Tag Archives: EdFestivals

‘Don Quixote’ at Venue 20 until 25th AUG (not 19th)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2024, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Knockabout slapstick; quick changes of scene, costume, and prop; melodramatic mime; abrupt changes of mood, from absurd whimsicality to reflective melancholy to quickfire gags; all accompanied by live music and song.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

The Finland-based Red Nose Company has been entertaining international audiences since 2008, garlanded with many awards for the quality of their productions along the way. This is their second visit to the Edinburgh Fringe with Don Quixote, the evergreen tale of the deluded would-be knight of the title and his faithful servant Sancho Panza.

The story is a four hundred year-old literary classic, exploring the human mind’s capacity for folly. Quixote is a minor aristocrat, driven by too much reading of chivalric romances to believe himself a knight errant. Recruiting a lowly farm labourer as his “squire”, he sets off on a journey, seeking adventure, romance, and a heroic reputation. This framework of soaring delusion being undermined by grim reality is a perfect set-up for what is essentially an extended Renaissance sitcom. Misunderstandings abound, with innkeepers’ daughters being mistaken for princesses; country pubs being mistaken for castles; and most famously, distant windmills being taken for fairytale giants. At every turn in the dialogue, Quixote’s lofty rhetoric is brought crashing down by the earthy, cynical realism of Panza’s wry observations and mockery of his deluded master.

As their name suggests, the Red Nose Theatre perform as clowns – but not the largely silent mime artists one might see in a circus. These clowns speak and there is much interaction with the audience. Timo and Tuukka play all parts, including the two adventurers. As might be expected, there is much physicality in their humour: knockabout slapstick; quick changes of scene, costume, and prop; melodramatic mime; abrupt changes of mood, from absurd whimsicality to reflective melancholy to quickfire gags; all accompanied by live music and song.

A simple set consisting of a pair of red curtains upstage is all that’s needed for a setting; everything else is created by the actions of the two-man cast and the imagination of the audience. One slight drawback with this production is the choice of venue. The Bijou Theatre at Assembly on George Street is situated in The Spiegeltent, that well- known “big top” marquee with a 1920s cabaret-style interior that’s been a feature of the Fringe for years in various locations. Whilst suitably reminiscent of a circus tent, the wooden framework requires numerous fairly wide columns to hold it up, two of which are immediately either side of the forestage. These can cause a few sightline problems from certain seats, so maybe get there early to ensure you get a good view?

The performance I saw was their opening afternoon of a run that will see them here for the full Fringe season. The pace was very slightly on the slow side, but I have no doubt that the show will gather momentum as word gets around. Well worth a visit.

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‘A Montage of Monet’ (Venue 236, Aug 9-10, 12-17)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2024, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“An aged-up Stephen Smith plays the eponymous artist with all the power and emphasis that can be mustered by a younger actor playing an old man.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

This is a very engaging and thoughtful show presenting the life, loves, and art of the legendary French impressionist painter, Claude Monet. As we are shown, the great artist’s private life was certainly full enough of drama, crisis, and angst to justify a play. This production, a piece of well-crafted new writing by Joan Greening, takes us on a journey to Belle Epoque Paris and beyond, offering much entertaining insight into the bohemian world of these creative types whilst shattering a few myths about what drives their urge to paint.

The small, black box Mint Studio of Greenside @ George Street is simply transformed into the artist’s world by means of a few props and we see Monet’s instantly recognisable works projected onto a blank canvas standing on an easel. An aged-up Stephen Smith plays the eponymous artist with all the power and emphasis that can be mustered by a younger actor playing an old man. Two characteristics of this production give it a very intimate feel. The lighting is deliberately kept fairly low – much at odds with the bursting colour of Monet’s canvases, but subtly encouraging introspective focus on the man himself. Secondly, the monologue is quietly underscored by original piano music by Joseph Furey playing in the background. I’m not usually a fan of incidental music in theatre, but this gently melodic accompaniment adds a wistful backdrop to Monet’s tale.

The human story behind the legendary paintings is often fascinating and revealing. Monet was no saint: an aesthete, but no angel. The roller coaster of his love life often belies the tranquillity evoked by his art. His relationships with fellow artists were often complex, whilst catastrophic events in his own life often threatened his very ability to create his works. Spiced with moments of humour and wit, there are also many surprising revelations concerning the stories behind some of his most celebrated images. No spoilers here, but I’ll never look at his famous Water Lilies paintings in the same way again, having been told how the subject matter in his garden pond at Giverny was so beautifully arranged. There was even a word of warning for us critics in learning how the name of the genre Impressionism arose from some laboured mockery by an infamous and now largely forgotten journalist.

Of the many solo shows on offer at the Fringe, a number are always biographical dramatisations of some historical person’s life: often a literary or show business figure, or more rarely, an artist. The problems inherent in representing an artist’s life on stage include: the sedentary nature of their work; talented individuals leading often dull and uneventful private lives; and the difficulty of making drama from the creation of still-life in the shape of a canvas or sculpture. In a different show I saw earlier this week, we watched an actor physically recreate a painting brush-in-hand as she spoke to the audience in character as the artist in question; very talented and skilled, but not great theatre and more suited to the radio. This production does not make the same mistake and is thus well worth going along to see.

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Jess Carrivick: Attention Seeker (WIP) at Venue 236 until 24th AUG (not 11th or 18th)

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

“…a must-see for anyone who loves comedy; it would also serve as a masterclass for those who hope to bring a one-hander show to the Fringe.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Regular readers of this site will know that I’ve got a bit of a thing about solo shows this year. They’ve been one of the mainstays of the Fringe for decades (especially one-woman shows) and are becoming a genre all of their own. The quality of such shows can be highly variable, but this one is the best I’ve seen this summer by a country mile.

Jess Carrivick is a self-confessed “almost” ex-child TV star nepo baby and in this show she tells the story of her life. In a whirlwind of character vignettes, multiple costume changes, bits, skits, and sketches, she whisks us on an absurdist journey which showreels her first ten years that peaked with BBC TV sitcom stardom in the noughties. Apart from one genuinely tearful episode this is a laugh-a-minute romp, see-sawing between hilarious observations on the mundanity of post-fame life and peeks behind the barbed wire curtain of celebrity telly.

As both performer and writer (2021 BAFTA Rockcliffe shortlist), Carrivick pulls off a tour de force in the small black-box Mint Studio, part of the Greenside @ George Street venue. An experienced improv and sketch comedienne, she’s one of those confident and engaging performers it’s impossible not to like. In several silent routines, she has the audience in stitches of laughter with her range of facial expressions and stares that speak a thousand words. A brilliant caricaturist, she evokes a number of showbiz and “civilian” stereotypes with mercilessly effective style and aplomb; regularly complemented by her own deprecating self-criticism. In some gently merciful and non-embarrassing audience participation, she effectively gives a little stage skill coaching to those punters keen to join in the fun. A skilled performer to her fingertips, Carrivick even manages to entertain whilst getting changed behind her costume rail.

At 45 minutes, this is an ideal piece of quickfire entertainment to squeeze in between other shows as you sample the delights of George Street. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves comedy; it would also serve as a masterclass for those who hope to bring a solo show to the Fringe.

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‘Spy Movie: The Play!’ (Venue 33, Aug 9-12, 14-19, 21-26)

Posted in 4*, Comedy, EdFestivals 2024, Pleasance, Pleasance, Potterrow & Teviot, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“The ensemble cast of four keep the laughs coming at a whirlwind pace. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

This hilarious spoof homage to the Bond movie franchise is a fast-paced satire which sends up pretty much every scene from Dr No to The Spy Who Loved Me. But you don’t need to be a fan of Ian Fleming’s 007 to appreciate the quickfire wordplay in this show, which bears the same relationship to the genre it parodies as Blazing Saddles does to westerns, or Police Squad does to 1970s TV cop shows. The premise of the show is that what you’re seeing on stage is a pitch to an audience of Hollywood movie producers to get the script turned into a film. The farcically disastrous goings-on are reminiscent of The Play That Goes Wrong; and two of the cast members you see were in that very show.

The protagonist of The Greatest Spy Movie (N)ever Made is Jane Blonde, who has 24 hours to save the world and likes her martinis “shaken, stirred, and jiggled”. Along the way, she must contend with the global criminal network EVIW, which stands for Every Villain In [the] World (just think about how a cockney would pronounce the word “evil”). From the first moments we are treated to merciless skits of scenes that are the hallmark of every classic Bond movie you’ll have seen: the opening credits sequence; the briefing from M; a chase down a ski slope; a trans-European rail journey; a car chase.

The ensemble cast of four keep the laughs coming at a whirlwind pace. Jo Hartland plays Jane Blonde with cool panache (though she refuses to dye her hair blonde), whilst the versatile Emily Waters tickles the funny bone playing character roles ranging from M (pronounced “mmm”) to super-villain Mr Lovely. James Watterson doubles as spy novelist Ian Flemish and American secret double agent Randy Lust. The irrepressible Matthew Howell plays just about everyone else and certainly gets to wear the greatest variety of hats as he darts seamlessly from role to role.

Using a minimal set consisting of a pair of curtains, the pseudo-cinematic action is irreverently created by some highly co-ordinated and inventive use of props, always with the tongue planted firmly in the cheek. The show’s publicity warns of loud sound effects, flashing lights and lasers, and smoke/haze, all used to create a lively sense of anarchic slapstick. This is also probably the only show in Edinburgh this season that makes use of an actual flying helicopter.

Staged in the Beneath auditorium at the Pleasance Courtyard, the show runs for nearly the whole of this month, excepting Tuesdays. Starting at midday, it’s an ideal laugh-a-minute show for all of the family. It’s already selling well, so Get Your Coats On and go buy your tickets!

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Beryl Cook: A Private View at Venue 33 until 25th AUG (not 12th or 19th)

Posted in 3*, Pleasance, Pleasance, Potterrow & Teviot, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Well written and immaculately performed and produced”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars (Nae Bad )

The name of the late Beryl Cook (1926-2008) will be familiar to many people of a certain age. Labelled as a “naive” artist by the British art establishment, she was very well known for her works depicting plump, extrovert ladies and gentlemen enjoying themselves in pubs, at picnics, or on hen nights and the like. Her instantly recognisable personal style was so popular that she made a fortune in reproduction rights from greetings cards. A shy and private woman who shunned publicity, Cook had no formal training in art and took up the brush in her thirties and was entirely self-taught.

Cook is played by the veteran TV, film, and theatre actress Kara Wilson, who also wrote the script. Wilson met members of Cook’s family whilst researching her subject to shed light on this intriguing and enigmatic figure. No mean artist herself, this is Wilson’s fifth “painter play” as a writer, and she skilfully portrays Cook creating one of her most famous works Ladies’ Night whilst siting at a table full of paint pots and brushes.

The show successfully previewed twice earlier this year at the King Alfred Phoenix Theatre in Hampstead. As Cook/Wilson paints, she regales us with amusing anecdotes arising from the artist’s personal world: for all her shyness, Cook enjoyed a drink or two in the pubs of Plymouth, amidst their often rowdy clientele of hen nights, male strippers, and the drunken, tattooed sailors of the Royal Navy. Such a play clearly appeals to a certain demographic and looking around me, I spotted a number of ladies and gents who might well have been escapees from one of Cook’s wryly observational works. Performed in the Attic auditorium at the Pleasance Courtyard added an air of authenticity to the show, creating as it did the ambience of an artist’s studio.

There is, perhaps, a PhD thesis waiting to be written by some postgraduate Theatre Studies student on the subject of One-hour One-woman Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe; nowadays surely a major genre all of its own in the Festival calendar? This show was a fine example: well-written and immaculately performed and produced. It differs from many in this category in that it features a painter, rather than the ever-popular 19th century lady novelist, or the contemporary angst-ridden sex confessional. However, it’s a rather sedentary production; albeit necessarily so, as its protagonist paints whilst we watch and listen to her talk. One hesitates to opt for some cheap shot about “watching paint dry”, but apart from the visual aspect of the developing canvas, there isn’t much to see here. Script-wise, it is more of a radio play than a theatrical drama.

That being said, its target audience lapped it up and shows such as this are an agreeable way to spend an hour on a weekday afternoon. The paintings created live by Wilson during each performance are all on sale, with contact details available upon leaving the auditorium at the end of the show.

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‘Mr Sleepybum’ (Venue 8, until AUG 27th)

Posted in *Ratings, 4*, Assembly Hall, Comedy, EdFestivals, EdFestivals 2023, Rated: Nae Bad by

“Just the sort of silly, puerile, crackers show that the Fringe needs for kids!”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

When you think about an act designed for children and their parents based around an adult who sleeps a lot is a truly brave move. People think the Fringe needs to be radical, brave, and boundary pushing. What could be braver than talking about sleep to a mother of a four-year-old? Parents know better than anyone why sleep deprivation was used at Guantanamo Bay.

I didn’t attend for the bravery. My girls picked. They are seasoned Fringe goers and they know there are three only three sure fire ways to pick a decent show: (a) by reading Get Your Coats On (b) by getting drunk in Abattoir and asking Clive Anderson (c) picking a show with a funny name.

Using the tried and tested (C) method we found ourselves queueing outside Assembly Box. To the surprise of no one I found they had also rechristened me as Mr Sleepybum.

And we were all glad we went along.

Assembly Box is one of the smaller venues in the area (it is a shipping container, after all) but we were all heartened to see a decent queue of kids and adults. Shows in wee venues really do need a crowd otherwise things can get awkward. This is doubly true if there is the possibility of audience participation. I still wake in cold sweats about last year’s three person audience where the act insisted on team-based audience participation.

Happily the Box was full.

We entered to see someone asleep under a duvet. Oddly none of the children poked at it. Or jumped on his head.

Over the course of the next 45 minutes (note to all every other performance aimed at 3-10 year olds: this is the perfect length of show. I think ten would be the upper limit) we were taken through a series of Mr Sleepybum’s dreams. Jody Kamali knows how to hold a crowd and knows how to make children and adults laugh. A rare skill and he mixed wit, physical comedy, wackiness and the odd adult allusion to great effect. It all came together rather nicely and my kids laughed throughout.  Sometimes little chuckles. Sometimes proper belly laughs.  My 6-year-old in particular loved it.

Each dream was unique, each funny in their own way, each with significant ad libbing and audience participation. The audience in the show I went to were marvellous and got into the manic, maniac bonkers nature of it. I suspect every show is different and depends on how wild the audience wishes to get.

There were bits I have no idea if they were scripted or not. Mr Sleepybum dressing up as a police inspector and putting his jacket on only one arm added to the relentless bonkersness of the show whilst the sound engineer seemingly getting the wrong song for the shark dream was either unintentional genius or astonishingly good acting. There was one moment that got every single child off their feet and rampaging round the stage was glorious… but I shan’t spoil the surprise. Admittedly, there were a couple of moments that didn’t quite land as well as others but overall this was a grand wee show that deserved the full house and deserved to be at a bigger audience. Just the sort of silly, puerile, crackers show that the Fringe needs for kids.

One thing I would say: it does get raucous (which my kids loved – they were shouting and running about etc) but some children particularly neurodivergent ones may get a fright with the noise or things being thrown to them.

Come for the rubber masks. Stay for the raucous interaction. Get your pyjamas on and join for a kip.

 

‘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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‘Kravitz, Cohen, Bernstein and Me’ (Venue 20, until AUG 27th)

Posted in 4*, Cabaret, Comedy, EdFestivals 2023 by

“Drawing heavily on her Jewish ancestry and culture, this is a witty, humour-laden cabaret that had an engaged audience singing along to Deb’s guitar and then cackling at her often highly risqué jokes. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

In this one-woman comic storytelling show, the multi award-winning Kiwi/Canadian/Jewish comedienne Deb Filler takes us on a musical journey through her eventful life. Using the three Leonards of the title as a theme, we follow her from her showbiz beginnings as a child prodigy in New Zealand through many a chance encounter with her eponymous heroes.

Drawing heavily on her Jewish ancestry and culture, this is a witty, humour-laden cabaret that had an engaged audience singing along to Deb’s guitar and then cackling at her often highly risqué jokes. Her often self-deprecating humour reveals a musical upbringing in the midst of a close immigrant family in Auckland, New Zealand. Very early success in talent contests set her on the pathway that has brought her to the fringe as a consummate and experienced entertainer. Filler throws her net wide in reminiscing about her musical influences: Judy Garland in the 1950s gives way to the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s – a highlight of which is the unforgettable experience of hearing her sing Hard Day’s Night and Satisfaction in Yiddish. Long before she met the three Lennies, her first musical celebrity encounter was with the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, who toured New Zealand in the early 60s. No spoilers here, but the tale of her experience of meeting them as a starry-eyed adolescent is a funny tale well told. We stay in the southern hemisphere for the remarkable story of a truly magical encounter with the legendary conductor, composer, and pianist, Leonard Bernstein. Later on in life, it is an adult Deb in America who meets Cohen and then Kravitz, both times with rather more chaotic results than happened with the debonair Mr Bernstein.

A skilled instrumentalist and singer, Filler plays the musical interludes on her guitar. From time to time throughout the show, her story is illustrated by screen projection: sometimes with colour photos of celebrities she has met; other, more poignant photos in grainy monochrome are family snaps from earlier times, including one of her grandmother, who got the family out of Germany in 1938 – the nick of time before the nazis slammed the door shut. For those who like a singalong, the lyrics to a well-known Cohen song were projected for the audience to join in as Deb Played it.
This 1hr 10min show gives you a little more for your money than the usual hour here at the Fringe and runs until 27th August. So, whether you like jokes or singing, get your coats on and go see it. Go to hear a fascinating life story set to music. Stay for Hard day’s Night sung in Yiddish. Leave with the thought that life can be full of strange and coincidental encounters.

 

‘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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