Reviews & features: Theatre
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Poet/playwright Darian Dauchan discusses Death Boogie
28 Jul 2012
The show merges poetry, hip hop, satire, music and comic book visuals
At the beginning of last year, Darian Dauchan and his old college friend Jen Dempsey sat down to work on the script of Death Boogie. He has since come to think of it as a ‘hip hop Braveheart’, but that was before there was any thought of bringing it to…
Comedians Mark Thomas and Ross Sutherland debuting theatre shows at Fringe 2012
28 Jul 2012
Mark Thomas' Edinburgh show based on his father's degenerative illness
We know Mark Thomas. The radical, left-wing comedian and activist famously drove a tank disguised as an ice cream van up Whitehall in a televised attempt to have it exported to Iraq. More recently, he has been doing stage shows recounting his…
One Rogue Reporter among the shows exploring journalistic ethics at Fringe 2012
28 Jul 2012
Ex-Daily Star hack Richard Peppiatt lifts the lid on journalism
It’s not at all surprising that this year’s Fringe programme should feature a cluster of shows about the purveyors of low-quality ‘reportage’ commonly and derogatively referred to as ‘hacks’. The high-profile and ongoing Leveson Inquiry into the…
Stellar Quines' The List, starring Maureen Beattie, examines the female condition
28 Jul 2012
Fringe show charts story of bereaved woman struggling to come to terms with rural living
Actress Maureen Beattie is talking about cake. Not in the way that most women do, about trying to resist temptation, but more about how baking and decorating can be a creative experience. It is a symbol of domestic prowess, but also an outlet for…
Playwright Johnny O'Callaghan discusses Who's Your Daddy?
28 Jul 2012
The play is based on O'Callaghan's own experiences as a single man adopting a Ugandan child
Was it difficult to make a piece of theatre out of your own life? There was almost a need to write the story. I had to get it out of me. It was funny discovering the adoption took nine months – how I felt pregnant, craving processed meat even though I…
Polish theatre company Teatr Biuro Podrozy to stage Planet Lem
28 Jul 2012
The sci-fi spectacular is inspired by the writings of Stanislaw Lem
In 1995, Teatr Biuro Podrozy won critical acclaim for Carmen Funebre, a harrowing account of the war in Yugoslavia. In 2007, they won more plaudits for Macbeth: Who is that Bloodied Man?, which brought us the three witches on stilts and…
Alan Bissett tackles arachnophobia in new play The Red Hourglass
28 Jul 2012
The author and playwright's latest work uses spiders to dissect the nature of fear
‘I’ve always been arachnophobic, it’s something that goes quite deep into my childhood,’ says Glenfiddich Scottish Writer of the Year Alan Bissett. ‘’I’ve always been fascinated by spiders as well.’ This fear and fascination has led the author and…
Mess - a comedy about anorexia, by Caroline Horton
28 Jul 2012
'A play with songs’ combining comedy and poignancy
Caroline Horton (acclaimed performer of 2010 Fringe solo show You’re Not Like the Other Girls Chrissy) returns to Edinburgh with Mess, a piece she describes as ‘a play with songs’ inspired by her own experience of suffering with anorexia. ‘I didn’t want…
Writer, actor and director Katherine Gibbons on Playing Fate
27 Jul 2012
An adapted version of the comedy-drama is heading back to the Fringe in 2012
In 2010, Katherine Gibbons, an actress and playwright from Newbury near Reading, took on the Fringe with her first ever scripted play, Playing Fate. She was inspired to write the piece after a few years in London and a series of classic out-of-work…
Scamp Theatre bring Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales to life at Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Stage version of hugely successful Julia Donaldson children's book
With so many shows to choose from at the Fringe, it’s always handy when a tried and tested company returns carrying a guarantee of quality. All those who saw Scamp Theatre’s production of Stick Man in 2010 will be pleased to know that the talented…
Tall Stories to perform Julia Donaldson's The Snail and the Whale at Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Stage version of hugely successful children's book
Julia Donaldson’s picture books take pride of place on bedroom shelves around the world. But it’s not until somebody picks them up and reads them, that those clever rhymes come alive. Published in 2004, The Snail and the Whale has been one of…
Kipper Tie Theatre return to the Fringe 2012 with kids' show Our Island
27 Jul 2012
Singaporean theatre and slapstick in show tackling xenophobia and religious intolerance
Best known for winning over Fringe audiences with their poo-centred hit show, The Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business, Kipper Tie Theatre are back in Edinburgh with a far more serious subject matter. Set in a mystery location, Our Island…
Australian company Casus bring physical performance Knee Deep to Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Festival show takes gymnastics and feats of strength to new level
How do you assemble a circus show when those involved are all busy with projects abroad? Skype’s fine for generating ideas, says Jesse Scott of Casus, but this newly-formed Australian company’s inaugural show, Knee Deep didn’t begin to find its legs…
Jessie Cave gets family involved in Edinburgh Fringe debut Bookworm
25 Jul 2012
Lavendar Brown from Harry Potter in 'prop-heavy, slightly strange' debut
Summing up the life stories of put-upon younger siblings everywhere, Jessie Cave says of her upcoming Fringe debut: ‘it’s definitely a one-woman show, but my little sister’s in it...’ Luckily, 14-year-old Bebe is a willing participant and an emerging…
Five of the best free comedy shows this Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012
25 Jul 2012
Cariad Lloyd, David Mills, Trodd en Bratt, Sam Fletcher, Mace & Burton
Austentatious Best Newcomer nominee Cariad Lloyd takes time out from her solo character show thing with a return to her free roots. In which a crew of similarly expert improvisers make up an hour-long tale in the style of Jane Austen purely from…
Children's puppetry show Luminous Tales at 2012 Edinburgh Fringe
25 Jul 2012
Zannie Fraser's Ripstop Theatre perform show about night-time for ages 4 and above
Zannie Fraser’s shadow puppetry has toured all over the world, but 2012 marks her Edinburgh Fringe debut in the guise of Ripstop Theatre, her own company. Fraser’s new show, Luminous Tales, is a collection of stories about night-time for audiences aged…
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs explores impact of Apple on our lives
25 Jul 2012
Grant O'Rourke performs Mike Daisey's controversial play Edinburgh Fringe
When he died in October last year more than one million followers flooded the Apple website, sharing their memories of Steve Jobs. Commentators hailed him a modern day Da Vinci while pundits pondered the man affectionately known as Apple’s Messiah.
Wojtek the Bear bound for success at Fringe 2012
24 Jul 2012
How the Polish/Syrian/Persian bear became an international phenomenon
Laura Ennor discovers how the real-life tale of a Persian bear who fought in World War II and lived out his days in Edinburgh Zoo has become an international phenomenon For all that the theatre is a showcase for the power of the imagination, sometimes…
Simon Stephens explores pains of adolescence in Fringe show Morning
24 Jul 2012
2012 Edinburgh Fringe Show explores those on the cusp of their lives
‘I realised recently that I’ve written an unusual amount of characters who are 17,’ says playwright Simon Stephens, whose new play Morning follows his previous works Punk Rock, Sea Wall and Herons in visiting the lives of teenagers. ‘It’s an age where…
New adaptation of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at Fringe 2012
24 Jul 2012
Adaptation of Edwardian novel that’s more pertinent than ever
‘It seems, unfortunately, to get more relevant everyday,’ says playwright Stephen Lowe of his adaptation of Robert Tressell’s classic Edwardian novel about working men’s lives. ‘What he was describing was a world where for the poor there was no safety…
Davey Anderson's coming-of-age tale The Static mixes superheroes and ADHD
24 Jul 2012
Quirky physical theatre show from Scottish talent developers ThickSkin
ThickSkin Theatre has a hard-earned reputation for developing new Scottish talent. The company returns to this year’s Fringe to showcase the skill of Glasgow-based playwright Davey Anderson before heading off on a UK tour in the autumn. The Static is a…
Theatre show Confessions of a Grindr Addict explores modern age dating
24 Jul 2012
Sex is easy, dating difficult in 2012 edgy Edinburgh Fringe Festival show
What does a guy actually do on a date these days that doesn’t involve sex? This is the question posed by dark but comical one-man show Confessions of a Grindr Addict, written and performed by Australian Gavin Roach. Grindr, for anyone unfamiliar, is a…
Jenna Watt's new show Flâneurs explores the 'bystander effect' at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe
24 Jul 2012
One-woman show at the Fringe 2012 explores violence and intervention
If you and some friends witnessed an attack in the street, would you do something? Jenna Watt’s new one-woman play, Flâneurs, explores ‘the bystander effect’. It’s the phenomenon that occurs when a group of people see an emergency but nobody steps…
Unmythable: Temple Theatre revamps the Classics at Fringe 2012
24 Jul 2012
Classics for your cash: as many ancient tales as can be packed into 60 mins
Step aboard Jason’s Argo to begin an action-packed voyage through all the greatest Greek myths... with a twist! Temple Theatre employs a blend of clowning and epic storytelling to pack as many of the ancient tales into one hour as possible. ‘We’re…
It’s So Nice explores relationship between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I
23 Jul 2012
French performers are aiming to throw light on history at Edinburgh Fringe
Talk about coals to Newcastle. Barbara Sylvain and Lula Béry are a French/Belgian double act who thought it’d be a good idea to bring a show about Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I to Scotland. The 16th-century tale of the francophone Mary and her…
