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Ilana Halperin: the Library
3 Jun 2013
Geologically-themed show repurposing museum exhibits as art
Location is everything for this new exhibition by Glasgow-based, New York-raised artist Ilana Halperin, the first recipient of an artist's fellowship at National Museums Scotland. Flying in the face of even the richest modern art's essential…
Expanding Horizons: Giovanni Battista Lusieri and the Panoramic Landscape
7 Sep 2012
Watercolour landscapes with photorealist sensibilities
Most remembered as the man who arranged the shipping of the Elgin Marbles in his position as artistic retainer to Thomas Bruce, Lord Elgin, this retrospective of Giovanni Battista Lusieri’s relatively little-remembered 18th and 19th century landscape…
Batsheva Dance Company - Hora
3 Sep 2012
Gaga dancers showcase their inventive style
For many years Israeli-born choreographer Ohad Naharin has been developing his own language of abstract dance with the suitably eccentric name 'Gaga'. In Hora a grass green box provides the backdrop for his cast of 11 to exercise their Gaga flexibility…
Cinderella
3 Sep 2012
Cartoonish vibes in choreographer Alexei Ratmansky's ultimately glorious Perrault adaptation
As with contemporary productions of Shakespeare, the measure of a fairytale ballet isn't so much the story but what you do with it. Here choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who created the piece for the Mariinksy in 2002, has chosen to bring a cartoonish…
Craig Coulthard - Forest Pitch
3 Sep 2012
Artist Coulthard creates a full-size football pitch in the Borders as part of the Cultural Olympiad
Craig Coulthard has certainly put the ‘beautiful’ in the beautiful game with Forest Pitch; a full-size football pitch created in the middle of a forest in the Scottish Borders. At the end of August two football matches were played on the pitch, the…
Eleanor Conway's Midnight Rumble
3 Sep 2012
Conway turns fatigue into an art form in hilarious midnight show
Moving up in the world of Fringe, Conway returns to form with a new format, a new venue and a host of guests hot off the press including wrestling legend Mick Foley, hilarious newcomer Dana Alexander and the pick of the best of rest – from hidden stars…
Soviet Grand Designs
30 Aug 2012
Surprising exhibition of art created under suppression
John Barkes, an art dealer and collector based in London, has been buying works by Soviet artists since his 1992 visit to St Petersburg. He has since met more than 400 contemporary artists in the interest of buying their paintings and has assembled…
Ilana Halperin: We Form Geology
30 Aug 2012
Travelling Gallery, various locations around Scotland, Aug-Dec 2012
New York born artist Ilana Halperin collaborates with National Museums Scotland for this travelling show which kicked off on Fri 24 Aug for a three-hour run outside the City Art Centre in Edinurgh, and continues across Scotland throughout the rest of…
Shane Koyczan: Talk-Rocker
30 Aug 2012
Canadian spoken word poet conjures tears as well as belly ache laughs
Canadian spoken-word poet Shane Koyczan combines poetry with anecdotes to create an hour of word-wending magic that conjures tears as well as belly-ache laughs. Evocatively he recalls the loneliness of growing up, the bedroom monsters of his childhood…
Well, It's Woody
30 Aug 2012
Seamless cabaret night with a programme to savour
Edinburgh legend BBC Pink Tent guest while singing aficionado Woodstock Taylor lures you into a packed piano bar to enjoy an eclectic mix of song, instrumental music, spoken word and comedy. This rather enigmatic lady arrives in dark glasses and hat…
Wonderland
30 Aug 2012
Vanishing Point investigation into dark erotic fantasies and internet porn is a huge disappointment
Vanishing Point's latest production finds the Glasgow-based theatre company in combative form, delving into internet pornography's seedy demi-monde and confronting audiences with their own desire for erotic titillation. Despite some stylish moments…
Hey, Piano Bar Lady!
29 Aug 2012
Musical comedy taking it back to 80s New York via New Zealand
New Zealand singer Linn Lorkin is perched at her keyboard, tousled red hair, whimsical expression and billowing patchwork dress suggesting she’s quite the eccentric dame. Now in its second year at the Fringe, her one-woman biographical show is a…
Juilliard Dance
28 Aug 2012
Triple bill from the 'holy grail of dance schools'
Although student showcases abound on the Fringe, not many make it to the International Festival. But then this is Juilliard, one of the world's most highly regarded dance schools. The expectations for this triple bill are therefore justifiably high, and…
The Les Cloechards – Dirty But Nice
28 Aug 2012
Part-time hobos rock the stage with bizarre but brilliant takes on old classics
These jokers, who seem French but are actually German, apparently – (their name is an amalgamation of three languages, but essentially means ‘The Tramps’) - have got their show’s subtitle just about right: They are very dirty, and they’re also quite…
Cambridge Impronauts present 2012: An Improv Oddessy
28 Aug 2012
Enthusiastic but rehearsed improv
Of the glut of improv the 2012 Fringe has brought in, the Cambridge Impronauts’ bright blue boiler suits promised a well-organised stint of audience participation and laughs. The Oxbridge colleges (and Edinburgh’s own university) appear to revel in the…
The Idiot at the Wall
28 Aug 2012
Promising debut from English/Gaelic company
Elspeth Turner’s play was inspired by Gaelic folktales and songs and there’s certainly something comfortingly old-fashioned and fable-like about the storytelling here. The familiar enough premise – the culture clash between metropolitan sophistication…
Unmythable
28 Aug 2012
Infectiously energetic trio enthralls kids and adults alike in hour-long sprint through classical my
The action opens on the Argot where an overly zealous Jason, and his less competent shipmates, is on his way to fight the man-eating dragon that never sleeps and claim the golden fleece in order to prove himself to be a hero. Along the way, the…
David et Jonathas, Festival Theatre, Mon 20 Aug
28 Aug 2012
Psychological complexities of OT story brought to the fore in Andreas Homoki's musical feast of a pr
Musically, Les Arts Florissants’ David et Jonathas is a feast. French Baroque opera at its finest, Charpentier’s moving retelling of the biblical tragedy about two men who love each other - however that might be interpreted – is rooted in the most…
Asher Treleaven: Troubadour
28 Aug 2012
The Aussie comedian amiably breaks his life down into six parts
It’s a question you wish more stand ups would ask before embarking on a 30 date Festival run: ‘is my life actually interesting enough to talk about for a whole hour?’. Of course by posing this query at the start of his show Asher Treleaven sets himself…
The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
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28 Aug 2012
Powerful but rather static monologue
There’s no denying the power of American monologuist Mike Daisey’s one-man show. A one-time worshipper at the altar of Apple, the writer’s desire to learn more about the human beings assembling his favourite gizmos inspired a trip to the Chinese…
DeAnne Smith: Livin’ The Sweet Life
28 Aug 2012
Routinely adorable, impish comedy
It’s taken Montréaler DeAnne Smith only a few years to achieve what many circuit veterans never come close to. With her trusty ukulele and sweetened yet ribald observations on sex and life, she struck gold at the Sydney Comedy Festival, prompting…
The Boy With Tape On His Face - More Tape
28 Aug 2012
Comedy that sticks: an equally formidable collection of games, gags and gambits
Have you been following @tapefaceboy over the last couple of years? If not, you’re probably one of the few who hasn’t. TV appearances, newspaper interviews and comedy awards have saturated the blogosphere with duct tape-based hashtags and propelled Sam…
Jonny & The Baptists
28 Aug 2012
Enthusiastic comedy blues, whole-heartedly committed to political satire
Ex-Roaring Boys frontman Jonny Donahoe has enjoyed well-heeled success at previous festivals, and landed at the Fringe 2010 with the kind of dynamism required to prosper in a double act. He transfers the same wild, raw energy to his new trio…
Tom Stade Totally Rocks!
28 Aug 2012
Lavishly furnished routine from master of hardcore comedy
It’s certainly worth doing your research before travelling to a Tom Stade show, as he won’t be for everyone. Comedy audiences may well have seen watered down versions of the Canadian’s stand-up on TV, when censors request that he keep the hardcore sex…
Seeing Double: Figures
24 Aug 2012
High concept two-pronged show is the perfect slice of Fringe fun
Seeing Double: Figures and Vision are a pair of thoroughly modern farces playing out different sides of the same story. While the Pleasance Hut and Baby Grand are rather small venues for the large audiences the shows have been drawing, their proximity…
