Category Archives: Bedfringe

EdFringe Talk: Sammy Obeid

Posted in Bedfringe 2022, EdFestivals 2022 by

“New York City is next, but I’ll leave my soul in Edinburgh for the right price.”

WHO: Sammy Obeid

WHAT: “A hell of a lot can happen in the time you await the results of a pregnancy test. This is the story of a woman staring down the barrel of motherhood, torn between her own ambivalence… and an uncontrollable urge to push. Award-winning Popelei burst out of isolation and onto your screens with their darkly comic theatre production, reimagined for film. Blistering honesty, exhilarating choreography, and one extremely knocked-up performer.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Sportsmans (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 22:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first time performing in Edinburgh! I’ve been here once when I was 13 years old (not sure what the conversion rate for American years to UK years is sorry, but 13 American). I’ve heard so many great things!

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2019 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Don’t trust the government! Joking, I love the government if they are listening. In 2020 my show came out on Netflix called 100 Humans, where we did experiments on people (check it out really interesting stuff) and one thing I learned is that a man’s dancing ability is unrelated to his sperm count. Cheers!

Tell us about your show.

I wrote it! Perhaps a few joints as my writer’s assistants (it’s legal in California, relax!). Very fortunate to have teamed up with Gilded Balloon to present my one human experience: SAMMY OBEID THEM. A mix of stand up and obeying the demands of the live crowd. New York City is next, but I’ll leave my soul in Edinburgh for the right price.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

My dear friends from LA Tehran and Leah Lamarr have amazing shows, go check them out. Also my pal from NYC Wyatt Feegrado’s show: Platonic Love Triangle.

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‘Jon Courtenay: Against The Odds’ (Bedfringe, 29 July 2022)

Posted in 5*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“He’s got to carry on like nothing is going on and he isn’t undergoing treatment.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Jon Courtenay is a British singer, comedian, and entertainer who also has the gift of being a pianist. He’s was the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2020. In fact, did you know that Jon is the first ever golden buzzer winner to win BGT. [For those of you who still call ITV ‘The Other Side’, The Golden Buzzer is where the judges or Ant and Dec can push the Buzzer to put the contestant through to the live finals.]

Jon’s appearance at The Bedford Fringe was with his Edinburgh Fringe preview show AGAINST THE ODDS. The scene is set where it all starts, with his auditioning for BGT. During the next few months Jon keeps a big secret away from BGT, and the media, which is going to make a impact on his life.

The story is really POWERFUL and it’s one that really deserves to be heard. It’s all about a mole that appears on the side of his head which was eventually diagnosed as being cancer. Yet Jon can’t stop now that he’s reached the top. He’s got to carry on like nothing is going on and he isn’t undergoing treatment.

Jon’s show flows throughout and his gifted ability to perform is one that can’t be missed. You can really see how much Jon loves live audiences and the BUZZ he gets from entertaining. The way in which he turns the story in to comedy and music is very clever. The show’s opening song is his auditioning song called ‘The Third Person’ and each number that follows tells the story of what was going on behind the scenes.

This personal story told by Jon REALLY did make an impact on me. It was thought-provoking to me as to the importance of being checked out early with any health concerns. LIFE is valuable, LIFE is Important and LIFE is also to ENJOY which is what I’m doing.

That was an outstanding show, please go and see it at The Edinburgh Fringe you’re in for a great time.

This review was authored by Graeme Scott.

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Bedfringe 2022 Interview: Infants

Posted in *Written Interviews, Bedfringe 2022 by

“Getting it back on stage was hard – really hard – there were some real logistical (not to mention mental) barriers to embarking on a process we had already been through once, with a kind of anxiety-driven paranoia that having been halted already it could so easily hit problems again.”

WHO: James Lark: Writer/performer

WHAT: “James Lark’s (Tony Blair the Musical, The Snow Spider) new musical promises tantrums and disasters, naughty words and naughty characters but after a single calamitous day, we can’t guarantee that everyone will be coming back to school tomorrow…

Class 3 are on the brink of disaster: tactile Drew is a safeguarding hazard, Chloe’s obsession with Ryan threatens her friendship with queen bee Kaylee, and a noxious misunderstanding threatens the career of teacher Mr Finch. It’s just as well mobile phones aren’t allowed in school – the parents couldn’t possibly find out, could they?”

WHERE: Quarry Theatre

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Bedfringe?

This is the first time I’ve had my own show at Bedfringe, though when I lived in Bedford (many, many years ago) I was a regular in the audience and saw some incredible shows. I was once – even more many years ago – a frequent visitor to the Edinburgh Fringe, both as performer and spectator (and of course the two things go hand in hand, as I think it’s very much the point of festivals to be able to experience and soak up other people’s work at the same time as developing your own) – so at a time when my career and the other complexities of Being A Grown Up were starting to make spending a whole month in Edinburgh kinda impractical, it was brilliant to discover I lived in a place that had its own opportunity to see a lot of the people who were heading up to Edinburgh themselves. And Bedfringe has a great atmosphere because it’s fuelled by genuine enthusiasm for the shows they have on – the people running it are probably the most enthusiastic audience members of all, in fact – and it’s hardly surprising, I mean look at the range and calibre of the stuff they’re featuring.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2021 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

It has been a funny couple of years. And I don’t mean funny in a way that I got to laugh at much. ‘Infants’ was meant to get its premiere in 2020, and things were pretty well advanced (cast ready, rehearsals underway, posters printed) when a global pandemic reared its ugly head. So instead of putting on my exciting new musical I found myself spending intense days working online and long evenings gardening; on the one hand a frustrating time, and it was certainly annoying to have the brakes put on my musical when everything had been going so well. On the other hand, giving a piece of theatre more room to develop can be a positive thing, as was the case here – we did an online preview, we tried out sections at outdoor events, and we had the time to get some aspects of the production much more into shape. Getting it back on stage was hard – really hard – there were some real logistical (not to mention mental) barriers to embarking on a process we had already been through once, with a kind of anxiety-driven paranoia that having been halted already it could so easily hit problems again. We had to recast some of the roles, half of the original cast having (perfectly naturally) moved on abd become unavailable. But what a rewarding process it has been, and to be honest it is a more polished, more brilliant show for the extra time it has taken us to get here.

Tell us about your show.

‘Infants’ tells the story of a single day in the lives of a class of seven-year-olds: bossy Kaylee and her best friend Chloe, sensitive Ryan, clumsy Liam, tactile Drew and sulky Jenny. But it’s not just about the children – we also meet their parents and their teachers, who become embroiled in a potential bullying situation and a misunderstanding involving a mop, all of which leads to a cataclysmic confrontation that will leave a substantial mark on all of the characters involved. It’s a comedy, with plenty of wordplay and physicality, not to mention moments of pure farce, but without giving too much away there’s a bittersweet element to what happens – with each rewrite the comedy in the show became darker, perhaps because the more I invested in the characters, the more the consequences of what was thrown at them felt genuinely painful. Also, the childishness we were exploring was being echoed in some of the highest public offices in the country, and a story about infantile behaviour getting out of hand and turning into a hunt for a scapegoat does seem… well, topical.

Featuring no fewer than 19 characters, the whole thing is performed by just six actors – so it’s something of a tour de force for the performers involved (not to mention a calorie-busting workout). And obviously, it’s all set to music, which veers from childlike simplicity for younger characters to some pretty sophisticated material for the adults. There are some old-fashioned toe-tapping tunes in there (you WILL come out with them stuck in your head), but also some really exciting moments of ensemble singing when all the different characters and storylines come together – so if you like the melodic invention of William Finn, or the wit and complexity of Sondheim, there’ll be plenty here to satisfy you.

I can also guarantee that you’ll laugh. A lot.

What should your audience see at Bedfringe after they’ve seen your show?

You must must must go and see ‘The Same Rain That Falls On Me’, a brilliant, funny, sad and vital monologue written by Logan Jones and performed by Ella McKeown (23 July, 12pm) – it packs so much into its 35 minutes and will leave you reeling. Matthew Gouldesbrough’s five star OffComm award-winning play Elegy (30 and 31 July, 4.30pm) looks too be another theatrical experience not to miss. I’m a huge silent cinema fan and seeing films with live musical accompaniment is one of life’s great pleasures, so Bela Lugosi’s ‘White Zombie’ with a new original score written and performed by Jason Frederick looks like an absolute treat (25 July, 7pm). And any opportunity to see Simon Munnery (23 July, 9pm) should be seized.

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EdFringe Talk: Ange Lavoipierre: I’ve Got 99 Problems and Here’s an Exhaustive List of Them

Posted in *Written Interviews, Bedfringe 2022 by

“I moonlight as the cello accompanist for Australian improv duo BearPack.”

WHO: Ange Lavoipierre

WHAT: “99 problems. 50 minutes. One woman. One spider suit. 30 seconds per problem. An insufficient number of solutions. If you currently have, or have ever had problems, the new show from award-winning comedian and journalist Ange Lavoipierre is absolutely for you. This frantic yet beguiling display of self-pity is the holiday from your own problems you’ve been waiting for.”

WHERE: Underbelly, George Square – The Wee Coo (Venue 300) 

WHEN: 16:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Whenever anyone asks me what Edinburgh Fringe is like, I tell them it’s the most fun you can have as an adult, and I stand by that, although long haul flights from Australia are certainly a close second.

This is my second time bringing my own show to Edinburgh, but my millionth performing there, because I moonlight as the cello accompanist for Australian improv duo BearPack (Steen Raskopoulos & Carlo Ritchie). I found I was even funnier when I talked, so my 2022 show is primarily talking.

The best thing about it really is the genuine sense of chaos and possibility. You can meet just about anyone, see some truly wild shows you never imagined would exist, and you get to do it all in a deeply beautiful (haunted) city.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2019 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

My main takeaway from 2019 was to never flyer anywhere near birds, because they will do an enormous shit(s) on you. I also learned to say yes to everything, talk to everyone, and to be very good at wrapping up a conversation. I’ve nailed the first two, but am yet to master the third. And birds are literally everywhere, so maybe the real lesson is to never flyer at all.

Honestly though the festival can feel overwhelming as a performer, and success is an abstract concept in that environment, so I have decided that the way to approach it is to fully enjoy whatever good things happen in a day, because in the words of Mary Oliver, joy is not made to be a crumb.

Tell us about your show.

I like to think that my niche is comedy-horror. I wrote the show at a time when I thought spiders were following me, and ostensibly, it’s an hour-long attempt to work out why that’s happening. Really though I knew the notion of being followed by a pack of organised, interventionist spiders was insane even at the time it was happening, so it’s actually a show about the crazy things we let ourselves believe.

I’ve been performing this show on the Australian festival circuit for 6 months, and my Edinburgh season, produced by RBM, is its last stop.

Easily the dumbest part is the spider strip tease, and the cleverest part is the song I wrote about small dicks. Or is it the other way around?

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Sam Cambell’s shows are a kind of magic trick where you laugh the whole time and then you walk out and you can’t remember a single thing that happened because it was too weird. Real moonbeam on the sand stuff. Julia Masli is a pure and charming clown who is totally magnetic to watch. Garry Starr is a fucking idiot (see him). Tom Walker is a deeply strange man who has thought of things that no-one else ever would, and all of them are funny. Viggo Venn is a very tall Norwegian clown, and honestly I don’t think he knows how not to make you laugh. Dreamgun do the world’s funniest film reads, and their shows are always a joy. They also have very nice Irish accents. New Zealander Eli Matthewson is instantly loveable, and that feeling will only increase over an hour of watching his stand up. And Joz Norris’ character Mr Fruit Salad was the hardest I laughed in 2019. I can’t wait to see what exquisitely half arsed character he invents this time to exceed it.

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EdFringe Talk: Done to Death, By Jove!

Posted in *Written Interviews, Bedfringe 2022 by

“We never want to retire. Our industry didn’t exist for 2 years. There’s so much to catch up on.”

WHO: Nicholas Collett & Gavin Robertson

WHAT: “The Great British Detective tradition! Holmes and Watson meet Poirot and Miss Marple (alongside the usual suspects) in a spoof homage – who murdered Lady Fanshawe!? Why have the sound cues got mixed up? Where’s the set? Made all the more tricky, given that four actors are stuck in the broken-down van, so theatrical knights, Sir Gavin of Robertson and Sir Nicholas of Collett attempt to deliver the play… what can go wrong!? Brand-new comedy, re-interpreting The Art of Coarse Acting with a farcical result. Time to discover whodunwhat and how… Warning: Contains hats!”

WHERE: theSpaceTriplex – Studio (Venue 117) 

WHEN: 17:05 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

We first came to Edinburgh together in 2010 to perform “The Six-Sided Man” at Zoo. We returned in 2016 to perform the 30th anniversary version at Assembly Roxy. Prior to this Gavin was at Assembly with “Thunderbirds FAB!” in 1987, prior to the first of 6 West End runs. Since then he has appeared in many Fringe productions including “12 Angry Men” with Bill Bailey and a host of comics and “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” with Christian Slater and Mackenzie Crook.

Nicholas’s first fringe was in 1980, performing new writing from the University of Birmingham Drama Dept with fellow students including a young man named Simon Le Bon. No idea what happened to him, he seemed quite interested in music. Since then he has twice appeared as Counsellor in “The Black and White Tea Room at Assembly (Special Performance Award at Seoul’s World Duo Festival) and “Your Bard” amongst many others.

We love doing Edinburgh – you have no idea who’s coming and the doors that may open as a result are exciting. Through Edinburgh we have both presented work internationally, including Hong Kong, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Adelaide, Kansas City and Florida.
It’s great meeting people from all over the world.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2019 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

We never want to retire. Our industry didn’t exist for 2 years. There’s so much to catch up on. We took the view that people would want to have a laugh after all this, so we’ve made a comedy. People seem to like it so we’ve learnt that works.

Tell us about your show.

Created, performed and produced by Gavin Robertson and Nicholas Collett. We met in 2007 through Tim Marriott on a production of Dante’s “Inferno”. We started making work together shortly after. This production has been touring since 2019 and will be touring the UK this Autumn, including a visit to Florida.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Tim Marriott in “Watson” at Assembly .
Yoshi Colwell in “Invisible Mending” at Summerhall .
“Prejudice and Pride” at Space Big, new country and bluegrass musical
“The Gods, The Gods. The Gods” Assembly Bijou
“SOE” Assembly Front Room
“The Wild Unfeeling World” Lion House Theatre Summerhall

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‘Simon Munnery: Trials and Tribulations’ (Bedfringe, 23 July 2022)

Posted in 3*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“Simon has a definite comical genius way of telling his stories.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars (Nae Bad)

Simon’s show at The Bedford Fringe was based on the turmoil of his life. For reasons that soon become clear, one of these stories, from his youth, was never going to be told until now, some twenty years later.

It all started on the last night of the Edinburgh Fringe. Simon had been tasked by his friend and fellow comic, Arthur Smith, to heckle him under the guise of being a German Tourist. Unfortunately, Simon got caught up a the situation which led to his arrest for assaulting a Police officer – although at the following court case he was found not guilty. Simon has a definite comical genius way of telling his stories. They were each cleverly portrayed to the audience giving us much laughter.

Another story followed on how a parking ticket machine in Leeds didn’t accept his money resulting in no payment being made and returning to his car to find a ticket had been issued. The years of refusing to pay the rising fine resulted in another court case. SPOILER ALERT: Another case he won. Simon also got mugged some three times up and these were further stories told in Simon’s own proficient way.

Simon certainly has a way with portraying his own true life stories and they was good to hear. The attention to detail made each an interesting listen. As an audience, you do laugh along the way. What this show lacks though is continuity. The flow between stories didn’t seem to work .There was parts of the show to which the audience didn’t seem to react. The format needs tiding up, but that’s why it’s a work in progress. We all have off days, and this seemed to be one for Simon.

I would give this show a rating of 3 out of 5 as seen. It was definitely Nae Bad. Being a Bedfringe event the ticket price was acceptable. It would be good to revisit this show once it’s been polished off.

 

This review was authored by Graeme Scott.

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‘Pigs and Bears Don’t Come in Pairs’ (Bedfringe, 23 July 2022)

Posted in 5*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“Two of the most gorgeous, and delicate tellings of familiar tales you’ll hear this side of ‘Jackonory’ in the TV show’s glory days.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

There’s a reason Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley never cut a record together. The two artists wanted to collaborate but, in their infinite wisdom, Elvis’ managers kept making offers Dolly’s people could easily refuse. The way she tells it, this meeting of minds but not of pocketbooks was a vital early lesson. The industry is called “show business” for a reason, some choices have to be made with your head in spite of your heart. For the producers and creators of children’s theatre, where innocence and magic are so integral to any successful production, keeping worldly Ying and otherworldly Yang in harmony over the long term is not so much a soft skill as a superpower. Sad, but true, theatre involves much more bean-counting than fantastic geese who lay golden eggs. It’s not about the scale either. Stan Lee simply created picture books just as Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler do. These artists are the Warhols and Picassos of their world. But for all the corporate billions in revenue, the art is still what matters. When you’ve got an artist who can make ends meet by producing fabulous content for impressionable young minds, you can move the world for that is the lever Archimedes was talking about.

We enter to find Andy Lawrence, like a middle-years Merlin of enchantment and make-believe, bespectacled and be-beared. If you’ve ever wanted to see someone who can seem to saunter when they’re standing still, look no further. You go into some shows and you feel like you’re a medieval burgher, being loudly induced to stay and watch a back-of-the-cart performance in the market square. Lawrence is much softer, much subtler. It’s impossible not to warm to him. From the soft lighting to Paolo Conte quietly crooning ‘Happy Feet’, this is someone who knows how to set a calming scene for those of us not always guaranteed to use our inside voices. What follows are two of the most gorgeous, and delicate tellings of familiar tales you’ll hear this side of ‘Jackonory’ in the TV show’s glory days. If there was such a thing as an ultra-robust souffle, guaranteed never to let you down at the last minute, this would be it. Daughter 1.0 (7yrs) wrote this to her Godmother:

“Dear Aunty Claire, I went to the bedfod festival fringe. I went to see pigs and bears don’t come in pairs! There were two stories. The tree little pigs and Goldllocks and the tree bears. First there was the tree little pigs he used a three to show the house where all of them lived. And the wolf was a bit shabby wich made him look hungry and scary. In Goldilocks and the three bears he put on big ears for the Daddy bear a medium size bear and a tiny bear. Goldilocks hated having bathes and was a very messy eater. And she put her Whole face in the bole of porge. And the bears were so scared oh her! I loved it! Lots of love xxx”

Merlin had his wizard’s staff, Theatre of Widdershins* has its puppetry. The characters, especially the big bad wolf, are simply perfect, which not every sightline in the Bedfringe studio is. The hand-crafted world they inhabit is joyous. It makes the heart sing. The Three Bears’ House is so elaborately simple as to defy belief. If J. Robert Oppenheimer had built dolls’ houses, they would have looked like these. Even so, like Merlin’s staff, all these props are secondary to the man himself. If you’re looking for someone to keep the kids entertained, or to mentor the once and future king of all England, Andrew Lawrence, is your guy.

*Widdershins is the auld English term for counter-clockwise, contrary to the sun’s course, left-handed and no, I didn’t have to ask.

 

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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‘The Munch Mission’ (Bedfringe, 24 July 2022)

Posted in 4*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“Surrealler than waking up in a Magritte painting, finding time’s gone all transfixed, and that while the street outside is dark, overhead there’s broad sunshine.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Outstanding)

“I’m really not a fan of Munch, he’s no Peder Mønsted or Anders Zorn…” …is what I would have said if I’d been a clued-up member of the ‘Painters From the North’ Facebook group back in the day. What I actually said was even more dismissive. I was young and hadn’t learned then that one needs a Fringe reviewer’s pass, and/or to have been elected to political office before one can go around inflicting half-baked subjectivity on strangers. The naval-gazing nightmare that is a full-blown Twatter addiction wasn’t a thing then. There followed an awkward silence. Minions from the University’s Comms and Marketing Office weren’t supposed to talk. The other occupants of the black cab – which was then working its way passed the Scottish National Gallery and up The Mound – looked uncomfortably at one another and then at the guest of honour. Sue Prideaux author of ‘Edvard Munch: Behind The Scream’ said nothing for the rest of the journey on her way to collect her James Tait Black Prize for Biography. I still think Munch is overrated BTW, in that way that all artists who aren’t Edwin Landseer tend to be.

We enter to find one of the most elaborate and exciting sets this Bedfringe, inhabited by Agents Dali (Paul Lawless) & Kahlo (Gill Simmons) from the Company of International Artists. The CIA exists to solve mysteries. What follows is a playable art-heist adventure theatre show that’s surrealler than waking up in a Magritte painting, finding time’s gone all transfixed, and that while the street outside is dark, overhead there’s broad sunshine. We are taken on an international journey, collecting clues and trying to track down Munch’s most celebrated painting ‘The Scream’ which has gone walkabouts. BTW describing ‘The Scream’ as Munch’s most celebrated painting is like describing Johann Pachelbel’s ‘Canon’ as his most celebrated piece of music – what else has he done that anyone can remember off hand?

Accompanying the elaborate set are some BIG, bold costumes. A lot of choices have gone into this production, a lot of details and touches that add up to a massively impactful and majorly memorable entertainment. Here’s what Daughter 1.0 (7yrs) wrote in a letter to her Aunty – the one who works at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and with whom I’m not allowed to talk about painting and sculpture because, apparently, in that sphere of human activity I’m a “tasteless vulgarian”…

“Dear Aunty Chloe, We went to the Bedford Festival Fringe. And we saw the Munch Mishon! When we walked in we saw a phone that was shaped like a lobster and two boxses there was also some drawers and two windows and a sighn in the middlle. The Caracters were wering a long mostash for the man. And a lobster shirt. He must have loved lobsters. And for the other carecter a big tubon on her and a lepod sort of costume. The story was about a famouse artist “Munch” painting a picture of a scream. But the scream gose mising! You had some padles that you use to show what you want to happen next. We had to solve problems like when we fount an orange E or an A and all together it spelled something out. The Scream poped up in a lot of pictures. And it could talk. I loved it so much! Lots of love xxx” 

For all that ‘The Munch Mission!’ is a larger-than-life production, its the big-hearted performances that make, bend, but never break the magic. The on-stage chemistry between Lawless and Simmons crackles with artistic energy. Together, they are the fuel in the tank that drives this garish behemoth to such outrageous heights of precision silliness. I’d have liked to have come away knowing more about Munch and if he ever painted anything that wasn’t ‘The Scream’ but for the audience at which this show is aimed, the pitch is damn near perfect.

 

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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‘Where The Lost Socks Go’ (Bedfringe, 24 July 2022)

Posted in 5*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“We’re off on an adventure, a quest for identity, full of catchy songs and crazy characters.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Nae Bad)

“I want my girls to see really accomplished tap dancing, there’s no chance they’re seeing that at home, but if we took them to an exhibition of tap dancing it would be boring as…” “I know what you mean. You want them to see something organic and free-range.” I like the barstaff at Bedfringe. They get it. Really great theatre for children should showcase music, movement, composition, and maybe even have a moral message to scaffold and shape their spiritual and moral growth. What matters is the premise. The toughest audiences in the world need a hook that works from the outset.

‘Where The Lost Socks Go’ has a brilliant premise. It’s one instantly familiar to the wide-eyed little ones, their carers and parents. An African grandma at the schoolgates observed to me last week that socks tend to be rather dull sub-Sahara while every other garment is louder than a cajon percussion box, played upbeat in an auld skool public library. Conversely, British socks are deafeningly loud and proud while everything else in the average English ensemble is limited to the colours of the Ford Model-T pre-sales catalogue.

We enter to find an electric rainbow of socks bestrewed around the stage, hanging from a washing line, covering the feet of the two performers – Beth Markey and Josh Baldwin – only… hang on… wait a minute… Josh is missing a sock. He’s got a big audition coming up, it’s his chance to join the band. Except he’d have to conform to their unshakable ‘No Ukeleles’ rule, something that he’s not feeling too good about. 

Josh has one of his guitar socks on, but where’s the other? He might also have to wear mismatched socks, that can’t be a good thing, right? We’re off on an adventure, a quest for identity, full of catchy songs and crazy characters. There’s a rocket ride, dance numbers, and several sockdraws worth of laughs. Once upon a time I was on the parents’ jury that summarily convicted and burned at the stake a disgusting heretic who had openly described Justin Fletcher’s Mr Tumble as a drama school project gone too far – they tried to recant as they were dragged through the street on a hurdle, but the baying mob of cosplaying Aunt Pollys and Lord Tumbles were having none of it.

As I said in the jury room after we voted for conviction, I like drama and music school alumni taking centre stage in the world of pure imagination. There’s a very great deal of finely honed craft needed to capture and keep the attention of the screentime generation. Under The Bed Theatre’s Beth Markey and Josh Baldwin have these skills and then some. They also have the talent to deploy their box of tricks to best advantage. My 7yr and 4yr auld loved every minute. Sock-stealing aliens! What’s not to love?

 

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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‘The Three Musketeers’ (Bedfringe, 23 July 2022)

Posted in 5*, Bedfringe 2022 by

“If anyone was going to attempt The Three Musketeers as a two-hander, it would be the daring Morgan and West. Instead, much to their cardiologists’ relief, they’ve added the masterful Peter Clifford to their crew.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Nae Bad)

Charles de Batz de Castelmore (c.1611-1673)  was born at the Château de Castelmore near Lupiac in south-western France the son of a recently ennobled merchant and his wife, Françoise de Montesquiou d’Artagnan. He went to Paris in the 1630s, travelling under his mother’s name, and joined the Musketeers. The rest, as they say, is history. The biography of d’Artagnan – Louis XIV’s captain of le Mousquetaires de la maison militaire du roi de France – has been (somewhat) embellished down the years, first by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras and then, most famously and fabulously, by Alexandre Dumas. Now d’Artagnan and The Three Musketeers are getting the Morgan and West treatment. We expect clever silliness. We expect sparkling banter. We expect some things to be perfect and other things to go hopelessly, hilariously wrong. We are not disappointed.

One of my final memories of EdFringe ‘19 – back when the world was young and undercooked bat with a side of pangolin sashimi was still on the menu – is of encountering Messrs Morgan and West in George Square. They were having a spectacular run with their riotously brilliant ‘Unbelievable Science’, a show so critically acclaimed I awarded it this publication’s ONLY 7-star review. Onstage they were performing at the speed of light. Offstage, and rushing between gigs, they were, to put it mildly, utterly cream-crackered – a pair of properly wobbly-legged long-distance runners gasping towards the finish line. Seeing them manfully struggle in that oh-so-rare Edinburgh sunshine, it was clear as day that these two are probably the hardest-working all-rounders in the league.

If anyone was going to attempt The Three Musketeers as a two-hander, it would be the daring Morgan and West. Instead, much to their cardiologists’ relief, they’ve added the masterful Peter Clifford to their crew. Clifford identifies as an achhhhhtooooooor, with one of those deep and meaningful voices reserved for Penny Mordant’s campaign videos (that reference will age well). He certainly adds gravity, but no dead weight, to the ensemble. His comic timing, physicality, and sheer bloody hard work add an exciting new depth and diversity to the much-loved Morgan and West experience.

Alexandre Dumas was first and foremost a storyteller, the first to buckle his swash for a mass and enduring readership. So, have Morgan and West managed to distil the Frenchman’s Eau de awesomeness in a form that will pass muster for an audience of eager young culture vultures in the 2020s? Daughter 1.0 (7yrs) wrote the following in a letter telling her Grandmother about the show,

“Dear Granny, I went to the Bedfod festival fringe! Let me tell you about the tree muscatias. There was a farm boy who had a cow as a friend. And he wanted to become a Muscatia. There was bunting to show the danger zone. They took fighting very seriosly. They used flags to show where they were. For egsample, they turned one to show it was the port and another to show the cathedral where the cardinal lived, or the city. The story took place in France. There was a evil person who wanted some diamonds so he coald be very power-ful. The queen realy needed them. They triked him and gave him dimons made of ice. The farm boy had a fight with Mr Cheese wich made me laugh and laugh! it was not the country it was a city called paris. I loved it so much! lots of love xxx”

For me, the show could have been 10-20 minutes shorter and a wee bit pacier. Still, it’s safe to bet that Morgan and West (and Clifford too) have got yet another sensational hit on their hands. This is a production that will delight little kids new to the story as well as those of us who have known since the ‘80s that Dogtanian and the Muskehounds are always ready. Un pour tous, tous pour un!

 

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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