The List Festival 2017 - Week 1

l a v i t s fe 3–10 AUG 2017 | WEEK 1 LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

FREE

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BUTT KAPINSKI TRYGVE WAKENSHAW APPHIA CAMPBELL

+ SEE 250 WS TO

STEEN RASKOPOULOS

SHO NTH THIS MO

AHIR SHAH SARA SCHAEFER MEOW MEOW IRVINE WELSH TUTU

INSIDE

LET'S GET CRACKING NATALIE PALAMIDES IS BEYOND A YOLK

COMEDY | DANCE | KIDS | MUSIC | THEATRE | VISUAL ART

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2 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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festival

CONTENTS FESTIVAL 2017 | ISSUE 1 | LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

COVER STORY NATALIE PALAMIDES: LAID There’s a whole lot of eggs in this debut show from the US character comedian and clown. Directed by Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Doctor Brown, and presented by Soho Theatre, Natalie Palamides will spend August cracking shells and breaking yolks, as she’s repeatedly forced to choose between love and nurture in this new show. Find out more on page 14.

Big Fat Bribes

2

Top 20

5

News

13

FEATURES Natalie Palamides: LAID

17

Meow Meow

36

FOOD & DRINK

38

COMEDY

41

Craig Ferguson

41

Hitlist

42

Ahir Shah

47

Sara Schaefer

48

Steen Raskopoulos

52

Top Tips: Week 1

71

79

Lady Macbeth

79

Hitlist

80

Velocity Rising

81

Top Tips: Week 1

83

KIDS

87

Three Half Pints

87

Hitlist

88

Tall Stories

89

Top Tips: Week 1

90

93

Iceage

93

Hitlist

94

EIF highlights

95

Top Tips: Week 1

99

THEATRE

COVER PHOTO: GEMMA SOLDATI

CLOWNING AROUND

MEOW MEOW

Comedy clowning’s having a bit of a moment. We also chat to Butt Kapinski (p17), Red Bastard (p18) and Trygve Wakenshaw (p20) ahead of their Fringe shows.

Following a couple of dates with Barry Humphries last year, the cabaret star returns for a full run as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

101

Lilith: The Jungle Girl

101

Hitlist

102

Irvine Welsh

103

NTS

104

To Hell in a Handbag

106

Win tickets to The Last Queen of Scotland

9

Top Tips: Week 1

116

Win tickets to Museum After Hours

9

VISUAL ART

123

Win tickets to Art Late on 10 Aug

9

Beyond Caravaggio

123

Hitlist

124

Win a bottle of Caorunn Gin

10

Jac Leirner

127

Win a bottle of Black Bottle Whisky

10

EVENTS

128

Win tickets to a Made in Adelaide show

10

Art Late

TOP RATED SHOWS AT LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVALK/ As soon as the festival gets rolling, our critics will be out and about, scouring the city for the shows you need to see – and the ones you can give a miss. Head to list.co.uk/festival every day for all the latest reviews and check our Top Rated page, our essential list of all the best shows.

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38

Events round-up

DANCE

36

14

Butt Kapinski

MUSIC

17

14

128

70 S THINEGE OORESSEPTEMBER T E 9 B F PAGE 5 GO TO

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BIG fat BRIBE

Here at List Towers we’re not above a wee bribe to make us sit up and take notice of a show. Here’s some of our favourites the postie has brought so far

CONTRIBUTORS CONTENT Editor-in-Chief Yasmin Sulaiman Senior Digital Editor Scott Henderson Content Manager Rowena McIntosh Deputy Content Manager Murray Robertson Senior Content Producer Alex Johnston Content Producers Henry Northmore, Arusa Qureshi, Kirstyn Smith, Louise Stoddart Subeditors Brian Donaldson, Paul McLean Work Shadow (Editorial) Kenza Marland SECTION EDITORS Comedy Brian Donaldson Dance / Kids Kelly Apter Festival Food & Drink Louise Stoddart Front / News Rowena McIntosh Music Kirstyn Smith Theatre Gareth K Vile Visual Art Rachael Cloughton PRODUCTION Senior Designer Lucy Munro Designers Carol Soutar, Carys Tennant

The rather creepy, polystyrene head of William Shakespeare from SEVEN CRAZY BITCHES. Assembly Hall, 3–27 Aug (not 14, 24).

A box of Jamie Laing’s watermelon sour Candy Kittens sweeties from BRUTAL CESSATION. Assembly George Square, 3–28 Aug (not 14).

DIGITAL Senior Developer Andy Carmichael Senior Designer Sharon Irish Software Developer Iain McCusker Senior DBA Andy Bowles Data Developer Alan Miller COMMERCIAL Head of Account Management Chris Knox Senior Account Manager Debbie Thomson Account Manager Ross Foley Ad Ops Executive Emma Thompson Affiliate Content Executive Craig Angus Digital Business Development Director Brendan Miles Partnership Director Sheri Friers Senior Events Manager Jade Regulski Events and Promotions Manager Rachel Cree Work Shadow (Events) Alistair Chivers ADMINISTRATION Head of Accounting & HR Sarah Reddie Director Robin Hodge CEO Simon Dessain

A piñata full of sex toys (yes, they actually sent this) from SMUT SLAM CABARET. Sweet Grassmarket, 8–10, 15–17, 22–24 Aug.

Some ‘delicious’ blood, phlegm and bile ice lollies from AN EVENING WITH THE PLAGUE DOCTOR. Edinburgh Dungeon, 4, 11, 18, 25 Aug.

WANT TO BRIBE US? Send your bribes to: The Keeper of the Bribes The List | Tweeddale Court | 14 High Street | Edinburgh | EH1 1TE

Published by The List Ltd HEAD OFFICE: 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE Tel: 0131 550 3050 list.co.uk, email editor@list.co.uk GLASGOW OFFICE: at the CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD Tel: 0141 332 9929, glasgow@list.co.uk ISSN: 0959 - 1915 © 2017 The List Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the written permission of the publishers. The List does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material.

The List provides this content in good faith but no guarantee or representation is given that the content is accurate, complete or up-to-date.

Use of magazine content is at your own risk.

Printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, W.Yorkshire.

2 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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FROM THE AWARD WINNING CREATORS OF SMOTHER

“STAND-OUT DANCE OF SUMMER 2017” THE GUARDIAN

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BROADWAY BABY

ED FEST MAGAZINE

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“TAKING HIP-HOP INTO THRILLINGLY NEW TERRAIN” THE GUARDIAN ON 201 DANCE COMPANY

8PM, 2 – 28 AUG (NOT 14)

0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3

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#MADEINADELAIDE 4 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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festival

TOP 20

THEATRE

Lilith: The Jungle Girl PHOTO: GARTH ORIANDER

Queer Australian theatre company Sisters Grimm merge lo-fi animation, satirical theatre and live art as they explore the archetype of the feral girl and the problems of ‘othering’ outsiders. See preview, page 101. Traverse, 3–27 Aug.

PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

PHOTO: MICHEL CAVALCA

DANCE

COMEDY

KIDS

TUTU: Dance in All Its Glory

Ahir Shah

The Gruffalo’s Child

All-male dance troupe Chicos Mambo’s eclectic wardrobe reflects the multitude of dance styles they cram into this fast-paced show. See feature, page 26. Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22).

The impassioned politicial comedian’s new show Control tackles freedom, fascism, complacency, complicity . . . and milk. See Q&A, page 47.

Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 3–27 Aug.

Tall Stories celebrate 20 years at the Fringe with the return of their adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved book. See feature, page 89. Pleasance Courtyard, 2–20 Aug (not 5, 9,16).

>>

3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 5

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PHOTO: MARIA MOCHNACZ

PHOTO: THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

VISUAL ART

MUSIC

Beyond Caravaggio

PJ Harvey

An exhibition that looks beyond Caravaggio’s notorious biography to his influence on other artists, featuring 43 works from collections across the world. See review, page 123. Scottish National Gallery, until 3 Sep.

Double Mercury Prize winner performs back-catalogue hits and music from her latest album and immersive documentary piece, The Hope Six Demolition Project, with her nine-piece band. See feature, page 95. Playhouse, 7 & 8 Aug. PHOTO: MATT CROCKETT

PHOTO: JOHN WILKIE

DANCE

THEATRE

COMEDY

KIDS

Velocity: Rising

The Sky Is Safe

Sara Pascoe

How to Be a Kid

Irish dance but not as you know it, with James Devine, aka ‘the fastest feet in the world’, and five-time world champion Irish dancer, David Geaney.

See feature, page 81. Assembly George Square, 2–27 Aug (not 14).

A Syrian refugee meets a privileged westerner on an Istanbul street in Dogstar’s intimate yet epic play about war, displacement, choice and its absence. See feature, page 109.

Summerhall, 2–27 Aug (not 14, 21).

A brand new show, LadsLadsLads, from the feminist, vegan and author, detailing her year-long, one-woman stag do. See feature, page 57.

Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug (not 14).

Sarah McDonald-Hughes’ heartwarming play about 12-yearold Molly who needs to relearn being a child. See preview, page 91.

Roundabout @ Summerhall, 4–20 Aug (not 8, 15).

PHOTO: HUGO GLENDINNING

PHOTO: ADAM HEDGECOE

COMEDY

MUSIC & VISUAL ART

Steen Raskopoulos

Martin Creed

A one-man character-sketch improvised comedy, The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess features a grieving horse and stoic schoolboy Timmy Zegamo. See feature, page 52. Underbelly Cowgate, 3–27 Aug.

Turner Prize-winning artist and prolific musician Creed’s festival residency Words and Music is a bit contemporary music hall, a bit art lecture and a lot surprise. See feature, page 35. The Studio, 4–27 Aug (not 8 & 9, 15, 21).

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PHOTO: PIA JOHNSON

PHOTO: NATHANIEL MASON

THEATRE

Butt Kapinski

Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid

With a street lamp on his back, Deanna Fleysher’s Butt Kapinski creates a portable stage for this combination of absurdist humour and existential noir.

See feature, page 17. Pleasance Dome, 2–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21).

The virtuosic Meow Meow’s theatre-inspired cabaret is based around Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale. Featuring new songs from Amanda Palmer and Kate Miller-Heidke. See feature, page 36. The Hub, 3–27 Aug.

THEATRE

MUSIC

COMEDY

THEATRE

Smoking With Grandma

Magic Nostalgic

Trygve Wakenshaw

Woke

Cathy SK Lam presents a new play exploring the story of refugees who lived on Tiu Keng Leng, a remote island in Hong Kong, after escaping mainland China. See feature, page 109. C royale, 2–15 Aug.

You’ll find yourself dancing to all sorts at this Wheel of Fortune-style club night where the music wheel is spun every half hour to select a new genre.

See preview, page 99. Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5, 12, 19 Aug.

The Kiwi mime attempts to be funnier than his son in Trygve vs a Baby, then joins Barnie Duncan for slapstick comedy Different Party. See feature, page 20. Assembly Roxy, 3–27 Aug (not 14, 21) & 2–27 Aug (not 14).

A new play about the 20th-century African-American experience. Two women, 42 years apart, challenge the justice system in their struggle for civil rights. See feature, page 25. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–28 Aug (not 17).

PHOTO: ROBIN MITCHELL

COMEDY

PHOTO: GEMMA SOLDATI

COMEDY

MUSIC

Natalie Palamides: LAID

Lemon Bucket Orkestra and Ben Caplan

Laying an egg every day, a woman faces the decision: raise it or eat it. In LAID, Palamides explores motherhood with absurd dilemmas, surreal physical comedy and eggs. See feature, page 14. Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 Aug (not 14).

Canada’s balkan-gypsy-party-punk super-band racked up five-star reviews with last year’s Counting Sheep. For this NEHH special they’re joined by international Klezmer sensation Ben Caplan. See feature, page 95. Summerhall, 8 Aug. 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7

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8 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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READER OFFERS WIN TICKETS TO SEE THE LAST QUEEN OF SCOTLAND

WIN TICKETS TO MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Stellar Quines is proud to present the world premiere of The Last Queen of Scotland by Jaimini Jethwa for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and The List is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a pair of tickets for the much anticipated performance.

In 1972, the dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Ugandan-Asians from the African country, under a 90 day deadline. In Dundee, a woman grows up knowing nothing about her homeland and is haunted by Amin’s impact on her destiny. Returning to Uganda years later she confronts his ghost.

This is one story from a community in exile that sheds light on a unique period of untold history.

Performed by Rehanna MacDonald, The Last Queen of Scotland brings together the broad Dundonian dialect and a live soundtrack composed and performed by Patricia Panther (Glasgow Girls) as a homage to Jaimini’s city ‘the D’.

Following three years of sell-out success, Museum After Hours returns for the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe offering a unique taste of the festival over three exhilarating nights.

Handpicked performers from across the Fringe come together to showcase highlights from their acts providing top-class evening entertainment against the inspiring backdrop of the National Museum of Scotland with pop-up bars and entry to this summer’s major exhibition Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites.

Guest-programmed by the festival gurus at The List, this adults-only extravaganza offers an unmissable take on the Fringe.

To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to Museum After Hours on Fri 11, 18 or 25 Aug 2017 visit list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What is the name of the National Museum of Scotland’s major exhibition taking place this summer?

To be in with a chance of winning just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What country did Jaimini Jethwa’s family have to flee in 1972?

UNDERBELLY COWGATE (VENUE 61) 3–26 Aug (not 9,16), 6.50pm lastqueenofscotland.com

MUSEUM AFTER HOURS National Museum of Scotland Chambers Street | Edinburgh | EH1 1JF 11, 18, 25 Aug 7.30–10.30pm £18 (£16 members and concessions)

nms.ac.uk/afterhours #NMSAfterHours

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 10 Aug 2017. The List’s usual rules apply.

Ticket winners should be collected from Box Office at Venue 61.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 7 Aug 2017. Strictly 18s and over. The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN A CASE OF CALEDONIAN COAST TO COAST PALE ALE

WIN TICKETS TO ART LATE

The brewers at the Caledonian Brewing Co are continually searching for new ingredients to create interesting and flavoursome beers.

They love in particular the tropical fruit notes from the US West Coast Hops, expressed so well in American Pale Ale. Thinking they’d steal some thunder back from America’s western seaboard, they decided to pair these hops with the renowned Maritime Malt, the world’s best brewing barley from our own east coast.

First brewed in the pilot brewery ‘Wee George’, Caledonian Coast to Coast is a polished bronze ale with pine and citrus fruit aromas, malty spicy flavours and a zesty rounded bitterness.

To be in with a chance of winning a delicious case full of Caledonian Coast to Coast, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

Where do the malt and hops come from respectively? a) East Coast of UK and West Coast USA? b) West Coast UK and East Coast USA? c) East Coast UK and East Coast USA CALEDONIAN BREWERY 42 Slateford Road | Edinburgh | EH11 1PH FB: @Caledonianbeer Twitter: @Caledonianbeer Instagram: Caledonianbrewery drinkaware.co.uk. Know the facts.

Art Late is a unique chance to experience the varied Edinburgh Art Festival programme by night, visiting a selection of partner, pop up and commissions venues and featuring a range of gallery related activities from after-hours gallery visits, exhibition tours, exclusive artist performances, talks and workshops. The evening finishes off with a specially curated live music performance.

On 10 Aug, the event starts at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, where you’ll see the popular contemporary group show NOW featuring the work of important artists working today, such as Nathan Coley. Then travel is provided to Jupiter Artland, where new work can be viewed at this unique outdoor sculpture park.

To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to Art Late on 10 Aug as well tote bags and membership to Jupiter Artland, just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

Which Scottish Turner Prize-shortlisted artist has created a three-room exhibit for the NOW show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art? ART LATE Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Modern One 75 Belford Road | Edinburgh | EH4 3DR 10 Aug, 5.30pm edinburghartfestival.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 30 Aug 2017. Promotion is open to residents of the UK aged 18 and over, excluding the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, employees of Caledonian Brewery or anyone connected with the promotion. The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 7 Aug 2017. No cash alternative.

Subject to availability. Entrant must be over 18 years of age. The List’s usual rules apply.

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READER OFFERS WIN TICKETS TO ABERDEEN BOOKED! FESTIVAL

After a stunningly successful outing last summer, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is back in the Granite City this August for another Aberdeen Booked! Festival, laying on a literary feast in ACT Aberdeen for two days.

You can meet bestselling British writer Jake Arnott as he introduces his new tale of crime and justice set in 1720s London, The Fatal Tree, and learn about the life of one of Scotland’s finest artists as Anne Galastro discusses her book on Joan Eardley’s life and work, written to coincide with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s recent show.

To be in with a chance of winning two pairs of tickets for these two events at Aberdeen Booked! Festival log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

What is the name of Jake Arnott’s new novel set in 1720s London?

WIN A BOTTLE OF CAORUNN GIN

We’ve teamed up with Caorunn Gin to celebrate the launch of the Caorunn Gin Garden; a unique pop up event hosted by Hotel du Vin during this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Running from 4–28 August, this peaceful yet vibrant outdoor sanctuary gives you the opportunity to escape the bustling festival crowds and indulge in a suite of mouthwatering Caorunn Gin cocktails and al fresco dining. What better way to celebrate than with the chance to win a 70cl bottle of multi award-winning Caorunn?

Caorunn Gin Garden brought to you by Hotel du Vin. To be in with a chance of winning just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

Where is the Caorunn Gin Garden situated?

ABERDEEN BOOKED! FESTIVAL ACT Aberdeen 33 King Street | Aberdeen | AB24 5AA 24 & 25 Aug

CAORUNN GIN GARDEN 11 Bristo Place | Edinburgh | EH1 1EZ 4–28 Aug

booked.edbookfest.co.uk | @edbookfest

caorunngin.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 7 Aug 2017. No cash alternative.

Subject to availability. The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN A BOTTLE OF BLACK BOTTLE WHISKY

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 25 Aug 2017. No cash alternative. Subject to availability. Entrant must be over 18 years of age. The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO ONE OF 22 MADE IN ADELAIDE SHOWS

+

ED BRAND ES GLASS

Black Bottle began in 1879 when the three Graham brothers – Charles, David and Gordon – left the rural village of Torphins for the booming port of Aberdeen with a plan to make their fortune.

Today Black Bottle continues to evoke the tradition and legacy of the Graham brothers original vision. It is a unique blend of the finest Islay, Highland and Speyside malts blended with exceptional grain whiskies returning a distinctively full, rich and slightly smoky Scotch with a delightfully long, warm finish.

To be in with a chance of winning a 70cl bottle of Black Bottle and two branded glasses, log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

In what year was Black Bottle whisky established? blackbottle.com | @BlackBottle TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 6 Aug 2017. No cash alternative.

Subject to availability. Entrant must be over 18 years of age. Delivery to UK Mainland addresses only. The List’s usual rules apply.

Australia’s festival city returns to Edinburgh in 2017! Made in Adelaide brings together more than 70 artists, festivals, presenters and producers, highlighting the quality and vibrancy of South Australia’s arts scene through free showcases, networking events and a true-blue Aussie pergola in the Summerhall courtyard.

Meet the artists, sip some South Australian wine and find out why you should move Adelaide to the top of your travel bucketlist.

The List are giving away a double pass to one of 22 shows featured in the Made in Adelaide programme. From cabaret to comedy, music to magic and everything in between, this is your chance to see some of Australia’s best artists as they take to the stages of Edinburgh Festival Fringe. To be in with a chance of winning just log on to list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

How many festivals are featured on the Festivals page of madeinadelaide.club?

MADE IN ADELAIDE PERGOLA Summerhall | Edinburgh | EH9 1PL 4–28 Aug madeinadelaide.club

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes 21 Aug 2017. Subject to availability. No cash alternative. The List’s usual rules apply.

10 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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@AssemblyFest #MyAssembly

assemblyfestival.com 0131 623 3030

WE ARE BACK!

ASSEMBLY

‘Brilliant’ Brilliant

WINNER HERALD ANGEL

2012

ROOMS

The Guardian

OUR NEW TOWN FESTIVAL HUB Baxter Theatre Season

MIES JULIE MUSIC HALL

3 – 27 Aug, 14:30

THE GLOBAL SMASH HIT RETURNS TO EDINBURGH

ENTERTAINMENT FOOD & BARS AT GEORGE STREET

ALEX SALMOND… UNLEASHED BALLROOM

13 – 27 Aug, 13:45

THE CHOIR OF MAN MUSIC HALL

3 – 27 Aug, 18:35

PERFORMERS BALLROOM

3 – 27 Aug, 16:45

JAMIE MACDONALD: DESIGNATED DRIVER DRAWING ROOM

3 – 27 Aug, 20:25

ANTONIO FORCIONE & SARAH JANE MORRIS

CONCERTO A TEMPO D’UMORE

21 – 27 Aug, 21:30

3 – 27 Aug, 17:00

BALLROOM

MUSIC HALL

COMEDIANS FILM CLUB

LEMONADE

VINTAGE MOBILE CINEMA

DRAWING ROOM

FUTUREPLAY VIRTUAL REALITY STUDIO

4 – 26 Aug, 22:00

3 – 27 Aug, 16:40

3 – 26 Aug, Various times

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INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE’S ɹZF0r|ZZ3n [F>CxŖr 0n3 Z AND xC3 l3`[ l FTF`[ ) CFr *CF[3r3 *`[x3Zl`n n ĥ x [> F [ |

‘PHYSICAL MOVEMENT THAT SPARKS WITH LIGHT AND SHADOW... TOUCHING THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN REALITY [0ɹ0n3 ZrĦŖ F[[3n )3rx rx >3 03rF>[ ĝěĜġ – One Drama Awards, China

PLEASANCE GRAND ĝɅĜĠ |> ĜĦĞělZ Tickets from £8 available at www.pleasance.co.uk or 0131 556 6550

12 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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NEWS NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM ACROSS THE FESTIVALS

fast ts fac • The Edinburgh Fringe is piloting a Venue Access Award, developed in partnership with the charity Attitude Is Everything, providing venue managers with a minimum standard of accessibility to aim for and offering different levels of achievement.

• Also new for 2017 is the Mental Health Fringe Award, launched by the Mental Health Foundation. The award recognises the show that most successfully explores the subject of mental health.

Pic OF

• The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo wants to get trending. They’ve brought IntechnologyWiFi on as an official partner so audiences can share their #SplashofTartan moments.

• The Edinburgh International Festival have launched a storytelling website to celebrate the past 70 years: 70years.eif.co.uk features video interviews, archive footage and photographs from the festival’s history.

• Applications are open for the Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award 2017 until 11 Aug. Eligible shows can enter at creativecarbonscotland.com/ apply-2017-fringe-award

HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN THESE HOTCAKES WON’T BE AROUND FOR LONG, SO GET BOOKING Alexei Sayle The Craig Ferguson Show Frankie Boyle: Prometheus Volume I Foreign Radical James Acaster: The Trelogy – Recognise Jason Byrne: The Man with Three Brains Letters to Morrissey Milton Jones is Out There Nina: A Story About Me and Nina Simone Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads

• In the year of 70th celebrations, Trainspotting Live will stage its 700th performance on 12 Aug.

Sue Perkins Live! in Spectacles The Whip Hand At the Illusionist’s Table

TERS S O P THE

FRINGE PODCASTS All the cool kids have a podcast these days and at the Fringe you can be part of the illustrious live audience.

Here’s our pick of the podcasts recording episodes during August

THE GUILTY FEMINIST Please welcome to the stage Deborah Frances-White, plus a selection of special guests to discuss their noble goals as 21st-century feminists and the hypocrisies and insecurities which undermine them.

Underbelly George Square, 4 & 5 Aug, 5.10pm, £14 (£13).

RICHARD HERRING’S EDINBURGH FRINGE PODCAST Celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first Fringe, Richard Herring hosts three live recordings of his chatty comedian podcast. He thought he’d booked Saturdays, but they’re on Fridays: still, at least he has his trusty book of offthe-wall questions. New Town Theatre, 4, 11, 18 Aug, 1.50pm, £12 (£10).

JANEY GODLEY’S PODCAST LIVE AT THE FRINGE Comedian Janey Godley and her stand-up daughter, Ashley Storrie, are some 350 episodes and more into their podcast. Expect bawdy language, home truths, politics, and whatever else the pair fancy nattering about. New Town Theatre, 12 Aug, 1.50pm, £10 (£8).

MATT FORDE’S POLITICAL PARTY PODCAST Former political adviser Matt Forde interviews Alistair Darling, Labour’s Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007–10 and chairman of the Better Together Campaign, for this Edinburgh edition of his monthly podcast.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16 Aug, 3pm, £12 (£10).

FESTIVAL CITY PODCAST

SPENCER JONES, BIG BITE-SIZE BREAKFAST SHOW & KAT BOND With so many posters adorning the city, it takes something mighty special to make a show stand out: like some funky headgear. So, bravo to Spencer Jones (The Audition, Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 4–27 Aug, Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show (Pleasance Dome, 2–28 Aug) and Kat Bond (Loo Roll, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 Aug). Hats off to them all.

The List’s very own Edinburgh Festival podcast is released throughout August and features recommendations from our reviewers, performer interviews, live music, and the musings of our host and theatre editor, Gareth K Vile. list.co.uk/ festivalcity

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Natalie Palamides

ONLY YOLKING Natalie Palamides makes her Fringe debut this year with a show full of eggs, eggs, and more eggs – and with a certain Edinburgh Comedy Award winner on board as director. Yasmin Sulaiman finds out more

I

f anything can prepare you for the messy, absurd humour of Natalie Palamides’ LAID, maybe it’s this anecdote: ‘when I was going over to London for the Clown Festival,’ she tells me on the phone from LA, ‘I had this big egg costume which I had to wear on the train and my nose started bleeding; it was so embarrassing, I looked crazy. I was getting a bunch of looks and had blood all over my egg costume and a tissue up my nose. Then this little kid started crying. It’s a fun memory.’

Here’s hoping for no blood loss as she makes her way to Edinburgh for this year’s Fringe. It’ll be the first time at the festival for this character comedian and clown, but over in the US, Palamides has form.

Originally from Pittsburgh, she’s worked with Philadelphia’s acclaimed Pig Iron Theatre Company, and is now on a team at renowned comedy and improv breeding ground, LA’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In LAID, which comes to the Fringe via Soho Theatre, she’ll be donning said giant egg costume for the stage, where she’ll lay eggs every day and face the same decision each time: should she eat them, or should she nurture them?

‘They’re so fragile you know, which allows for a lot of comedy,’ she says. ‘They can break at any second, you can eat them but they also represent the life cycle as well. There’s so many levels an egg can achieve. It can be really funny but also really sweet and sincere with the way it connects to motherhood and the fragility of life.’

Thoughtful words, but don’t be fooled: this show has plenty of silly to throw at its audience. After all, it’s directed by renowned clown and Fringe favourite Doctor Brown (aka Phil Burgers), who won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2012 for his beguiling, bizarre and utterly hilarious Befrdfgth. It’s a partnership that was born when Palamides started taking Burgers’ clowning classes.

‘I asked Phil if he’d work on something with me,’ she explains, ‘and he was like, “how about you do a solo show and put it out next week?”

So within a week, I just threw up the show for the first time; I beated out the outline and improvised my way through it. That was in September, then every week since I’ve put up the show. I’ve never rehearsed it without an audience.’

And now it’s coming to Edinburgh, she’s feeling the pressure of having the Doctor Brown stamp of approval. Not that he’s letting her rest on any laurels. ‘Phil is a really supportive, generous teacher,’ she says, drily, ‘but he’s also a hard-ass. He calls me Shat – it’s a way of keeping me in my place, keeping my ego in line. It kind of sounds like my name – you know, Nat, Shat. But it’s also a word for like, shit.

He’s always like “Shat, don’t fuck this up”. He’s just kidding though.

But kind of not.’

Burgers’ success has done a lot to change people’s perceptions of clowning in comedy at the Fringe, though Palamides says she still has to explain to people the difference between her kind of clowning and the circus ones.

‘It’s more about being with the audience and being vulnerable, and being open to whatever the audience is giving you,’ she says. ‘Clown is all about giving the audience what it wants, you know. So hopefully if you have a good show or have a good bit, they’ll want you to do your bit as planned but sometimes you have to change it up a bit.

It always keeps you on your toes. The show’s never the same, you know.’

And with props that are as breakable as eggs – all of which Palamides pulls out of her costume – mishaps are inevitable. ‘One show in Brighton, I ran out of eggs,’ she laughs. ‘So, Phil reamed me after the show. Now I have more, which is good because throughout the show I continually pull out eggs. I like for the audience to keep thinking, “whoah, how many eggs has this girl got up there?”’

Loads, apparently. So many that Palamides has to put a huge tarp down to be able to clear up the soiled stage quickly enough after every show. ‘I think people are grossed out,’ she admits. ‘But that’s all part of it; it’s raw. I’ve got eggs going everywhere. I’ve got this woman going through labour, eggs are dying, eggs are getting eaten.

There’s life, there’s death. It’s madness.’ Perfect, then, for this crazy month of August in Edinburgh.

Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

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Natalie Palamides | FESTIVAL FEATURES PHOTO: GEMMA SOLDATI

‘I ran out of eggs, so Phil reamed me after the show’

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Comedy, Theatre, Dance, Kids’ shows...and so much more!

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28/07/2017 15:50

Butt Kapinski | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: NATHANIEL MASON

BUTT OF THE JOKE Deanna Fleysher, the woman behind noirish comedy private eye Butt Kapinski, tells Gareth K Vile how pain can become pleasure

F

irst arriving at the Fringe in 2015, Deanna Fleysher’s hardboiled Butt Kapinski character impressed audiences with a combination of absurdist humour, existential noir and unique lighting. Pacing the room, Kapinski carries a street lamp on his back, not so much breaking the fourth wall as re-inventing the performer as a portable stage. With a background in improvisation, clowning and bouffon (the art of mockery), Fleysher is fearless in her performance with a sensitivity to the audience that allows her to attack darker themes without losing a sense of playfulness.

In conversation, Fleysher is thoughtful, aware of the contradictions that exist within her onstage creation. Citing ‘gender dysphoria’ as an influence – alongside ‘Raymond Chandler, Burning Man, DIY and immersive theatre’ – she ponders the irony of Butt’s appeal. ‘It seems like as soon as I let go of trying to be a woman on stage, I got a lot more

laughs,’ says Fleysher. ‘There are reasons, both my own and cultural, why it is easier to laugh at a man: I would say a lot of women who do comedy experience discomfort.

In my own gender discomfort, there’s a great deal of humour and something that originates in me as pain ends up being a pleasurable experience for the audience.’

Given her association with the Naked Theatre Lab, a touring workshop that explores interactive theatre, Fleysher is unsurprisingly fascinated by the importance of engaging directly with the audience. ‘One of the things I get fired up about is how aggressive engagement with the audience ruins it for the rest of us who spend our lives thinking about how we invite the audience into our world.’

Rather, she emphasises the importance of consent and collaboration, wanting the audience to feel ‘surprise, delight, an increased connection to the other people in the room, and possibly one or two body fluids.’

The nature of the clown is an important factor in achieving this effect. ‘The thing that is most important to me is the vulnerability, allowing myself to be the butt – pardon the pun – of the audience’s joke, laughing at me way more than I am laughing at them. I’m interested in how my personal shame causes amusement for the maximum number of people. The deeper I go into my own shame, the more laughs I get.’

However, she isn’t keen on overemphasising either the clown or bouffon elements of the show.

‘Americans tend to be freaked out by that word so I tend to use it less and less in my own work,’ she explains.

Her blend of clowning and bouffon admits other influences from physical comedy and improvisation: when asked about the genre of Butt, she laughs. ‘I am on the spectrum: I don’t think bouffon and clown have to be so separate. I really don’t care. When I am talking about the show, I don’t

use either of those words, you don’t have to know them to enjoy nice weird comedy! I think that there are other things that I don’t fit in with.’

Aside from the gender confusion of Kapinski himself, and the incorporation of the audience into a gender-swapped cast, Fleysher’s rejection of the fixed stage for a roving street-lamp asks questions about how performance is experienced and how watching is an act of complicity.

Yet within these high and challenging ideas, Butt Kapinski is ultimately a witty parody of film noir and a sardonic take on the problems of identity that isn’t afraid of broad humour.

It’s an experience where fear of audience participation gives way to a celebration of collaborative comedy.

Butt Kapinski, Pleasance Dome, 5–27 Aug (not 9,14, 21), 8.10pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Red Bastard

Gareth K Vile catches up with Eric Davis, the man behind Red Bastard, one of the festival’s most fearless and provocative acts

FOOL IN

ROUGE D

espite the ferocious personality of Red Bastard on stage, Eric Davis is surprisingly soft spoken and thoughtful as he considers his spectacular inyour-face character. Having included a meditation on the horrors of the Fringe in his previous show, he is enthusiastic about returning to Edinburgh. ‘It’s funny,’ he reflects. ‘I have been to a bunch of different places. As difficult as it is going through the Edinburgh slog, it is one of the most enjoyable times. If they say go where they love you, this is one of those places.’

Red Bastard’s Fringe debut in 2013 announced a visceral, provocative performer who engages his audience in a battle of wits, using the strategies of bouffon – an aggressive manifestation of clowning – to command their participation and, ultimately, submission to his vision of creative freedom. A mastery of physical theatre, cutting wit and theatrical dynamism are combined to not only demonstrate Davis’ brilliance but also to challenge any lazy ambitions and tepid attitudes in the audience.

‘This time, primarily, I am looking at love – and I don’t mean sex, but it could be,’ the Kansas-born clown explains. ‘But I am open to the possibility of sex. Maybe live sex on stage? It’s up to the audience what happens in this show.’ Far from disguising vagueness in his intentions,

this invitation to the audience for their involvement is key to the Bastard dramaturgy. ‘There is a certain element of space I give to the audience, which opens up risk, and that risk means the show can reach different places.’ It’s a bracing experience, demanding a bold audience as well as Davis’ fearlessness.

Davis says Lie With Me sees Red Bastard shift between ‘pure bouffon and pure clown, allowing the audience to laugh at him and their own stupidity’, evoking a vulnerability that deepens the connection and communication between spectator and performer. It is this immediacy that makes a Red Bastard show distinctive.

Now, Red Bastard is taking this conversation into more intimate territory. ‘The show is about the rules of love: how and why you love the way you do. About the fear of freedom, lies in general but specifically those to our lovers,’ he continues, before adding a typical sharp comment, ‘and the bastards who made us lie in the first place. I’m not going to say who they are, but I bet there’ll be a few in the show!’

Red Bastard: Lie With Me, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 9.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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PHOTO: BAPTISTE MOREL & ANAIS WULF

FESTIVAL FEATURES | Trygve Wakenshaw

DADDY D A What’s more entertaining – a) a baby or b) a grown man trying to impress you with mime and physical comedy? We’re about to find out in Trygve Wakenshaw’s latest show, as Brian Donaldson discovers

couple of months back, footage emerged of New Zealand’s Trygve Wakenshaw dropping a baby while rehearsing for one of his two upcoming Fringe shows.

Worryingly, it was during preparations for his afternoon hour, Trygve vs a Baby rather than the evening show, Different Party. Reassuringly, the baby in question was a rubbery doll as opposed to his actual flesh-and-blood child.

Phineas Wakenshaw will be but a mere 13 months old when he makes his Fringe debut.

The show is billed as Trygve attempting to prove that he can entertain people better with his mime skills and physical comedy than a toddler can while sitting around or slowly moving about being all cute. As an example of Competitive Dad syndrome, it seems unlikely ever to be matched.

‘After a couple of rehearsals, the problem seems to be not the unpredictability of him doing something amazing, the horrible bit is that quite often he won’t be doing anything particularly amazing,’ states Wakenshaw in mid-June while

taking a break from Fringe preparations in his recently adopted home of Prague. ‘I’m trying to build a show that’s halfway between knowing what I’m doing and not knowing what I’m doing. In other shows where I’ve improvised on stage, I’ve been able to warm it up and there’s been a bit of time so I can get to grips with the improv of the show in front of an audience. But with this, I’m essentially having to wing it on the huge platform that is Edinburgh.’

It’s a platform that has previously taken Wakenshaw Senior to its heart thanks to the innovation and ingenuity of shows such as Squidboy (about the power of a celaphod’s imagination) and Kraken (his depiction of a surrealistically shifting natural world).

In 2015, the third part of his Underwater Trilogy, Nautilus, earned him a spot on the Edinburgh Comedy Award shortlist. ‘I felt that Nautilus was a strong show and probably had the broadest appeal of my work. The hype around Kraken came from other artists and young people who were excited to see something crazy and rebellious, but with Nautilus, it was a bit

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Trygve Wakenshaw | FESTIVAL FEATURES

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DAYCARE different. Especially when you get nominated and people are there to judge you, sitting with their arms folded and probably thinking, “ok then, show me your good funny things that you do”.’

With Trygve vs a Baby taking to the stage in a 3pm slot (‘Phineas should have finished his second nap of the day between 1 and 2ish, so he’s usually quite perky by 3’), papa Wakenshaw will be fully regenerated for his second gig later that day, an 8.30pm meeting with Barnie Duncan (his theatrical partner of almost 15 years) for Different Party.

That show is a satire of office life, despite neither of them having spent a huge amount of time in such buildings. ‘It was us going, “what do you even do in an office?’” muses Wakenshaw.

‘Barnie’s girlfriend works in one and she gave us great tips about the things people say there such as “we’ll need that by C.O.B.” and “who’s taking minutes?” A lot of coffee gets drunk in our show. It’s mainly physical but there will be some witty wordplay; there are some jokes that rely on words, but not a lot.’

By that point in the day, young Phineas should be fast asleep as he gets refreshed for another bash at winning over an expectant Edinburgh crowd. Happily, his mum was open to a notion that others might have brushed off as rather foolhardy.

‘She didn’t take much convincing; she thought it was a brilliant idea,’ insists Trygve. ‘You know that old saying about never working with children and animals because they’re so attractive to the eye that you as an actor would be absolutely upstaged? I took it as a challenge: I’m a pretty good performer, and I am fairly convinced that I am more interesting than a baby.’ Time will tell, Trygve.

‘With this, I’m essentially having to wing it’

Trygve vs a Baby, Assembly Roxy, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 3pm, £11–£12.50 (£10– £11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8.

Trygve Wakenshaw & Barnie Duncan: Different Party, Assembly Roxy, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 8.30pm, £10.50–£12 (£9.50–£11).

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £7.

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Woke | FESTIVAL FEATURES

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EYES WIDE OPEN Apphia Campbell chats to Gareth K Vile as she returns to the Fringe with Woke, a show about prejudice that she hopes will change perceptions

I

n 2014, Apphia Campbell’s Black is the Colour of My Voice introduced an exciting performer and writer who was capable of connecting the struggle for human rights with its contemporary and historical context. With Woke, Campbell returns as part of the Made in Scotland showcase to focus on the lives of two women intimately entwined with the fight for freedom.

After watching a documentary about the United States’ growing prison population, Campbell became interested in the life and work of Black Panther activist Assata Shakur.

‘I went back and re-read her biography. I started noticing so many similarities between the Black Panther movement and the present day and I wanted to explore that dynamic.’ The second character, a present-day university student who also finds herself battling systemic prejudice, allows Campbell to draw out the parallels.

The word ‘woke’ in itself conjures up a variety of responses: defined as an awareness ‘of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially related to civil and human rights’, it’s frequently used in the conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement and, conversely, by their opposition on the alt-right. The play Woke is unashamedly political, while maintaining an interest in the personal consequences of standing up for positive values that challenge accepted bigotry.

‘I wanted to make a piece that transcends race and focuses on the root of the problem: the system,’ Campbell says. ‘I feel it’s important for people to see themselves in a situation and creating empathy hopefully generates change.’

The contemporary protagonist in Woke, Ambrosia, brings home the immediacy of Campbell’s subject and acts as a point of contact for the audience: ‘I wanted the audience to fall in love with the main character, so I made her as funny and likeable as possible. I’m having so much fun playing her because she looks at the world in such an innocent way.

It’s refreshing.’

Importantly, as in Black is the Colour of My Voice, music is central in not just easing the audience into the action, but as a way of identifying a historical continuity. A mixture of original compositions and classic blues and gospel music locates the struggle across the past 50 years. The sense of history and arduous length of those campaigns for human rights in the US are drawn together by evocative songs that have become familiar through their association with protest against the abuses and attitudes that, sadly, refuse to disappear.

Campbell is clear about her political intentions. ‘I always start with a question and then use the play to try to find the answers,’ she says. ‘I hope to create activists or people who want to be involved more politically.’

In particular, having been born in the US but now working in the UK, she sees theatre as a forum for exploring ideas that are not always discussed in public. ‘It was really important for me to be able to voice my reaction to the changing America. Living in the UK, I noticed that people don’t often speak about race and the quickest way to silence a room is to bring it up.’ The dynamism of her performance and the intelligence of her writing, however, presents a complex and thoughtful way into what might otherwise be ignored for reasons of social decorum.

Woke marks an important contribution to theatre’s potential for examining the uncomfortable and the critical: the balance between personal experience and passionate political engagement works out how ideas can be lived and exposes their consequences. Campbell’s ambition is to create performance that changes perceptions. ‘Overall,’ she says, ‘I hope it helps the audience walk away and go home and research as much as possible and hopefully look at the world differently when it comes to political activism.’

Woke, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 17–19), 2pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Preview 4 Aug, £6.

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | TUTU

MEN AT Ten years after hit Fringe show Méli-Mélo II, Lucy Ribchester catches up with Chicos

B

ackstage at the Centre des Bords de Marne theatre on the outskirts of Paris, dancers Guillaume Queau and Julien Mercier have made a quick turnaround.

Though still slightly sweaty, with the happy exhaustion of performers who have just played to a packed and delighted house, their jeans and hoodies are a far cry from the extravagant banquet of tulle, lace and lycra they were sporting only minutes ago.

Vegetable headpieces came preceded by elephantine pantaloons, duck costumes were followed by leotards, flowing gowns, and some incongruously dull grey pyjamas: a costume favoured by contemporary dance troupes who take themselves a little more seriously than the Chicos Mambo.

But if the variety of haberdashery the dancers don is vast, it is more than matched by the variety of dance styles they’ve mastered in order to perform the Chicos’ latest show, TUTU: Dance in All

Its Glory. This isn’t the first time the company has wooed the Fringe with an all-male palette of different dance styles, mixing parody with homage. Back in 2007 they made a similarly colourful splash with Méli-Mélo II, a redux of the earlier Méli-Mélo. The Chicos formed in the 1990s in Barcelona, with French choreographer Philippe Lafeuille coming together with two dancers, one from Venezuela and the other Catalan. Though the lineup has changed over the decades, the demands on versatility have remained, and the current cast’s backgrounds range from internships with the Bolshoi to conservatoire degrees and aerial acrobatic training. Lafeuille’s CV is perhaps the most eclectic of all, having formerly danced for both Madonna and Rudolf Nureyev.

Ballet, jazz and contemporary were techniques already familiar to the show’s cast.

Lafeuille also versed them in tango. ‘And we learned to do pointe work during the creation of the show,’ explains Mercier.

The pointe work section looks excruciating. Dancers, bentbacked, gurning, creep across the stage in

block-toed pointe shoes of the kind usually worn by ballerinas, giving us a peek into a performer’s feelings behind the serene mask they are obliged to present to the crowd.

‘I still don’t feel comfortable,’ says Mercier, despite having danced the routine countless times. ‘But even girls who wear them all the time don’t feel comfortable.’

‘It’s OK for us,’ adds Queau, ‘we’re only on them for a minute.’

This is a good point. The speed with which TUTU plays out has all the crowdpleasing chutzpah of a dance showcase or comedy sketch show. Segments are short, vivid, punchy, with those bizarre and mischievous costumes all variations on the theme of the

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TUTU | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

T WORK Mambo as they return to Edinburgh with surreal and satirical dance extravaganza TUTU he was looking for. You can’t take yourself too seriously; you have to be generous.’

It’s a generosity that can be especially hard for some when the object of the humour is contemporary dance. Some performers, according to Mercier, hold the form in such high esteem that they are reluctant to laugh either at it or themselves. It’s something he can sympathise with, ‘because it’s a lot of hard work, and dance is very spiritual. Philippe wants to find a way to cut through this and be more funny and laugh about dance.’

Having sent up companies who approach contemporary dance so earnestly, could Queau and Mercier ever perform in one of those companies again in all sincerity? ‘Yes,’ says Queau, as if it is a preposterous question. ‘For me, no,’ counters Mercier. ‘Some companies are very good and the work is very good. But when we do something ridiculous on stage and then go to an audition where they ask us to do the same kind of thing we do here, only seriously... it’s hard to be serious now.’

Despite references to Pina Bausch, Stravinsky and Swan Lake, there’s no need to be au fait with dance history to be in on the Chicos’ jokes. And for the troupe it’s fascinating to see which parts of the show different audiences respond to.

‘When we’re dressed as ducks doing Swan Lake,’ says Queau, ‘the kids don’t make the connection, but they find the ducks funny. So if you get the joke, that’s great; but if you don’t get it, you can still enjoy it.’

Still there is one part of TUTU about which audiences can only speculate. ‘We change character and costumes so fast,’ says Mercier. ‘There are two shows: the one you see on stage and the one going on backstage.’

TUTU: Dance in All Its Glory, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9.50–£13); Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

PHOTO: MICHEL CAVALCA

tutu. Some sections poke fun at performers’ vanity, some at choreographers and their earnest visions. The culture behind various types of dance is in the pillory, but it’s more of a tickling ridicule than a savage skewering, and often the surreal images are enough in themselves to provoke laughter. The dance of the cygnets from Swan Lake is performed by B-boys in tubby duck suits pointing and posturing. Later the boys in tutu nappies carouse to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

Though there are also passages of serious beauty – aerial silk work and graceful arm solos – what is clear is that above and beyond proficiency in many different styles, the key criterion for becoming a Chico Mambo is a sense of humour.

‘I think it’s something which you either have, or you don’t,’ Queau says. ‘When we did the audition, there were some dancers who were very good technically, but had no comic expression – and what Philippe is looking for is somebody who isn’t embarrassed or shy to project that humour. It was really the personality

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by Kuo-Shin Chuang Pangcah Dance Theatre 8–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 3.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8).

Taking its title from the area code for Haulien on Taiwan’s east coast, home of the indigenous Pangcah people, 038 asks: ‘Where is home? What is home?’

Kuo-Shin Chuang Pangcah Dance Theatre fuses the traditional music

and dance of indigenous people with contemporary influences. This dynamic ensemble performance reflects the anxieties and uncertainties of searching for ourselves and our roots in an often overly commercialised modern world.

Together Alone

by Zoltán Vakulya, Chen-Wei Lee x ART B&B 8–27 Aug (not 10, 14, 17, 21, 24), 3.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8).

How do we live together?

Relationships are complicated, and sometimes beyond words. In Together Alone, two (naked) dance artists – Chen-Wei Lee (an alumnus of Batsheva Dance Company) and her work-life partner Zoltán Vakulya – explore the tensions, pleasures, sorrows and reconciliations of two

individuals attempting to discover harmony.

This honest, brave and unpretentious duet uses body and mind to reveal a core of intimate and poetic feeling.

The show was nominated for the 2016 Taishin Arts Award, Taiwan’s annual prize for the best performing arts work across all genres.

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SUMMERHA

LL

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The Backyard Story

by Puppet Beings Theatre 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 11.45am, £10. Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6.

Summerhall favourite Puppet Beings Theatre (The Paper Play, The Adventure of Puppets) conjures up the innocence of childhood and injects fresh vitality into children’s theatre.

In The Backyard Story, a red balloon breathes life into clothes that have been hung out to dry by competitive

neighbours. Jackets, shirts, dresses and trousers make friends and form relationships, reflecting what happens between parents, children and others.

Audiences of all ages are invited to let their own imaginations run free.

When you get home, can you make your clothes come to life too?

Ever Never

by Co-coism 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 4.25pm, £12 (£10). Preview 2 Aug, £8.

Ever Never is a semi-autobiographical performance rooted in the personal journey of Co-coism director Chien-Han Hung. Deeply affected by her father’s death and living abroad, on her travels she found aircraft cabins mysterious spaces where the past could be intercepted and fragments of forgotten memories

rekindled and brought to life.

Also drawing upon the experiences of playwright Chi-Chun Feng and the production’s cast and creative team, the airport and aeroplane become places out of time for five strangers.

Up in the air, past and present collide and coalesce into sensitive and heartfelt physical theatre.

Heart of Darkness

by Sun Son Theatre 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6.

In Heart of Darkness, Sun Son Theatre fuses bold physicality and delicate emotions, evocative instrumentation and expressive vocals, to explore the inner self.

The performance was inspired by choreographer Pei-Fen Low’s grandmother, and the notion of

taiwanseasonfringe

human existence being gradually gnawed by time. It features dance, music, symbolic objects and ritualistic imagery as a means of examining a woman’s journey through life – her hidden aspirations, expectations, ambitions and fears. It asks: are the paths we choose irreversible?

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All Genius All Idiot | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

CLEVER CLOGS Yasmin Sulaiman travels to Berlin to meet the four performers behind All Genius All Idiot, an intriguing blend of acrobatics, physical theatre and music that’s pushing the world of circus in new directions

PHOTO: JAKUB JELEN

F

or the next few weeks, Edinburgh’s going to be full of performers complaining about their Fringe reviews. But circus company Svalbard are still sore about one of theirs from early 2016.

‘It’s the first thing when you type in All Genius All Idiot on Google,’ says Ben Smith (pictured left), when I meet the group in Berlin in May. ‘It’s like, “this show is shit”.’ The offending review (from The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner) dates back to an early performance at Jackson’s Lane in London, when Ben and his fellow Svalbardians – Tom Brand, Santiago Ruiz and John Simon Wiborn – had only just started touring their work. And they acknowledge that, at the time, it needed some tweaking.

‘To be honest, it wasn’t a very good show,’ admits Tom. ‘We didn’t do a very good job. We played it in Jackson’s Lane, it was very small for us. We were not used to small spaces at the time.’

Today, things are quite different. The international quartet – they met at circus school in Stockholm, but hail from Britain (Ben), Germany (Tom), Spain (Santi) and Sweden (Simon) – have spent the last two years travelling the world with All Genius All Idiot, refining and improving after every performance. I meet them in the German capital to chat about the show prior to its Edinburgh run; later that evening, they play to a packed house at the Berliner Festspiele and completely win over the audience with their mash-up of acrobatics, physical theatre, dance and music.

It feels almost like a club night.

Presented by Aurora Nova (who’ve brought the likes of Trygve Wakenshaw, Counting Sheep and Thomas Monckton to the festival in recent years), All Genius All Idiot is the kind of work the Fringe was born to showcase. An abstract look at love and masculinity, this highly physical performance is just as theatrical and musical as it is acrobatic, and features an original soundtrack composed and performed by Ben – though he’s keen to highlight the input of the whole team in its creation.

‘I knew all of these guys have different musical capabilities,’ he says. ‘I know that Simon can play the guitar super nice, then it was like, it would be really cool if Santi rapped in the show, Tom made a bass guitar . . . ’ ‘For sure, Ben is the musical brain behind the show,’ Tom adds, ‘but we’re also involved in the process.’ And their love of working together, and keenness to incorporate multiple visions, is a big part of what makes All Genius All Idiot interesting – not to mention chaotic. Throughout the show, the stage is littered with a mind-boggling array of objects and props, 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | All Genius All Idiot

among them a shopping trolley, a mask, rope, a bowl of water, Tom’s bass guitar, high heels, an antler crown and a good handful of glitter. It’s a delightfully weird party that often threatens to veer off course but is held together by the strong bond between these four talented performers.

‘It’s us describing a certain view on the philosophy of life that we all share,’ says Simon, nodding to the contradiction of the show’s title.

And it’s an apt one too: for all the show’s raucous, animalistic energy, it’s balanced out by moments of slow, thoughtful movement and exhibitions of great skill.

All of which is a testament to how hard this foursome work. ‘People don’t think about how much work we have to put in to be in the physical state to not injure ourselves during these shows,’ Tom says. ‘People don’t think about that we’ve gone through education for five years to be able to do this.’

And he’s approaching Edinburgh with caution: ‘I’m excited and I’m curious but I’m expecting it to be hard work. I’m not expecting it to be a pleasant month at all. I’d rather go in there with a bit of pessimism, rather than think it’s going to be fine. We’ve done Adelaide but it’s way easier than Edinburgh I think, from what I’ve heard.’

But despite the inevitable fears, Svalbard are approaching the month with the passion and dedication that makes All Genius All Idiot such an intriguing addition to the world of circus.

‘I want the people in Edinburgh to talk about us every single day,’ says Santi, ‘and that every single day the house is full. It’s not because I’m a proud person, it’s because we are hard workers.

But I want the work to pay off. It’s that simple.’

Assembly Roxy, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 7.30pm, £13–£15 (£11.50–£13.50).

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £9.

PHOTO: KATE PARDEY

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Martin Creed | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

‘I feel weird about calling things art: it’s pretentious’ With just a guitar and projector for company, acclaimed artist and musician Martin Creed headlines his very own festival show. David Pollock tries to ascertain exactly what his audience can expect

PHOTO: HUGO GLENDINNING

‘U

nless it’s completely improvised, a live performance is like saying that you’re predicting what’s going to happen in the future,’ says the Glasgowraised Turner Prize-winning artist and prolific musician Martin Creed. ‘I find that really artificial and against life. Basically, if you’re doing something and you’re with other people in a room, it’s like going out on a date and deciding what you’re going to say beforehand. It seems really stupid.’ All of which is shorthand for the fact he doesn’t know what will happen in his new Edinburgh International Festival residency, beyond what’s been revealed in the title: it’s called Words and Music, so he can safely say that both things will be involved.

If this all sounds somewhat vague, the audience will have to make a leap of faith based on Creed’s track record towards what the EIF trails as ‘an extraordinary encounter, a bit contemporary music hall, a bit art lecture’. It’s fair to say his art is iconic, with ‘Work No. 227: The lights going on and off’ making for a controversial Turner win in 2001 (the title described the work exactly), ‘Work No. 975: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT’ and ‘Work No. 1059: The Scotsman Steps’ now genuine Edinburgh landmarks. Meanwhile, ‘Work No. 1020: Ballet’ has been performed at Sadler’s Wells, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Traverse Theatre.

Meanwhile, he’s made music for two decades, working with Franz Ferdinand, releasing humorous and thoughtful indie-punk on Moshi Moshi (his debut double A-side for them inventively paired the tracks ‘Fuck Off’ and ‘Die’) and his own Telephone label. It’s upon these songs that he will fall back, he says, if the talking hits an impasse: asked to come up with something by EIF, this show will be based partly on his usual gig format, and partly on one of his talks. ‘That always felt weird to me,’ says Creed, ‘because talking about your work is different from work, obviously. Using words is a whole other thing in itself.’

The format will see Creed appear on his own with only a guitar and a projector screen, which he will use for live drawing and for showing video and photographs.

Broadly, he’ll be thinking about the difference between words and music, and how they are to one another what logical thought is to emotional feeling. ‘Every time I come to a new live show or an exhibition, I feel that I can’t remember what it’s like to do it, so the only way to do it is to do it. It’s a work in progress the whole time.

I just want to try and communicate with other people, that’s partly why I got into music and live shows: if you exhibit a painting, people are just seeing the bit left over at the end, the surface that is the finished thing. They’re not seeing all the different twists and turns and ideas that went into it, whereas a piece of music is the story of itself being made.’

Ask him whether he considers this show to be an artwork, and he audibly cringes.

‘I feel weird about calling things “art”,’ says Creed. ‘It’s pretentious. If you call it art you’re saying it’s important, and I don’t think it is. It’s important to me, but I don’t think it’s for me to decide what other people find important. I often find doing things in the world, like buying a pair of trousers or meeting someone I don’t like, more difficult than making a painting to put in an art gallery. So I wouldn’t distinguish between what might be called “ordinary” things and so-called “artworks”. If something is important to you then it’s important, and who cares if someone else wants to call it art? To me it’s just a matter of trying to live life and make it better, that’s all. But I feel like I’m talking too much now. And that’s a good time to play a song.’

Martin Creed’s Words and Music, The Studio, 5–27 Aug (not 8 & 9, 15, 21), 10.30pm, £20. Preview 4 Aug, £15.

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Meow Meow | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

Disney it ain’t. Gareth K Vile chats to cabaret star Meow Meow about her subversive take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid

PHOTO: PIA JOHNSON

T

he Little Mermaid might be best known to contemporary audiences through the 1989 animated Disney film. Cheerful and guileless, it reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale as a celebration of ‘love without boundaries’ in which the mermaid’s self-sacrifice brings love and happiness. This saccharine vision has little in common with either Andersen’s story or Meow Meow’s cabaret-inflected production, which engages with notions of love, perfection and self-mutilation without sentimentality.

With a full run during the Edinburgh International Festival, Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid marks both the ascension of Meow Meow and the power of theatre-inspired cabaret to take on serious issues without losing its charm and playfulness. With new songs from Amanda Palmer, Kate Miller-Heidke and lounge rock activist Thomas M Lauderdale from Pink Martini (Meow Meow calls them ‘my sirens’), this Little Mermaid is a journey into more troubled waters.

‘I haven’t seen the Disney version,’ she states. ‘Well, I’ve seen bits of it.’ This has clearly allowed Meow Meow to find her own interpretation of the mermaid’s adventure, and rescue the story from its twee associations. Entwining episodes from her own romantic life around Andersen’s tale, Meow Meow applies her exacting intellect to the mermaid’s quest for love, seeing her failure to seduce the prince and Andersen’s personal preoccupations as far more enticing. ‘I guess I am trying to do it from a post-structuralist point of view, that meaning is shifting all the time,’ she explains. Rather than drawing a trite conclusion about love’s dynamism, she recognises the anguish that comes from a belief in perfection.

Love in Hans Christian Andersen’s story is all about the chase after an ideal. ‘The mermaid falls in love with a statue from a shipwreck, something inanimate. Within the story, it is already clear that that this is not realistic,’ she explains. ‘But yet, it is also validated in Andersen’s story when she sees the statue made flesh, and she falls in love with the prince.’ This idealisation of the beloved – a theme that Meow Meow notes has a ‘long history going back to troubadours and courtly love in the Middle Ages’ – opens up a conversation about ‘the great divide between the image and the experience people are grappling with all the time’ and lends the fairytale a contemporary relevance.

Calling this production a morality tale for the social media generation doesn’t do justice to her playfulness or her lively, incisive thoughts on the mutability of perception. To that end, she shuttles between identifying Andersen’s ‘fear of becoming an adult and terror about perfection that it must involve self-mutilation and a lack of fulfillment’ and the modern dilemmas posed by Facebook and its insistence on presenting a version of life that is perfected and happy. Rather, Little Mermaid becomes a place for reflection, in which ideals of romantic love, spiritual beauty and sacrifice are measured against real experience.

She points out that, although the mermaid is firmly associated with romantic exoticism, the love she experiences leads her to exchange her voice to be able to walk on land, a striking metaphor for the exclusion of women’s experience. ‘She gives up the thing that defines her in order to dance for the prince and maybe win his love. But he has no comprehension that she loves him. She recognises that his true love is someone else and, in the end, rather than kill the prince to save herself, she throws herself overboard so he may have real happiness. There is a constant theme of self-sacrifice making her worthy.’

Andersen may have been expressing the Christian values of his time, but Meow Meow can see the parallels with today. The pressure of external influences, the need to chase ‘unreal visions of happiness and perfection, bodily and spiritually’ and present them on Facebook: ‘it’s propaganda!’ she concludes. Meanwhile, the traditions that defined love, the troubadours and poets have ‘turned into Hallmark cards and Valentine’s Day and the selling of love’ as a commodity. Not only is Meow Meow’s interpretation of The Little Mermaid ignoring its Disneyfication, it is a counterblast against simplistic materialism.

Nevertheless, Meow Meow’s discussion of the ideas behind the show does not take into account the witty, flirtatious and joyful energy that she brings to performance. Last year, in collaboration with Barry Humphries, she gave life to many banned numbers from Weimar cabaret, and her onstage presence – sensual and charming, emotional and virtuosic – lends these serious ideas her distinctive sense of fun and humour.

Her rise as an international star of cabaret and theatre comes from her ability to merge the seductive and the political, and the intimate with the intellectual: exactly the virtues that have made Weimar cabaret so influential in the past decade. Simultaneously escapist and drawing attention to the world outside, Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid exchanges the easy platitudes and sentimentality of Disney’s fairytales for an adult confrontation with changing ideals, without descending into moralising or misery. It’s a rare performance whose ambition matches its sensitivity and compassion.

Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid, The Hub, 5–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm (also 7.30pm on 12, 19, 26), £15–£32. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £12–£26.

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SUPPORTED BY

festival

FOOD & DRINK

Dram & Smoke

FEED THE WORLD Louise Stoddart rounds up some of our favourite food-themed festival events of the month

N RECOMMENDS . . .

REDBOX NOODLE BAR EDINBURGH

Build your dream noodle box, with your choice of meat, veg and all of the extras you can eat at Redbox. This cult favourite also offers snack boxes that pack a serious punch. redboxrestaurant.com

o longer are we forced to queue for a meagre handful of food vendors during August, only to be served a sloppy burger when we reach the front of the line. Now, there’s fierce competition between street food producers to get a space in the heart of the festival action and a great range of global cuisines to choose from. We’ve also seen an increasing number of pop-up food events, as well as comedy and theatre shows dedicated entirely to food and drink.

Here are some events to look out for this year if you’re constantly thinking about your next meal.

while Philip Contini and his Be Happy Band perform some classic Italian love songs live on stage.

EATING HOUSE AT THE MEETING HOUSE

PAOLOZZI @ THE ARCHES

Quaker Meeting House, 4–31 Aug Edinburgh Food Studio’s Ben Reade and Ian Wilson of Susie’s Diner are serving simple and affordable vegetarian dishes from their pop-up at The Meeting House this August.

Using foraged herbs, seasonal local vegetables and other organic ingredients, they’re offering veg bowls, soup, freshly baked cakes and coffee to thoses craving something healthy.

New Waverley Arches, 8–28 Aug Edinburgh Beer Factory’s Paolozzi Lager are setting up camp in the Waverley Arches this August. To keep us hydrated, they’ve invited along Stockbridge’s Smith and Gertrude and the Cocktail Kitchen as well as food stalls from The Pitt.

Paying homage to Eduardo Paolozzi’s many influences, there will be art displays to browse and they’ve got the Rag and Bone Barber Shop on hand to sort your hair out, too.

MOTHER’S RUIN: A CABARET ABOUT GIN Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21).

Previews 2–4 Aug An Australian theatrical cabaret in partnership with Four Pillars Gin and The Ginstress. A raucous journey through the history of gin, telling tales of New York speakeasies, the Australian Bush and Peruvian jungles. Guests receive a complimentary Four Pillars G&T to enjoy while watching the show.

DRAM & SMOKE The Campfire Feasts, The Biscuit Factory, 4–27 Aug; The Campfire Cocktails ExperienceThe Biscuit Factory, 5–27 Aug Edinburgh natives Paul Ross and Nick Fulton return to the Fringe after a sold-out run last year. This time, they’re offering two unique dining experiences: the Campfire Feasts and the Campfire Cocktails Experience, working closely with Talisker to celebrate the famous Isle of Skye distillery.

VIVA NAPOLI! DINNER AND SHOW Valvona & Crolla VinCaffe Ristorante, 13, 20, 27 Aug Enjoy a three course Neapolitan meal in Valvona and Crolla

TOASTED RADISH SUPPER CLUB The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, 12 Aug Popular Edinburgh supper club Toasted Radish pop up for one night during the Edinburgh Festival to celebrate the work of Sherlock Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Canapés are served before a three course meal, coffee and petit fours.

ETEAKET’S BREW-TASTIC SHOW Eteaket Rose Street, 3–27 Aug Eteaket aren’t giving too much away about their festival show, but expect tea facts, tea fiction, singing and a tour of the shop from Eteaket’s tea professor.

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COMEDY

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

THE CRAIG FERGUSON SHOW The man behind Bing Hitler is back among us after all these years plethora of festival names for shows that will be simultaneously broadcast to his SiriusXM Satellite Radio audience.

It was the outgoing Time Lord, Peter Capaldi, who helped coin Ferguson’s stage moniker, and in the late 80s / early 90s, being a comedy folk singer with a name like Bing Hitler was very much de rigueur at the Fringe.

For many people, the festival city will be unrecognisable from 1994, but for Craig Ferguson this should be an emotional homecoming, regardless of the surroundings.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 7–18 Aug (not 12 & 13), 10.45pm, £16.

PHOTO: MARO HAGOPIAN

It’s been over two decades since Craig Ferguson was last at the Edinburgh Fringe, and both he and the city have been through quite a lot of changes in that period. The venue at which he made an impact (Gilded Balloon on the Cowgate) burned down, while the capital has acquired an expensive parliament and tram system.

Mind you, an unpopular Tory government is in power, so maybe some things will feel exactly the same for this Cumbernauld boy who is now a household name in the States for his chat-show work. And it’s those skills as a host on the US late-night TV circuit that he will be utilising this August as he meets and greets a

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Hitlist

Brian Donaldson picks some comedy highs as the Fringe kicks off TAPE FACE Silence is truly golden in the hands of the artist formerly known as The Boy With Tape On His Face. This innovative best-of show should leave audiences speechless. See interview at list. co.uk/festival Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 9.40pm, £13–£17 (£12–£15.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

STEEN RASKOPOULOS For the intriguingly titled The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess, the Australian one-man sketch machine will be making his move for true glory this August. See feature, page 52.

Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50– £11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7.

SARA PASCOE LadsLadsLads marks the return of the Animal author, with expectations high that she can build on her Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination from 2014.

See vegan comedians feature, page 57. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

TRYGVE VS A BABY Another Kiwi silent guy is in town.

Trygve Wakenshaw follows up the Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated Nautilus by challenging his one-yearold son, Phineas, to see who’s the funny one in their family. It might seem like an unfair fight, but perhaps dad has got a small chance of victory . . .

See feature, page 20. Assembly Roxy, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 3pm, £11–£12.50 (£10–£11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8.

PHOTO: MATT CROCKETT

COMEDY HITLIST

Tape Face

AHIR SHAH In Control, the passionate political commentator (and writer of some splendid silly gags) has another poke at the ills of the world. And he has some stuff in there about milk. See Q&A, page 47. Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 3–27 Aug, 2pm, free.

KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN After a successful debut last year, the non-performing member of Gein’s Family Giftshop brings her own dark vision onto the stage with Appropriate Adult, a show about mentoring a vulnerable young person. See feature, page 54. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug, 8.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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Character Comedians | FESTIVAL COMEDY

The Pub Landlord

Y R O T C A F N O I T C THE FI When it comes to character comedy, it’s often hard to know what’s actually real and what’s totally made-up. Kirstyn Smith speaks to some practitioners of the craft at this year’s Fringe and measures them on a sliding scale of truth

I

f there’s a comedy character whose success and relevance taps ever-increasingly into Britain’s apparent insularity, it’s The Pub Landlord. A boisterous Little Englander, he’s been around for more than 20 years, hosting TV and radio shows, authoring four books, and even standing against Nigel Farage for South Thanet in the 2015 general election (where he accrued 318 votes). He’s a character whose fans can go either way: most grasping his xenophobia with the irony it deserves; a few skipping this altogether to read a real truth into what The Pub Landlord is touting.

Yet, Al Murray, the man behind the satire, has some issues with any notion of ‘truth telling’ in comedy. In an interview with The List earlier this year, he pointed out the apparent decrease in character comedians over the last decade or so, and a move towards truth-telling in comedy: ‘there was very much this idea about being truthful and that turned into having to talk about yourself. It was comedy as the confessional where you reveal something about you.’

Despite this feeling that recent comedians rely more on looking inward to tell their stories, the appeal of people taking on one particular mantle and wearing that for the entirety of a show is more popular than ever (at least, according to this year’s Fringe programme). As well as Murray, there’s Colin Hoult’s Anna Mann (who managed to rid the world of depression at last year’s Fringe and is turning her wrath upon the fascists this time), not to mention the enduring popularity of Simon Brodkin’s Lee Nelson and his FIFA-bothering Jason Bent.

Among the throng of character comedians in Edinburgh this August is Sarah Thom, whose Gillian Beak leads earnest acting workshops and masterclasses. ‘What I’m interested in is the truth / fiction blur,’ she says of Beak Speaks. Thom admits that although the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ thing is a bit of a cliché, when it comes to working on a character the concept rings more true than usual. ‘There are elements of truth in my show, but Gillian is definitely a character. I quite like it when people are thinking, “is this real or not?”’

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Anna Mann

Lee Nelson

Described as ‘the essence of the Fringe: she lives, eats and breathes Fringe’, Beak is based on some arch practitioners of ‘the craft’ that Thom has met through her years working in devised and alternative theatre.

But she freely admits that she’s taking the piss out of herself as much as anybody else: ‘some of the exercises I’m doing in the masterclass are things people have asked me to do over the years during daft auditions.’

While Thom’s inspiration can be gleaned from her time at the legendary Lecoq School in Paris (‘on my hands and knees trying to be a spider’), Simon Brodkin (Lee Nelson) is a few miles further from his ‘cheerful chav’ character. Brodkin uses fellow doctor-turned-comedian Harry Hill as an example of blurring the lines between not only characters and real people, but stand-up and character comedy, too. ‘That’s not his real name, that’s not how he talks or what he wears, yet people would argue that he is a straight stand-up comedian,’ states Brodkin.

‘Do straight stand-ups always tell the truth? No, because they’re trying to eke out a joke. I guess it’s a sliding scale of truth.’

Pointing out that people tend to believe what they’re presented with, Brodkin recalls some near misses he’s experienced while mistaken for ‘Lee Nelson’ (including being threatened with a knife while pretending to graffiti someone’s van), but doesn’t think this confusion is necessarily a bad thing. ‘I think it’s a compliment. I’ve always loved character comedy when you feel like you’re watching another person in front of you, rather than the performer behind the character.’

A great performer is not just drawing from their own personality to flesh-out a character, but is also able to address an audience without all eyes on the ‘real’ person. Despite having years of performing behind him, Michael Stranney (whose Daniel Duffy is a country bumpkin from rural Northern Ireland) was recently at a loss when asked to do a best man’s speech.

‘Paradoxically, it’s very much against the grain for me to stand up in front of an audience. I’m naturally quite awkward without the mask of a character, without those rhythms and beats. Having a character is a mask I can don that allows me to be funny.’

‘I’m naturally quite awkward without the mask of a character’

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28/07/2017 18:28

Character Comedians | FESTIVAL COMEDY

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Daniel Duffy

PHOTO: JAMES GREAVES

Christopher Bli ss

Gillian Beak

This is a common theme among the comedians we talked to, some of whom have tried straight stand-up and realised it wasn’t for them. Rob Carter has an established character called Christopher Bliss, an author who pens three novels a day and is also the shell for an exploration into an incompetent person’s overconfidence.

‘I’ve done stand-up, musical comedy and storytelling,’ says Carter.

‘But I’ve always just found it easiest to have a character or a guitar in front of me, something that other people would say I was using to “hide behind”. But I don’t really see it like that; it’s just an easier way to express myself.’

Besides this, another running theme from our character comedians is silliness, surreality and, ultimately, fun. Carter certainly takes his Fringe character to another level, finding joy in throwing himself entirely into Christopher Bliss by tending to Twitter and Facebook profiles dedicated to him, as well as having a mobile phone he uses throughout the Fringe on which members of the audience can call or text at any time.

‘I love the way a character develops around your Fringe show, and I love jumping into it. I love the idea that these characters are real, so I want people to think about Christopher outside of the show. With all the best characters, I think you imagine that they really do exist somewhere.’

Al Murray: The Pub Landlord’s Saloon, Assembly George Square Gardens, 17–27 Aug, 6.15pm, £19.50.

Colin Hoult / Anna Mann in How We Stop the Fascists, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

Beak Speaks, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 4pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Lee Nelson: Serious Joker, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14–16), 9.20pm, £16.50–£17.50 (£14.50–£15.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £14.

Michael Stranney: Welcome to Ballybeg, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–25 Aug, 6pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

Christopher Bliss: Writing Wrongs, Voodoo Rooms, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 2.55pm, free.

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VENUE 26

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2017

SUMMERHALL A VENUE LIKE NO OTHER...

PERFORMANCE National Theatre of Scotland - How to Act Grassmarket Projects - Doglife Sh!t Theatre - DollyWould Mamoru Iriguchi - Eaten … and many more …

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VISUAL ARTS

11-18:00 Exhibitions are free

Alastair MacLennan – Air A Lair Liliane Lijn – Early Events: Five Narrative Sculptures Richard Lees – This is Hull! Rock Against Racism … and many more …

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MUSIC

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16th - NEHH presents… Hinds 17th - NEHH presents… Lift To Experience 25th & 26th - NEHH presents… Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon … and many more …

FOOD AND DRINK The Royal Dick Summerhall Cafe ´ Rost ` Lov Mexican … and plenty more …

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Box Office

0131 560 1581

2 Aug - 27 Aug

www.summerhall.co.uk Photographer - "© SANAE MATSUZAKI"

46 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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28/07/2017 15:57

Ahir Shah | FESTIVAL COMEDY

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‘I’m worried about our willingness to normalise the abnormal’ Impassioned political comedian Ahir Shah has been storming the Fringe for a few years now.

In this Q&A he discusses Emo Philips, right-wing stand-ups and his tricksy gran Among many things, your new show tackles ‘freedom, fascism, complacency, complicity’. Can you tell us about the complacency bit?

When history is broadly going your way, it does feel easier to assume that while there may be blips here and there, ultimately you’re going to end up in the position that you envisage.

I certainly didn’t imagine a little while ago that I would find myself relitigating all the battles that my grandparents’ generation had to fight.

I’m worried that our willingness to normalise the abnormal and to basically say ‘that’s not going to happen here’ or ‘that’s not going to happen again’ just allows this thing to slowly sneak into the possibility of being. Constant vigilance is required to prevent the absolutely atrocious stuff from happening, though you’d like to think that the lessons were so clear last time. But we love making mistakes again, don’t we?

One regional organ dubbed you as a ‘pottymouthed political theorist’.

You fine with that?

Kind of, yeah. I don’t think I’m extraordinarily rude, it’s perhaps that the other political theorists are far too staid. Probably it’s more the fact that with a self-described ‘blue comedian’ you get desensitised to how much they’re swearing or talking about certain stuff. There’s a difference between hearing your mates swear and hearing your gran swear.

Do you have a swearing gran?

PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

I don’t have a swearing gran (she’d think that that was far too base), I have a very tricksy gran. She’s grown to accept my beard over time but when I first had it for a few months I remember she was going to give me a lovely hug and almost at the point of no return she recoiled backwards and told me to shave. I didn’t, but if she’d said ‘fucking shave!’ then I would have.

Do you like to see comedy that’s similar to yourself or do you avoid political stand-up like the plague?

Certain things are going to be universal: I can’t be shocked that another comedian has stuff about Brexit or Trump; even the nonpolitical ones who wouldn’t normally go anywhere near that kind of thing would have a couple of lines on it.

Nothing has ever made me laugh more than sitting through Emo Philips for an hour, delivering cracking one-liner after another. I love brilliant jokes and it doesn’t necessarily matter which format they’re coming at me from; it so happens that the format I do is the only one I’m capable of. I couldn’t write a whole show of one-liners to save my life but that doesn’t mean that I don’t dig them.

There is a vague upsurge in rightleaning comedy at this year’s Fringe. Are you likely to lurk at the back of Leo Kearse and Geoff Norcott’s shows and tut quietly or sit at the front and heckle loudly?

I know both of them and will go to see them out of professional interest.

At a preview, I got talking to a guy in the audience who worked on the Vote Leave campaign, was a card-carrying member of the Conservative party and had even gone over to America to volunteer for the Republicans for Mitt Romney, so even by British standards he was really out there. But we had a perfectly reasonable conversation about the show and he was saying that if you can’t laugh at yourself then who can you laugh at. What’s the point of closing yourself off from people who you disagree vehemently with?

OK, I’m not going to go to a show performed by an actual Nazi, but Leo and Geoff are just nice men who I disagree with on quite a few things.

Ahir Shah: Control, Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 3–27 Aug, 2pm, free. See more of this Q&A at list.co.uk/festival 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 47

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Sara Schaefer

BOXED IN Breaking free from her religious upbringing and escaping the shadow of Trump are central to a Fringe debut by Sara Schaefer. She tells Brian Donaldson about crazy chants, wishing that she was living in the future and keeping it silly

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uring her stint as co-host of MTV’s Nikki and Sara Live, US comedian Sara Schaefer experienced a heightened state of delirium when Justin Timberlake made an unannounced appearance on their couch.

It’s fair to say that while she might not be reaching those fevered upper limits of euphoria over her Fringe debut, Schaefer is still very much looking forward to the trip.

‘I’m really excited,’ she insists. ‘When I was first deciding if I wanted to do it this year, my manager and agent were almost trying to talk me out of it. They were like, “it’s going to be a very big commitment, and it’s going to be hard”. And I said, “OK, I hear you and I still want to do it”. I think they were just making sure that I understood how big a commitment it was. I’m mentally prepared if a little nervous, because . . . you never know.’

We’ve learned in recent times that ‘you never know’ has become a rock-solid mantra for us all. None more so than Americans such as Schaefer who were banking on the election of Hillary Clinton to save them from Trump. We all know how that one turned out, so it’s with a heavy heart that all American stand-ups must feel duty-bound to discuss their leader on almost every public platform they assume.

‘At this point Donald Trump has done enough to be impeached, but there has to be the political will to get him out of office and I don’t see that yet. The problem is that people want answers very quickly because the world moves really fast now, but investigations take a very long time. I can’t wait till we can fast-forward to the very well-acted, award-winning TV mini-series about all this. Over the last year we had the OJ Simpson documentary and the mini-series, which put something that happened over 20 years ago into such perspective that I’m like “oh right, that makes sense now: can we fast-forward to that and give away the Emmy awards?”’

While Schaefer admits that a portion of her show is Trump-related, a larger bulk is devoted to her religious upbringing in Midlothian (the one in Virginia, not the one orbiting Edinburgh, though it’s a coincidence

Schaefer is delighted to have noted). The title of her show, Little White Box, is concerned with an incident during that childhood rearing. ‘It’s part of a story I tell about something I did in church when I was growing up. I was raised in the Bible Belt, was very Christian, and “Little White Box” is the title of a chant they taught us. I won’t give too much away but I perform it in the show and it’s pretty crazy.’

As with a vast number of liberal-thinking people who have been religious during their early years, that Godfearin’ business tends to wane as they get older and wiser. ‘I don’t think I would say I’ve lost my faith, but I’ve certainly lost my faith in the church and organised religion as a whole,’ states Schaefer. ‘I question a lot of what the church has become in the United States, especially with the far-right Christians. I believe that Christianity made me liberal and I can’t understand that some people who grew up with me and who read the Bible and heard the same stories and sang the same weird chants ended up so ideologically different from me.’

An incident at her mother’s funeral a few years ago seemed to crystallise those thoughts in her head with the ‘platitudes and clichés and meaningless things we say to each other’ coming into stark focus on that sad day.

While there are a lot of serious themes in Little White Box (the press blurb cites her relationship with ‘Jesus, America and death’ as key), Schaefer is keen to ensure that jokes and comedy will ultimately win the day.

‘The show is exploring what it’s like to be in America right now in this climate and I’m asking: what is the core truth of it, what are we actually saying, what’s happening deep down and how do you go around in the world living what you believe and not being a hypocrite? It’s almost impossible to be pure but we demand it of each other in very unfair ways. This all sounds very serious but I will be keeping it pretty silly.’

Sara Schaefer: Little White Box, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £9.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£11.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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Sara Schaefer | FESTIVAL COMEDY

US OF HA! The Fringe’s stateside comedy community is further enhanced with this quintet of funny females

ANNIE SERTICH: HOW TO NOT KILL YOURSELF FOR 30 DAYS . . .

AND THE NEXT 330 A main member of the famed Groundlings improv theatre, Sertich brings us her acclaimed one-woman comic play about love and loss. She also played queen of ‘the chat and cut’ in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

If that means nothing to you, time to get on board, people. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 8.30pm, £9.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£11.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

CARMEN LYNCH: LYNCHED California-born, Spain-raised Lynch has been on Letterman and Conan and can perform comedy in two languages. Her UK debut covers death, religion, giraffes and scoliosis. Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3–27 Aug (not 15), 4pm, free.

ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN: NAMASTE, BITCHES Pretty much a bona fide Fringe veteran by now, the UK-based New Yorker is pondering about happiness this year. Are we better off on the treadmill or on the booze? Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 7.40pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

ARIELLE DUNDAS: VULVA CUPCAKE This Amsterdam-living US comic’s shtick is of the philosophical yet personal and silly but cerebral variety. Her second Fringe hour considers love, laughter and baked goods. Laughing Horse @ 48 Below, 3–27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 1.15pm, free.

MARIA SHEHATA: WISDOMLESS Compared to Janeane Garofalo, this Egyptian-American stand-up is admired by the diverse likes of Sainsbury’s bagcarrying Angelos Epithemiou and US rabblerouser Bill Burr. Find out if those two have actual wisdom. Just the Tonic at The Caves, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 8.20pm, £8–£10.

Preview 3 Aug, £6.

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PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

FESTIVAL COMEDY | Dave Johns & Chris McGlade

WE, DANIEL BLAKE Two stars from Ken Loach’s award-winning social realist drama are heading to Edinburgh for the first time in a long while. Murray Robertson hears from Dave Johns and Chris McGlade about their new lease of life

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critical smash and multiple award-winner (including the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes) for its damning portrayal of Britain’s welfare sanctions regime, I, Daniel Blake was such an important film to Ken Loach that he came out of retirement specially to make it. Two of the film’s actors are veteran comedians returning to this year’s Fringe with a show apiece: Dave Johns, who plays the titular role, and Chris McGlade who narrowly missed out on the lead and took on a smaller part.

Listening to Johns speak so exuberantly about the experience, his enthusiasm is infectious. ‘I’m 61 and I won best newcomer at the Empire film awards!’ he marvels. ‘I beat Tom Holland – the new Spider-Man – who’s 22! The awards have been just crazy.’ For someone who has been working so hard for such a long time (earning plaudits as a comedian, actor and playwright), Johns seems genuinely astonished that it’s all come together, particularly at his age. Before I, Daniel Blake arrived he considered winding things down.

‘The comedy circuit in England at the moment is not as vibrant as it used to be. A lot of the clubs have closed. Good comics will always work but it’s not as regular as it once was. I took my daughter to Scarborough and there were donkeys on the beach. I started talking to a bloke and I thought about running donkeys on the beach, working the summer. And I’ve done 30 years of stand-up! And then this Ken Loach film came out of the blue and it’s given me a new lease of life. Not only has the film changed people’s perception of the subject matter of austerity, poverty and food banks, but it’s also changed my life. It’s taken me to a place that I never expected to be.’

Thinking again about his first full stand-up show at the Edinburgh Fringe this millennium, Johns has a back-up plan if it doesn’t work out.

‘I think I’ve got a nice show and I’m going to have fun with it,’ he says.

‘But if it all goes tits-up I’ll go back to the donkeys: I’ve still got the licence application!’

Comedian Chris McGlade has long been driven by a fierce determination to combat social injustice. In 2004, he took a break from comedy to lead a lengthy and fractious campaign, opposing the construction of a large housing scheme earmarked for Redcar’s Coatham Enclosure. ‘We fought this corrupted scheme, won in the House of Lords and changed the law regarding open spaces,’ he explains. ‘We uncovered corruption and scattered them to the winds.’

On his first Fringe show since 2010, McGlade explains how he approaches global concerns with a local slant. ‘I talk about all the things going on in the world and the things I see going on in our country but I always try to put a Teesside perspective on things.

I called my show Infant Hercules because it appertains to the area where I’m from. William Gladstone came up to Middlesbrough in 1862 and said that it was the “infant Hercules”, like an industrial giant ready to wake up.’

McGlade compares this description of the area to former Chancellor George Osborne’s talk of a Northern Powerhouse. ‘When they closed our blast furnace in Redcar in 2015 I thought, well that’s a bit of a contradiction: they call us the Northern Powerhouse and they’ve gone and closed this blast furnace that had been open about 180 years. I’m proud of this area and I think we get done down. We’re always a poorer relation to the Geordies and the Mackems. It’s got lots of tragedy and lots of humour. I love the place.’

Dave Johns: I, Fillum Star, Pleasance Dome, 5–27 Aug (not 15, 22), 7pm, £12.50–£13.50 (£11.50–£12.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £9.50.

Chris McGlade: Infant Hercules, Just the Tonic at The Caves, 3–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 11pm, £5 (£4) or Pay What You Want.

See a longer version of this article at list.co.uk/festival

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Steen Raskopoulos

VOLUNTARY WORK ‘A lot of people have been worried about me’

PHOTO: ADAM HEDGECOE

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list.co.uk/festival

Steen Raskopoulos | FESTIVAL COMEDY

THE IN-CROWD No one need fear being enticed onto the stage of Steen Raskopoulos. This mercurial Australian tells Jay Richardson that his improvised sketch show comes from a place of love

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o completely does Steen Raskopoulos inhabit his creations that he sometimes gets stopped on the street. ‘I’ve been muttering to myself and not realised,’ the Australian admits. ‘When I’m constructing a character, I’m really in my head and not able to sleep until I’m satisfied with a voice or physical trait. I’ll be hunched while walking, just talking to myself, acting out the sketches. I look like a schizophrenic and a lot of people have been worried about me.’

The 30-year-old’s wife and friends accept it as part of his creative process. ‘But when I first started, they wanted me to get help.’ Raskopoulos was nervous before his first Edinburgh Fringe in 2014.

But he needn’t have worried as he secured a Best Newcomer nomination for his character-sketch improvised comedy, with crowds appreciating the good-natured, playful energy of his audience interaction. ‘I no longer need to explain that no one should be scared, that everything comes from a place of love and joy,’ he reckons as he approaches his third festival. ‘I also find the UK more accepting of what I do, just because there are more sketch and improv and amazing character comedians around, I guess.’

For his new show, The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess, he asks a ‘volunteer’ to engage him at the chequered board, while elsewhere he becomes a peculiar driving instructor, a grieving horse, and a human resources co-ordinator expressing himself through interpretive dance. His most popular characters serve the show, rather than the hour acting as a spotlight for them.

For the first time, there’s no return for Greek Orthodox priest and movie reviewer Yianni Kostopopoulo, but stoic schoolboy Timmy Zegamo is back. With a wavering voice Raskopoulos stole from family videos of his wife as a child, he won’t expand on what’s in store for the pathetic poppet, beyond suggesting that ‘it’s a nice resolution for a lot of stuff I’ve set up in previous shows.

It’s probably the darkest show I’ve written and the most narrative. With the ending, everything all loops together, which I find satisfying and hopefully the audience will as well. Tonally though, some bits are pretty, pretty grim.’

He’ll also be performing in The Bear Pack with his improv partner Carlo Ritchie. Raskopoulos appears in the Australian version of Whose Line Is it Anyway?, but this is a longer form improv format in which he and Ritchie simply elicit suggestions for a location and their characters’ occupations, then make the rest up. He likens these ‘yarns’ to the film The Princess Bride, in that one character will tell the story from say, a child’s bedroom, and they’ll keep ‘cutting away’ to perform it.

Urged to bring the show to Edinburgh by Sara Pascoe and Nish Kumar, it’s being produced by Liam Williams’ fledgling production company Fight in the Dog: ‘we’re excited to hopefully get a bit more exposure and it remains one of my favourite things to do in the world,’ he enthuses. Last year’s debut run of The Bear Pack was ‘draining’ but a ‘good boot camp’, he recalls. ‘We found out pretty quickly that we couldn’t get away with stuff that we usually can back home, so we had to really work hard. And I think we actually got better.’

Collaborating since 2012 when Raskopoulos taught improv in Sydney to his so-called protégé, he maintains that Ritchie is one of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet: a multi-linguist who’s written a children’s book in the Germanic language of Wymysorys, despite it only being spoken by approximately 70 pensioners in Poland.

The Bear Pack don’t rehearse or even warm-up beforehand and never go in with anything preconceived. They’ve become so intuitive as a double act that they invariably attempt to disrupt and destroy each other’s comfort zones.

‘You can see us testing each other,’ Raskopoulos reflects. ‘Whether it’s planning games within the show, trying to force the other to sing a German or Polish song or speak in poems and rhyming structures, we make it extremely difficult for each other. You line them up for an epic fail. But it’s very much tongue-in-cheek and ultimately supportive. Carlo, brilliant as he is, always succeeds and gets the biggest cheer of the night. I can’t explain how much trust I place in him as a performer and how much fun it is working with him.’

Steen Raskopoulos: The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–£11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7.

The Bear Pack, Underbelly Cowgate, 15–27 Aug (not 21), 10.40pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

For those who don’t recoil in horror at the thought of audience participation, perch yourself in the front row for this lot

SAM SIMMONS A-K This self-anointed ‘40-year-old dickhead’ will scatter his stage with props to be wielded on his throng. There may even be a chance to play badminton with the Aussie chap. Assembly George Square Studios, 11–27 Aug, 9.40pm, £14–£16 (£12–£14).

JAYDE ADAMS IS JAYDED Having nabbed a Best Newcomer nomination last year, Adams will be aiming to avoid the old second-album syndrome.

To that end, one section involves her being ‘very present’ with an unsuspecting member of the front row. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug, 9.30pm, £8–£12 (£7–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

NAZ OSMANOGLU: THE NAZ SHOW The WitTank guy’s show features Dita Schultz, a documentary filmmaker in search of truth. How far he will go to find the truth is down to his audience . . .

Just the Tonic at The Caves, 5–25 Aug (not 14), 2.45pm, £5. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £5 or Pay What You Want.

NICK HELM: MASTERWORKS IN PROGRESS Renowned for his up-close and personal style of sweat-inducing stand-up, Helm is in the intimate surroundings of the Cabaret Bar. Exactly 20 years ago this August as a mere student pup, he was taken up onto that very same stage by the mighty Al Murray. Pleasance Courtyard, 14–27 Aug, 5.20pm, £10.

CATRIONA KNOX: ADORABLE DEPLORABLE The former Boom Jennies member is promising a ‘no-holds barred, full tilt, silly interaction. Think Joyce Grenfell on acid: slightly unhinged but always well mannered.’ That’s good enough for us. Pleasance Dome, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 6.50pm, £8–£11 (£7–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Kiri Pritchard-McLean

HER DARK MATERIAL Serial killers, horror stories and black humour have all heavily influenced the comedy of Kiri PritchardMcLean. She tells Marissa Burgess that it’s all about revealing difficult truths

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PHOTO:KAYLA WREN

PHOTO: DREW FORSYTH

iri Pritchard-McLean is set to be pretty busy this Fringe. She’s performing her second solo show Appropriate Adult, acclaimed sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop (of which she is co-writer) are up for their third outing, and there’s a one-night performance with Jayde Adams of the witty homage to the musical in Amusical.

A mixed bag you might think, but one theme that will no doubt unite all of PritchardMcLean’s work is a dark sense of humour, one which is particularly highlighted in Gein’s. ‘People say to us “oh you’re really dark”: Jesus, you should see the stuff we throw out! We think we’re giving a really tempered version of what we do,’ she laughs.

Pritchard-McLean blames her Anglesey upbringing for that twisted sense of humour.

‘I think it’s because I grew up on a farm and you’re immediately confronted with pretty horrific things. When I was young, I read horror stories like Frankenstein and Dracula, and used to scare myself to sleep with them.’ But the influences are also there in the comedy she favoured. ‘The first comedy I got really excited about was the League of Gentlemen, but I used to really like Billy Connolly and Richard Pryor because it’s all difficult, hard, dark stuff. Something that reveals an uncomfortable truth is brilliant.’

Appropriate Adult will no doubt be filtered through those inspirations as she looks at the past year of her life. ‘It’s been a big one in that I broke up with my partner of eight years and decided I was going to adopt and not have children biologically.’

In the show, PritchardMcLean explores her discovery that she’s not the only one to favour adoption over biological parenting.

‘I thought I was weirdd that I didn’t want too op Gein’s Family Giftsh have kids biologicallyy n, but it’s really common, especially amongstt millennials.’

Preparing for adoption, she’s mentored and volunteered with disadvantaged children. ‘I think if you’re poor, you’re automatically vulnerable as there’s less in place to protect you. I’ve got an hour a week I can spare: we probably all have. It’s a no-brainer for me; why wouldn’t I turn up and take an interest in someone else outside of my friends and family?’

Pritchard-McLean’s socio-political awareness is also apparent in her All Killa No Filla podcast with fellow comic Rachel Fairburn. Though the pair have an interest in serial killers, there’s nothing salacious about their podcast and the gags certainly don’t make fun of the victims. What has emerged is how the killers’ actions are representative of attitudes and policy of the time. She cites the case of nurse Beverley Allitt who killed four children in her care. ‘At the time we had a Tory government and the hospitals were so under-staffed that you have a nurse who has no qualifications being taken on to look after kids who are really sick.’

Possibly less socially responsible will be the third outing for Gein’s. ‘That show is going to look very different this year in the aesthetic and the type of stuff we’re doing on stage. It’s an evolution and a revolution. Also we’re not coming back just for the sake of it.’

Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Appropriate Adult, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug, 8.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

Gein’s Family Giftshop: Volume 3, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug, 10.20pm, £8–£10.50 (£7–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

54 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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OUR 10th EDINBURGH FRINGE!

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‘Had me weeping with laughter… you absolutely have to go.’

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‘So polished, it defies belief.’

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EXTRA LATE NIGHT SHOWS 20 & 22 AT 11.20PM

WWW.PLEASANCE.CO.UK | 0131 556 6550

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15:57 28/07/2017 10:41

Vegan Comedians | FESTIVAL COMEDY

list.co.uk/festival

FOOD

FOR THOUGHT

Simon Amstell Jessica Fostekew

Debunking the myth that vegans are humourless evangelists, a number of Fringe comics are heading to Edinburgh in search of laughs and tofu. Claire Sawers hears from acts who are committed to standing up for animal rights

T

here’s an old joke. ‘How do you know if your friend is vegan?

Don’t worry, they’ll bloody tell you’. This year’s Fringe is brimming with comedians keen to explain why veganism is the best thing since sliced (possibly gluten-free, pumpkin-seeded) bread. And hopefully they’ll make it funny too.

Veganism has been trending hard recently, and earlier this year, Simon Amstell’s BBC mockumentary Carnage did an excellent job of pinning down the zeitgeist, with his very funny sci-fi look at an empathetic utopia, where people attend therapy groups to soothe guilty souls about their carnivorous pasts. Amstell’s enlightened interest in Buddhist ideas of compassion and inner-peace beams serenely through footage of pally marketing campaigns from Captain Birdseye, passionate sausage-waving from Jamie Oliver, and women turned on by eating yoghurt.

The new-agey tone fits brilliantly, and Amstell has a lot of fun taking the piss out of veganism’s smugger tropes, but the nods to spirituality hint at something deeper going on in certain areas of the growing vegan community.

Those who avoid eating things that once had faces often share some blissedout philosophies too.

Take ‘woke AF’ London stand-up Carl Donnelly, for example. During a period of intense unhappiness five years ago, Donnelly smoked the hallucinogen DMT (he’s not recommending it, he adds), but thanks it for changing how he looked at the world. ‘I know how strange it sounds but I’m so much happier now. I was dabbling in the esoteric, and my subconscious seemed to know that eating meat was making me miserable.’

So he swapped his nose-to-tail diet of offal, liver and hearts for one where he now cooks his own vegan ‘smoked salmon’ using carrots and seaweed. ‘I grew up in a council house and my family are proper meat and two veg. They assume I spend about 200 quid on vegan food, when actually I’m shopping down the Middle Eastern greengrocer, making 30 quids-worth of veg and pulses last all week.’

Being vegan seems to Donnelly like ‘a stamp on the middle-class passport’, which makes him cringe, but also gives him plenty material for his show.

Brooklyn comedian Julio Torres is also uncomfortable with veganism’s

Carl Donnelly

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Vegan Comedians

Julio Torres

bourgeois image. ‘In the States, there’s this assumption vegans are wealthy, Hollywood types who hang out in spas and gyms. Vegan restaurants are way more expensive too.’ The Saturday Night Live writer is more a cheap-bagel kind of guy (his local Bushwick deli now serves ‘The Julio’, his favourite of tofu cream cheese and vegetables), who also went vegan during an unhappy phase. ‘I didn’t have a job, I felt directionless and stressed. I wanted to clear my head and simplify. Part of the joy of being vegan is removing choice and thriving within limitations.’ The El Salvador-born comic says he’s never been religious, but veganism is his attempt to control the choices he makes and define his identity.

Learning what’s off-limits is quite an education. McCoy’s steak and chicken crisps are fine apparently, but vegetarian Percy Pigs, bananas and orange juice often contain parts from a sentient being. And that’s not even getting into the more hardcore territory of those who avoid laptops (made with animal glues), mattresses (containing silk spun by spiders) and fossil fuels (compressed dinosaurs).

Aware of the joyless stereotypes about vegans, comedian Sara Pascoe wants to debunk a few, with the following blurb on her website: ‘while some people can have preconceptions about what vegans are like (preachy, judgemental, angry, paper thin with no energy), it is the thing I like most about myself. And every day, I feel I do an incremental, very small piece of goodness.’ Frustrated by industrial farming and animal cruelty, Pascoe gently evangelises that full veganism is not essential for those who share similar feelings: ‘you must feel powerful, even if you simply start by having occasional vegetarian meals or something.’

Pascoe’s friend and fellow comedian Jessica Fostekew raves about feeling healthier since going vegan, but takes a flexible approach to it all. On holiday in France, she confesses, ‘there’s no way I’m going without cheese for a week.

I don’t react well to absolute rules. It doesn’t have to be rigid. But I find it exciting discovering all these amazing substitutes and delicious Thai, Mexican and Indian recipes.

Fake bacon is pretty rancid, but tofu has been relatively revelatory.’ Fostekew reckons the main moaners about veganism are, ‘bitter, grumpy, old white male comedians’ who don’t embrace change very easily.

Dave Chawner, a vegan comedian whose previous shows have dealt with masculinity, mental health and anorexia, says he wants to be ‘balls to the wall honest’ with his Fringe show, C’est La Vegan. ‘It’s hard to make it funny when you’re passionate and angry about the environment, or linking veganism to the Big Bang or existential philosophy, which I do. But actually, being vegan is really just about being open to improving yourself.’ Chawner admits it’s a tough lifestyle choice, summed up neatly by Romesh Ranganathan, who he was backstage with recently at Brighton’s Komedia club: ‘yeah man, it’s hard! Dairy is the shit!’

Thankfully for those comics heading to the Fringe, the consensus is that central Edinburgh has plenty good options for vegans these days with Hula, the Mosque Kitchen, Holy Cow and Jordan Valley all getting a thumbs-up.

Whether Fringe crowds will stomach this banquet of right-on comedy remains to be seen, but hopefully the vegans are about to convert carnivores to the idea that it’s not all puritanical stuff: vegans can have a GSOH too. Or as Amstell puts it, ‘I’m not an activist, I’m a clown’.

PHOTO: MATT CROCKETT

‘My subconscious seemed to know that eating meat was making me miserable’

Sara Pascoe Dave Chawner

Simon Amstell: Work in Progress, Pleasance Courtyard, 17–19 Aug, 11.20pm, £15.

Carl Donnelly: The Nutter on the Bus, Heroes @ Bob’s Blundabus, 3–27 Aug (not 9, 16), 7.30pm, £7 (£6) or Pay What You Want.

Julio Torres: My Favourite Shapes, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 5pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Sara Pascoe: LadsLadsLads, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

Jessica Fostekew: The Silence of the Nans, Just the Tonic at The Caves, 3–26 Aug (not 14), 4pm, £6 (£5) or Pay What You Want.

Dave Chawner: C’est La Vegan, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3–27 Aug (not 25), 7pm, free.

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70 THINGS TO SEE

BEFORE SEPTEMBER

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CO-PROMOTION

DISCOVER THEATRE | DANCE | PHYSICAL THEATRE KIDS SHOWS | CIRCUS Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO showcase some of the most exciting work at the Fringe – and 2017 looks set to be another great year.

To mark the Edinburgh Fringe’s 70th anniversary, we’ve picked out 70 essential shows to see before September. You’ll find new writing from award-winning theatre-makers, dazzling acrobatics from acclaimed circus troupes, shows for children that will entertain and educate, and unforgettable offerings from masters of dance and physical theatre.

Whether you want to challenge yourself and stray from your comfort zone or you’re looking for a fun show for all the family, you’ll discover it at Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO. So take your pick – and happy festival-ing!

BOX OFFICE pleasance.co.uk

summerhall.co.uk

zoofestival.co.uk

0131 556 6550

0131 560 1581

0131 662 6892

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CIRCUS

PLEASANCE THE PING-PONG BALL EFFECT Upsala Circus Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.30pm, £10.50–£13.50 (£9– £12.50). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £7.50.

Upsala Circus, St Petersburg’s legendary youth circus group, make their Fringe debut with a show centred around the unpredictable movements of the ping-pong ball. Founded 17 years ago, Upsala Circus regularly practice with more than 80 young people, and their circus tent in St Petersburg hosts over 15,000 visitors a year. The Ping-Pong Ball Effect is a highenergy fusion of circus skills, modern dance and clowning, with live music and an immersive soundscape.

CIRKOPOLIS Cirque Éloize Pleasance @ EICC, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 7.30pm (& 2.30pm on Sat), £12.50– £17.50 (£10–£14). Preview Fri 4 Aug, £10.

A staggering blend of circus, theatre and dance, Quebec’s Cirque Éloize transform

classic film Metropolis into a virtuosic spectacle for the whole family. Throughout the performance, a fantastical world emerges, piercing a monochrome cityscape with bold dashes of colour and poetry. Cirque Éloize have been celebrated across the world. Cirkopolis has travelled to over 30 countries, and in 2014 was the New York Drama Desk Award Winner for Unique Theatrical Experience.

SUMMERHALL NO SHOW Ellie Dubois Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 10, 21), 4.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £6.

No Show joyously and heartbreakingly reveals what lies hidden beneath the showmanship of the circus. Go behind the flawless smiles and perfect execution of the traditional circus and see the wobbles, the pain, and the real cost of aiming for perfection. This boundary-pushing show is created by Ellie Dubois, whose previous work at Summerhall, Ringside, was

PHOTO: PATRICK LAZIC

Cirkopolis Pleasance @ EICC

nominated for a Total Theatre Award for Circus in 2015, and was the winner of the Autopsy Award for experimental performance from The Arches and Summerhall 2014/15.

ZOO BATACCHIO Cirk La Putyka ZOO Southside, Sat 5–Sat 12 Aug, 6.30pm, £14 (£12). Preview Fri 4 Aug, £9.

Part of Czech Showcase, 2017. Awardwinning contemporary circus company Cirk La Putyka mixes breathtaking acrobatics, original music, magic tricks and unexpected illusions in a fantastical journey to the spectacular comedies of the 19th century. Expect a captivating fusion of styles, as Batacchio combines circus, dance and theatre with ventriloquism and stage magic. This will be Batacchio’s UK debut, but Cirk La Putyka’s third Edinburgh appearance following sellout seasons in 2011 (with the Total Theatre Award-nominated La Putyka) and 2015 (Dolls).

Presented by Aurora Nova.

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CO-PROMOTION

KIDS PLEASANCE THE LISTIES MAKE YOU LOL The Listies and Don’t Be Lonely Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sun 20 Aug, 12.30pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£8.50–£6.50). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.50.

Hilarious, messy and decidedly insane, Australia’s most sought after kidult comedians return to Edinburgh with a new show after their 2016 sellout, The Listies 6D (Twice as Good as 3D). Expect disgusting underpants, toilet paper guns and a whole heap of acronyms to do with laughing – ROFLSHABOWCO anyone?

Jihan’s Smile Summerhall

ME AND MY BEE ThisEgg and the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 15), 11.45am, £7.50–£10 (£6–£8.50). Previews, Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Climate change is massive. Bees aren’t. Multi awardwinning theatre company, ThisEgg, invites you to save the world – one bee at a time. A new comedy for children and adults alike. Plant the seed for change, join the Bee Party . . . before it’s too late.

ROALD DAHL’S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE Professor Tom Solomon Pleasance Courtyard, Wed 16–Wed 23 Aug, 11am, £7–£9 (£6–£8).

Join Roald Dahl’s doctor, Professor Tom Solomon, for a fascinating trip into the whoopsey-splunkers world of Dahl’s amazing medical inventions. Prof Solomon explains how our bodies work – and how we can fix them when they go wrong – through the wonderful world of Dahl’s stories. Perfect for fans of George’s Marvellous Medicine and Dahl’s quirky humour.

SMALL LACES Poco Town Kids Pleasance Courtyard, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 12.45pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews, Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

A mini pop concert for mini humans. Small Laces is a brand new kid’s band made up of musical comedians, playing the guitar, keyboard, ukulele and cajon. They’ll be singing a host of new tunes from a child’s point of view, about everything from seeing your teacher in the supermarket to the gender-labelling of the colour pink. Fronted by Lorna Shaw (The Midnight Beast, Newsjack).

SUMMERHALL JIHAN’S SMILE Al-Harah Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 13 Aug (not 7), 10.15am, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £8.

Performed in Arabic with English surtitles. Jihan is an ordinary child who woke up one day to discover that she had lost her smile. The sun set, the moon disappeared, everything lost its colour, cold spread

Small Laces Pleasance Courtyard

throughout the town and the people got sick.

Everyone is waiting for Jihan’s smile to come back.

Al-Harah is based in the West Bank in Palestine and is one of the region’s longest-running theatre companies. Based on a play by Karim Alrawi, former director of Theatre Royal Stratford East.

A STRANGE NEW SPACE Tessa Bide Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 10.45am, £8 (£6). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £5.

Amira dreams of becoming an astronaut – then one day, she has to pack her bag for the

intergalactic trip that she’s been waiting for . . . A Strange New Space is an imaginary voyage into space, paralleled with Amira’s real life journey as a refugee. This is a non-verbal, physical show for the whole family using puppetry and original music, from the creator of 2015’s hit kids show The Tap Dancing Mermaid. Recommended for ages 4+ but all ages welcome.

NOTHING Teater V Summerhall, Wed 2–Sun 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21, 22), 9.50am, £10 (£8).

The critically acclaimed stage version of Janne Teller’s award-winning, existential young adult novel about 13-year-old Pierre-Anthon who one day declares that there is no meaning to life. From Copenhagen’s Teater V.

ZOO ALADDIN Burklyn Ballet Theatre ZOO Southside, Fri 11–Sat 19 Aug, 11am, £10 (£8).

Experience the tale of Aladdin and his lamp, told through ballet in just one hour. Vermont-based Burklyn Ballet Theatre have been travelling to the Edinburgh Fringe since 1995, giving young dancers a chance to explore the world’s largest arts festival for nine days every summer.

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DANCE

& PHYSICAL THEATRE PLEASANCE

PHOTO: VIKTOR KRONBAUER

REQUIEM FOR ALEPPO Requiem For Aleppo Pleasance @ EICC, Wed 16 Aug, 7.30pm, £15 (£10), show & afterparty £30 (£25).

Following its sold-out premiere at Sadler’s Wells this spring, Requiem for Aleppo comes to the Fringe for one-night only, featuring 12 dancers from across the world. Composed by David Cazalet and choreographed by Jason Mabana, the movement is set to choral music interspersed with real life testimonies from Aleppo. The Edinburgh show will feature Jacob O’Donnell, BBC Dancer of the Year 2015.

GOSSIP Czech company warn against the dangers of unconsidered words through dance

L

enka Vágnerová’s return to the Fringe after her success in 2015 with La Loba uses choreography and puppetry to explore a familiar, if unpleasant idea. ‘Gossips are a cross-cultural phenomenon of humanity since the early days,’ she says. ‘Yet it is connected with only a single being on the planet – the human.’ The Prague-based choreographer has always addressed serious matters, examining the problems of human existence through her distinctive style, evoking the power of visual art alongside a visceral urgency. With Gossip, which comes to the Fringe this year as part of the Czech Showcase at ZOO, she has found a subject that matches her physical theatricality.

‘People are hungry for sensations or out of the ordinary information about others,’ she notes.

From this notion, Gossip becomes a layered study of a universal vice, and how it can destroy through a single word.

She continues: ‘Gossip’s power can be more harmful than physical abuse: it can result in amusement but also a tragedy.’ Recognising the internet’s ability to spread gossip with ‘speed and guile’, she took the way it impacts on a specific person to develop the movement vocabulary for the performance.

‘Dance and the body have a gift of envisioning almost everything,’ she explains. With five performers on stage, caught up in a party environment, Vágnerová examines how ‘gossip is altered quickly and innocent information can easily turn into a monstrous defamation. It may even become an unstoppable avalanche.’ With Vágnerová’s belief in the potential of dance to communicate complex ideas, and the precision of her dancers and choreography, Gossip promises to be an incisive journey into human psychology. (Gareth K Vile) ZOO Southside, Fri 4–Tue 15 Aug (not 9), 8.30pm, £14 (£12).

THE DREAMER Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre in association with Gecko Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Tue 15 Aug (not 9), 1.30pm, £11.50–£14.50 (£9.50–£13).

Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £8.

The Dreamer is inspired by two 16th-century works: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Peony Pavilion, a play by Shakespeare’s Chinese contemporary, Tang Xianzu. This new work from Gecko blends visual storytelling, strong movement, and a captivating soundscape to interpret these well-known stories, performed by a Chinese cast. Created

by Gecko’s associate director Rich Rusk and devising performer Chris Evans (Gecko’s The Overcoat, Missing, Institute, The Time of Your Life, The Wedding). Part of British Council’s 2016 Shakespeare Lives programme.

LAST CLOWN ON EARTH Derevo Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.40pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £8.

Multi award-winning Russian physical theatre company Derevo (Once . . ., Mephisto Waltz) return with their latest show, this time taking on the classic figure of ‘the clown’. Celebrated performer Anton Adasinksy, takes on the tragicomic icon, exploring the clown through a mix of mime, butoh, visuals and sound.

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CO-PROMOTION

PLAN B FOR UTOPIA Joan Clevillé Dance Pleasance Courtyard, Mon 21–Sun 27 Aug, 10.30am, £12 (£10).

This stunning show debuted at the Fringe in 2015.

Now, Dundee-based Joan Clevillé Dance – one of Scotland’s hottest emerging dance companies – returns to the festival with Plan B for Utopia, a show that mixes dance, humour, storytelling and theatre to explore life and friendship.

SUMMERHALL 5 SOLDIERS Rosie Kay Dance Company Army @ The Fringe in Association with Summerhall, Fri 11–Sat 26 Aug (not 14, 15, 21, 22), 8.30pm, £12 (£10).

This impressive work from Rosie Kay Dance Company premiered at Glasgow’s Tramway in 2016. Kay spent time with an infantry regiment as part of her research for the piece, which uses dance to show a microcosm of life in the Army.

Performed in a real life Army Reserve Centre and presented in association with The Army.

BORDER TALES Luca Silvestrini’s Protein, presented by The Place Summerhall, Tue 8–Sat 26 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.40pm, £13 (£11). Previews Fri 4–Sun 6 Aug, £11 (£9).

Border Tales looks at post-Brexit Britain seen

through the eyes of an international cast and gazes satirically on stereotypical thinking about migrant outsiders and bigoted homelanders.

Commissioned by Bath Dance, ICIA Bath, DanceEast, DanceXchange, Dance Manchester, The Place.

ROSALIND James Cousins Company, presented by The Place Summerhall, Tue 8–Sat 26 Aug (not 14, 21), 4.30pm, £13 (£11). Previews Fri 4–Sun 6 Aug, £11 (£9).

Acclaimed choreographer James Cousins takes one of Shakespeare’s most admired heroines, Rosalind from As You Like It, and questions whether women still need to be seen to shed their femininity to gain equality in today’s world.

Commissioned by the British Council as part of Shakespeare Lives. Co-commissioned by Arts Council Korea, The Place and Tramway, Glasgow.

TAIWAN SEASON: HEART OF DARKNESS Sun Son Theatre Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Wed 3 & Thu 4 Aug, £6.

Inspired by choreographer Pei-Fen Low’s grandmother, Heart of Darkness explores the way that human existence dwindles as time progresses. Taipei-based Sun Son Theatre’s show features dance, music, imagery and symbolic objects alongside traditional and folk elements, to

explore a woman’s journey through life. Founded in 1998, Sun Son Theatre fuses classic and modern aesthetics to create work that is free from racial and cultural boundaries.

VELVET PETAL: BEDROOM Scottish Dance Theatre Summerhall, Thu 17–Sun 27 Aug (not 21, 22), 1.15pm, £10 (£8).

Velvet Petal is inspired by the life-cycle of the monarch butterfly and Robert Mapplethorpe’s polaroids, and is set to a fresh dance punk score.

Dundee-based Scottish Dance Theatre recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, and this show – which comes to the Fringe off the back of a successful Scottish tour – is choreographed by its artistic director Fleur Darkin. Part of Made in Scotland 2017.

ZOO THE VERY IMPORTANT CHILD The Mostly Everything People ZOO, Sun 6–Mon 28 Aug (not 7, 14, 21, 25, 26), 9.35pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 4 & Sat 5 Aug, £6.

A lecture about conflict and Jane Loevinger’s theory of ego development goes bad. Explosive, poetic, comedic contemporary theatre for grownup babies of all ages, directed by Jennifer Fletcher and Christopher Preece (Emerging Artists 2015 at Canada Water Culture Space). With a variety of props and intricate sound design, The Very The Narrator ZOO Southside

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Important Child brings together, comedy, music and movement.

FAGIN’S TWIST Avant Garde Dance Company, presented

by The Place ZOO Southside, Sun 20–Sun 27 Aug, 1pm, £13 (£11).

A contemporary hip hop reimagining of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, telling the early story of one of the writer’s most iconic characters.

Choreographer Tony Adigun shows us Fagin in his youth, corrupted by greed and worn down by poverty. Commissioned by Theatre Bristol, East London Dance, Pavilion Dance South West, DanceEast and The Place. Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017.

CAITLIN Light Ladd and Emberton ZOO Lauriston Halls, Wed 23–Sat 26 Aug, noon (& 6.30pm on Fri 24 only), £14 (£12).

A dance show based on the life of Caitlin, the wife of poet Dylan Thomas. With only 20 people per show, the audience are seated in a circle as Caitlin tells the story of her tempestuous marriage through movement. Best Dance Production, Wales Theatre Awards 2015. Part of British Council Showcase, 2017.

PHOTO: BRIAN HARTLEY

Velvet Petal: Bedroom Summerhall

THE NARRATOR Spitfire Company ZOO Southside, Mon 14–Sun 27 Aug (not 16, 17, 20–22, 24), 5pm, £14 (£12).

French dancer and singer Cécile Da Costa dances, sings and undergoes extreme physical strain in order to tell her intimate story. Awardwinning Spitfire return with this show about strong women, with live musisc from Jan Šikl.

Part of Czech Showcase, 2017.

ONE STEP BEFORE THE FALL Spitfire Company & Damúza ZOO Southside, Wed 16–Thu 24 Aug (not 18, 19, 23), 5pm, £14 (£12).

Following a worldwide tour, this production from Spitfire Company, in association with Damúza Theater comes back to the Fringe.

Inspired by Muhammed Ali’s fight against Parkinson’s disease, performed by dancer Markéta Vacovská and singer Lenka Dusilová.

Part of Czech Showcase, 2017.

FOLK National Dance Company Wales ZOO Southside, Sun 20–Fri 25 Aug (not 21, 24), 3.30pm, £12 (£10).

NDCWales bring artistic director Caroline Finn’s award-winning, darkly comic Folk to the Fringe.

Inspired by 17th and 18th-century oil paintings, Folk is told in Finn’s characteristically energetic style. Exploring themes of social dynamics, familiar and surreal scenes and characters come alive in an enchanting landscape. Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017.

PROCESS DAY Scottish Dance Theatre ZOO Southside, Tue 22–Sat 26 Aug, 7pm, £12 (£10).

Award-winning duo Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar have created numerous critically acclaimed works for world-class companies including Batsheva Dance, Nederlands Dans Theater and Carte Blanche. This work is inspired by club culture and is part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017 and Made in Scotland 2017.

GOSSIP Lenka Vagnerova and Company ZOO Southside, Fri 4–Tue 15 Aug (not 9), 8.30pm, £14 (£12).

Part of Czech Showcase, 2017. See preview, page 63. #JESUIS Aakash Odedra Limited ZOO Southside, Wed 16–Sat 26 Aug, 8.30pm, £14 (£12).

Renowned British dancer Aakash Odedra comes to the Fringe with his first group work, #JeSuis.

Starring seven dancers from Turkey, #JeSuis tackles how the media influences the way we see the world, touching on themes of displacement, refuge and instability. Featuring a score by Odedra’s long-term collaborator Nicki Wells.

PHOTO: M. ZAKRZEWSKI

Wind-Up ZOO Southside

TUTUMUCKY Scottish Dance Theatre ZOO Southside, Wed 16–Sun 20 Aug, 7pm, £12 (£10).

Choreographed by Botis Seva, TuTuMucky explores how we’re shaped by the chaotic world around us, experimenting with classical music and hip hop and featuring ballet, contemporary and hip hop techniques. Set to an original musical backdrop by beat producer Torben Lars Sylvest. Part of Made in Scotland 2017.

WIND-UP 420PEOPLE ZOO Southside, Thu 10–Sat 19 Aug, 3.20pm, £14 (£12).

Inspired by energy’s accumulation and explosion, Prague’s 420PEOPLE promises a production full of dynamic music and movement. In collaboration with musician Amos Ben-Tal, choreographer Václav Kuneš and his company 420PEOPLE deliver an energetic dance performance. Part of Czech Showcase, 2017.

YOU ARE NOT THE ONE WHO SHALL LIVE LONG DOT504 ZOO Southside, Sun 13–Sat 19 Aug, 1.20pm, £14 (£12).

Czech dance company Dot504 focus on the obsession with satisfying our needs, whether it is love, sex or money. The show’s concept and choreography come from Jozef Frucek & Linda Kapetanea of dance company RootLessRoot.

Part of Czech Showcase, 2017.

Festival 17 PLEASANCE, SUMMERHALL &Z ZOO BROCHURE 65 Festival Fes estiv es tit al a 17 1 7 PLE P PL PLEASANCE, LEAS ASA S NCE CE, SU CE SUM SUMMERHALL UM U MME MMER MER ERHAL HAL LL & ZOO OO O BROCH B BR BROCHURE ROC OCH OCH CHURE URE 65 UR 6

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CO-PROMOTION

THEATRE PLEASANCE CATHY Cardboard Citizens Pleasance Dome, Fri 4–Sat 26 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 3.30pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £6.50.

Inspired by Ken Loach’s groundbreaking film, Cathy Come Home, Ali Taylor’s new drama imagines a Cathy for the 21st century, looking at how homelessness and housing issues would affect her today. Cardboard Citizens is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and this year comes to the Fringe for the first time. Audiences will be invited to discuss how housing and homelessness should be tackled.

ODYSSEY Theatre Ad Infinitum Pleasance Dome, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 1.15pm, £10.50–£13.50 (£9–£12). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £7.50.

It’s toured the world for eight years. Now, Theatre Ad Infinitum’s award-winning reimagining of Homer’s epic is back at the Fringe. Their Odyssey features just one actor (George Mann), and is told over one hour. Theatre Ad Infinitum’s past festival hits include Translunar Paradise (back again this year) and Light.

ANCIENT SHRINES AND HALF TRUTHS Interactive and immersive theatre from New Zealand’s Binge Culture

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ew Zealand’s Binge Culture have been making performance mischief since 2008: with three shows at the Fringe, their range of interests and styles is well represented, without being easily labelled. Ancient Shrines and Half Truths is an immersive stroll that begins in Summerhall’s courtyard and, via a user-triggered app interface, acts as an unofficial audio tour of Edinburgh.

Joel Baxendale is sardonic about his inspiration: ‘AirBnB’s slogan “Belong Anywhere” encapsulates the sense of entitlement supposedly ‘woke’ global travellers tend to exhibit.’

He remains cynical about such ‘enlightened’ tourism, ‘this idea that you deserve to be able to consume someone else’s culture with total disregard for how this impacts actual locals as opposed to the five-minute locals these travellers imagine themselves as.’

This sense of caustic engagement with cultural assumptions reflects Binge Culture’s practice, but the use of app technology makes Ancient Shrines unique within their Fringe offerings. However, Baxendale says, ‘all our work interrogates the role the audience has to play, and we always use humour to investigate serious subjects and try to be playful with that, so in those respects, this show fits in completely.’

While the listener is free to respond to the audio guide, the guiding voices are both instructive and teasing, with live performers added into the experience, making it clear that this is no simple official history. While Ancient Shrines is fun – encouraging daft actions by the audience and performers – it subverts assumptions about how culture is merely another delight to be consumed. (Gareth K Vile)

Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug, 3.15 & 6.15pm, £11 (£9). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, 3.15pm, £9 (£8).

SUSPICIOUS MINDS Tom Fowler and the Pleasance Pleasance Dome, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 16), 5.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

This new dark romantic comedy written by Tom Fowler follows Mark and Fran as they try to fix their relationship. Told in the style of radio-theatre with live foley sound effects, Suspicious Minds was shortlisted for the 2017 Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund. A Pleasance co–production, developed at the Battersea Arts Centre.

CONFABULATION Eamonn Fleming in association with LittleMighty Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 1.40pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £7.

Eamonn Fleming goes from Motorhead to memory research in this funny and surprising play about not being able to trust a single thing that you remember from your past.

CURSE OF CRANHOLME ABBEY Young Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sat 19 Aug, 3.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Preview Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Young Pleasance presents a tale of intrigue and horror as the past and present collide. Young Pleasance is part of Pleasance Futures, the Pleasance Theatre Trust’s initiative to provide a platform for new talent and ideas. This year, the company celebrates its 22nd anniversary.

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GIRLS Talawa Theatre Company, HighTide and Soho Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Tue 22–Sun 27 Aug, noon, £11–12 (£9.50–£10.50).

Teresa Ikoko’s play tells the tale of three young friends kidnapped in Nigeria, and explores the stories behind forgotten headlines. Ikoko works with young violent offenders and young women affected by violence, and Girls is the winner of the George Devine Award (2016), the Alfred Fagon Award (2015), and was shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award (2015).

Part of British Council Showcase 2017.

Odyssey Pleasance

KAFKA AND SON Theaturtle, Threshold, Richard Jordan Productions in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 15, 16), 11.40am, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Winner of Outstanding Production at the Prague, Canada, Germany, and South African Theatre Awards, and a five–star, sell–out hit on four continents. At age 36, Franz Kafka wrote a monumental letter to his overbearing father that would change the course of his life and fiction forever. A blistering, often hilarious dissection of domestic authority, Kafka and Son is a revelatory visit with one of the architects of the modern psyche.

MONSTER Worklight Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 16), 3.15pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Monster is a thrilling new performance about violence and masculinity, from the internationally acclaimed Worklight Theatre. Written and performed by Joe Sellman–Leava, a Fringe First winner for acclaimed play Labels.

THE NATURE OF FORGETTING Theatre Re Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 14), noon, £10.50–£12.50. Previews Thu 3 & Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Following a sell–out run at the 2017 London International Mime Festival, Theatre Re presents a powerful piece about what is left when memory and recollection are gone.

Tom is 55, today. As he dresses for his party, tangled threads of disappearing memories spark him into life. Directed by Guillaume Pigé and developed in collaboration with UCL Neuroscience Professor Kate Jeffery. Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017.

A SUPER HAPPY STORY (ABOUT FEELING SUPER SAD) Silent Uproar in association with LittleMighty Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 2.20pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £7.

Written by Jon Brittain (Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho) with music by Matthew Floyd Jones (Frisky and Mannish), this cabaret musical about depression mixes storytelling, live music and sketch comedy as it tells the story of Sally and how she deals with her mental health.

WHEN WE RAN Patch of Blue in association with Greenwich Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug (not 14), 2.55pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

Two sisters escape the commune they’ve grown up in, and discover the world that surrounds them. Storytelling with original songs from the creators of We Live By the Sea, the awardwinning Patch of Blue. In the past, the company have received the Grahame F Smith Peace Foundation Award for promoting human rights through theatre, as well as the Best Theatre and Critics Choice awards at the Adelaide Festival.

YVETTE China Plate presents Urielle Klein– Mekongo Pleasance Courtyard, Sat 5–Thu 24 Aug (not 14), 2.15pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

A one–woman coming-of-age story about a stolen childhood and growing up with a secret, featuring original music. Yvette has a script from East 15 graduate Urielle Klein-Mekongo and is directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord.

Winner Young Harts Audience Favourite, Stella Wilkie Award; East15 Pulse Award 2017.

Commissioned by Bernie Grant Arts Centre in association with Hull 2017.

FLESH AND BONE Unpolished Theatre

Pleasance Dome, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug, 4pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews

Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

See preview, page 69.

SUMMERHALL A GIRL AND A GUN Louise Orwin Summerhall, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 7, 14, 21), 6pm, £10 (£7). Previews Wed 2 & Fri 4 Aug, £5.

This is a show about girls and guns. A woman and an unprepared male performer to take to the stage and play out a film script in front of you.

Louise Orwin’s acclaimed show explores what the difference might be in watching something on screen and experiencing something live, and questions what makes the match-up of guns and entertainment so attractive.

ANCIENT SHRINES AND HALF TRUTHS Binge Culture

Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug, 3.15 & 6.15pm, £11 (£9). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, 3.15pm, £9 (£8).

See preview, page 66.

THE NORTH! THE NORTH! Christopher Harrisson Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 14), 5.50pm, £11 (£10). Preview Wed 2 Aug, £6.

The writer of Fringe sell–out 64 Squares returns with a piece full of physical storytelling and animation. Christopher Harrisson’s new work is set against the backdrop of post-Brexit Britain and the rise of extremism, and plays as a graphic novel brought to life on stage.

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CO-PROMOTION

BOX CLEVER nabokov and The Marlowe Roundabout @ Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 4.40pm, £11–£13 (£9–£11).

Moving, truthful and darkly comic, Box Clever by nabokov’s associate-playwright Monsay Whitney, with music performed by Avi Simmons, is a new play about one woman’s experience of a refuge and a mother’s commitment to do the best for her daughter.

theatre with low-risk speed dating. Starting out with a comedy about romantic encounters (two shows play on alternating nights), the performance opens into an interactive experience so audiences can find a (potentially romantic) encounter of their own. Written by prolific Finnish screenwriter John Lundsten, and directed by Julian Garner. Part of the Start to Finnish showcase.

instability with the looming threat of civil unrest, Hassan Abulrazzak’s play presents a trio of stories: Love in the Time of Barriers focuses on a Palestinian actor; Level 42 on a young man in Bradford jailed on suspicion of terrorism; and The Apple on a disenfranchised young man in London. Part of the Arab Arts Focus Edinburgh Showcase.

THE CLASS PROJECT Rebecca Atkinson–Lord Summerhall, Thu 17–Sun 27 Aug (not 21), 8.40pm, £12 (£10). Previews Tue 15 & Wed 16, £10 (£8).

This is a show about belonging. About tribes and families. About the place you belong because you were born there and the places you change yourself to try and belong in. A new work from Rebecca Atkinson-Lord.

£¥€$ (LIES) – ONTROEREND GOED Big in Belgium, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit, Richard Jordan Productions Summerhall, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 6.30pm & 8.30pm, £14 (£12). Preview Fri 4 Aug, £10.

Ontroerend Goed invites you to get under the skin of the well–to–do, the 1%, the super rich, the ones who pull the strings, the faces we never get to see. From the company behind Fringe sensations, Internal, Fight Night, A Game of You and last year’s Fringe First-winning World Without Us.

DATES – AT THE SPEED OF SOUND! Ace–Production / From Start to Finnish Summerhall, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 14, 21), 7.45pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 2 & Fri 4 Aug, £8 (£6).

This show from Helsinki blends high-energy

LOVE, BOMBS AND APPLES AIK Productions / Turtle Key Arts Summerhall, Sat 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 1.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £8.

Set against the backdrop of worldwide political

(I COULD GO ON SINGING) OVER THE RAINBOW FK Alexander with Okishima Island Tourist Association Summerhall, Fri 11–Sun 27 Aug (not 13–15, 18, 21, 22, 25), 8pm, £10 (£8).

FK Alexander returns with her Total Theatre Award-winning sell-out 2016 show. Singing live to the recording of the last time Judy Garland sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ against a wall of noise, (I Could Go On Singing) Over the Rainbow is an intimate experience for a small audience to stand hand-in-hand with the performer. With live accompaniment from Glasgow–based noise band Okishima Island Tourist Association. Part of Made in Scotland 2017.

(I Could Go On Singing) Over The Rainbow Summerhall

LISTS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD fanSHEN Summerhall, Fri 5–Sun 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 1.45pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 2 & Thu 3 Aug, £8.

Lists . . . is a show composed entirely of crowdsourced lists. Over 200 people to date have contributed to fanSHEN’s show, which promises an uplifting experience, connecting audiences of diverse interests and ages through the power of a good list. 2016 Live Lab bursary winner; co–commissioned by ARC. MOUTHPIECE Quote Unquote Collective / Why Not Theatre / Aurora Nova CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 18, 22, 25), 3.30pm, £10 (£8). Preview Thu 3 Aug, £8.

The critically acclaimed, multi award–winning Mouthpiece makes its UK premiere. Created and performed by Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken, the show explores the inner conflict that exists within a modern woman’s head. Following its North American tour, Mouthpiece found a high-profile champion in Hollywood actress Jodie Foster, who said the show left her ‘speechless’.

WORKSHY Katy Baird Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 9, 16, 21), 9.10pm, £12 (£9). Preview Wed 2 Aug, £9 (£7).

Looking through the lens of labour, Workshy is a powerful and honest portrayal of the relationship between class and aspiration.

Glasgow-born, London-based activist Katy Baird has spent the last 20 years working in various jobs, from Burger King to Butlins – and most recently as an artist and arts administrator. Here, she presents a history of her employment life, with added disco music.

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PHOTO: HEATHER PASFIELD

salt.

Selina Thompson Ltd Northern Stage at Summerhall, Mon 7–Sat 26 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 2.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews Sat 5 & Sun 6 Aug, £10.

In February 2016, two artists got on a cargo ship to retrace one of the routes of the Transatlantic Slave Triangle – from the UK to Ghana to Jamaica and back. This show is what they brought back. Artist Selina Thompson explores Black British identity and the forgetting of the UK’s colonial history through film, performance and sound. Commissioned by Yorkshire Festival, Theatre Bristol and MAYK. THE SKY IS SAFE Dogstar Summerhall, Fri 4–Sun 27 Aug (not 3, 14, 21), 7.45pm, £15 (£10). Preview Wed 2 Aug, £8.

Over 350,000 of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey are in Istanbul. This new work from Dogstar is set in the alleys of Istanbul neighbourhood, Taksim, and follows a refugee and a privileged westerner as they get to know one another. Writer and performer Matthew Zajac and director Ben Harrison, creators of the multi award–winning The Tailor of Inverness, combine with composer Pippa Murphy, video artist Tim Reid and Syrian designer and artist Nihad Al Turk in this new work that explores borders and inequality. Part of Made in Scotland 2017.

PHOTO: LIZZIE COOMBES

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU The Mayers Ensemble and West Yorkshire Playhouse Army @ The Fringe in Association with Summerhall, Sat 12–Sat 26 Aug (not 14, 21), 5pm, £12 (£10). Preview Fri 11 Aug, £8 (£6).

Pauline Mayers fuses theatre and dance to tell us her (his)tory as a black woman, dancer and choreogrpaher. Her tale is interwoven with the story of James Sims, a 19th-century physician acknowledged as the father of modern gynecology, who operated on slaves without anaesthetic.

What if I Told You is directed by Chris Goode (Men in Cities, Monkey Bars). In the second part of the show, poet, playwright and activist Khadijah Ibrahim asks any interested audience members to share their thoughts about Mayers’ work.

MIA: DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE Mind the Gap Summerhall, Wed 9–Sun 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.45pm, £10 (£8). Preview Tue 8 Aug, £6.

Mia explores the truths and myths about learning disabilities and parenthood in today’s society. A Mind the Gap production created/directed by Joyce Nga Yu Lee, performed by four learningdisabled artists.

FLESH AND BONE Crunching physical theatre with a poetic twist

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ppropriately for a company named Unpolished, and a show called Flesh and Bone, this story of East End Londoners aims at a rough and tough immediacy.

Switching between the language of the street, and a Shakespearean-inspired poetry, Flesh and Bone brings the ferocity of Steven Berkoff’s physical theatre to bear on a tale of a family living on an estate earmarked for demolition.

‘We have a devout love for Berkoff,’ says writer Elliot Warren. ‘We wanted to breathe fresh air on a style that is similar to that fantastically engaging theatre.’ With co-creator Olivia Brady, Warren admits ‘a passion for London and its many characters: and these two things birthed Flesh and Bone.’

Their intention was always to capture a raw energy. ‘There are moments of hilarity, shock, anger, sadness,’ he states. ‘We were very aware that we didn’t ever want our audience to look away, no looking at watches at the 60-minute mark. Therefore, we have designed scenes that are pacy and snappy, fun and engaging.’

The characters – including two brothers and their drug dealer – introduce the audience to a squalid world, suggesting the influence of Trainspotting or Sarah Kane’s brutalist scripts, while alluding to higher ambitions through bursts of poetic language.

Warren’s faith in theatre as a vital place for the exploration of ideas drives Flesh and Bone’s amalgamation of high and low cultures.‘With theatre,’ he concludes, ‘you are able to truly and honestly express yourself without any of it being disregarded or ignored.’

(Gareth K Vile)

Pleasance Dome, Sat 5–Mon 28 Aug, 4pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews Wed 2–Fri 4 Aug, £6.

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CO-PROMOTION

ANYONE’S GUESS HOW WE GOT HERE Barrel Organ ZOO, Mon 14–Mon 28 Aug, 12.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Preview Sun 13 Aug, £7.

Multi award–winning company Barrel Organ return with their third show, following 2014’s Nothing and 2015’s Some People Talk About Violence. Commissioned by and developed at Camden People’s Theatre, with support from Manchester Royal Exchange.

PHOTO: SODIUM

ZOO

Nocturnes ZOO

(FEAR) Mr and Mrs Clark ZOO, Sun 6–Mon 28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 7.10pm (11.45am on 21–28 Aug), £10 (£8).

Previews Fri 4 & Sat 5 Aug, £5.

A solo male performer (Gareth Clark) takes to the stage in full confessional mode. (FEAR) explores a world full of news stories about war, terror and deadly illnesses, and asks if society wants us to feel safe. South Wales’ live art duo Mr and Mrs Clark follow up their Amnesty International shortlisted show, Smash It Up, with another performance questioning the way we live.

THE CONCRETE JUNGLE BOOK HighRise Theatre in association with artsdepot ZOO, Sun 6–Mon 14 Aug, 3.30pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 4 & Sat 5 Aug, £7.

A new hip hop reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale, complete with live rap, grime and spoken word. Developed alongside young people with experience of homelessness, The Concrete Jungle Book moves the story to inner-city Britain, as Mo(wgli) makes his way through the urban environment looking for a father figure.

ALIVE: MUSIC FOR NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD Civil Disobedience presents Modern Robot ZOO, Sun 6–Mon 28 Aug (not 16), 10pm, £10 (£8). Previews Fri 4 & Sat 5 Aug, £7.

Made on a shoestring budget, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead redefined the horror film genre in 1968. Modern Robot’s Ben Singer presents a live music performance to accompany an edited version of the film, with a mostly improvised score bringing together contemporary instruments and the tradition of silent cinema.

NOCTURNES imitating the dog ZOO, Mon 21–Sat 26 Aug, 5pm, £14 (£12).

A multimedia twist on a 50s spy thriller. Acclaimed theatremakers imitating the dog are the company behind A Farewell to Arms (2014) and The Train (2016), and this new show questions how we see reality in a post-truth world. Nocturnes tells the story of two spies awaiting orders in a Berlin apartment in the Russian Zone, each voicing a film they can’t see and never acknowledge. Part of the British Council Showcase.

ON ONE CONDITION Dan Daw Creative Projects and Murmuration ZOO Southside, Tue 22–Mon 28 Aug, 11.15am, £14 (£12). Previews Sun 20 & Mon 21 Aug, £9.

Based on Dan Daw’s own experiences and set in his childhood home, On One Condition asks audiences to question their perceptions of normal. 2017 Adelaide Fringe Weekly Award winner for Best Theatre. Directed by Graham Adey.

SLAP AND TICKLE Liz Aggiss ZOO, Mon 21–Sat 26 Aug, 7.10pm, £10 (£8).

Slap and Tickle draws on a range of practices, from spoken word to feminist dance, to create an eclectic work that comments on cultural mores and sexual taboos. Conceived, written, choreographed and performed by live artist Liz Aggiss. Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2017.

WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY! OR, A GUIDE TO MANAGING SOCIAL ANXIETY USING THEORETICAL PHYSICS Running Dog Theatre ZOO Southside, Sun 6–Mon 28 Aug (not 16), 9.30pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 4 & Sat 5 Aug, £5.

Mixing storytelling, live music and physical comedy, this new one-man show from Exeterbased Running Dog Theatre is part physics lecture, part dance lesson and part school disco.

Wanna Dance with Somebody! explores social anxiety and coping mechanisms – with, of course, plenty of dancing.

BOX OFFICE pleasance.co.uk

summerhall.co.uk

zoofestival.co.uk

0131 556 6550

0131 560 1581

0131 662 6892

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Top Tips | FESTIVAL COMEDY

list.co.uk/festival

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week, all handily compiled for you in chronological order

NOON FERN BRADY: SUFFER, FOOLS! The Stand II, 4–27 Aug (not 3, 14 & 15), 12.05pm, £10 (£9). Preview 2 Aug, £9 (£8). After two great Fringe shows in a row, Brady is back with another hour which will undoubtedly be close to the (funny) bone. See interview at list.co.uk/festival

1PM CANDY GIGI PRESENTS: BECKY RIMMER’S BAT MITZVAH! Heroes @ The Hive, 4–27 Aug (not 13 & 14, 22), 1.15pm, £5 or Pay What You Want at the venue.

Becky Rimmer, along with her father and mother, Mervyn and Gaye Rimmer, invite you to join them in the celebration of Becky’s Bat Mitzvah!

Another idiosyncratic hour (well, 50 minutes) from Ms Gigi.

MICHAEL LEGGE: JERK The Stand II, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 1.20pm, £9 (£8). Preview 3 Aug, £8 (£7). Irish firebrand Legge stormed the early afternoon timeslot in this same venue two years ago with a show about not meeting your heroes. This year, he’s asking (and perhaps answering) a

valuable question: why aren’t people more ashamed of themselves?

AUSTENTATIOUS Underbelly George Square, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 1.30pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £9. Join the highly talented and well turned-out cast as they improvise a hilarious new Jane Austen masterpiece, based on a single audience suggestion.

SEYMOUR MACE’S MAGICAL SHITCAKES FROM HEAVEN The Stand III, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 1.30pm, £12 (£10). Preview 3 Aug, £10 (£9). The Geordie comic who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2015 delivers yet another madcap hour with weird gameshow elements and stuff about depression.

See interview at list.co.uk/festival RICHARD HERRING’S EDINBURGH FRINGE PODCAST New Town Theatre, 4, 11, 18 Aug, 1.50pm, £12 (£10). Armed with his book of emergency questions, the ‘King of Edinburgh’ (we called him that once) celebrates the 30th anniversary of his first Fringe with three Friday afternoon podcasts.

2PM ESHAAN AKBAR: NOT FOR PROPHET Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 2.45pm, £10 (£9). Previews

2–4 Aug, £5. The debut Fringe show from 2016’s Piccadilly Comedy Club New Comedian of the Year features his transition from devout Muslim to booze-swilling bacon-chomper.

3PM SCOTT GIBSON: LIKE FATHER LIKE SON Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug, 3.45pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The Glaswegian victor of last year’s Best Newcomer Award is back with another highly personal show (his 2016 one was about some scary medical scrapes) about the various blokes in his family.

STUART GOLDSMITH: LIKE I MEAN IT Liquid Room Annexe, 5–27 Aug, 3.45pm, free. The clever chap behind the Comedian’s Comedian Podcast describes his new show as his best one yet as he ‘commits to the bit’. We trust you, Stu. TOM NEENAN: ATTENBOROUGH Underbelly Med Quad, 5–27 Aug, 3.55pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

Heroes don’t come more heroic and treasures don’t come more national than the universe’s greatest living naturalist, broadcaster and adventurer, David Attenborough.

Acclaimed character act Tom Neenan pays his own comedic tribute.

4PM CARMEN LYNCH: LYNCHED Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3–27 Aug (not 15), 4pm, free. In her UK debut hour, acclaimed US-Spaniard Carmen Lynch shares her twisted, singular stand-up comedy about Jesus, giraffes, scoliosis, her mother and death.

NATALIE PALAMIDES: LAID Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Directed by the legendary Doctor Brown, the absurd and funny LAID is so good that it helped land Palamides a coveted front cover. See feature, page 14.

DOMINIC HOLLAND ECLIPSED Voodoo Rooms, 5–27 Aug (not 8 & 9), 4.40pm, free. It’s been over a decade since this multi-award winning comedian played the Fringe and he returns to tell of a tragic tale: the fact that his boy Tom (aka Spider-Man) is now way more famous than him. See his Top 5 on other familial eclipsings at list.co.uk/festival

5PM BEN TARGET’S ORANGEADE Heroes @ Dragonfly, 3–27 Aug (not 14), 5pm, £5 or Pay What You Want at the venue. Target (pronounced Tarjay) delivers another slightly oddball show, but this time there’s an actual story going on in it. See Q&A at list. co.uk/festival JOHN KEARNS: DON’T WORRY THEY’RE HERE Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 4–27 Aug (not 16), 5pm, £7 or Pay What You Want at the venue. The only winner of both the main and Best Newcomer gongs at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards returns for another set of jeopardy-fuelled comedy.

LAUREN PATTISON: LADY MUCK Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 5.45pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. One of the brightest young talents on the comedy scene, with a fresh and fierce female voice, Geordie comic Lauren Pattison will be discussing the joys of embracing your flaws. She might talk about gin as well.

6PM JAMES ACASTER Neatly sidestepping the whole ‘will-he, won’t-he win it this year’ argy bargy, the Kettering comic takes himself out of the Edinburgh Comedy Award running by performing his last three shows, Recognise, Represent and Reset. Full details of which show is on which night is right here at list.co.uk/festival Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 9pm, £11–£14 (£10–£13). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

BRENNAN REECE: EVERLONG Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug, 6pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. After a glorious Fringe debut which resulted in a Best Newcomer Award nomination, the lad Reece will hopefully buck that difficult second album / show trend.

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FESTIVAL COMEDY MUSIC | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Top Tips EVELYN MOK: HYMEN MANOEUVRE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. Dubbed ‘the Swedish Amy Schumer’, Mok explores firstgeneration guilt, intersectionality as well as adult virginity in a confident, smart and highly-anticipated debut show. No pressure, then.

another brand-new hour of awesome storytelling. From the creator and star of Radio 4 series Australian Trilogy comes One-Seventeen.

ANGELA BARNES: FORTITUDE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. Following sell-out Fringe shows in 2014 and 2015, Angela Barnes (Mock the Week, Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled, Russell Howard’s Good News, BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, host of Newsjack on BBC Radio 4 Extra) is back with her brand new 2017 show, Fortitude.

Stand-up and stories from a reluctant 40-year-old with some stuff to say. See interview at list.co.uk/festival

MARK THOMAS: A SHOW THAT GAMBLES ON THE FUTURE Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 3, 14, 19), 6pm, £15 (£12). Preview 2 Aug, £12 (£10). Mark Thomas sets out to discover what the future has in store for us by collecting and examining his own predictions and those of his audiences before gambling on their outcome.

ED GAMBLE: MAMMOTH Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug, 7.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8. After a sell-out success in 2016, that gobby little toerag Gamble is back with a brand-new lumbering beast of a comedy show. Think you know his face? It might have been from seeing it on Mock the Week, Drunk History, Almost Royal, Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central or Man Down as well as countless other things (three other things).

ONGALS: BABBLING COMEDY Assembly Roxy, 5–28 Aug, 6.05pm, £15 (£12). Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

With breathtaking magic, effortless circus and formidable beatboxing skills, Ongals will have you laughing your hat off. A high energy non-verbal comedy spectacular tickling the funny bone of every age, this wave of K Comedy is truly side-splitting fun for all generations.

GLENN MOORE: THE VERY BEST OF BELINDA CARLISLE Just the Tonic at The Tron, 3–27 Aug (not 14), 6.20pm, £5 or Pay What You Want at the venue. When he’s not doing his Thünderbards sketch duo thing, the boy Moore is here with a show featuring his grandfather and an unsolved mystery. See Q&A at list. co.uk/festival.

SPENCER JONES: THE AUDITION Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 4–27 Aug (not 15), 6.20pm, £7 or Pay What You Want at the venue. Jones charms his way back to Edinburgh with another character comedy mash-up of music, visuals and props. The Herbert wakes up in his flat on a very important morning. He has an audition for a big movie and is determined to get it right but just cant get the lines right.

MICHAEL REDMOND: I WROTE A JOKE IN 1987 Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 6.30pm, £10 (£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The Glasgow-based and highly renowned stand-up Michael Redmond left his native Dublin 30 years ago to try his luck on the London comedy circuit . . . with just one joke. Best known for playing the monosyllabic priest, Father Stone, in the iconic Father Ted, Michael promises he will use a number of two and three syllable words in his show and might even throw in one with four syllables.

Oh, and there will definitely be more than one joke in there.

ALEXEI SAYLE Underbelly Med Quad, 5–11 Aug, 6.45pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14). Previews 2–4 Aug, £11. The Godfather of

DOUBLE DENIM Madcap antipodean duo Michelle Brasier and Laura Frew invite you to a group date with dance, sketch, singing and jump rope. Prepare to get involved . . . Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 11.15pm, £8–£11 (£7–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £5.

alternative comedy returns to the Fringe for the second time in 37 years with a new show. His career spans work as a comic, novelist, actor and columnist with an acclaimed second volume of memoirs, Thatcher Stole My Trousers, having been published last year. You might have heard him on the radio with his Imaginary Sandwich Bar. ASHLEY STORRIE: MORNING GLORY Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 3–27 Aug, 6.45pm, free. The sexy Hodor of Scottish comedy returns to Edinburgh with a whole new hour of self-effacing comedy. After a successful year of viral videos and comedy triumphs, Storrie is excited to return to her spiritual home.

BRENDON BURNS AND CRAIG QUARTERMAINE IN RACE OFF Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 17), 6.45pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Last year Burns did a show largely about ‘charming ball of rage’ Quartermaine.

This year they’re actually teaming up for a unique identity-based comedic extravaganza. See interview at list. co.uk/festival CATRIONA KNOX: ADORABLE DEPLORABLE Pleasance Dome, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 6.50pm, £8–£11 (£7–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. Some men have brought

us to the brink of apocalypse. Now meet their wives. For too long they’ve been kept in the shadows and for way too long they’ve been just a piece of lean meat on the arm of a sociopath.

Well, not any more, Edinburgh. For one hour only, open your earholes and hear them speak as Catriona Knox, former member of the Boom Jennies, unleashes a character comedy tsunami.

7PM SARA PASCOE: LADSLADSLADS Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £10–£13.50 (£9–£12.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Pascoe has been enjoying a year-long, one-woman stag do. From spiritual retreats, city breaks, life drawing classes and football matches, she has been drunk and lonely everywhere. Following a sell-out live tour of Animal (inspired by her acclaimed book of the same name), the multi award-winning comedian and star of Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, QI and Taskmaster returns to Edinburgh with a brand-new stand-up show.

SARAH KENDALL: ONESEVENTEEN Assembly George Square, 5–27 Aug, 7pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£11.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Nominated twice for the main Edinburgh Comedy Award (in 2004 and 2015) popular Australian Kendall returns with

TOMMY TIERNAN: UNDER THE INFLUENCE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 13 & 14, 24), 7.30pm, £15–£17 (£14–£16). Preview 4 Aug, £10. Part divine aspiration, part filth, part pure silly from the Perrier Award winner from way back in the late 20th century (it was 1998). This is a language-loving, shape-shifting performance from one of the world’s best.

ALUN COCHRANE: ALUNISH COCHRANISH The Stand III, 4-27 Aug (not 14), 7.40pm, £12 (£10). Grumpy-joyful, silly-serious stand-up. Jokes, ideas and (possibly) movement will all be deployed for your amusement during this show.

As seen on blah blah and blah, and heard on various funny radio shows.

8PM JOSEPH MORPURGO: HAMMERHEAD Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Best to get this out of the way: how the Edinburgh Comedy Awards judges saw fit not to give Morpurgo the big gong two years ago for Soothing Sounds for Baby is anyone’s guess. Chance for them to make amends possibly with his latest slice of outlandishly funny multimedia comedy and new voodoo from the mind of the See interview at list.co.uk/festival MARK NELSON: IRREVERENCE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 8pm, £10–£12.50 (£8–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The awardwinning Scottish comedian with the

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A BEER

AS RARE AS ITS SERVE.

Enjoy one this August in Edinburgh.

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Top Tips | FESTIVAL COMEDY

list.co.uk/festival

FIVE TOM SKELTON’S BLIND ICONS PHOTO: JOHN CAIRNS

(not 14), 9pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10. He might still look like a young pup, but this will be Andrew’s 22nd Edinburgh Fringe show! Crazy stuff. This year, he will be tackling as many of the big themes as he can cram into an hour: mad election results, the ever-shifting sands of social manners, and why those robotos haven’t totally taken over yet.

DANE BAPTISTE: G.O.D. (GOLD. OIL. DRUGS.) Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 16), 9pm, £12–£14 (£10–12).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Original, provocative and exceptionally prolific, the lad Dane returns to the Fringe with a show about our worldwide pursuit of wealth, power and pleasure. Baptiste made comedy history in 2014 as the first black British act to be nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.

SEAN MCLOUGHLIN One of the finest British stand-ups you’ve probably never heard of. Time to fix that as the whirlwind that is Sean McLoughlin tells it like it is with his new show title: You Can’t Ignore Me Forever. Laughing Horse @ City Café, 3–26 Aug, 6.45pm, free.

funny online daughter (as in, she does comedy online: she is actually real) wonders whether there’s any point in taking anything seriously any more.

Renowned for his juicily dark material and laidback delivery, Nelson (the inaugural Scottish Comedian of the Year winner back in 2006) is utterly sick of daft life-hack apps and ridiculous selfhelp books. Aren’t we all, mate.

eventful year off (he got a new laptop, etc), the terribly well-spoken boy is back in town with resolutions galore but less courage in his convictions than ever.

How much has Ivo learned from this thing we call life and what good has it done him? He’s another one who’s cropped up on Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, as well as Live from the BBC, As Yet Untitled and Fighting Talk.

BUTT KAPINSKI Pleasance Dome, 5–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 8.10pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The hardboiled noirish creation of Deanna Fleysher returns for another bite at the Fringe cake with a fresh helping of genderenquiring comedy-theatre. See feature, page 17.

RACHEL PARRIS: KEYNOTE Pleasance Dome, 5–28 Aug (not 16), 8.20pm, £8.50–£11.50. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6. Ms Parris (Austentatious, The IT Crowd, Murder in Successville) has been invited to be a guest speaker at her old school. But what kind of a role model is she really? Through standup, character and musical comedy, she explores the kind of messed-up message that might possibly be useful to impressionable young minds.

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? Assembly Rooms, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 8.10pm, £15–£17.50. Preview 3 Aug, £10. Live incarnation of the legendary improvisational comedy TV show comes back to the Fringe.

Hosted by Clive Anderson, in rotation will be Greg Proops, Josie Lawrence, Colin Mochrie, Mike McShane and Phill Jupitus, with other special guests to be announced. For fans of the old show, most excitement will be reserved for some appearances by former cultural recluse Tony Slattery.

IVO GRAHAM: EDUCATED GUESS Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 8.15pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. After a hugely

KEITH FARNAN: WORK AND WORDS IN PROGRESS The Stand II, 4–13 Aug, 8.50pm, £9 (£8). Preview 3 Aug, £8 (£7). Irish legend Farnan (he’s been on Michael Mcintyre’s Comedy Roadshow, you know) has tried to answer some of the big questions in life in previous shows (women’s rights, privacy, the death penalty), but now reckons it’s probably a good time to just be funny.

9PM ANDREW MAXWELL: SHOWTIME Assembly George Square, 5–27 Aug

DANIEL SLOSS: NOW Venue 150 @ EICC, 7–27 Aug (not 11 & 12, 14, 18 & 19, 22, 25 & 26), 9pm, £18.50 (£16). Previews 3 & 4, 6 Aug, £10.50. Brand spanking new show from the internationally acclaimed, award-winning Fife-born comedian. Star of Conan (a record seven appearances), he’s performed nine sell-out Edinburghs, two solo off-Broadway seasons, released a DVD, gave a TEDx Talk (aged 19) and tours extensively throughout UK, Australasia, USA and Europe. He’s now big and he’s clever.

NATH VALVO: NOT IN THIS HOUSE Assembly George Square, 4–27 Aug (not 15), 9pm, £10.50–£12 (£9.50– £11). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £7.50. Nath Valvo smashed 2016. He stormed the Melbourne Comedy Festival TV Gala, recorded his debut stand up TV special and scored a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Catch one of Australia’s best as he tackles love, scary sex, bored parents, Beyoncé and Fitbits.

BÉLA THE BLIND In the land of the blind, the oneeyed man is king, but in 12thcentury Hungary, a blind man was actually king. Along with his dad Álmos, young Béla was blinded by his uncle, the then King, to nip their rival claim to the throne in the bud. Or so he thought! The uncle’s line dried up and Béla oversaw an expansionist Hungarian foreign policy, capturing Bosnia and Croatia. Not that I am saying that is good, obviously. He died a drunk in 1141. Blind drunk. Béla just pips Gordon Brown, David Blunkett and Vasily II of Moscow as my top blind political figure.

LOUIS BRAILLE To liberate generations of blind people with his language is an amazing thing, and I did not know for bloomin’ ages that it was named after its creator rather than just being created by nature or God or Shakespeare.

JORGE LUIS BORGES DAN ANTOPOLSKI: RETURN OF THE DAN ANTOPOLSKI Assembly George Square, 4–27 Aug, 9.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6. Last seen in 2013, the triple Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee returns with his eighth standup hour, this one being about change, pain, honour and gain. He once won the Dave Joke of the Fringe tournament with a gag about hedgehogs.

FRANKIE BOYLE: PROMETHEUS VOLUME Venue 150 @ EICC, 5–9 Aug, 20–24 Aug, 9.20pm, £17.50 (£15.50). Frankie Boyle presents the first instalment of his eight-volume Promethiad. If you liked his previous shows, but wished they contained different jokes said by someone with an older face, this is the show for you. Subjects ranging from the science of black holes to the history of Victorian exploration will be ignored

There are other great blind writers like Homer and John Milton, but I have actually read some Borges, and his strange tales make me feel all happy and funny inside.

RAY CHARLES ‘Hit the Road Jack’ gets him on here alone!

LIBBY CLEGG Watching (right close up to the telly) Libby Clegg bag double gold in the 200m in Rio was a moment of cracking sporting spectacle, after the controversial disqualification of charismatic home favourite Terezinha Guilhermina.

Tom Skelton: Blind Man’s Bluff, Underbelly Med Quad, 5–28 Aug (not 16), 4.30pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

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FESTIVAL COMEDY MUSIC | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Top Tips

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1

10AM

TAPE FACE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 9.40pm, £13–£17 (£12–£15.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10. The best of Tape Face and more. The multi awardwinning show featuring returns tofemale the Fringe for Shakespeare potentially theWith lastperformances time. It’s still good performers. of but nowof it’sthe bigger and Timon better. of Athens Taming Shrew?, and Queen Lear.

GOODBEAR Pleasance Dome, Aug, 9.40pm, FLAMENCO DEL 5–27 FUEGO £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews Aug, La Bodega Tapas Bar, Sat2–4 3 Jun, £6. The critically acclaimedAnsketch labodegaglasgow.com evening of comedy duopassion are back.

Join Joe Barnes Andalucian with performances and Henry Perryment as theyguitarist confirm from international flamenco your reservation at the Fringe’s most Andrew Robinson, singer Danielo mysterious inhabitedfootwork above and Olivera andhotel, the rhythmic and below stairs by all manner expressive choreography of Elof Fuego wonderfully de la Noche.eccentric characters.

THE INANE CHICANERY OF A

11AM CERTAIN ADAM GC RICHES

Pleasance Dome, 5–27 Aug, 9.45pm, HE RED SHOES £10–14 Theatre, (£8–12). Previews 2–4Tue Aug, King’s Edinburgh, 6–£6.

The 10 2011 Edinburgh Comedy AwardSat Jun, edtheatres.com/kings winner returns withhighly another hour of silly, Mathew Bourne’s acclaimed interactive He made based his name new dancefun. production, on as one classic of the key proponents the 1948 film. See of ouraudience 5 star participation so gird your loins review, page comedy, ??. if you’re near the front.

MILONGA ABIGAIL’S Festival PARTY:Theatre, COMEDYTue Edinburgh CABARET 13 & Wed 14 Jun, edtheatres.com/ Underbelly Med Quad, 5–28 Aug festival Celebrated choreographer (not Larbi 14), 9.50pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Sidi Cherkaoui presents a piece Previewsby2–4 £6.50.milonga A comedy inspired theAug, late-night Cabaret by thebars ‘supremely scene in hosted the intimate of Buenos talented comic’ Abigail Burdess Aires.

See preview, page ??. and her glamorous assistant, Dave! The pair invite you to a fabulous comedy shindig SURGE of songs, characters and competitions Merchant City, Glasgow, Fri 28– plus jokes!

Exclamation marks!

Sun 30 Jul,Games! surge.scot A festival dedicated to physical performance, incorporating outdoor, site-specific

Let your inner party animal off the leash!

The show will feature special guest stars – off the telly – every single night!

10PM

events for all ages and indoor showcases DESIREE BURCH: of performance UNFUCKABLE art.

Heroes @ Bob’s BlundaBus, 3–27 Workshops and masterclasses are Aug provided (not 15, 22), 10pm,wanting £5. As seen also for those to on Frankie Boyle’s American Autopsy develop their talents. and 8 Out of 10 Cats, the 2015 Funny WomenIN Award-winner presents her BARD THE BOTANICS second comedy hour on sex, race and Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, Wed capitalism.

21–Sat 29 Jul, bardinthebotanics. co.uk Botanics’ fresh take on DOUG ANTHONY ALLfemale STARS: Shakespeare featuring NEAR DEATH performers.

WithEXPERIENCE performances of Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not Taming of the Shrew?, Timon of Athens 7 & 8, 14 & 15, 21 & 22), 10pm, £15 and Queen Lear. (£14). Previews 2–4 Aug, £10. The monster gods DEL of comedy and 2016’s FLAMENCO FUEGO winners of Mervyn of La Bodega TapasStutter’s Bar, SatSpirit 3 Jun, the Fringe award return to An Edinburgh. labodegaglasgow.com evening of Paul McDermott, Timwith Ferguson and Andalucian passion performances Paul ‘Flacco’ Livingston dragguitarist their from international flamenco unsuspecting audience screaming Andrew Robinson, singer Danielo down memory Their footwork unique brand Olivera and thelane. rhythmic and of musical comedy is moreofwicked and expressive choreography El Fuego dangerous than ever. Wracked by illness de la Noche. and age, this trio has no time to waste!

THE LIONS OF LISBON FIN TAYLOR: LEFTY TIGHTY Celtic Park, Tue 6 & Wed 7 Jun, RIGHTY LOOSEY celticfc.net Ian Auld and Willy Maley’s Just about the Tonic at The Tron,supporters 3–27 play a group of Celtic Aug (not 10.20pm, £6.50fororthe Pay who head14), to Lisbon in 1967 What You Cup. Want at the venue. The European most talked-about comedian from last year’s Fringe is back. GRADUATION He’s still white, MODERN BALLET and you’re still hippies. Something’s got PERFORMANCE to give.Conservatoire It’s been a globe-trotting year Royal of Scotland, for Whitey been to America, Thu 8–Satas 10he’s Jun, rcs.ac.uk Australia, Holland andyear the rest.

All over, Showcase from final students on he’sConservatoire’s found people who they’reBallet too the BAsay Modern left wing to vote andwith he’s Programme, runfor in centrists conjunction decided to call bull. A man who is now politically homeless drags you dropouts down into his gutter.

REGINALD D HUNTER: SOME PEOPLE VS REGINALD D HUNTER Assembly Hall, 5–27 Aug (not 9, 15, 21), 10.30pm, £15.50–£17 (£14.50– £16). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10.

Reginald’s searingly honest material has garnered him a fan base spanning the generations. His TV appearances include Have I Got News For You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and BBC Two’s hugely popular series Reginald D Hunter’s Songs of the South, which documented Reg’s epic road trip through 150 years of American popular song.

DAVID TRENT: HERE’S YOUR FUTURE Just The Tonic at the Caves, 3–26 Aug (not 14), 10.35pm, £5 or Pay What You Want at the venue.

Join this former primary school teacher on a multimedia rampage as he stares down the world’s most disturbing kids NAME HERE forks and mattresses, Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldsonanimation, Some of smart the best comedy in the SOFIE HAGEN bedtimes, robosex, gay cakes, Fringe’s first week. Danish Written winner by: Brian Donaldson Some of the besta comedy Fringe’s first week.

Written by: The hugely popular of the Best Newcomer Award couple in thevirtual hummusDonaldson day and theSome Brian Donaldson Some of the best comedy the another Fringe’spersonal first week.

Written by:international Brian Donaldson. of years back is here again with Dead Baby in Frog, tale European light bulb directive. That’s of the best comedy the Fringe’s firstTheatre, week. Written by: Brian about anger and a in funeral.

Bedlam 2–28 Aug, 2pm,Donaldson £10 (£8). a lot to contend with, you’d probably

ROB AUTON’S TOP HAIR TIP PHOTO: JULIAN WARD

entirely. Frankie knows that his only legacy is to have his books and DVDs form part of gasoline-soaked warning pyres lit to alert the Last Ones that their foes the Crabmen have begun their final sideways march out of the Some of the best comedy in the sea.

Oh, and you’reWritten one of those Fringe’s first ifweek. by: types are easily offended by Brian who Donaldson jokes, don’t buy a ticket, sit in the front row and then walk out making a huge big fuss. The bearded Mr Boyle has seen it happen before and probably THE REDdoesn’t SHOESwant to see it occur again. Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 6– King’s Sat 10 Jun, edtheatres.com/kings ELF LYONS: SWAN Mathew Bourne’s highly acclaimed Underbelly Med Quad,based 5–28 on Aug new dance production, (notclassic 15), 9.30pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). the 1948 film.

See our 5 star Previews 2–4 review, page ??.Aug, £6.50. The giraffe-limbed clown and raconteur is back with her most exciting stand-up MILONGA show yet. Think big. Theatre, Think weird.

Edinburgh Festival TueIt’s going to be14 fun.

And sexy. Yeah, let’s 13 & Wed Jun, edtheatres.com/ throw that word in there too. festival Celebrated choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents a piece RED BASTARD: LIE WITH ME inspired by the late-night milonga Pleasance 5–27 Aug scene in theCourtyard, intimate bars of Buenos (not 14), (£9).

Aires.

See9.30pm, preview,£10 page ??. Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. How free is your love?

You’re about to find out. Red Bastard SURGE returns to charm, disarm, shock Merchant City, Glasgow, Fri 28–and seduce in this new show.A See feature, Sun 30 Jul, surge.scot festival page 18. to physical performance, dedicated incorporating outdoor, site-specific ZACH for & VIGGO events all ages and indoor Underbellyof Cowgate, 5–27art.

Aug showcases performance (not 16), 9.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Workshops and masterclasses are Previews 3 &for 4 Aug, After also provided those£6.50. wanting to a sold-outtheir run at the 2016 Edinburgh develop talents.

Fringe, this Norwegian-American comedyINduo return to the Fringe with BARD THE BOTANICS a brand-new hour of madness.

Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, Wed 21–Sat 29 Jul, bardinthebotanics. co.uk Botanics’ fresh take on

Scottish Ballet. See preview, page ??.

CASABLANCA Òran Mór, Fri 7–Sun 23 Jul, oranmor.co.uk Gavin Mitchell stars in this adaptation of the classic film.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES King’s Theatre, Tue 25–Sat 29 Jul, atgtickets.com/venues/kingstheatre If a patch Bill of Kenwright’s dandruff appears production in yourEastenders’ hair (it can happen to Partridge anyone, sees star John often youofare feeling overtake on when the role Albin alongside tired or have eating badly Broadway actorbeen Adrian Zmed as or feel run in down), massage your scalp Georges this witty musical number for five to artists ten minutes depending about drag and family values, howthe busy you are, then comb to in on which characters are forced through yourvibrant hair with a fine comb. cover up their lifestyle.

Before you start combing, place a large A1 sheet PROJECT Y of black paper onto the table. When pleased Platform, Sat 29 you Jul, are tramway.org with theScotland’s set-up, move your chin YDance, national youth downorganisation, until it touches your chest dance presents fourand start to comb yourdance hair forward. new contemporary works You will choreographers be able to watchAlan the dandruff from Greig, fall Yakira, and settle onto Martin the paper.

Hagi Steven andDo Theo not be disappointed with your head, Clinkard. this is what having a real head is all about.INTERNATIONAL The dandruff will begin PAISLEY to look FESTIVAL like a two-tone Poundshop TANGO Galaxy but that’s not the point.

Thomas Coats Memorial Church, You need27toAug, gather the dandruff Fri 25–Sun coatsmemorial. and form it into letters that spell org.uk Tango dance festival held out thethree words: over days, with workshops, I’M ALIVE. THIS WHAT IT FEELS performances andISparties.

LIKE TO BE A NON-FICTIONAL PERSON THAT IS PUTTING LA BOHEME THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIR Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thu 1– OWN LIFE eif.co.uk WITH EVERYONE Sat 10 Jun, Puccini’s tale of ELSE’S GOING ON AT THE SAME young Bohemians in love.Also touring, TIME. IT IS A LOT TO IN. YES see list.co.uk/theatre forTAKE details.

I’M OVER-TIRED BECAUSE I WAS WORKING LATE LAST NIGHT. I AM GLORY ON EARTH UNDER PRESSURE Royal Lyceum Theatre,BECAUSE Thu 1–SatI NOT WANT TO directs FEEL LIKE IF 10DO Jun, David Greig Linda THERE WAS ME HE Maclean’s storyANOTHER which re-imagines WOULD DOING between A BETTERMary the historicBE meetings JOB OF IT. YESand MYJohn OUTSIDE Queen of Scots Knox.

APPEARANCE HAS BEEN SUFFERING BUT INSIDE I FEEL SHACKLETON LIKE I’MTheatre, ACTUALLY LIVING. Traverse Wed 7–Sat 9 Jun, traverse.co.uk Blue Raincoat Theatre Rob Auton: The Hair Show, Justand his present the story of Shackleton the Tonic at The Caves, 3–26 Aug, voyage on the Endurance.

Also Tron 3.55pm,Glasgow, £5.

Theatre, Wed 14–Sat 17 Jun, tron.co.uk Douglas agree. He’s Community part of Nick&Helm’s Library band and will also included in his comedy Centre, Thube 1 Jun, dundeecity. pal’s new food travelogue on the TV gov.uk/communitycentres/ channel known as Dave.UiSee douglascentre Arturo is ainterview witty at list.co.uk/festival. and savage parable of the rise of Hitler – recast by Brecht into a small-time LUKE MCQUEEN: BOYof the Chicago gangster’sTHE takeover WITHgreengrocery TAPE ON HIS FACE city’s trade.

Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3–27 Aug (not 15), 10.40pm, £5 or Pay What You Want at the venue. Cheeky comedian Luke McQueen will attempt to perform stand-up without the use of his forehead. Whether the real Tape Face will show up is unclear. See interview at list.co.uk/festival.

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festival

DANCE

& PHYSICAL THEATRE

For m info gootroe

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LADY MACBETH: UNSEX ME HERE All-male dance take on the story of Macbeth’s wife

PHOTO: JANE HOBSON

She’s one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating characters, so it’s only right that choreographer Kally Lloyd-Jones treats her with the complexity she deserves in multi-layered dance theatre piece, Lady Macbeth: Unsex Me Here.

Danced by not one but three performers – all of whom are male – the show captures the psychological inner workings of Macbeth’s wife as the couple slips deeper and deeper into violence and tragedy.

‘Lady Macbeth’s journey has three different phases,’ says Lloyd-Jones, ‘and I liked the idea of each dancer performing a solo that comes from one of her monologues during the play.’

Created in collaboration with inclusive theatre company Solar Bear, Lloyd-Jones has also peppered subtle moments of British Sign Language (BSL) throughout the piece.

‘It’s been incorporated into the choreography,’ she explains, ‘But if you’re not familiar with BSL then you’ll just see movement – if you know sign language, then you’ll see a different show.’

Either way, Lloyd-Jones has worked hard to depict the parts of Lady Macbeth the play doesn’t reach.

‘Her role diminishes after the killing of Duncan, she sort of fades away and we don’t even see her death, we just hear about it,’ says LloydJones. ‘And I think Lady Macbeth is fascinating, so I wanted to pick her out, colour it in and look at what was going on during all the bits we don’t see.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Dance Base, 8–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 8pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8).

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Hitlist PHOTO: CAMILLA GREENWELL

DANCE HITLIST Kelly Apter picks some dance highlights as the Fringe gets moving LADY MACBETH: UNSEX ME HERE Company Chordelia delves inside the mind of Lady Macbeth in this fascinating contemporary dance exploration of Shakespeare’s character, performed by three men.

See preview, page 79. Dance Base, 8-27 Aug (not 14, 21), 8pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4-6 Aug, £10 (£8).

ROSALIND Award-winning choreographer James Cousins looks at Shakespearean character Rosalind from As You Like It through the lens of the present day, in this energetic contemporary dance work. Summerhall, 8–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 4.30pm, £13 (£11). Previews 4–6 Aug, £11 (£9).

TUTU: DANCE IN ALL ITS GLORY Paris-based company Chicos Mambo takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the worlds of classical ballet, contemporary dance, gymnastics, tango and more in this fun dance show. See feature, page 26.

Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50

(£9.50–£13). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

VELOCITY: RISING Five-time world champion Irish dancer David Geaney joins forces with James Devine, Guinness World Record holder for the most taps in a single second, for some lightning-fast footwork. See feature, page 89. Assembly George Square Studios, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.35pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

CIRCA: HUMANS Always a Fringe highlight, Australian circus troupe Circa are back with a brand new show exploring the extremes of the human body.

Underbelly Circus Hub, 7–26 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 7pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£16.50-£18.50). Previews 4–6 Aug, 7pm, £11.50 (£10.50).

LAST CLOWN ON EARTH Inimitable Russian physical theatre company Derevo returns for its 20th Fringe, with the always compelling Anton Adasinsky playing the eponymous clown trapped in a cycle of self-sacrifice. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.40pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

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Velocity: Rising | FESTIVAL DANCE

list.co.uk/festival

FEET FIRST

What do you get if you mix a five-times World Irish Dance Champion, the fastest tap dancer on the planet and a whole lot of passion? Kelly Apter finds out

H

e might be quick on his feet, but the day David Geaney was too slow to catch a lift home turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Taking part in a BBC documentary, five-times world champion Irish dancer Geaney ended up sharing a car home with fellow performer James Devine.

It was the start of an artistic partnership that inspired both men to take Irish dance in a new and exciting direction, including their brand new Fringe show, Velocity: Rising.

‘We’re from a different generation of Irish dancers, but I knew about David from social media,’ explains Devine, himself a three-times Irish dance world champion. ‘And then after working on the documentary, he missed his lift and I was going in his direction – the creative chat happened and it went from there.

‘I’d done a lot of solo work but had always wanted to do a collaboration – but I’ll be honest, there are very few Irish dancers I’d be really inspired by and David is definitely one of them, so it was great to have that chance meeting.’

Devine was last seen at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006 with TapEire, an explosive dance show which gave him ample opportunity to show off how he gained the Guinness World Record for most feet taps per second (a remarkable 38, quashing Michael Flatley’s previous record of 35).

Now that Devine and 22-year-old Geaney have teamed up as Velocity, he’s ready to take on the Fringe again, this time with a show that journeys back in time before bringing Irish culture bang up to date,

through live music, movement and visual technology.

‘Everyone associates Irish dancing with traditional music,’ says Geaney, a recent semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, ‘but Rising is taking that next step, with electronic beats. So we’ll have a fiddle player, guitarist and percussionist, but also a DJ. The music will definitely still have that Irish influence everyone knows so well, but it’s going to be slightly different from what people expect.’

With such fleet-footed dancers at the helm, one thing that won’t be a surprise is the blisteringly fast choreography, delivered through a combination of solos and duets.

‘Both of us are solo dancers,’ says Devine, ‘so that aspect has to be in the show. But when we come together, there are very few dancers who can dance as fast as we can, so the duets will definitely be one of the highlights.

‘But it’s not just about the speed. Our motto for Velocity is precision, power, speed – and again, I think there are very few dancers who can execute steps as correctly and clearly as we do at that speed.’

Despite the age difference (‘there’s nearly 20 years between us!’ says Devine), there’s no indication this isn’t an equal pairing of strength and agility – far from it.

‘I have to tie him back,’ laughs Geaney. ‘When James takes off, he won’t stop.’

Velocity: Rising, Assembly George Square Studios, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.35pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14). Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Top Tips ||FESTIVAL FESTIVALDANCE MUSIC

list.co.uk/festival

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 4PM

Some of the best dance shows in the Fringe’s first week, in our handy hour by hour guide

ALL THE FUN Underbelly Circus Hub, 6–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 4pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50) Preview 5 Aug, £8.

A tongue-in-cheek antidote to the glittering circus world. You’re invited beyond the everyday one, two, three of juggling in an ever-changing space, with the performers balancing objects and throwing bodies. The cast of five’s natural movement is part playful game and part sabotage, all set to a riotous original soundtrack. From the makers of international touring sensation m2.

SLUT Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 11.45am, £10 (£8). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6. Slovenly, sexually liberated, promiscuous – these are just some of the labels given to women who do not fit into defined cultural mores and instead express individualism. These, along with issues of sexual grooming, stereotyping across race and cultural perceptions, are explored in this provocative new Kathak dance-theatre piece. Slut seeks to challenge the negative connotations of the term and reclaim the title.

NOON

PHOTO: PEDRO GREIG

11AM

ORIGINS ZOO, 6–25 Aug (not 7 & 8, 14 & 15, 21), 12.30pm, £10 (£8). Preview 4 & 5 Aug, £6. The untold story of the CIRCA: HUMANS world’s first murderer. After murdering The Edinburgh Fringe can be an unpredictable beast, but in recent years his brother in cold blood, we meet there’s one thing we can always rely on: a great show from Circa. The Cain, livingHERE out his life exiled from his Australian circus troupe bowled us over with Beyond, Wunderkammer and NAME homeland.

Afflicted by his memories and now it’s back with another treat: Humans. Performed on a bare Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’sCloser first week.

Written by: Brian and hauntedSome by figures of the past, the show ten talented artistes exploring the physical limits Donaldson of the best comedy in stage, the Fringe’s firstfeatures week. Written Cain must Donaldson now retrace Some his steps backbest comedy of their in bodies – whichfirst youweek. can bet stretch a lot further than the rest of us. by: Brian of the the Fringe’s to Eden in pursuit answers. Origins Underbelly CircusinHub, 7–26 Augfirst (not 9, 14, 21), 7pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£16.50– Written by: BrianofDonaldson Some of the best comedy the Fringe’s is a psychological plunges Donaldson £18.50).

Previews Aug, £11.50 (£10.50). week.

Written by:thriller Brianthat Donaldson.

Some of the4–6 best comedy in the deep intofirst theweek. heart Written of darkness, where Fringe’s by: Brian Donaldson movement, sound and rhythm fuse. £11. Protein presents a commentary its Fringe debut. A fast-paced, on multicultural Britain through dance, energetic circus show for all the live music and dialogue compiled from family. Two performers, one small the performers’ personal experiences. and mischievous, one giant, clumsy SIGMA Border Tales looks at post-Brexit Britain and warm-hearted, are hopelessly Assembly Hall, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 14, and gazes satirically on stereotypical connected to each other. When one 21), 1.30pm, £10–£12. Preview 3 & thinking about migrant outsiders and falls, the other one flies.

4 Aug, £8. The iconic Gandinis return bigoted homelanders. with Sigma, celebrating the dialogue TAIWAN SEASON: 038 between juggling, percussion and Dance Base, 8–27 Aug (not 7, 14, dance. The piece showcases exuberant 21), 3.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews rhythms, patterns and colours, at the 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8). Named after the heart of which is a unique interpretation CIRCUS ABYSSINIA: area code for Haulien on Taiwan’s of the classical south Indian dance ETHIOPIAN DREAMS east coast, home of the indigenous form, Bharatanatyam.

Underbelly Circus Hub, 6–26 Aug Pangcah people, 038 asks: ‘Where is (not 14, 21), 3pm, £13.50–£15.50 home? What is home?’ Contemporary ARAB ARTS FOCUS: DANCE (£12.50–£14.50). Preview 5 Aug, but underpinned by traditional DOUBLE BILL £10. A mix of stunts, circus skills and spirit, 038 reflects the anxieties and Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), adventure, Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian uncertainties of coming home in 1.35pm, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Dreams follows the journey of two little search of ourselves and our roots.

Aug, £8. A double bill of contemporary Ethiopian brothers whose dream of dance brought to Edinburgh from joining the circus is made real by the I AM RHYTHM Palestine and Egypt. Choreographers Man in the Moon. Plunged into a world Ghillie Dhu, 4–27 Aug (not 6, 14, Shaymaa Shoukry and Yazan Iwidat are of daredevil wonders, they encounter 17, 23), 3.45pm, £13 (£11). A dance each bringing their own dance piece. a host of other circus dreamers: and music journey all the way from Mayhkomsh focuses on the theme of dancing, contorting, gravity-defying South Africa. Mesmerising melodies social judgement, while Running Away figures, all weaving tales of their own. intertwined with an array of traditional shines a light on a dancer portraying and urban dances, this upbeat dance what’s happening inside his head.

ATTACHED show tells the story of the evolution Underbelly George Square, 5–27 of rhythm and dance in South Africa; Aug (not 14, 21), 3.15pm, £12–£14 from tribal Tswana, warrior Zulu, to (£11–£13). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7. energetic Gumboot, swinging Kofifi, Juggling and acrobatics combine BORDER TALES to urban Pantsula and Sbujwa dance with clowning that evokes Laurel and Summerhall, 8–26 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), styles.

Hardy in this European hit making 2.40pm, £13 (£11). Previews 4–6 Aug,

1PM

3PM

2PM

TUTU: DANCE IN ALL ITS GLORY Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 4pm, £14.50 (£13).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £8. See feature, page 26.

CHINA GOES POP! Assembly Hall, 5–27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 4.20pm, £13–£15 (£11–£13).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8. Entertaining show direct from China, starring worldclass acrobats, including Cirque du Soleil alumni. This story of an artist and his muse unfolds through acrobatics, martial arts, physical comedy, video and playful costumes, all set against a pop soundtrack. From the producers of Fringe hit Cookin’.

DJUKI MALA Assembly George Square, 4–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 4.30pm, £15 (£13).

Preview 3 Aug, £8. Winner of Best Dance at Adelaide and Perth Fringe and West Australian Arts Editors Award. Aboriginal dance and YouTube sensations Djuki Mala make their UK debut, fusing Yolngu and contemporary pop culture, dance and storytelling.

ROSALIND Summerhall, 8–26 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 4.30pm, £13 (£11). Previews 4–6 Aug, £11. In this portrait of Shakespeare’s most beloved heroine, the curious and courageous Rosalind from As You Like It, choreographer James Cousins asks whether women still need to emulate stereotypical masculinity to find equality in our modern world.

5PM CREATURE C south, 3–28 Aug (not 15), 5.35pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£10.50). Five dancers weave aerial acrobatics and earth-bound choreography in a new work of dance theatre. Creature explores the delicate balance between flying, falling, balancing, tumbling, succeeding and failing: the complex business of being human. UK premiere, conceived and choreographed by Vanessa Cook and directed by Kate Higginbottom.

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Top Tips with an original score, award-winning choreographer Andrea Walker directs a cast of seven dancers in a story of identity and belonging.

GOSSIP ZOO Southside, 4–15 Aug (not 9), 8.30pm, £14 (£12). Gossip, misinformation and rumours are a cross-cultural phenomenon of humanity, explored in this new production from award-winning Czech choreographer Lenka Vagnerova, combining dance, physical theatre, puppetry and drama.

PHOTO: STEVE TANNER

PARIS DE NUIT See caption, below.

9PM

LEVIATHAN Inspired by Herman Melville’s 19th-century novel, Moby Dick, Leviathan is the latest offering from award-winning company James Wilton Dance. An energetic blend of dance, martial arts and capoeira, the show finds seven dancers moving athletically to the sounds of electro-rock band Lunatic Soul, as Captain Ahab and his crew try in vain to conquer nature. Dance Base, 8–13 Aug (not 7), 5.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8).

LEVIATHAN See caption, above.

LAST CLOWN ON EARTH Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.40pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

Celebrating 20 years since its Fringe debut, multi award-winning Russian physical theatre company Derevo returns with its latest production.

Through mime, butoh, visuals and sound, a deeply fallen and pushed around Anton Adasinky immortalises the cosmic figure of the clown, full of inner joy yet trapped in a never ending cycle of self-sacrifice and rebirth.

6PM TRANSIT Assembly Hall, 5– 28 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 6pm, £15–£16 (£13–£14).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10. Join Flip FabriQue, rising stars of the new circus, straight from Quebec. Transit explores life as part of a troupe, the ups and downs of being on tour, friendship and the pleasure of simply being together.

WERELDBAND: SLÄPSTICK Assembly George Square Theatre, 4–27 Aug, 6pm, £12–£14 (£10).

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £9. A collection of musical and humorous acts rooted in the music hall tradition, but with a modern twist. The Wereldband, based in the Netherlands, consists of five world-class musicians who between them have mastered more than 200 instruments. Släpstick is billed as a blend of virtuosic musicianship, nostalgic sentiment and physical comedy.

THE HUMOURS OF BANDON Dance Base, 8–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 6.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8). From the confines of every parochial hall in Ireland, Irish dancing champions are churned out at a massive rate. Triple Fringe First and Olivier Award-winning Fishamble presents this coming of age play about the trials and triumphs of competitive Irish dancing, for anyone whose childhood passion threatened to overwhelm their life.

VELOCITY: RISING Assembly George Square Studios, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6.35pm, £14–£15.

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10. See feature, page 81.

8PM LADY MACBETH: UNSEX ME HERE Dance Base, 8–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 8pm, £12 (£10). Previews 4–6 Aug, £10 (£8). See preview, page 79.

SKIN Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 8pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. After the success of Fringe show Smother, contemporary hip hop ensemble 201 Dance Company returns with Skin: a boy’s journey through gender transition.

Fusing urban and contemporary styles

ACÉLÉRÉ BY CIRCOLOMBIA Underbelly Circus Hub, 7–26 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 9.15pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£16.50–£18.50). Circolombia took London’s Roundhouse and the Edinburgh Fringe by storm with its explosive debut show, Urban and now returns with Acéléré. The 13-strong company celebrates Colombia’s diversity, voices, dance and circus, with no shortage of risk-taking or exuberance promised.

10PM ELIXIR Underbelly Circus Hub, 5–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 10.15pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50). Preview 4 Aug, £10. A big hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Elixir follows three enthusiastic, acrobatic scientists who attempt to create the elixir of life. The mayhem that follows is an enjoyable mix of impressive acrobatics and comic timing. Winner of First and Foremost Entertainment Award Brighton Fringe 2015.

7PM CIRCA: HUMANS See caption, page 83.

ALL GENIUS ALL IDIOT Assembly Roxy, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 7.30pm, £13–£15 (£11.50–£13.50).

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £9. See feature, page 31.

CIRKOPOLIS Pleasance @ EICC, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 7.30pm (& 2.30pm on Saturdays), £12.50–£17.50 (£10–£14).

Preview 4 Aug, £10. A blend of circus, theatre and dance, from Quebec’s Cirque Éloize who transform classic film Metropolis into a virtuosic spectacle.

As artists rebel, their grey cityscape is replaced by absurd humour, beautiful poetry and bursts of brilliant colour, in a world where fantasy defies reality.

The 2014 New York Drama Desk Award Winner for Unique Theatrical Experience.

PARIS DE NUIT Journey back to the 1930s with Budapest-based troupe, Recirquel Company and its band of circus artistes, dancers and musicians. Depicting life among those living on the fringes of Parisian society, the show is a hot, jazzy mix of acrobatics, juggling, tight-rope walking, Cyr wheel, live music and more – all performed up close and personal. Assembly George Square Gardens, 5–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 8.30pm, £14–£16 (£12.50–£14.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £11.

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1000 authors in 900 events include: The Unthanks, Adrian Edmondson, Siri Hustvedt, Isla Fisher, Limmy, Juno Dawson, Harry Baker, The Last Poets, Reginald D Hunter, Robert Webb, Richard Ford, Maggie O’Farrell, Ian Rankin, Charley Boorman, Eimear McBride, David Mitchell, Luke Wright, Peter Høeg, Hanif Kureishi, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Aravind Adiga, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Ned Beauman, Nicole Krauss, Jackie Kay, Will Self, Ali Smith…

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fefstestivivalal

KIDS

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

THREE HALF PINTS PRESENT THE THREE MUSKETEERS CBeebies trio’s fast-paced slapstick romp through classic tale Whatever age you are, there’s something undeniably exciting about seeing a performer ‘off the telly’ live on stage. Watchers of BBC channel CBeebies should have no problem recognising comedy trio The Three Half Pints when they visit the Fringe this August, after seeing Dick, Derek and Ernie (aka Richard Franks, Callum Donnelly and Robin Hatcher) as green-faced aliens in new show Odd Bods and enjoying a wee guest spot on the hugely popular Justin’s House.

Following the success of their previous show, Bad Guys, the dynamic trio are back with a

new slice of slapstick silliness inspired by the 17th-century tale of The Three Musketeers.

Promising adventure, chivalry, swordplay and lots of falling over, this show is the kind of fastpaced romp that prompts a new laugh before you’ve even finished the old one. And in among their Fringe run, the trio will be performing two relaxed performances (on 9, 23 Aug) tailored to anyone who would benefit from a calmer environment. (Kelly Apter) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 21 & 22), 12.45pm, £10–£11 (£9-£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

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FESTIVAL KIDS | Hitlist

KIDS HITLIST Kelly Apter picks some highlights for kids as the Fringe kicks off

10.30am, £9.50–£11.50 (£8.50– £10.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

IS THIS A DAGGER? THE STORY OF MACBETH If anyone can dig deep into ‘the Scottish play’ it’s Andy Cannon, a master storyteller whose passion for Scotland knows no bounds. Scottish Storytelling Centre, 4–20 Aug (not 10, 17), 3pm, £9 (£7). Preview 3 Aug, £6.

HOW TO BE A KID Easily one of the best venues at the Fringe, there’s not a bad view in the house for you to enjoy this tale of 12-year-old Molly, a young carer re-learning how to have fun.

Roundabout @ Summerhall, 5–20 Aug, 10.45am, £7–£10 (£5–£8).

Preview 4 Aug, £5.

DAVID WALLIAMS’ THE FIRST HIPPO ON THE MOON Another of Walliams’ best-selling books for children is adapted for the stage, this time by Les Petits Theatre Company, the team behind previous Fringe hit Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–20 Aug (not 15), noon, £9–£12 (£7.50–£10.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

THE TALES OF PETER RABBIT AND JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK Award-winning soprano Michelle Todd teams up with the talented musicians of the Children’s Classic Concerts Festival Ensemble for this musical adaptation of the Beatrix Potter classics. Underbelly Circus Hub, 6–26 Aug (not 14), noon, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Preview 5 Aug, £7.

THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD Celebrating 20 years at the Fringe, the consistently excellent Tall Stories theatre company returns with their wonderful adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s popular picture book.

See feature, page 89. Pleasance Courtyard, 6–20 Aug (not 9, 16),

BAMBINO Scottish Opera continues its foray into work for tinies with this brand new opera aimed at babies aged 6–18 months, featuring cello, percussion, soprano and baritone.

Edinburgh Academy, 8–20 Aug (not 14), 10am & 11.30am, £12 (for adult and baby).

David Walliams’ The First Hippo on the Moon

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list.co.uk/festival

Tall Stories | FESTIVAL KIDS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES In 1997, a new theatre company creating work for children headed to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time. 20 years later, they’re still going strong.

Kelly Apter talks to Tall Stories about the secret of their success

The Gruffalo’s Child

F

rom a chance meeting in a London theatre box office to performing all over the world, Tall Stories has undergone quite a journey over the past two decades. For the first four years, cofounders Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell ran the company out of a spare room in Jacobs’ flat, until their 2001 adaptation of a (at that point) little-known book called The Gruffalo made the children’s theatre world sit up and listen.

Based in London, the company has worked hard to keep young audiences (and their adult companions) excited and engaged, bringing a new show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each August before touring it across the UK and beyond.

‘Edinburgh is where everything began for Tall Stories,’ says Jacobs.

‘It’s where we were spotted and booked for our first international festival, from which we started to tour to America and all over the world. It’s a bit of a spiritual home for us.’

Alongside numerous original devised shows, the company’s relationship with the work of Julia Donaldson has borne multiple fruit. That early production of The Gruffalo was followed by superb adaptations of Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale and The Gruffalo’s Child. The latter is heading back to the Fringe this year, having first played it in 2006.

‘I have a huge affection for The Gruffalo’s Child,’ says Jacobs, ‘and we continue to change and update the show. We’re very proud of this latest incarnation and our cast is fabulous.’

This time around, not only will The Gruffalo’s Child be entertaining a new generation of young Fringe-goers, but it will also enable the company to bring a smaller, original show to Edinburgh that will be affordable for all. Exploring life through the eyes of Dominic, a young

boy on the cusp of high school, Future Perfect travels backwards and forwards in time as he frantically tries to fix things to ensure his life turns out OK. ‘Tall Stories is a small charity doing big things and our larger scale shows support our smaller scale work,’ explains Jacobs. ‘That allows us to take high quality productions to a wide and diverse audience. So this year at the Fringe, we’re performing The Gruffalo’s Child alongside Future Perfect, a show that’s really thought-provoking for both grownups and children, and for which tickets are just £2.’

As audiences around the world have discovered, whether Tall Stories is adapting the work of others or dreaming up brand new stories such as Twinkle Twonkle and Alfie White: Space Explorer, one thing is guaranteed: the shows will be well-crafted, beautifully designed and expertly performed pieces of theatre. Which is why a Tall Stories show at the Fringe is always accompanied by a long queue outside.

‘We founded the company with the aim of telling good stories well, for audiences of all ages,’ says Jacobs. ‘Hopefully our audiences return because they like the stories we tell and the way we tell them. We’ve been hugely lucky to create our shows with some amazing people and to have a very loyal audience, especially in Edinburgh. And we’re very grateful that they continue to come back for more.’

The Gruffalo’s Child, Pleasance Courtyard, 6–20 Aug (not 9, 16), 10.30am, £9.50–£11.50 (£8.50–£10.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.

Future Perfect, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–20 Aug (not 9, 16), 2pm, £2.

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FESTIVAL KIDS MUSIC | Top | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tips

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 The pick Some of the of the best best comedy kids shows in the in the first week of theWritten Fringe,by: in our Fringe’s first week. handy chronological guide Brian Donaldson

10AM 9AM JASON THE REDAND SHOES THE ARGONAUTS theSpace on Niddry Street,Tue 4–19 King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 6– Aug (not 6, edtheatres.com/kings 13), 9am & 9.35am, £8 Sat 10 Jun, (£6).

Modern interpretation of the Mathew Bourne’s highly acclaimed classic Greek myth, in which new dance production, based Jason on assembles a crew of See misfits the classic 1948 film. ourand 5 star outcasts to battle review, page ??. his way across the seas. Performed by Take Thou That, back at the Edinburgh Fringe after MILONGA their hugelyFestival enjoyable 2016 show.

Edinburgh Theatre, Tue 13 & Wed 14 Jun, edtheatres.com/ festival Celebrated choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents a piece inspired by the late-night milonga BAMBINO The Edinburgh Academy, scene in the intimate bars of 8–20 Buenos Aug 10ampage & 11.30am, Aires.(not See14), preview, ??. £12 (additional adult £7). Scottish Opera’s SURGE new opera for babies aged 6–18 City, months, followsFri the28– tale Merchant Glasgow, of a young leaving the nest, Sun 30 Jul,bird surge.scot A festival performed soprano, baritone, cello dedicated tobyphysical performance, and percussion. incorporating outdoor, site-specific events for all ages and indoor DR ZEIFFAL, DR ZEIGAL AND showcases of performance art.

THE HIPPOand THAT CAN NEVER Workshops masterclasses are BE alsoCAUGHT provided for those wanting to Assembly Roxy, 5–28 Aug (not 15, develop their talents.

22), 10.15am, £7–£8. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, IN £5.THE Join BOTANICS Dr Zeiffal on the hunt BARD for the hippo that eludes capture, Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, Wed featuring Invisible Hippo Blanket, 21–Sat 29the Jul, bardinthebotanics. co.uk Botanics’ fresh take on

10AM

the Hippo Google Shakespeare featuring Googles female and a blizzard of Hippo packaging. of performers.

With performances Taming of the Shrew?, Timon of Athens JIHAN’S and QueenSMILE Lear.

Summerhall, 4–13 Aug (not 7), 10.15am, £12DEL (£10).

Previews 2 & FLAMENCO FUEGO 3 £8. Young wakes one LaAug, Bodega TapasJihan Bar, Sat 3 Jun, day to discover she’s lostAn her smile. of labodegaglasgow.com evening So the people of herwith town go on Andalucian passion performances a journey to search for it, because from international flamenco guitarist when she smiles the sun Danielo will rise, Andrew Robinson, singer the moon the stars will and Olivera andwill theshine, rhythmic footwork dance and choreography joy will return to town. expressive of the El Fuego Performed de la Noche.by Palestinian group AlHarah.

11AM THE GIANT JAM SANDWICH Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug HE RED SHOES (not 14), 10.20am, £9.50–£11.50 King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 6– (£8.50–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, Sat 10 Jun, edtheatres.com/kings £7.

One Bourne’s hot summer’s four Mathew highlyday, acclaimed million wasps invade the quieton village new dance production, based of Noisy, nasty theItching classicDown.

1948 film.

See our 5and star worst all, they review,ofpage ??. don’t mind who they sting. That is until the baker has an ingenious MILONGAidea, in this adaptation of the popularFestival picture book.

Edinburgh Theatre, Tue 13 & Wed 14 Jun, edtheatres.com/ THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD festival Celebrated choreographer Pleasance Courtyard, 6–20 aAug Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents piece (not 5, 9,by16), £9.50– inspired the 10.30am, late-night milonga £11.50 scene in(£8.50–£10.50). the intimate barsPreviews of Buenos 2–4 Aug, See Tall Stories Aires.

See£7. preview, page ??. feature, page 89.

SURGE THE TALECity, OF Glasgow, THE COCKATRICE Merchant Fri 28– Venue Aug (not 14), Sun 30 13, Jul,5-26 surge.scot A festival 10.30am, (£7). Deep in the vaults dedicated £9 to physical performance, incorporating outdoor, site-specific

of an ancient events for all ages priory, and a deadly indoor creature awakens and knights flee showcases of bold performance art. in terror.

Can aand humble nun defeat the Workshops masterclasses are beast?

Find out twowanting storytellers also provided foras those to use puppetry, live music and develop their talents. tomfoolery to bring this fable to life.

BARD IN THE BOTANICS THE WONDERFUL WORLDWed OF Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, LAPIN 21–Sat 29 Jul, bardinthebotanics.

Scottish Storytelling Centre, co.uk Botanics’ fresh take on 4–27 Aug (not 16–18, 21–25), 10.30am, Shakespeare featuring female £8.

PreviewWith 3 Aug, £6 (£4). Bilingual performers. performances of performance very young Taming of the for Shrew?, Timon children, of Athens in which Lapin and Queen Lear.the French rabbit enters the world’s tastiest carrot competition.

FLAMENCO DEL FUEGO La Bodega Tapas Bar, Sat 3 Jun, A STRANGE NEW SPACE labodegaglasgow.com An evening of Summerhall, 4–27 with Aug performances (not 7, 14, Andalucian passion 21), £8 flamenco (£6). Previews from10.45am, international guitarist 2 & 3 Aug, £5 (£3.50–£4).

Amira is Andrew Robinson, singer Danielo obsessed and dreamsand Olivera andwith the space, rhythmic footwork of becoming an astronaut. one expressive choreography ofThen El Fuego night she has to pack her bag for the de la Noche. intergalactic trip she’s been waiting for in LIONS this highly THE OF physical LISBONshow for the whole family puppetry Celtic Park, Tueusing 6 & Wed 7 Jun,and original music. celticfc.net Ian Auld and Willy Maley’s play about a group of Celtic supporters HOW TO BE A KIDin 1967 for the who head to Lisbon See caption, page 91.

European Cup. MODERN BALLET GRADUATION PERFORMANCE Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, CALVINBALL Royal Botanic Garden, 5–27 Aug Thu 8–Sat 10 Jun, rcs.ac.uk (not 8, 15, from 22), 11am, 2pm & 3pm, Showcase final year students on £5.

Ipdip Theatre, the the Conservatoire’s BAcompany Modern Ballet Programme, run in conjunction with

11AM

THE TALES OF PETER RABBIT AND JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK NAME HERE Over 100 years since Beatrix Potter penned her charming tales about a mischievous rabbit and too-trusting duck, the stories stillcomedy going strong and entertaining new readers audiences.

This latest written Some of theare best in the Fringe’s first week.

Written by:and Brian Donaldson Some of production, the best comedy in by the composer Stephen performed by theSome Children’s Concerts Festival Ensemble andWritten award-by: Fringe’s first week. McNeff Written and by: Brian Donaldson of theClassic best comedy in the Fringe’s first week. winning soprano and actress Todd,inisthe a charming introduction to classical music for children aged 3-10.

Brian Donaldson Some of the Michelle best comedy Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldson.

Donaldson Some Underbelly 6–26 of the best Circus comedyHub, in the Fringe’s first 14), week.

Written by: Brian Donaldson Aug (not noon, £11–£12 (£10–£11).

Preview 5 Aug, £7.

behind the Scottish Ballet. hugely Seepopular preview,Head pagein??. the Clouds, returns to the Fringe – and the Botanic Garden – with CASABLANCA this ones five, Òranshow Mór,for Frilittle 7–Sun 23under Jul, oraninspired

by Gavin the game played byinCalvin mor.co.uk Mitchell stars this and Hobbes. adaptation of the classic film.

GOBLIN’S PETER AND LA CAGE AUX FOLLES THE WOLF King’s Theatre, Tue 25–Sat 29 Jul, Assembly George Square, 5–17 atgtickets.com/venues/kingsAug, 11am, £7–£8. Previews 3 theatre Bill Kenwright’s production & 4 Aug, £5. Multi-instrumental sees Eastenders’ star John Partridge live andalongside puppetry takemusic, on the comedy role of Albin combine this new show from Broadwayinactor Adrian Zmed as acclaimed Goblin. number Georges in company this witty musical Join an adventure aboutPeter dragon artists and familythrough values, the fieldsthe and forest as are he discovers in which characters forced to new noises, with singing coversounds up theirand vibrant lifestyle. birds, waddling ducks, sneaky cats, a rocking PROJECT Y wolf and music lovingly inspired Prokofiev’s Platform, Sat 29by Jul, tramway.org classic.

YDance, Scotland’s national youth dance organisation, presents four MAVIS SPARKLEdance works new contemporary Pleasance Courtyard, 5–20 Aug, from choreographers Alan Greig, 11am, £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£9).

Hagi Yakira, Steven Martin and Theo Previews Clinkard. 2–4 Aug, £6. With a magician for a Dad and a stargazer for a Mum,INTERNATIONAL there’s more to Mavis PAISLEY than meets the eye. With a little TANGO FESTIVAL help fromCoats her cheeky cuckoo clock, Thomas Memorial Church, mischievous bucket and Spike Fri 25–Sun 27mop Aug, coatsmemorial. the hedgehog, will she find the org.uk Tango dance festival held courage journey and see over threetodays, withnorth workshops, nature’s biggest light show with her performances and parties. own eyes?

LA BOHEME THE COMPLETE OF 1– Edinburgh FestivalHISTORY Theatre, Thu EUROPE (MORE ORPuccini’s LESS) tale of Sat 10 Jun, eif.co.uk C, 2-28Bohemians Aug, 11.15am, £7.50–£9.50 young in love.Also touring, (£5.50–£7.50).

This interactive see list.co.uk/theatre for details.family adventure runs headlong through 5000 years European history to GLORY ONof EARTH give a crazy,Thu yet 1–Sat pretty Royalaudiences Lyceum Theatre, accurate, overview the past that 10 Jun, David Greigofdirects Linda shaped it, story usingwhich increasingly silly Maclean’s re-imagines costumes, and accents. the historic wigs meetings between Mary Queen of Scots and John Knox.

THE AMAZING BUBBLE MAN Underbelly George Square, 5–28 SHACKLETON Aug, 11.30am, £11–£12 (£8–£9).

Traverse Theatre, Wed 7–Sat 9 Jun, Previews 3 & 4Blue Aug,Raincoat £7. Louis traverse.co.uk Theatre Pearl has been audiences present the storythrilling of Shackleton and his worldwide for over 30 years with voyage on the Endurance.

Also Tron the art, magic, science and fun17 Jun, Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 14–Sat of bubbles. Here he combines tron.co.uk comedy and artistry with audience participation, accompanied by live Douglas Community & Library music from Blackdundeecity.

Pearl.

Centre, ThuJet 1 Jun, gov.uk/communitycentres/ THE SHOWSTOPPERS’ douglascentre Arturo Ui isKIDS a witty SHOW and savage parable of the rise of Hitler Pleasance Courtyard, Aug, – recast by Brecht into a 5–20 small-time 11.40am, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£8.50).

Chicago gangster’s takeover of the Previews 2–4 Aug,trade. £6. Fringe city’s greengrocery favourites and Olivier Award-winning improvisers, The Showstoppers, take kids’ ideas and transform them on the spot into interactive musical adventures. Kids (and only kids) decide who the cast meet and where they go, building a tailor-made show from their imaginations.

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list.co.uk/festival

THE LISTIES MAKE YOU LOL See caption, left.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 21 & 22), 12.45pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. See preview, page 87.

1PM FUNZ AND GAMEZ: FLOGGING A DEAD HORZE Just the Tonic at The Community Project, 6–27 Aug (not 14), 1.30pm, £8.50 (£7.50). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £7.50 (£5–£6.50). The award-winning Fringe show returns. Join Bonzo, Jim the Elf, and Uncle Mick for a ‘comedy panel show’ which they promise is ‘still full of funz, gamez and prizez for the kidz.’

THE LISTIES MAKE YOU LOL

NOON

2PM ARR WE THERE YET? Underbelly Circus Hub, 6–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 2pm, £10–£12.50 (£9– £11.50). Preview 5 Aug, £6.50. A riproaring and swashbuckling adventure in which three acrobatic sailors hit the high seas in search of treasure. A scallywag pirate, a muscular sailor and a chef with a seafood allergy make for a hopeless crew, as they fight for the title of captain.

FUTURE PERFECT Pleasance Courtyard, 2–20 Aug (not 9, 16), 2pm, £2. See Tall Stories feature, page 89.

IS THIS A DAGGER? THE STORY OF MACBETH Scottish Storytelling Centre, 4–20 Aug (not 10, 17), 3pm, £9. Preview 3 Aug, £6. One of Scotland’s finest children’s theatre performers and storytellers, Andy Cannon delves into Shakespeare’s classic, taking audiences on a 1000-year journey from fact to fiction and back again. Part of the Made in Scotland Showcase.

5PM CARD NINJA Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 5.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The awardwinning Card Ninja uses comedy and card stunts to create his unique oneman variety show, and has racked up over a million views online.

COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS Assembly Roxy, 5–27 Aug, 5.40pm, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£9). Preview 4 Aug, £8 (£7–£7.50). You take a chance with who’s on each day, but Edinburgh in August has no shortage of comedy talent, so you’re sure to find some of the best stand-ups, cabaret stars and sketch acts performing for families.

6PM MARK THOMPSON’S SPECTACULAR SCIENCE SHOW Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £10 (£8). Preview 3 Aug, £6. Explore the strange and magical properties of matter, with exploding elephant’s toothpaste, vortex-generating dustbins, growling jelly babies and flying toilet paper. If you think science is boring, think again – TV astronomer and author Mark Thompson has been entertaining audiences for over 20 years with his fascinating take on all things scientific.

PHOTO: BRIAN ROBERTS

After entertaining full houses at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe, award-winning Australian scamps Rich and Matt return with another hour of anarchic nonsense. If you’re looking for calm, thought-provoking children’s theatre, head elsewhere – but if you’re hungry for poo jokes, toilet paper cannons and the ‘most disgusting pair of pants you’ll ever see’, these are your guys.

NAME HERE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–20 Aug, 12.30pm, £7.50–£9.50 Previews Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week.(£6.50–£8.50).

Written by: Brian 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

Donaldson Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldson Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week.

Written by: Brian Donaldson Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldson. Donaldson Sometellofextravagant the best comedy in the improvisers stories, Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldson all based on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. With swords and duels, DAVID WALLIAMS’ THE FIRST elephants and castles built of cheese HIPPO ON THE MOON – all aimed at older children (aged 12+) Pleasance Courtyard, 5–20 Aug (not and adults.

15), noon, £9–£12 (£7.50–£10.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. From EATEN bestselling children’s author David Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, Walliams comes this funny space 21), 12.15pm, £8 (£6). Previews 2 & adventure for children aged three and 3 Aug, £4. What if your food started over, featuring two big hippos with one talking back? Meet Lionel the lion – he’s enormous dream. Adapted for the stage just eaten a human called Mamoru for

by Les Petits Theatre Company, the lunch. But Lionel hasn’t chewed his team behind the popular Captain Flinn food well, so Mamoru is alive and well and the Pirate Dinosaurs. in his stomach and now wants to say hello . . .

PUB QUIZ FOR KIDS WITH PATRICK MONAHAN THE TOPSY-TURVY HOTEL Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug Sweet Grassmarket, 3–20 Aug (not (not 14, 20), noon, £9–£10 (£7–£8).

9), 12.25pm, £7 (£5). Fernando’s rickety Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. The fun family hotel is under threat from a pesky quiz hosted by one of the UK’s favourite property developer. Can you help? stand-ups is back after last year’s Check in for a feast of physical slapstick triumphant silliness and mayhem. and colourful characters, featuring Prepare for lots of laughs . . . and very acclaimed character comedians and few prizes.

Fringe regulars Jody Kamali and Jo Neary.

THE TALES OF PETER RABBIT AND JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK BALLOONATICS See caption, page 90.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–27 Aug (not 16–18, 21–25), 12.30pm, THE EXTRAORDINARY TIME£8–£9 (£7–£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £5.

TRAVELLING ADVENTURES OF Scottish comedian Chris Henry brings BARON MUNCHAUSEN his hit kids show to the Fringe, which he New Town Theatre, 4–27 Aug (not 3, guarantees is a chaos-filled, fun-packed 15), 12.10pm, £8 (£6). Preview 2 Aug, hour of inflatable buffoonery for all ages. £7 (£5). Award-winning comedians and

THE I HATE CHILDREN CHILDREN’S SHOW theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 5–26 Aug, 1.30pm, £10–£12 (£8–£9).

Preview 4 Aug, £8 (£6). A firm Fringe favourite, this caustic but often hilarious show combines close-hand, interactive magic with clever quips – oh, and a glass of fizz for adults on your way in.

3PM

HOW TO BE A KID Twelve-year-old Molly has spent so much time cooking, washing dishes and looking after her little brother Joe, she’s forgotten how to be a kid. Now that her mum is feeling a bit better, she needs to learn how to have fun again, in this funny and heartwarming play by Sarah McDonald-Hughes, delivered in Paines Plough’s fantastic Roundabout theatre space. Roundabout @ Summerhall, 5–20 Aug, 10.45am, £7–£10 (£5–£8). Preview 4 Aug, £5.

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festival

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ICEAGE Danish punk quartet take centre stage at Nothing Ever Happens Here Elias Bender Rønnenfelt is in LA, where it’s pretty early in the morning when I call to talk to him. He sounds tired. He’s not up for idle chit-chat. Asked if he’s played during the Fringe before, he’s confused. ‘Played during what?’ I move on.

As frontman of Danish punk quartet Iceage, he’s been in the game for a while: the group formed in 2008 when the average age of their members was 17.

‘As we grow in life, for better or worse, so too does the music,’ Rønnenfelt continues.

‘Some would argue this is also for better or worse.’

It’s difficult to tell whether Rønnenfelt is self-deprecating or unimpressed. He ‘doesn’t want to be involved in the conversation’ when it comes to comparisons to Nick Cave and Pete Doherty, either unwilling to compare himself to such big hitters or because it’s not up to him to decide. ‘That’s what the critics do,’ he says, ‘and I usually don’t really care for that either.’

Iceage’s show at Summerhall is part of Nothing Ever Happens Here, the year-round series of gigs fighting to provide Edinburgh with a music scene, and whose festival programme is becoming the stuff of legend.

Their show, says Rønnenfelt, comes after they’ve just finished an album, the title of which he can’t (or won’t) reveal. Nor does he want to talk about it: ‘I’d rather leave most of it as a surprise. We’re laying final touches to it at the moment, and everybody in the band is tremendously excited for what we’ve done. It feels like something new.’

Rønnenfelt perks up when talking about performing live, however, particularly in Scotland. ‘It’s usually a great place to get smashed in,’ he laughs, and is excited to see what audiences get out of the Iceage NEHH show. ‘Some might hate it, some might love it, some might connect with it, some might disconnect with it. That’s the beauty of it, I think.’ (Kirstyn Smith) ■ Summerhall, 5 Aug, 7pm, £16.50.

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FESTIVAL MUSIC | Hitlist Camille O’Sullivan

MUSIC HITLIST Kirstyn Smith picks some of the best music shows to check out in week one of the festival

new album. Part of Nothing Ever Happens Here. See preview, page 93.

Summerhall, 5 Aug, 7pm, £16.50.

CAMILLE O’SULLIVAN: WHERE ARE WE NOW? O’Sullivan is the well-established queen of the Fringe, with show after show of cabaret glamour racked up.

This year, she takes on not only the final songs of Bowie and Leonard Cohen, but also the work of other important singers and songwriters, including PJ Harvey and Nick Cave.

Underbelly Circus Hub, 6–26 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 7.45pm, £19–£21 (£18–£20). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £13.

PATTI PLINKO: DREADFUL LITTLE GIRL Patti Plinko uses classical and Middle Eastern sounds to tell erotic, exotic tales inspired by anything and everything from Virginia Woolf and Joan of Arc, to the whorehouses of Paris. Assembly George Square Theatre, 4–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 9.40pm, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £10.

GREEK Mark-Anthony Turnage’s modern opera is performed by Scottish Opera and Opera Ventures, a new charity aiming to change how opera is produced globally. Greek is a contemporary retelling of Oedipus set in inner-city Britain. Festival Theatre, Sat 5 Aug, 7.15pm, Sun 6 Aug, 5pm, £20–£36.

ICEAGE Danish punk four-piece who’ve been around since they were teenagers, performing songs from their upcoming

PJ HARVEY Accompanied by a nine-piece band, PJ Harvey performs songs from her latest album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, as well as tracks from her extensive back catalogue. Playhouse, 7 & 8 Aug, 8pm, £30–£48.

TOKIO MYERS WORLD The winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2017, Tokio Myers’ sound combines classical piano with electronic beats, and he has performed on stage with the likes of Kanye West, Amy Winehouse and Mr Hudson & the Library. The Biscuit Factory, 7–13 Aug, 7pm (also Fri & Sat 9.30pm), £14 (£10).

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7-13 AUGUST 2017 NORTH BERWICK WWW.FRINGEBYTHESEA.COM 94 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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EIF Highlights | FESTIVAL MUSIC

list.co.uk/festival

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

PHOTO: MARIA MOCHNACZ

Since Fergus Linehan took over curating duties of the Edinburgh International Festival, its programme has become fresher and more innovative than ever before. While the Festival’s reputation for putting on the very best in classical performances remains intact, a push towards giving contemporary music acts more prominence has a different audience reaching for tickets and the EIF is all the better for mixing genres in such an accessible and diverse way. There’s a lot to choose from, so here’s Kirstyn Smith’s pick of EIF 2017’s must-sees PJ HARVEY During Harvey’s two-night stint at the Playhouse, her latest album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, should hopefully take centre stage. That’s not to underestimate PJ’s back catalogue and vast contribution to music – we’ll never stop shouting about how she’s the only artist to have won the Mercury Prize twice – but this record, released last year, is an immersive documentary piece, inspired by three years spent exploring and absorbing Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, alongside photographer and filmmaker Seamus Murphy. The social commentary is mixed up with music reflecting what she saw: at times it’s funereal, other times cacophonous, sometimes wistful. Bolstered by her nine-piece band, these are guaranteed to be wholly engulfing evenings.

■ Playhouse, 7 & 8 Aug, 8pm, £15–£48.

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FESTIVAL MUSIC | EIF Highlights Benjamin Clementine

HAD WE NEVER A bewitching way to end an evening at the Festival, these late-night gigs take place in the imposing Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and are centred on our national Bard. In Robert Burns: Chains and Slavery, roots and reggae singersongwriter Ghetto Priest teams up with countertenor David James and bass Brian Bannatyne-Scott, as well as Makar Jackie Kay and members of the Scottish Ensemble.

Together, they delve into Burns’ legacy to present music and poetry inspired by both his work and new Burns-related exhibitions

by Douglas Gordon and Graham Fagen.

Ghetto Priest and the Scottish Ensemble take on Burns’ ‘The Slave’s Lament’, a poem highlighting his oft-noted disdain for injustice, while David James sings Arvo Pärt’s arrangement of ‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’.

■ Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 17 & 18 Aug, 9pm & 11pm, £25.

PHOTO: MICKY CLEMENT

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS: 50 SONG MEMOIR

BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE Clementine’s album, At Least for Now, won the Mercury Prize in 2015 for its raw honesty and deeply personal songs of unwitting adventure. Much has been made of the fact that his Later . . . With Jools Holland appearance won the praise of Paul McCartney, but it’s Clementine’s background (he was homeless as a teen in Paris and a busker, before exploring symphonic music and spoken word) that gives the record a quiet poignancy. Add to the mix his voice, which could shatter hearts, and the comparisons to Edith Piaf and Anohni (one of last year’s International Festival stars) make perfect sense.

piece was first published. It is this piece of work that Fox and Bigham are celebrating here: Mendelssohn’s haunting interpretation of the area influencing their own spiritual celebration. Staffa will also be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as part of the International Festival’s 70th Anniversary Celebration Concert on 27 Aug at the Usher Hall.

■ National Library of Scotland, 17–27 Aug, 10am, free.

Stephin Merritt, in a celebration of his 50th birthday, has written an entirely new set of 50 songs, to be performed, along with a larger Magnetic Fields band than usual, in an event that takes place over the course of two nights. One song for each year alive covers the highs and lows of Merritt’s existence, from the Vietnam War to medical conditions (he suffers from hyperacusis, a sensitivity to certain frequencies and volumes) as well as love, loss and music. His dual showcases will be accompanied by a staging spectacular which includes half a century of articles from his life, featuring reel-to-reel tape decks, old computers, a tiki bar and vintage magazines for you to flick through, should you become bored at any point. Spoiler: this is unlikely.

■ King’s Theatre, 25 & 26 Aug, 8pm, £20–£32.

The Magnetic Fields

■ Festival Theatre, 10 Aug, 7.30pm, £10–£35.

REFLECTIONS ON SYRIA Reflections on Syria, an event held in collaboration with Shubbak, London’s biennial festival of contemporary Arab culture, mixes not only music, but film and theatrical pieces to create an afternoon of learning and understanding. Artists who live and work in Syria present their own lived experiences as a means of introducing new stories and memories to the audience. As well as documentary filmmaker Yasmin Fedda and theatre director Rafat Alzakout, classical musician Maya Youssef performs a set that explores the concept of music as an act of healing in relation to what’s happening in Syria right now.

■ The Studio, 13 Aug, 3pm, £4–£8.

STAFFA PHOTO: MARCELO KRASILCIC

Staffa is a full orchestral work taking in three different visions of the uninhabited Hebridean island from BAFTA-winning filmmaker Gerry Fox and composer Ned Bigham. In 1829, a trip to Staffa inspired Felix Mendelssohn to create his ‘Hebrides Overture’, an example of an early tone poem that he tentatively named ‘Fingalshöhle’ (Fingal’s Cave) after the sea cave he explored, a title which stuck after the 96 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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KARINE POLWART Wed 9 August, 7.30pm

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PLAYING POLITICS: THE LAST HURRAH Fri 25 August, 7.30pm

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3 CENTURIES. 1 GOAL. A GLORIOUS TALE OF STRUGGLE AND SWEAT

OFFSIDE

by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish

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Top Tips | FESTIVAL MUSIC

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 Some music highlights from the first week of the Fringe, in a handy chronological guide

1PM A CASE OF YOU: THE MUSIC OF JONI MITCHELL Paradise in Augustines, 7–26 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.20pm, £12 (£10). A touching tribute to the music of Joni Mitchell, presented by Caught and Spark Productions, who take in her life and legacy along the way.

4PM AKIKO OKAMOTO IN CONCERT St Andrew’s and St George’s West George Street, 8, 10 Aug, 4.30pm, £10 (£8). The international piano maestro plays a repertoire that includes works by Chopin, Mozart and Bach, as well as Mussorgsky’s ten-piece suite, ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’.

CARLA LIPPIS: CAST A DARK SHADOW The Boards, 7–26 Aug (not 24), times vary, £12 (£11). Rock’n’roll given a cabaret makeover – Carla Lippis’ Cast a Dark Shadow is a Tarantinoesque slink through original music and recontextualised classics.

5PM THE GREAT HIPSTER SONGBOOK The Jazz Bar, 4, 8, 15, 22 Aug, 5.30pm, £7 (£5). Angus Munro and his backing trio perform modern indie songs in the style of American songbook-style classics.

ALL THE KING’S MEN C, 2–22 Aug, 5,40pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£10.50). One of many, many

MAGIC NOSTALGIC The Magic Nostalgic folks let punters take control: every half hour, Danny and JP stand aside and someone (you, if you’re lucky) gets on stage to spin the wheel to reveal the next genre of music. It could be boy bands vs girl bands, it could be Britpop, it could be karaoke – you’ll only know if you pop along. Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5, 12, 19 Aug, 11.30pm, £10.

a cappella groups that flood the Fringe each year, All the King’s Men are straight from King’s College, Cambridge, and are widely touted as one of the best of their type.

7PM BWANI JUNCTION PERFORM PAUL SIMON’S GRACELAND The Liquid Room, 9–11, 16–18 Aug, 7pm, £18 (£14). After selling out their shows at last year’s Fringe and Celtic Connections, a 12-piece band accompany Bwani Junction as they perform Paul Simon’s much-loved Graceland album in full.

NONSILENCE theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 7–12 Aug, 7.10pm, £9 (£6–£7). English-Irish solo piano singer-songwriter, Emer O’Flaherty, blends jazz and trad music in songs inspired by Norah Jones and Aimee Mann.

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Usher Hall, 8 Aug, 7.30pm, £13–£47. Conducted by Thomas Dausgaard, the Orchestra perform three pieces that ponder our place in the universe: Schubert’s ‘Symphony No 8 Unfinished’, Schumann’s ‘Piano Concerto’ and Strauss’ ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’, aka the theme to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

KARINE POLWART TRIO Queen’s Hall, 9 Aug, 7.30pm, £20 (£18). Polwart is joined by her trio for a rare intimate show, highlighting her poetic and intelligent folk-roots sound.

PIANOLOGUES Summerhall, 4–20 Aug, 7.40pm, £12 (£9). Preview 2 Aug, £9 (£6).

The latest show from Fringe stalwart and piano virtuoso Will Pickvance is another showcase of his poetic talent.

NOAH NOAH A wee bit of indie, a wee bit of electro, and a wee bit of poppy rock, Edinburgh’s Noah Noah have only been around since last year but are banging out the gigs, singles, and festival appearances, and now touting their high-energy sound at the Fringe. Angels Share, 5, 12, 19, 26 Aug, 9.30pm, free.

CELL BLOCK SOWETO: AN A CAPPELLA GANG SHOW Ghillie Dhu, 7–9, 15–17, 21–23 Aug, times vary, £12 (£10). A fairly light-hearted musical journey telling the story of five prisoners in a Johannesburg jail, weaving in the history of South Africa through a mixture of African and western music.

8PM JAMIE MACDOWELL AND TOM THUM Assembly George Square Studios, 4–20 Aug (not 9, 15), 8pm, £12–£14.

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £9. Beatbox sensation Tom Thum (who you’ll know from his TEDx talk – the most-watched of all time) joins musical forces with singer-songwriter Jamie MacDowell for an evening of experimental and exciting music.

NEHH: LEMON BUCKET ORKESTRA & BEN CAPLAN Summerhall, 8 Aug, 8pm, £12. Why not carry on Canada 150 celebrations with Canada’s only balkan-klezmergypsy-party-punk band? Buskersturned-guerilla folksters, LBO tread the line between intimate and rowdy, and home and away.

THE OPENING CONCERT Usher Hall, 5 Aug, 8pm, £15–£49.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus present the opening concert for the EIF, performing Haydn’s ‘Symphony No 94 Surprise’ and Mendelssohn’s ‘Symphony No 2 Lobgesang’.

9PM ELSA Assembly Hall, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 9.30pm, £10–£11. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £7. A round of satire, comedy and storytelling from Isobel Rogers, whose Elsa character makes up songs about the people she 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 99

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10PM ALI AFFLECK’S SPEAKEASY SESSIONS: ONE NIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS The Jazz Bar, 9 Aug, 10pm, £10 (£8). The Scottish Jazz Awards named Affleck Jazz Vocalist of the Year in 2014, and her new show touts her award-winning voice in an evening of vintage music, featuring songs by Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Ma Rainey, to name a few.

ALIVE: MUSIC FOR NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ZOO, 4–28 Aug (not 16), 10pm, £7–£10 (£8). An up-to-date silent film experience: Modern Robot mix contemporary music with film-scoring aesthetic to create a soundtrack to the George Romero classic, Night of the Living Dead.

NEHH: MEDITERRANEO OPENING PARTY Summerhall, 4 Aug, 10pm, £10.

Nothing Ever Happens Here’s Fringe season kicks off with a wild night of Italian, Zimbabwean and Scottish sounds in a huge multicultural party.

FAUXCHELLA MUSIC FESTIVAL C, 2–28 Aug (not 14), 10.15pm, £7.50– £9.50 (£5.50–£7.50). A magnificent

PHOTO: AIMÉ MÉTHÉ

encounters while working as a waitress in a coffee shop.

spoof of the festival people love to hate. Musical comedy band Pop Filter present original songs and characters in an entirely fake music festival.

THE BLUES BROTHERS: LIVE C, 2–28 Aug (not 16, 23), 10.30pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£10.50–£12.50).

An energetic night of rhythm’n’blues with a party atmosphere, based on the 1980 musical movie.

11PM MASSAOKE’S CLUB LA LA Assembly George Square Gardens, 3–27 Aug (Thu–Sun only), 11.45pm, £12-£14. One of the biggest and best parties at the Fringe, Massaoke gives punters a live band – playing hits from the 80s, 90s, 00s and beyond – and lyrics on a big screen, making for a mass karaoke singalong.

DAS CONTRAS: FUNKING JAZZ PUNKS The Jazz Bar, 5, 12, 26, 28 Aug, 11.55pm, £10 (£7). Party funk all-stars play Latin, funk and soul with a bit of reggae thrown in. Their Fringe run showcases latest album Hedonburgh.

HOMO DISCO Just the Tonic at The Caves, 3–26 Aug (Thu-Sat only), 11.55pm, £5. ’Audience Interaction Required’ warns the blurb for Homo Disco, with no warning of what that might involve, but

LES POULES À COLIN Offering up an enchanting mix of French and English trad arrangements, Les Poules à Colin are childhood pals from the same street in Québec who take their old-school jazz and folk influences and turn them into a repertoire of gentle but rich sounds. Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC, 7 & 8 Aug, 7pm, £10 (£8).

we hope it’s just enthusiastic dancing to a night of camp classics.

MIDNIGHT GECKO 3 The Jazz Bar, 4, 8 Aug, midnight, £10 (£8). A blend of reggae, funk, hip hop and Latin from a high-energy group who’ve worked as KT Tunstall’s backing band.

TOMÂS FORD: CRAP MUSIC RAVE PARTY Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5 & 6, 11–13, 18–20, 24-27 Aug, midnight, £9–£11 (£8-£10). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.

A big old bad taste party with Ford and his collection of cheesy tunes. If you request a crap enough song, he might play it – think along the lines of 2 Unlimited, Mel & Kim, or any song that’s ever been the theme to an 80s film.

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THEATRE

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

LILITH: THE JUNGLE GIRL Genre-defying theatre from award-winning Aussie company is why you’ll see talking lions, a wearable windmill, and a “wild girl” played by a 35-yearold naked man covered in pink slime.’

This wilful subversion of genres and clichés seems to fuel Lilith: The Jungle Girl. With a cast that includes Hot Brown Honey’s Candy Bowers, and merging lo-fi animation, satirical theatre and live art, it’s hard to categorise, but there is a serious subtext within the performance about the problem of ‘othering’ outsiders.

‘We hope it provokes the audience into looking at the world a little differently,’ continues Greene. ‘Be that a new perspective on a political problem, or just remembering that theatre doesn’t have to be dry or respectable.’ (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), times vary, £19.50 (£14.50). Preview 3 Aug, 9pm, £13 (£9).

PHOTO: JEFF BUSBY

These are politically fraught times. Fringe theatre, arguably, connects best with people when it effectively captures a sense of time and place, fusing the visceral with bold or radical ideas.

In that spirit, award-winning queer Australian theatre company Sisters Grimm (known for staging shows in unusual settings like car parks) bring their production Lilith: The Jungle Girl to the Traverse this August.

Fascinated by both skewering and homaging cinematic tropes, they believe that the feral girl from famous melodramas is one archetype worth exploring.

Co-artistic director Declan Greene explains: ‘a young girl is found in a jungle, and is then brought back to civilisation in order to be socialised. But then at a certain point, we strain and start to break these rules. Which

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Hitlist

Gareth K Vile picks the best theatre to check out in week one MEOW MEOW’S LITTLE MERMAID The cabaret superstar takes advantage of her theatrical prowess – she has recently been seen in The Globe’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – to examine the mythology that surrounds ‘true love’ and its insistence on the perfection of the self and the other. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival. See feature, page 36. The Hub, 3–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm (& 7.30pm on 12, 19, 26 Aug), £15.

EVE Jo Clifford reflects on her life as playwright, father and grandmother in a show that remembers how recently such a journey would have been so much more difficult. See feature, page 104 and listen to our podcast online at list.co.uk/festival Traverse, 4–27 Aug (not 7,14, 21), times vary, £19.50 (£14.50). Preview 3 Aug, 6.30pm, £13 (£9).

THE SKY IS SAFE Matthew Zajac met with women in exile to inform his meditation on the

PHOTO: PIA JOHNSON

THEATRE HITLIST

Meow Meow’s Little Mermaid

Syrian tragedy: how can a privileged westerner understand the pain and horror of the lives of those forced to migrate from their homeland in the face of civil violence? See feature, page 109. Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (14, 21), 7.45pm, £15 (£10). Preview 2 Aug, £8.

WOKE Apphia Campell gets to grips with the very pertinent issue of race through a look back to one of the greats of the 1960s’ civil rights movement and the struggles of a contemporary student.

See feature, page 25. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 17–19), 2pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Preview 4 Aug, £6.

CREATIVES Irvine Welsh and Don De Grazia sneak a look at the self-indulgence, the battles and the jealousies of the Chicago music community in a comic pop opera that revels in the secrets and lies that bedevil the collaborative facade of creative scenes. See feature, page 103. Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9–£13.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

LIVE

TRAINSPOTTING

HINT OF LIME PRODUCTIONS presents

The Power Behind the Crone “There are no good parts in Shakespeare for older women.”

‘A BIG FAT HIT. JUST DON’T SIT NEAR THE TOILET’ NME

Professor Artemis Turret, played by Alison Skilbeck, sets out to refute these words in a serio-comic celebration of Shakespeare’s older women, directed by Tim Hardy.

‘THE BEST WAY TO EXPERIENCE TRAINSPOTTING’ WARNING:

Irvine Welsh

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Irvine Welsh | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: JOEL MAISONET

Rowena McIntosh gets the lowdown from legendary Scottish author Irvine Welsh on his trio of shows being staged at this year’s Fringe

I

rvine Welsh is getting greedy.

The Scottish author has three shows at this year’s Fringe: Performers, Creatives and Trainspotting Live. ‘You’ve got London in the 60s, Edinburgh in the 80s and Chicago in the present day,’ says Welsh. ‘That’s probably the three cities I’m most associated with, so no one can complain.’

Performers, which makes its debut in Edinburgh, was written with Welsh’s long-time collaborator, Dean Cavanagh. ‘Dean and I are always doing stuff together and he’s really obsessed with the story behind the film Performance.’

The pair previously wrote Babylon Heights, a debauched imagining about the actors playing Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. For this new script, they’ve taken inspiration from the cult 1970 Mick Jagger-starring film about a London gangster hiding out at a rock star’s house.

‘Performance is groundbreaking, one of the best British films of all time,’ argues Welsh.

Their play focuses on the recruitment of two London gangsters for the film. ‘We wanted to see if we could capture that kind of old-school cockney vernacular.

It’s a shame that some of these local dialects are being lost. We wanted to do something that was old-school London,’ says Welsh.

This is helped by the casting of ‘ultimate Londoners’ Perry Benson and George Russo. ‘Dean’s from Yorkshire and I’m from Scotland, so with the best will in the world, we can’t always get it absolutely authentic. But you’ve got Nick Moran directing it and Perry Benson and George Russo in these two parts, and it just gives it this extra dimension of authenticity.’

Creatives, a musical about a Chicago songwriting class is also a collaboration, this time with Don De Grazia. The piece started life as a film before Tom Mullen, who directed Trainspotting USA, came on board and they changed it from a creative writing class to a musician’s workshop. They’re a dysfunctional group and jealousies reach new levels when a pop star is invited back to judge a competition.

‘I know it’s a cliche about all plays being in constant development but this one really has to be, given the nature of it,’ admits Welsh. ‘We’ve also had to cut it down from 90 minutes to 75 for the festival slot,’

That’s a big kind of constraint in a way but it makes it a fun snappier version.’

Creatives is set in the Chicago arts scene and has its UK premiere in Edinburgh. ‘The interesting thing that Chicago and Edinburgh have in common is that people do things there because they enjoy it.

They aren’t necessarily wanting to be massively successful and be discovered. Edinburgh people who want that go to London, and Chicago people who want that go to New York or LA. You get people who are involved in the arts for the intrinsic love of it.’

Trainspotting Live, adapted

by Harry Gibson from Welsh’s iconic novel, returns to the Fringe following sold out runs in 2015 and 2016, and a world tour. ‘It feels like a contemporary play for this generation, rather than something I wrote about 1980s Edinburgh, and that’s down to their ingenuity and staging. I still can’t believe the energy they bring to that show.’

Trainspotting Live is also one of the few Fringe shows with a venue all of its own, a tunnel under the EICC. Welsh’s Trainspotting has a chapter titled ‘The First Day of the

Edinburgh Festival’ in which the character of Renton memorably ends up fishing two opium suppositories out of a toilet. But Welsh likes the festival really.

‘I never used to but I do now.

I used to be like a lot of locals: “it’s too expensive, cannae get served”. When I was young, we all loved coming into town from the scheme and trying to pull a girl in the festival. It’s nice to be chatting to somebody in a bar and they’re from the south of France or Nigeria, instead of Wester Hailes or Niddrie.

I feel it has opened up the city in a lot of ways. It’s an essential part of what Edinburgh is about.’

Performers, Assembly Rooms, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 4.45pm, £14–£15 (£12–£13). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10.

Creatives, Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9.50–£13.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

Trainspotting Live, EICC, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 7.45pm, £17.50–£22.50. Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £10–£15.

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | National Theatre of Scotland

T

he National Theatre Of Scotland is synonymous in many theatre-goers’ minds with collaborative creativity during the festival, having produced more than 20 shows at the International and Fringe festivals over the last 11 years. Crucial to its success is a spirit of generosity to both established and emerging artists, and a strong sense of authorship within its projects.

This year is no different, featuring new works from the likes of Cora Bissett (Adam), Rona MacDonald (Fuaigh – Interweaving) and Douglas Maxwell (The Whip Hand), plus the return of Zinnie Harris’ critically acclaimed Oresteia: This Restless House which started its run at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.

Jemima Levick, who became artistic director of Stellar Quines in 2016, believes that theatre is a positive tool for inspiring audiences, with a particular emphasis on female lived experience.

Her previous successful shows include adaptations of The Glass Menagerie and The Tempest. Her new production, The Last Queen of Scotland, written

by Jaimini Jethwa and directed by Levick, focuses on issues of identity, conflict and immigration.

Originally it was a poem, but was adapted and commissioned through mentoring from the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep. ‘It’s inspired by Jaimini’s experience of the Ugandan-Asian expulsion and her move to Dundee in the early 70s,’ says Levick of the script.

‘And it’s about how she chose to explore her past in order to be in control of her future.’

Levick wants to focus on stories that have remained on the sidelines. ‘It’s an untold Scottish story, which is something I’m always keen to give an audience access to.’ she continues. ‘It’s about knowing who you are, and belonging, and defeating the powers that be from controlling you.’

Visibility – in terms of representation – is key, as Levick adds, ‘I think that seeing two young performers, both strong young women from Scottish / Nigerian and Scottish / Pakistani descent, is a real signal of how diverse Scotland has become, and how central diversity is to making this nation a much better and more interesting place.’

Jo Clifford’s work is personal, spiritual and heartfelt. She has worked with the Traverse Theatre many times since the late 1980s, and her Great Expectations was the first play written by an openly trans playwright to hit London’s West End. Her latest Traverse show, Eve, is running in tandem with Cora Bissett’s Adam.

‘They are both stories of individuals who have tried to discover themselves,’ says Clifford. ‘And this is in spite of abuse, in spite of prejudice, in spite of the incredible difficulties that our societies have put in our way to discover ourselves.’ She’s working alongside writer-performer Chris Goode, a friend and previous collaborator, and says that, as with much of her work, it draws on her own life.

COME TOGETHER

Lorna Irvine examines the diverse voices in National Theatre of Scotland’s festival offerings, and discovers that collaboration and shared experience are key

‘This is an autobiographical one, and I will be relating to photographs of myself when I was a child and when I was a young man. I had a suitcase full of photographs which I opened up and spread all over the floor.’ She feels trans representation is still a problem in the arts. ‘It wasn’t until The Crying Game, when I was in my 40s, when there was a trans character played by a trans actress who was presented as a fully rounded, loveable, brave, courageous human being. That was the first time I had seen that anywhere. There’s still very few, and that really struck me as shocking and damaging.

I want to begin to create a repertoire of trans narratives, because the experience we have in one sense is very specialised. When I was growing up, I thought I was the only person like myself in the whole world, but what I’ve since begun to understand is that everybody has had similar experiences of inadequacy, of not feeling like a real man or real woman. So there’s a universality.’

Graham Eatough is well-known for making large-scale projects, including The Making of Us, Lanark, and most recently Nomanslanding, all of which eschew easy categorisation. It’s something he’s exploring in his latest production, How to Act. ‘This is a much more conventional play, however there are direct connections with some work [I’ve done previously] for the NTS and different bits of research I’ve been doing over the years. There were lots of things bubbling away for about four years, so it’s been quite a long time in the making.’

This has led to Eatough pondering how to contextualise all of his ideas. ‘I’ve been really asking some fundamental questions about what is it that only theatre can do, and why am I interested in making theatre.’ He is philosophical about the universality of the form. ‘It’s about an approach to theatre which believes that if we can only tell a story well enough, if we can access the kind of deeply-held truths that all of humanity share, then we can transcend cultural boundaries and linguistic boundaries: we can speak beyond language. We can touch something that’s common to all of us.’ And that shared experience is another association that the NTS’ productions hope to make synonymous with their identity.

Adam, Traverse, 6–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), times vary, £21.50 (£16.50). Preview 5 Aug, £15 (£9), 1.45pm.

Fuaigh – Interweaving, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 17, 21 Aug, 3pm, £10 (£8).

The Whip Hand, Traverse, 6–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), times vary, £21.50 (£16.50). Preview 3, 5 Aug, £15 (£9).

Oresteia: This Restless House, Lyceum, 23–27 Aug, 6pm, £10–£32. Preview 22 Aug, £10–£26.

The Last Queen of Scotland, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–26 Aug (not 9, 16), 6.50pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Eve, Traverse, 4–27 Aug (not 7,14, 21), times vary, £19.50 (£14.50). Preview 3 Aug, 6.30pm, £13 (£9).

How to Act, Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7,14, 21), 1.10pm, £15 (£13). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £13 (£12).

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list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: CHRIS BOWEN

Eve PHOTO: EMMA JANE ALEXANDER

The Last Queen of Scotland PHOTO: ALLAN DIMMICK

How to Act

Adam

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | To Hell in a Handbag

Gareth K Vile explores a new production which takes a look into the most famous handbag in theatre history

A

lthough To Hell in a Handbag uses Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest as a foundation, cowriters and performers Helen Norton and Jonathan White are clear that this is ‘more an amplification than an adaptation’. Looking at two minor characters – Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism – from Wilde’s wry satire of Victorian society, the script exposes the hypocrisy and cunning of those forced to the action’s margins.

Norton explains that their director, Conor Hanratty, had cast them ‘in something entirely different’ but commented that he had first seen her as Miss Prism, the governess who famously lost her handbag in Importance, and that White would be a perfect Chasuble. When a later production of Importance failed to cast them, ‘we decided we’d write our own play because I think the characters deserve their own play.’ Using an actor’s approach to developing character, Norton and White created an adventure that sees the pair entangled in romance, fraud and betrayal.

The expanded characters take their cues from Wilde – ‘for instance, Miss Prism makes reference to a stain on her handbag

from a temperance beverage, and we thought she might have a problem with alcohol,’ says White – and the pair present a production that is steeped in the language and culture of Victorian England.

‘One of the joys of writing the play was the research,’ says White. ‘What were the Victorians’ headlines stories? So we feature the activities of the Prince of Wales, the politics in the Church of England, and the innovations of the times: the railways and the telescope and scientific advance.’ From this historical context, the drama centres on the two’s schemes for financial stability and social respectability.’

‘I think they might have some . . . notorious traits,’ Norton laughs. ‘And it is plausible in the Victorian era that what you see on the surface is not what is going on underneath.

I think Miss Prism has been searching for stability for a long, long time: she has lived on her wits all her life. She is not a monstrous character, she is quite sad, and she has to do certain things that are not quite legal.’

Chasuble, equally, ‘has had to see how far his doctrine won’t carry him in terms of putting bread on the table,’ says White. ‘We have this idea of Victorian morality – but they were up

to all sorts! And if they have a fallible side, what has brought it about, and how do they justify it to themselves?’

This tension between financial worry, social facades and mail-based skullduggery drives Chasuble and Prism into each other’s arms, in the remarkably formal and restrained manner of the time. For White, this led to a witty script that retains the marks of Wilde’s influence. ‘There is a fascination with costume drama and the Victorian use of English, the wonderfully arcane dialect: there is the deliciousness of the language, and seeing upright people on shifting sands,’ he says.

‘It has a lot of recognisable hooks for an audience: the work of Oscar Wilde is something people aren’t unfamiliar with.

You don’t need to know the play, we tell you the whole story, with a few Easter eggs for those who do know it. And we were keen to be true to the characters in the play, as opposed to taking them in – excuse the pun – wildly different directions.’

To Hell in a Handbag, Assembly Rooms, 5–27 Aug (not 15, 22), 12.25pm, £10– £11 (£9–£10). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8.

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World Premiere National Theatre of Scotland presents

How to Act Written and directed by Graham Eatough

Award-winning theatre-maker Graham Eatough returns to the Festival with a playful and provocative two-hander about art, truth and ethics.

Previews: 2 & 3 August 1.10pm £13 (£12) 4–6, 8–13, 15–20, 22–27 August 1.10pm £15 (£13) Summerhall (Venue 26) summerhall.co.uk / 0131 560 1581 edfringe.com / 0131 226 0000 nationaltheatrescotland.com National Theatre of Scotland is Core funded by the Scottish Government

The National Theatre of Scotland reserves the right to alter casts, performances, seating or ticket arrangements and latecomers may not be admitted. National Theatre of Scotland, a company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland (SC234270) is a registered Scottish charity (SC033377).

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Migration | FESTIVAL THEATRE

PHOTO: JOHN WILKIE

list.co.uk/festival

The consequences of migration – forced or otherwise – is the focus of several shows at this year’s Fringe. Irina Glinski takes a look at the productions aiming to tell the personal stories beyond the headlines

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he refugee crisis may have slipped from TV screens and rolling news coverage in recent months, but the movement of people between countries and continents is still a major theme within the Fringe, with a number of companies shining a spotlight on marginalised voices affected by migration.

Matthew Zajac returns to Summerhall with The Sky Is Safe, Dogstar Theatre’s fifth Fringe production and a personal response to the unfolding Syrian tragedy.

In 2012, Zajac spent nine days trapped in bureaucratic limbo in Istanbul, as his visa for travel to Iran was cancelled following a diplomatic crisis. Instead of travelling to take the lead role in a film, he found himself writing about chance encounters on the streets of Turkey’s largest city. Earlier this year he

returned there to interview Syrian women, meetings which became central to the creation of this new play, directed by Ben Harrison.

‘Amal, the female character in The Sky Is Safe comes from these interviews,’ Zajac says. ‘She is essentially an everywoman, a composite character who embodies aspects of the female experience of the Syrian war.’

This engagement with migration goes beyond the story and into the production team: set designer Nihad Al Turk, a highly-respected Syrian visual artist, came with his family to Scotland from a refugee camp in Lebanon.

Writer Henry C Krempels was also inspired by a chance encounter. In 2015, Krempels was commissioned by Vice Magazine to write about the train journey from Milan to Paris which was being used by refugees coming up

through the south of Italy. The Sleeper: Or What Happens When You Ask Them to Leave weaves together an unusual story with real testimony from Syrian refugees.

During one of a dozen or so train journeys he made over the course of about a year, he returned from the restaurant car to find someone asleep in his bed. ‘I lay in the warm bed [afterwards] and thought about who she might have been and what I might have done about that,’ says Krempels. ‘These two questions have obsessed me since then – I’ve even tried to find her – and the play is for her’.

The Sleeper describes a situation familiar to the thousands of refugees who find themselves stuck in the liminal space between the homes they have left behind and the new lives they are yet to begin.

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Migration

Playwright Cathy SK Lam is also keen to put real human experiences of migration centre stage. Smoking With Grandma presented by ThreeWoods, is a new multimedia play that seeks to explore the lives lived behind the term ‘refugee’. Lam’s work, which has received critical acclaim at both Hong Kong and Adelaide Fringe Festivals in 2017, tells the story of refugees who lived on Tiu Keng Leng, a remote island in Hong Kong, after fleeing mainland China.

Lam is not looking to overload the audience with narrative, facts or figures, but rather would prefer to trigger interest. ‘It all depends on themselves for the little changes they want to make or discussions they want to initiate after seeing the performance,’ she says. ‘Making a performance gives you a second chance to live the life again: our life or someone’s life. You get to know the life that you are not familiar with.’

Migration, however, is about more than border crossings. Yolanda Mercy’s semi-autobiographical piece, Quarter Life Crisis, wrestles with the responsibilities and societal expectations of being a twentysomething.

Yet she recognises an additional complexity: to reconcile a London upbringing with her Nigerian heritage.

Mercy hopes that her show will encourage audience members to feel curious about their own heritage. ‘I am Nigerian, so audiences get to experience a bit of my culture, of Yoruban language, of my country’s history and music, with a slight London twist,’ says the actor and playwright. She hopes her audience will ‘discover who they are, celebrate what makes them unique, and question what western society’s notion of “growing up” means in 2017.’ At the same time, Quarter Life Crisis demonstrates that migration has driven the multicultural energy that defines contemporary British culture.

Kamaal Hussain is also reflecting on his own personal experience, filtering his life-story through the tale of Sinbad’s seven voyages in Becoming Scheherazade. In light of Middle Eastern wars and terror attacks, he was keen to respond to the representation of Arabs in western culture.

‘I believe performance, especially live performance, offers an immediacy that is unparalleled elsewhere,’ says the writer who is also artistic director at The Thief of Baghdad theatre company. ‘As an audience, being in front of a real person who is honestly presenting their truth is an incomparable means of engendering empathy.’

Theatre is more often in the business of posing questions than providing answers: these performances offer insights into the lives and circumstances of contemporary migrants and refugees, with an emphasis on the human costs and consequences.

Whether invoking mythologies or adapting interviews with immigrants, and placing the stories within their political context, these shows reveal the emotions and experiences behind the headlines, even reflecting how cultural heritage extends into the next generation and enriches British society with its distinctive perspective.

From this, migration becomes less of a crisis than a process that is capable of inspiring change.

The Sky Is Safe, Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 7.45pm, £15 (£10). Preview 2 Aug, £8.

The Sleeper, theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 7–26 Aug (not 13, 20), times and prices vary. Previews 4 & 5 Aug, 11.40am, £5 (£4).

Smoking With Grandma, C royale, 2–15 Aug, 1.40pm, £9.50–£11.50 (£7.50–£9.50).

Quarter Life Crisis, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 2.40pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

The Sky Is Safe (main page); Top-bottom: Quarter Life Crisis, Smoking with Grandma, Becoming Scheherazade

Becoming Scheherazade, Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 3pm, £10 (£8). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £7.50 (£5).

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Adaptations | FESTIVAL THEATRE

One-Man Apocalypse Now

LOST IN TRANSLATION When it comes to the Fringe, Gareth K Vile discovers that the art of adaptation is not necessarily just creating a new version of an old favourite

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dapting a novel or film for the stage is a dangerous strategy. At worst, it can be an unnecessary repetition of a popular work that irritates its fanbase by challenging their interpretation or adds nothing new to the source material. The recent fuss about casting Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child reveals that a passionate audience can also be rather conservative, while the plethora of jukebox musicals suggests that adapting pop music hits into a theatre show can be a sign of creative, if not exactly financial, bankruptcy.

Nevertheless, theatre-makers don’t resist the temptation to translate their favourite literature into performance, and the Fringe offers a wide range of adaptations that attempt to go beyond the obvious retelling of familiar narratives.

LaPelle’s Factory have a ‘modern, deconstructed and misbehaving retelling’ of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat, written by Mufaro Makubika which promises to ‘update the themes and make changes

to the plot’. LePelle’s Olwen Davies and Ollie Smith come from a background in improvisation, and used Makubika’s script for their own end. Far from simply performing the story, they explain, ‘we pull texts apart and comment on them whilst simultaneously “acting” them.’

Aware that some audiences might not be familiar with Poe’s short story, Davies and Smith have researched various film versions to ensure that their meta-theatrical approach is accessible. ‘It’s the same as watching a film: you’ll have a different understanding if you read the book first, but it isn’t incomprehensible if you didn’t.’

Rejecting what they call ‘actorly’ theatre, and letting their personalities slip into the performance, they see The Black Cat as a way to collaborate with Poe’s dark tale, but without falling into the trap of over-intellectualising. ‘We also aren’t afraid of being silly.

Contemporary theatre gets a reputation of being overly serious. We’ve found ways of countering these presumptions with dark humour we’ve woven into the performance.’

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investigating contemporarily relevant themes of politics and philosophy without getting too partisan.’ This Time Macine asks questions not of Wells’ Victorian sensibilities, but whether society – and its anxiety about change – has developed in the past century.

Townend Jones makes a strong argument that adaptation – something that his company, Dyad, has majored in throughout their nine years of creativity – enables a level of engagement that is often associated with contemporary, issue-based writing.

‘The themes in the book and perhaps even more so in the play are incredibly relevant to our current situation in the west,’ he concludes.

‘We hope that these themes will resonate with how we engage with the world; what it is we put into the world to make it a better place for not only ourselves and those we love but those we don’t know.’

It is this kind of vision that drives successful adaptation: the same kind of desire to communicate that drives most successful art. At its best, adaptations perform the same function as new work, interpretations of classic scripts and devised performance, and the familiar material is merely another aspect of a comprehensive and intelligent approach to theatre-making and the public discussions of important ideas.

The Black Cat, Underbelly Cowgate, 5–20 Aug, 7.20pm (also Underbelly Med Quad, 13 Aug, 1.15pm), £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Odyssey, Pleasance Dome, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 1.15pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£9–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £7.50.

The Portable Dorothy Parker, Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 4pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

The Black Cat

If The Black Cat uses techniques from improvisation, Theatre ad Infinitum apply Lecoq physical theatre to Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, while playwright Annie Lux, director Lee Costello, and actress Margot Avery were inspired to develop The Portable Dorothy Parker by an edition of the waspish writer’s selected works. Its editing and publication becomes the platform upon which they explore her life, writing and, of course, famous quips.

‘We open the show with Mrs Parker at her venomous best, tongue sharpened to a point,’ they explain. ‘We also used Mrs Parker’s most famous lines as the first of her works to be quoted: “Men seldom make passes / At girls who wear glasses”.’ But from this introduction, the production delves into her life, revealing a more sympathetic and complicated individual. Once again, the shift from adaptation as simple retelling to an interpretation of the text offers a rich and intriguing theatricality.

While he talks of adding ‘a dark hilarity’ to his One-Man Apocalypse Now, Chris Davis explains that ‘the idea of performing a movie like Apocalypse Now with one person is silly. That’s a given.’ Yet he uses the source to expose how art and reality often interweave. ‘At times it is a faithful adaptation, but then veers off into my own personal history,’ he says. By taking such an iconic film, Davis is able to comment on his own life. ‘Audiences laugh a lot. However, underneath the laughter is a sadness that deals with my relationship with my father. Fortunately, these themes are also found in the actual movie, specifically between Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando.’

Other approaches revitalise novels in the light of contemporary concerns. Elton Townend Jones admits that the impetus to adapt science fiction classic The Time Machine came from pondering the Brexit referendum result and the Trump election, ‘all of which I knew, as the play’s author, were going to happen’. Picking up on HG Wells’ interest in social Darwinism and the potential collapse of civilisation predicted in the novel, Townend Jones recognises theatre as ‘the perfect platform for storytelling that is personal and intimate, exciting and exhilarating, emotional and intellectual, but also capable of

One-Man Apocalypse Now, Sweet Grassmarket, 3–27 Aug, 4.20pm, £8 (£6).

The Time Machine, Assembly Roxy, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 11.10am, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8.

The Time Machine

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tshepang: The Third Testament ‘Searing and compassionate!’

TOBACCO

The Stage

‘Sophisticated theatre-making’ Sunday Independent

‘Recording history in the making’ Cape Times

THE GUARDIAN

Baxter Theatre The Season Inconvenience of Wings Cutting edge, award winning theatre from South Africa

‘Masterful direction... consummate performance’

–

‘Will change you forever’

Critter

City Press

‘Riveting theatre’ Theatre Review

@AssemblyFest

www. baxter .co.za BaxterTheatre

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FESTIVAL THEATRE MUSIC | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Top Tips

TOP TIPS: WEEK 1 Some of our the best top tips comedy for theatre in the in the Fringe’s week, in a by: handy Fringe’s firstfirst week.

Written chronological guide Brian Donaldson

determinationfeaturing Shakespeare to win his female approval sends her down path towardsof performers.

With aperformances desperation, and the Taming of theobsession Shrew?, Timon of Athens darkest of ethical and Queen Lear. dilemmas.

boy’s life events forforever. all agesAand heartfelt indoorand comic storyofofperformance one man’s obsession showcases art. with a forgotten hero and his journey Workshops and masterclasses are to get him celebrated also provided for thoseagain. wanting to develop their talents.

10AM 9AM

BIG BITE-SIZE FLAMENCO DEL FUEGO BREAKFAST SHOW La Bodega Tapas Bar, Sat 3 Jun, Pleasance Dome, 5–28An Aug (not of labodegaglasgow.com evening 15, 22), 10.30am, Andalucian passion£11.50–£12.50 with performances (£11–£12).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.50. from international flamenco guitarist Three funny, thought-provoking Andrew Robinson, singer Danielo menus of bite-size plays,footwork with Olivera and the rhythmic and fresh coffee, tea, croissants expressive choreography of Eland Fuego strawberries de la Noche. thrown in.

NOON BARD IN THE BOTANICS

AVALON THE RED SHOES Paradise in TheEdinburgh, Vault, 5–27Tue Aug6– King’s Theatre, (not 13,Jun, 20),edtheatres.com/kings 9.50am, £8 (£5). A Sat 10 young looks like Mathewamnesiac Bourne’swho highly acclaimed Natalie Wood washes up nearon the new dance production, based town of Avalon, and meets the classic 1948 California, film. See our 5 star an angry recluse review, page ??. who claims to be King Arthur, exiled to recover from a mortal wound.

MILONGA Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 13 & Wed 14 Jun, edtheatres.com/ festival Celebrated choreographer Sidi Larbi THE SECOND Cherkaoui COPY: presents 2045a piece Summerhall, Aug milonga (not 7, 14, inspired by the4–27 late-night 21), 10.15am, £12 (£10).

Previews scene in the intimate bars of Buenos 2 & 3 Aug, From page out of??. the future, Aires.

See£8. preview, dissolving himself in fiction, the character SURGE of Youness Atbane creates a fictional archive about Moroccan Merchant City, Glasgow, Fri 28– art from the millennium Sunproduction 30 Jul, surge.scot A festival to 2015 and frees facts from their trap in dedicated to physical performance, present-day incorporatinglogic. outdoor, site-specific events for all ages and indoor ACTION AT DISTANCE showcases of A performance art.

ZOO Southside, 6–22 Aug (not Workshops and masterclasses are10, 17), £10 (£8).wanting Previews also 10.10am, provided for those to 4 & 5 Aug, In a small Nevada develop their£6. talents. town, out-of-work plumber Chris stumbles Josh, a charity BARD IN across THE BOTANICS worker truth behind Botanicexposing Gardens,the Glasgow, Wed US drone in Syria and Iraq.

21–Sat 29strikes Jul, bardinthebotanics.

Her fascination world co.uk Botanics’ with freshhis take on and

BONE HE RED WARS SHOES Laughing HorseEdinburgh, @ The Counting King’s Theatre, Tue 6– House, 3–13edtheatres.com/kings Aug, 11am, free.

Sat 10 Jun, America, 1863. Two great scientists Mathew Bourne’s highly acclaimed discover dinosaurs, go based mad and new dance production, on destroy each other. the classic 1948 film.150 Seeyears our 5later, star they’re for a final reckoning. review, back page ??.

Witness history’s greatest feud (excluding MILONGA that time Emily Davison tried to punch a horse).

A newTue comic Edinburgh Festival Theatre, play Nicholson and 13 & from WedKeiron 14 Jun, edtheatres.com/ Nicholas Cooke. choreographer festival Celebrated Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents a piece LOOKING FOR JOHN milonga inspired by the late-night Assembly 5–24bars Augof(not 15), scene in theHall, intimate Buenos 11am, £10–£12.

Previews Aires. See preview, page ??. 3 & 4 Aug, £6. Written and performed by Tony Timberlake. Just hours after his SURGE Olympic gold victory, skater Merchant City, Glasgow, FriJohn 28– Curry by the A tabloids, Sun 30was Jul,outed surge.scot festival but his iconic Olympic routine and the dedicated to physical performance, life that followed changed one young incorporating outdoor, site-specific

PHOTO: TIM GREY PHOTOGRAPHY

10AM

11AM

THE CHESS Botanic Gardens, PLAYER Glasgow, Wed C primo, Aug, noon, £8.50– 21–Sat 292–28 Jul, bardinthebotanics. £10.50 (£6.50–£8.50).

Imprisoned in co.uk Botanics’ fresh take on solitary confinement byfemale the Nazis, a Shakespeare featuring stolen book With of chess games allows performers. performances of a prisoner cling to sanity, dividing his Taming oftothe Shrew?, Timon of Athens mind into two feuding chess masters. and Queen Lear.

After his escape, he challenges the greatest chess player in the world to FLAMENCO DEL FUEGO a Richard Lamatch.

Bodega TapasMcElvain Bar, Satreturns 3 Jun, to the Fringe with a worldAn premiere labodegaglasgow.com evening of based on Stefan Zweig’s classic Andalucian passion with performances short story. from international flamenco guitarist Andrew Robinson, singer Danielo THE NATURE OF FORGETTING Olivera and the rhythmic footwork and Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 expressive choreography of ElAug Fuego (not noon, £10.50–£12.50 de la 14), Noche. (£9.50–£11.50). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6. PartOF of British Council THE LIONS LISBON Edinburgh Showcase 20177and Celtic Park, Tue 6 & Wed Jun, following a sell-out at Willy the 2017 celticfc.net Ian Auldrun and Maley’s London International play about a group of Mime Celtic Festival, supporters Theatre Retopresents powerful, who head Lisbon ina 1967 for the explosive European and Cup.joyous piece about what is left when memory is gone.

MODERN BALLET GRADUATION BROTHERS PERFORMANCE Underbelly Med Quad, Aug Royal Conservatoire of 5–28 Scotland, (not 16), 12.10pm, £9–10 (£8–£9).

Thu 8–Sat 10 Jun, rcs.ac.uk Previews 203 on Showcase 2–4 fromAug, final £6.50. year students tackle understanding coping the Conservatoire’s BAand Modern Ballet with mental health Told with Programme, run in issues. conjunction

NAMEBORE WILD HERE Superstar Some of the trio best Adrienne comedy Truscott, in the Fringe’s Zoë Coombs first week.

Marr Written and Ursula by: Brian Martinez Donaldson expose Some the relationship of the bestbetween comedycritic in the Fringe’s and performer first week. by looking Written atby: theBrian way that Donaldson their own Some performances of the best have comedy been in reviewed, the Fringe’s often firstthrough week. Written a jaundiced, by: Brian Donaldson sexist and lazy attitude.

Some ofTraverse the best Theatre,9–27 comedy in Aug, the Fringe’s times vary, first £21.50 week.(£9.50–£16.50).

Written by: Brian Preview Donaldson.

8 Aug, 10am, Donaldson £15 (£9).

Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week. Written by: Brian Donaldson

through the Scottish Ballet. lives See of five preview, university page ??. housemates, the show starts as a rip-roaring comedy before the CASABLANCA students’ anxieties and Òran Mór,insecurities, Fri 7–Sun 23 Jul, orandepression become all toostars apparent, mor.co.uk Gavin Mitchell in this leading to aofpreventable tragedy. adaptation the classic film.

COW LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug King’s Theatre, Tue 25–Sat 29 Jul, (not 16), 12.10pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). atgtickets.com/venues/kingsPreviews & 4 Aug, £6.50.

A theatre Bill3Kenwright’s production tragicomedy with star music, setPartridge in rural sees Eastenders’ John Devon, a girl, a cow and the take on about the role of Albin alongside ways we ask for Adrian help. From Jessica Broadway actor Zmed as Barker-Wren and Lucy Wray, number director Georges in this witty musical of Theydrag Builtartists It. Noand Onefamily Came. about values, in which the characters are forced to GAZING AT A DISTANT STAR cover up their vibrant lifestyle.

Assembly George Square Studios, 5–28 Aug (not PROJECT Y 14), 12.15pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

3 &tramway.org 4 Aug, £6. In Platform,Previews Sat 29 Jul, Siân Rowland’s playnational about those YDance, Scotland’s youthwho go missing and those who arefour left dance organisation, presents behind, three lives intersect as people new contemporary dance works struggle to cope with Alan loss, Greig, to reach from choreographers out find Steven the lightMartin beyond.

Hagiand Yakira, and Theo Clinkard.

PHOOLS Bedlam Theatre, 4–12 Aug, PAISLEY INTERNATIONAL 12.30pm, £10 (£8). The invigorating TANGO FESTIVAL and inventive Babolin were Church, winners of Thomas Coats Memorial the 2015 Fringe Review Outstanding Fri 25–Sun 27 Aug, coatsmemorial.

Theatre Award.dance Expect silliness, org.uk Tango festival held some songs andwith more than a over three days, workshops, smattering of saga. performances and parties.

OYSTER LA BOHEME BOY Assembly Edinburgh George FestivalSquare Theatre,Theatre, Thu 1– 5–28 (not 17 & 18), 12.40pm, Sat 10Aug Jun, eif.co.uk Puccini’s tale of £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 3 &touring, 4 young Bohemians in love.Also Aug, £5. It’s the 1950s chorus see list.co.uk/theatre forand details. girls are doowopping, everyone is jiving andON Italian ice cream seller GLORY EARTH Jim and youngTheatre, Alice fallThu in love Royal Lyceum 1–Sat while strolling beach in a 10 Jun, David along Greig the directs Linda whirlwind Inspired by a Tim Maclean’s romance. story which re-imagines Burton short story. between Mary the historic meetings Queen of Scots and John Knox.

THE BELIEVERS ARE BUT BROTHERS SHACKLETON Northern Stage atWed Summerhall, Traverse Theatre, 7–Sat 9 Jun, 7–26 Aug (not 9, 16,Raincoat 23), 12.45pm, traverse.co.uk Blue Theatre £12 (£10).

5 & 6 Aug,and £10. present thePreviews story of Shackleton his The old on world are collapsing: voyage the orders Endurance.

Also Tron from the Glasgow, postcolonial nation states Theatre, Wed 14–Sat 17 Jun, of the Middle East, to the EU tron.co.uk and the American election. Amid this, a generation of young men Douglas Community & Library find themselves withdundeecity. a crisis of Centre, Thu 1 Jun, masculinity that leads them into an gov.uk/communitycentres/ online world of fantasy, violence and douglascentre Arturo Ui is a witty reality. and savage parable of the rise of Hitler – recast by Brecht into a small-time FROM ChicagoDUST gangster’s takeover of the Gilded Balloon Teviot, city’s greengrocery trade.5–28 Aug (not 14), 12.45pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

Gaelic folklore collides with the 21st century in an adventure told through light and shadow. A fable about new beginnings, lost love and howling into the big beyond. The company behind 2016 sell-out Every Wild Beast.

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list.co.uk/festival

THE REVLON GIRL Assembly Roxy, 4–28 Aug, 1pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Preview 3 Aug, £10. Based on events following the Aberfan Disaster in 1966, The Revlon Girl tells the uplifting true story of a group of bereaved mothers who met weekly to talk, cry and laugh without feeling guilty.

STORYTELLER Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5–28 Aug, 1pm, £8–£9 (£6–£7).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6. In this intimate one-man show, awardwinning storyteller Brice Stratford takes you on a blistering, unexpected, unpredictable tour of folk tales, myths and legends.

PHOTO: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

WHALEBONE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 1pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8.50).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. Reimagining Lolita’s lesser-known sister, Nabokov’s Laura, Whalebone collides puppetry and physical theatre in a world where bodies are painted, tucked, tightened and taught.

Irreverent feminist theatre, narrated by a talking vagina.

NAME HERE LETTERS TO MORRISSEY The ever-witty Some of the best Gary comedy McNair inreunites the Fringe’s withfirst director week.

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FOLLOW SUIT Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 14 & 15, 21), 12.45pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

A madcap frenzy of physical comedy with political bite. In this absurd office, avoiding the skeletons in the stationery cupboard is crucial. Silent Faces’ debut production gives a darkly comic take on the chaotic world of high finance.

WALLS ZOO, 4–12 Aug, 12.45pm, £5–£10 (£8). Set in Eastern Berlin (1989) and the Calais Jungle refugee camp (2016), and incorporating an array of physical ensemble movement, storytelling and live music, Walls offers a visual whirlwind that has a lasting message about humanity. Winner at the London Student Drama Festival (2017).

WHAT GOES ON IN FRONT OF CLOSED DOORS Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 12.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. At just 19 years old, following the death of her mother, with deteriorating mental health, and no network of support, Molly finds herself homeless. From

the team behind the 2015 Edinburgh success, To She or Not to She.

1PM EGGSISTENTIALISM Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 22), 1pm, £10 (£8). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6 (£5). Looking down the barrel of her final fertile years, one modern woman goes on a comical quest to uncover the ifs, hows and crucially the whys of reproducing her genes. Family, fertility experts, fortune tellers, philosophers, daytime radio and the dark recesses of the internet; all are consulted.

FOREIGN RADICAL CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 1pm, £10 (£8). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8. Thirty participants are invited into an intriguing theatrical game exploring security, profiling, privacy and freedom of expression in the age of cybersurveillance. Mobile throughout the performance, the participants collaborate, compete, investigate, debate and spy on each other.

THE HERO WHO OVERSLEPT Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 1.15pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6. Here’s a heartfelt invitation to experience a never-before-seen mix of climate science, psychology and surrealist dance in which we attempt to remake ourselves just in time for a remaking of the world.

Powerful and emotional, music and magic realism collide in this darkly funny and moving production featuring Alex Walton.

2PM WOKE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 5–28 Aug (not 17–19), 2pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Preview 4 Aug, £6. From the creator of the hit show Black Is the Color of My Voice, comes a new story about the 20th-century AfricanAmerican experience. See feature, page 25.

BRIGHT COLOURS ONLY Assembly Rooms, 5–26 Aug (not 14), 2.25pm, £14–£15 (£12–£13).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8. Pauline Goldsmith resurrects her legendary Irish wake. This theatrical send-off was a huge hit at the Fringe back when Pauline could squeeze into a size ten shroud. So, pull up a chair, grab a sandwich and enjoy a dram at this wickedly funny funeral. Part of the Made in Scotland Showcase.

HEAR ME RAW Underbelly George Square, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 2.40pm, £9–£10 (£8– £9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50. One woman’s journey through the dirty world of clean living. A story about control, restriction and too much turmeric. From the team behind Mush and Me (Winner: IdeasTap Underbelly Award and Holden Street Theatre Awards). Written and performed by Daniella Isaacs.

LOVE, BOMBS AND APPLES Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 1.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8. Set against the backdrop of worldwide political instability with the looming threat of civil unrest, award-winning playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak looks into the worlds of three different men with three individual struggles, a Palestinian actor, a Pakistani writer and a young man in Bradford.

TODD & GOD Pleasance Dome, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 2.50pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. Fringe Firstwinner (Dirty Great Love Story) puts the mess into Messiah. Rebooting religion, God picks atheist Todd as her Chosen One. Now Todd’s doing good . . . badly. Comic drama about why we believe.

LISTS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 14, 21), 1.45pm, £12 (£10). Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8. A joyful and touching view of the world through other people’s eyes, Lists . . . is a show composed entirely of crowdsourced lists, with the profound and the ridiculous sitting playfully side by side. 2016 Live Lab bursary winner, co-commissioned

by ARC.

CONFESSIONS OF A PERSONAL TRAINER Greenside @ Infirmary Street, 4–26 Aug (not 13, 20), 3pm, £10 (£8).

From New York City, Katie Kopajtic makes her international debut. A behind the scenes look at the luxury fitness world and the unconventional relationships that blossom within it.

FROM IBIZA TO THE NORFOLK BROADS Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug, 1.55pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £7. The tale of a young David Bowie obsessive on a thrilling journey in the footsteps of his obsession, leading him to discover some long-hidden truths.

3PM

JANE DOE Assembly George Square Studios, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 3pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10) Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £9. Interwoven with frank and funny documentary footage with young people from the US, UK and Aotearoa, Jane Doe is a revelatory and carefully crafted discussion on consent, feminism and sexual empowerment. Part of NZatEdinburgh.com 3–10 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 117

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T H E DI vIDE

‘Släpstick’

BY ALAN AYCKBOURN

www.wereldband.nl

“Virtuousic musical clownery at a ridiculously high level.”

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A deadly contagion. A society segregated.

A forbidden love...

8–20 AUG BOOK NOW EIF.CO.UK 0131 473 2000

The Old Vic, Edinburgh International Festival and Karl Sydow production Funded by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown through the Edinburgh International Festival Commissioning Fund The Pirie Rankin Charitable Trust

Photo Manuel Harlan | Charity No SC004694

WORLD PREMIERE THE OLD VIC

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Top Tips | FESTIVAL THEATRE

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the sexualisation of our children.

Directed by John Hoggarth.

BIN LADEN: THE ONE MAN SHOW C, 2–28 Aug (not 15), 6.30pm, £9.50–£11.50 (£7.50–£9.50). The world’s most notorious terrorist tells his remarkable, provocative and multi award-winning story. After a criticallyacclaimed USA tour, this incendiary show provides fresh perspective; creating a space for debate and dialogue within the unthinkable.

BREXIT THE MUSICAL C, 2–28 Aug (not 15), 6.55pm, £13.50–£15.50 (£11.50–£13.50).

There’s a plan for Brexit. Just one hitch – no one knows where it is! It’s up to one man, Boris, to find it. After accidentally winning the referendum, this is his only way to gain redemption and save the nation from Brexit. Ably assisted by his sidekick Govey, our hero faces his most important mission yet. Will they save the day?

DR CARNESKY’S INCREDIBLE BLEEDING WOMAN Academic and subversive theatre-maker Dr Carnesky takes on the taboo of menstruation with an all-star cast, including burlesque legend Fancy Chance. Drawing on mythology, classic horror movies, notions of femininity and traditional cultural attitudes to women and blood, Carnesky’s vivid theatricality shapes a feminist contemporary ritual. Pleasance Courtyard, 4–28 Aug (not 9, 21), times vary, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.

BUZZ: A NEW MUSICAL Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 14, 21), 3.30pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50. Winner of the 2016 Eddies Award, the sell-out hit Buzz returns; a hilarious musical journey through the history of the vibrator and a brutally honest story of a singleton’s quest to fall back in love with herself. Sex education meets showstopping tunes.

BLEACH 48 Below, 3–11 Aug, 3.45pm, free.

A soul-jolting new one-man show about sex, violence and city living.

Laced with crippling honesty and dark wit, Bleach is sure to keep your pulse racing and your mind churning.

TRANSLUNAR PARADISE Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 9, 15, 22), 3.45pm, £10.50– £13.50 (£9–£12.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50. Theatre Ad Infinitum return with their award-winning journey of life, death and enduring love. After his wife passes away, William escapes to a paradise of past memories, a place far from his grief.

Returning from beyond the grave, Rose revisits her widowed companion

to perform one last act of love: to help him let go. A poignant, life-affirming tale without words.

BLANK TILES Assembly George Square Studios, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 3.55pm, £10–£11.

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6. Scrabble world champion, Austin Michaels (played by Dylan Cole) knew over 200,000 words. Then he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Since then Austin has been in a race against time to document his memories, his greatest achievements, before they fade from his mind forever.

6PM THE B*EASTS Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50.

Setting the modern obsession with putting your own child first against our responsibility as a society towards children as a whole, this dark tale, written by and starring BAFTA award-winning actress Monica Dolan, explores how far one mum will go to give her child what she wants. An exploration of the pornification of our culture and

ECHOES ZOO, 4–28 Aug, 7pm, £10 (£8). In a Black Mirror-esque near future, two men face each other across a table. A bomb has been dropped on purpose on the motherland’s civilian population. Why? A taut two-hander that will generate long discussions and food for thought.

THE PRINCIPLE OF UNCERTAINTY Sweet Holyrood, 3–27 Aug (not 24 & 25), 7pm, £10 (£8). Written by a PhD in quantum mechanics, The Principle of Uncertainty blends some of the more advanced ideas of physics with an emotional punch that promises to leave the audience reeling.

4PM CREATIVES Pleasance Courtyard, 5–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 4pm, £11–£14.50 (£9–£13.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8.

A dark, comic pop-opera by Irvine Welsh and Don De Grazia. See feature, page 103.

5PM RICHARD CARPENTER IS CLOSE TO YOU Underbelly George Square, 5–27 Aug (not 15), 5.20pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9–£10.50). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50. Richard from The Carpenters used to be on top of the world looking down on creation, to the left of (and slightly behind) Karen. Now, he’s back at the piano once more in this razorsharp tragicomedy that takes you on the ultimate ticket to ride. Written and performed by Matthew Floyd Jones, the piano player from Frisky & Mannish.

PHOTO: BLAIR SIMMONS

THE BEARPIT ZOO Southside, 6–19 Aug, 3.05pm, £10 (£9). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £7.

Flora and Nic appear to have the perfect relationship but privately are completely atomised. Weaving movement, original music and text into a two-person show, Kopfkino’s debut piece interrogates what we tell ourselves to be true versus the reality raging beneath the surface.

7PM

STAGING WITTGENSTEIN It’s a brave choice to base a performance on The Tractatus, Wittgenstein’s poetic yet dense meditation on language. Placing the two actors inside balloons adds an element of fun — and danger. Will theatre explain philosophy, or will the balloon explode in everyone’s faces? Regardless, the Fringe is rarely this unpredictable. C, 2–28 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 7.40pm, £9.50– £11.50 (£7.50–£9.50).

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Top Tips DOUBLE FEATURE Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, 5–28 Aug (not 14), 7.15pm, £14– £16 (£13–£15). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8. Clearing out their former local cinema seems like the dream job for two old pals (Andy Gray and Grant Stott), but in the process of stirring memories and re-creating scenes from their favourite movies, their shared fanaticism for film soon has to make way for bigger issues that have long remained unresolved.

HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY Assembly George Square Gardens, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 7.25pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £10. Henry Cyril Paget, the fifth Marquis of Anglesey, whose star burned brightly, briefly and transvestitely at the height of the British Empire, stalks the stage again in Seiriol Davies’s fierce, fabulous, tragi-gorgeous, hilarious, riches-to-rags extravaganza about being too weird for the world, but desperately not wanting it to forget you.

ANYA ANASTASIA: ROGUE ROMANTIC Assembly Checkpoint, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 7.30pm, £11–£13.

Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £8. Feisty, feminist, fierce. Multi award-winning, international cabaret femme fatale Anya Anastasia has gone rogue!

Channeling Yma Sumac and Shirley Bassey, Anastasia’s vocals range from husky cabaret to operatic soprano.

THE SHAPE OF THE PAIN Summerhall, 5–26 Aug (not 3, 14, 21), 7.30pm, £15 (£13). Previews 2, 4 Aug, £10 (£8). A new show from Rachel Bagshaw and Chris Thorpe exploring life in extremity and the joy that can be found there.

THE SKY IS SAFE Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (14, 21), 7.45pm, £15 (£10). Preview 2 Aug, £8. See feature, page 109.

8PM BETTY GRUMBLE: LOVE AND ANGER (OR SEX CLOWN SAVES THE WORLD AGAIN!) Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, 3–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 8pm, £5. Sex clown, wild woman and surreal showgirl, the award-winning, head-spinning Betty Grumble returns to Edinburgh with her flesh riot of laughing love and ecosex. Winner Green Room 2017 and Underbelly Award 2016.

9PM HOT BROWN HONEY Assembly Roxy, 2–27 Aug (not 9, 14, 21), 9pm, £15–£16 (£14–£15).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £10.

Winners of the 2016 Total Theatre Award for Innovation, The Honeys are back to spin tradition on its head, challenge boundaries and ignite the change we want to be.

REUBEN KAYE Assembly Checkpoint, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 9pm, £12–£13. Previews

BREAK UP (WE NEED TO TALK) A five-hour epic as two performers — dressed in banana suits — rake a relationship over the coals. By turns funny, incoherent and incisive, Binge Culture bring their New Zealand hit to Summerhall to push the boundaries of how theatre works — and how far communication can ever happen between people. Audience members can come and go, and tweeting is encouraged. Summerhall, 7, 14, 21 Aug, 6pm, £10 (£8).

2 & 3 Aug, £8. Clever, filthy comedy from Australia’s Cabaret superstar Reuben Kaye. Best Cabaret Winner Adelaide Fringe 2017.

DOLLYWOULD Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 21), 9.15pm, £8. Preview 2 Aug, £6.

Following the award-winning sell-out Letters to Windsor House, Fringe First winner Sh!t Theatre return in a bold new show about Dolly Parton.

SASQUATCH: THE OPERA Summerhall, 4–27 Aug (not 14), 9.15pm, £14–£15 (£11–£12). Preview 2 Aug, £12.

World premiere of an experimental opera written and composed by Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum, based on the fable of Sasquatch.

10PM MORALE IS HIGH (SINCE WE GAVE UP HOPE) Northern Stage at Summerhall, 7–20 Aug (not 9, 16), 10.15pm, £12 (£10).

Preivew 5 Aug, £10. A double act debut performance from Powder Keg predicting what could happen at the next general election.

EVOCATION Pierrot Lunaire was the David Bowie of the early 20th century. Rescued from his relative obscurity, he’s back, hanging out in fin-de-siecle Brighton and reinvented as a down and dirty antihero. With his European heritage and the accompaniment of industrial drone, Pierrot wants to remind the Fringe who started to defy the norm. theSpace on the Mile, 5–26 Aug, 8.25pm, £7–£8 (£4–£5). Preview 4 Aug, £5 (£3).

MEOW MEOW’S LITTLE MERMAID The Hub, 3–27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 10.30pm (& 7.30pm on 12, 19, 26 Aug), £15. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival. See feature, page 36.

THE UNMARRIED Underbelly Med Quad, 5–28 Aug

(not 14, 21), 10.35pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 2–4 Aug, £6.50.

Written and performed by the awardwinning Lauren Gauge, The Unmarried hits Edinburgh with its much ravedabout live underscore of old-school UK Garage anthems, following sell-out runs at Lyric Hammersmith and Camden People’s Theatre.

PETER & BAMBI HEAVEN: WHEN LOVE BECOMES MAGIC Assembly George Square Gardens, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 10.35pm, £12–£13. Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £8. Australia’s high energy dancing magicians, Peter & Bambi Heaven are back, spraying love and magic on everything and everyone they touch.

11PM LOSERS Underbelly Cowgate, 5–27 Aug (not 14), 11.20pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.50. Blurring lines between interactive theatre, live art and cabaret, Losers turns the spotlight on the dubious ethics of reality TV. ILLICIT THRILL: TITS, TEASE AND TEN POUND NOTES The Voodoo Rooms, 4–6, 10–13, 17–20, 24–27 Aug, 11.55pm, £10.

The Illicit Thrill combines adult erotic entertainment and an intelligent sensibility: simultaneously filthy and thoughtful, Gypsy Charms unfolds the secrets of the gentleman’s club without inhibitions but with plenty of wit.

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FRINGE VENUE 134/168 BOOKINGS 0131 225 53 66 info@ifecosse.org.uk

WWW.IFECOSSE.ORG.UK

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04 - 28 August 2017 | Tickets available at edfringe.com

70 YEARS OF DEFYING THE NORM

27 July— 27 August

45+ exhibitions across the city.

Historic surveys / leading international & Scottish artists / the best emerging talent.

New publicly sited artwork for the city.

Children & family activities.

Art Late, events, talks & tours.

edinburghartfestival.com @EdArtFest #EdArtFest

Major funders and supporters: Supported through the Scottish Government Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund

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festival

VISUAL ART

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

BEYOND CARAVAGGIO

PHOTO: THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

The Great Master’s followers take the spotlight in this blockbuster Caravaggio isn’t an artist that needs more exposure. His status as one of the greatest old master painters is as secure as his notoriety: if you know his work you’ll likely also know he was a murderer and spent the latter years of his short life (he died at 39) as a fugitive.

This exhibition offers a refreshing departure from the familiar narrative with audiences invited to look at Caravaggio’s work not through his biography but through the much broader sphere of its influence.

As a result, there are only four works in this show that are actually by Caravaggio, the other 43 are made up of his ‘followers’ – 30 artists from the 16th and 17th centuries with works taken from collections across the world.

In some pieces, the influence of Caravaggio is immediate and direct, such as ‘A Musician, (Conjurer)’ by Cecco del Caravaggio. This is unsurprising: Cecco was Caravaggio’s assistant, model and possibly lover. Whereas in others, like Georges de La Tour’s ‘The Cheat With the Ace of Clubs’, we can’t be

sure the artist had even seen Caravaggio’s work in the flesh. Yet it’s without doubt La Tour heard about the artist’s innovations – painting from life and depicting ‘real’ scenes, such as pictures of gambling, was otherwise unprecedented.

The show risks encouraging audiences to appreciate works by how closely they match Caravaggio’s style, but the best works are by the artists who refuse to be mere copyists.

The strong contrast between light and dark in Jusepe de Ribera’s ‘Lamentation over Dead Christ’ (pictured), or Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Susannah and the Elders’, framed so that the audience feels drawn into the scene; these are truly Caravaggioesque techniques, but are not instantly comparable to the master.

Caravaggio is the seductive headliner of this exhibition, but many of the highlights are found among the other artists, masters in their own right. (Rachael Cloughton) ■ National Gallery of Scotland, until 24 Sep, £12 (£10) ●●●●●

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FESTIVAL VISUAL ART | Hitlist

ART HITLIST PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, FORTES D’ALOIA & GABRIEL, AND WHITE CUB

Rachael Cloughton picks out some of the best visual art in the festival’s first week

Jac Leirner

BEYOND CARAVAGGIO This blockbuster exhibition explores the influence of the notorious Old Master Caravaggio on generations of painters across western Europe.

Includes work by Jusepe de Ribera and Artemisia Gentileschi. See review, page 127. Scottish National Gallery, until 24 Sep, £12 (£10).

JAC LEIRNER Everyday objects like cigarette butts and papers collected by Leirner from as far back as the 1980s are transformed into beautiful sculptures and installations. This solo exhibition by the major Brazilian artist has been, quite literally, years in the making. See review, page 127. The Fruitmarket Gallery, until 22 Oct, free.

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE AND THE JACOBITES The National Museum has taken on this complex, turbulent and heavily romanticised period of Scottish history, promising to tell ‘the real story’. See review, page 127. National Museum of Scotland, until 12 Nov, £10 (£8).

A PERFECT CHEMISTRY: PHOTOGRAPHS BY HILL AND ADAMSON Discover some of the world’s earliest photographs, taken by Edinburgh’s own David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson in the 19th century. See

feature, page 125. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until 1 Oct, £10 (£8).

TRUE TO LIFE: BRITISH REALIST PAINTING IN THE 1920S AND 1930S

More than 80 scrupulously detailed paintings by a largely forgotten generation of British artists working between the two World Wars. See review, page 127. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, until 29 Oct, £10 (£8).

4 to 27 August 2017 • open daily Fringe venue 205, White Stuff 89 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3ES Shop design-led, handmade objects from 33 Scottishbased makers.

Get hands on with our inspirational new maker-led workshops: book through the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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Edinburgh Photography | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART

PHOTO: SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY

list.co.uk/festival

Dumbarton Presbytery,

by Hill and Adamson

PICTURE THIS From the pioneering photos of Octavius and Hill to the formation of dedicated photography gallery Stills, Neil Cooper looks at how Edinburgh has been at the forefront of photography in Scotland

I

n 1843, David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson stumbled on a working partnership which began when painter Hill asked the younger Adamson to take a picture of more than 400 renegade clergymen from the newly formed Free Church of Scotland. Little did they realise that by documenting such a key moment of Edinburgh life in such a new-fangled fashion, they were kick-starting a revolution of their own. Photography had only been invented four years before, but the pioneering collaboration forged by the pair paved the way for what would become one of the major art forms of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The result of the partnership can be seen in A Perfect Chemistry, the first major showing of Hill and Adamson’s work in 15 years. As part of Edinburgh Art Festival, the duo’s array of social documentary studies of Newhaven fisherfolk and their portraiture of Edinburgh’s society set is being shown in a room named after another iconic photographer, the Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Gallery, at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

It took decades for photography to be taken seriously as an art form in the city, despite the efforts of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, which is about to host its 155th Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography. In fact, it took 134 years from Hill and Adamson’s first collaboration for a gallery devoted solely to photography to open in Edinburgh. That gallery was Stills, which ushers in its 40th anniversary celebrations with its own Edinburgh Art Festival show featuring work by 2016 Margaret Tait Award winner, Kate Davis.

Over its 40 year existence, first at two addresses on the High Street before moving to its current Cockburn Street premises in 1994, Stills has played host to numerous exhibitions by major international figures whose work was being shown in Scotland for the first time. These have included the likes of Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Walker Evans. Throughout the gallery’s existence, an extensive educational programme has run alongside its exhibitions, offering practical workshops and outreach work.

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FESTIVAL VISUAL ART | Edinburgh Photography PHOTO: SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY

Rev Dr Patrick Macfarlane,

by Hill and Adamson

Craigmillar kids play on Gulliver, the Gentle Giant, part of Rolls and Shutters

‘They were kick-starting a revolution of their own’

Photography, which was presented at the Fruitmarket Gallery by the Scottish Photography Group. At a time when the only public photography galleries in the UK were the Photographer’s Gallery, London, Impressions in York and Amber/Side in Newcastle, the SPG, made up largely of photographers, was born of frustration at a lack of a permanent space for photography in Scotland’s capital.

The group’s aim was to ‘promote a greater understanding of photography as an art form with a particular emphasis on the latent capacities of the medium to search into and investigate the world around us; and to encourage and assist those working in this medium, particularly in Scotland.’ Stills: The Scottish Photography Group Gallery, opened on 19 October 1977.

At that time, for photography to be actively collected by museums in the UK and elsewhere was still a relatively new pursuit. As Stills developed to include work by artists fusing photography and film with other art forms enabled by new technology, the National Galleries of Scotland set up its Scottish National Photographic Collection in 1984. This was established on the basis of it already holding original photographs by Hill and Adamson, taken between 1843 and 1847.

With Street Level Photoworks established in Glasgow in 1989, Edinburgh had already fostered other independent initiatives, including the Candlemaker Row-based Portfolio gallery. This was set up by former Stills staff with an accompanying magazine, both of which aimed to showcase more Scottish-based photographers. Such a widening of outlets across the country gave rise to Fotofeis, a biannual Scottish international festival of photography that existed throughout the 1990s.

Kate Davis: Nudes Never Wear Glasses

While a permanent national photography centre was mooted a decade ago, this evolved into the Institute of Photography Scotland.

This partnership between NGS, Stills, Street Level, the University of Glasgow and University of St Andrews aims to support photography in Scotland through collections, exhibitions, and programming. The Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Gallery, meanwhile, where Hill and Adamson have come to rest, opened in 2012, and is the first purpose-built photography space of its kind in a major museum in Scotland.

Beyond this, independent projects flourish. A major example of photography as social history as much as artwork can be found in Rolls and Shutters, a retrospective of work by Angela Catlin and John Brown from the 1970s, shown alongside a new film created

by Stina Wirfelt. The exhibition documents some of the incident and colour from Craigmillar Festival Society, the internationally renowned community arts initiative which much of Edinburgh and Scotland’s current cultural high heid yins could learn much from.

Photography in Edinburgh, it seems, is still very much in the frame.

A Perfect Chemistry: Photographs by Hill & Adamson, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until 1 Oct, £10 (£8).

Kate Davis: Nudes Never Wear Glasses, Stills Gallery, until 8 Oct, free.

Rolls and Shutters, Craigmillar Library, until 14 Aug, free.

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Reviews | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART

list.co.uk/festival

Flawed romantic heroes make for good summer exhibitions, proved by the National Museum of Scotland’s hugely successful Mary Queen of Scots show in 2013. Bonnie Prince Charlie will draw the crowds too, but this rigorous and thorough exhibition might give the public more than they bargained for.

Most of us have learned about the Jacobites as tragic heroes from books and films, rather than hearing the story in its true complexity.

It’s a story which takes in a century of turbulent European history and has more to do with power, politics, religion and clashing concepts of kingship than conflict between the English and the Scots.

The curators do their best to tell a complicated story clearly and succinctly. Text panels give a sense of the story’s arc. Film is used sparingly and effectively, and despite there being over 300 objects here, you never feel overwhelmed by them.

The danger is that visitors coming for a whiff of the romantic Charlie will leave with their heads birling with names, dates and places. At least they will have a sense that the Jacobite story is richer and more complex than they first imagined. (Susan Mansfield) ■ National Museum of Scotland, until 12 Nov, £10 (£8).

PHOTO: CITY ART CENTRE, MUSEUMS & GALLERIES EDINBURGH

Blockbuster tackles the Jacobite legend ●●●●●

PHOTO: RUTH CLARK

PHOTO: COURTESY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE AND THE JACOBITES

JAC LEIRNER: ADD IT UP

EDINBURGH ALPHABET

A world where everything is in its place ●●●●●

The city’s story told through alphabetically arranged objects ●●●●●

Giving up smoking can do weird things to people.

Just ask Jac Leirner, the Brazilian artist whose work was first seen at the Fruitmarket in a 2015 group show. Cigarette butts, ashtrays and rolling papers are some of the materials used in Leirner’s first solo show in Scotland, transformed into obsessively regimented arrangements.

The most striking thing to hit you first, however, is ‘Blue Phase’, in which 50,000 obsolete Brazilian bank-notes snake across the floor, graded in a way that focuses on colour rather than monetary worth.

Elsewhere, materials from hardware shops are lined up side by side in order of size and colour. The spirit levels of ‘Levelled Spirit’, the cords of ‘120 Cords’ and the rulers of ‘Metal, Wood, Black’ create vivid pictures of a world where everything is in its place.

‘Little Light’ lines up two miles of insulated copper wire threaded from the plug, revealing Leirner as a DIY grafter on several levels. There is a self-effacing wit at play too, most apparent in ‘Woman & Man’, in which ropes and chains serve up a basic biology lesson. As the tellingly titled ‘The End’ transforms a bin full of joint roaches into a criss-crossing mobile, all this looks like aversion therapy on a scale grand enough to prove addictive. (Neil Cooper) ■ The Fruitmarket Gallery, until 22 Oct, free.

The concept behind this extensive four-floor exhibition is a simple one, although the actual curation must have been complex; essentially, the idea is to tell the story of Edinburgh using items sourced from across the collections of Museums and Galleries Edinburgh, creating an A to Z trail which shines a useful light on the city for locals and visitors alike. The project has been intelligently completed, taking in the more obvious touchstones (tartan and tourism are both there), to a number of inventive inclusions; ‘Z’ is for ‘Zeitgeist’, for example, with a display of photographs and banners from recent protest marches.

‘X’ also enjoys a clever workaround with ‘X-Factor’, taking in odd acquisitions which have no obvious home elsewhere. There are some lovely pieces of art (Alexander Nasmyth’s painting of the Port of Leith; John Bellany’s ‘The Obsession’; the striking photographic results of the recent Capture Edinburgh competition) and a few odd inclusions, such as examples of the Museum of Childhood’s action figure collection, but it’s the sense of storytelling throughout which elevates this weighty social history display.

Everyone who visits will learn something new.

(David Pollock) ■ City Art Centre, until 8 Oct, free.

TRUE TO LIFE – BRITISH REALIST PAINTING IN THE 1920S AND 1930S Spotlight on little-explored movement from between the wars ●●●●● In the shop of Modern 2, the postcard reproductions of some of the 80 paintings brought together for this bumper compendium of 1920s and 1930s British realism are racked next to those of Ladybird book covers and vintage posters advertising Scottish holiday destinations. This may be a happy accident, but in their complementary depictions of idealised versions of brave new post-war worlds, they are all too appropriate aesthetic near neighbours.

While the blast of WWI exploded Dada and other abstractions into noisy life elsewhere, here the landscapes look unsullied, their occupants impeccably turned out. Over four rooms we see that world at work, rest and play. From the Italian-inspired co-opting of bustling communities and religious iconography in the first, to the second room’s set of portraits which flit from the windswept idyll of James Cowie’s much seen ‘A Portrait Group’ (1933/about 1949) to haughty looking women playing cards alone.

This not only points to tweedy subversions that would come later, but sets the template for TV production designers working on post-modern Agatha Christie remakes. Algernon Newton’s ‘Canal Basin’ (1929), meanwhile, which sits in the third room’s collection of rural and urban still lifes, sets the tone for former Clash bass player Paul Simonon’s own Thames-based paintings a few decades later.

It is the fourth room’s cavalcade of picnickers, hikers, circuses and funfairs that really capture a new sense of a new leisured class. It’s no surprise that Fortunino Matania’s ‘Blackpool’, originally commissioned for a London, Midland and Scottish Railway poster, was also used to advertise the northern English fun palace as a holiday town. The realism here, then, is far from gritty, and, as everyday experiences are writ large in the likes of Edward Burra’s ‘The Snack Bar’ (1930) (pictured), this particular truth points to the brightest of futures. (Neil Cooper) ■ Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, until 29 Oct, £10 (£8).

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the list

EVENTS

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PACKED FESTIVAL EVENTS PROGRAMME

EVENTS CALENDAR PHOTO: JONATHAN ABENSUR

ART LATE FEATURING THE LIST FESTIVAL PARTY Stops on this tour include Talbot Rice Gallery, with exhibitions Stephen Sutcliffe: Sex Symbols in Sandwich Signs and Jacob Kerray, as well as Dovecot Gallery before ending at Summerhall for the (legendary) List Festival Party. Talbot Rice Gallery, Thu 3 Aug, 6pm, £9 (£8).

MUSEUM AFTER HOURS: FRIDAY FRINGE TAKEOVERS A night at the museum that’s just for adults.

Enjoy performances from a variety of Fringe shows on the Grand Gallery’s main stage, visit pop-up bars and check out the museum’s collections, including the Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites exhibition. National Museum of Scotland, 11, 15, 18 Aug, 7.30pm, £18 (£16).

ART LATE FEATURING BOOHOOHOO Explore the Edinburgh Art Festival by night

T

ime is precious in August, so Art Late offers you a chance to experience the Edinburgh Art Festival programme in the evenings, with a four-part series of gallery visits and exhibition tours, paired with live music and drinks.

The second edition of Art Late (10 Aug) starts at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), and visits the exhibitions ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha and NOW. The former explores the artist’s fascination with West Coast American culture, while NOW features work by influential artists working today, including Turner Prize-shortlisted Nathan Coley, whose ‘The Lamp of Sacrifice, 286 Places of Worship, Edinburgh 2004’, will be on display for the first time since its restoration. This iconic installation comprises 286 scaled-down cardboard replicas of every building listed as a place of worship in the 2004 Yellow Pages for Edinburgh.

After visiting the gallery, it’s all aboard a coach to outdoor sculpture park Jupiter Artland, where new work includes ‘Marco Giordano: Self-Fulfilling-Ego’, an avenue of sculptures that emit a mist of water, and ‘Pablo Bronstein: The Rose Walk’, a 25-metre-long rose garden joining two pavilions. The evening concludes with 80s-fuelled electro-pop from Glasgow band BooHooHoo, fresh from their performances at ButeFest and Belladrum.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), 10 Aug, 5.30pm, £11 (£10). To win tickets, see page 10.

ART LATE FEATURING HAPPY MEALS This edition of Art Late visits Collective, Edinburgh Printmakers and Rhubaba Gallery and Studios. The evening finishes up at Custom Lane, with an artist performance from Pauline and the Matches, and music from Glasgow synth-pop duo Happy Meals.

Collective, 17 Aug, 6.30pm, £9 (£8).

ART LATE FEATURING HAMISH HAWK Choose one of three routes for the final Art Late, with featured works including Bobby Niven’s Palm House at the Johnston Terrace Wildlife Garden and Kate Davis’ exhibition at Stills. The evening finale is at the Fruitmarket Gallery, with music from Hamish Hawk.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 24 Aug, 6pm, £9 (£8).

COSEY FANNI TUTTI WITH IAN RANKIN Performance artist, musician and punk pioneer Cosey Fanni Tutti’s career includes her controversial 1976 performance art exhibition Prostitution and founding avantgarde group Throbbing Gristle. She discusses her concisely-named autobiography, Art Sex Music, with crime writer and music lover Ian Rankin. Charlotte Square Gardens, 27 Aug, 8.45pm, £12 (£10).

128 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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114 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3–10 Aug 2017

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