YOUR DAILY SHEET OF EDINBURGH FESTIVAL REVIEWS: #09 SATURDAY 14 /SUNDAY 15 AUG

IN EDINBURGH ThreeWeeksGET THREEWEEKS CABARET DIRECT TO YOUR IN-BOX Kabarett: Alternative Variety Itsy Collective There are even more reviews in the As the name suggests this is cabaret, ThreeWeeks eDaily email. and features a selection of samples from Sign up right now for free at other Fringe shows, meaning each night www.ThreeWeeks.co.uk/subscribe has an entirely different line up. The night I went, it was poor: a bumbling, stuttering compere hashed through the introductions, a painstakingly long and fumbling set up led into the performance of a lazy first band not even worth naming. The night’s performers varied wildly from a stripping gay spoken word maestro to a crowd silencing Last night’s audience comedian (Sarah Hendricks). Though The Maydays survived unscathed, it was Pippa called the show The Ripper’s sublime hula hoop act that Flying Without Wings saved the show from being an absolute ‘a tale of retired superheroes’ catastrophe. The only advice for attending What will tonight’s musical be? this show is to check ahead who’s on, or keep your fingers crossed. Gilded Balloon Teviot 10.50pm Voodoo Rooms, 9 – 27 Aug (not 11, 18, 25), 7.15pm www.showstoppermusical.com (8.15pm), free, fpp 83. [ta] *PLUS VAT tw rating 2/5

CHILDREN’S SHOWS

Alice’s Adventures Flying High Theatre Co ‘Alice’s Adventures’ arguably faces a problem – in the wake of Disney’s 2010 adaptation, is a young audience ready to appreciate Lewis Carroll’s tale when it SNAP OF THE DAY: The cast of Vive le Cabaret, with special guest star is devoid of the million-dollar Hollywood treatment? Well, with regard to Flying – for one night only – Sir Walter Scott. Photo: Kate Edwards High’s adaptation, the answer seems to be a resounding yes. From the Mad Hatter’s tea party to the musical-fuelled finale, ‘Alice’s drama teacher, all of which he illustrates The Cheeky Beggars Banquet Adventures’ wins the ardent attention of COMEDY in the old school way with an old school The Cheeky Beggars every audience member. An energetic blackboard. Davies may not be breaking any young cast deliver a slick performance AAA Stand-Up Late Bound And Gagged Niftily adrift of the mainstream, this banquet new comedic boundaries here, but he is had me choking on my shortbread (in a good capturing the kookiness and humour that is Despite being one of the latest shows at the such a superb raconteur that it is impossible way). Warning: This show is not for the synonymous with Carroll’s Wonderland tales. fringe, ‘AAA Stand-Up Late’ was an incredibly not to warm to him. Like meeting up with prudish or faint hearted. However, it certainly The eccentricity of the storyline escapes the professional affair. Steve N Allen was an an old friend with a life-time’s worth of funny is for those who want the darkly surreal with understanding of many of the children, but excellent compère, warming the crowd and stories, it may not be edgy, but it is eminently a witty edge, and to ask themselves whether this only means accompanying adults are left identifying the possible trouble-makers for enjoyable. they did really just laugh out loud at the thoroughly entertained by several cleverly the two acts listening back stage. First on Pleasance Courtyard, 4 - 29 Aug (not 16), 9.45pm clown unaware of the kid with a nut allergy inserted, laughter-inducing quips. Go see! was Irishman Ryan McDonnell, a witty and (10.45pm), £8.00 - £10.50, fpp 68. [gg] in the pecan pie throwing contest. A sketch Augustine’s, 7 – 22 Aug (not 16), 1.25pm (2.10pm), incredibly brave comic, who brought up a show should have you wanting to go home £5.00 - £7.00, fpp 8. [kr] number of taboo subjects and rode over tw rating 4/5 and repeat the entire thing verbatim to your tw rating 4/5 them with ease. The second act was Erich girlfriend without realising you can’t possibly McElroy, an American recently awarded Henry Paker’s 3D Bugle do it justice. The Cheeky Beggars had me British citizenship. His fresh take on Anglo- Best Medicine Management / PBJ Management The Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His laughing all the way back to the station – it American comedy appealed to the packed Business Kipper Tie Theatre ‘Henry Paker’s 3D Bugle’ doesn’t contain was definitely worth the long walk. audience, although some members appeared When a country mole wakes up to find any bugles, but it is very funny. Instead, the to prove the old cliché that Americans don’t Laughing Horse @ The Metropole Café, 6 – 28 Aug someone has left him a nasty surprise, he award-winning comedian contemplates the (not 8, 15, 22), 5.00pm, free, fpp 43. [mb] understand the concept of irony. If you want goes in search of the culprit. Along the way strange new amalgamation of and some Apollo-quality live comedy, then brave tw rating 4/5 he meets a cast of weird and wonderful worn by so-called hoodigans. How the heat of the Cellar. animals, like a hippy goat and a pair of flies would a hoodigan accost you? Would he Jeff Leach: Leach On Society – Free STAND OUT! who are experts in dung detection. Kipper Pleasance Courtyard, 4 – 30 Aug, 11.00pm, £5.00 - demand enough money for the latest Gabriel £9.50, fpp 20. [ajb] Tie Theatre use narration and song to tell Marquez novel in desperate desire for a dose Jeff Leach Your show HERE a sweet story with the perfect balance tw rating 4/5 of magical-realism? Would he, in a polite I can only assume that Jeff Leach is an of humour and heart. The versatile and stupor, insist on giving you money instead? altruist. Many performers on the Free Fringe for just £35* engaging actors are great at getting children Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog An intelligent, imaginative, literary set from are there to hone their skills, or build an or down below involved with catchy refrains and counting Avalon Productions Ltd the Times cartoonist included an impressive audience, but on the strength of this comedic games, and the characters - particularly A near-death experience prompted Greg impromptu five minute sketch - entirely in tour-de-force, Leach is in need of neither. for just £80* Hare - are actually among the funniest I’ve Davies to look back on his life and draw French – about ‘Le Petit Meaulnes.’ At times From the moment he bounds on stage, seen at the Fringe this year. This show will together the random instances of pure, wacky, but always wonderful, Henry Paker is a eyes and grin equally wide and full of effusive Advertise in ThreeWeeks charm you, whatever your age. inconsequential joy (including the titular very funny man and I laughed a lot. charm, he had the packed venue captivated C, 4 - 30 Aug, 10.00am (10.45am), £4.50 - £8.50, fpp canine-related incident) that make him glad The GRV, 5 - 29 Aug (not 16), 7.50pm (8.50pm), £2.50 wholly. His routine, ranging over his life and www.ThreeWeeks.co.uk/ - £5.00, fpp 69. [mm] 14. [crc] to be alive. He gleefully dips into his treasure- cont>> advertising *PLUS VAT tw rating 4/5 trove of anecdotes about his family, his tw rating 4/5 school-days, and his time as a depressed

MORE REVIEWS PLUS NEWS, INTERVIEWS AND EXCLUSIVE COLUMNS: WWW.THREEWEEKS.CO.UK cont>> loves, was surprisingly honest, and Haunted action. O’Connor’s characterisation and At Sundown closing minutes, and this makes for a vexing never less than hilarious. At times it was Dance Box Theater physicality save the piece, but the surplus CalArts Festival Theater conclusion that is well worth sticking out unexpectedly risqué for a lunchtime slot – you From demonic possession to Catholic of stereotypical characters serves only to ‘At Sundown’ is interesting for the way it for. Challenging our preconceptions of the have been warned – and I suspect Leach exorcism and suggestions of voodoo, lower the tone of the whole. However, the explores this collectively told autobiography world of Neverland, this is a bold attempt to would be more at home headlining one of the ‘Haunted’ is an exploratory dance piece monologues are engaging, the choreography both physically and lyrically, and it is also reinvent a well loved story. big venues in a late night timeslot. Next year, that draws on different cultural paradigms insightful, and if further gestures to ease the an example of innovative direction, with an C soco, 4 – 21 Aug, 4.35pm (5.35pm), £6.50 - £9.50, fpp 253. [aq] maybe? to explore its central theme. Beautifully physicality into place were incorporated, this effective use of props and sound creating Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 6 – 19 Aug, integrating music and movement, three could make a workable one woman show. an atmosphere full of potential. Sometimes, tw rating 3/5 1.00pm (1.45pm), free, fpp 76. [al] troubadours at the back of the stage use theSpaces on the Mile @ The Radisson, 6 – 21 Aug however, the actors’ movements are sloppy tw rating 5/5 (not 8, 15), 6.05pm (7.00pm) £7.00 - £8.00, fpp 238. simple instruments and snatches of sung [ge] and out of rhythm, and the insertion of Soho Storeys melody to provide an evocative soundtrack Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ dance is bizarre Pleasance for the graceful and carefully-choreographed tw rating 2/5 and confusing. Since this piece is a collection Matthew Hardy – Willy Wonka Explained: Enormous potential, but rough round the motions of the two accomplished dancers. of memories, some element of disjointedness The Veruca Salt Sessions edges. Set in the 1950s, ‘Soho Storeys’ Yet, for all this artistry, I might have expected Stop, Look, Listen is to be expected, but the fact that different Matthew Hardy charts the lives of a group of migrants. the piece to be a little more... well, haunting; Big Smoke Productions actors repeatedly perform certain sections is I’d dearly love to give this show a stunning The piece opens to the sound of a live jazz or to have more of an emotional impact. bewildering. Having said this, moments when review because the premise is so delightful: Taking the theme of community, this play band that creates a real buzz. However, this This is a show that gets everything right, yet dementia and mental illness are touched Hardy, a troubled comic obsessed since centres around a group of people forced to atmosphere is undermined by the cast’s is missing an unidentifiable something that upon are truly evocative, and provide a childhood with Veruca Salt (from the come to terms with the tragic death of a tentative singing and dancing during each keeps it a hair’s breadth away from true poignant climax to this creative production. 1971 film ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate neighbour. The four actors played multiple musical number. While the general direction brilliance. Factory’), contacts Julie Dawn Cole - the characters, complete with accents and Venue 13, 7 - 21 Aug (not 16), times vary, £5.00 - and choreography of the production is slick, £8.00, fpp 228. [sh] child actress who played the role - convincing Dance Base, 11 – 22 Aug (not 14, 16), times vary, mannerisms that made every persona and the versatile set is used to create many £5.00, fpp 148. [ac] her to perform in a two-hander based on an appear well conceived, and the playful start to tw rating 3/5 interesting scenes, the plot is divided between analysis of their various neuroses. The result tw rating 4/5 the piece, including a wonderful radio station so many characters that any empathy is lost is this touching, funny but muddled set of segment, lulled the audience into assuming Expectations because the scenes are too short. Having monologues. Both performers are terrifically this was going to be a simple story. Instead Gothenburg English Speaking Theatre said this, ‘Soho Storeys’ has the makings of a the more serious aspects of the script begin likeable – Cole is cynical but cheerily THEATRE Even without reading the programme, the great musical drama, a few kinks just need to to shine through, leaving the audience without confessional while Hardy has excellent comic audience can guess that this new work by be ironed out first. doubt as to the talent of the actors. The use delivery and seems genuinely unsettled and Kristina Brändén Whitaker is based on real Pleasance Courtyard, 18- 21 Aug (not 17), times Memoirs Of A Biscuit Tin of synchronised stamping added an extra vary, £8.50 - £11.00, fpp 289. [sh] involved, but the show is rather too scripted experience. ‘Expectations’ tells the stories Maison Foo dimension to the piece and the intricately and leaves the audience to imagine, rather of two couples who deal differently with the tw rating 3/5 If you think it impossible for a person to choreographed use of four chairs showed an than experience, the potential of this bizarre news that their baby will be affected by a collaboration. act like a floor or a wall, think twice. Mrs. excellent attention to detail. rare chromosome disorder, and have to live Firing Blanks Pleasance Courtyard, 7 – 10, 13 – 29 Aug, 7.00pm, Benjamin’s house is missing its owner, theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 5 – 21 Aug, 4.05pm with their choice. The couples are strangers, Fine Chisel Theatre Company £7.50 - £9.50, fpp 95. [kb] and its walls, floor and chimney remember (4.55pm), £5.00 - £7.00, fpp 292. [sj] one is English, the other Swedish, yet they snippets of her life, from her youth through An affluent, happy man has a loving, functional tw rating 3/5 tw rating 4/5 take similar journeys, and the parallels of to her lonely old age. A mix of theatre, relationship with his wife, and they’re in their experiences are cleverly staged and puppetry and comedy, this play is a vivid complete agreement about starting a Pig With The Face Of A Boy: The Girl With Spitting Love underlined by Ricardo Sousa’s original and touching portrayal of aging and the family. Lacking the sperm to impregnate her The Arms Made From Marrows Roundhouse Productions music. The cast’s performance is extremely impact it has on our lives. Bethany Sheldon, himself, there’s nevertheless a viable medical human; the audience was moved to tears, Musical Comedy Lab/ Laughing Horse Free Festival Kathryn Lowe and Jennifer Sunmer’s Join retiring loan shark Harry the Loop on his procedure for conception – a sperm donor. especially after the mothers’ monologues. A It’s comfortable and competent, but it’s unforgettable performances speak directly final job, collecting payment from a romantic And we’re supposed to feel sorry for him? story of love and pain, ‘Expectations’ affects nothing special. From the outset, the two to the audience’s hearts; their antics, the writer whose vices have got the better of him. Pity him, with his halcyon existence, that everyone, whether they’re acquainted with talented behind ‘Pig With The Face exquisite set and the beautiful music draw the Whilst the basis of this show – a criminal’s Plan A for a we’en fell through but there’s a the experience or not. Of A Boy’ give the first impression of a duo a audience into a fairy tale world of memories last night on the game – is hardly innovative, reasonably convenient Plan B? ‘Firing Blanks’ la The Amateur Transplants: a frank and no the playwright does use it as a springboard Pleasance Dome, 4-6, 7-15, 17-22, times vary, £ 5.00 is a sweet but self-obsessed play, in which and recollection. An endearing tale for all - £ 9.00, fpp 249. [clm] holds barred collection of song writing that ages, this show is a must see at Fringe 2010. for some more interesting twists and turns. an issue that is (in the grand scheme of However, at times I couldn’t help feeling as tw rating 4/5 will leave you writhing as intensely as your Pleasance Courtyard, 4 – 30 Aug (not 6, 17), 2.00pm things) a misfortune is treated like a major smile is wide. The subject matter, however, (3.00pm), £6.50 – £9.50, fpp 271. [clm] if I’d heard something like it before, and the tragedy. It’s redeemed somewhat by its revelations were perhaps overly laboured. The swiftly begins to get flabby, soft and slightly tw rating 5/5 The Terrible Tales Of The Midnight Chorus rather sentimental ending, a talented, likeable trivial. Certainly go if you want cheering up, two actors were very good in their own right, The River People cast, and odd flashes of wit in the script. and want to leave the show with a slight grin but seemed to have difficultly gelling as a pair. Unfortunately, though, and to risk using a Lockerbie: Unfinished Business A macabre fusion of puppet show and gothic and slightly chirpier than when you went in. In its best moments the play was tense and terrible pun, it’s ultimately ill-conceived. David Benson directed by Hannah Eidinow / Festival Victoriana – by way of Tim Burton – this is You won’t leave raving, though; these songs poetic, but it needs serious tightening up. Underbelly, 5 – 29 Aug (not 22), £6.50 – £10, fpp Highlights an oddly enchanting show, possessed of an Hill Street Theatre, 5 - 19 Aug (not 10, 17), 9.00pm 251. [kc] certainly are shiny and comic, but they are ethereal, wistful charm. The troupe present An opening demo of how to make a bomb (9.50pm), £5.00 - £9.00, fpp 291. [crc] not worth writing home about. tw rating: 3/5 was unexpected, and worked both to engage a handful of tales, each with a suitable heart Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 5 – 17 Aug, tw rating 2/5 breaking ending, reflecting a dark, fairytale 5.00pm (5.50pm), free, fpp 110. [mb] the audience immediately and introduce this grieving father’s bitter contention that aesthetic. The performers sing and dance, Markus Makavellian’s International Order tw rating 3/5 Tristram Shandy Lockerbie might have been avoided. David as well as skilfully operating the puppets, and proudExposure Reverend Productions the whole thing is magnificently presented. Benson sensitively conveys an account of Exuberance and extravagance abound If the show has a flaw, it’s that it’s too short, Robin Ince – Carl Sagan Is Still My God the incident that made Jim Swire’s life a In this curious adaptation of Laurence in this poetic masterpiece, whose lyrics and that the morals of these cautionary tales Robin Ince/ PBH’s Free Fringe relentless campaign for truth and justice, to Sterne’s novel, Reverend Productions cleverly draw upon social issues that are is not always clear. Of course, a ‘Scooby Doo’ For a comedian, Robin Ince is a very serious avenge his daughter’s premature death by put their own stamp on the flamboyant often not spoken of in such frank terms. style didactic moral message would be out of man with serious interests and this lunchtime terrorist atrocity, supported by news footage autobiographic tales of the unfortunate yet The opening scatological topic is broached place, but some sense of summation would show is, accordingly, less about telling jokes and documentary snippets of the surrounding colourful Tristram Shandy. The theme of time using a toilet-seat-mime that is at first rather undoubtedly enhance the performance’s and more about indulging in one of his debacle. Regrettably for Swire, the latter was is explored with clocks strewn about the set disgusting, but then marvellously comic. Once effectiveness, without damaging the tone. interests, his love of science. Ince introduces not sufficient to move Margaret Thatcher; and the concept of interweaving the present encouraged to abandon all inhibition and a series of guest acts with an ostensible theatre goers might be more easily forgiven if with the eighteenth-century; a therapist Bedlam Theatre, 08 – 20 Aug, 4.15pm (5.05pm), embrace the lyrical magic of Makavellian, it £7.00 - £8.00, fpp 295. [al] link to science, who deliver material ranging they balk at his grief, however sympathetic or attempts to delve into Shandy’s memoirs becomes impossible to look away. The fluidity from a potted history of space travel to a empathetic they are. That said, his questions and discover the truth about the calamities tw rating 4/5 of his poetry is punctuated by subtle lighting foray into reproductive biology, in between remain as relevant today as they were 20 which peppered his childhood. Although not changes, and introductions help to make times regaling us with material that falls odd years ago. every performer is enthralling, the writing and (Bye)Polar sense of his racy speeches whose subject somewhere between stand-up and lecture. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4 – 29 Aug (not 18), 2.30pm staging are well-conceived - especially as the Z Theatre Company matter varies from Lady Gaga to a touching (3.40pm), £5.00 - £8.00, fpp 267. [cm] therapist is forced to play parts in Shandy’s Often conveying a profound sense of wonder This impressive new play explores depression dedication to his son. Utterly flamboyant, scenarios, symbolising her attempts to probe about the universe, Ince’s routine sometimes tw rating 3/5 and its destructive effects on a young girl brutally honest and totally endearing, this racy his psyche. This could be funnier and more strays into invective, as he embarks on angry and her family with a maturity rarely seen in poetic performance is not for the prude, but farcical, and the ending seems sudden and rants about things he believes are irrational Attempts student plays. Through intense monologues is wonderfully captivating. or anti-scientific. This alienating tendency mismatched, but this is original, absorbing Underbelly, 7 - 29 Aug (not 16), 6.00pm 6.50pm), Castoff Company interspersed with acutely observed dialogue, work. £6.50 - £10.50, fpp 270. [sh] ultimately jeopardises his attempt to prove we see Jane struggling with bipolar disorder The write-up in the Fringe Programme does theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 7 – 17 Aug, 6.00pm that science isn’t just for nerds. whilst her well-meaning, but hopeless, tw rating 5/5 not do justice to this short, but interesting, (7.10pm), £8.00 - £10.00, fpp 299. [gjs] The Canon’s Gait, 7 – 18 Aug, 12.10pm (1.10pm), parents painfully fail to help her. Though the free, fpp 116. [ac] show. The words ‘swamped by modern tw rating 3/5 consumerism’ instantly make the show sound play lacks dramatic punch and some of the tw rating 3/5 horribly earnest and hard work to , but characters fall into easy stereotypes, it is an Art in fact, ‘Attempts’ provides a fascinating thirty assured debut and contains some powerful, Peters Productions minutes, with short set pieces with subject heart wrenching moments. The dramatic DANCE and PHYSICAL matter ranging from an internet paedophile Centred on a ‘white painting, with white techniques are not overly sophisticated and the staging is poor - the father, in a stand- THEATRE grooming schoolgirls to a voice-over detailing diagonal lines’, Yasmina Reza’s 1994 play the idea of the perfect woman. The identical ‘Art’ is an amusing portrayal of the more out performance, delivers his last and best speech almost off stage - but this is an 120 Birds masks worn by the players are sinister pretentious side of the contemporary art scene. We meet Serge just after he has intelligent and sensitive play performed with Liz Lea Dance and the play certainly hits a nerve, while back projection was used to great effect to bought an expensive painting that best friend passion and great sensibility. This show tells the story of four dancers who show the domination of technology, and our Mark believes to be ‘a pile of shit’; amusing theSpace @ Venue 45, 9 - 19 Aug (not 15), 2.10pm tour the world in the 1920s, and the resulting (3.00pm), £3.50, fpp 236. [mm] desensitisation to horrible news stories. I arguments ensue from here, and friend Ivan mix of choreography is beautifully presented, wouldn’t have chosen to go and see this play, delivers an endearingly comical performance tw rating 3/5 while the spirit of the era is conjured by some but I’m very glad I’ve seen it. as the anxious middle-man. Expertly directed amazing archive footage - coupled with classic The Vault, 8 – 15 Aug, 1.25pm (2.00pm), £4.00, fpp and with a masterful command of the wordy Following Wendy music - that is displayed on a projector screen 228. [hw] script, the cast captures every nuance of at the back of the stage. The costumes are Jam Jar Productions THREEWEEKS IN EDINBURGH tw rating 3/5 the melodramatic characters as they bicker also beautiful and add to the allure of the about art, life, culture, and their friendship. The power of the imagination is stretched to show. However, I did find the narrative slightly Reaching a highly entertaining climax, ‘Art’ the limit in this dark rendering of a classic Publishers Chris Cooke, Caroline Moses weak and felt that Liz Lea’s character could Clinical Lies invites you into a world where hyperbolic tale, whilst the fine line between reality and Concept and content © ThreeWeeks have been more developed. Nevertheless, Sunday’s Child pretension has never been so amusing: A delusion becomes almost non-existent. Publications. the show is charming in places, and includes Gone is the innocence of childhood to be Eva O’Connor is a star in the making; beauty well-spent seventy-five minutes. ThreeWeeks Publications is owned by an utterly enthralling tango. Furthermore, it and charisma allied with raw natural talent. replaced by a harsh realism and events does feel like a celebration of dance, and the Sweet Grassmarket, 9 - 22 Aug, 8.40pm (9.55pm), rather forgotten. Stylistically, the combination UnLimited Publishing, a division of UnLimited Regrettably, too much about her play is £7.50- £9.50, fpp 228. [sh] Media, Unicorn House, 221-222 Shoreditch homage to Anna Pavolva is touching. dramaturgically amiss. Heavy themes of physical theatre and music made for an tw rating: 4/5 High Street, London, E1 6PJ. Tel: 020 7099 Dance Base – National Centre for Dance, 11 - 22 of rape, abortion and how these affect engaging piece, although elements of the Aug (not 16), times vary, £3.00 - £5.00, fpp 151. [cc] 9050. nineteen year old Amy are explored with narrative appeared somewhat jilted and tw rating 3/5 mask, physical theatre, audience interaction repetitive. The plot, which at first seems Daily printing by Smart Design & Print. and unnecessary black-outs which jolt the incoherent and confusing, is clarified in the TW RATINGS EXPLAINED: 1/5 BAD | 2/5 MEDIOCRE | 3/5 GOOD | 4/5 VERY GOOD | 5/5 BRILLIANT