Category Archives: EdFestivals

“Brave Macbeth” (Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Above, AUG 1-18 : 11:50 : 60mins)

Posted in EdFestivals 2019, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews by

“The performances alone would make this a five-star experience, but it’s what’s gone on off stage that makes it truly outstanding.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Outstanding

EdFringe is a time of reunions. Friends auld and new set aside their politically-inspired social media spats and bad-tempered artistic differences in order to share in the world’s leading cultural banquet. Shakespeare is (as ever) the ghost at the feast. The Bard generously provides something for everyone, but a scheduled encounter with him can bring on all the premonitions of a Christmas dinner to be spent sitting between the know-it-all cousin just back from their first year at uni, and the slightly racist uncle who doesn’t understand why things aren’t the way they used to be. How to introduce Daughter 1.0 (aged 4, nearly 5) to the bard? Too light and she’ll miss the expert heavy lifting of his scripts. Too classical and she’ll be lost. Enter Captivate Theatre to the rescue.

We enter to find the stage empty, but it’s not going to stay that way. More is packed into the 1hr’s traffic than an already stuffed carry on bag when the check-in assistant regretfully informs you that your main suitcase is over the weight limit.

I came to Shakespeare via the RSCs, both Reduced and Royal. Captivate Theatre outshines them both. At their best and worst the Reduced Shakespeare Company can be campy, kitsch, and occasionally iconoclastic. By contrast, Captivate Theatre are authentic, classy, and surprisingly reverential. Where the Royal Shakespeare Company can be pompous, oh-so-trendy, and incomprehensible Captivate Theatre are instead accessible, authentic, and unafraid to be direct. This is not Shakespeare pictured paying stiff court to Gloriana, rather it’s the Swan at ease with his contemporaries, as imagined by John Faed, only with more kilts.

Brave Macbeth opens rather like the first instalment of the ‘Hotel Transylvania’ franchise, an atmospheric nod to the spine-tingling atmosphere of the original that has Granny and me worried. If this is the spooky opening how will Daughter 1.0 handle the coming murders and mayhem? We need not have worried. It isn’t long before the big musical numbers, catchy tunes, and fabulous dance numbers have the audience (and even naughty, naughty the actors) in fits of hysterics. King Duncan’s demise is the cause for so much merriment that she’s laughing like a drain pipe.

This is a big cast and one of the best-balanced ensemble pieces I’ve seen in ages. The witches are fiendish without being traumatic. Lady M is fantastically melodramatic, to the point were even Henry Irving might have asked her to reign it in a bit. Banquo, Malcolm, and Duncan do more with their foreshortened parts than Tyrian Lannister off on a night out with a jackass and a honeycomb. Macduff foils his villain in more ways than one. The Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter himself is bold, brave, and brilliant. His set solos pieces strongly hint at the depths which there isn’t time to plumb while his interactions with the other characters give a more flavourful summary of Macbeth on stage than would a dehydrated copy of the SparkNotes served up by Heston Blumenthal under a foam of literary criticism.

The performances alone would make this a five-star experience, but it’s what’s gone on off stage that makes it truly outstanding. The choreography is so good even this double-left-footer wants to join in. The adaptation is streamlined and sophisticated. The composer needs to be dragged off to a military research facility and forced to weaponize their earworms – I am gutted that the soundtrack isn’t for sale in the lobby. Most importantly, Daughter 1.0 has had her first introduction to Shakespeare and come away wanting more. Captivate Theatre has done exactly what it says on the tin.

outstanding

StarStarStarStarStar

Reviewer: Dan Lentell (Seen 14 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

The First King of England in a Dress” (theSpaceTriplex, AUG 1-17, 19-24 : 50mins)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2019, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews, Rated: Nae Bad by

“Stuck in traffic on the A14, I’ll never look at East Anglia the same way again.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

At a rainy BBQ in Newcastle, en route to #EdFringe, I heard one auld pal explain where they lived, “it’s up the road from A. You know, down the way from B.” Up and down don’t enter the conversation much in the part of East Anglia I’m from. Not when it comes to directions. ‘Flat’ is the word. ‘Eels’ is another. The town of Ely is named for them. Dutch navigators, the digging ditches rather than the exploring East of Suez kind, put in the channel and loads which took care of the water but they didn’t get round to putting back the hills. I say putting back the hills because there were once hills in East Anglia, something I didn’t know until seeing ‘The First King of England in a Dress’.

We enter to find a wicker eel trap, eel spear and other assorted must-have items from the time when Saxons and Vikings lived in close disharmony a thousand or so years back. We are greeted by the actors, who put Daughter 1.0 (aged 4) and the other kids instantly at their ease. We are in for an hour of smashing storytelling set in a land divided and a country ready to be born.

Ethelred misses his mum. She was stolen from him by something worse than Vikings. So when a stranger asks his dad for a bed for the night, he is naturally nervous. But when the stranger and Ethelred start sharing stories of giants, frogs and magic, it isn’t long before they discover surprising secrets about each other…

Together actors Kate Madison, Chip Colquhoun, and Izzy Dawson craftily conjure a bygone age into something both comprehensible and real. Chip is the author of three books, one of which inspired the stage play. His writing style is hugely engaging, weaving big historical themes into material that is finely tailored to his young readership. The other two tomes are already Amazon Primed and on their way to Christmas stockings. A finicky reviewer, which I am, would suggest that the foreshortening required to fit EdFringe’s shorter timeslots could have been finer, but the kids didn’t seem to notice or care.

They were too busy being engrossed in making squelchy sounds to compliment characters walking through muddy bogs, and helping the cast out with their improvised make-up, mop wigs and hidden crowns. The kids are all having a great time, although some of the adults might have prefered fewer demands for their on-stage presence.

This adult, however, is extremely grateful to ‘The First King of England in a Dress’ for opening up the world of East Anglian folktales. It’s more than a little special to exit an EdFringe show considerably wiser than when you went in. Stuck in traffic on the A14, I’ll never look at East Anglia the same way again.

nae bad_blue

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

Reviewer: Dan Lentell (Seen 13 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

+3 Interview: You Have a Match

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“The play has gone from strength to strength, we’ve changed up the ending and developed the characters so they are even more well rounded and, we hope, charming.”

WHO: Zoe Alice-Woodruff: Actor/Writer/Producer

WHAT: “Two girls take on the world of app store dating. In a society where its easier to swipe right then say ‘Hi, how are you?’, where is the line between a serial dating addict and someone longing for more? Tegan is straight. Riley is gay. They have been best friends since their school trip disco disaster and have shared everything: from fake tan mitts to condom collections… except sexual conquests. Watch as they deconstruct their co-dependency, pack for the dating trip of a lifetime, and swipe through the world of easy hookups and awkwardly going dutch.”

WHERE: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Theatre 3
22:15 (Venue 53) 

WHEN: 22:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is indeed! For half the company (there are only two of us) it’s her first time in Edinburgh full stop. For the other, she’s been up a fair few times to watch things but never to perform. We sold out our run in London last year at The Bread and Roses and then did two very successful runs of the show at Theatre 503 and Canal Cafe, and decided it was time to tick something off the bucket list and bring You Have Match, written and produced by us, to the Fringe!! Thus far – it’s been an adventure, it is as intense as we expected with a little more sunshine than anticipated so that’s been a delight. Today is our first day of the run and we are very excited to get flyering! Come at us Edinburgh!!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Our biggest thing is today Anuschka turned 26.

No I joke, we’ve had a good year, we’ve both started new muggle jobs that are slightly less soul-sucking than the last, Nush’s boyfriend moved into her flat with her and Zoe (that’s me) has bleached all the colour out of her hair and now regularly get’s mistaken for Swedish – so that’s fun!

The play has gone from strength to strength, we’ve changed up the ending and developed the characters so they are even more well rounded and, we hope, charming, and we had an incredibly successful preview at Theatre 503.

Tell us about your show.

We wrote it. We produced it. We sing the theme too.

We met in a restaurant in 2016, in the middle of August, when we’d rather have been doing anything else than putting cutlery out at 9 o’clock in the morning. Anuschka’s first words to me were ‘I don’t usually train the newbies’ and with that, a great friendship was born.

About 6 months later, just after I got fired (if you ask me I will tell you why – it makes me laugh) we pooled their creative minds, put pen to ordering pad, poured out the Savvy B and decided to take on the world of New Writing. And the rest is, as they say, a hangover.

We performed You Have A Match at The Bread and Roses last year and sold out all 3 nights! We have also been part of The Pub Theatre Festival, and we’ve performed at Canal Cafe and Theatre 503. Our goals for 2020 are taking the show to The Vaults festival, and a small scale national tour (if we can get the funding! Don’t think we’ll be able to do that on the fly like we did this year.) and then we do have plans for a potential web series down the line. But all in good time my friend, all in good time.

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

Unless you’re our parents, who’ve seen the show about 20 times between them, no one needs to come back and see us again – we’ll be happy with the once!

We highly recommend Tumours, a play about a girl about to turn 27 who is convinced she is going to die and join the 27 club, even though there is absolutely no reason for her to think that in a logical world! It is so beautifully written, and laugh out loud funny with the same heartwarming love at the centre of it that we hope You Have A Match has. Ashleigh is a brilliant writer, and her piece is glorious, and we implore everyone to go and watch it.

We also think Butterflies at Zoo Playground would be right up the street of our audiences! It is a story about three women, and an endless stream of notifications told through revenge porn (!) and monologues which to us is really interesting and exciting. I think our audiences would really resonate with it as it again female-fronted theatre-making waves.

I think our last recommendation would have to be I’m Coming because quite frankly, a story about the journey to a woman’s first orgasm is something everyone needs to see! A male friend of mine and his girlfriend went to see it yesterday and he said he was ‘enlightened!’ with eyes wide.

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+3 Interview: Taboo

Posted in EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I rediscovered my love for surfing. I LOVE IT. It makes me feel at peace and it is the perfect time-out. Of course, I don´t look very graceful on a board (yet) but it is all about the fun and the balance in life.”

WHO: Karin Schmid: writer, producer, performer

WHAT: “A fictitious talk show with a live audience, featuring a guest from the afterlife. Impossible? Maybe exactly as impossible as the image of the ideal woman, a topic that the play seeks to address. The highlight of the evening: Käthe Petersen. A seemingly selfless social worker who was active between the years 1932 and 1966 in Germany. Behind the facade of medals lies a bottomless pit… Against the backdrop of this historical figure, we put concepts such as female sexual self-determination up for discussion.”

WHERE: Sweet Novotel – Novotel 2 (Venue 188) 

WHEN: 14:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It has been a dream of mine to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a while. So I visited Edinburgh last summer to get a feeling for the Festival before actually participating and I think it helped in terms of preparation and I am now super excited to be here for the full run.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

I was very proud that for the very first time a play I had written, had been translated into English – this is how TABU became TABOO, and I started to prepare my tour to Brighton and Edinburgh. 2018 I also rediscovered my love for surfing. I LOVE IT. It makes me feel at peace and it is the perfect time-out. Of course, I don´t look very graceful on a board (yet) but it is all about the fun and the balance in life.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote TABOO after stumbling over an article about a little known but very influential woman during the NAZI era and beyond. She fascinated me so much, that I started researching and one year later, I had a one-woman-show on my hands. It is special to me, as it gives victims of that time a voice and unravels a part of history, that has been widely overlooked but still has an influence on what we expect in women today.

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

There are a lot of amazing one-woman-shows at the EdFringe this year. I have seen a view and my favorites are “Love Bites” which is a mix of cabaret and variety beautifully performed by Fifi Larouge and “Brandi Alexander” by Tatiana Pavela which moved me deeply as it takes a brutally honest look at the aftermath of rape.

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+3 Interview: 10:31, MCR

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I have graduated and landed my dream job in a regional theatre down south, but all this can never compare to the thrill of coming out of university and learning how to adult properly. I burn my toast 3 days out of 5.”

WHO: Fabiana Sforza: Writer and Director

WHAT: “‘I am going to write a book about this. The goings on of tonight. The events.’ More than two years on from the Manchester Arena terror attack, 10:31, MCR reflects on the impact the tragedy has had on the younger generations, and presents a new verbatim play that mixes voices and stories from different age groups, different backgrounds, different beliefs, and different times.”

WHERE: theSpace on the Mile – Space 1 (Venue 39) 

WHEN: 14:10 (45 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes – it is so exciting and terrifying at the same time! My company and I have only been here one day, and we are already in love with the city and its festival buzz. We got to meet lots of different performers and theatre companies from all over the country, and it has already been incredibly eye-opening. We cannot wait to not only perform on the Edinburgh stage for the first time, but also to check out the amazing range of talent that this year’s Festival promises to have. The programme looks incredible, and we are sure this is going to be an experience we will not forget (especially the 9 hour overnight Megabus journey – that we will NEVER forget).

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

I remember wanting to apply for last year’s Festival but being too scared and just letting it go. I also remember sitting on my sofa catching up with friends who were at the Fringe and feeling like I had missed out on something really really exciting. So the biggest thing to have happened to me is probably gaining the courage to just do it and bring a show up! I have also graduated and landed my dream job in a regional theatre down south, but all this can never compare to the thrill of coming out of university and learning how to adult properly. I burn my toast 3 days out of 5.

Tell us about your show.

10:31, MCR is a project I have been working on for the past two years as part of my Masters by Dissertation. I was inspired by Carly Wijs’ play Us/Them, which talks about the Beslan school siege of 2004 from the point of view of two children survivors. Wijs was herself inspired by the astounding resilience of the young survivors, and their willingness to move past the incident and grow stronger from it. When the Manchester attack happened in 2017, I remember seeing headlines day after day becoming more and more hateful towards certain religious groups and ethnic minorities, using photos of the victims to instigate racist and islamophobic propagandas. This was when I decided I wanted to write a play that aimed to give a voice back to the young people who were involved in the accident. This is why I worked with a group of local young people discussing the attack and the mediatic response it had received. The RnD process also included getting in touch with Liv’s Trust, a charity funded in honour and memory of Olivia Campbell-Hardy, a victim of the Manchester attack. Liv’s mum and dad were very supportive and encouraged us to share rehearsal pictures with them. I also collected interviews and vlogs from the internet, and pieced them together to portray a different view of the attack altogether, one which shifted away from the divisive agendas the media had been pushing on viewers/readers.

Our company is made up by a few university friends; we have worked on different productions together so we knew we could easily do it again! My production manager, Esther Malkinson, has been to the Fringe for four years now, and is a real connoisseur of all things festival. She is in charge of our budget, our admin, she makes sure we don’t get lost in the city whilst scouting for shows, she ensures we eat properly and also operates the show – she’s a powerhouse! Ciaran Forde, Rio Topley and Megan Sharman act in the play, but also make sure we do at least a rendition a day of Maxwell’s “This Woman’s Work”‘s harmonies. This can happen at any time and in any place (if you were on the Mile at about 630pm today, we are so sorry).

We premiered the show in London in early August at the Drayton Arms theatre, and were absolutely overwhelmed with support and positive feedback from lots of people, which made us even more excited to go to Edinburgh! Looking forward, we would love to make sure the play travels the country and hopefully introduce workshops for young people around the theme treated.

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

After you watched 10:31, MCR, you must get yourself down the road (theSpace on North Bridge) to see Tally Ho, Secret Several! by Aireborne theatre. This comedic twist of a classic story will have you in stitches!
Also, make sure to catch #HonestAmy at the Pleasance Dome – I have been following Amy on Twitter for a while and she is absolutely hilarious. If you’re looking for a feel-good show, this is the one!

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+3 Interview: Votes for Women!

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I finally qualified for a free bus pass.”

WHO: Jan van der Black: Writer/Performer

WHAT: “The story of Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst and the suffragette movement. This couple were the architects of two of the greatest steps forward in the fight for women’s rights in Britain. In Votes for Women!, Polymorph Theatre examine what brought these two remarkable people together and the effect they would have on the cause of women’s rights. Richard Pankhurst was the champion of women’s property rights, while Emmeline Pankhurst drove the fight for women’s suffrage to new heights and new notoriety. Tragically separated by Richard’s untimely death, the campaign continued. Votes For Women!”

WHERE: theSpaceTriplex – Studio (Venue 38) 

WHEN: 13:55 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Very much not our first time! As a performer, I first came here about 30 years ago, but Polymorph Theatre started 4 years ago and we have returned again and again to our venue, Space Triplex.

We sold out a two week run of 10 Rillington Place in 2017, a one-person show, and last year sold out a week with a two-hander, Dulce et Decorum Est: The Unknown Soldiers.

This year we are back with another two-hander in Votes for Women.

Edinburgh Fringe is my guaranteed stage outing for the year, most of my regular work being for screen.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Probably the biggest name thing I’ve been in professionally is Black Mirror, the Netflix TV series which I was in last year.

Personally, the most significant thing is that last year I finally qualified for a free bus pass.

Tell us about your show.

The show is called Votes for Women. I wrote and produced it.

Polymorph Theatre is the name I’ve used for the production of all my own work for many years, but four years ago it effectively became a creative partnership between myself and Penny Gkritzapi, who designs and directs the shows. We met doing our respective postgraduate degrees (me in Acting, Penny in Directing) at the University of East London.

We’re joined this year by another former classmate, Emilie Maybank, who is playing Emmeline Pankhurst in the show, and who this year has the responsibility of the lead character.

The show was written specifically for Edinburgh, so it’s brand new and premiering at the Fringe.

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

I am a big fan of two things – improv and magic. So I’m going to recommend “Whose Line is it Anyway?” which I’m sure everyone will have heard of. I’m also going to recommend Colin Cloud, a mentalist (mind reader) who is stunningly entertaining.

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“Morgan & West: Unbelievable Science” (Assembly George Square – Gordon Aikman Theatre, AUG 14-20, 22-25 : 16:30 : 60mins)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals 2019, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews by

“The production values on this show are higher than Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. in a hot air balloon … The production value for money is (if anything in the material universe could be so) incalculable.”

Editorial Rating: 7 Stars: Outstanding

“How did he do that???” Daughter 1.0, aged 4 but 5 next birthday (something she would want you to know), is managing to grin from ear to ear while she is also open-mouthed in astonishment. We are in the careful cup stage. “OK, both hands. Focus on what you’re doing.” Thrills and (just occasionally) spills. How on Earth has the dandy chap on stage managed to put a glass tumbler full water into a hoop, swing it round his head, and never spill a drop?

Gravity is unfair, unkind, and unreasoning with regard to preschoolers. Gravity is to blame when one has taken a wee tumble while running on the wet cobblestones of George Square – despite a strongly-worded suggestion not to. It’s gravity’s fault that one has bumped one’s head while skylarking with one’s little sister on the sofa, despite the Patriarchy having less time for skylarking on the sofa than the Hong Kong authorities have for protests at the airport. So it’s fair to say that Daughter 1.0 likes seeing gravity defied.

Only gravity isn’t being defied by the untumbling tumbler or water, it’s being demonstrated. Mr Morgan and Mr West are VERY clear about that. This is NOT a magic act. These are not tricks. These are scientific demonstrations. Gravity is a fundamental law of nature, applicable at all times and in all places. Mr Morgan and Mr West are tending the flame of Scientific Enlightenment and they are doing so on hallowed ground.

It is to be regretted that David Hume and Ben Franklin, walking together on those same George Square cobblestones in the age of Enlightenment, couldn’t have got slightly closer to a proof (one so irrefutable that Newton, Einstein, and Lieutenant Data combined couldn’t have improved on it), that some moral laws are similarly universal no matter the context. Such a proof might have saved us from the present age of Endarkenment. Fake news from faker demagogues pushing utterly false pretexts and promises.

The production values on this show are higher than Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. in a hot air balloon – a beautiful science lab set, properties with the property of not looking improvised, fine tailoring, great grooming, and an electrostatic generator that manages to sound even scarier than it looks. The cost in fresh cardboard boxes alone must be more than most shows spend on flyering. The production value for money is (if anything in the material universe could be so) incalculable. Mr Morgan and Mr West are the very best kind of teachers in that they don’t try to be your friend, they want to get you thinking. This show does many things, but pandering isn’t one of them.

There are belly laughs aplenty. The jokes are clever, often visual, always flawlessly delivered. Gyles Brandreth once asked me on the radio, an impressive feat because he was in the studio with the actual guests and I was listening at home with my feet up, what my least favourite word is. “Whacky” I replied. It’s been done. It’s been overdone. The ‘80s are over. Timmy Mallett’s off eating bush tucker. Whacky is what Grandad was worried about. Mad scientists in a Hammer horrorshow of a science lab, being silly, talking without ever saying anything.

Grandad is an EH10 Edinbugger of the old skool. He doesn’t like the Fringe and he’s only coming along because he’s studiously avoiding Granny’s book festival event featuring an auld collaborator who Grandad feels has sold out to become a **shudders** popular scientist. Grandad is a professor, an evolutionary geneticist at KB who Richard Dawkins considers a bit hardcore on the science over dogma spectrum. But Grandad really enjoys the show. Granddad loves watching his granddaughter loving the show and wondering at the Science. It’s the parabasis that crowns all and sets this show apart.*

*You’ll have to look up the definition of parabasis. It’s not often we history and classics students get to out jargon the boffins.

For the parabasis, Mr Morgan and Mr West shift their attention to the parents and carers in the audience. Their sleeves are already rolled up from the final demonstration. They pull no punches about what Science is, why Science matters, how Science is explored, and why Science doesn’t care what you or I think about it. “The Earth IS round,” loud and excited applause, “critical climate change IS real and… VACCINATE YOUR KIDS.” The applause dies down, the yummy mummies and super cool daddies who equate their B in Higher Biology with membership in the RCGP are stunned into silence. It’s one of the bravest things that the EdFringe has seen since Rudolf Bing stepped off the train at Waverly in ‘47.

52 weeks in the year minus 3 weeks for the Fringe equals Edinburgh49. Our little site exists to promote the year-round arts scene in Scotland’s capital with informed, and informative insight. Our ratings system seeks to balance the informative, objective, and subjective. Up to five stars for technical performance, with the option for the reviewer to add a “nae bad” or “outstanding” badge. It’s worked well up till now, but Mr Morgan and Mr West have tested our instruments to their limits with a show that delivers to the George Square Theatre what Dubai levels of luxury deliver to the hotel sector.

If John Reith, the Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting, were on hand and not simply dust in the Rothiemurchus wind, I would ask him to present Mr Morgan and Mr West with Edinburgh49’s first (and possibly only) ever seven-star outstanding review.

outstanding

StarStarStarStarStarStarStar

Reviewer: Dan Lentell (Seen 14 October)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

Ensemble 1880, Wagner and Brahms, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 August 2019

Posted in 3*, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews, Music, Other by

Image result for ensemble 1880

“By the end of the evening the smiles were huge, the applause loud, and happiness was in the air. “

Editorial Rating:3 Stars

There are many myths and half truths circulating around composers with interesting if not scandalous private lives, and Wagner, along with Liszt, is probably at the top of the list.  An uncompromising man of great passion, he was by no means a modern day commitment phobe and the work we heard tonight, along with its backstory, gives ample proof of this. It is, in fact, a consummation.

Cosima, Wagner’s first wife and twenty four years his junior, was the illegitimate daughter of Franz Liszt, herself born of passion.  Married to Hans Von Bulow, a student of Liszt and a celebrated conductor, far too young at 18 and bearing him two children, feeling increasing coldness from her husband, she fell first for Wagner’s music, and then him, having met when the Von Bulows stayed with Wagner for the weekend.  There followed a long term affair siring three children out of wedlock before Von Bulow relented and the couple married.

At the time of writing Siegfried Idyll in what has to be the ultimate birthday present, the musicians settled on the stair that led up to his wife’s bedroom inside their Swiss villa on the birthday morn so they could perform a symphonic poem that Wagner had written as a celebration of her birthday as well as to mark the joyous occasion of the birth of their son Siegfried the year before.  Cosima awoke to the sound of music wafting into her bedroom and at first she thought she was dreaming. Beats being woken up by the radio alarm, doesn’t it?

Why I had always thought this story improbable is that most people hear the work played by a full orchestra of a hundred or so players,or at least a full string orchestra.  How could they all fit on the stairs? Much revised, the version was originally written for an ensemble of fifteen as we heard it tonight (albeit 13 desks, close enough), so the story begins to ring true.  For proof, read Cosima’s diaries.

I tried to get all this into my head when listening to our band this evening, Ensemble 1880.  On paper a supergroup with several principals and past principals of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, this particular band has an esoteric approach to the music, neither contemporary nor original instruments, but trying to approximate the sound at the time of early recorded music.  One really has to question this approach; while period instruments and arrangements have their place, who is interested in early recordings with all its sonic limitations, especially in this day of remastering? Moreover, Siegried Idyll was first performed in 1870 and Brahms Serenade No 1 in 1858.  Director Alec Frank-Gemmill explained this approach while showing us his 1920 horn.  The first shellac disc came out in 1895. Is this not all a faux concept?

The reversal of playing order should have been a signal.  Everybody had come to hear the Wagner, hence it was originally put on last.  We were told we were to hear it first. It was thoroughly disappointing and under rehearsed.  Individual playing was competent, but there was no feeling of ensemble, a complete absence of legato with wind and brass in particular failing to gel.  The two horns struggled to hit the note first time, oboe jerky, and the patient trumpet who had to sit there for the first fifteen minutes was too loud when he did make his entrance.  Too much of the heavy lifting of the theme was taken by the first violin, using inappropriate glissando. Only in the closing two minutes of the piece did we get an idea of what this group was capable of.  With the end in sight they relaxed and played in a smooth, together style which one had wished we had experienced from the start.

Had there been an interval I would have left, but I was glad I didn’t.  Now a nonet to reflect the original scoring of the work, the ensemble gave a superb, confident nay exemplary performance of the Brahms Serenade No 1 with some frankly virtuoso playing in particular by Alec Frank-Gemmill on horn and Georgia Browne mastering the tricky wooden flute.  The strings played together like they did every day. Forty minutes of joy.

Such is the nature of live music, a fickle creature.  Something wasn’t working even in rehearsal in the Wagner, I suspect, hence the playing order swap and the look of restrained relief on the players’ faces when it was over and somewhat brief muted applause from the audience.  By the end of the evening the smiles were huge, the applause loud, and happiness was in the air.

 

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

—

Reviewer: †Charles Stokes (Seen 13 August)

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+3 Interview: Man vs Balloon: The Family Magic Show

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I saw some potential in mixing balloons with magic and now have a full show that uses both!”

WHO: Gareth White: performer, writer, producer

WHAT: “Witness a magical extravaganza where you will marvel at The Biggest Balloon in the World and risk your dryness at the ultimate game of Water Pistol Roulette! All live on stage in front of your very eyes! Man vs Balloon is the ultimate family show featuring magic tricks galore, comedy shenanigans and, of course, The Biggest Balloon in the World, all from Scotland’s very own Magic Gareth who will blow your minds – and his balloons – with a magical spectacular of epic and unimaginable proportions!”

WHERE: PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms – CC Blooms (Venue 171) 

WHEN: 11:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I am an Edinburgh local. Normally I am on the other side of the stage getting to watch the world’s entertainment. This is an exciting venture for me! I already have a small following in the City as this is my full-time job now. I would love to expand my following to visitors around the world!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

This year I turned full-time professional magician. I left behind my coffee sales job and took the plunge and haven’t looked back!

Tell us about your show.

This is a culmination of my past 10 months being a full-time entertainer. I saw some potential in mixing balloons with magic and now have a full show that uses both!

I wrote the show, I produce the show and I perform the show.

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

You should stick around at my venue – CC Blooms! There is a lot of magic for all ages, all day! Dan Bastanelli – Trixated – in particular.

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+3 Interview: Martha McBrier: Happiness Bully

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I love the Edinburgh Fringe with an ardency that has not diminished. Even completing this interview makes my vital organs tingle with excitement.”

WHO: Martha McBrier

WHAT: “Don’t be bullied into cheering up or thinking positive. Don’t let anyone tell you how or when to be happy. Stand up to happiness bullies. Frown, it’s already happened. Come and celebrate misery and country music, but don’t jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge. ‘Pure, dead, brilliant’ ***** (Scotsman). Let’s have a drink, put on some Johnny or Dolly and ride that lonesome train together. And remember, your life will never be as bad as Tammy Wynette’s… ‘A knack for funny storytelling’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘A naturally charismatic story teller’ **** (Fest).”

WHERE: Laughing Horse @ The Counting House – The Loft (Venue 170) 

WHEN: 19:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be my 13th show (including 2 children’s shows) so not my first rodeo. I do not believe the number 13 to be a harbinger of misfortune, although I will get back to you on this after the Fringe…

I love the Edinburgh Fringe with an ardency that has not diminished. Even completing this interview makes my vital organs tingle with excitement.

Personal triumphs-wise, I once stood beside Christian Slater at the Comedy Awards. He had the most perfect complexion I have ever seen.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Professional biggies – I wrote a screenplay and a novel. I learned how to laminate. I am still afraid of laminators though, I find heat and plastic a very troubling combination. Also, I discovered I can make a darn good ramen.
Personal biggies – I am a sucker for lifestyle ads that pop up on social media. I have just purchased Acupressure slippers. This seemed to be a most well-being -y thing to do, and I fantasised about walking around as my important pressure points were attended to. Oh, the multi-tasking! Tragically, the reality is not so pretty. You know the abject torture of standing on a piece of Lego in bare feet? Imagine that sensation all over your feet, every step you walk.

Tell us about your show.

Easy Peasy. Yours Truly wrote the show. ‘Twas directed by my nephew the handsome and talented actor/director Matt McBrier. I have a massive team of 2. The company came together largely out of biology, as many families do. It is premier -ing (is that a word) at the Fringe so it’s just as new to me as it is to anybody else.

A happiness bully is someone who tries to pressure people into feeling ‘positive’ usually at a moment when the person is in the depths of despair. The show discusses this behaviour and also country music and suicide – comedy perennials, n’est-ce pas? It would be good to get more people talking about suicide. Let’s get it out there- chew it around. It will then become a less scary topic and we can maybe prevent our young men dying from it.

Post Edinburgh, who can say? It’s in the lap of the goddesses. Of course, the dream is to present my own Country Music Radio show. The ongoing theme would be to deconstruct Bobbie Gentrie’s masterpiece ‘Ode to Billy Joe’ (which features in my show). I should totally pitch that…

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

My personal Fringe recommendations are Sarah Kendall, Basil Brush, (obvs), Matt price, Janey Godley, Jojo Sutherland, Dave Chawner, and White Collar Comedy, and also go and see a play – any play – as theatre is dying at the Fringe, and we can’t have that.

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