Reviews & features: Allan Radcliffe

Ten Plagues

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

Pop-Up! The Amazing Adventures of Moo-Dong

The art of entertaining

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

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…

Transformation

Harrowing but uplifting tale of survival

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…

Ian Reddie: Dirt, Glue, Gluedust

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

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…

Bette/Cavett

Confessions of a Hollywood legend

Grant Smeaton’s verbatim recreation of a famous encounter between a 63-year-old Bette Davis and talk show host Dick Cavett in 1971 leaves you with an aching nostalgia for the days when chat show guests – and celebs in general – were worth tuning into.

Reel-to-Real: The Movies Musical

Less chat more dancin’ and singin’ please

Much has been made of Reel-to-Real’s impressive technical credentials, which allows live performers to perform iconic song-and-dance numbers against a backdrop of footage from classic film musicals. In fact the background projections, while cleverly…

Lockerbie: Unfinished Business

Capturing the human story behind the headlines

The ongoing furore surrounding the early release on compassionate grounds of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi – the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing – is almost a footnote to David Benson’s one-man show on the subject, and has very little…

Atsuo Okomoto: Faraway Mountain

Japanese stone sculptor presents 12 pieces sculpted from same block

The first UK solo exhibition by Japanese stone sculptor Okomoto showcases the technique of ‘war modoshi’, or splitting and returning, and features 12 pieces sculpted from the same block which can then be pushed together to reform the original piece. The…

Dance Doctor Dance

Joining in with the lord of the dance

As the lights go up on PowerPoint equipment and a bespectacled, middle-aged man announcing himself as a reader in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, you fear you’re in for a lecture rather than an hour of Fringe fun. But twinkle-toed Dr…

Rhythm Of The Drums: Song Of The Cicada

Show but no tell

The title is a little misleading: drumming is but a small part of this showcase of traditional music and dance from the minority Dong and Miao peoples of southwest China. The series of virtuoso displays, from the furious Wood Drum Dance to love…

Kevin Bridges

Rising star effortlessly wins over the home crowd

Kevin Bridges’ rapid rise to superstardom appears to have surprised no one as much as Bridges himself. As he ambles onstage to excited chants of ‘Kevin! Kevin!’ there’s an air of bemusement to the youthful funnyman, as though he can’t quite believe that…

The Bacchae

A fast-paced production where some plot-twists may get lost amongst writhing

This all-male version of Euripides’ tragedy adds a homoerotic sheen to the already potent mix of vengeance, repression and brutal slaughter. The cast power their physicality into the fast-paced production, though some of the more intricate plot twists…

Mysterious Skin boils Heim's novel

Bleakly powerful adaptation of bestselling novel

This disarming exploration of sexuality, desire and childhood abuse is based on the acclaimed novel by Scott Heim, which was turned into the equally well-received movie adaptation by maverick filmmaker Gregg Araki.

The Last Miner uses puppetry to profound effect

Moving, melancholic puppet show

This inventive show, developed by Tortoise in a Nutshell in association with Catherine Wheels, is short on action, features little dialogue and takes place on the tiny stage of the Hill Street studio theatre. But the tale of an elderly miner, living…

Anatomy of Fantasy

Impressive if unfocused journey through the subconscious

Anatomy of Fantasy is an appropriately elusive title for a multi-sensory show that, while enjoyable, at times lacks focus.

Andrew Lawrence gets a few things off his chest

The end result is some high-pitched and hilarious rantings

Andrew Lawrence claims he doesn’t have a grand theme or gimmick to his show: he just wants to get a few things off his chest. Boy, does he want to get a few things off his chest. With most comedians you start to sweat for them after half an hour…

Susan Calman, Stephen K Amos and Bette/Cavett at Fringe 2010

LGBT Edinburgh Fringe Highlights

The List’s LGBT section is about to take a well-earned break (returning in September, folks), but before we head off on our holidays, there’s just time to let you know about some of the gay-friendly stuff that’s appearing at a Fringe Festival near you…

Edinburgh Festival 2010: More Fringe show highlights

Some of the shows to look out for at the Fringe

With over 2,400 shows to choose from at this years Fringe festival, it's all to easy to succumb to the paradox of choice. Here we present our picks for some of the smaller shows that are worth looking out for.