Tag Archives: EdFestivals

All our coverage, from all Edinburgh’s festivals, past and present.

+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)

ALL our +3 (festivals) coverage? Click here!

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

+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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+3 Interview: Langston Kerman: The Loose Cannon

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

“I’ve performed it quite a bit in the states over the past few months and mostly audiences have booed me and called me a whore. That has nothing to do with the material though, they just don’t care for me as a person.”

WHO: Langston Kerman, Performer

WHAT: “Langston Kerman discusses the unexpected revelations coming from living with a convicted sex offender, questioning how these discoveries might prepare him to be a better man in the world, a better lover in the vagina and a better husband in his pending marriage. Best known as Jared from HBO’s Insecure, Langston has also starred in High Maintenance, Seth Rogan’s Singularity and Adam Devine’s House Party, and has written for the Oscars. His show Lightskinned Feelings was one of Vulture’s Top 10 Comedy Albums 2018. ‘You’ll want to hear what the man has to say’ (Paste).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Jersey (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 19:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes, this is my first time in Edinburgh. And over the past three months, I’ve been hit with an unending wave of terror struck warnings as people prepare for the hardships I’m about to face. Half-empty rooms, unflinching reviewers, discarded flyers exploded across the ground like the corpses of Mel Gibson’s painted friends in Braveheart. Mostly, I’m just excited to tell jokes, listen to some shit I’ve never heard, and maybe find a black barbershop. I really believe in my hour, and hopefully, a chance to run it every day for a month is going to make it so that other people really believe in it too.

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

I got engaged almost a year ago to this day, which is probably the biggest thing to ever happen to me, and may explain why my writing has mostly been about that. I’ve to get these jokes out now before our bank accounts are fully joined and she finds out that personal debt isn’t just a silly “bit”.

This will also be my third international comedy festival in the past year. I’ve gotten to drink Guinness in Dublin and pet koalas in Melbourne and now I get to stare at old castles in Edinburgh and whisper Harry Potter spells under my breath.

Oh, also this year I found out that prunes are just dried out plums. That honestly was a huge game-changer for me.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called The Loose Cannon. It’s at the Underbelly every night at 7:45pm. I wrote the whole thing by myself, which is why so many of the words are misspelt. It’s about falling in love and sex offenders and somehow trying to find the happy medium in-between those two things. I’ve performed it quite a bit in the states over the past few months and mostly audiences have booed me and called me a whore. That has nothing to do with the material though, they just don’t care for me as a person. In all seriousness though, I’m really excited to follow this Edinburgh run with a run of as many clubs and rooms back home. This feels like a perfect way to sharpen what has already turned into a pretty cool sword.

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

I’m excited to check out so many awesome comics while I’m there: Liza Treyger, Dan Soder, Catherine Bohart, Emmy Blotnick, Sarah Keyworth, Sean Patton, Dr. Phil, Mr. Clean, The Muppets if they’re performing. I don’t know, there are a shit ton of shows and I just want to get high after my sets and watch them all.

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“Ogg ‘n’ Ugg ‘n’ Dogg” (Gilded Balloon Teviot – Dining Room 12:30, AUG 13, 15-20, 22-26 : 12:30 : 60mins)

Posted in EdFestivals 2019, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews by

“Tooth and Claw are (almost) as real and as cute as the terrier asleep on the hearthrug. Their puppies would melt the heart of an ice giant on top of a glacier, in deepest Narnia in the coldest days of the late, unlamented Queen Jadis.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Outstanding

If I could meet anyone from history, absolutely anyone, I should like to encounter with the individual who invented the shelf. Two brackets, one surface. Someone had to come up with that. Who were they? Where did they live? What did they plan to put on their novelty? Family Fringe favourites, Fideri Fidera, have a better answer. If they could meet anyone in history it would be the people who invented the dog. Those crafty hunter gatherers who, back in the day, when all the world was a garden, turned the ferocious wolf from a predator into a companion.

Ogg ‘n’ Ugg are out and about doing what they do best, getting tea ready. Watching the two legs are Tooth and Nail, two wolves wondering why omnivorous humans have to also eat meat which is the carnivorous wolfies’ only source of food. At the campfire that night the two sides of the equation begin to figure out a solution to the puzzle.

Fideri Fidera are not Fringe favourites for nothing. Every aspect of the production is marvellous. From the acting, which is pitched perfectly to the wide-eyed wee ones; to the puppets and puppetry, which are in turn beautifully constructed and wondrously brought to life; via the story itself which is full of heart and smiles.

The set is complicatedly simple. Two moveable and reversible panels dressed with leaves and undergrowth, vines and creepers. The lighting is liquid, washing all with a richness that transports us from the nondescript setting of the Teviot Dining Room in Fringe time.* But it’s the puppets that steal the show. Tooth and Claw are (almost) as real and as cute as the terrier asleep on the hearthrug. Their puppies would melt the heart of an ice giant on top of a glacier, in deepest Narnia in the coldest days of the late, unlamented Queen Jadis.

*49 weeks of the year the modestly grand dining room is considerably more interesting than the SRC meetings I used to attend in it.

Daughter 1.0’s first ever theatre production was Fideri Fidera’s Oskar’s Amazing Adventure. Now aged 4 Oskar continues to loom large in her imagination. It’s not yet clear whether the slightly fuzzier, more meandering, narrative at the heart of Ogg ‘n’ Ugg ‘n’ Dogg will stick as well. There is no doubting however that the show captured her in the moment. As the first crucial steps are taken on her (hopefully) lifelong journey through the arts I can think of no one I trust more than Fideri Fidera to keep her engaged, entertained, and excited.

outstanding

StarStarStarStarStar

—

Reviewer: Dan Lentell (Seen 12 August)

ALL our +3 (festivals) coverage? Click here!

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

“The Bubble Show” (Assembly George Square Gardens 10:40, AUG 15-26 : 10:40 : 60mins)

Posted in EdFestivals 2019, EdFestivals 2019 – Reviews, Theatre by

“Bubbleland is a real place, according to Mr Bubbles, a real place peopled by bubbles.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

There are two certain ways to get kids to disengage from whatever they are doing and excitedly focus on the novelty. The first is to enter the room and announce in a loud, clear voice, “Go Jetters to your stations.” Alternatively, one can enter singing “Go! Go! Go! Octonauts!” The outrage is real. The conclusion that you are the kind of halfwit who can’t even be trusted not to mix up the words to songs, is immediately, irreversibly drawn. The second method to get kids to stop whatever they are doing is more universal and has been since Cain, Abel and Seth were in pull-ups: bubbles.

Dr Johnson famously remarked that “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” Less well known are the words that followed, “and if he be tired of bubbles why is a coxcomb knave whose very soul is decayed, possibly beyond remedy save only by the immediate and direct intercession of his personal redeemer.” Bubbles, in short, are brill.

Mr Bubbles enters to a crowd of all ages. Daughter 1.0, aged 4, is somewhere in the upper, lower middle of the range. The staging is simple. Only the set necessary to facilitate the magic that is to come. Mr Bubbles tells his life story. Born. falls in love with bubbles. Made to join the army. Gets out of army. Back to bubbles.

And what bubbles they are. BIG bubbles. Small bubbles. Fire bubbles (really). Helium bubbles. Steam-powered bubbles. Frothy bubbles. Smokey bubbles. Bubbles inside other bubbles. Treasures and artefacts brought (Parthenon Marbles style) back by Mr Bubbles from his journey to Bubbleland. Bubbleland is a real place, according to Mr Bubbles, a real place peopled by bubbles.

Mr Bubbles, is of a similar size and build to Justin Fletcher – although his army days have kept him somewhat trimmer, as Granny is quick to point out. He is young and his show feels like it will ripen with age. The truly high notes are yet to come. But the globetrotting graft that has gone in, makes for a flawless performance. He is not one of those hyperactive performers who think it their business to rile the kiddies up into a state of frenzy. His connection is personal and personable. The kids who join him on stage are confident and happy (although he could make more effort to select kids from further back).

The show is in two distinct halves. There’s the lively, jolly, a bit sciencey first half. Then there’s the sensory light and sound second half. The latter is when the very young ones fully engage. The whisps of squally discontentment lift life a helium bubble on its way to meet the houselights. Daughter 2.0 (19 months) would have loved the second half, although I think I would have had a job to keep her settled through the first. 

This is not a show that will blow your mind, but it’s gentle humour and obvious passion will lift your spirits. Daughter 1.0 leaves with a spring in her step and her face. Mr Bubbles (B.Ed.) has entrusted her and all the rest with the secret knowledge that life is better with bubbles. That was good sharing Mr Bubbles. Good sharing.

nae bad_blue

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

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Reviewer: Dan Lentell (Seen 12 August)

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+3 Interview: Endless Second

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

“I’ve pretty much grown up on fringe theatre.”

WHO: Madelaine Gray

WHAT: “A new play about consent within a relationship. A young couple at university have fallen in love. They listen to each other. They respect each other. But everything changes after a drunken evening with their friends. On this night, when he takes off her underwear and his boxers, she says, ‘No’. But he doesn’t stop. She struggles to assimilate the rape for what it was, because how could it be rape? He loves her. He couldn’t have done that. Endless Second explores how two people deal with a trauma that fundamentally alters the nature of their relationship.”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Below (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 15:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I have family in Edinburgh so I’ve pretty much grown up on fringe theatre. Endless Second will be show eight for me, so by now I really should know my way around! I’m looking forward to long hours in dark, damp rooms with lukewarm pints and I’m ready to be rejected on the mile many, many times.

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

Biggest thing? Well, I’m quite an excitable person so even finding reduced red pepper hummus in my local corner shop was a massive deal for me. Oh, and I graduated from my MA and got to shake Grayson Perry’s hand.

Tell us about your show.

Endless Second is a two-hander about consent within a relationship, written by Theo Toksvig-Stewart and produced by Cut the Cord Theatre which is run by Camilla Gurtler. We premiered at Theatre503 back in January which gave us time to work on the text and bring it back tighter and better to 503 for our Edinburgh previews. The future? Who knows… We plan to take the play to schools and universities alongside our consent workshops for young people. We’d love for this show to have a long life either in London or around the country as we feel the theme and messages are relevant and timely to so many people.

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

You should definitely check out our sister show I Run, at Pleasance Below (13:55). It’s on directly before us… intense theatrical double bill anyone?

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