harrison Productions, with an all-female cast and crew, ZIP IT is a powerful new theatre production that, in a determined and self-assured manner, leads its audience through a hazy blend of emotional highs and lows.
Packed full of striking emotional shifts, ZIP IT explores the distressing way in which stories of domestic violence are deconstructed for mass consumption and media entertainment. Making a cleverly constructed critique of TV chat shows, in particular, th
Packed full of striking emotional shifts, ZIP IT explores the distressing way in which stories of domestic violence are deconstructed for mass consumption and media entertainment. Making a cleverly constructed critique of TV chat shows, in particular, th
Tom Ward: Anthem Review – The Student
Rocking up to this year’s Fringe with his unmistakeably indie haircut, and wearing an out-of-season cagoule, Tom Ward walks out into the packed Monkey Barrel room as the final chorus of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger blares from the speakers. From one anthem to another, Ward launches into his side-splitting new hour of stand-up comedy, Anthem.
Exploring themes of identity, such as class, sexuality, and mental health, alongside broader topics such as the climate crisis and advertising, Ward brings
Exploring themes of identity, such as class, sexuality, and mental health, alongside broader topics such as the climate crisis and advertising, Ward brings
Schalk Bezuidenhout Review – The Student
Already a well-established voice on the South African Comedy circuit, Bezuidenhout returns to Edinburgh this year with his second Fringe show, after his successful debut in 2019. Impressively translating his comedic talents from his native Afrikaans to English, Bezuidenhout takes us on a whistle-stop comedy tour of his youth and childhood.
Crossing the Void Review – The Student
Crossing The Void is a dark, exhilarating glance into the vast chasms created by grief, guilt, and isolation. An impressive Fringe debut for Edinburgh-based theatre company Koi Collective, in collaboration with scriptwriter Sally MacAlister, Crossing the Void is a brave premiere, which profoundly explores the fracturing of old friendships, in a sensationally supernatural light.
Cheeky Girls Review – The Student
A nimble ode to all the splendid disarray and fantasy of youth, Cheeky Girls wonderfully captures how the hazy reality of family and life dynamics intercepts with the perceived invincibility of being young, carefree, and just a little bit cheeky.
Lou Sanders: One Word: Wow – The Student
Lou Sanders is rarely if ever, one to limit herself to just one word. Instead, with a delightfully warm wit, she propels herself through a wacky and winding stream of half-intelligible stories, that are punctuated with perfectly crafted looks of mock sincerity, or sublimely withering gasps, often directed to individually selected audience members. In this way, rather than being a meticulously planned and cleanly executed show, Lou lets the audience in on something altogether more special – an ho
Olives and Blowjobs Review – The Student
Dressed in a creased white school shirt – with top button loose, and bottom-half, half-tucked into the waistband of some semi-formal black joggers – Ollie Maddigan darts onto the stage with the nervous, bundled-up buzz of a pubescent adolescent, perfectly capturing the fifteen-year-old self he seeks to portray. He launches immediately into an impressive, 70-minute confessional drama, based on the semi-autobiographical trajectory of his own teenage years. Through a powerful, self-assured, perform
Rap God Review – The Student
A seasoned Fringe performer, comedian, and freestyle rap artist, Chris Turner is not short of words or rhymes in this fast-paced, improv filled, rap bonanza. Claiming the improbable position of “Rap God”, Turner packs the show with a robust display of his credentials. From the milky way boy of rap, to roman numerically based musical comedy, Turner displays a certain omnipotence when it comes to his mastery of this improv-comedy-rap based genre. Undoubtedly impressive, his performance is, though,
Love Me or I’ll Kill Myself Review – The Student
Sand, glitter, sweat, and tears. This is a love story, told with a frank and brutal messiness. Born from the creative partnership of performance artist Faith Brandon and award-winning theatre director Jonathan Young, Love Me or I’ll Kill Myself is an ambitious new production, which blends the autobiographical trajectory of Faith’s love life, with an experimental one-woman performance piece. Exploring the things that we do to make us believe we can control love, Faith delves into the devastating
Jenny Bede: The First Pregnant Woman in the World Review – The Student
Jenny Bede is, so she claims, the first person in the world to have experienced the peculiar, life-changing ordeal that is having a baby. Luckily for us, this award-winning musical comedian is generous enough to share in the knowledge: from vaginas to piano practice, she’s got the ins and outs of motherhood covered in this whimsical show. Over the course of an hour, Bede sings, jokes, and shuffle-dances her way through the last 84 or 48 weeks of life with child, because what is motherhood if not
Happy Birthday, Mr President! Review – The Student
Clad in a peroxide blonde wig, and a dazzling floor length gown, Ellie MacPherson arrives on stage with a sultry confidence, and, as the American Anthem drones on in the background, she launches into a flawless impersonation of Marylin Monroe singing Happy Birthday, Mr President! From here, MacPherson doesn’t miss a beat, as she delves into the lives and characters of all forty-five Presidents of the United States of America through a fast-paced blend of pop-song mashups and riotous trivia. Unde
The Beatles Were a Boyband Review – The Student
CW: this play explores the impact of violence, harassment and misogyny, including transcripts of hate speech and police reports.
What do you do when, “the world keeps worlding”, whilst women are getting killed on your streets, getting spiked on nights out, and, oh, whilst your flatmate has just been discovered by a bunch of incels on the internet? The Beatles Were a Boyband is an urgent response to the misogyny and male violence facing women today. Returning to a bigger venue after their sell-o
What do you do when, “the world keeps worlding”, whilst women are getting killed on your streets, getting spiked on nights out, and, oh, whilst your flatmate has just been discovered by a bunch of incels on the internet? The Beatles Were a Boyband is an urgent response to the misogyny and male violence facing women today. Returning to a bigger venue after their sell-o
Carr Crash – Father/Daughter Comedy Review – The Student
Father-daughter duo Leslie and Ruby Carr are crashing into their debut Fringe performance with an intergenerational mash-up of Artificial Intelligence themed observational comedy. Armed with a working memory of dial-up and computer coding reliant on the Royal Mail, Leslie is the self-proclaimed representative of the Boomer generation in this fledgling partnership, bringing to it a steady contrast to Ruby’s Gen-Z, internet-based upbringing. Together, they cover ground from the shocking commercial
Fringe 2022: Black is The Colour of My Voice Review – The Student
Written back in 2013, and performed across the country ever since, Black is the Colour of My Voice has been honed to a fine show, nothing short of perfection. Writer and performer of this one-woman masterpiece, Apphia Campbell delivers a mesmerising performance in the role of Mena Bordeaux, a pseudonym used to represent the legendary jazz musician and activist Nina Simone, whose life-story unfurls in this hour-long adaptation.
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