Category Archives: EdFestivals

+3 Interview: 5 Out of 10 Men

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“Duncan’s the oldest in the group and he’s been bringing work with schools and youth groups since around the Middle Ages.”

WHO: Roland Reynolds

WHAT: “On average, 12 men take their own life every single day. Rooted in true experiences and deep exploration of mental health, 5 Out of 10 Men invites men to be open – to journey unabashedly into themselves. With a fun, interactive style and a penetrating dark humour, a mixed ensemble leads a wounded man as he weaves a confessional hymn to his dead brother, torn between the man he is and a man he strives to be.”

WHERE: theSpace on Niddry St (Venue 9)

WHEN: 16:55 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a band of theatre practitioners it’s our first time to Edinburgh, yes – it’s our first project together!

But among us there’s a fair amount of Fringe experience. Duncan’s the oldest in the group and he’s been bringing work with schools and youth groups since around the Middle Ages. He has a long relationship with theSpaceUK and has worked for and alongside them in a number of capacities over the past 10-15 years.

Roland wrote, produced and directed his first show at the Fringe when he was 16 back in 2008. It was a rain-soaked, empty-bellied, back-breaking experience and he knew he’d be doing this for the rest of his life. A glutton for punishment, he returned to Edinburgh with another show the year after and came on board an opera the year after that.

Tell us about your show.

The show is a new piece about men, masculinity and mental health. It’s been written by me, and is produced and directed by me and Duncan Alldridge.

Our company formed out of a year’s research & development process including some ensemble-based workshop auditions this spring. There are some statistics that were the spark for this work: 76% of suicides in the UK are men; suicide is the major cause of death for men aged under 45. We were inspired to come together to create an honest, intimate playing space where we explore these devastating facts and some of the roots beneath them.

5 Out of 10 Men will premier in Edinburgh; we’re already in discussions to bring the work to London in the months after the Fringe and we’re looking to have more conversations with venues and potential collaborators all over the UK to see where we can take this. It’s fun, visceral, inclusive, important, relevant work representing an often misunderstood voice.

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

This year’s programme at the fringe is all about defying convention and we’re hunting out the shows to see that are breaking down boundaries on all levels of engagement.

At theSpaceUK there’s exciting work surrounding women’s issues being produced, with Killer Cells dealing with the agony of miscarriage, Broken Fanny, a comedy on adapting to life with a new baby, and more.

We’ve also been long-term followers of the work produced by Northern Stage, especially since the tenure of Lorne Campbell began; this year they’re based at Summerhall, a venue that immediately caught our interest when it opened a few years ago. This year’s highlight for us is Two Man Show by RashDash, a playful new show about gender and language.

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+3 Interview: If There’s Not Dancing at the Revolution, I’m Not Coming

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

“I created this show while studying in New York City and the city is infused into every part of this work. “

WHO: Julia Croft

WHAT: “A rich contemporary performance collage of film scripts, pop songs, advertisements, elaborate costumes and dance all stretched, teased, shattered, and reassembled to challenge the treatment of women’s bodies as spectacle in popular culture. If there’s not dancing… uncovers the collective fantasies underneath these bodies, intervenes and explodes them into feminist confetti.”

WHERE: Summerhall – Anatomy Lecture Theatre

WHEN: 12:05 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes. First time. Anticipating a trial by fire. And some great whiskey [sic].

Tell us about your show.

If There’s Not Dancing At The Revolution, I’m Not Coming is a rich, contemporary performance collage of film scripts, pop songs, elaborate costumes, dance and live art, all stretched, teased shattered and reassembled in order to challenge the treatment of women’s bodies in popular culture. It is a wild, anarchic and poetic collision of popular culture texts combined to uncover the collective fantasies underneath female bodies. It unapologetically intervenes and explodes these fantasies into feminist confetti.

I created it because I am angry. It was created as a response to powerful men feel who so much ownership over a woman’s body that pulling a women’s ponytail is “just joking around” and the idea that this does not happen in a vacuum. These actions come out of a cultural context. How we look at women and violence towards women are not unrelated things; they are part of a spectrum. This is about how we look and how our looking is a political act.

I created this show while studying in New York City and the city is infused into every part of this work. I have performed in in 3 seasons in New Zealand, all of which have sold out. Post fringe I am travelling to Mexico to create a new work in collaboration with a Mexican artist. Dancing will tour to Australia early next year and hopefully return to the UK/Europe after that.

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

There is a great contingent of shows coming all the way from New Zealand, and my lord I mean ALL the way. Torum Heng’s one woman show, Keep out of my box at the Gilded balloon. She is a brilliant boss lady comedian. Tim Carlson performing his solo One Day Moko about homelessness in New Zealand, also at the Gilded balloon. Arthur Meek performing his solo Hilary Clinton/Young Lover at Summerhall. Come see what theatre looks like at the bottom of the world.

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+3 Interview: Countermeasure: 14 Characters

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

“When we’re not on stage, you are almost sure to run into one of us on Arthur’s Seat, or in one of Edinburgh’s fabulous pubs!”

WHO: Aaron Jensen

WHAT: “Award-winning a cappella that will bring you to your feet! Countermeasure has won worldwide acclaim and sold-out houses in the UK, Canada and US with their upbeat blend, sophisticated harmonies and infectious energy onstage. ***** (East Coast FM, Edinburgh). Featuring 14 of Canada’s top young vocalists, their genre-defying contemporary sound takes a cappella to the next level with inventive covers of jazz and pop tunes, powerful original music and dramatic staging. Come for an afternoon of good fun, great harmony and amazing music.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)

WHEN: 17:30 (55 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be Countermeasure’s second time to Edinburgh. We played The Boards at The Edinburgh Playhouse as part of our last UK tour in January 2015. Ben Dyson, of East Coast FM 107.6 (Edinburgh) had this to say about the performance: “FIVE STARS! Such a fantastic show from a group of super talented individuals from Toronto, Canada…This show was packed with fabulous and beautifully songs. So watch out world because here they come!”

Countermeasure instantly fell in love with Edinburgh, and we can’t wait to be back! When we’re not on stage, you are almost sure to run into one of us on Arthur’s Seat, or in one of Edinburgh’s fabulous pubs!

Tell us about your show.

Countermeasure has been performing, touring and recording together for the past five years. This particular production has been a work in progress for the past year and a half. Over that period of time, we’ve been arranging, recording, and mixing our new album Made to Measure. Most of the selections in our Edinburgh set are featured on this new record.

We’ve enlisted the help of a stage director, lighting, and sound designer to turn this songbook into a cohesive, engaging and interactive theatrical experience. Audiences who come out to see our show will be treated to a smorgasbord of inventive musical covers of jazz and pop tunes, powerful original numbers, and dramatic staging.

Florian Stadtler of Vocal Blog described Countermeasure’s performance at the London A Cappella Festival as “Pure joy, [an] incredibly entertaining show”. What becomes abundantly clear through our performance is how much we enjoy each other, our music, and this discreet moment that we have to share our music with our audiences. It’s hard not to get caught up in the infectious energy, good feelings, and love of music that drives Countermeasure.

Prior to our run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival we have a series of concerts in London and area. After Edinburgh, we head to Italy to take part in Vocalmente A Cappella Festival, then it’s back home to Canada, for more touring recording and merrymaking.

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

This past May, Countermeasure shared the stage at SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival with another Toronto group called Pressgang Mutiny. Members of this ensemble have created a 15-piece guerrilla-folk punk band, who will be performing an exciting revolutionary musical/folk/opera called Counting Sheep, which follows the course of Ukraine’s history. Based on what we’ve seen of these singers, I have every confidence that that will be an exciting production!

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+3 Interview: Jane Eyre: An Autobiography

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“We love the Edinburgh experience and enjoy being both part of the Fringe and the city, which we love and admire.”

WHO: Elton Townend Jones – writer & director

WHAT: “Struggling to think, live and love beyond the stifling expectations of duty, class and convention, governess Jane Eyre and Master Edward Rochester take a dark journey towards sensual and intellectual liberation. Told through Jane’s eyes, this autobiographical novel shocked the Victorians, and Charlotte Brontë’s gothic subversion of fairy tale romance is now distilled for the stage (under its full title) by writer/director Elton Townend-Jones. Fringe favourite Rebecca Vaughan embodies Everywoman Jane and several other characters in this exploration of love’s realities.”

WHERE: Assembly Roxy – Upstairs

WHEN: 11:15 (90min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is our eighth consecutive year at Edinburgh and with Assembly. Since 2009, Rebecca Vaughan and I have created seven shows that have premiered at the Fringe (and one that hasn’t!) and brought two of them back for second runs.

We’ve collaborated with other directors, performers and designers, but the germination of each project has been down to the two of us. We are perhaps best known for our productions of Austen’s Women, I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic, Dalloway and The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe which was published by Samuel French earlier this year.

We love the Edinburgh experience and enjoy being both part of the Fringe and the city, which we love and admire.

Tell us about your show.

Dyad Productions is, effectively, the duo of myself and Rebecca Vaughan, and the buck stops with us! The new show is an adaptation of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, but presented under the book’s original full title.

It is a one-person show, which, as with all previous shows (bar the Marilyn play) is performed by Fringe favourite Rebecca. It is adapted and directed by me (having written three of the previous Dyad shows and directed four). We formed the company in 2009 after spending years as actors and/or writers/directors and finally decided that we just wanted to get out and create our own work.

Since then, we’ve toured non-stop, nationally and internationally and seen our work published and interpreted by others in Europe and the US. After Edinburgh, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography is touring the UK and appearing in Australia in 2017. By which time we will already have started producing our next work…

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

I’d recommend they go and see anything created by Gavin Robertson and, for Dyad, no trip to the Fringe is complete without a night having your mind not so much blown as gently inflated then casually popped by the brilliant Australian comedian Sam Simmons.

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+3 Interview: And The Rope Still Tugging Her Feet

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“I wrote and perform the show, we took it to the Brighton Fringe where we were lucky enough to be awarded an Argus Angel award for outstanding theatre.”

WHO: Caroline Burns Cooke – writer & performer

WHAT: “And the Rope Still Tugging Her Feet was inspired by 1984’s Kerry Babies scandal. A dark, comic take on a time in Ireland when ‘the most dangerous place to be was in a woman’s womb’ (Bishop Joseph Cassidy).

Written and performed by award-winning writer and actress Caroline Burns Cooke (Best Actress ECU European Independent Film Festival for MYRA; Best Feature screenplay for She Moved Through the Fair from Scottish Screenwriters), and directed by Colin Watkeys of Face to Face Festival, director/dramaturg of legendary performers Ken Campbell, Claire Dowie and Jack Klaff.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – The Turret

WHEN: 12:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’m a fringe veteran! As an actress I’ve been in a dozen plays including The Lad Himself at the Gilded Balloon, The Trial of Jane Fonda at the Assembly Rooms and tons more. This is my second self-written piece but the first solo one.

Tell us about your show.

My director, Colin Watkeys, has been directing solo shows and producing the Face to face Festival for years, working most notably with Claire Dowie, Ken Campbell and Jack Klaff. I wrote and perform the show, we took it to the Brighton Fringe where we were lucky enough to be awarded an Argus Angel award for outstanding theatre and three 5 star reviews. We hope to build on this at Edinburgh and tour it, hopefully doing a London run as well.

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

I’m a big fan of the International Festival for unique experiences. I love the programming at Summerhall and there’s often great stuff at the Traverse, but don’t miss Charmian Hughes in Soixante Mirth at Cowgatehead, Nick Revell in Gluten free Jesus, and Shoot the Women First at The Stand.

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+3 Interview: Ronnie and Jonny: Friends Disunited

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2016 by

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“I’m delighted to be doing another show here again after 10 years, in what is now my home town, and can’t wait to get back out on stage again.”

WHO: Steve Griffin – writer, producers & star

WHAT: “Comedy duo Ronnie and Jonny split up five years ago and haven’t spoken since. Jonny went on to become a stand-in for Mystic Meg and reserve contestant for Celebrity Big Brother. Ronnie became an alcoholic and ghost writer for real comics. Luckily, they’ve recently been invited to reunite for a high-profile comeback gig, but can they put the past behind them? A show for anyone who’s ever fallen out with a friend or knows what it’s like to be ceremoniously dumped. Written and performed by one well spoken English guy and a foul-mouthed Scot.”

WHERE: Laughing Horse @ 48 Below (Venue 146)

WHEN: 23:20 (45min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I first brought a show to Edinburgh in 2006, and in all the years in between I’ve worked at the Fringe, performed at the Camden Fringe, been a reviewer and very enthusiastic audience member many times. I’m delighted to be doing another show here again after 10 years, in what is now my home town, and can’t wait to get back out on stage again.

Tell us about your show.

Ronnie & Jonny: Friends Disunited is written, produced, directed and performed by myself and partner-in-crime Keith Muddiman. We met at drama school a couple of years ago and knew we wanted to work together afterwards, and this show came about through various conversations, discussions and a lot of scribbles and redrafts in various coffee shops in Edinburgh. We wanted to put on a show that demonstrated the full scale of our ability as actors, so we developed comedic characters, gave them a serious situation and just went from there.

Edinburgh is our world premiere, and while we haven’t made any plans for afterwards (all our focus has gone into just getting this far), we’re very open to suggestions and taking Ronnie and Jonny further afield if we can.

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

With over 3,000 shows in the Fringe alone this year, before you even think about the other festivals, there is absolutely something for everyone. So the first thing I would say is just to embrace as much as possible, as there aren’t many opportunities to get such a diverse range of work in one place.

This year there are several companies and performers that I’ve worked with before (and really admire) performing new work, including On the Button (Don’t Panic! It’s Challenge Anneka), Mixed Doubles (Fundraiser) and Samantha Baines; while other companies I really respect for their previous work are back again, including 201 Dance Company (Smother) and Interrupt the Routine (The Gin Chronicles). Come back to me midway through the Fringe though and I’ll happily give some more recommendations!

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49 + 3 shows to see at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016

Posted in EdFestivals 2016, Features, Previews by

With just three weeks to go until this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe officially kicks off, we thought it high time that the +3 team share their 49+3 top picks for shows to see in 2016.

As the official Fringe programme once again contains over 3,000 listings, it’s been a challenge for us to compile our (fairly) short list, but the team of myself, Alan Brown and Jacob Close have used all our experience and guile to highlight those which we think really are worth a watch.

And just like last year, we haven’t been bribed, cajoled, threatened or in any other way influenced in making our selection, we’ve each made up our minds independently on what we’re looking forward to. Here they are, alphabetised by genre.

Theatre:
2044
A Streetcar Named Desire
Albatross
Bully Boy
Care Takers
Criminology 303
Daniel
Escape from the Planet of the Day that Time Forgot
The Gin Chronicles: A Scottish Adventure
Leaf by Niggle
Life According to Saki
The Marked
Mungo Park: Travels in the Interior of Africa
Nuclear Family
Of Wardrobes and Rings
Queen Lear
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
The Silence at the Song’s End
The Six-Sided Man
Still Here
Teatro Delusio
Three Jumpers
The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
Villain
William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)

Spoken Word:
The Harry and Chris Show
Robert Adam: Architect of Enlightenment

Cabaret & Variety:
Hot Brown Honey
Roulston and Young: Songs for Lovers (And Other Idiots)
Triple Entendre: Love, Life and Other Stuff
Tony Roberts – Card Magic

Comedy:
1 Woman, a Dwarf Planet and 2 Cox: Samantha Baines
I Don’t Believe It! An Evening With Victor Meldrew
Katy Brand: I was a Teenage Christian
Mixed Doubles: Fundraiser
Paul Merton’s Impro Chums
Tiff Stevenson – Seven

Musical & Opera:
[title of show]
Crapapella
No Horizon
Paper Hearts the Musical

Dance, Physcial Theatre & Circus:
Are We Stronger Than Winston?
Elixir
Escape
Linger
Lost in Complete
Ockham’s Razor: Tipping Point
The Rooster and Partial Memory

Children’s Shows:
Molly Whuppie

+3 extra special shows:
Ronnie & Jonny: Friends Disunited – Griffin and Muddiman’s debut show, published by our friends at 49 Knights, and featuring a very familiar face…

Don’t Panic! It’s Challenge Anneka – a frank and funny exploration of the taboo topic of anxiety, supporting the fantastic #itaffectsme campaign.

One Day Moko – a moving portrait of homelessness in New Zealand, which I think will have particular resonance in Edinburgh.

And that’s it. If there are any other shows you think should be brought to our attention please get in touch with us at plus3@edinburgh49.com.

My round-up of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Posted in EdFestivals 2015 by

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Where to begin? The official stats say that Edinburgh’s summer festivals this year were their biggest ever, with Edinburgh International Festival selling 19% more tickets than last year, while Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows issued a whopping 2.3 million tickets between them, an increase of 5% on 2014.

At Edinburgh49, following the launch of our dedicated +3 page, we also saw a massive increase in popularity this August, with just shy of 9,000 visits (easily our best ever monthly figure), and a doubling of our followers in the same period.

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We’re really proud of that achievement, and I would personally like to thank our fantastic team: Dan Lentell, Alan Brown and Jacob Close for their contributions this festival season. Thanks also to our friends at Cult Espresso for their support, and to every one of you – the companies and punters who’ve come to us for informed reviews, and who’ve spread the word far and wide.

Several people have asked me what my favourite shows were from this year, and for me that’s always a difficult one to answer as it’s hard to compare shows across genres. What I learned from Johnny Bevan – a one-man show written and performed by Luke Wright – is definitely up there, as is Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas – a production conceived in Scotland that I sincerely hope gets the chance to be toured further afield. The Gin Chronicles, Jurassic Park and Promise and Promiscuity were all theatrical hits in my book, while La Meute (which I didn’t review) and Smother were my favourite dance/circus acts. In His Own Write and Aunty Donna certainly made me laugh the most, while Trans Scripts, To Kill A Machine and Out of The Blue’s emotional final show in their current line-up left me sobbing helplessly. Sexy, I know.

It’s certainly been a very different Festival experience for me this year, as my reviewing has taken me to many shows that I would not otherwise have considered, often with serendipitous results. And what with juggling a full-time job, working around the team’s schedules and needing to sleep once in a while, it is with a pang of regret that I must apologise to those companies who invited us to shows we were unfortunately unable to make. One of those, Guru Dudu, has extended its run until this weekend, and would very much welcome an audience – I’ve heard great things about it.

Now September’s here and Edinburgh slowly gets itself back to normal, I hand the reins back over to Alan, and I look forward to what delights will be shared in Edinburgh’s theatres for the next 49 weeks.

RENT (Paradise in St Augustine’s, 7 – 30 Aug : 18.00 : 2hrs 40 mins)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2015, Musical Theatre, Other, Rated: Outstanding by

“Full of the life and passion that the ethos of this show embodies”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Outstanding

There’s always something really special about seeing the closing night of a particular show, as they can often trigger performers into giving everything they have left in their bodies to deliver the performance of their lives. That’s exactly what happened with Uncompromising Artistry’s Edinburgh Fringe production of RENT.

Opening chorus number Rent was bursting with energy and was a fantastic introduction to the desperation, hardship and grit of 90s New York, while being full of the life and passion that the ethos of this show embodies. The company filled the stage with their presence and the theatre with stunning vocals, and it was a truly wonderful sequence. It seems somewhat unfortunate that after setting the bar so high so early on, the remaining chorus numbers, although excellent, were not quite able to live up to that show-stopping standard.

There were however, some exhilarating solo performances. For me, Johnny Newcomb absolutely stole the show as Roger, bringing a wonderful fragility to the character, while nailing every note he sung. He was captivating to watch in every scene, and showed a huge emotional range, even in the chorus numbers when he wasn’t centre of attention.

Injoy Fountain was also incredibly engaging in each of her minor roles, bringing bags of vitality to every scene, as well as a truly knockout vocal performance, including that riff in Seasons of Love. Zia Roberts as Joanne and Janet Krupin as Maureen really came into their own during Take Me or Leave Me, which was spine-tinglingly delivered, while Jonathan Christopher’s performance as Collins in the funeral scene was emotional enough to bring everyone to tears.

What really made this show special though was engagement with the audience and the cast’s ability to really bring us into the performance. During every chorus number the performers made eye contact with various people in the audience, always in character and with purpose. Seasons of Love was deliberately performed right at the front of the stage in one line, giving a very inclusive and welcoming feel to the show.

However, while showcasing some truly phenomenal individual moments, at times some of the staging seemed a little clumsy and laboured, with a few too many moments that relied on stage crew to move various things around on stage. In addition some of the choreography, particularly the death motif, seemed a bit over the top. But in all other respects this really was a tremendous effort and a very emotionally charged performance from still such a young company. Vive la vie bohème.

outstanding

StarStarStarStar

—

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 30 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

#Realiti (theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 24 – 29 Aug : 22.45 : 1 hr)

Posted in 2*, EdFestivals 2015, Other, Theatre by

“The concept is great, and the thought behind it commendable”

Editorial Rating: 2 Stars

#Realiti is a new take on the television programme Big Brother, where we see five housemates get to know each other, while their every move is watched and tweeted about by the world. And of course, one by one they get voted out of the house.

What the actual “prize” is for the winner though, doesn’t become clear right until the end of the piece. On one hand this is frustrating because I spent most of this performance trying to work out what was going on, but on the other hand it was somewhat masterful, as many of the questions I had throughout were resolved in the final moments, and it does stay with you long after leaving the auditorium.

Slowly each character’s reason for being in the house is revealed, and it becomes clear that it isn’t your ordinary big brother house. While for some their backstories and motivations were very apparent, for others we didn’t learn very much at all, so it would have been good to have a structure that allowed for a more comprehensive introduction to each, and a greater sense of their relationship with each other. At no stage was it clear how long any of them had been in the house, or indeed what time period the performance itself covered, but perhaps this was unimportant if the purpose was to get the audience to focus more on the wider concept than the details. If so, unfortunately its subtleties were lost on me.

Indeed, one of the main downfalls of #Realiti is how complicated it is to grasp. A very wordy piece performed by an Italian company in Italian, naturally it is somewhat more difficult to access than it might be for a native audience. There are subtitles on the screen at the back which do help, and perhaps this would have been fine if the concept itself had not also been quite obtuse, but the two together made it quite a strain on the brain.

In saying all that, the acting isn’t bad: there’s a great range of emotion on display and in the sections where each character has a “solo” to camera at the front of the stage we do feel very drawn in to their world and are able to develop an emotional rapport with them. The tensions between some of the characters is palpable, while the final scene where the big reveal happens is also very moving.

The concept of this show is great, and the thought behind it commendable. However, the delivery of it needs much more work to make it accessible to an audience, and a clearer idea of what the audience is supposed to think or feel by the end would help navigate this piece out of obscurity.

 

Star (blue)Star (blue)

—

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 28 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED