Category Archives: Theatre

Reviews of theatre work.

‘Victor’s Victoria’ Venue 20, until 25th AUG (not 7th or 20th)

Posted in 5*, Cabaret, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“You may know him as Doc Holliday or Samson or Demetrius… I knew him as Dad.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Spoiled for choice as we are at the Fringe for drama and stand-up comedy, it’s always good to side-step every now and again into that much-loved genre Cabaret & Variety. One of the standout shows in that category this year is this very engaging and entertaining show in the Drawing Room: one of the more cosy medium-sized theatres at the Assembly Rooms on George Street.

In this slick one-woman show, Victoria Mature – the daughter of Hollywood golden age legend Victor Mature (1913-1999) – tells the story of her life with a famous father. Though his star may have faded a little in recent years, even Generation Z must surely be familiar with that craggily handsome, lantern-jawed face from all of those sword-and-sandal biblical epics that show up on TV every Christmas and Easter? He was equally at home as a hard-boiled noir detective or in a Western. As his daughter notes early in this show: “You may know him as Doc Holliday or Samson or Demetrius…I knew him as Dad.”

As Victoria takes us through her own life and her father’s glittering career, her lively monologue is interspersed with projected movie clips inspired by his career. There are also musical interludes from several shows with which both she and her father were involved. As an opera singer with an international career, Ms. Mature certainly knows how to put a song over. We were treated to her warm, dramatic soprano voice, accompanied by a live pianist, giving powerfully emotional renditions of excerpts from Broadway shows and classical opera, as well as movie soundtrack favourites. The range of material is fascinating, ranging from Dvorak to Kurt Weil, via the Gershwins. No prima donna (in the pejorative sense, at least), Victoria cheerfully invited the audience to sing along with the best-known numbers.

Victoria has inherited a great deal of her late father’s showbiz sparkle. Her raven black hair reflects his Italian ancestry, accentuated by the off-the-shoulder black cocktail dress she wears throughout the show. Indeed, there were moments during the songs when, pouting in concentration between lines, there were striking glimpses of her father shining through in her facial expression.

In telling his and her life stories, there are anecdotes aplenty from the golden age of Hollywood. As a precocious child star herself, she met and worked with what sounds like a Who’s Who of studio-era Tinseltown. But this is no mere name-dropping exercise; her reminiscences of this bygone era are told with panache and all of the theatricality one would expect from a woman who had an insider’s view of the movie business.

The show runs at the Fringe until 25th August, so get along to see this, its UK premiere, while it’s still in a relatively small venue where the encounter is close-up and personal. I suspect we’ll be seeing and hearing more of it in the future.

‘Once Upon a Fairy Tale’ (Bedfringe, 20 & 23 July 2024)

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“Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company have a growing and well-earned reputation for potboilers done proper.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae bad)

I suspect that the number of people who taste the differences between a 2022 Argentinian Malbec and a 2021 Tuscan Chianti is smaller than those who claim they can. Still, the vintage and the year matter. It was not until I became a parent that the significance of children’s ages really struck home with me. The difference between a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old can give one vertigo, even when they sprouted in the same vineyard.

This is a problem for families when selecting live no less than streamed media. How do you pick a show that caterers for all tastes? SPOILER ALERT! Sometimes you can’t. TOP TIP! If you are watching a show aimed at younger, simpler cultural palates, you might want to try getting your easily over it aulder kids to watch a show in the same way as they did when they were younger. The youngest children in a Fringe audience aren’t just watching the stage. They are closely observing the reactions and interactions of those around them with a windward eye out for the novel comings and goings of a place which is not at all like their regular haunts.

‘Once Upon A Fairy Tale’ is a 45 minute pantomime-style show aimed at younger years. Once upon a time there lived a girl called Little Red Riding Hood who came across a house in the woods where three bears lived. One day a wolf came along and he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down! Hang on a second, something doesn’t seem right… Can you help un-muddle the fairy tales and set everything straight?

Clearly, Daughter 1.0 (9yrs) is getting far too mature, ancient even, to simply enjoy charming stories, told charmingly, by lovely, charming, and talented people. So we have to find the road less travelled. “Watch how your sisters watch the show,” I confidently advise. “Look at what they are enjoying, when they are really paying attention. Notice how the live creative process relies on real interactions between the actors and the audience. A light bulb goes off. Here’s what Daughter 1.0 wrote in her notebook, the one with Mr. Wolf as voiced by Sam Rockwell on the cover:

“This Summer I went to Beford festival fringe and saw the show once Upon a fairy tale witch wasn’t annything close to my age but was a very fun 45-minute family-friendly production. It was all about three very famous children stories: The three little pigs, Goldielochs and the three bears and Little Red RidingHood. Aswell as watching the performance I watched my little sister [6yrs] (who was very enthusiastic during this performance She loved answearing questions Listening to the characters’s funny accents and the performance Little Red Riding Hood. I thoroughly recomend this show for 2-6 Bubbly and shy children”

Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company have a growing and well-earned reputation for potboilers done proper. Come for the strong performances. Stay, despite a painted backdrop and props set in need of a tiny touch more of Widdershins magic. Get your red riding coats on and go see this memorable vintage of storytelling for little sisters uncorked.

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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

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

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

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reviewer: Dan Lentell

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‘Shortlist’ (Venue 8, until AUG 28th)

Posted in Theatre by

“Together on stage Matthew Boston (as Houghton) and Daniel Llewelyn-Williams (as Higgins) are as perfectly matched as gin and tonic, pie and gravy, fish and chips. They breathe life into Park’s script the way a hurricane wafts a palm tree.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Two novel writers, both alike in indignity, in fair and foul competition through the streets of an unnamed metropolis where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to hysterical new mutiny. Where bad blood makes thought and deed unclean.

Brian Parks is a former Arts & Culture editor of ‘The Village Voice’ and former chairman of its Obie Awards. Parks is a multiple Fringe-First-winning playwright celebrated for his cerebral scripts and gorgeous dialogue. He can turn a phrase like Josiah Wedgewood could turn a pot. Awards offer up a rich seam of comic potential from which Parks has mined much ore like a Tolkeinein dwarf on a mission in Moria. His premise, two catty novelists trapped in the shortlist sack of a book festival and writer’s award, provides an hour’s stage traffic of furiously fast farce. 

This ore in turn has been smashed, and refined in the heated crucible of Assembly George Square’s The Crate by Flying Bridge Theatre, whose previous EdFringe triumph was CJ Hopkins’ ‘Horse Country’. Together on stage Matthew Boston (as Houghton) and Daniel Llewelyn-Williams (as Higgins) are as perfectly matched as gin and tonic, pie and gravy, fish and chips. They breathe life into Park’s script the way a hurricane wafts a palm tree.

There are times I recall to mind the 5th episode of Season 5 of ‘Frasier’ – the only time the classic sitcom was filmed on location. Like Houghton and Higgins, Fraiser and his brother race across the city in a series of increasingly chaotic misadventures. Unlike the alfresco episode of the ‘90s TV show, the happenings onstage in 2023 are consistently flawless as the tension builds. There is never a dull moment. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be that frog in that slowly boiling pot of water, immerse yourself in Margarett Perry’s direction.

Under the comedy, there are several Tardis’ worth of drama and character development. As self-doubt creeps in like revolutionaries through an open window at the Winter Palace, Boston and Llewelyn-Williams reveal and peel back their characters’ layers speaking to those vulnerabilities and sufferings of which the human condition is made. Few humans can suffer under heaven more than assistant director, Natalie Tell, as the tech. She’s got 220 cues and not one of them is missed, the knowing audience knows how hard she has worked – she’s smashed it out of the Brian Parks, helping to make ‘Shortlist’ the comedy sensation of EdFringe ‘23.

Come for the clash of egos. Stay for the merry music of mayhem. Get your dust jackets on and go see this!

 

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‘Watson: The Final Problem’ (Venue 17, until AUG 28th)

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“A leisurely cruise along familiar waters in good company.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Outstanding)

Tim Marriot is a Fringe treasure. Once found he is forever and jealously hoarded by a growing cadre of followers who will be in his audiences year in year out. He is a storyteller of the auld skool, one who can expertly tailor his material to each crowd individually. He brings much artistry onto the stage, but no great mystery as to how he does what he does so well. We’ve entered to find him lurking at the back, sizing up the audience. I wonder what he’s looking for. What are the signs and signals he’s come to know? When the game’s afoot the house lights stay up so that Tim can read faces and follow reactions. There’s a barman at the Grand Hotel in Varese who, after years at the American Bar in London, can at a glance mix you a pre-dinner cocktail containing the exact, the exact, the precise amount of booze necessary so that you arrive at your table perfectly buzzed. Tim Marriot does something similar before and as he treads the boards. The results are intoxicating.

We find ourselves in rooms on Baker Street in the company of its other famous resident. The medical man scarred by war and grief. Dr Watson has lost the loves of his life – his beloved wife as well as his esteemed colleague and friend. This is the moment in the Sherlockian canon when Edinburgh’s own Conan Doyle had had enough of Holmes and sent him plunging from the Reichenbach Falls. Watson does not know that, under the tremendous pressure from the reading public, he and Holmes are to be reunited.

Only one thing matters in the Holmes universe – authenticity – and this holds true if the setting is on the deck of the Starship Enterprise or among a collection of garden gnomes. For ‘Watson: The Final Problem’ Tim has collaborated with Bert Coules whose career has included work on the BBC’s ‘The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Cadfael’, and ‘Rebus’. A scholarly Sherlockian, Coules has written and directed a production so firmly rooted in cherished tradition that you’d be forgiven for imagining that Jeremy Brett is about to make an appearance.

This isn’t a show that’s going to rock any boats. It’s a leisurely cruise along familiar waters in good company. Who was Watson before Holmes? How did they meet? What was he like to live and work with? What dangers did they face? How did Holmes come to be atop the falls at Reichenbach on 4 May 1891? Some of the direction is a little over the top, Tim throws himself to the floor more times than a toddler having a tantrum. Still, the overall effect on exit is of having been sitting in an auld armchair listening to a good friend tell his tales.

Come for the reliability of an EdFringe favourite. Stay for the familiarity of Holmes and Watson done proper. Get your Inverness capes on and go see this!

 

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‘Abbey’s Box’ (Venue 236, until AUG 26th)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2023, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Abbey Glover presents an up close and personal performance well suited to the intimacy of the Sprout Theatre”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

When trawling through the Fringe catalogue seeking interesting-looking theatre, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for what’s going on in some of the smaller venues. It’s in the nature of fringe drama that there are a lot of solo shows to choose from, but every now and again you stumble across the odd small gem hidden away in a small room in a large old building just off one of Edinburgh’s main thoroughfares.

Abbey’s Box is just such a gem: a one-woman show performed in a small black box studio theatre. This wryly humorous drama tells the first-person story of a young woman’s life from childhood, through school, to her first love affair. Abbey is a quirky, charming, introspective girl with big dreams who wants to love and be loved. Whilst not a laugh-out-loud comedy, the way in which the episodes of her life are enacted in this show raise many a chuckle of recognition, of sympathy, and of embarrassed familiarity from the audience. Using an engaging mixture of physical drama and storytelling, Abbey Glover presents an up close and personal performance well suited to the intimacy of the Sprout Theatre, one of the smaller venues in Greenside at Infirmary Street. As a 64 year-old man, I often found myself spellbound by her revelations concerning the (to me) hitherto mysterious workings of the female psyche during relationships, not only concerning what she was thinking, but her intuition about what he thought of her. The sympathetic reactions from the women in the audience suggested I was onto something here!

Abbey shows us the intimate details of her relationship with a young man, from an awkward first date as teenagers at a high school prom, through their developing life together in California and Vermont, to their first maladroit attempts at sex. There is much insightful observation of the private, unspoken expectations that lovers have of each other; wryly articulated aloud here to reveal the underlying absurdity of love – which does, indeed, as someone once said, make fools of us all. And the eponymous box? A metaphor, of course, for Abbey’s hang-ups, foibles, fears, and introspection. But, this being Fringe theatre, there is an actual box which has a supporting role, not as a character, but as a well-manipulated extension of the protagonist’s persona.

In a meta-theatrical moment, Abbey breaks the fourth wall to self-referentially mock herself using the familiar accusation that one-woman shows are really a form of therapy for the performer. I don’t know how much of this show was based on Abbey Glover’s actual life, but by the end I – along with the rest of the audience – strongly applauded the slice of life that we’d just been treated to. The late afternoon show runs until 26th August, so get your coats on and go see it! Go for the box – there really is one! Stay for the quirky insights into the female psyche. Leave armed with a few new ideas concerning what your partner might be thinking about you.

 

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‘Dom – The Play’ (Venue 20, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 5*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Fresh from a sell-out run in London, this Fringe transfer had the Assembly Ballroom on George Street packed out with an audience laughing from start to finish.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

If there’s one thing us Brits do well it’s political satire and this already critically acclaimed hit did not disappoint. Fresh from a sell-out run in London, this Fringe transfer had the Assembly Ballroom on George Street packed out with an audience laughing from start to finish. This slick production from Bill Kenwright and Turbine Creatives lifts the lid on the whirlwind political career of Dominic Cummings, leaving no stone unturned in the process.

Just for the record, the citizens of Barnard Castle and the employees at their local branch of Specsavers can rest easy; very early on in the show, Dom grudgingly acknowledges his infamous trip to the Teesdale town to get his eyes tested. With that safely out of the way, Dom narrates his rise to, and abrupt fall from, the Westminster merry-go-round. Chris Porter plays the title role with an assured, cynical ferocity. Cummings was never a likeable figure, but Porter raises laugh after laugh from the audience in the opening ten minutes as he reveals the dark arts of data-scraping that drove his campaigns for Vote Leave and the 2019 General Election. The scene well and truly set, there was soon a roar of recognition from the audience as Boris Johnson strode on in the shape of Tim Hudson – every inch the blustering nincompoop, from his mop of unkempt blonde hair to his flapping shirt tails. All other incidental roles were entertainingly played by Thom Tuck and Sarah Lawrie. Tuck’s mimicry of a moon-faced Michael Gove drew chuckles of recognition, whilst the mobile eyebrows of his John Prescott were an amusing reminder of what already seems like a prehistoric age in British politics. Lawrie was no less versatile, with her lightning vignettes as the late Queen and Theresa May, but the greatest howls of laughter from the Edinburgh audience came with her vivid evocation of a diminutive Nicola Sturgeon.

Over the next hour, the turbulent years of recent British political history are brilliantly portrayed as the Westminster farce they so often seemed back in the day. With a quickfire pasquinade of merciless caricatures, our political masters are lampooned and ridiculed. Like an oversized, Woosterish ringmaster, the buffoonish Johnson flails desperately to keep his government on track at the centre of things; whilst to one side of the stage, lurks Cummings, the Machiavellian puppet-master and the PM’s Svengali. It’s an amazing tradition in British political satire how much we can afterwards laugh at events that once seemed so traumatic. But laugh we did, though I can only agree with one lady behind me who chuckled to her partner over the rapturous applause at the end; “It didn’t seem quite as funny as that the time, did it?”

This show is running for the rest of the month, but I wouldn’t hang about if you want to go; I’d say it’s one of the hot tickets for this year’s Fringe. So, whether you’re from Barnard Castle or not, get your coats on and go see it! Go for the political satire. Stay to hear Cummings explain the dark arts of psephological data mining. Leave in the hope that the great British voting public will never allow itself to be fooled again.

 

‘Yoga with Jillian – A New Comedy’ (Venue 33, until AUG 28th Aug)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Pleasance, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“…a screwball comedy that feels more like sitting in as a visitor at the yoga class from hell rather than watching a play.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Described by producers Project Y and Richard Jordan Productions as a screwball comedy, this drama feels more like sitting in as a visitor at the yoga class from hell rather than watching a play. As the title suggests, this is quite a physical drama, not only on the part of the eponymous protagonist, but also from the seven volunteer audience members who joined her on stage to do their stuff on mats.

But Jillian is no carrot juice-drinking guru; Michole Biancosino plays her as a feisty, neurotic ex-lawyer, who uses yoga to cope (not always successfully) with her chaotic urban life. Whilst celebrity yogis like Gwyneth Paltrow may exude glamorous woo-woo tranquillity, at one with the world around her, Jillian sometimes struggles to find enough inner peace to even get along with her rival yogis. As the show progresses, the ancient Hindu fitness philosophy is used as a framework and metaphor for the ups, downs, stretches, and fine balances of Jillian’s life story. Whilst a none too perfect practitioner herself, she is a less than fully sympathetic teacher, as her passive-aggressive relationship with her “class” often shows to hilarious effect.

The seven audience members (two men, five women) who joined the class onstage lend a weirdly voyeuristic vibe to watching the show that is quite different from a normal audience experience in a theatre. At several stages, we found ourselves facing a row of seven backsides presented to us as the class bent over to touch their toes. From my front row seat, at one point I had a man’s right foot only two feet from my face as, at Jillian’s bidding, they adopted the downward-facing three-legged dog position. At the other end of the stage, a middle-aged woman in a calf-length dress had perhaps wisely turned herself to face the audience into order to more modestly point her leg upstage. It must be said that these volunteers were able to do what was asked for them without too much stress or embarrassment. (Though, if you’re going along and plan to volunteer – maybe wear leggings and have a pedicure beforehand?)

Whilst yoga itself may not be a pursuit to everyone’s taste, this show is nonetheless a quirky, ironic take on its subject, rather as I’d hoped it would be. Lia Romeo’s writing comically explores the conflict between the outwardly calm philosophy of its subject and the angst-ridden lives of some of its devotees. So, get your coats on and go see it. Go whether or not you’ve been to a yoga class before. Stay for the mat-based philosophical humour. Leave thinking about how all of that stretching and balancing helps to soothe some screwed-up lives.

 

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‘…And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel’ (Venue 33, until AUG 28th)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2023, Pleasance, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“There are laughs aplenty in this show, but the problems the two men faced in their personal and professional lives provide a strong undercurrent of tragedy and pathos. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

To draw a full house for a late morning show on the first Sunday of the Fringe bodes well for any show up here. Is it the pulling power of a performer with a successful TV career behind him, or the familiarity of the eponymous subject? Either way, ex-sitcom star Jeffrey Holland (Hi-De-Hi, You Rang, M’Lord) drew a round of applause upon his entrance as well as at the end of this entertaining one-man show in the Pleasance Courtyard Upstairs.

Set in the bedroom of a very ill and silent Oliver Hardy in the 1950s, this tragi-comic drama shows us Stan Laurel’s last visit to see his dying former screen partner. Perhaps wisely, Holland avoids a constant tribute-act impersonation of Laurel, preferring to rely for most of the performance on a more relaxed off-screen version of the legendary comedian’s persona. However, there are regular short episodes where, donning a bowler hat, Holland enacts memorable exchanges from their most successful films; and here we get a fine impression of Laurel’s absurd comic gravitas, along with Ollie’s frustratedly blustering replies.

There are laughs aplenty in this show, but the problems the two men faced in their personal and professional lives provide a strong undercurrent of tragedy and pathos. With Ollie struck dumb by a crippling stroke, it’s left to Stan to look back on the triumphs and frustrations of their Hollywood career. As anyone familiar with their work knows, those short films from their heyday in the 1930s usually portray the couple as a pair of bums down on their luck and trying to make a dime in the Depression-era USA. It’s sad to note that the reality of Hollywood at the time meant that, despite their huge success, the two actors received only comfortable salaries, rather than the mind-boggling fees that stars expect today. Laurel in particular should have been a millionaire as the scriptwriter of their immortal routines. At several points Holland breaks down to portray what must have been very a real frustration felt by Laurel upon realising how he’d been ruthlessly exploited and fleeced by the studio system of the day. As this play suggests, the familiar trope of the melancholy behind the comic mask is very real – Tears of a Clown, indeed.

As is also quite well known, both men had chequered personal lives involving multiple and often disastrous marriages. This introduces more light and shade, with Holland movingly contrasting happy memories of love and romance, soon clouded over by the dark shadows of some messy divorces. Was there even a hint of mutual resentment between the two? Though a passive stooge on screen, Laurel was the leader behind the scenes, slaving at his typewriter and thrashing out deals with the studios whilst “Babe” (Ollie) spent his days on the golf course.

This already popular how runs until the end of the month, so get your coats on and go see it! Go to see a telly star play a film star. Stay to laugh at the jokes then cry along with Stan’s tears. Leave with the thought that screen laughter is often dearly bought by those whose lives are devoted to entertaining us.

‘Edgar Allan Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (Venue 53, until AUG 26th)

Posted in 3*, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“…a slick performance in which his character exudes the gravitas required of a predecessor to Sherlock Holmes, often giving light relief with heavily-accented asides that veer towards the comic buffoonery of Inspector Clouseau.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars (Nae Bad)

Often described as the first modern detective story, Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 classic overlaps with the horror genre as the mystery at its heart unfolds. This is a welcome stage adaptation of the tale that introduced the world to the French sleuth Auguste Dupin.

Actors Darren Haywood and James Nicholas present us with a straightforward two-hander in a black box setup with minimal scenery. Haywood as Dupin delivers a slick performance in which his character exudes the gravitas required of a predecessor to Sherlock Holmes, often giving light relief with heavily-accented asides that veer towards the comic buffoonery of Inspector Clouseau. For such a dark tale, there were often moments when the audience chuckled at episodes of quickfire banter onstage. One such particularly engaging passage portrayed a police officer interviewing a succession of witnesses to the eponymous murders. In a cross-channel double act of gallic repartee, Nicholas played the investigating gendarme, while the elastic-faced Haywood adopted a lively comic sequence of caricatures of low-life Parisians.

Nonetheless, I’m afraid I struggle to give this production and its cast the four-star review that parts of it deserve. Overall the play depended rather too heavily on narration and exposition, such as the reading aloud of an explanatory newspaper article. Stage adaptations of literary works can be very engrossing, but to avoid the feel of a radio play this show needs a little more physicality, business with props and costumes, and more imaginative use of the set, however basic it may be. Leaving the denouement to narration backed by sound effects rather emphasises the audio character of this production.

The performance I saw was the first of a month-long run, which I hope will give the cast the opportunity to work up a little more visual action into what is a potentially gripping drama.
That said, both cast members are appearing in other shows at the Fringe this year, including an adaptation of a Conan Doyle story featuring Dupin’s immortal literary successor: Sherlock Holmes, in The Speckled Band. Coming down at well under an hour, this show is suited to those who like their entertainment traditional and on the literary side. So get your coats on and go see this. Come for the classic detective tale that fired the starting gun for a whole genre. Stay for the gallic repartee. Leave to investigate clues in the Fringe brochure that will lead you to discover The Speckled Band!

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