Anna Millar

Some Small Love Story

A gem with a young but talented cast

23 Aug 2011

Theatrical tales about love – particularly love lost – can so easily be overly saccharine, lacking the depth and sentiment to truly engage. Not so here. Stripped back simplicity is to the fore, as four excellent young performers reveal two great love…

The Apprentice's Stuart ‘The Brand’ Baggs to appear at the Fringe

Informal lunch chat at 2011 Edinburgh Fringe

23 Aug 2011

‘I’m alive: there are so many people that aren’t alive or have died, unfortunately. I’m alive; that’s a gift, frankly. I wake up early every morning once I’ve had the sleep I need. I go out and make money. Everything I touch turns to sold.’ Oh Lord.

Eight

Eight beautifully-written stories impressively told

23 Aug 2011

A selection of eight stories are impressively told here in monologue rotation. Among them are grieving art gallery owner Andre, Bobby, a struggling single Mum and Jude, a well-to-do lad coming of age on foreign shores. Ella Hickson’s characters are…

Doris Day Can F**k Off

Musical one-man experiment

23 Aug 2011

The concept for Greg McLaren’s show should certainly be applauded: for a number of weeks he went round the UK communicating to people through song, taping his experience as he went. Accompanied by a sound deck, guitar and gold lame jacket, this is the…

Rich Hall

Political bashings a definite highlight

23 Aug 2011

With his gravelly drawl and laidback delivery, Hall is easy company. His American/‘Scots’ comparisons have a crowd-pleasing ring, so too a funny skit about bears (particularly the Yogi variety), but his political musings and reflections on the world’s…

Pistol & Jack: SMASH*GLAM*SEX*MUSIC

Hyper, pop comedy lacks some focus

23 Aug 2011

Even the most precious mainstream music-lover should raise a smile at a mash-up of Radiohead, Lady Gaga, Madonna and The Doors, as pop princess Pistol and sex, drugs and rock’n’roller Jack tell tales. Not consistently funny enough to be great comedy and…

Le Gateau Chocolat

Moreish cabaret feast

17 Aug 2011

With his delicious charm and La Clique credentials, Le Gateau Chocolat’s solo debut is an evening treat that leaves you wanting more. Enter the fabulous Bosco tent, and the gentle strains of ‘The Way We Were’ are just audible, a feast of colour and…

An Instinct for Kindness

Dignitas tale told with dignity

17 Aug 2011

Last year, Chris Larner accompanied his ex-wife Allyson to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland and watched as she drank a liquid that would swiftly end her life. Here, with just a simple chair as a prop, Larner recounts the days, weeks and years leading…

Humphrey Ker is Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!

Swashbuckling success story

16 Aug 2011

As part of Fringe staple trio and Radio 4 stars The Penny Dreadfuls, Humphrey Ker offered audiences something of a theatrical comedy masterclass. Here, he flies solo in swashbuckling style. It’s 1943 and war’s most unlikely hero, Dymock Watson, has been…

Markus Birdman: Dreaming

Acutely funny observations on our dreams of living happily ever after

16 Aug 2011

Birdman takes us through his ponderings on our dreams of living happily ever after, and all that lies between. There are some acutely funny observations on parenting, growing up and caring less, with Birdman only occasionally losing momentum by…

Wil Hodgson

Sharp comedy about life as he knows it

16 Aug 2011

Gone is the pink Mohawk of yesteryear, in is some sharp (albeit not of the razor kind) comedy from this year’s ‘Care Bear-loving skinhead’, as our affable host spraffs lyrical about life as he knows it, from his friends down the pub to tits, cider and a…

How to be Awesome

Lou Sanders' high energy can't save a set of lacklustre jokes

15 Aug 2011

‘I’m a bit of shambles’ reveals Lou Sanders as she takes to the stage. Highly energetc Sanders may be, but her material – letters sent to the show, chit-chat about her stepdad, a limp ‘how awesome are my props’ set – fail to hit the mark. Sure, there…

Best of the Fest Cabaret

The Noise Next Door, The Twoks and Briefs offer good package

14 Aug 2011

Any festival ‘Best of’ lives or dies on the collection of acts and, suffice to say, it’s a mixed bag of delights, depending on your luck. And so it is here. Gloria, our host for the evening, struggles, her lacklustre attempts at humour flailing, for the…

From the Fire

Tightly directed show based on New York’s Triangle Factory Fire of 1911

14 Aug 2011

There is some formidable talent at play in this tightly directed show, telling the story of New York’s Triangle Factory Fire of 1911, in which hundreds perished due to poor working conditions. Although set 100 years ago, the themes resonate today, as…

Caitlin Moran set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

A self-deprecating take on womanhood

9 Aug 2011

With Germaine Greer’s recent Newsnight debacle dragging the feminist cause kicking and screaming back to the dark days, it’s time to hail the new messiah: Caitlin Moran. Not for nothing has this Brighton-born writer impressed. Aged just 15, the young…

Paul Daniels

You’re going to like this . . .

8 Aug 2011

‘Do I look better than Donald Trump?’ asks Paul Daniels as he walks on, wigged up. He shouldn’t be here, really. The Sun newspaper has run a story saying he’s been hospitalised at the hands of Sooty and a flying piece of pizza. Silly tabloids. The…

Shhh: The Musical

Enthusiasm let down by unoriginal script and forgettable songs

8 Aug 2011

There is little doubting the enthusiasm of this young cast, as they do their best with a ‘romcom’ script about finding love in a bookshop. Sadly their energy is largely wasted on a script lacking in originality and punch. The characters are roundly…

Suitcase Royale in Zombatland

Late-night, top-notch hour of blues music, B-list horror and slapstick

8 Aug 2011

Some late-night, top-notch junkyard theatre from this trio of talented Aussies, as our hapless heroes fight to save their caravan park from an invasion of zombie wombats. Cue a chaotic hour of blues music, B-list horror shtick and high-energy slapstick…

Des Bishop - My Dad Was Nearly James Bond

Largely funny, tender and acutely observed ode to late father

8 Aug 2011

An ode to Bishop’s late father, Mike, this should leave the most emotional tough-nut shaken and stirred, as Des tells the story of his dad’s life, from stage actor, Ford model and ‘almost Bond’ to regular ‘Queens, New York’ dad. Walking the line between…

Minute After Midday

Pared-down performance based on Omagh bombing

8 Aug 2011

Pared-down performances resonate here as three very different stories are told, in overlapping monologues, from the day the Omagh bombing devastated Ireland. A young survivor, a widow, and the driver who left the car bomb on Lower Market Street, relive…

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Musical

Japanese one-man show dedicated but lacking in pace and musical gravitas

8 Aug 2011

Toulouse Lautrec’s life was a colourful one, worthy of musical exploration, and this Japanese company’s dedication is admirable, in a one-man show, helmed by Japanese performer/songwriter Jun Sawaki. But while Sawaki undoubtedly offers his all to the…

Stuart Goldsmith

A pleasant romp, amusingly delivered, this is easy, assured comedy

8 Aug 2011

Our affable host is one of life’s nice guys: he likes to help. Whether appeasing young godson Tom with some robot dancing or dealing with some of life’s many anxieties, Goldsmith’s (trying to be) your man in a crisis. A pleasant romp, amusingly…

Corn Exchange theatre company bring Man of Valour to Edinburgh 2011

One-man action movie from acclaimed Irish company

27 Jul 2011

It’s a scenario familiar to many. A lonely office worker tries to escape his humdrum existence, living out a fantasy world of swashbuckling make-belief and mind-blowing heroism. ‘Everyone can relate to it,’ says actor and co-writer Paul Reid. ‘It’s…

Losing It - Ruby Wax interview

Wax brings her 'mental health comedy’ to Edinburgh

26 Jul 2011

Seasoned festival-goers may remember Ruby Wax’s brief two-day stint with Losing It, her ‘mental health comedy’, back in 2008. Since then, this partly autobiographical opus has grown wings, and been showcased in hospitals and lecture halls across the UK.

Fringe news: new venue and programme info

22 Jul 2011

Even for Fringe regulars the idea of cherry-picking from the whopping 41,689 performances and 2,542 shows on this year’s festival line-up can seem daunting. Worry not, help is at hand, as next issue we bring you dozens of previews, top tips and much…