Author Archives: Christopher Goulding

‘Abbey’s Box’ (Venue 236, until AUG 26th)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2023, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Abbey Glover presents an up close and personal performance well suited to the intimacy of the Sprout Theatre”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

When trawling through the Fringe catalogue seeking interesting-looking theatre, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for what’s going on in some of the smaller venues. It’s in the nature of fringe drama that there are a lot of solo shows to choose from, but every now and again you stumble across the odd small gem hidden away in a small room in a large old building just off one of Edinburgh’s main thoroughfares.

Abbey’s Box is just such a gem: a one-woman show performed in a small black box studio theatre. This wryly humorous drama tells the first-person story of a young woman’s life from childhood, through school, to her first love affair. Abbey is a quirky, charming, introspective girl with big dreams who wants to love and be loved. Whilst not a laugh-out-loud comedy, the way in which the episodes of her life are enacted in this show raise many a chuckle of recognition, of sympathy, and of embarrassed familiarity from the audience. Using an engaging mixture of physical drama and storytelling, Abbey Glover presents an up close and personal performance well suited to the intimacy of the Sprout Theatre, one of the smaller venues in Greenside at Infirmary Street. As a 64 year-old man, I often found myself spellbound by her revelations concerning the (to me) hitherto mysterious workings of the female psyche during relationships, not only concerning what she was thinking, but her intuition about what he thought of her. The sympathetic reactions from the women in the audience suggested I was onto something here!

Abbey shows us the intimate details of her relationship with a young man, from an awkward first date as teenagers at a high school prom, through their developing life together in California and Vermont, to their first maladroit attempts at sex. There is much insightful observation of the private, unspoken expectations that lovers have of each other; wryly articulated aloud here to reveal the underlying absurdity of love – which does, indeed, as someone once said, make fools of us all. And the eponymous box? A metaphor, of course, for Abbey’s hang-ups, foibles, fears, and introspection. But, this being Fringe theatre, there is an actual box which has a supporting role, not as a character, but as a well-manipulated extension of the protagonist’s persona.

In a meta-theatrical moment, Abbey breaks the fourth wall to self-referentially mock herself using the familiar accusation that one-woman shows are really a form of therapy for the performer. I don’t know how much of this show was based on Abbey Glover’s actual life, but by the end I – along with the rest of the audience – strongly applauded the slice of life that we’d just been treated to. The late afternoon show runs until 26th August, so get your coats on and go see it! Go for the box – there really is one! Stay for the quirky insights into the female psyche. Leave armed with a few new ideas concerning what your partner might be thinking about you.

 

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‘Kravitz, Cohen, Bernstein and Me’ (Venue 20, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 4*, Cabaret, Comedy, EdFestivals 2023 by

“Drawing heavily on her Jewish ancestry and culture, this is a witty, humour-laden cabaret that had an engaged audience singing along to Deb’s guitar and then cackling at her often highly risqué jokes. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

In this one-woman comic storytelling show, the multi award-winning Kiwi/Canadian/Jewish comedienne Deb Filler takes us on a musical journey through her eventful life. Using the three Leonards of the title as a theme, we follow her from her showbiz beginnings as a child prodigy in New Zealand through many a chance encounter with her eponymous heroes.

Drawing heavily on her Jewish ancestry and culture, this is a witty, humour-laden cabaret that had an engaged audience singing along to Deb’s guitar and then cackling at her often highly risqué jokes. Her often self-deprecating humour reveals a musical upbringing in the midst of a close immigrant family in Auckland, New Zealand. Very early success in talent contests set her on the pathway that has brought her to the fringe as a consummate and experienced entertainer. Filler throws her net wide in reminiscing about her musical influences: Judy Garland in the 1950s gives way to the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s – a highlight of which is the unforgettable experience of hearing her sing Hard Day’s Night and Satisfaction in Yiddish. Long before she met the three Lennies, her first musical celebrity encounter was with the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, who toured New Zealand in the early 60s. No spoilers here, but the tale of her experience of meeting them as a starry-eyed adolescent is a funny tale well told. We stay in the southern hemisphere for the remarkable story of a truly magical encounter with the legendary conductor, composer, and pianist, Leonard Bernstein. Later on in life, it is an adult Deb in America who meets Cohen and then Kravitz, both times with rather more chaotic results than happened with the debonair Mr Bernstein.

A skilled instrumentalist and singer, Filler plays the musical interludes on her guitar. From time to time throughout the show, her story is illustrated by screen projection: sometimes with colour photos of celebrities she has met; other, more poignant photos in grainy monochrome are family snaps from earlier times, including one of her grandmother, who got the family out of Germany in 1938 – the nick of time before the nazis slammed the door shut. For those who like a singalong, the lyrics to a well-known Cohen song were projected for the audience to join in as Deb Played it.
This 1hr 10min show gives you a little more for your money than the usual hour here at the Fringe and runs until 27th August. So, whether you like jokes or singing, get your coats on and go see it. Go to hear a fascinating life story set to music. Stay for Hard day’s Night sung in Yiddish. Leave with the thought that life can be full of strange and coincidental encounters.

 

‘Dom – The Play’ (Venue 20, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Fresh from a sell-out run in London, this Fringe transfer had the Assembly Ballroom on George Street packed out with an audience laughing from start to finish.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

If there’s one thing us Brits do well it’s political satire and this already critically acclaimed hit did not disappoint. Fresh from a sell-out run in London, this Fringe transfer had the Assembly Ballroom on George Street packed out with an audience laughing from start to finish. This slick production from Bill Kenwright and Turbine Creatives lifts the lid on the whirlwind political career of Dominic Cummings, leaving no stone unturned in the process.

Just for the record, the citizens of Barnard Castle and the employees at their local branch of Specsavers can rest easy; very early on in the show, Dom grudgingly acknowledges his infamous trip to the Teesdale town to get his eyes tested. With that safely out of the way, Dom narrates his rise to, and abrupt fall from, the Westminster merry-go-round. Chris Porter plays the title role with an assured, cynical ferocity. Cummings was never a likeable figure, but Porter raises laugh after laugh from the audience in the opening ten minutes as he reveals the dark arts of data-scraping that drove his campaigns for Vote Leave and the 2019 General Election. The scene well and truly set, there was soon a roar of recognition from the audience as Boris Johnson strode on in the shape of Tim Hudson – every inch the blustering nincompoop, from his mop of unkempt blonde hair to his flapping shirt tails. All other incidental roles were entertainingly played by Thom Tuck and Sarah Lawrie. Tuck’s mimicry of a moon-faced Michael Gove drew chuckles of recognition, whilst the mobile eyebrows of his John Prescott were an amusing reminder of what already seems like a prehistoric age in British politics. Lawrie was no less versatile, with her lightning vignettes as the late Queen and Theresa May, but the greatest howls of laughter from the Edinburgh audience came with her vivid evocation of a diminutive Nicola Sturgeon.

Over the next hour, the turbulent years of recent British political history are brilliantly portrayed as the Westminster farce they so often seemed back in the day. With a quickfire pasquinade of merciless caricatures, our political masters are lampooned and ridiculed. Like an oversized, Woosterish ringmaster, the buffoonish Johnson flails desperately to keep his government on track at the centre of things; whilst to one side of the stage, lurks Cummings, the Machiavellian puppet-master and the PM’s Svengali. It’s an amazing tradition in British political satire how much we can afterwards laugh at events that once seemed so traumatic. But laugh we did, though I can only agree with one lady behind me who chuckled to her partner over the rapturous applause at the end; “It didn’t seem quite as funny as that the time, did it?”

This show is running for the rest of the month, but I wouldn’t hang about if you want to go; I’d say it’s one of the hot tickets for this year’s Fringe. So, whether you’re from Barnard Castle or not, get your coats on and go see it! Go for the political satire. Stay to hear Cummings explain the dark arts of psephological data mining. Leave in the hope that the great British voting public will never allow itself to be fooled again.

 

‘Yoga with Jillian – A New Comedy’ (Venue 33, until AUG 28th Aug)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Pleasance, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“…a screwball comedy that feels more like sitting in as a visitor at the yoga class from hell rather than watching a play.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Described by producers Project Y and Richard Jordan Productions as a screwball comedy, this drama feels more like sitting in as a visitor at the yoga class from hell rather than watching a play. As the title suggests, this is quite a physical drama, not only on the part of the eponymous protagonist, but also from the seven volunteer audience members who joined her on stage to do their stuff on mats.

But Jillian is no carrot juice-drinking guru; Michole Biancosino plays her as a feisty, neurotic ex-lawyer, who uses yoga to cope (not always successfully) with her chaotic urban life. Whilst celebrity yogis like Gwyneth Paltrow may exude glamorous woo-woo tranquillity, at one with the world around her, Jillian sometimes struggles to find enough inner peace to even get along with her rival yogis. As the show progresses, the ancient Hindu fitness philosophy is used as a framework and metaphor for the ups, downs, stretches, and fine balances of Jillian’s life story. Whilst a none too perfect practitioner herself, she is a less than fully sympathetic teacher, as her passive-aggressive relationship with her “class” often shows to hilarious effect.

The seven audience members (two men, five women) who joined the class onstage lend a weirdly voyeuristic vibe to watching the show that is quite different from a normal audience experience in a theatre. At several stages, we found ourselves facing a row of seven backsides presented to us as the class bent over to touch their toes. From my front row seat, at one point I had a man’s right foot only two feet from my face as, at Jillian’s bidding, they adopted the downward-facing three-legged dog position. At the other end of the stage, a middle-aged woman in a calf-length dress had perhaps wisely turned herself to face the audience into order to more modestly point her leg upstage. It must be said that these volunteers were able to do what was asked for them without too much stress or embarrassment. (Though, if you’re going along and plan to volunteer – maybe wear leggings and have a pedicure beforehand?)

Whilst yoga itself may not be a pursuit to everyone’s taste, this show is nonetheless a quirky, ironic take on its subject, rather as I’d hoped it would be. Lia Romeo’s writing comically explores the conflict between the outwardly calm philosophy of its subject and the angst-ridden lives of some of its devotees. So, get your coats on and go see it. Go whether or not you’ve been to a yoga class before. Stay for the mat-based philosophical humour. Leave thinking about how all of that stretching and balancing helps to soothe some screwed-up lives.

 

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‘…And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel’ (Venue 33, until AUG 28th)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Pleasance, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“There are laughs aplenty in this show, but the problems the two men faced in their personal and professional lives provide a strong undercurrent of tragedy and pathos. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

To draw a full house for a late morning show on the first Sunday of the Fringe bodes well for any show up here. Is it the pulling power of a performer with a successful TV career behind him, or the familiarity of the eponymous subject? Either way, ex-sitcom star Jeffrey Holland (Hi-De-Hi, You Rang, M’Lord) drew a round of applause upon his entrance as well as at the end of this entertaining one-man show in the Pleasance Courtyard Upstairs.

Set in the bedroom of a very ill and silent Oliver Hardy in the 1950s, this tragi-comic drama shows us Stan Laurel’s last visit to see his dying former screen partner. Perhaps wisely, Holland avoids a constant tribute-act impersonation of Laurel, preferring to rely for most of the performance on a more relaxed off-screen version of the legendary comedian’s persona. However, there are regular short episodes where, donning a bowler hat, Holland enacts memorable exchanges from their most successful films; and here we get a fine impression of Laurel’s absurd comic gravitas, along with Ollie’s frustratedly blustering replies.

There are laughs aplenty in this show, but the problems the two men faced in their personal and professional lives provide a strong undercurrent of tragedy and pathos. With Ollie struck dumb by a crippling stroke, it’s left to Stan to look back on the triumphs and frustrations of their Hollywood career. As anyone familiar with their work knows, those short films from their heyday in the 1930s usually portray the couple as a pair of bums down on their luck and trying to make a dime in the Depression-era USA. It’s sad to note that the reality of Hollywood at the time meant that, despite their huge success, the two actors received only comfortable salaries, rather than the mind-boggling fees that stars expect today. Laurel in particular should have been a millionaire as the scriptwriter of their immortal routines. At several points Holland breaks down to portray what must have been very a real frustration felt by Laurel upon realising how he’d been ruthlessly exploited and fleeced by the studio system of the day. As this play suggests, the familiar trope of the melancholy behind the comic mask is very real – Tears of a Clown, indeed.

As is also quite well known, both men had chequered personal lives involving multiple and often disastrous marriages. This introduces more light and shade, with Holland movingly contrasting happy memories of love and romance, soon clouded over by the dark shadows of some messy divorces. Was there even a hint of mutual resentment between the two? Though a passive stooge on screen, Laurel was the leader behind the scenes, slaving at his typewriter and thrashing out deals with the studios whilst “Babe” (Ollie) spent his days on the golf course.

This already popular how runs until the end of the month, so get your coats on and go see it! Go to see a telly star play a film star. Stay to laugh at the jokes then cry along with Stan’s tears. Leave with the thought that screen laughter is often dearly bought by those whose lives are devoted to entertaining us.

‘Edgar Allan Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (Venue 53, until AUG 26th)

Posted in 3*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“…a slick performance in which his character exudes the gravitas required of a predecessor to Sherlock Holmes, often giving light relief with heavily-accented asides that veer towards the comic buffoonery of Inspector Clouseau.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars (Nae Bad)

Often described as the first modern detective story, Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 classic overlaps with the horror genre as the mystery at its heart unfolds. This is a welcome stage adaptation of the tale that introduced the world to the French sleuth Auguste Dupin.

Actors Darren Haywood and James Nicholas present us with a straightforward two-hander in a black box setup with minimal scenery. Haywood as Dupin delivers a slick performance in which his character exudes the gravitas required of a predecessor to Sherlock Holmes, often giving light relief with heavily-accented asides that veer towards the comic buffoonery of Inspector Clouseau. For such a dark tale, there were often moments when the audience chuckled at episodes of quickfire banter onstage. One such particularly engaging passage portrayed a police officer interviewing a succession of witnesses to the eponymous murders. In a cross-channel double act of gallic repartee, Nicholas played the investigating gendarme, while the elastic-faced Haywood adopted a lively comic sequence of caricatures of low-life Parisians.

Nonetheless, I’m afraid I struggle to give this production and its cast the four-star review that parts of it deserve. Overall the play depended rather too heavily on narration and exposition, such as the reading aloud of an explanatory newspaper article. Stage adaptations of literary works can be very engrossing, but to avoid the feel of a radio play this show needs a little more physicality, business with props and costumes, and more imaginative use of the set, however basic it may be. Leaving the denouement to narration backed by sound effects rather emphasises the audio character of this production.

The performance I saw was the first of a month-long run, which I hope will give the cast the opportunity to work up a little more visual action into what is a potentially gripping drama.
That said, both cast members are appearing in other shows at the Fringe this year, including an adaptation of a Conan Doyle story featuring Dupin’s immortal literary successor: Sherlock Holmes, in The Speckled Band. Coming down at well under an hour, this show is suited to those who like their entertainment traditional and on the literary side. So get your coats on and go see this. Come for the classic detective tale that fired the starting gun for a whole genre. Stay for the gallic repartee. Leave to investigate clues in the Fringe brochure that will lead you to discover The Speckled Band!

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‘Casting the Runes’ (Venue 33, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals 2023, Pleasance, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“We quickly left the outside daylight behind for a haunting and foreboding vibe whose icy fingers crept into every corner of the auditorium from the outset..”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Fans of the classic ghost stories of M R James will be familiar with the TV adaptations that grace our screens each Christmas. Now, here in Edinburgh, on a deceptively sunny lunchtime, the chilling horror of one of his best tales is vividly brought to life in close-up.

The Box Tale Soup theatre company faithfully reflect the master storyteller’s art in lifting his chilling tale off the page and onto the stage. We quickly left the outside daylight behind for a haunting and foreboding vibe whose icy fingers crept into every corner of the auditorium from the outset. The story itself is classic James: the safe, scholarly world of academe gradually subverted by the creeping menace of some much older, darker force that belongs between the pages of dusty medieval tomes rather than modern textbooks.

A cast of two are aided by some skilful use of puppetry for minor characters, including the decidedly creepy Mr Karswell. Noel Byrne, who looks suitably like Peter Cushing’s worrisome young brother, plays Professor Dunning, an academic with an interest in the occult. With the help of a new acquaintance, he explores a number of mysterious messages and a weird picture that seems to have a life of its own. Antonia Christophers, who plays the acquaintance, does a nice line in quivering fear and wide-eyed terror, as well as operating and voicing the often unsettling mannequins. A simple set is put to effective use, evoking a suitably Edwardian gothic vibe, with door handles that seem to turn themselves, creaking hinges, and a swirling mist worthy of any Hammer horror. No spoilers here, but there was a sudden lighting reveal that made the two ladies behind me audibly squeak as they jumped in their seats. A coup de theatre, that – you seldom get those sitting in your armchair at home.

The sense of fear so skilfully manipulated by James and the cast of this play echoes similar feelings evoked by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, some telling lines from which are quoted at one point:

“Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round walks on
And never turns his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread…”

I know I was not the only one in today’s audience who felt the tingling anticipation of a disembodied tap on the shoulder at certain points during the show.

Situated in a venue that’s part of the popular and lively Pleasance Courtyard complex, the haunting quality of this show is emphasised all the more as you emerge at the end into the contrasting, unfamiliar daylight. Though, this being Edinburgh, the leaden skies were throwing down a moribund shower of rain in ironic tribute. So get your coats on and go see this! Come to see a tale by a master storyteller. Stay for the creepy puppets and creaky hinges. Leave safe in the knowledge that no ghosts will follow you home in the daylight as you head off for lunch.

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‘My Father’s Nose’ (Front Room at Assembly Rooms, Venue 20 until AUG 27th)

Posted in Theatre by

“…one of those shows which encapsulates what Fringe theatre is all about: a two-hander with a minimal set, which is the springboard for an engaging and eminently watchable hour of lively, tragicomic drama.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad )

This, I feel, is one of those shows which encapsulates what Fringe theatre is all about: a two-hander with a minimal set, which is the springboard for an engaging and eminently watchable hour of lively, tragicomic drama. Douglas Walker plays a recently bereaved man on a park bench, visibly struggling to cope with the loss of his father. With the help of a sympathetic passer-by, the joy and pain of his relationship with the lost parent is re-enacted in a whirlwind of wacky humour, song, and dance. The passer-by is played with much panache by Caitlin Campbell. Both actors are alumni of Bristol Improv Theatre and are appearing in other shows on the Fringe this year.   

In flashbacks, we see a lifetime of the joy and agony of father-and-child relationships, from fun-filled early years to teenage angst. The habits and foibles of loved ones that are the essence of memory form the basis of many set pieces in the show. An early audience favourite was a song from a childish perspective of Dad being a “Cupboardy Man”. Perhaps the most unlikely is a lively song and dance routine about Dad’s seeming obsession with his tax returns. This is the only show in Edinburgh in which you’re likely to hear a joyous two-part harmony ironically singing the praises of HMRC – who are “surprisingly helpful on the phone”, it seems. Performed with gusto as Walker and Campbell trip the light fantastic like Fred and Ginger, it brings an entirely new dimension to Higher-Rate Tax Relief and Allowable Expenses.

Along the way, Walker and Campbell explore the sometimes odd ways that we try to cling to memories of the departed. As the show’s title suggests, Douglas is obsessed with the image of his father’s nose. The dangers of such infatuations are wittily illustrated by the story of an Elizabethan widow who carried the severed head of her executed husband around with her for 30 years. Caitlin, who has “a certificate in psychiatric First Aid” tries to help things along with small episodes of street therapy: is love all we need? A personal favourite was her hilariously pedantic critique of John Lennon’s lyrics to the Beatles hit “All You Need is Love”. I’ll never hear that song again without realising it’s a sequence of tautological platitudes loosely based around Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. (Was it ever anything else?) Another memorable digression concerns the sales statistics for rhubarb crumble in Schleswig-Holstein, which may raise a reminiscent smile among those of a certain age.

This is a little gem of a show that deserves an audience for its run in the middle of George Street right up to the end of the month. So whether you’re a civil servant or a Beatles fan, get your coats on and go see it! Come for the lively song and dance humour. Stay for the quirky insights into how we remember those we love. Leave with the thought that never again will completing a tax return seem quite so daunting.   

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‘The Elephant in the Room’ (Assembly Rooms, Powder Room, until AUG 27)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2022, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Shetty’s vigorous physical style, expressive face, and radioactive eyes draw the audience into the action as she regularly makes direct eye-contact with everyone in the auditorium.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

After a very successful tour of the USA including the prestigious Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, this is the Fringe debut for a lively and engaging one-woman play, written and performed by Priyanka Shetty. Here for just the one week in a smallish studio auditorium in a marquee on George Street, be prepared for the driving force of Ms Shetty’s electrifyingly physical performance.

The seemingly autobiographical story tells of what it’s like to grow up in India as a young girl and then defy your family to try and make it as an actress as “a brown girl in Trump’s America”. Shetty’s vigorous physical style, expressive face, and radioactive eyes draw the audience into the action as she regularly makes direct eye-contact with everyone in the auditorium. There is much humour at the expense of the stereotypical features of a female south Asian upbringing: aggressively aspirational parents, judgemental aunts, religion (sometimes in the shape of the elephant-god Ganesha), and Bollywood movies.

Shetty makes full use of the small stage and basic set to vividly re-enact her story in a number of physical styles, including everything from yoga to Bollywood dance and song. As the show progresses, the emotional tone gradually changes from one of youthful optimism underscored by the heartaches of family life and romance, to the stark realities of the American theatre audition circuit. Shetty’s wry depiction of the serial rejections that can be experienced will raise a rueful smile to any fellow Fringe actors seeing this show. As an Asian woman, she often refers to her “otherness”, sometimes self-deprecatingly, sometimes not. This aspect of her life doubles as a significant factor in her own life story and a revealing perspective on everyone else from the perspective of an outsider.

Single-actor shows are quite common at the Fringe, but this one stuck in the mind for me due to Shetty’s often almost conversational delivery. At no time did it seem like a stagey dramatic monologue; rather someone I’d just met showing me the story of their life. Use of props and time-consuming costume changes are sensibly kept to a minimum to maintain pace and story development.

The phrase from which the show takes its title is a common metaphor for embarrassing problems which everyone knows exist, but are scared to mention. After one or two red herrings along the way, we’re left in no doubt at the end by Shetty’s now angry tone what the identity is of this particularly problematic pachyderm – I won’t spoil things for you by giving it a name. This show is only on until the end of this week, so:

Come for the elephant. Stay for a whirlwind performance. Leave having seen a great Fringe debut. So get your coats on and go see this!

 

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‘Earwig’ (Assembly Rooms, Front Room, until AUG 27)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2022, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“The three energetic performers beetle away to pack a lot of fun into an hour’s traffic on the stage.”

Editorial Rating:  Stars (Outstanding)

Whilst perhaps not the most attractive of titles, this is one of the most unusual and interesting pieces of theatre I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe. After successfully touring throughout the UK, Manchester-based theatre company Time and Again bring us the quirky story of entomologist Marigold Webb, whose deafness excludes her from conversations not directly before her face.

Laura Crow’s script makes much use of insect life as metaphor, with characters being likened to wasps, hornets, golden tiger beetles, and the like. The production by directors Catherine Cowdrey and Samantha Vaughan offers an hour that is both entertaining and informative without taking itself too seriously. Robyn Greeves anchors the show as the protagonist, calmly and wryly narrating the difficulties faced in the 1920s by a woman who is not only deaf, but trying to make her way in the male-dominated scientific world. Adam Martin-Brooks first comes across as a Bertie Woosterish toff, but as the play progresses he mutates into Marigold’s domineering and abusive husband. Beth Nolan gives eye-catching performances as both Marigold’s down-to-earth mother and as Bryony Varden, the very personification of a flighty jazz-age flapper. A projection screen at the back of the set is used very much as if it were another character, with its captions often interacting with both the cast and the audience.

This is also a very visual and physical piece of theatre. One of the high points was a vividly choreographed set piece between Marigold and Bryony supposedly reading quietly in a library. Their exchanged looks, messages, and attempts to ignore each other and do some studying are expressed with increasingly terpsichorean verve and at one stage even break into a Charleston. Along with the screen captions, the pacy action often has the feel of a silent movie of the era in which the play is set. Throughout the action, we are subtly reminded of Marigold’s deafness and the problems it causes in a number of inventive and dramatically effective ways.

Performed in a smallish black-box auditorium in George Street, this is a little gem of a play, with the three energetic performers beetling away to pack a lot of fun into an hour’s traffic on the stage. Come for the entomology. Stay for the Charleston. Leave with ants in your pants and a spring in your step. Get your coats on and beetle along to see this!

 

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