Tag Archives: #Venue236

‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (Lime Studio, Greenside @ George Street, until AUG 29 – not 16 or 23)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 5*, Dance, Greenside, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“A balletic psychodrama, energetically blurring the boundary between Jane’s life of confinement and the spectral surreality of her imagination.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

This is a vividly dramatic version of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1892 short story, adapted for the stage as lively piece of dance theatre by sisters Caitlin and Megan Ort: with Caitlin the director and choreographer, whilst Megan doubles as associate director/choreographer and performs the central role of protagonist Jane.

The original story, often anthologised in collections of classic horror stories, is also a milestone in feminist literature due to its portrayal of patriarchal attitudes towards the physical and mental health of women in the late nineteenth century. Gilman’s story focuses on Jane, the wife of John, a doctor who has brought her to a rented country house for a “rest cure” – the standard treatment of isolation and inactivity of the era, prescribed for postpartum depression and what was then called “female hysteria”. Via John and Jane’s relationship, this adaptation highlights themes such as the medical profession’s attempts to silence and subdue women via enforced domestication. The wallpaper of the title symbolises Jane’s descent into madness as she imagines figures behind the peeling wallcovering in her bedroom.

Megan Ort is a highly expressive actor, whose first-person narration as Jane directly engages the audience, with her emotional state enhanced by bursts of vivid movement and dance. Morgan Blanchard portrays her doctor husband John as a loving spouse with sinister undertones as he administers the drugs to subjugate his wife; in this he is assisted by his sister Jennie, portrayed as a darkly smouldering femme fatale by Paloma D’Auria.

The choreographic element of this production does much to bring the supernatural and psychological aspects of the story to life; what would otherwise be mere narration is transformed into a balletic psychodrama, energetically blurring the boundary between Jane’s life of confinement and the spectral surreality of her imagination. The ghostly figures behind the wallpaper and the pent-up emotions in the room are physically brought to life by a trio of dancers: Maya Musial, Annie Sherman, and Claire van Bever. Their viscerally expressive movement is hypnotic as, by turns, they claustrophobically surround and haunt Jane, then express her frustration with wide-eyed writhing and terpsichorean leaps.

This is a feminist horror story like you’ve never seen before. This American troupe brought the audience to their feet for a standing ovation at the end of an action-packed hour in the Lime Studio, Greenside @ George Street. The show runs for the whole of the Fringe, but this medium-sized auditorium has a limited number of seats, so secure your tickets soon.

 

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

‘Crooked Shadows’ (Greenside @ George Street: Jade Studio, until AUG 29)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 3*, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“A GRANDMOTHER’S BRAVE SPIRIT; A GRANDDAUGHTER’S BOLD VOICE”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars (Nae Bad)

This one-woman show, written and performed by New Jersey-based Shawneen Rowe, first saw the light of day three years ago in New York. Using a poignant mixture of live action, video imagery, and projected family photos, Rowe tells the often heartbreaking story of an Italian-American upbringing focused around her Grandma Rosa: one of those great matriarchal figures who battle to hold homes and families together with graceful and righteous strength, whatever life throws at them.

Via the bold voice of her granddaughter, the tale of her grandmother’s relentlessly brave spirit is told in a series of vignettes recalling the tears and the laughter of life in a lively Italian household. In piecing together the life of a woman who survived abuse and the sudden disappearance of her father, we are drawn in to relish in the triumph of Rosa’s spirit as she passes her story down to her granddaughter.

Despite the perhaps sinister-sounding title, this is ultimately an uplifting story: the telling and re-telling of sometimes dark family secrets can drag them into the light to illuminate our histories and unite generations by confronting the mysterious past. The struggles of our ancestors can give shape and bring deeper understanding to our own lives.

Rowe is a seasoned actress and theatre-maker who looks the audience squarely in the eye and tells her story simply, with a single suitcase of props and costume to enable shifts between the roles of narrator, grandmother and daughter, as well as a houseful of male and female Italian relatives.

The only downside of the performance I saw was a ridiculously loud fan in the black box auditorium of the Jade Studio. The recent heatwaves have necessitated air conditioning of some sort in theatres, but this racket made some of the quieter moments in Rowe’s monologue inaudible. This show is well worth seeing, but keep your fingers crossed for cooler evenings, a little more projection from Ms Rowe, or a drop of oil for that fan.

 

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

‘Lear’s Fool’ (Greenside @ George Street, Lime Studio, until AUG 22)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 4*, EdFestivals, Greenside, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“An engaging tragicomedy in the Stoppardesque spin-off manner, offering stark juxtapositions of comedy and terror, despair and song, political polemic and renaissance stand-up comedy, in a lively romp of a show.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

Way back in 1966, the Edinburgh Fringe saw the premiere of Tom Stoppard’s tragicomedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which famously highlights and follows the two eponymous minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, once they disappear from the main action of the play.

Here, in Lear’s Fool, we see similar treatment of the Fool, the court jester from King Lear, who exits and disappears about halfway through Shakespeare’s other great tragedy. This new production of David Henry Wilson’s play is directed by Liz Carruthers. It is an engaging tragicomedy in the Stoppardesque spin-off manner, offering stark juxtapositions of comedy and terror, despair and song, political polemic and renaissance stand-up comedy in a lively romp of a show.

Even if you don’t know Shakespeare’s original work, this production offers an entertaining and often heart-breaking show which can be enjoyed on its own terms. Set in a prison cell near Dover, the Fool’s treatment and interrogation by a jailer and his captain reflect the hierarchical values of a bygone age whilst also offering contemporary takes on the futility of war, the self-interest and corruption of politics, and the stranglehold of the social class system that will ring true to modern ears.

Wilson’s writing reworks well-known Shakespearian quotes from the original play to give fresh and often ironic meaning within the play’s postmodern context. The eponymous Fool, played with aplomb by Jill Riddford (a two-time Scottish Theatre Critics Award nominee), is still the mischievous joker from the parent play, but her excruciating puns mask a soul that is devastated by continuing news of her old master’s madness and downfall as the action of the source drama unfolds offstage.

Shakespearean humour is notoriously dated and hasn’t aged at all well, but Riddiford’s occasional delivery of some lines stand-up style direct to the audience, rather than other characters, made them laugh out loud.

King Lear and Lear’s Fool overlap with each other at the end when Lear (Finlay McLean) and his faithful daughter Cordelia (Kirsty McDuff) make a striking Shakespearian intervention into the postmodern world of the play. Sam Stopford (another Scottish Critics Award nominee) is an engagingly cynical and mercenary jailer, whilst John Kay Steel’s sinister portrayal of the ruthless Captain surely puts him in the running for casting as a Bond villain once they’ve got a new 007.

Whilst not actual Shakespeare, this show makes a welcome addition to the small body of the Bard’s works featuring in this year’s Fringe, so it’s well worth a look.

 

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

‘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.

 

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!