Tag Archives: #EdFringe2025

‘Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act’ (Assembly Rooms: Drawing Room, until AUG 24 – not AUG 13 or 20)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, 4*, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Miles-Thomas gives a performance that is something of a tour de force as he re-enacts a selection of the most famous of Conan Doyle’s tales”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Outstanding)

There’s a handful of Holmes-themed shows at the Fringe this year, ranging in style from Australian improv, to an audience participation murder mystery, to an all-woman show from which the great detective is entirely absent. But for a more traditional take on Conan Doyle’s immortal creation, head to the Assembly Rooms (Drawing Room) on George Street for this gripping one-man show.

This production’s impressive credentials suggest a show with much potential. The script was written by the late David Stuart Davies: a renowned Sherlockian scholar who was editor of Red Herring, the monthly in-house magazine of the Crime Writers Association, and wrote extensively about Holmes in both fictional and non-fictional works. The director is Gareth Davies, an RSC and West End theatre veteran, whose TV acting career boasts credits in everything from Z Cars to Blake’s 7. The solo performer is another stage and TV stalwart, Nigel Miles-Thomas (Minder, The Professionals) who will probably be best remembered by people of a certain age as Mr Davies the PE teacher in Grange Hill.

Set in 1916, the show presents an ageing Holmes as he returns to Baker Street from his retirement in Sussex to attend the funeral of his old friend and sidekick, Dr Watson. With his epic career behind him, Holmes reminisces about his adventures as the world’s first and only consulting detective. Miles-Thomas gives a performance that is something of a tour de force as he re-enacts a selection of the most famous of Conan Doyle’s tales; playing all of the characters from Holmes himself to his brother Mycroft, Dr Watson, and a selection of victims and villains from their adventures.

With a simple set and minimal use of props or costume, a highly atmospheric ambience is nonetheless created – almost gothic at times – by skilful use of light and sound. Miles-Thomas’s highly expressive and mobile face effectively creates striking transformations of character. In a sometimes uncanny exhibition of shape-shifting, he moves at various points from the cadaverous and urbane Holmes, to the hawk-nosed, vampirical arch-villain Professor Moriarty; thence to the lantern-jawed Sir Grimesby Roylott of The Adventure of the Speckled Band.

The medium-sized Drawing Room auditorium was pretty much a full house, standing testament to the enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes – but I couldn’t help but notice that the demographic was very middle-aged. I’ve written elsewhere that increasingly younger audiences at the Fringe expect a little more in the way of bells and whistles in theatre shows – hence the other Holmes productions I mention above. The TV reboot of Sherlock exemplifies a shift in tastes away from the classical vibe of the original stories and I fear that Fringe theatre productions of this type will soon look more and more like period pieces. (Do they perhaps belong in the Spoken Word/Storytelling genre?)

Nonetheless, I suspect that there’s an audience for this show for the rest of its run throughout most of August and I’m sure that the great detective will continue to please and to pack them in.

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‘Mrs Roosevelt Flies To London’ (Assembly Rooms: Drawing Room, until AUG 24 – not AUG11 or 18)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, 4*, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Eleanor Roosevelt certainly makes an admirable subject for a dramatized life story. “

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Written and performed by Alison Skillbeck, this one-woman show is based on her exclusive access to the diaries of the woman who, as the spouse of FDR, became known as “the First Lady of the World”. Set in October 1942, the story focuses on her visit to wartime Britain, but there are flashbacks (and forwards) to provide glimpses of her life as a whole.

The show is very much in the traditional mould of worthy single-handed biographical shows about great women of history, which have been a prominent feature of Fringe drama for many years. These days, such productions largely appeal to a Boomer demographic, which was reflected in the nearly full house of which I was part in the Drawing Room: a medium-sized auditorium at the Assembly Rooms on George Street.

Skillbeck is a seasoned theatre performer who also has an impressive back catalogue of TV work, including many well-known shows ranging from Doctor Who to The Crown. On radio, she was even in The Archers for a while. As one might thus expect, her performance was engaging, thoroughly professional, and (becoming increasingly rare at the Fringe) audible.

Eleanor Roosevelt certainly makes an admirable subject for a dramatized life story. She was an extraordinarily energetic campaigner for a variety of causes, ranging from civil rights to child poverty and international diplomacy. Credited with defining the role of the First Lady in US politics, she nonetheless had more than her fair share of personal problems as FDR’s wife. Heartbroken by her philandering husband’s affair with her own social secretary, she soldiered on to support his political career, and helped to conceal the polio that crippled him physically and which could have rendered him unelectable in the eyes of the American public of the 1930s.

This, though, creates something of a problem. So eventful was Roosevelt’s life at the epicentre of world affairs, that her story – told in dramatic monologue – can too easily become a festival of name-dropping along with much box-ticking documentary of historical events. Whilst some of these drew murmurs of recognition from some members of the audience, it doesn’t create much in the way of visual theatre. Mobile as Skillbeck’s performance was, the ambience was very much that of a radio play.

Winning various awards in the past, this play is now on its third visit to the Fringe at Assembly. I’m sure there will continue to be an audience for shows of this type for some years to come, but is this style of leisurely-paced, low-tech production perhaps just beginning to feel a little dated? In her publicity, Skillbeck seeks an edge of contemporaneity by noting that the values Roosevelt upheld during her lifetime are under attack in our dangerous present-day world. That may be true, but I fear that this play’s undertone of rose-tinted nostalgic reminiscence offers little in response to such concerns.

Nonetheless, for those who like their drama cosy and informative, this is an agreeable enough way to spend an hour and fifteen minutes (a little longer than the typical Fringe show) on an Edinburgh morning. I dare say it will continue to draw good houses for the rest of its run throughout most of August.

 

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‘Lydia Bennett Works In Finance’ (Ivy Studio in Greenside @ George Street, until AUG 23 – not AUG 10 or 17)

Posted in 5*, Greenside, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Laugh-out-loud lines such as ‘He couldn’t find my clit if he used a flashlight and a bloodhound!’ are an indicator that this play is not suitable for GCSE revision. “

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Fans of classic fiction will recognise the name of the eponymous heroine of this acerbically funny comedy as the youngest of the five sisters in Jane Austen’s masterpiece Pride and Prejudice. In this sassily updated reinvention, writer and performer Trelawny Kean presents us with a feisty present-day version of Lydia as a high-maintenance drama queen who finds herself homeless and unemployed after walking out on George Wickham.

In the source novel, Lydia is described as “silly, vain, and absolutely uncontrolled” as well as “wild, noisy and fearless”. The modern Lydia presented by Kean is very much in this mould, but don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the book. The pacy style of the show could be described as something along the lines of Jane Austen meets Bridget Jones and is very enjoyable on its own terms as a comic account of the life of a modern girl who always seems to be a footnote in someone else’s love story.

The second half of the show’s title helps to emphasise the production’s contemporary vibe by echoing the song (I’m Looking For A) Man In Finance by Girl On A Couch (Megan Boni) which was a viral TikTok hit in summer 2024. An engaging juxtaposition of past and present is loudly evoked as Lydia in 2024 plays the song on her phone and Kean energetically gyrates to the amplified beat; the modern lyrics reflecting Austen’s 200 year-old concerns about single women who complain about their relationship status whilst having unrealistic expectations of men.

Performed single-handedly with two giant suitcases and their contents as set, props, and costume, Kean makes ideal casting for a one-woman show in the intimate black-box Ivy Studio in Greenside @ George Street. Seen at close quarters, her comically mobile face vividly conveys expressions ranging from manic frustration to Machiavellian cunning as the needy Lydia attempts to manipulate family and friends via her ever-present mobile phone.

There are laughs a-plenty in the dialogue, though it’s worth noting that the age guideline is 16+. Laugh-out-loud lines such as “He couldn’t find my clit if he used a flashlight and a bloodhound!” are an indicator that this play is not suitable for GCSE revision.

This is an absolute gem of a show that will be running for most of this month, but seating in this small studio venue is limited, so book early.

 

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‘Fly, You Fools!’ (Beyond @ Pleasance Courtyard, until AUG 25 – not AUG 7 or 18)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, 5*, Pleasance, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“As an obvious spoof (of Lord of the Rings), the melodramatic action and pastiche dialogue presented by the cast draw gales of laughter from the audience.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Hot on the heels of Hold On To Your Butts at the same venue (see my earlier review) the New York-based theatre company Recent Cutbacks have another hit on their hands with a matching piece of comic theatrical spoofery of a relatively recent movie classic, Lord of the Rings.

Once again, the company presents a fast-paced “lo-fi” scene-for-scene parody, this time of Peter Jackson’s blockbuster, performed by a small troupe of three actors making frantic use of DIY props, back projection, shadow puppetry, mime, and knockabout physical theatre to create a hilarious take on the epic fantasy adventure. The comic mayhem is enhanced by an on-stage Foley Artist (that’s a Hollywood term for a sound-effects creator) who sits at a desk stage right with a laptop, a microphone, and a huge selection of musical instruments, sandboxes, crinkly paper, a cutlery drawer, and other assorted noise-making thingumajigs with which to enhance the tomfoolery.

The company create a vivid sense of the gothic sword-and-sorcery ambience of the movie as a backdrop to their merciless satire of the Tokien universe. The opportunities for parody are particularly good verbally as well as visually in this show, with much tongue-in-cheek pastiche of the portentous tone of Tolkien’s language and the apocalyptic register in which his lines are delivered by some of the grandiose actors who play his characters: yes, I mean you, Sir Ian McKellen (think: “Morrr-dorrr!”). Fans of the film will revel in recognising the parodic spoofs of key scenes, whist those unfamiliar with the source work and even young children (Over 8s) will enjoy the knockabout action and silly posturing of actors doing comic impressions of orcs, elves, dwarves, and wizards.
As an obvious spoof, the melodramatic action and pastiche dialogue presented by the cast draw gales of laughter from the audience. But it occurred to me whilst watching the show, that the sheer inventiveness of the physical theatre and the imaginative use of mime and suggestion by the cast – even if done straight-faced – could well have brought a theatrical adaptation of the book to the stage 40 years ago, when such a thing was thought impossible. However, there is nothing straight-faced about this laugh-out-loud romp through Middle Earth – I’ll never be able to read the novel again without giggling.

Like its co-production Hold On To Your Butts, this show runs at the Pleasance Courtyard (though in the Pleasance Beyond auditorium) until 25th August (not 7th or 18th), so book early as I suspect it will be yet another of the hottest tickets in town.

 

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