Allan Radcliffe

An Evening with David Sedaris

Bona fide literary superstar reads from his works

23 Aug 2011

David Sedaris is that rarest of beasts: a bona fide literary superstar and recording artist who regularly appears on TV shows such as Letterman, has performed at Carnegie Hall and has the fanbase to be able to sell out a week-long run at Edinburgh’s…

Ali Cook

Old-fashioned with homage to TV magic shows

23 Aug 2011

A familiar face from TV magic shows, Cook’s hour is determinedly old-fashioned with homage paid to the polyester-haired showmen of his youth in one sketch. Cook’s sleight-of-hand is impressive, while his elucidation of some of the world’s greatest…

Mary Christ - The Unmusical!

Crude, unfunny innuendo from excitable drag queen

23 Aug 2011

Sharing a black box theatre with Mary Christ is like being trapped in a cupboard with a vampire. The excitable drag queen gets up close and personal with her audience, divulging details of her sex life, but there’s no satire here, just 45 minutes of…

I, Malvolio

Revisiting Shakespeare’s maligned steward

22 Aug 2011

Appearing in the latter half of a Festival that has made its theatre audience work harder than in previous years, Tim Crouch keeps us on the edge of our seats with a show that probes cultural tastes through the figure of Shakespeare’s much maligned…

Untitled Love Story

Stories of love and loss that fail to catch fire

17 Aug 2011

Untitled Love Story is the first of David Leddy’s productions for years to be set in a conventional theatre. And, while the Venice-set meditation on lost love contains the lyrical writing and formal innovations that have made his past work so exciting…

Gareth Richards

A lack of confidence on the comedian's part undermines the good-quality material

15 Aug 2011

A Best Newcomer nominee from 2010, Richards should have more faith in his material. His topical routines, while nicely observed, are delivered in an apologetic manner that doesn’t inspire confidence. He seems more relaxed when performing his clever…

Delete the Banjax

The sketch group appear to be having fun, but the audience isn't in on it

15 Aug 2011

A couple of smart musical numbers and an inspired repeat joke involving a flipchart can’t distract the overall feebleness of this sketch quartet’s material. An unfunny extended pub quiz skit is a particular lowlight, and the excitably shrill…

The Tempest

Anarchic comedy showcases Korean theatrical traditions and retains spirit of the original

14 Aug 2011

Shakespeare’s swansong enjoys a unique status in the playwright’s canon. Part magical realist fantasy, part forerunner to the absurdist tragicomedy, part wry comment on the nature of playwriting itself, The Tempest floats outside of the classifications…

Cloud Man

Delightful puppet show with its head in the clouds

14 Aug 2011

Puppet maker/performer Ailie Cohen has been delighting young folk and their grown-ups for many a Fringe with her original stories and fairy-tale adaptations. Cloud Man is no exception, a deceptively simple story that will melt even the flintiest of…

Circolombia: Urban Intimo

Impressive circus showcase that leaves you wanting more

14 Aug 2011

This colourful, multi-faceted circus skills showcase opens with allusions to the impoverished backgrounds of its cast members. The master of ceremonies crawls into the space inside a waste bucket while screens at the back of the stage show images of the…

Ten Plagues

Intense, moving Marc Almond-starring plague musical strikes a chord

11 Aug 2011

A one-man musical based on eyewitness accounts of the London Plague of 1665 starring Marc Almond sounds on paper like the kind of parody you’d find on the website fakefringe.com. Indeed, the 80s pop icon seems nervous as he takes to the stage in black…

Interview: Jeremy Millar on exhibition Mystics or Rationalists?

Artist discusses his contribution to Ingleby Edinburgh Art Festival show

10 Aug 2011

How far do you agree with Sol LeWitt’s comment that ‘conceptual artists are mystics rather than rationalists’? I think I’d tend to agree: they’re certainly rather more mystics than rationalists. Art isn’t rational, but it can be mystical. What is…

Dave Gorman's Power Point Presentation

Inspired PowerPoint presentation from the genial everyman

8 Aug 2011

Fringe shows that rely heavily on technical apparatus always stir a slight sense of apprehension. There’s always the risk that a large measure of the show’s impact will be neutered by some unforeseen meltdown. ‘Do you like the big screen?’ asks a…

Free Run

Heavily padded parkour spectacle

8 Aug 2011

The warning that diffuses through the auditorium is ominous. ‘What you are about to see is not restricted to the stage’. Sure enough, this is one of those Fringe shows where you’re definitely not safer in the back row. Within moments of the house lights…

After the End

Gripping if uneven thriller adaptation

8 Aug 2011

The action of Dennis Kelly’s thriller takes place in a nuclear shelter in the aftermath of an explosion, but the play’s politics, we discover, are of the personal rather than global kind. The two-hander opens immediately following the atrocity. Louise…

Glenn Wool: No Lands Man

Hobo comic’s killer dispatches

8 Aug 2011

Gruff Canadian Glenn Wool hasn’t been at the Fringe for a couple of years, instead travelling the world, performing and gathering material inspired by his en route adventures. The hobo comic’s set opens with an account of the time he was strip-searched…

Korean Drum: Journey of a Soul

Dance to the rhythm of life

8 Aug 2011

Sometimes words are not required. Sometimes a single performer beating a frenetic rhythm on a drum suspended from an ornate frame is enough to raise the hairs on your arm. For those who love a bit of variety in their Fringe life, though, this showcase…

Pop-Up! The Amazing Adventures of Moo-Dong

The art of entertaining

8 Aug 2011

Theatre Bom’s Pop-Up! is based around the inspired notion of recreating famous paintings, such as Arcimboldo’s ‘fruit faces’ and Seurat’s ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette’, live onstage. Don’t be nervous: an in-depth knowledge of…

2011 Fringe for a Fiver - Theatre

22 Jul 2011

Not got a brass razoo to your name? Don’t let that spoil your Fringe fun as we present 50 shows you can see for a mere five of your Scottish pound coins Alice in Wonderland and Other Adventures with Lewis Carroll Richard Smithies brings to life the…

The theatre shows to look out for at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011

Dance Marathon, Ten Plagues and Tuesdays at Tescos among highlights

9 Jun 2011

As ever the theatre programme of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe is overflowing with keen ideas, exciting stories and risk-taking. The Traverse Theatre maintains its position as the beating heart of the Fringe, with Dominic Hill’s final programme…

Transformation

Harrowing but uplifting tale of survival

24 Aug 2010

At first sight writer, director and performer Gemskii appears to have created a welcoming, informal atmosphere in her small space at the Roxy, handing out programmes and opening her show with a polite invitation to ‘laugh, even though this story is…

Vieux Carré

Bold, intelligent and intermittently entertaining play

23 Aug 2010

The Wooster Group pulls apart Tennessee Williams’ late play set in a New Orleans boarding house and painstakingly reassembles it, adding references to the work of Warhol collaborator Paul Morrissey’s avant-garde films of the 60s and 70s and the work of…

Ian Reddie: Dirt, Glue, Gluedust

22 Aug 2010

The Edinburgh-based artist presents mixed media paintings, screen prints and digital art evoking a primordial world of desert and rock. Art’s Complex, 661 1924, until 5 Sep (not Mon/Tue), free.

Little Black Bastard

Moving and shocking story of abuse

19 Aug 2010

Noel Tovey – one of Australia’s most respected performers and choreographers and a leading indigenous and LGBT rights activist – has enough raw material to draw on from his personal and professional experiences to fill several books and umpteen hours of…

Sarah Millican

A consistent pleasure

17 Aug 2010

Millican has called her new show Chatterbox after her high school nickname. The Geordie funny woman can undeniably bump her gums, and it’s this ability to chat very naturally and wittily (and sometimes rather naughtily) about everyday stuff, from her…