Category Archives: EdFestivals 2016

All our coverage from the 2016 festivals.

+3 Interview: Hayley Ellis: FOMO

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“I’m really not good at this self promotion lark.”

WHO: Kathryn Norton – Producer, Co-Director

WHAT: “Hayley Ellis has Fear of Missing Out (FOMO to the kids). Join award-winning Ellis (tour support for Rob Delaney and regular contributor for BBC Two’s Russell Howard’s Good News) for her follow-up hour to find out how neurotic we all really are.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Community Project (Venue 27)

WHEN: 21:35 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I first came up to Edinburgh in 2012 and performed in The Comedy Zone showcase. I returned with a solo show in 2014 and this show is my second solo show. You’ll notice I have a year off every time I perform a Edinburgh show as I like to spend a lot of time writing, that and community service clashes.

Tell us about your show.

This show is an hour of stand up performed and written by myself. After Edinburgh I’m performing it at the Liverpool Comedy Festival and the Nottingham Comedy festival so far.

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

Well first they would probably need a drink as my room is very hot and they will need to replace fluids lost.

There’s loads of amazing shows up in Edinburgh and I could literally recommend so many but If I had to say just one I personally would love to see Chris Gethard’s show. I can’t see it as it clashes with mine. I mean not that I’m saying you should see his show and not mine, but if you had to pick one, then yeah go see his. I’m really not good at this self promotion lark.

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+3 Interview: Family Values

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“Writer Michael Dalberg is an incredibly smart guy, maybe too smart for his own good.”

WHO: David Gasperetti – Director

WHAT: “Trent and Liam have completed one last job which hopefully has freed them from their mafia ties. Set in the Florida Everglades, these two brothers must learn how to become a real family. Just as their bond seems to strengthen, two strangers arrive at their hard-to-find home. Are these people here by accident, or have they been sent by other members of the family? Or worse: are these people closer to Trent and Liam than they realize? A dark, gritty, physical new drama that explores how perilous escaping the past can be.”

WHERE: theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39)

WHEN: 19:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I was here last summer for a few days as a spectator and fell in love. This year I’m proud to say I’m a participant.

Tell us about your show.

I went to undergrad school with the playwright, Michael Dalberg. He’s an incredibly smart guy, maybe too smart for his own good. I was looking for a script to direct in my hometown about three years ago and contacted him. That’s the first time Family Values was placed on my radar. After reading the summary of this mafia play, I determined it was not the kind of play a very conservative community would embrace so I put it on my shelf.

Just about a year ago after my first Edinburgh Fringe experience, Family Values was put back on my radar. Michael’s play won a fresh ink competition back in the USA and received a staged reading. I finally sat down and gave the play a read and determined this was perfect for the Fringe. Absolutely perfect.

As one reviewer wrote, it’s “frustratingly brilliant” and that’s a true description to the intelligence of the play. There are so many layers of this play that showcase the complicated life of the brothers, the remnants of a broken family, and is redemption even possible for this group? It’s light-hearted and funny, but also physical, dark, and gritty. People have even used the word “Tarantino-esque” to describe the intensity and physicality and yes that is an accurate description.

We received 4 & 5-star reviews during our London preview which is fantastic and reflects both the efforts of the Ghost Light team and also the appetite of our audience. People want to see a play that’s intelligent, intense, draws you in until the very end, and when the lights come back up the audience says to themselves “Whoa”. Vital clues are sprinkled throughout the play and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss out. At the end of our thriller play, I guarantee you’ll come to one conclusion, the person on your left another, and on the right a third. As artists, this is exactly the experience we want to create for our patrons.

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

I haven’t seen too much yet as we’re still getting into the swing of things for our show, but I do recommend Yokes Night by the Stay Up Late Collective. Dublin, March 11, 2015, all drugs are legal. Without giving too much away, it’s the right amount of striking directly to the heart and the right amount of messed up.

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+3 Interview: Yokes Night

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“It’s amazing to be back in this incredible city.”

WHO: Isabella Javor – Producer

WHAT: “Dublin, 11th March 2015. A slip-up loophole in the law declares all drugs legal for 24 hours. On this night of rebellion, Harry finds himself under the influence of Saoirse. Bound by the ecstasy of their union, secrets are shared, and the stench of bloodshed is looming. Stay Up Late and Bear Trap Theatre fuse cut-throat dialect with stylized movement, forging a fresh, progressive theatre experience.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: 14:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first time in Edinburgh with my own company! I came up as an assistant with Ornamental Theatre for the fringe two years ago, which marked my first time in Edinburgh. It’s amazing to be back in this incredible city feeling like I’ve got a bit more experience under my belt, but nothing ever prepares you for the ride.

Tell us about your show.

Yokes Night is a new Irish play set in Dublin, March 11th 2015. The night where all drugs were legal for 24 hours in Ireland. Scott Lyons – who co-founded Stay Up Late Collective with Zoe Forrester – wrote Yokes Night last year in our Easter holidays of our second year of drama school.

At East 15 Acting School we all trained on the BA Acting & Contemporary Theatre course as actors and devisors, and were encouraged to pitch a show idea for the annual Debut Festival. After producing Debut Festival’s 8 new plays, which included Yokes Night‘s embryonic scratch performance, I joined the company to develop the show professionally.

Jesse Briton of Bear Trap Theatre, and Dimitris Chimonas from Ugly Collective came aboard to co-direct the piece together for Edinburgh. We’ve had a lot of support on the way, and a fantastic sold-out preview at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London!

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

TOO MANY RECOMMENDATIONS!!! Juice Straw Are Bleak, Triumvirette, and Buzz: A New Musical at Greenside. Blush by Snuffbox Theatre and Starship Osiris at Underbelly, Family Values and Ladies inIn Waiting: The Judgement of Henry VIII at theSpace on the Mile, Police Cops by Pretend Men and The Mission by The Outbound Project at Pleasance, I Keep A Woman In My Flat Chained To A Radiator at ZOO Venues, Lies, All Lies, at the Laughing Horse Bar and Coup de Grace at Sweet Grassmarket.

Oh, and for God’s sake please go see Camille O’Sullivan sing.

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+3 Interview: Alice Unhinged

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

aliceunhingedportrait

“Prepare for a phantasmagorical adventure.”

WHO: Kathryn Norton – Producer, Co-Director

WHAT: “Young Pleasance present a phantasmagorical reinvention of Lewis Carroll’s warped world. With the turbulent logic of a dream Alice Pleasance Liddell is catapulted back into the vortex to unpick her own chaos and confusion. YP breathe new life into Carroll’s refreshingly amoral shape-shifting fantasy, where Alice becomes aware that everything is possible, one second lasts forever and consequences evaporate into thin air. With their trademark ensemble cast Young Pleasance have created another thrilling show to delight audiences.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

WHEN: 13:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is the 21st year for YP at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

Tell us about your show.

Young Pleasance specialise in large scale ensemble theatre staging original writing and adaptations tailored to the company who are involved in the creative process. This is the world premiere of Alice Unhinged

Renowned for showcasing the talents of promising young actors and delivering the highest production values on the Fringe – prepare for a phantasmagorical adventure. This is a contemporary Alice which pays homage to much of the surreal narrative and bizarre characters in Carroll’s original, layered with a contemporary steampunk twist. It is a riotous visual feast of colour, hats and bubbles…

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

All Quiet on the Western Front – featuring XYP actors and directors
Swansong – gloriously anarchic and witty comedic theatre
Beasts – future sketch-show comedy legends

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+3 Review: Nuclear Family (Assembly Roxy: 3 – 29 Aug. 1715. 1h)

Posted in 2*, Assembly Roxy, EdFestivals 2016, Rated: Unrated, Theatre by
Image. Sunday's Child & Fever Dream Theatre.

Image. Sunday’s Child & Fever Dream Theatre.

” .. a drama of a hopeless, unstable, situation”

Editorial Rating:  2 Stars

Torness nuclear power station is 30kms from Edinburgh, strikingly visible from the A1 and from the main line. The MailOnline did a photo feature on it in January last year. A close-up on one of the panels in the Control Room shows the operating switches to Boilers A to D. Understandably, there’s ‘Start Up’, ‘Drain and Warm-Up’, and – critically – ‘Dump’; which is what Ellen, who’s a technician at a nuclear site, has just done to Phil. He takes it very, very badly.

This then is your chance to get up-close and personal with nuclear safety. You play your part in an examination of how Phil, the jilted boyfriend, and a couple of his drunk mates got into the Central Control Room of a nuclear power station and caused a disaster. It’s your job to review the evidence of how it was allowed to happen and to play ‘What Would You Do / What Should They Have Done?’ The results are to be included in the final ‘Prescott’ report. (There is no connection BTW with the former Deputy Prime Minister or indeed, I trust, with any incident at a nuclear installation). As a core idea, it has a lot going for it; but what of its processes?

The audience of eight to ten – it might stretch to 14 or so – sits in a semi-circle. In front of us two actors act out the CCTV footage of the Security desk from that terrible evening. Ellen (Eva O’Connor) is on duty with her brother Joe (Adam Devereux), who is on a verbal warning for telling site managers what they don’t want to hear. This sequence is interrupted on five occasions for  audience participants to look at further evidence: personnel records, transcripts, and the like. A facilitator officiates and calls Time when a decision has to be reached: for example, sound the alarm now or wait? There is a show of hands to determine what happens next.

The acting was by far and away the best part, creating tension even when the plot approached meltdown. However, for me, the ‘interactive’ theatre was a nightmare. I had my senior doubts from the start when the bumbling distribution of iPods did not convince me that this was an official inquiry and then the request for a rapporteur helper was immediately taken up by a man to my right festooned with venue participant lanyards. He started whispering broken instructions on how to open the nano which I tried to follow but I had to give up on the looped audio files. My neighbour to the left seemed to be ‘on task’ and having an engaged conversation but all this activity seemed completely superfluous. It didn’t help, of course, that I was outside the discussions that were taking place. I just wanted to hear more from Joe and Ellen, whose acting was reaching critical levels, rather than wait for the next predictable outcome. Even then it was pretty obvious that whatever decision was reached, at whichever improbable juncture, it would make no difference. When the votes were taken there was no time to really examine the decisions reached. As an immersive simulation it wasn’t working; as a drama of a hopeless, unstable, situation, I liked its fallout.

Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 7 August)

Visit the Assembly Roxy  archive.

+3 Review: Growing Pains (Underbelly, Cowgate: 5-28 Aug: 16.30: 1hr)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals 2016, Musical Theatre, Theatre, Underbelly by

“Oozes a quality that is rare and valuable”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars

There’s a lovely tradition at the Fringe whereby all companies performing at a certain venue are permitted “standby” tickets to other shows at that venue: once all paying ticket holders have been admitted, any empty seats are then up for grabs – if there are any. For this performance Underbelly companies didn’t just fill the few empty seats: staff were frantically laying out two extra rows at the back to cope with a level of demand I’ve never seen before. Within about 10 seconds of the performance starting, I could understand the hype.

As is so achingly trendy at the moment, Growing Pains is written like a performance poem, with rhyme and rhythm, ridiculously clever wordplay, and a lot of witticism. It’s brutal, honest and unflinching in its portrayal of a young man growing up on an estate in Salford and wanting to make it as an actor. Energy is red raw from the get go and you can tell this is going to be an intense and emotional hour.

Central character Tom introduces his friends, portraying each with clear physicality and accent, and we get to laugh at their banter and endeavours to get served at the local pub while underage. Later on we see those same friends grown-up, stuck in a rut and stifled in small-town mentality that Tom so desperately longs to break away from.

Tom Gill gives absolutely everything in this production – from emotive, heart-wrenching pleas to his dad, amusing turns as his Caribbean neighbour and a posture-perfect well-heeled yuppie, to more puns on London tube stations than you can count and a stripped back and haunting break-up scene with an ex-girlfriend: it really is a one man tour-de-force. For me, it’s 2016’s Johnny Bevan.

Oh, and it’s also a musical. With poetic lyricism that effortlessly floats in and out of song it only seems right to blend the two, and it just works. Not in a corny, musical theatre I’m-just-going-to-burst-into-song kind of way, but in a genuine expression of music being the only way for Tom to be able to communicate what’s going on in his head. It’s funny. moving, and incredibly well performed.

However, it’s not perfect – there are several odd little skips, jumps and glossings over within the narrative that could be made clearer or more cleverly interwoven without the need to go to a blackout – but everything about it oozes a quality that is rare and valuable and definitely worth buying a ticket to. Just ask anyone else doing a show at Underbelly.

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

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Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 8 August)

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

+3 Review: Jane Eyre: An Autobiography (Assembly Roxy: 4 – 29 Aug. 1115. 1h30m)

Posted in 3*, Assembly Roxy, EdFestivals 2016, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by
Image. Dyad Productions.

Image. Dyad Productions.

“Rebecca Vaughn’s solo work is outstanding.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars Outstanding

” ‘… and when I draw up the curtain this time, reader, you must fancy you see …’  me, plain and plain-spoken Jane Eyre, on stage for ninety minutes as I tell you the story of my life.”

We have an autobiographical telling, dramatic and full of character, with nothing of substance left out and everything of significance retained. From the window seat in the breakfast room, aged 10, to the parlour of Ferndean Manor, some nine years later where the blind Mr Rochester – he of the ‘brow of rock’ – reclaims his darling Jane. Writer Elton Townend Jones calls his work ‘an impressionistic adaptation’ of Charlotte Bronte’s book. Well, fair enough, along with the charged immediacy of the scene(s) comes the solid narrative, fused and monumental.

Performer Rebecca Vaughan is definitely impressive. She is Jane, of course, but she is also everyone else – except the source of crazed laughter from the attic. There is, inevitably, a cartoon Mr Brocklehurst, who might as well be the grim progenitor of today’s (English) free schools. Mr Rivers, impossible for the irreligious to figure, is left pallid and decent. Mr Rochester is gruff and always amused by Jane’s frank determinations. As Jane, Vaughan is upright and indomitable, which makes her excitement and frailty when it comes to the love story just a bit tricky. However, if romance is your thing, then Jane’s virtuous path to happiness is surely realised.

What makes the novel probably undoes its efficient telling. Jane ‘hadn’t intended to love [Rochester]’ but does and she certainly never expected riches but she gets them. That, to use Bronte’s unlikely word, is a ‘stunner’. The stage-succinct explanation of her 20K inheritance does advance a parallel narrative that gives Jane an easy living that is more assured than the trials and anxieties of any self-respecting literary heroine should be. I wondered, listening hard, whether her assessment of Position, Fortune, & Age in the marriage stakes – our century’s life-style choices – was beginning to count for more than love, which (I concede) is rather uncharitable.

Dyad Productions have worked the text of Jane Eyre to lucid and creditable effect and Rebecca Vaughn’s solo work is outstanding. I just found the whole piece satisfying and accomplished rather than remarkable or radical, which the novel is.

outstanding

StarStarStar

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 7 August)

Go to Dyad Productions

Visit Edinburgh49’s Assembly Roxy archive.

+3 Review: Hot Brown Honey (Assembly Roxy, 5 Aug – 28 Aug : 20:20 : 1hr)

Posted in 5*, Assembly Roxy, Cabaret, EdFestivals 2016, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

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“Gleefully challenges stereotypes of sex and race with a full grin, bared chest and raised middle finger.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars Outstanding

I sat for some time before writing this review trying to think of an introduction which best captured what I thought of Hot Brown Honey. But the truth is, there’s not much else which can compare to the bombastic gut punch of a burlesque show Assembly Roxy has somehow managed to contain inside their theatre. From the second that the glass-panelled hive lights roar to life, this show is a nonstop ride that has the audience welded to their seats.

Hosted by unapologetically badass MC Kim “Busty Beatz” Bowers, Hot Brown Honey is a raucously funny and entertaining trip through acrobatics, beatboxing, song, dance and everything in between. But don’t be fooled – despite considerable comedy thrills, it never strays from what makes it so compelling: a show which not only celebrates the power and complex femininity of women of colour, but gleefully challenges stereotypes of sex and race with a full grin, bared chest and raised middle finger.

To talk too much about the acts would lessen their impact, but it cannot be said enough that each segment of performance was distinct, feverishly well executed and consistently jaw dropping. Every single honey from this hive is impressive enough to warrant their own review, let alone packing every single one into a single critique. Of course, for those who aren’t fans of audience participation, proceed with tentative caution: a show like this one demands to spill out into the aisles, to surprising and hilarious results.

The honeycomb that links up this show, however, is both more subtle and infinitely more loud than the performers themselves. There are West End shows that could learn things from the tech team behind the burlesque extravaganza. The sync between every technical element and the behaviour of the set is nothing short of breathtaking, for those who can bear to concentrate on anything but the inspired spectacle going on centre stage.

But what makes Hot Brown Honey such an outstanding show goes beyond its strength in immediacy. When the applause stops and the doors are open, that doesn’t mean the show is over: the messages, ethos and enthusiasm for equality, sexuality and sensuality stick around far after the day is done. As a piece of burlesque, Hot Brown Honey is outstanding simply by merit of its performance. But as a complete show, its greatest triumph is that it fully achieves the vision set out by creators Bowers, Lisa Fa’alafi and Candy B: not simply social activism masquerading as entertainment, but a genuinely thought provoking thrill which, at least personally, will open the eyes of many to any issue they never even know existed.

If you like your shows sexy, superbly skillful and socially conscious, you cannot miss Hot Brown Honey this Fringe. It’s a rare show indeed.

 

outstanding

StarStarStarStarStar

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Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 6 August)

Visit the Assembly Roxy archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

+3 Review: Tiff Stevenson: Seven (Assembly Roxy, Aug 8-14, 16-28 : 19.10: 1hr)

Posted in 4*, Assembly Roxy, Comedy, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2016, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

https://www.cityvarieties.co.uk/ArticleMedia/Images/CVTiffStevensonbig.jpg

“Stevenson has a presence you could smash a wine bottle on”

Editorial Rating:  4 Stars Nae Bad

When you see a comedian on TV, it’s almost a coin flip as to whether they’ll stand up to their digital performance when you’re maybe ten feet away. For some, it’s clear that they’re funnier as a bundle of pixels – but, as in the case of Tiff Stevenson, proximity makes joke grow funnier.

Even when loping around the stage, Stevenson has a presence you could smash a wine bottle on. Despite being wrapped up in a thick web of humour, it’s clear from the outset that there’s an iron core to every joke: it’s as if scientists managed to fuse Belva Lockwood and someone’s drunk aunt. Pushing their own distinct beliefs is something, consciously or otherwise, all comics do; and Stevenson is a masterclass in delivering it without sounding evangelical. Even if you don’t agree with what she’s saying (however you’ve managed to come to that outcome), you’ll be hard pressed not to laugh along with her.

From the get-go, it’s an unmistakably zeitgeist-y set. In a surprisingly speedy hour, Stevenson runs the full gamut from bus bombings to baby showers, joyously flicking up v’s behind her as she runs from topic to topic. We might be awash in a sea of Macintyres, but Stevenson is one of many happy islands where comedy’s rebellious, fringe roots are still dug deep. No subject is too taboo, as she very happily reminds the audience throughout – however, often the transitional link between these subjects can wave from tenuous to unneeded, but as it takes up perhaps a minute of time in total, it hardly spoils the bunch.

If there ever was a complaint, it was that sometimes Stevenson doesn’t seem to trust her own considerable wit enough. Several times throughout the show, a fantastic joke was extended far beyond its peak, simply for the sake of explaining it. Whilst none of these jokes fell into “unfunny”, it certainly blunted the otherwise fantastically sharp tongue which dominate the rest of the show.

To talk too much about Tiff Stevenson’s set at the Roxy is to do her a disservice: half of the enjoyment comes from the unexpected directions she swerves with every punchline. But if you’re looking to start your evening on a high note, you’ll have no tiff with her.

 

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

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Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 6 August)

Visit the Assembly Roxy  archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

+3 Review: Life According to Saki (C: 3-29 Aug: 14.15: 1hr 10mins)

Posted in 5*, C Venues, EdFestivals 2016, Theatre by

“As good as Fringe theatre gets… a triumph”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars

It’s always telling when I leave a performance I’ve been reviewing with an almost empty page of notes. It doesn’t happen often, but in this case I was so engrossed that I simply forgot to write much down.

Set in the trenches in WW1, Saki writes to his dear Ethel at home, recounting stories to kill time. His fellow soldiers become the characters in each story and the piece flows seamlessly from one to the next like waves crashing against the shore.

Written by children’s author Katherine Rundell, the script maintains a playful and slightly mischievous feel throughout, expertly capturing the style and tone that Saki’s short stories are known and loved for. For those unfamiliar with his work, think Roald Dahl, but a bit more grown up. Among others there are tales of a man who becomes a living work of art, a couple who can’t get married due to already having 13 children between them, a politician forced to share a room with a pig and a chicken, and a small boy who believes his ferret has god-like qualities. It’s all good clean fun, but with a moral lesson behind each one. Oh and they are funny. Very funny.

The cast keep the piece moving at a fair pace, whipping out props and costumes seemingly from nowhere ready to set the scene the moment it is introduced. Their dexterity is something to be marvelled at, and Jessica Lazar’s direction makes the most of every look, tableau and minor character for maximum impact. It’s a show that pays great attention to detail, which I very much admire.

While the ensemble cast is fantastic, playing a multitude of characters of differing genders, ages and nationalities to comic perfection, it’s David Paisley (playing Saki himself) who stands out at as the star performer. Gentle, engaging and with great emotional sensitivity it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with him.

Yes, the props and set are quite basic and the narrative is little more than Saki recounting stories while killing time in the trenches, but the soul and spirit of this piece are really what makes it. And when I really think about it (which in this case I did, long and hard), in my humble opinion this is about as good as Fringe theatre gets. Simply, a triumph.

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

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Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 7 August)

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED