Category Archives: 4*

‘The Expulsion of Exulansis’ (Venue 9, Aug 13-17)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Outstanding by

“They are talking about mental health and well-being with the authority of those who know of what they speak.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Outstanding)

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows lists ‘exulansis’ as “the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it – whether through envy or pity or simple foreignness – which allows it to drift away from the rest of your life story, until the memory itself feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land.”

Siyani Sheth truly is expelling exulansis proving that in the world of mental health and well-being, the skilled and dexterous pen can be as mighty as the surgeon’s scalpel. Every member of the cast has experienced mental illness personally or through loved ones. They have come together to help share Siyani’s story and amplify the messages contained in her gigantically human-scale drama featuring depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm. There is light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes it takes more than one pair of eyes to see it.

This is a game of two halves. First, there is Siyani persona personalmente, her contemporary self navigating the past and present, trying to imagine a future less burdened by diminished bandwidth, noisy static, and deafening dead air. Second, there is Zahira Kayrooz as her younger self. Kayrooz is one to watch and is extremely watchable as she glides, trips and stumbles on a journey into places no parent would want their child to go. There is acting and there is being. Kayrooz is a being.. be-er… beingor…? She inhabits the role with daring and deliberation. Her choices are bold and courageous. Where the script hangs heavy or where the timeline is slightly unclear is Kayrooz’s gravity which stops it all spinning off into space.

Amanda Coetzer as the super-helpful teacher and as the super-unhelpful psychiatrist delivers a double whammy of light and dark. A good character actor can make you absolutely love or resolutely loathe the onstage creature they inhabit. It is a great artistic achievement to do both in the same hour of Fringe stage traffic. Similarly, Sofía De Yermo as the friend on the outside as well as the friend from the inside presents two very different personalities vital to the fizz and pop of this often funny piece.⁠ Matthew Warburton and James Anite deliver a more mixed bag of personalities not all of which achieve the proud heights of Warburton and Kayrooz’s most memorable scene together.

Dan! Why are you using surnames for the actors but the writer’s first name? Because there is another Sheth on stage and he is doing something ultra-extraordinary. ⁠Mitesh Sheth is playing himself, his daughter’s father, the link between the play’s two halves of now and then. ⁠Mitesh might not have been at the eye of the storm as Siyani was, but he had a view and a role as close as makes no odds. The power of this piece, the importance of this peace is as living testimony that survival is possible and that hope is not a myth.

We saw a baby giraffe learning to walk. Soon this piece will learn to stride. This herd of graceful, diverse, and farseeing talent deserves a special place in the wild landscape of EdFringe24. This is a company doing something very special indeed. They are talking about mental health and well-being with the authority of those who know of what they speak. As importantly (actually… no this is a theatre festival) MORE importantly they know HOW to say what needs to be said so that it can be heard loud and proud by all.

Get your ties up at the back coats on and go see this!

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‘A Montage of Monet’ (Venue 236, Aug 9-10, 12-17)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2024, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“An aged-up Stephen Smith plays the eponymous artist with all the power and emphasis that can be mustered by a younger actor playing an old man.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

This is a very engaging and thoughtful show presenting the life, loves, and art of the legendary French impressionist painter, Claude Monet. As we are shown, the great artist’s private life was certainly full enough of drama, crisis, and angst to justify a play. This production, a piece of well-crafted new writing by Joan Greening, takes us on a journey to Belle Epoque Paris and beyond, offering much entertaining insight into the bohemian world of these creative types whilst shattering a few myths about what drives their urge to paint.

The small, black box Mint Studio of Greenside @ George Street is simply transformed into the artist’s world by means of a few props and we see Monet’s instantly recognisable works projected onto a blank canvas standing on an easel. An aged-up Stephen Smith plays the eponymous artist with all the power and emphasis that can be mustered by a younger actor playing an old man. Two characteristics of this production give it a very intimate feel. The lighting is deliberately kept fairly low – much at odds with the bursting colour of Monet’s canvases, but subtly encouraging introspective focus on the man himself. Secondly, the monologue is quietly underscored by original piano music by Joseph Furey playing in the background. I’m not usually a fan of incidental music in theatre, but this gently melodic accompaniment adds a wistful backdrop to Monet’s tale.

The human story behind the legendary paintings is often fascinating and revealing. Monet was no saint: an aesthete, but no angel. The roller coaster of his love life often belies the tranquillity evoked by his art. His relationships with fellow artists were often complex, whilst catastrophic events in his own life often threatened his very ability to create his works. Spiced with moments of humour and wit, there are also many surprising revelations concerning the stories behind some of his most celebrated images. No spoilers here, but I’ll never look at his famous Water Lilies paintings in the same way again, having been told how the subject matter in his garden pond at Giverny was so beautifully arranged. There was even a word of warning for us critics in learning how the name of the genre Impressionism arose from some laboured mockery by an infamous and now largely forgotten journalist.

Of the many solo shows on offer at the Fringe, a number are always biographical dramatisations of some historical person’s life: often a literary or show business figure, or more rarely, an artist. The problems inherent in representing an artist’s life on stage include: the sedentary nature of their work; talented individuals leading often dull and uneventful private lives; and the difficulty of making drama from the creation of still-life in the shape of a canvas or sculpture. In a different show I saw earlier this week, we watched an actor physically recreate a painting brush-in-hand as she spoke to the audience in character as the artist in question; very talented and skilled, but not great theatre and more suited to the radio. This production does not make the same mistake and is thus well worth going along to see.

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‘Spy Movie: The Play!’ (Venue 33, Aug 9-12, 14-19, 21-26)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2024, Pleasance, Pleasance, Potterrow & Teviot, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“The ensemble cast of four keep the laughs coming at a whirlwind pace. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

This hilarious spoof homage to the Bond movie franchise is a fast-paced satire which sends up pretty much every scene from Dr No to The Spy Who Loved Me. But you don’t need to be a fan of Ian Fleming’s 007 to appreciate the quickfire wordplay in this show, which bears the same relationship to the genre it parodies as Blazing Saddles does to westerns, or Police Squad does to 1970s TV cop shows. The premise of the show is that what you’re seeing on stage is a pitch to an audience of Hollywood movie producers to get the script turned into a film. The farcically disastrous goings-on are reminiscent of The Play That Goes Wrong; and two of the cast members you see were in that very show.

The protagonist of The Greatest Spy Movie (N)ever Made is Jane Blonde, who has 24 hours to save the world and likes her martinis “shaken, stirred, and jiggled”. Along the way, she must contend with the global criminal network EVIW, which stands for Every Villain In [the] World (just think about how a cockney would pronounce the word “evil”). From the first moments we are treated to merciless skits of scenes that are the hallmark of every classic Bond movie you’ll have seen: the opening credits sequence; the briefing from M; a chase down a ski slope; a trans-European rail journey; a car chase.

The ensemble cast of four keep the laughs coming at a whirlwind pace. Jo Hartland plays Jane Blonde with cool panache (though she refuses to dye her hair blonde), whilst the versatile Emily Waters tickles the funny bone playing character roles ranging from M (pronounced “mmm”) to super-villain Mr Lovely. James Watterson doubles as spy novelist Ian Flemish and American secret double agent Randy Lust. The irrepressible Matthew Howell plays just about everyone else and certainly gets to wear the greatest variety of hats as he darts seamlessly from role to role.

Using a minimal set consisting of a pair of curtains, the pseudo-cinematic action is irreverently created by some highly co-ordinated and inventive use of props, always with the tongue planted firmly in the cheek. The show’s publicity warns of loud sound effects, flashing lights and lasers, and smoke/haze, all used to create a lively sense of anarchic slapstick. This is also probably the only show in Edinburgh this season that makes use of an actual flying helicopter.

Staged in the Beneath auditorium at the Pleasance Courtyard, the show runs for nearly the whole of this month, excepting Tuesdays. Starting at midday, it’s an ideal laugh-a-minute show for all of the family. It’s already selling well, so Get Your Coats On and go buy your tickets!

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‘Polishing Shakespeare’ (Venue 20, Aug 8-18, 20-25)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad by

“A potentially explosive cocktail ready to flare up on the issue of making Shakespeare more relevant. Relevant to who exactly?”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Gandhi once said something about how the railways made pilgrimages less meaningful. The journey matters as much as the arrival. Make the journey too simple, too short, too easy and something of great value is lost. For centuries Shakespeare has been mucked about with. It’s strange because nobody ever thinks to rework Jonson or the rest of the Elizabethian / Jacobean hall-of-famers whose works moulder on the subs bench alongside the Bard’s own lesser-performed works. Are uncurious audiences or are overcautious producers to blame for the constant repetition of the greatest hits? Is there a feedback loop? And why have so many people been so keen to impose their own ski lifts and coach tours on the slopes of Mount Shakespeare National Park?

Big money has a big sense of entitlement. Hitch that horse to the creeping bureaucracy of arts funding, add a struggling playwright to the mix and you’ve got a potentially explosive cocktail ready to flare up on the issue of making Shakespeare more relevant. Relevant to who exactly?

Brian Dykstra’s script is high polemic poetry. Every. Single. Word is a masterclass in precision iambic pentameter delivered naturally, fluidly, and candidly. As the billionaire with the billion-dollar idea, Dykstra bestirdes the stage like a colossus. His big Willy Shakespeare energy summons the ghost of the Stratford schoolkid who went to London, made his fortune, and returned to live in the second-biggest house in his auld home town. Bums on seats and coins in the box – the one that lives in the box office – the spirit of enterprise hitched to a purpose, unshackled from any higher motive.

Shakespeare did not live to edit his plays for publication in a folio as Jonson did in 1616. That task was left to Mssrs Heminges and Condell. There is strong evidence to suggest Shakespeare had made a start. In Greenock, there is a copy of North’s translation of Plutarch with an impeccable provenance containing much marginalia in need of closer study. The fact that the charms and strength of Shakespeare was overthrown before he could curate his legacy left a space for lesser talents.

As Ms. Branch, Kate Levy is the curatorial middleman all too familiar to us but unknown to Shakespeare whose only paymasters were his public and his Royal booking agent. Levy never entirely decides if she is playing the true villain of the piece, the pandering procuress intent (knowingly or unknowingly) on selling purity and virtue for the right price. Levy plays it safe which is what her character would do. 

The serious heavy-lifting, the role of the besieged struggling playwright Janet, is outstandingly performed by Kate Siahaan-Rigg. Through tongue-twisting monologues, moments of sensational sturm and serious drang Siahaan-Rigg breathes life into the script keeping it real, keeping it thought-provoking.

Is the result on stage always entertaining? I guess that depends on how much you like being repeatedly beaten around the head with an over-extended allegory. Here is a script demonstrating perfectly why direction matters. Margarett Perry is one of the best directors at EdFringe. She has a gift for pace like Elvis had a gift for rhythm. She worked what she’s got into the shape of something truly memorable, perhaps even culturally valuable. Just don’t sit anywhere but dead centre, the show’s blocking must not have made it through customs.

Come for this light and fluffy performance of a hardcore script. Stay for the things that need saying about the state of the arts in our own day and age. Get your coats on and go see this!

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‘Fountain of You’ (Venue 20, Aug 9, 13, 15, 18, 21, 24)

Posted in *Written Interviews, 4*, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad by

“Wróbel plays to the unambiguous ambiguity of the role in perfect contrast to Lucy McClure’s sweetness and light fairy Godmother archetype.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Bob Dylan once sang a song about how the tables can turn. How one minute you’re on top of the world and the next you’re on your own, with no direction home, a complete unknown, like a rolling stone. The Patriarchy is like that, always on the scrounge for a new Renfield, a new familiar to be standing by day and night to unquestioningly serve the needs of the bloodsucking sociopath lying in the coffin. So when a 30-something actress is suddenly aged-out of show business, she undergoes a wildly unconventional spa treatment to get her old life back. But it sets her on a whole new path to pursue true power and equality… at a cost.

As the 30-something actress, Martyna Wróbel is a flawless depiction of flawed humanity ready to get red in tooth and claw when the chips are down. The role demands sufficient sympathy to draw us in even as the horrible price to be paid gets reckoned. It’s Dorian Grey without the picture. It’s Sweeny Todd and Frankenstein but with less self-loathing. Wróbel plays to the unambiguous ambiguity of the role in perfect contrast to Lucy McClure’s sweetness and light fairy Godmother archetype, who dabbles in the dark arts by necessity, not choice.  

Selina Savijoki, Jadon Simone Trelour, Kaiyi Xu, and Bernice Jiaxin Zheng are billed as the ‘Esthettes’ and certainly, they deliver sensitivity and beautiful touches by the wheelbarrow full. These were four precision performances which instinctively demonstrated that they knew when to be seen and when to blend into the unfolding drama. Like a Persian rug possessed of a single tiny flaw to remind the viewer that total perfection is totally preserved to divinity, the single slip I spotted – a lighting mirror held the wrong way round during a dance number – served to amplify the meticulous striving for excellence we should expect from an RCS production.

There are plenty of good reasons to see this production, but the most compelling is David Joseph Healy who plays all the good guys as well as all the bad guys. Healy’s character work is funny, studied, striking, hugely impactful and… so my companion – a kittenish cougar – tells me both during and after… it’s sexy. Healy is clearly one to watch which raises the first of several question marks hanging by a horsehair over the banquet.

First, this is a show about how tough women have it, so why give the only male actor half the roles? It’s a glaring flaw in the script which should have sounded some alarm bells. This is a story about the impossible standards women face in the impossibly vain and shallow world of mass light entertainment as they age. And yet it is performed by horribly young and horribly attractive people who are horribly wonderful at everything they do.

Playing to a home crowd at Edinburgh is an incredible privilege, just ask a New Zealander. There’s nothing inherently wrong with privilege but, as Lord Acton did not say, absolute privilege corrupts absolutely. The single worst decision any EdFringe producer can make is to waste time. This was a one-hour story which was allowed to stretch on and on and on. The mantra, show me don’t tell me, works so long as someone is brave enough to make a cut or six where the ‘show me’ is killing the pace and packing. If this script were luggage it would be liable for an excess weight fee.

Still, as a showcase of what the RCS community can make happen, as a showcase of Olympian-level talent on stage and off this show is a triumph worthy of the great legacy and bright future of one of the nation’s most important centres for arts education. Get your Napoleon in rags coats on and go see this!

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‘Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act’ (Venue 20, Aug 8-25)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad by

“Rooted in the best that has gone before Miles-Thomas delivers something I never looked for, never knew I wanted, but suspect I will no longer be able to do without – an intimate understanding of the famously finicky curmudgeon direct from the horse’s mouth.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

I’ve just had a really good lunch. Breast of Guinea Fowl and a glass or two of something uncomplicatedly red. Peace and quiet in the tranquillity of Edinburgh’s clubland. A very short stroll to the Assembly Rooms and I’m ready to be told a chuffing good story, chuffing well, by a chuffing good actor. SPOILER ALERT: I get exactly that. An uncomplicated hour of familiar canonic classics.

Nigel Miles-Thomas’ classical portrait of Holmes is a lively, astutely judged and gratifyingly authentic homage that should easily pass muster with the purists. Rooted in the best that has gone before Miles-Thomas delivers something I never looked for, never knew I wanted, but suspect I will no longer be able to do without – an intimate understanding of the famously finicky curmudgeon direct from the horse’s mouth. Holmes without Watson to translate him into human is a tall order.

Edinburgh’s own Conan Doyle has been adapted more times than the Napoleon of Austerlitz has had hot biographies. Adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes universe are ten a penny but EdFringe punters have come to expect solid gold by those taking the road more travelled. There’s gold in this thar script by Holmesian hyper scholar, David Stuart Davies. Davies’ Holmes is humble, he recognises how much he needed Watson and is man enough to admit that he might have said so more clearly and more often. Holmes on the level is a much more amiable after-lunch companion than would have been the emotionally stunted, emotionally unavailable Sheldon Cooper Sherlock the arrogant SOB high on his own genius.

Cards on the table, the show’s director Gareth Armstrong produced what I consider to be the finest thing I have ever, and am ever likely to see at EdFringe – ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ performed by Gerard Logan in 2012. This was not so brilliant, nothing could be. I find myself wondering if there is rather too much material that’s been left in. A Fringe hour is like a suitcase, there is an artistry to packing it right and there’s something here that’s missing by its very presence. The high Victoriana set and properties did not sit comfortably with such determined minimalism. I’d have liked to have seen more movement, more business, more theatre framing Miles-Thomas’ exquisite portraiture. 

Like all brilliant careers, the Holmes universe lends itself to the retrospective scope. This is an adaptation which delivers the goods, although you’ll have to unpack them yourself. Let’s be clear, this is a potboiler but it’s as welcome as a Le Creuset coming out of the Aga and into good, companionable company. Get your Inverness capes on and go see this!

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‘Black and White Tea Room: Counsellor’ (Venue 20, Aug 8-11, 13-18, 20-25)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad by

“It’s as though the Roaring Forties had popped by for high tea on a balmy summer’s day.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

We enter to find a man sitting alone at a table. Control. This is a man in control. This is a man with a preference for control. The telephone rings. His visitor has arrived at the station. If the visitor follows the man’s instructions, then he will arrive shortly. The man puts a vinyl record on. There is no sound. The record spins round and round but no sound do we hear.

The visitor arrives. He is younger. He is dishevelled. He is not at ease. The visitor’s pulsing anxiety is in uncomfortable disharmony with the quiet tearoom where the man he has come to see provides counselling sessions in addition to light refreshments. There are rituals to be observed. Trust must be built. The man guides his visitor through the opening steps of their structured conversation. Trust will be essential if progress is to be made even as the mystery as to who these individuals are deepens, unravels, and ties itself in further knots. The man is not just any man, he is The Man – the kindly brute. The visitor is not just any random, he has a past to dredge and resentment to air.

As The Man, EdFringe favourite Nicholas Collett is as understated as a deadly cobra waiting to strike. Like a magician of auld he conjures the sturm directing the gale forces into a cyclonic hurricane of emotional turmoil in which both men will be torn apart. The Man is not without his own pain, not without his own losses. The Man is all too human which is why having an actor celebrated for his dramatic and emotional intelligence is such an important fit for this occasionally puzzling play. Collett is the lightning rod that keeps the ornate edifice from burning down.

As the visitor, Jonathan Kemp (of Drama Studio London faculty fame) delivers the drang, the stress that upsets The Man’s tranquillity with a sudden devastating revelation. It’s as though the Roaring Forties had popped by for high tea on a balmy summer’s day. Our perceptions are turned on their head. Has the visitor got a plan? Does he know what he is about? Kemp milks the mystery treading the line between uncertainty and hesitancy with nimbleness. Like something out of Hemmingway, we wonder if Kemp can land his catch. SPOILER ALERT: he does and he does so with an unforgettable, uncomforting authenticity.

This is a script which works in some places and which sags in others. This is a script where the overall wood and the individual trees are not always in perspective. There are gaps not all of which can be explained as a result of British actors tackling a sensitive chapter in Korean history. Still, for those of us who enjoy the bold subtleties of contemporary Korean storytelling, this is a fine vintage from a respected winery blending high drama, some dark comedy, and much to think about.

Come for the high-octane acting. Stay for the rip-roaring ride. Get your feather-down puffer coats on and go see this!

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‘Aude Lener – Love Reboot’ Venue 53 until 24th AUG (not 11th)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Wanna feel loved? I’m no magician; I’m just French.”

Editorial Rating: 4  Stars (Nae Bad )

As a regular visitor to the Fringe for some years now, I’ve always had a soft spot for single-handed shows. So often the preferred vehicle for solo female performers, they can frequently take you by surprise, drawing from the almost infinite well of personal imagination and experience, unhindered by the theatrical presumptions inherent in a full-cast play. This slick, energetic, and well-staged production is written and performed in English (with occasional forays into Française) by the French film and TV actress Aude Lener.

Part stand-up comedy, part pop-philosophical treatise, part scatological cabaret, Lener delivers a wryly amusing exploration of a single woman’s life as she realises that the pursuit of love is slipping through her ageing fingers. As she wearily notes with a particularly gallic take on her situation: “Wanna feel loved? I’m no magician; I’m just French.” There is physical action a-plenty as Lener presents us with a rapid-fire series of vignettes enacting her somewhat crazy social and family life. These include a rather clever whiteboard presentation; much skilful use of a banana as a visual metaphor (oh, how the ladies in the front row giggled); the funniest rendition of Amazing Grace I’ve ever heard; and the recurring ghostly presence of her Aunt Madeline, who is dead but won’t lie down and keeps intruding into Aude’s life like an escapee from some grand guignol show at a seedy theatre in 1950s Pigalle.

Lener herself is something of a dramatic phenomenon. Her demure movie star face is elastic enough to quickly contort into a thousand visual caricatures to suit as many different voices, some her own internal monologue, others those of relatives, friends, and a succession of would-be lovers. With her pacy and emphatic delivery, she packs much observational humour, wit, and physicality into this 50-minute whirlwind of a show. Maybe it’s a cliché of national stereotyping for me to say that Lener’s French accent imbues her comedic insights with a philosophical authority that just wouldn’t be there if it came from a British actress? But it does.

So if, like me, you’re looking for something a little different to seek out in a small black-box studio theatre and won’t lose sleep if you never again see yet another angst-ridden portrayal of Emily Brontë or Mary Shelley, get yourself to TheSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (Theatre 3) to laugh along with this quirky little gem.

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‘Mini Mozart – Babies Class’ (Bedfringe, 21 July 2024)

Posted in 4*, Bedfringe 2024, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

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“‘Does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a dose of golden sunsound as pleasing as any since Orpheus rhymed Calliope with ‘my way’.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Children don’t learn by osmosis, it’s the worst thing about them. Put a child in a room full of fine art, leave them to their own distracted devices and they will emerge no more educated or insightful than before they went in. How annoying is that? Turns out the path to understanding is not like those moving walkways at airports, you can’t just stand still and reasonably expect to arrive somewhere. BUT a good guide through the wilderness, a smart trainer, or an expert storyteller can make all the difference in terms of maximising the distance covered by the same effort. Interactivity and active listening are mission-critical to cognitive development.

‘Mini Mozart’ is a franchised method and educational mindset as much as it is any individual show. It was created by Clare-Louise Shaw in 2005. It is the ongoing culmination of 20+ years of experience combining musicianship, presenting & parenting. A product of Uppingham School and Berklee College of Music in the USA, the holder of a music degree from Newcastle University, Clare went on to join BBC Music. You might recognise her from her onscreen work in ‘BBC Young Musician’ of the Year and ‘The Proms’ or from her time as a singer at Disneyland Paris. It was during her first maternity leave, in 2005, that Clare was “hit by the clarity stick.” Knowing how much her infant son loved it when she played the violin, clarinet, or piano and remembering the same look of enchantment on the children’s faces at Disney, Clare got her NCT group and instruments together with a piano accompanist and ‘Mini Mozart’ was born.

We enter to discover that our presenters today are Andrew on piano and Lottie on everything else. If that piper chap in Hamyln had a twin sister, Bedford’s own Lottie Bagnall might be her. She seamlessly gathers the children always shepherding, never leading. At no point do the children or their adults, seem bossed. With my school governor’s hat on, I see a smart, sensitive, sensory curriculum being mindfully delivered with a confidently light touch. This knowledge-rich content is not only substantial, it is massively entertaining for young and auld alike. Lottie’s not especially secret superpower is to make newcomers (including my girls) feel as welcome and included as the families she sees at her weekly sessions.

As immersive as a lavender bubble bath after an afternoon spent coal mining, as absorbing as a Sahara sea sponge, as gentle as the mistral is by comparison with the supersonic methane winds of Neptune – ‘Mini Mozart’ does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a dose of golden sunsound as pleasing as any since Orpheus rhymed Calliope with ‘my way’.

In her Bedfringe notebook – the one with a cartoon of Richard Nixon carrying Louis Armstrong’s luggage through customs drawn on the inside cover – Daughter 1.0 (9yrs) wrote:

“I went to Bedford Festival Fringe this summer and went to Mini Mozart with my sisters [6yrs and 2yrs]. It was mostly aimed at babies or toddlers beetween 0 and 4 but even so I realy enjoyed it. It was all about the story of the three little pigs with violins, violas and clarenets and a piano! I realy enjoyed playing with rattles, giants scrunchies, parachutes and singing lots of song My littlest sister said she realy enjoyed it and so did I!”

Come for the touchy-feely encounters with strings and clarinet buttons. Stay despite the scary Peter and the Wolf puppet – Clare says he’s fine, but they all say that about their wolf puppets don’t they!? – leave having heard the finest versions of ‘Wheels on the Bus’, ‘I’m a Little Teapot’, and ‘Sleeping Bunnies’ you’re ever likely to hear. Get your evening tailcoats on and go see this!

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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‘1984’ (Venue 139, until AUG 28th)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Outstanding by

“This is a show that has, despite the odds, pulled a rabbit out of a hat and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Outstanding)

In Fringe lore, Proletariat Productions’ production of ‘1984’ will be remembered as the little engine that could. Beset by off-stage problems, not the least of which was the sudden short-notice loss of their original O’Brien, this is a show that has, despite the odds, pulled a rabbit out of a hat and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

George Orwell’s masterpiece will always draw a crowd but it isn’t often that we get to see his work presented with such chilling clarity. This is a multimedia heavy, perhaps a little too multimedia heavy, rendering of ordinary people trapped in the brutality and squalor of a society gone wrong.

As Winston Smith, Orion Powell delivers the goods in a powerful performance which brings all the classic elements of the rebellious everyman together with fresh insights and pathos. In a story centred on artificiality and the breakdown of empathy, Powell reaches towards the light Smith detects in others. With both Julia and O’Brien there is a deeper humanity on show often missing in less well-observed adaptations.

Although not on stage, she is only ever seen in the video clips, Estelle Mey establishes herself as one to watch. She is neither too sexual, nor too unsensual. If Disney did Orwell, Mey would be the princess. The setting for her relationship with Smith is staged so as to highlight the escapism, the fantasy, and the impossibility of their love. It’s one of several devices which make this production so compelling.

In the other supporting roles Michael Keegan and Camber Sands buttress the drama with carefully considered yet dynamic character sketches which do much to shoulder the weight of this heavy script. This is entertainment after all. Having joined the production just two days before opening night, Daniel Llewelyn-Williams as O’Brien cannot be praised highly enough for his superb performance, the keystone on which all else rests. I’ve never understood people who enjoy potholing. I will never understand how Llewelyn-Williams can be having so much fun under so much pressure, but he is and it’s because he suspects what we all know – he is a great character actor of the auld skool in whose hands a script becomes a kite soaring skyward.

This is not a production without faults, but there are no unforced errors. This is a Herculean effort that has rolled the boulder up the hill where it stands in majesty. This is a troupe of players with something special on offer. Their chemistry is fresh, compelling, and hugely satisfying. If vampires fed off theatre companies this is the slender neck that would attract the most fangs. The pleasure of auld EdFringe is seeing something break out of the seed and start to grow. Where this group goes next I want to follow.

Come for a classic done proper. Stay for a fine ensemble. Get your blue boiler suits on comrades and go see this!

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