The List Festival 2018 - Week 2

l a v i t s fe 8–15 AUG 2018 | WEEK 2 LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

FREE

150+

SHOWS THIS M TO SEE ONTH

SOPHIE CULT POP PRODUCER LIGHTS UP THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

+ L-E-V DANCE COMPANY BRIEFS FACTORY MAIRI CAMPBELL ULSTER AMERICAN JUNE SARPONG MISS BEHAVE LUISA OMIELAN SHILPA GUPTA DENIM IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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

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Big Fat Bribes Top 20 News

CONTENTS FESTIVAL 2018 | ISSUE 2 | LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

FEATURES

16

SOPHIE Briefs June Sarpong

16 26 30

FOOD & DRINK Leith Chill Fest

BOOKS

COVER STORY SOPHIE Glasgow label Numbers present an evening of exciting names, including producer, songwriter, and DJ SOPHIE, who brings something wholly unique to the International Festival’s Light on the Shore programme. We speak to the eclectic artist about her latest album, diverse collaborations and her reshaping of familiar musical styles. Find out more on page 16.

41

Cazeleon Hitlist Miss Behave

41 42 43

COMEDY

49

L-E-V Hitlist The Spinners Sediment

Four Go Wild in Wellies Hitlist Dick and Dom Denim: The Denim Juniors

MUSIC

COVER PHOTO: CHARLOTTE WALES

PHOTO: CARNIVAL CINEMA

BRIEFS FACTORY

JUNE SARPONG

The Australian drag and circus collective celebrate 10 years at the forefront of alt. cabaret.

The award-winning broadcaster heads to the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Win tickets to Museum After Hours

8

Win a case of Blue Moon

8

Win a pair of tickets to Huff at King’s Hall

8

Win a pair of tickets to see Harpy

9

Win tickets to Autobiography

9

20% off all tours in Aug with Gray Line Travels

9

37

CABARET

DANCE

OFFERS

34

37 38 39

Luisa Omielan Hitlist Elf Lyons Nina Conti Kieran Hodgson Reviews at a Glance

30

34

Afua Hirsch Hitlist Susie Orbach

KIDS

26

2 5 11

49 50 51 53 57 63

67 67 68 69 70

73 73 74 75 76

79

Neu! Reekie!

Hitlist Crow Hill Loki

79 80 81 82

THEATRE

85

Ulster American Hitlist Ladykiller Proxy Century Song Reviews at a Glance

85 86 90 91 97 98

VISUAL ART

99

Rembrandt Hitlist Alisdair Gray and Siobhan Healy

99 100 101

EVENTS Museum After Hours

104 104

TOP RATED SHOWS AT LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL You’ll find over 150 reviews across these pages but for even more, head to list.co.uk/festival. We’re adding new festival reviews every day, so you can stay in the loop and find out what not to miss. Plus, check out our top rated page, where we rank shows by their average review score from multiple publications, for a definitive guide to what’s hot at the festival.

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BIG

fat

BRIBE

CONTRIBUTORS

Here at List Towers we’re not above a wee bribe to make us sit up and take notice of a show – so come on, what are you waiting for?

CONTENT Editor Arusa Qureshi Head of Digital Media Scott Henderson Content Manager Murray Robertson Senior Content Producer Alex Johnston Content Producers Deborah Chu, Katharine Gemmell, Sofia Matias, Henry Northmore Subeditors Kenza Marland, Paul McLean Work Shadow (Editorial) Katie Flannery SECTION EDITORS Books Lynsey May Cabaret Arusa Qureshi Comedy Brian Donaldson Dance / Kids Kelly Apter Festival Food & Drink Deborah Chu Front / News Deborah Chu, Katharine Gemmell Music Henry Northmore Theatre Gareth K Vile Visual Art Rachael Cloughton PRODUCTION Senior Designer Lucy Munro Designer Seonaid Rafferty

One (slightly crushed) cake and a rhyming poem from Alexandra and Kate Donnachie of 3 YEARS, 1 WEEK AND A LEMON DRIZZLE, who’re at Underbelly until 27 Aug (not 13).

A beautiful, glittery butterfly encased in a wooden cage, along with a hand-written plea for freedom from DON QUIXOTE himself, who’ll be at Assembly until 26 Aug (not 15, 22).

Master hypnotist AARON CALVERT popped by The List office to take us through a mindfulness exercise to help us stay sane ahead of the festival madness. He also made our colleague Maria’s foot stick to the floor and literally read our freakin’ minds.

Check out DECLASSIFIED at Gilded Balloon until 26 Aug.

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

DIGITAL Senior Developer Andy Carmichael Senior Designer Sharon Irish Data Developers Andy Bowles, Alan Miller, Stuart Moir COMMERCIAL Digital Business Development Director Brendan Miles Partnership Director Sheri Friers Senior Events and Promotions Manager Rachel Cree Senior Account Manager Paul Murphie, Debbie Thomson Account Managers Ross Foley, Jakob Van den Berg Ad Ops Executive Victoria Parker Affiliate Content Executives Becki Crossley Events and Promotions Assistants Amy Clark, Maria Panagiotopoulou ADMINISTRATION Head of Accounting & HR Sarah Reddie Director Robin Hodge CEO Simon Dessain

Published by The List Ltd HEAD OFFICE: 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE Tel: 0131 550 3050 editor@list.co.uk GLASGOW OFFICE: at the CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD Tel: 0141 332 9929, glasgow@list.co.uk; list.co.uk ISSN: 0959 - 1915 © 2018 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 8–15 Aug 2018

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8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 3

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4 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

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festival

TOP 20

CABARET

Yummy Absurd and outrageous Melbourne-based cabaret powerhouses present an hourlong extravaganza of music, dance, circus acts and drag performances. See review, page 46. Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 8, 14, 21).

PHOTO: STEVEN GULLICK

PHOTO: JOHN LAUENER

THEATRE

MUSIC

VISUAL ART

Century Song

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Shilpa Gupta

A multimedia opera-theatre piece that explores one hundred years of history from the perspective of a black woman. See review, page 97. ZOO Southside, until 18 Aug (not 8, 15).

Psychedelic noise rock from the Scottish band.

Presented by Hidden Door as part of the EIF’s Light On the Shore programme. See feature, page 33. Leith Theatre, until 14 Aug.

The Mumbai-based artist combines the words of 100 poets who have been incarcerated for their writing. See review, page 103. The Fire Station at Edinburgh College of Art, until 26 Aug.

>>

8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 5

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FESTIVAL TOP 20

PHOTO: KATE PARDEY

CABARET

BOOKS

Briefs: Close Encounters

Afua Hirsch

The Briefs boys have come from the future to expand our constrictive definitions of masculinity and decency with interstellar aerials and warp-speed strippers.

See feature, page 26, and review, page 46. Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug.

Writer, broadcaster and barrister Afua Hirsch discusses her book Brit(ish) and how we can shape and express identities outside the ones assigned to us at birth. See preview, page 37. Spark Theatre, George Street, 14 Aug. PHOTO: JEAN-LUC FIEVET

PHOTO: SID SCOTT

PHOTO: ANDREJ USPENSKI

COMEDY

DANCE

THEATRE

MUSIC

Kieran Hodgson: ’75

Autobiography

Ulster American

Dust

Two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee brings his new show about how the UK joined the EU just in time for their departure. See review, page 57. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.

Company Wayne McGregor perform a piece based on themes of ageing, sleep and memory, with each performance taking inspiration from McGregor’s genome sequencing.

Festival Theatre, 11–13 Aug.

An actor, director and playwright are about to stage a play about Ireland, but things escalate when the trio argue about power and cultural identity. See review, page 85.

Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20).

Performance piece created from music by the Melomaniacs, film by Lee Archer, photographs by Jean Luc Fievet, and lyrics by Mike Marlin.

See feature, page 20. Assembly Rooms, 13–26 Aug.

PHOTO: COURTESY EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL. PHOTO JOHNNY BARRINGTON

COMEDY

VISUAL ART

Elf Lyons: ChiffChaff

Ross Birrell & David Harding: Triptych

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and queen of clown presents a onewoman show about the economy, alongside an entire orchestra and an Invisible Hand. See review, page 51. Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13).

New commision for the EIAF from the long-time collaborators. They examine the themes of flight and dispossession through an installation involving the score of Fugue. See review, page 103. Trinity Apse, until 26 Aug.

6 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

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FESTIVAL TOP 20

list.co.uk/festival

KIDS

COMEDY

John Hegley: Morning Wordship

Luisa Omielan: Politics for Bitches

A morning chorus of sing-song and poem-pong, featuring plenty of stories, drawings and verses about a crew of creatures visiting Squirrel Island. See review, page 76. Pleasance Courtyard, until 19 Aug (not 6–8, 13–15).

Luisa Omielan asserts her right to have an opinion about something she knows absolutely nothing about in her third stand-up hour. See review, page 49. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug. PHOTO: GIL SHANI

PHOTO: LAURA MEEK

MUSIC

COMEDY

DANCE

KIDS

Crow Hill

The Pin: Backstage

Love Cycle

Beowulf

Meursault perform Crow Hill, a project spawned from a series of horror stories that were made into an album and film. Supported by visuals and performance art. See feature, page 81. Summerhall, 15 & 16 Aug.

Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen are back with a show that follows two warm-up performers goofing off both on-stage and behind the scenes.

See review, page 54. Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 11, 20).

L-E-V Dance Company brings two complementary dance pieces to the EIF, looking at loneliness and isolation. See preview, page 67. OCD Love, King’s Theatre, 9, 11 Aug; Love Chapter 2, 10, 12 Aug.

Nine-year-old Sophie faces her mother’s cancer with support from Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, which they share a unique bond over. See review, page 75. Underbelly Bristo Square, until 17 Aug.

MUSIC

CABARET

SOPHIE, Lanark Artefax, Spencer & Sofay

The Miss Behave Gameshow

Glaswegian label Numbers present a lineup of electronic music from SOPHIE, Lanark Artefax, Spencer and Sofay. Part of the EIF’s Light on the Shore programme. See feature, page 16. Leith Theatre, 11 Aug.

Part game show, part variety show, all frantic fun. Miss Behave pits the audience against one another to win prizes, returning this year with some allnew games. See feature, page 43. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 18 Aug. 8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7

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READER OFFERS WIN A CASE OF BLUE MOON

WIN TICKETS TO ART LATE

The List has partnered with Blue Moon to offer you the chance to win an exclusive delivery of Blue Moon, so that you and your friends can enjoy this artfully crafted beer at home.

The List, in association with Edinburgh Art Festival, are offering you the chance to win a pair of tickets to their Art Late evening featuring Jared Celosse.

Blue Moon is a refreshing, medium-bodied, Belgian style beer which is spiced with fresh coriander and Valencia and Navel orange peel. This North American craft beer is brewed with malted barley, wheat and rolled oats, creating a smooth, complex beer that is best served with a slice of orange to bring out the natural citrus aroma and taste.

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.

Find them this August in various pubs and venues across Edinburgh, including the Pleasance Courtyard, the Peartree and Underbelly.

To be in with a chance of winning a delivery from Blue Moon, simply log onto list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

How is Blue Moon best served?

Blue Moon Beer Co

@BlueMoonBeerUK bluemoonbrewingcompany.com

This edition of the Art Late series will start at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art with performances by artists Catherine Street and Gordon Douglas. Art Late will then take you to Jupiter Artland, before enjoying an outdoor acoustic performance by Jared Celosse. Find out more about the evening on their website.

How many destinations will you visit at this Art Late?

Edinburgh Art Festival: Art Late Thu 16 Aug 5.30-11pm Various locations Tickets £11 (£10)

edinburghartfestival.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Fri 31 Aug 2018. Entrants must be over 18.

The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Tue 14 Aug 2018. Over 18s only.

No cash alternative. The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO HUFF AT KING’S HALL

Huff

by Cliff Cardinal

The List, in association with National Museums Scotland, are giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to the hugely popular Museum After Hours, at the National Museum of Scotland.

After four sell-out years, the Fringe is taking over the National Museum of Scotland again for three exhilarating nights this August. Showcasing highlights from their acts, talented Fringe performers come together to provide an amazing night within the inspiring backdrop of the National Museum of Scotland. With pop-up bars and entry to this summer’s major exhibition, Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop, it is set to be an inspiring and legendary night.

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

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

The List are partnering up with CanadaHub to offer 10 lucky readers a pair of tickets to see Huff.

Huff is the wrenching yet darkly comic tale of indigenous brothers caught in a torrent of solvent abuse and struggling with the death of their mother. Their dream world bleeds into reality as they’re preyed on by The Trickster through hallways at school, the abandoned motel he loves more than home and his own fragile psyche. With his signature biting humour and raw, vivid imagery, Cliff Cardinal expertly portrays over a dozen characters in his captivating solo performance.

Huff is a daring solo show by award-winning indigenous playwright Cliff Cardinal, one of the most exciting new voices in Canadian theatre.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply log onto list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

Who wrote Huff?

Museum After Hours Fri 10, 17 and 24 Aug 7:30 – 10:30pm National Museum of Scotland Tickets £18 (£16)

Huff Wed 1 - Sun 26 Aug 4.15pm CanadaHub @ King’s Hall 41A S Clerk St Tickets £11 (£9)

nms.ac.uk/afterhours

canadahubfringe.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Tue 21 Aug 2018. Over 18s only. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Sun 12 Aug 2018. No cash alternatives.

The List’s usual rules apply.

8 THE LIST 8–15 Aug 2018

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READER OFFERS WIN TICKETS TO THE SHOWSTOPPERS’ KIDS SHOW

The List, in association with Pleasance, are offering you the chance to see The Showstoppers’ Kids Show this festival season.

Fringe favourites and Olivier Award-winning improvisers, The Showstoppers, take your kids’ ideas and transform them on the spot into interactive musical adventures. Harry Potter in space? Done! Dora and the Gruffalo meet dinosaurs under the sea? No worries! Kids (and only kids!) decide who we meet and where we go to create a show tailor-made to their imaginations.

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE HARPY

The List, in association with Underbelly, are offering you the chance to win a pair of tickets to see Harpy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.

Birdie’s a hoarder. The neighbours call her a harridan and a harpy, although most have never even met her. They see her hoard as a hazard for house prices. But it isn’t rubbish. It’s her life’s work and it exists because years ago something deeply cherished was stolen, and Birdie’s not been able to give up anything since. She’ll do anything to get this priceless thing back.

Anything at all.

For a chance to win, just log onto list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

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

What do neighbour’s call Birdie?

Who are Fringe’s favourite improvisers?

The Showstoppers’ Kids Show Wed 1 - Sun 19 11am Pleasance Courtyard 60 Pleasance Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Harpy Thu 2 - Sun 26 Aug 4pm Underbelly Cowgate - White Belly 56 Cowgate Edinburgh EH1 1JX

Tickets £9 (£8)

Tickets £13 (£12)

theshowstoppers.org/kids-show

underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/whats-on/harpy

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Tue 14 Aug 2018. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Tue 14 Aug 2018. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO MUSEUM WIN TICKETS TO AFTER HOURS AUTOBIOGRAPHY

20% OFF ALL TOURS IN AUG WITH GRAY LINE TOURS

The List are partnering up with Edinburgh International Festival to give five lucky winners the chance to win a pair of tickets to Autobiography.

Autobiography is a deeply personal show for the ten dancers of Company Wayne McGregor, with body-shaking electronic beats and immersive lighting, creating dance that is startling in its power and grandeur, yet bewitching in its nuances. Every performance of Autobiography is unique, an experience for dancers and audience alike that’s never again repeated.

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

What dance company is bringing Autobiography to this year’s Edinburgh International Festival?

Autobiography Sat 11 Aug 7.30pm Festival Theatre 13–29 Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9FT Prices vary from £14 - £35

eif.co.uk/whats-on/2018/autobiography TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Fri 10 Aug 2018. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

The List are partnering up with Gray Line to give you 20% off all tours this Aug. Venture out, escape the city and experience Scotland with Gray Line. They offer a free morning pickup service with three different tours everyday.

There’s so much to see and do out with Edinburgh. Explore the Highlands and the set of Outlander, go on a whisky tour and visit many of the beautiful castles in Scotland.

Get 20% off when you quote listmag in store or online at graylinetours.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Offer ends Fri 31 Aug 2018. The List’s usual rules apply.

8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST 9

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PLEASANCE FUTURES PRESENTS

17:00 Freeman 1st - 27th August

21:30 The Comedy Reserve 1st - 27th August

0UZWPYLK I` [OL Ä YZ[ THU PU (TLYPJH [V WSLHK ‘Insanity’ as his defence. Award-winning writer Camilla Whitehill and Strictly Arts expose the fundamental link between systemic racism and the decimation of the self. Has anything really changed?

The Pleasance Comedy Reserve is back for its 14th year at the Edinburgh Fringe with another four brilliant new acts, hand-picked by the Pleasance and supported by the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund.

15:30 The Red Shoes 3rd - 18th August

15:00 Woyzeck 1st - 27th August

From Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of an orphan’s journey from rags to riches, the “superbly talented” (List) Young Pleasance evoke the glitz, glamour, and seedy underworld of 1920s Berlin. “Always one of the hottest tickets at the Fringe” (730 Review)

Franz Woyzeck, a young soldier, grapples with his fragmented mind as he sinks deeper and deeper below the surface of reality. Following a sell-out 2017 Fringe debut, award-winning Spies Like Us breathe new life into Buchner’s classic tale with their trademark explosive physical style.

15:30 Outside 1st - 27th August

15:15 Tobacco Road 1st - 27th August

Honest new comedy exploring humanity, love and the relationships between three friends dealing with life on the inside when outside is crumbling. Seven years from now, what is it to be young but feel old at an unprecedented time?

Greenwich Partnership Award winners Incognito YL[\YU [V [LSS [OL Z[VY` VM Ä ]L YLZV\YJLM\S `V\UN men and women attempting to carve out a place in the murky underworld of 1920’s London.

13:00 Propeller 1st - 27th August

22:00 Flesh and Bone 1st - 11th August

The world sucks sometimes. OK, a lot. But there’s nothing we can do about it. Is there?

This show says yes there is. Maybe. Directed by double Fringe-First winner Caitlin Skinner (Woke ღღღღღღ, Sanitise ღღღღღ) and co-created

by The Network.

The 2017 Fringe sell-out returns for a limited run.

Feast your eyes upon the depravity, triumphs and utter hilarity of the underprivileged in a vivid and fast-paced ride through a working class estate which fuses Shakespeare-inspired lyricism with cockney accents.

Pleasance Futures’ development programmes, creating opportunities to develop artistic ideas and take creative risks, are at the very heart of the Pleasance Theatre Trust. Visit www.pleasance.co.uk/futures [V Ä UK V\[ TVYL 10 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

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NEWS NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM ACROSS THE FESTIVALS

fast s fact • In the wake of the murder of comedian Eurydice Dixon, who was attacked on her way home from a gig in Melbourne, a group of female comedians have set up the Home Safe Collective to help female, non-binary and trans performers get home safely during the Fringe. The Collective have established an account with CityCabs, into which anyone can donate.

• The Edinburgh Fringe Queer Meet Up – a

weekly support group for queer performers, staff, producers and critics – has been set up by performer Teddy Lamb, with support from Underbelly. The group, which will meet every Monday from 4–6.30pm at the venue’s Cow Café, will offer support and networking opportunities to those in the LGBTQ+ community.

• Following the death of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison in May, Neu! Reekie!’s Michael Pedersen has reconfigured their planned joint Edinburgh International Book Festival event as a celebration of Hutchison’s life and work, with a performance from their musical group, the Cold Turkey Collective.

• The Fringe Society is encouraging people to ‘shoot’ pigeons . . . with their cameras. Golden ‘Fringe pigeons’ have been placed at iconic landmarks and venues across Edinburgh, and anyone who shares a photo of these special birds on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #CatchthePigeon will be entered into a daily prize draw of £30 worth of Fringe vouchers.

• Recycling company Viridor will be picking up an extra 500 tonnes of glass products at this year’s festival, as Edinburgh’s population doubles from 500,000 to one million in the month of August. Glassware can be recycled indefinitely and everyone can do their part to make this the greenest festival yet by placing their waste in the right bin.

inge

E r COMING TO TH F

2018 was the year that men finally seemed to learn that there are consequences for shitty misogynistic behaviour through the #MeToo movement and other campaigns. As a result sex, consent and contemporary feminism are big themes at this year’s festival. These performances and events take a look at exploitative behaviours against women and add to the global conversation aimed at eradicating such conduct once and for all.

ROSE MCGOWAN WITH AFUA HIRSCH Actor and figurehead for the #MeToo movement Rose McGowan sits down with award-winning writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch as part of the Edinburgh Book Festival’s Identity Parades series. Charlotte Square Gardens, 13 Aug, 3.15pm, £12 (£10).

DAUGHTER Adam Lazarus faces toxic masculinity head-on as he plays The Father in a solo performance that explores the misogynistic behaviours and attitudes that society knowingly (and unknowingly) perpetuates.

CanadaHub @ King’s Hall, until 26 Aug (not 13 & 14, 20 & 21), 12.30pm, £11 (£9).

PUSSY RIOT: RIOT DAYS The Russian protest punk-rock collective became household names in 2012 after they were thrown in jail for protesting against Putin’s Russia. They use punk and electronic music mixed with film footage to sing their protest songs.

Summerhall, 10–19 Aug, 7pm, £17.50 (£16.50).

AYESHA HAZARIKA: GIRL ON GIRL

FREEMAN | FRINGE WIVES CLUB | TRUMP’D MUSICAL Performers are pouring into our fair city from all around the world, ready to present their hard work to the masses. Look at how excited they are to see their wee faces plastered all over town!

The political pundit and ex-advisor to the Labour party analyses the fight for feminism in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. She asks important questions like whether feminism is too white, too posh and who was it that asked Piers Morgan for his opinion anyway? Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 11 Aug, 6.35pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10).

8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 11

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Festival Party

THE LIST

festival Party The first week of the Edinburgh Festival means one thing hing hi ng for us; the return of the mother of all festival bashes, The he List Festival Party. This year’s event followed hot on the d att heels of our first ever festival party in London, hosted music venue Omeara in May. The crowds descended on Summerhall on Thu 3 Aug to celebrate in style and to all those who helped us make it a success, we cannot thank you enough.

We’d like to say a big thank you to our sponsors Edinburgh Gin and Blue Moon for helping quench the thirst of our revellers on the night with their tasty offerings.

Thanks to Eventbrite for taking over the Library Cafe with DJs, face painting with Fantoosh and a photobooth.

Thanks also to Popchips and Bonnie Burrito for supplying delicious snacks, to Viarama for showcasing their Virtual Reality Room and to Silent Adventures who led tours around the party.

Thanks also to Emily Cuthbert, Hilary Macrae, Shannon Collins, Jessica Johnstone McBride, Gilly Anderson and the rest of the team at YOURgb. And of course, our programmer extraordinaire Amy Russell, who once again, put a killer lineup of acts together for the night.

We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks to our wonderful comperes Sian Bevan, Jay Lafferty and Bernie Dieter for keeping everyone entertained and DJ Trendy Wendy too, as well as all of our talented performers (see full list over) without whom the festivities wouldn’t have been half the fun.

More thanks go to our photographer James Gourlay and videographer Bryan Ferguson; stage managers Moray Munro, Michael Heasman and Laura Hawkins; and of course the Summerhall team, especially Sam Gough, Amber Cordiner, Sarah Cheung, Morgan Tooth, Brian Hutchison and Kostas Christakos. And not forgetting our hard-working volunteers who helped on the night: Kirsten Newlands, Amy Falconer, Ciara Montador, Eilidh McGoldrick, Vaiva Vaisvilaite, Mairi Mulvanny, Jemma Buchanan, Jo Noble, Elisha Hagger, Euan Folis, Frankie Morrison and Rachel Falconer.

Lastly, we’d like to thank our party organisers Sheri Friers, Rachel Cree, Amy Clark and Maria Panagiotopoulou who worked relentlessly for months to pull this event together.

See you in 2019 for another great night at The List Festival Party!

#LISTFESTIVALPARTY

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list.co.uk/festival

Festival Party | FESTIVAL FEATURES

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Festival Party

<< festival THE LIST

Party

PERFORMERS: Chase Scenes, Barely Methodical Troupe, Flo & Joan, Vincent Gambini, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Don Juan, Hot Brown Honey, Daughter, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, Jess Love, Yana Alana, Rhys Nicholson, Seymour Mace, Anya Anastasia, Yummy, Djuki Mala, Little Death Club, The Basement Tapes, Universoul, Elliot Bibby Magic.

VIRTUAL REALITY

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VENUE 26

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2018

“Summerhall’s shows have the fun and shock I expect from Edinburgh at festival time. ” Jonathan Jones, The Guardian, 27 July 2018

PERFORMANCE Trojan Horse - LUNG Extinguished Things - Molly Taylor Love Song to Lavender Menace - James Ley My Left Nut - Prime Cut Productions … and many more …

Image: Trojan Horse

VISUAL ARTS

11-18:00 Exhibitions are FREE

Art of Basel John Keane - Life During Wartime The Drawings and Paintings of Orson Welles Free The Pussy! … and many more …

Image: Art of Basel

MUSIC

Image: Kevin Rowland

Kevin Rowland DJ Show Pussy Riot Meursault - Crow Hill Wye Oak … and many more …

FOOD AND DRINK The Royal Dick Summerhall Cafe ´ The Courtyard Bar Rost ` Fire & Dough Pizza … and plenty more …

Image: The Royal Dick / Peter Dibdin

Box Office

0131 560 1581

1 Aug - 26 Aug

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | SOPHIE

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SOPHIE | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

NO LIMITS Singer, songwriter and producer SOPHIE is pushing the boundaries of 21st-century pop music. With a critically acclaimed debut album just released and collaborations with major stars under her belt, she talks to Arusa Qureshi about her rising fortunes and her hotly anticipated Edinburgh International Festival show with Glasgow label Numbers

S

ince 2013, SOPHIE has been widely recognised for her effervescent experimentations within the pop landscape. Distorting the recognisable textures, artificial melodies and dizzying playfulness of mainstream pop, she succeeds in creating a visceral pastiche of the familiar. Early singles like ‘Bipp’, ‘Elle’, ‘Lemonade’ and ‘Hard’, released on forward-thinking Glasgow label Numbers, are kinetic and colourful fusions of genre and style, but with her new album OIL OF EVERY PEARL’s UN-INSIDES, the producer, songwriter and DJ presents something that breaks the mould of pop as we know it.

‘I suppose it has a lot of ideas that I’ve always kept close to me and wanted to communicate through music,’ she explains. ‘Liberation was a big theme on this album. And also liberation from a lot of ideas in terms of concepts that feel oppressive within music or within society. And those things were on my mind around the time of the creation of the album and they ended up being central themes, expressed in different ways and in different moods in songs.’

Up until fairly recently, SOPHIE was something of an enigma in the music industry; a seemingly anonymous creator of pop wizardry with a knack for penning ultra-hyper, bubblegumflavoured bangers. Having made her first public appearance last year in the selfdirected video for her sprawling ballad ‘It’s Okay To Cry’, it feels as though SOPHIE has finally emerged from behind a shroud of mystery, materialising as the avant-garde pop star of our modern, digital age.

‘I think that I do find a more natural mode of expression and sound in pop music,’ she says when asked about her affinity for the aesthetics of pop. ‘Musically, what I’m interested in doing is visual by nature because I spend a lot of time synthesising textures and therefore as the song develops, it already has a very distinct bunch of visual elements. So for example, when I was doing a live performance recently, the moving image visuals which were played on the LED screen had a lot of propaganda-style imagery and

bold words and I really wanted it to be as literal as possible. I wanted to spell out words without trying to abstract the messages of the songs. I wanted the messages to be as bold and sharp as possible. And that’s an approach that I try to take in all of my music.’

Her skills as a songwriter and producer have earned her some well-deserved credits and collaborations with the likes of Madonna, Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar and Charli XCX, but OIL is a new beast entirely, placing SOPHIE front and centre. It’s the product of an artistic vision that is daring, highly expressive and ultimately powerful in the delivery of its themes and concepts.

‘It tends to happen that when I’m writing a lot of music, some of it will be collaborative, involving trying to bring people together, combining our ideas and finding common ground. And other times, it’s really like meditation for myself in terms of designing sounds. Certain things I’ll think of as SOPHIE songs because they have the right number of dimensions, new sounds and design ideas which interact with the lyrical purpose, which also interact with concepts and beliefs that I want to express to the world.’

Though she now lives in LA, SOPHIE will soon be arriving in Edinburgh to play the International Festival, where she’ll take to the stage for the Numbers night at Leith Theatre alongside Lanark Artefax, Spencer and Sofay. The event, which is part of the Light on the Shore programme, signifies a real seachange in the International Festival’s approach to contemporary music, which has often taken a back seat to more classical strands. But the addition of the Numbers crew to the programme and the appearance of SOPHIE represents something hugely positive for both the city and the Festival moving forwards: it proves that there’s a space for electronic music and more abstract forms of art on big international stages.

Certainly, SOPHIE is excited to be involved and working with Numbers again.

‘It’s a really big deal to me. I think I’ve been very inspired by all of those people in that scene and what they represent and just their attitudes to music and life in general. It does feel exciting and I’m very happy to be a part of the International Festival’s movement forwards.

‘I’ve always thought of electronic music as the future,’ she continues. ‘I think the great writers of the past, the classical composers, if they were around today, they would be working in the same field because it just allows you potentially infinite possibilities with expression. So it does make sense to me that it follows that lineage.’

Her upcoming performance in Edinburgh comes at a time of real growth for SOPHIE, both emotionally and professionally, and the responses to OIL have highlighted the connection that people feel to her brand of minimalist and cerebral pop.

‘I feel energised to keep doing what I’m doing.

It’s basically non-stop and I find that in between doing shows, I’m really working quite hard. I do get energy from touring and speaking to people and being in these different cities. I try to build a certain set-up and studio and work with people I meet or local people that inspire me in every place I go. My plan, I think, is to continue to be as ambitious as possible over the next year.’

As an antidote to the chaos of the 21st century, pop music fits hand-in-hand with our increasingly digitalised culture. SOPHIE, as part of a new generation of artists, encourages the construction of alternative realities with her music, temporarily taking us out of the mess and noise of the world’s many problems.

‘I think that everything is a response to what’s going on around me,’ she says. ‘Certainly, I try to make my music relative to things that I’ve seen and feel that are happening in the world.

I think that’s almost your job as an artist; to be perceptive in responding to new alternatives. It’s like we have to predict the future a tiny bit and make a suggestion on how things might progress from where we currently are.’

Pop music has forever been the epitome of escapism; a provocative, fantastical and synthetic look at reality. In her writing and production, SOPHIE has contributed to a shift in the nature and vernacular of 21st-century pop, abstracting its core elements to create a new type of modern escapism.

SOPHIE, Lanark Artefax, Spencer & Sofay: Presented by Numbers, Leith Theatre, 11 Aug, 10.30pm, £15.

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Political Theatre PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

Clockwise from top left: Pricks, Mark Thomas, Shaun Nolan, WEIRD

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION After Trump and Brexit, political theatre has become a serious concern.

Adeline Amar asks whether it remains an effective medium for change and public discussion of ideas, or is it just a liberal echo chamber?

P

olitically engaged theatre has been a powerful presence throughout the past century.

In his absurdist Rhinoceros, Ionesco famously transformed citizens into rhinoceroses to call out political complacency, while Brecht was similarly motivated to trigger social and political change through his work. Mother Courage and her Children, written in 1939, notably draws comparisons between the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and the contemporary political situation in Europe.

At this year’s Fringe, activist and performer Mark Thomas uses the thought of his own demise to explore the current state of the health system in Check Up: Our NHS at 70. ‘The great thing about theatre is that people get to see things from other people’s viewpoint and, when they do that, they get to experience empathy,’ says Thomas. By comparison, Miguel H Torres Umba was inspired to create Stardust in response to the racial caricaturing he experienced as a Columbian, through the country’s association with the cocaine trade. ‘The piece intends to generate a strong emotional connection, inviting them [the audience] to actively engage and play an active part in the search for change.’

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to the debate; but ultimately, theatre remains an outcome in itself.

Lucy Burke’s approach is to make the audience more active participants. In WEIRD, she uses her own experience of obsessive compulsive disorder to educate and lessen the stigma around mental health conditions, but also to raise money for the OCD Action charity with a bucket collection.

For Burke, success relies on the combination of the emotional with the practical. ‘I feel like the bucket collection is the most tangible way that I can do my bit to contribute,’ she explains.

‘The money will be given directly to the charity, the charity will use it in some way to fund their work, therefore by donating, the audience are helping the cause.’

These differing approaches beg the question of how effective they might be, or is this simply another manifestation of preaching to the converted. Shaun Nolan’s Paper Dolls, which looks at unisex changing rooms, aligns with Thomas’s approach. ‘I think – I hope – that people leave the theatre questioning their beliefs. Paper Dolls doesn’t end by demanding you align your beliefs with mine, it’s just asking you to consider them as an option.’

Meanwhile, Jade Byrne’s Pricks joins Burke’s WEIRD in combining personal experience with tangible action: using Byrne’s Type 1 diabetes

to clarify the stereotypes around the condition and the importance of the NHS in coping with it, her post-show bucket collection fundraises for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Of course there is still the question of whether political theatre can avoid the echo chamber pitfall or, as Burke puts it, ‘is it a middle class pastime that allows us to tell ourselves we are making a difference?’ Both Thomas and Burke are aware of that perception but remain optimistic; as the former points out, ‘telling the story and getting the right story is going to be the way that you reach out from that bubble.’

Mark Thomas – Check Up: Our NHS at 70, Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), times vary, £21.50 (£16.50).

Stardust, Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 4.20pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).

WEIRD, Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 14), 2.45pm, £12 (£11).

Paper Dolls, Paradise in The Vault, until 11 Aug, 11am, £10 (£8).

Pricks, Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 2.15pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10) 8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 18

06/08/2018 15:18

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Dust

PHOTO: JEAN-LUC FIEVET

INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN

An epic journey across America forms the backbone of an immersive multimedia collaboration at this year’s Fringe. Malcolm Jack talks to singer-songwriter Mike Marlin of the Melomaniacs about the creation of Dust and his own transformation from tech-head to professional musician

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PHOTO: JEAN-LUC FIEVE

rom Jack Kerouac’s On the Road to Terence Malick’s Badlands and Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, America’s roads have inspired all manner of classic art and music. Given the chance to take an epic trip across the States and create a piece of art in the same great spirit and tradition, who wouldn’t get their motor running?

‘Dust emerged from a series of free-wheeling Monday night jam sessions,’ explains English singer-songwriter Mike Marlin of the music he made with his band, the Melomaniacs, featuring keys player Paul Silver and guitarist Kim Murray. The music evolved into a road trip, and eventually an immersive multimedia live show. ‘Before we knew it, we had an album and realised that this was a truly collaborative project,’ Marlin continues. ‘We decided to record it on the road as a single piece of music. We booked a journey across America, including various stops at studios along the way.’

A couple of friends came along for the ride to help them document the journey – Scottish filmmaker Lee Archer and New York-based photographer Jean Luc Fievet.

‘As we travelled, we all talked about how the images and the music might become a single experience,’ Marlin explains. ‘We got back to the UK and spent six months sifting through everything we captured to distil Dust into a record, a book, a series of images and a film. It’s this single vision that we are presenting at Edinburgh for the first time. It’s exciting – and slightly daunting.’

The show is essentially a film with a live soundtrack – the band sets the scene, then play uninterrupted for 55 minutes, nine continuous songs inspired by jazz and 70s rock. ‘Everything is played by the Melomaniacs trio without backing tracks or tricks,’ says Marlin. ‘The film is synchronised to the live performance T

rather than the other way around, so our sound and video engineers are as much part of the performance as the band. We used footage from our journey across America and intercut it with vintage film to follow the mood of the music from the sombre to the humorous; from the fine detail to the majestic. The screen is 10 metres wide and four metres high and our goal is to take the audience with us on the journey through the good and the bad lands of America.’

Marlin’s personal journey towards becoming a musician is a long and curious one in its own right. Having hit gig-going age at just the right time in late 70s London to see bands such as the Police, the Clash, Elvis Costello, Siouxsie & the Banshees and many more in small venues before they hit it big, he was inspired to learn guitar and bass and start writing his own songs. But he didn’t take it any further at that point and instead, after dropping out of university and getting into coding, began a highly successful 25year career running technology businesses.

‘In my late forties, I was living in New York and decided to sell up and move home to become a novelist,’ Marlin says. ‘Through a happy series of accidents I ended up making a record instead, finding an agent and getting the opportunity to support the Stranglers on their UK tour. Eight years later and Dust is my fifth record, and I still don’t quite believe that I am a musician.’

His business nous hasn’t left him though, as proven when he’s asked what he hopes audiences will take away from coming to Dust. ‘A moment of stillness and beauty,’ he muses, ‘and a copy of the book and the record.’

Dust, Assembly Rooms, 13–26 Aug, 9.30pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

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THE DEATH OF

BY P. SHANE MITCHELL

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S T C O L U M B A’ S

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Tickets Tick c ets ck s £9.50 £9.5 £ 9.5 9 50 – £11.50 £11.

11.50 50 Concessions Con Conc essi siions s £7.50 £7 7 50 50 – £9.50 £9 £ 9 50 Under 18s £5.50 – £7.50

ELEPHANT SESSIONS WHYTE SIOBHAN MILLER Mon 13 August Doors 7.30pm

LINDISFARNE EDINBURGH’S FAMOUS FOSSIL SHOP

Sun 26 August Doors 7pm

5 Cowgatehead Grassmarket Edinburgh, EH1 1JY

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Drag | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

START YOUR ENGINES

Drag seems to be having a real moment in the spotlight as an art form. Lorna Irvine chats with Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo to get their take on its growth and potential, and asks whether drag has now become mainstream

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Drag

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I

Duckie takes a different approach, as it’s for a childfriendly audience, but the themes he explored in Black are very much to the fore, as he explains: ‘With so many of my shows celebrating difference, and having been severely bullied as a baby chocolate, I saw Duckie not only as an opportunity, but a responsibility to sow those seeds early. You are different, sure, but you are enough.

For my nieces, for baby chocolate . . . sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you don’t become a swan, but being a duck is plenty.’

‘Bullying; homophobia, bodyshaming – all are lofty, heavy themes, but they are very real and feature in the piece,’ he explains.

‘Kids are a very hungry and honest audience, if you have them they will let you know; and the moment you don’t, they let you know that as well. There’s something very exhilarating about that – having to be very present. Icons is more like talking to a room full of mates.’

It seems drag is everywhere at the moment, particularly during the festival, even appearing on adverts for brands seeking a little more glamour and edge. Both Icons and Aussie performer Gingzilla’s show at Assembly George Square promise histories of drag, and RuPaul’s Drag Race has kept drag in the popular consciousness for ten seasons. On the subject of the seeming ubiquity of mainstream drag, Le Gateau says, ‘Everything has its season, its fifteen minutes

a retelling of our recent shared history through song.’ With Le Gateau himself ‘singing a very dry, bass baritone Farage,’ All Star Brexit Cabaret follows Woo’s increasingly experimental take on drag’s potential.

As drag constantly evolves as an art form, so too do the themes explored within the shows. Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo’s respective shows reflect on the zeitgeist in bold, provocative and entertaining ways, whether looking at the political landscape, or the challenges future generations will face. From its roots in gay cabaret through the rise of drag kings, the medium has proved versatile and ambitious, and Le Gateau’s ambitions are as expansive as the form: ‘My goal is to keep growing as an artist, honing what it is I want to say and interrogate, and finessing how best to vehicle this.’

Le Gateau Chocolat: Icons, Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20) 7.30 pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

Duckie, Summerhall, until 12 Aug, 2pm £12 (£10).

Jonny Woo’s All Star Brexit Cabaret, Assembly George Square Gardens, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 6pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14).

PHOTO: MANUEL VASON

n another world, Nigerian born artist George Ikediashi would be a lawyer. Happily, he eschewed this traditional route and became draginflected diva, Le Gateau Chocolat, with a soaring operatic baritone that makes grown men weep, women lose their shit, and everyone in-between go crazy.

Having wowed audiences in a recent National Theatre production of The Threepenny Opera, and melted hearts everywhere with semi-autobiographical triumph Black, he returns to the Edinburgh Festival after a two-year break with two shows – Icons, a pop culture cabaret extravaganza, and Duckie, a children’s show loosely based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling.

Le Gateau Chocolat first drew attention during his time with famous cabaret La Clique, but has become a Fringe favourite with his commanding, soulful voice and a respect for cabaret’s richest traditions. Icons sees Le Gateau expanding his already impressive repertoire, from Meatloaf to Cyndi Lauper to Stephen Sondheim, and tackling serious themes: ‘It celebrates our commonality through the music, artists, and events that have impacted our lives.

Sure, they are particular to me, but my work has always been about interrogating an often forgotten truth; we are all, or would like to be, humans just being.’

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

Jonny Woo’s All Star Brexit Cabaret; previous page: Le Gateau Chocolat

if you will, but some were before the fifteen and will be there long after. There is room for everybody, honouring the responsibility and privilege of wielding a microphone and having a platform.’

Le Gateau’s friend and All Star Brexit Cabaret co-star Jonny Woo, adds: ‘I don’t think that it is mainstream. We have no Lily Savage on ITV, or Dame Edna, or Hinge and Bracket on daytime TV. God, I’m old,’ he laughs. ‘It’s a thing at the moment. I think if Drag Race films in the UK, that style of drag still has space to gain traction and we’ll see more of it.

But I don’t think drag will take over, I think its moment flirting with the mainstream will pass, maybe a few faces will linger, and it’ll carry on being a pretty niche part of entertainment and pretty much the preserve of the gay scene. On the Fringe, there is tons of it this year, but most of it is from pretty talented guys and girls and comes with integrity and I welcome its proliferation.’

Woo’s own show, Jonny Woo’s All Star Brexit Cabaret, demonstrates how drag and cabaret can do more than entertain, addressing crucial debates with flair and finesse. ‘It is a lighthearted musical satire about that vote and how we behaved towards each other,’ says Woo. ‘It’s not full of statistics, neither is it an excuse to push a one-sided agenda, more

Duckie

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Briefs PHOTO: AITOR SANTOMÉ

PHOTO: PETER LESLIE

DECADE OF D All-male Aussie troupe Briefs have been blending up a boundary-pushing cocktail of circus, drag, burlesque and comedy for ten years now. To celebrate this anniversary, Kirstyn Smith caught up with founder Fez Fa’anana to talk risktaking, not having to answer to anyone and going back to the future

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ixing irreverence, punk politics and queerness, Briefs have been a haven for alt. cabaret seekers for ten evocative years. What began in Brisbane in 2008 as a party outlet between friends, designed to let off steam and test-drive new acts, began to evolve pretty quickly as demand for their celebration of freelance alternative performers grew. Soon the Briefs team were showing up at festivals across Australia, often on nothing more than a wing and a prayer.

Fez Fa’anana, the founder of Briefs Factory (the creative collective behind Briefs as well as the producer of other acts), had been getting invites to Scotland for years, but, in his words, ‘we understood the magnitude of the Edinburgh Fringe’. Nevertheless, in 2011, they appeared here for the first time, very last-minute and bolstered by a group of pals chipping in to help with lighting and music.

‘It was very much put together with a bit of sticky tape and hope,’ Fa’anana explains. ‘I ran into somebody who managed to get us a time slot: half past midnight at the Gilded Balloon Wine Bar. That killer time slot was our first taste of Edinburgh.’

Ten years, though, is a long time for a company to survive after starting out just looking for

a place to party, unbothered about taking a lighthearted approach to proceedings. Of course, disorganised is now the last word you’d use to describe Briefs. What’s helped them over the years is their fierce independence: they don’t receive any core funding from anyone.

‘This has its benefits,’ says Fa’anana. ‘While it makes everything we do very high-pressured, it also gives us full ownership; we don’t answer to any funding bodies. So our territorial and creative brief is completely independent.’

It was important to Fa’anana that Briefs didn’t rush into bringing their brand to the Fringe.

Having heard many times of Australian groups who’d been so eager to get to Scotland that they relied on half-formed ideas that saw them never return, they knew what not to do. On top of everything, Fa’anna believes it’s their risk taking that’s helped them to survive.

‘We’re constantly taking financial risks, we’re taking creative risks, we’re taking touring risks, we’re taking risks on cast. The state of funding and touring has never been something that’s solid, and we really wanted to make a collective that had a foundation that could move whether or not we got support.’

Yana Alana (pictured left), aka Sarah Ward, is one of the acts Briefs is producing in Edinburgh

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Briefs | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: KATE PARDEY PHOTO: KATE PARDEY

DECADENCE this year. Briefs’ risk-taking beliefs align with her own: she is, after all, a woman covered in nothing but blue paint singing about her mental health. Of course she was going to get along with the team.

‘They are who they are, and they don’t say sorry,’ she says. ‘They take up space. They have a really strong focus on putting people of colour on the stage, and queer people and people who are happy to play with their gender. Their shows pack a punch. And also, they’re just so fun.’

Yana wrote her show, Between the Cracks, while she worked in a coffee factory. It deals with mental health, her struggles with anxiety, and all she really wants from performing it is for people to feel less alone when it comes to their mental health issues.

‘The show ends with Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” and the chorus is: “There’s a crack in everything / that’s how the light gets in”,’ she says. ‘I see that it’s our dysfunction and our flaws that make us who we are. Sometimes you’ve got to accept when you’re sick and you may not recover, but that’s who you are and that’s okay.’

It’s that sense of hope that resonates with Briefs’ ideology as well. Their show this year, Close Encounters is very recognisably a Briefs production: they’re maintaining their spirit

and anarchy and taking audiences on another journey.

‘In this show, we’re coming from the future to let people know that the future is bright, the future is waiting for us,’ says Fa’anana. ‘We’re sorting through some pretty heavy stuff as a planet, so we’ve just come back from the future to celebrate life and remind people that we do actually get there in the end.’

Briefs’ usual blend of questioning masculinity via circus, drag, burlesque and comedy means you should look forward to aerial acrobatics, biting politics, beautiful artistry and perhaps just a touch of nudity. Basically, all the best elements of Briefs they’ve flaunted in the face of audiences over the past decade.

Briefs: Close Encounters, Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 7.15pm, £17.50– £19.50 (£16–£18).

Yana Alana: Between the Cracks, Assembly Checkpoint, until 26 Aug (not 20), 8pm, £12–£13.

Hot Brown Honey, Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 23), 7.30pm, £15.50–£16.50 (£14.50–£15.50).

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CANADA EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2018

Canada is back this summer with more than 70 acts offering something for everyone across the city.

From circus to skating, from a cappella to cutting-edge new theatre, acclaimed classical performers and literary delights – Canada takes its place among the very best of Edinburgh’s festival treats.

Highland Tours

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Mairi Campbell | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

NAME THAT TUNE Folk singer and musician Mairi Campbell talks to Stewart Smith about her new show, exploring Robert Burns’ beloved anthem to friendship, Auld Lang Syne

M

airi Campbell first recorded ‘Auld Lang Syne’ in 1993 with husband Dave Francis. Since then, it has taken on a life of its own. In 1999, they were invited by President Bill Clinton to perform it for Sean Connery’s lifetime achievement award, and in 2008, it was featured in Sex & The City: The Movie. In her new Fringe show, the folk singer and musician takes a deeper look at this Burns’ classic, unpacking its history, its musical secrets, and its personal resonances through storytelling, dance and song.

What sets Campbell and Francis’ version apart is its use of the original tune. The song’s origins are unknown, but Burns first heard it sung by an old man in Dumfries in 1774. ‘He added two or three verses and sent it up to Edinburgh to his publisher, George Thomson, who recommended that he change the tune to the one we know today,’ says Campbell. The show recounts how Canadian-Italian bandleader Guy Lombardo popularised the song in the 1930s.

‘It became the band’s signature, and he played it at New Year,’ says Campbell. ‘And when he moved to television from radio in 1954, it became huge. It spread all over the world.’

Campbell discovered the original version through Francis, who heard it from the singing of Kathleen Roberts at a ceilidh in Aberdeenshire. ‘It was a bonnie tune and so we figured it out together. It just had something about it. I realised people really liked it, maybe because it was different but it was familiar. It’s in broad Scots, so it’s quite dense in terms of what it means, but that’s what I try to unfold in the show.’

The sequel to her hit show Pulse, Mairi Campbell: Auld Lang Syne was created with director and dramaturgist Kath Burlinson, and features ‘elemental psychedelic’ Celtic music co-produced with Dave Gray. Campbell relates the song to her own life. ‘The characters and the scenes I’m enacting, I’m getting the information across alongside arguments and make-ups and break-ups.’ Campbell adds that there’s a great deal of humour to the show, in scenes about Sangstream, the traditional music choir she ran in Edinburgh, and teenage dancing to 10cc. She also weaves in her own songs. ‘There’s a song called “Green So Gentle” which my husband Dave and I wrote a few years back, and that’s looking at all the different sides of life and accepting them all. It’s about transition really.

And then there’s another song called “I Can’t Believe” and that’s another acoustic song which is from early on in our marriage.’

The show also speculates on ‘Auld Lang

Syne’s hidden meanings. ‘There’s a very old tradition in India [of relating] different vowel sounds to different parts of the body,’ says Campbell. ‘That is something that interests me in terms of music and well-being. I realised the three words, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, if you take the consonants out, those three vowel sounds relate to the belly, the heart and the head. The vowels carry a lot of emotion for us, through us.

‘And then in the words themselves, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, there are only four letters that could be musical notes, ADGE, and those are fifths apart. Fifths are quite important intervals, and they’re also the open strings of the violin.

So there are mysterious goings on in the song.

I have no particular answers, but I thought, “this is not just by chance, it does have subtle information bedded into it”.’

Mairi Campbell: Auld Lang Syne, Scottish Storytelling Centre, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 4.30pm, £12 (£10).

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | June Sarpong

BET TER TOGE THER Award-winning broadcaster June Sarpong champions diversity in her first book, Diversify. Ahead of her Edinburgh International Book Festival appearance, she chats inspiration, advocacy and solutions with Katie Goh

P

resenter, panellist, MBE, and now writer, June Sarpong is fast becoming a force for change.

Diversify is her first book of non-fiction and the sum of her passionate advocacy for better diversity and integration throughout society and the workplace.

‘Diversify came from something that happened when was I was filming in America,’ Sarpong tells us. ‘I was on set when a young guy appeared who was covered head to toe in tattoos and it was a funny thing – I just felt really uncomfortable around him. He hadn’t behaved menacingly or aggressively towards me but I was making all of these assumptions in my head about who he was. As a woman of colour, I know what it’s like to be judged about things that have nothing to do with who you are and in that moment, I was able to see that from both perspectives because I was doing it myself to someone else.’

Sarpong’s realisation was the catalyst behind Diversify. Working with Oxford University, the book’s research took a year to complete and the writing another year after that. Between starting the book in 2015 and its first draft in 2017, the world went through some changes.

‘We were in the process of starting the research and then all of the insanity started. Brexit, then Trump . . . you couldn’t make this stuff up! Every day there was something else in the news and I’d be on the phone to my editor asking “Can we add this?! Can we add that?!” We have a paperback coming out next year so God knows what will be in that.’

Sarpong pitched Diversify as a book of solutions. ‘I wanted it to be as prescriptive as possible,’ she says. ‘I think a lot

of the time we focus on the problems and we all know the problems because we experience and we see how unfairly society is structured. But what we’re not doing is looking at what we can do to address that.’

The book is divided into sections, each addressing a different type of diversity. However, it was essential to Sarpong that Diversify was intersectional. ‘It’s very important that where diversity is concerned we have a broad, intersectional conversation,’ Sarpong says firmly. ‘So often the focus is gender and race, and we act as if those are the only two groups discriminated against, when actually there are so many other groups.

Diversity is very nuanced. The experience of a privileged white woman is very different to the experience of a working class woman of colour.’

Diversify has come at just the right time. While the book is packed with academic research proving that better diversity is, socially and financially, a positive attribute to communities and the work place, Sarpong is adamant that the personal is just as important as the facts.

‘My own life represents many of the themes of the book. I’m the child of immigrants and I grew up in a working-class environment, so my own story is one of social mobility. It was important to weave my own story into the book and that’s what enables me to understand both the issues and the solutions because my life represents the solutions. And that’s what Diversify is.’

June Sarpong, Charlotte Square Gardens, 15 Aug, 11.45am, £12 (£10).

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06/08/2018 18:04

Authors Rencontres littéraires at the Institut français d’Ecosse

a program of work from coast to coast

Stéphane-Yves Barroux

Indigenous resilience. Three women running for their lives. Separatist politics.

A confrontation of toxic masculinity. And unrelenting puppet deaths.

Clémentine Beauvais

Gaël Faye

Jean-Pierre Filiu

Aurore Evain

King’s Hall ll

Neal Ascherson

@InstitutFrancaisEcosse

www.ifecosse.org 0131 285 6030 Institut français d’Ecosse West Parliament Square Edinburgh EH1 1RF

@ifecosse

1-26 Aug (not Mondays) Venue #73 41A S Clerk Street 0131 560 1581 canadahubfringe.com #canadahubfringe

@ifecosse

8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31

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CO-PROMOTION

PLEASANCE REVENANTS

NO KIDS

THE PLEASANCE Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15), 5pm, £11–£12.50 (£9.50–£11).

The Pleasance presents a timely and compelling new drama from Olivier Award– winning Nichola McAuliffe. Twenty–five years after the death of the Romanovs, and twenty–five years before Martin Luther King’s murder, a group meet in an English wood.

Battling with notions of persecution and bravery, they realise that violent revolutions have unforeseen consequences.

AD INFINITUM Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 21), 3.40pm, £10.50–£13.50 (£9–£12.50).

Ad Infinitum combine physical storytelling, gender–bending musical cabaret, and verbatim theatre to conceive a distinctly queer piece. No Kids reveals the personal journey that real–life couple and co–artistic directors of Ad Infinitum, Nir Paldi and George Mann, embarked upon when they asked the question: as a gay couple, should we go out of our way to have children?

SUMMERHALL WINNER OF THE AUTOPSY AWARD

BABY FACE

WINNER OF THE VAULT FESTIVAL SUMMERHALL AWARD

KATY DYE Until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.30pm, £9 (£7).

Welcome to a world of knee socks, bunches, lollipops, bubblegum and models adopting the childlike expressions of six–year–old girls.

In this brave and outlandish performance a grown woman attempts to be your baby to discover if innocence really is as sexy as we’re told it is.

‘A complex clever solo that doesn’t dodge difficult questions.’ ★★★★ The Herald

ORPHEUS

ALL THESE THINGS

WHAT THE MOON SAW

LIVE ART BISTRO ZOO Southside, 15 Aug, 5pm, £20 (£17).

Live Art Bistro doing what they do best: presenting 12 hours of transgressive and experimental performance from 5pm to 5am for the brave and the curious. There will be nothing else at the Fringe like this event.

2FACED DANCE COMPANY ZOO Southside, 12–26 Aug (not 15), 11am, £9 (£7).

A magical journey around the world . . . join Jack in this interactive tale of dance, circus and music. Bringing you dragons, boats, rooftops and surprises that will delight the whole family.

‘A friendly show . . . beautifully weighted’ The Independent

THE FLANAGAN COLLECTIVE AND GOBBLEDIGOOK THEATRE Until 26 Aug (not 20), 2.50pm, £11 (£8).

A tale of gods, myth and late night karaoke, woven from hair–raising spoken word and soaring soul music. The creators of Fable and Beulah present an ancient and modern tale of death–defying love.

‘A true gem of a show whose praise I want to sing from the rooftops’ ★★★★★ VoiceMag

ZOO THIS EVENT MAY CONTAIN ALL MANNER OF SHOCKING MATERIAL INCLUDING SWEARING/ VIOLENCE/NUDITY.

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The Jesus and Mary Chain | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

‘POP MUSIC NOW: I. JUST. DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND’ The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Jim Reid chats to Fiona Shepherd about the state of pop, turning into his dad and the band’s place in the Scottish music landscape

J

PHOTO: STEVE GULLICK

im Reid generally speaks in a soft, steady drawl but the Jesus and Mary Chain frontman wants to emphasise an important point so he punctuates every word. ‘Pop music now: I. Just. Do. Not. Understand,’ he laments. ‘Is this getting old?

Or is pop music just dreadful now? Where’s the good stuff, that’s what I want to know. My kids are constantly playing these songs I’ve never heard before in the car, and they’re all absolutely terrible. I find myself sounding exactly like my dad – “this isn’t any good, this isn’t a song”. And if I make the mistake of putting anything on the stereo, it’s like “what’s this oldie music that you listen to?”

“It’s the Velvet Underground, but you’ll like it one day I promise you”.’

The idea of this former enfant terrible turning into his dad is both funny and foreign.

But Reid has every right to expect the next generation to step up. The Mary Chain led the teenage rampage in the mid-80s with their sunny melodies roughed up with ferocious feedback. The feedback and 15 minute gigs / riots of their early years have long been ditched in favour of something close to professionalism (give or take the odd outof-tune guitar part from Reid’s older brother / sparring partner William) but their 2017 album, Damage and Joy – their first in almost 20 years – demonstrated that the band remain one of the country’s best exponents of pop tuneage in rock’n’roll robes.

So it is only appropriate that they should be part of the International Festival’s Light on the Shore lineup of top Scottish pop talent at Leith Theatre, curated to accompany the National Museum of Scotland’s exhibition Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop. In fact, Reid could do worse than check out the other

bands on the Mary Chain bill – Honeyblood and Spinning Coin – for a glimpse not just of that elusive good pop music but also of his own band’s enduring influence on subsequent musical generations.

Reid says he is aware of the Rip It Up exhibition and, 35 years into a career which many – not least Reid himself – would not have expected to last a tenth of that time, he is now prepared to ponder the Mary Chain’s place in the Scottish pop landscape.

‘We were never comfortably part of it,’ he says, ‘in as much as we struggled to get a show in Scotland. At the very beginning, we felt a bit bitter about that but being Scottish was an essential part of what we are and it’s something that takes a long time to realise.’

Reid can even be spotted these days wearing a BBC Scotland t-shirt. ‘We become more Scottish as we travel around the world. When I was young, I hated when people did that, but you tend to feel proud of your upbringing the older you get. We formed in East Kilbride and it was an essential part of what we became.

‘I’ve said this so many times but it’s true – East Kilbride felt like the moon. You’re getting these distant messages about something to do with punk rock happening somewhere but it certainly wasn’t where we lived and this all added to the mystery and the determination to get out into the world and find out what it was all about. We felt like outsiders, and I guess we kept that attitude and we still have it. We never really feel like we fit in. I think that’s a good thing. I like being the Mary Chain, the people that just don’t belong in any particular place.’

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Leith Theatre, 14 Aug, 7pm, £25.

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festival

FOOD & DRINK SEA CHANGE David Pollock talks to the team behind Leith Chill Fest, a new food and drink event aiming to lure Fringe crowds outside of their city-centre comfort zone during August

W

ith Edinburgh International Festival programming an extensive range of live gigs as part of their Light on the Shore strand at Leith Theatre this year, Edinburgh’s old port district is no longer the dead zone it was in August until just a few years ago. In fact, as Edinburgh locals all know, Leith has been the liveliest part of the city for a while, and is now pretty far removed from its edgy, Trainspotting-inspired reputation which is at least a decade or two out of date.

Not that many locals in the most densely populated district in Scotland care if the festival knows what goes on in Leith, because most are probably happy to get on with life without having to navigate map-reading crowds of tourists on Leith Walk. But plenty of them love what’s good about their area and are happy to show it off to visitors, which is where the new Leith Chill Fest comes in.

‘We spoke about how vibrant Leith is, and about how few people come down here during the festival,’ says Anna Christopherson, one of the organisers of the Chill Fest, and also the co-owner of the city-wide chain of grassroots Swedish pubs which have their roots in Leith Walk’s Boda. ‘We’d like people to come and see it, but we needed to do something to try and attract them. People miss out if they come to Edinburgh but they don’t see any of Leith.’

‘I approached Anna back in March, as I wanted to create an event which showcased the community spirit in Leith,’ says Emma Loane of the Shore’s Malmaison hotel. ‘The area’s well known for its food and has a plethora of bars serving amazing cocktails. My idea at the time was very loose, but Anna helped me with putting a firm plan in place for how to showcase Leith as an alternative destination to the festival whilst raising money for a local charity. I started approaching bars to see if they’d like to be involved, and the response I received was far beyond anything I had imagined.’

The idea behind Leith Chill Fest is for attendees to buy a special wristband for £5 (valid for the duration of the event), which will allow them to buy a specially designed signature cocktail from each of the participating bars in the area for just £5. Bars include the four Boda-owned bars in Leith (Boda, Victoria, Sofi’s, Joseph Pearce), Woodland Creatures, The Lioness of Leith, Roseleaf, Miss Woo’s, Finn & Bear, Malmaison’s own bar and many others. There’s also a 20% discount on food in Malmaison, as well as cocktail masterclasses and live music throughout the participating venues.

Sixty per cent of the proceeds will then be split between two local charities, the Leith Citadel Community Centre and the Projekt 42 community gym ‘The charities we’ve picked are doing such amazing things for the area,’ says Loane. ‘There’s so much going on in Leith aside from the bars, it’s undergone huge changes in the ten years I’ve been living here and there are more to come. It’s easily accessed from the city centre and has everything you could need for a good day and night out.

‘The Fringe is still heavily focused around the centre, but it can only be a matter of time before the venues start to spread out.

Hopefully events like Chill Fest contribute towards this happening and we see some more activity in other areas of the city.’

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LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

BRIT(ISH) BY AFUA HIRSCH PHOTO URSZULA SOLTYS

Defining and redefining identity in modern Britain Where are you really from? No innocent question in a country that believes in its own ‘colour-blindness’ while simultaneously citing immigration as a national issue. In Brit(ish), Afua Hirsch’s searing first book, the writer and broadcaster interrogates the personal and political sides of the UK’s current identify crisis.

Catch her chatting with journalist Chitra

Ramaswamy at the Edinburgh International Book Festival about the identities that make us — from those often assigned, like race or gender, to the ones we define for ourselves.

And be sure to check out Identity Parades, the strand of events Hirsch has programmed for this year’s book festival. (Lynsey May) ■ Spark Theatre (George Street), 14 Aug, 3.50pm, £12 (£10).

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06/08/2018 14:35

FESTIVAL BOOKS | Hitlist

BOOKS HITLIST Lynsey May picks the best events from the first week of the Edinburgh International Book Festival JANICE GALLOWAY ON MURIEL SPARK It’s Muriel Spark’s centenary year and EIBF are joining the nationwide celebrations with a series of tributes to the great Scottish writer. Internationally acclaimed writer Janice Galloway kicks things off with readings from and discussions about some of Spark’s most notable works. Charlotte Square Gardens, 11 Aug, 11.45am, £12 (£10). ~ ~

NGUGI WA THIONG’O Returning to the book festival to talk about the new edit of his prison memoir Wrestling with the Devil, renowned ~ ~ author Ngugi wa Thiong’o gives us some insight into the ways creativity and imagination can help set us free.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 11 Aug, 6.45pm, £12 (£10).

IMOGEN HERMES GOWAR & KIRSTY LOGAN Writers Imogen Hermes Gowar (The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock), and Kirsty Logan (The Gracekeepers and The Gloaming) dive into a discussion of fairy tale tropes and mythical sea creatures.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 12 Aug, 7pm, £8 (£6).

THE HIDDEN Can you crack the code at this interactive theatre experience set in Edinburgh’s iconic Central Library? In a partnership with theatre company Visible Fictions, EIBF asks its audience if it can piece together the story using all the clues hidden throughout the venue.

Central Library, 13–25 Aug (not 19), 6pm, £15 (£12).

JUNE SARPONG Better decisions, innovations and business – studies show the benefits of embracing greater diversity are huge, so why aren’t we? Broadcaster June Sarpong, author of Diversify, makes the case for changing this status quo. See feature on page 30. Charlotte Square Gardens, 15 Aug, 11.45am, £12 (£10).

FREEDOM DEBATE: PRECARIOUS FREEDOMS Part of the Freedom and Equalities series and co-curated by Dive Queer Party, a panel of writers, directors and performers share international perspectives on gender and sexual rights around the world.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 15 Aug, 7.30pm, £12 (£10).

11 — 27 August 2018

900 authors from 55 countries in 800 events Book & browse events: edbookfest.co.uk @edbookfest

Janice Galloway

Including: Rose McGowan Zindzi Mandela Ali Smith Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Chelsea Clinton Maria Alyokhina Louis de Bernières Karl Ove Knausgaard Jim Broadbent DJ Semtex Laura Bates Frank Quitely Akala Gaël Faye 100 Years of Muriel Spark Yanis Varoufakis Jackie Kay A L Kennedy Philip Pullman Rachel Kushner Luke Wright Val McDermid Brett Anderson Afua Hirsch Mark Beaumont Chitra Nagarajan Mark Cousins The Last Poets

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06/08/2018 14:36

Susie Orbach | FESTIVAL BOOKS

list.co.uk/festival

LISTEN UP Therapy is no spectator sport, says psychotherapist Susie Orbach, but it is an experience that deserves to be demystified. Ahead of her Edinburgh International Book festival appearance, she tells Lynsey May how her new book allowed her to do just that

I

n a world where personal and political issues loom large, a clear message has emerged – it’s good to talk about your problems. A noble suggestion, perhaps, but as writer and psychotherapist Susie Orbach explains, there’s more than one way of talking and not all of them are transformative.

Babbling into empty space is unlikely to solve anyone’s problems but actively discussing and analysing feelings in therapy just might.

Orbach, who describes therapy as a listening cure as much as a talking one, has long wanted to reveal what goes on behind that closed door.

With In Therapy: The Unfolding Story, she’s found the ideal opportunity.

What is now a book started as a series on Radio 4. ‘I’d been approached before and always thought, no, it’s too dishonest,’ she said, but the idea arose to use actors, who would be briefed by director Ian Rickson and would come to Orbach with problems and lives she couldn’t predict. This created the level of tension, truth and authenticity she wanted.

Orbach might have been entirely confident in the actors’ abilities, but admits she was anxious about the recording studio and also her ability to act as though she knew her fictional visitors well. ‘It’s quite humbling really but therapy is a humbling experience, helping or engaging with people in their lives. So in a way, it was appropriate that I had my own difficulties to deal with,’ she says.

In contrast, the moment where Orbach was able to sit down and turn the radio segments into a book was a far more meditative experience, giving her the chance to be more expansive and analytical of her own thought process during sessions – and to tackle some pretty big

questions, like ‘just what the hell is therapy anyway, why is it such a different conversation and why can’t people just buck up and change on their own?’

But change is difficult, and it’s especially hard to achieve without help in a world where we’re besieged by everything from terrifying headlines to companies and advertising agencies deliberately targeting and inventing weakness to exploit.

People spend their lives looking for meaning and will sometimes take it anywhere they can find it. In fact, Orbach recently discovered snippets of things she’d once said being used on generic lifestyle posters in America. No one asked permission, and now her words are being presented as inspirational, aspirational quotes.

Leaving her wondering, ‘what does it mean for us, our culture, when we’re not even making our own words?’

That said, when it comes to author-reader relations, people do seem to be speaking up. Reflecting on her upcoming event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Orbach says she’s felt a real change in the feelings around author events.

‘In the old days you went and did it for publicity and now, people are doing it to engage with an active readership . . . there’s such desire to connect, perhaps because we have been living in silos and living online so much. There’s a real frisson in the room.’ Perhaps now more than ever, we’re realising that talking, listening and pursuing emotional literacy are some of the best tools we have.

Susie Orbach, Charlotte Square Gardens, 24 Aug, 11.45am, £12 (£10).

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FESTIVAL BOOKS | Top Tips

TOP TIPS A longer selection of this week’s best events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

11 AUG A GRAPHIC NOVEL OF WOMEN Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.45pm, pay what you can Join Sha Nazir and Heather Palmer of BHP Comics and Laura Jones of indie publisher 404 Ink as they discuss their collaborative project We Shall Fight Until We Win, a graphic novel highlighting the achievements of British women in public life over 100 years.

PHILIP PULLMAN: MASTER STORYTELLER Charlotte Square Gardens, 6pm, £8 (£6) Hear from the master storyteller as he talks through his fantasy worlds and resilient characters, with the chance to ask questions at the end.

Ages 10+. ˜ ˜ WA THIONG’O NGUGI Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.45pm, £12 (£10) Marking the publication of Wrestling with the Devil, a new edit of his prison memoir, the Kenyan novelist and playwright discusses the value of freedom and the power of imagination to overcome injustice.

VIV ALBERTINE Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) Post-punk legend returns with her second memoir To Throw Away Unopened, in which she delves deeply into her own history and in unflinching detail portrays why she’s so passionate about the truth.

Ukulele Death Squad and Carla Lippis and the Furies.

MAGGIE O’FARRELL Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) With her unconventional memoir I Am, I Am, I Am. having stormed the book charts, Northern Irish novelist O’Farrell returns to the Book Festival to discuss the book and its success with Damian Barr.

13 AUG HOW TO WRITE HORROR Charlotte Square Gardens, 11.45am, £5 Panel discussion with with Sally Gardner, Charlie Higson and Darren Shan, perfect for budding writers and horror enthusiasts. Meet the experts and find out if you have what it takes to write the next great horror novel.

Ages 12+.

ROSE MCGOWAN WITH AFUA HIRSCH Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, £12 (£10) American actress Rose McGowan talks to Afua Hirsch about her campaign to help all women reclaim their lives and her memoir, Brave, in which she recounts her fight against the Hollywood machine.

MY GRANDAD, MANDELA Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £5 To mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, his two greatgrandchildren (aged 6 and 7) have asked their grandmother, Mandela’s daughter Zindzi, 15 questions about the man the world remembers as an inspirational leader and peacemaker.

Ages 5+.

12 AUG JULIAN CLARY & DAVID ROBERTS: TROUBLE AT HOME Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £5 Comedian, entertainer and novelist Julian Clary and award-winning illustrator David Roberts present their fourth adventure with Britain’s wildest family, The Bolds.

GRAEME OBREE Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) Racing cyclist and Scottish sporting icon Graeme Obree discusses his new edition of The Obree Way with endurance racer and cycle courier Emily Chappell.

14 AUG RACHEL KUSHNER Spark Theatre, George Street, 12.15pm, £12 (£10) Kushner returns to Edinburgh with her much-anticipated novel The Mars Room, which follows a woman starting a double life sentence in a US correctional facility, leaving her young son with her mother.

AFUA HIRSCH Spark Theatre, George Street, 5.30pm, £12 (£10) In Brit(ish), Hirsch argues that although some of our identities, such as race and gender, may be given at birth, we can nevertheless insist on having the freedom to define ourselves in many ways. She joins Chitra Ramaswamy in conversation. See preview, page 37.

IN LIGHT OF WHAT WE WRITE Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £12 (£10) In Light of What We Write brings young Scottish and Southern African artists together to create

cutting edge, multi-discipline work and this specially created second chapter is led by co-curators Linda Kaoma and Michael Pedersen. Authors and artists taking part include Sabrina Mahfouz, Iona Lee, Julie Nxadi, Madzitatiguru and Katlego Kolanyane-Kesupile.

LIAM MCILVANNEY & DENISE MINA Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) Stuart Kelly chairs this event with award-winning Liam McIlvanney and winner of the McIlvanney and the Gordon Burn Prizes, Denise Mina. McIlvanney introduces his new Glasgow-set thriller, while Mina talks The Long Drop, which novelises the true crimes of notorious Scottish killer Peter Manuel.

15 AUG JUNE SARPONG Charlotte Square Gardens, 11.45am, £12 (£10) See feature, page 30.

LEILA ABOULELA & NAYROUZ QARMOUT Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.30pm, £8 (£6) Aberdeen-based Aboulela discusses Elsewhere, Home, a collection featuring men and women attempting to steer their course in a hostile world. In Qarmout’s The Sea Cloak and other stories, the Gazabased author mines her experiences growing up in a refugee camp.

THE GIRL GUIDE WITH MARAWA IBRAHIM Charlotte Square Gardens, 4.15pm, £5 World record-breaking hula hooper Marawa Ibrahim shares her new life advice book, The Girl Guide, a go-to handbook packed with stories and vital information about periods, body hair, sweat and more. Ages 10–14.

BRIAN MAY & ROGER TAYLOR Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10) Join photographic historians Dr Brian May (also the lead guitarist of Queen) and Professor Roger Taylor as they trace George Washington Wilson’s career, show key examples of his work using a new 3D projection system and present their accompanying book, George Washington Wilson, Artist and Photographer.

DARREN SHAN: DARK CREATIONS Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.30pm, £5 Darren Shan talks about his writing career in all its gory detail, giving you the chance to grill him about his gruesome tales and otherworldly demons. Ages 12+.

REINHARD KLEIST Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £12 (£10) Join German graphic designer and cartoonist Reinhard Kleist for a heady performance of the music of Nick Cave, live drawing and visuals. Musical soundtrack will be provided by Adelaide’s Zephyr Quartet,

RUTH JONES Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) Spend an entertaining hour with the writer of the award-winning TV series Gavin & Stacey, who has turned her talents to novel writing with Never Greener. Chaired by Hannah Beckerman.

Ngũgi˜ wa Thiong’o

AFRICA UNBOUND Charlotte Square Gardens, 9pm, free Discover talents from the continent in a night of readings and performances from Zimbabwe’s Novuyo Tshuma, Uganda’s Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and S J Naudé from South Africa, plus Nigerian poet Donna Ogunnaike and Ghanaian percussionist Gameli Tordzro.

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CAZELEON: THE MOVIES IN MY MIND Old school Hollywood glamour as you’ve never seen it before The popularity of drag has exploded in recent times, with audiences being won over by stars pushing the boundaries on rigid concepts of gender. But rising Aussie-born and Londonbased Cazeleon’s show feels more urgent and necessary than your average drag show.

It’s not just about being fierce and confident, it’s also about showing vulnerability and the importance of the fight to be yourself.

Using the motif of the rise and fall of a Hollywood star, Cazeleon goes from wideeyed child pushed away by their peers for not fitting into a box, to killing off the person they used to be, and becoming a star. She channels silver screen idols like Elizabeth Taylor in her aesthetic, looking impossibly glamorous

and weaving her way through numbers as diverse as Duke Dumont’s ‘Ocean Drive’ and Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain. In the end, Cazeleon’s former self comes back to haunt her and it finishes with her bare-chested, no wig, no costume and a skewed gender symbol across her chest.

Cazeleon’s pitch-perfect voice mixed with an emotionally stirring performance creates a piece that seamlessly blends theatre and drag. The show’s message about not having to comply with society’s norms or anyone else’s idea of what you should be captures the zeitgeist of today. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 14), 9pm, £11–£12 (£10–£9) ●●●●●

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Arusa Qureshi picks the best cabaret to check out in week two of the Fringe THE MISS BEHAVE GAMESHOW Direct from their Las Vegas residency, the renegade gameshow where the audience IS the show returns to Edinburgh. With the assistance of her aide Tiffany, Miss Behave divides the audience into two teams – iPhones and Others – for a series of new games, new acts and some new crappy prizes. See feature, page 43.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 18 Aug, 10.30pm, £12.50–£14 (£10.50–£12).

CAZELEON: THE MOVIES IN MY MIND Featuring songs from Shirley Bassey to Duke Dumont, Cazeleon the cabaret chameleon presents a theatrical mashup of the past and present. Exploring themes such as gender identity, binary constructs and the exploitation of women in Hollywood, Cazeleon’s memoirs are represented through cinematic evolution, taking you on a mesmerising journey that explores liberation and freedom. See review, page 41. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 14), 9pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10).

+++++ BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

PHOTO: KATE PARDEY

CABARET HITLIST LE GATEAU CHOCOLAT: ICONS Le Gateau Chocolat, storms into the Fringe with international hit, Icons.

Gateau seamlessly weaves through pop, opera and rock from Whitney to Pavarotti, investigating his own objects of worship through the songs and music of his personal icons. See feature, page 23. Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 7.30pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

BRIEFS: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Briefs are back with a brand-new show which involves their trademark blend of cabaret, burlesque, circus and drag.

Expect interstellar aerials, incredible artistry, sharp social commentary and warp-speed strippers from outer space. See feature, page 26.

Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 7.15pm, £17.50–£19.50.

YANA ALANA: BETWEEN THE CRACKS Australia’s favourite cabaret anarchist and neo-punk diva Yana Alana bares all in this night of blues, boobs and blame, exploring mental health, sexual politics, feminism and identity.

See feature, page 26. Assembly Checkpoint, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 8pm, £12–£13.

+++++ ATTITUDE

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Miss Behave | FESTIVAL CABARET

AVIOUR Las Vegas cabaret star Miss Behave chats to Rebecca Monks about her award-winning game show and the importance of conversation in a world filled with Brexit and Trump

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‘I need to remain neutral politically within the show,’ she says, ‘because it doesn’t help the show, and it doesn’t help the audience, if I berate someone for voting Leave.

‘As Gamesmaster, you can say what you want and I can respond to that. Improvisation is a large part of the show. But if I come on and cast judgement because of how we are now, it would negate the whole function of the show and ruin it forever.’

Within that framework, the audience are free to act as they will (with the hard rules that there is to be no homophobia, racism or misogyny whatsoever). This is because the show aims to be inclusive. ‘But the thing with inclusivity at the moment,’ she explains, ‘is that it has to include the people that are diametrically opposed to your opinion. Or else what I’m doing is not being an impartial Gamesmaster. I’m being a judgemental bitch in this particular setting.’

As an artist, she believes it’s important to use her platform to promote dialogue, and is angered by shows such as Sacha Baron Cohen’s satire Who is America?, which features some controversial scenes about Republicans and guns, among other things. ‘Did it help the conversation? No. I got so angry because it was so unhelpful.’

She believes that the satire is not ‘cutting edge’ because ‘the world has changed but the format has not.’ In other words, we need to do better.

She suggests there’s a new way to think outside of the box when it comes to politics and entertainment. ‘I have a feeling that maybe the most radical act, the most edgy, out-there act, could be kindness and listening,’ she says.

‘I’m going to be really looking around for that when I’m in Edinburgh.’

So, what does all this have to do with a game show featuring breasts, acrobatics and the can-can? Quite simply, it’s about giving an audience permission to exist in union together, with a foundation based on kindness. Once that foundation’s built, it strengthens us, whether we’re winning a point in a Fringe show, or winning a debate.

‘It gives people permission to play in a joyous, non-judgemental way,’ she explains. ‘We’re all free, and in some ways it’s taking adults back [to being] kids again. I think the message is that we’ve got to be nice to each other, including ourselves.’

That’s not to say that there aren’t problems to address in the world. ‘I think everything’s fucked,’ she says confidently, ‘and I don’t think it’s going to get better. And because of that, I used to say, “let’s just dance on the debris of humanity”.’ But since Trump and Brexit, that outlook has changed.

Now, she simply points out that whoever has won, has won, and we have to learn to keep talking and being kind. ‘I say that life’s just a game, and there are no winners and losers – just players. We’re free to do whatever we want, but so is everybody else. So let’s be nice to each other.

It costs us nothing.’

PHOTO: PRUDENCE UPTON

he last time Miss Behave brought her game show to the Fringe, a friendly fracas occurred between a scantily clad acrobat and an audience member’s breast.

‘I had this acrobat run up on stage and strip all of his clothes off naked, only to do a back somersault and land in the splits,’ she explains. ‘Then, a female audience member ran up on stage, ripped her shirt open and basically titted him off the stage. And the thing is, that’s kind of normal.’

The cabaret star has been running her award-winning game show for some years now, and is currently the underground hit of the Las Vegas cabaret scene. To understand why, in her world, normalcy involves starkers somersaulting and using ‘titting’ as a verb, you really have to understand the nature of the show itself. And that nature is innately human.

In its simplest iteration, The Miss Behave Gameshow is about the audience having fun and winning prizes. With the help of ‘aide-decamp’ Tiffany, they are divided into two teams (which is often decided by their phones). Then, they complete simple challenges – perhaps the most winsome of these being ‘do anything for a point’. Over the years, this challenge has wielded everything from group deliverances of the cancan, to nose picking, cartwheeling and more.

‘The rules I give them are: think for yourself, don’t ask don’t get, use your initiative, nothing means anything, life’s not fair, and I don’t make the rules,’ she explains. And so, in that way, people let loose in their most imaginative (occasionally naked) ways. ‘I create a space for people to do what they want, and slowly, they realise they can.’

While the absurd antics and tonguein-cheek rules can result in a raucous night out, there’s also a powerfully intelligent premise beneath the show’s sequin-coated surface. In essence, it’s about human nature, and the way in which we interact with each other.

‘Having done it for a while now, I can see patterns of human behaviour,’ she says. ‘I understand who I would be in that audience, and I understand why somebody is acting a certain way.’ There are the observers, the active participants, the ones who engage as the action revs up, and then there are the ones who don’t engage at all. And if you’re thinking that sounds like a metaphor for the way we as a society are operating within the strange and turbulent times we’re living in, well – that’s probably worth a point.

Off stage, Miss Behave has some strong views. She’s anti-Brexit, antiTrump, anti-this-world-as-we-know-it-crumbling-around-us, really. ‘I’m very clear on my political opinions,’ she explains, ‘and I think that what is happening is the most terrifying thing – not only in my lifetime, but in political history. I think this can blow WWII out of the water. It sure as fuck blows Nixon out of the water.’ But none of her beliefs drive the agenda of the show. What pushes the show forward is the way it facilitates open dialogue and kindness.

The Miss Behave Gameshow, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 8–18 Aug, 10.30pm, £12.50–£14 (£10.50–£12).

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Fierce commentary and intelligent musical numbers ●●●●● She may be known in Australia as the queen of queer cabaret, but Yana Alana's name is not as prevalent in Edinburgh, despite her popularity around the world as a cult performer and diva extraordinaire.

In Between the Cracks, she muses on topics ranging from sexual politics to the state of her mental health, with her dynamic vocals backed by multiinstrumentalists Bec Matthews and Louise Goh, whose on-stage banter and asides with Ward add an extra element of hilarity and theatricality. Her selfdeprecation and anxiety is coupled with a confidence that rings out in numbers like Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ and her own stunning ‘I’m Blue’. She even blows her own horn at one point, literally.

Clad in blue body paint, sparkly blue platform wedges and a blue bouffant-style wig, performance artist Sarah Ward's character traverses territory that is both amusing and vital, confronting topics that force the audience to view a piece of themselves in this naked blue enigma. This debut is everything you'd want from a cabaret show and more; subversive, provocative and fiercely intelligent. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Assembly Checkpoint, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 8pm, £12–£13.

PHOTO: JOHN TSIAVIS

PHOTO: PETER LESLIE

YANA ALANA: BETWEEN THE CRACKS

LADY RIZO

BRIEFS: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Challenging mix of sequins and politics ●●●●●

Polished show celebrates tenth anniversary ●●●●●

Lady Rizo's voice packs a lot of power, and she commands the stage with all the prowess that a blonde bombshell in head-to-toe sparkles deserves.

The show begins with a lot of promise, and her sexy, witty, domineering personality has the audience laughing and whistling approval . . . but then it all seems to get a bit serious.

The bedazzled starlet initially promises a light-hearted distraction from the current political and humanitarian crisis in America, but soon the performance takes on the form of a left-wing crusade. It's a noble call to anti-facist action, but it doesn't quite fit with the rest of this all-singing, all-dancing show. From criticising the second amendment, she breaks into a fabulous rendition of 'Bang Bang' by Nancy Sinatra.

But perhaps that is exactly the point; the public shouldn't be seeking distraction from what's happening across the world, but instead rising up in protest. At one point Rizo is visibly shocked and chastises the females in the audience for their failure to participate in any recent women's marches.

The audience leave, not knowing whether to sing, dance, feel ashamed or empowered to start plotting their next protest. (Clare McVay) ■ Assembly Hall, until 19 Aug (not 8, 13), 9.10pm, £14 (£12).

Briefs, the alternative cabaret troupe from Australia, are celebrating ten years in the business this year and that means you can expect two things from them: a polished show and a massive crowd.

Briefs have been at it for so long that the mixture of cabaret, circus, dance and comedy is technically stunning, conveys important messages and entertains in equal measures. Artistic director Fez Fa'anana plays the part of the fierce and sultry compère with attitude and hilariously guides the boys through the show. However, the stand-out performance is the emotionally raw, contemporary dance love-story between the masculine Thomas Gundry Greenfield and Harry Clayton-Wright in drag – a breathtaking look at an intimate human moment.

It feels timely that the group are using their platform to urge people not to stay silent on social issues.

However, the show’s theme of ‘coming from the future’ feels a bit unnecessary at times as the artistry speaks for itself. One slight quibble are the sightlines from the balcony, the obstructed view becoming an annoying distraction. Ultimately though, Briefs give a rousing performance. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 7.15pm, £17.50—£19.50 (£16—£18).

PHOTO: ALEXIS DESAULNIERS-LEA

YUMMY Powerhouse of drag, dance, circus, and music arrives in Edinburgh ●●●●● Yummy's arrival in Edinburgh could not have come at a better time, having already stormed both the Adelaide and Perth Fringes with their killer choreography and unconventional mix of drag, circus, dance and performance art.

Featuring a all-star cast of performers including Valerie Hex, Jandruze, Zelia Rose, Hannie Helsden, Benjamin 'Bendy Ben' Hancock and hilarious MC Karen From Finance, Yummy plays on ideas of gender and queerness in a way that allows each act and each segment to communicate something distinct and radical.

From Jandruze making a sexy human sandwich with giant slices of bread, cheese and tomatoes to death metal tapdancing, black latex lingerie and horse masks galore, there are a plethora of ideas on display throughout. Karen even performs her own numbers, including a glorious lip-sync to Vanessa Carlton's 'A Thousand Miles'. The real pull of Yummy though is the show's mix of solo spots, duos and group numbers, with each performer bringing their own unique and quirky style to the line-up. Hancock's solo to Paloma Faith's 'Only Love' is a particularly stunning moment as he appears with a small screen fastened to his headdress which lip-syncs the words along to his meticulous movements.

Choreographer, drag queen and performer James Welsby (Valerie Hex) ultimately presents a production that is packed with the glittering fun of cabaret with elements of subversion that create a humorous and at times, touching take on the genre. A raucous mix of striptease, death-drops and hulahoops, Yummy could be the best night out you have all August.

(Arusa Qureshi) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 8, 14, 21), 9.40pm, £13–£14.

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The parumquam illiciant of acesequam rem reperume parliamentary elites can breathe a sigh of relief at that. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug (not 14, 23), 9pm, £14–£15 (£12–£13) ●●●●●

A call to dissent from an angry young woman

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COMEDY HITLIST Brian Donaldson picks out some of the comedy highlights from week two of the Fringe ELF LYONS The Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee returns with ChiffChaff, another fine clowning, character and personal show, this one revolving around finance. See review, page 51.

Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13), 6.50pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£7.50– £9.50).

THE PIN Ben and Alex have concocted yet another delicious meta adventure with Backstage in which they play themselves, but who are the mysterious duo that they’re supporting? That’s right, it’s them as well. See review, page 54.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 11), 8pm, £9.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£11).

NINA CONTI It had to happen one day. Ventriloquist Conti has finally become one with her potty-mouthed pal Monkey. Can she ever escape the big hairy suit? See review, page 53. Underbelly Bristo

Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), 7pm, £16–£19 (£15–£18).

FIN TAYLOR Today’s go-to Fringe guy for contentious yet heart-in-the-right-place shows about modern woes plumps this year for sexual politics with the heady brouhaha of When Harassy Met Sally. See review, page 59. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 15), 9.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

LAURA DAVIS The Australian stand-up performs the vast majority of Ghost Machine with a white spectral sheet over herself.

It’s not just a gimmick, folks, but a statement about identity and mortality.

And with jokes! See review, page 56. Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 5.40pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

MISS VENEZUELA As her country tears itself apart, Andrea Spisto offers a joyous ‘carnival of queerness’ to help lighten the load.

See review, page 58. Just the Tonic at The Mash House, until 26 Aug (not 13), 10.10pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.

Elf Lyons

KIERAN HODGSON Will the Edinburgh Comedy Award judges come calling again and deliver a third nomination for Hodgson, this time for his musing on a past

historical moment when Britain was last at war with itself over Europe?

See review, page 57. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8.15pm, £8–£12 (£7–£11).

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list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

ADAM ROWE

JOHN LYNN: ADDICTION DICTION

Self-aware and reflective set from rising star ●●●●●

A comedy lesson in assured and edgy humour ●●●●●

It seems that Adam Rowe’s star is on the rise.

Granted this was a Saturday night, but some of the people who didn’t secure their seat by buying a ticket were turned away from the venue. Rowe has been a reliable fixture on the north-west England comedy scene and beyond for a few years now and this hour proves why, as he keeps the gag rate up throughout.

He takes us on a thoughtful meander through his life via a relationship with his girlfriend who isn’t The One but he still loves her to bits. Then there’s his tough background with parents who both drank, and his lazy eye that became bionic with a little help from an imaginative surgeon.

There’s no single grand theme here but several threads which weave throughout the show exploring class, love and the motivating power of fear. Rowe depicts a clash of cultures between him and his girlfriend: a confident middle-class girl from a twee village contrasts nicely with his savvy city wisdom and paranoia. Plus there’s an endearing heart-on-hissleeve honesty in Rowe’s self-awareness, checking himself if what he’s said seems a little bit sexist or – heaven forfend – vegan-ist. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 7.40pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

Using a theme of life’s addictions enables John Lynn to loosely group together a bunch of largely disparate yet killer routines in this solid hour of stand-up. It’s easy to see why Lynn gigs all around the world; his is the kind of set that you can kick back and listen to, knowing that you’re in a safe pair of comedy hands.

The man so clearly knows what he’s doing.

Not that ‘safe’ means his material is without bite though. Always staying on the right side of likeable, he mischievously pushes at the boundaries; there’s the analogy he uses of a woman he dated that initially appears to be old-school sexism but swiftly turns into something else, while there’s a particularly enjoyable taunting routine about looking after his young cousins and their burgeoning criminal activity.

Aside from the top quality writing, he has a fantastic delivery that betrays his training in acting. Lynn’s storytelling is languid and teasing, knowing exactly when to land his punchline with just the correct amount of measured diction and accompanying, elaborating mannerisms. For a simple comedy masterclass with no frilly Fringe bits, look no further.

(Marissa Burgess) ■ The Stand’s New Town Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 14), 4.10pm, £10 (£9).

MAT EWINS: WHAT SORRY? MY MISTAKE! . . .

Slick and gleefully entertaining show ●●●●● After securing an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination last year for his ‘declaration of an independence from seriousness’, Mat Ewins is back with another hour of nonsense-filled comedy in this silly and entertaining show.

It’s 2068, and Ewins is setting up a newspaper on Mars. His clear USP lies in the use of animations, interactive visuals, cameras and video. Almost unbelievably slick, the technology helps create the future Martian world in which the show exists, and is used seamlessly to both construct and enhance the regular gags. With secondary characters on screen, Ewins’ clever animations become a novel part of a great double act between himself and his visuals.

Despite the absurdist, imagined narrative, Ewins’ humour isn’t always stupid. He touches on a host of current issues such as veganism, Twitter trolls, the rise of AI, and the colonisation of space, but in a refreshingly relaxed and jovial manner. This is one show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, doesn’t try to achieve too much, and instead offers the Edinburgh Fringe comedy programme something a little bit different. (Kenza Marland) ■ Just the Tonic at The Mash House, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.50pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

ELF LYONS: CHIFFCHAFF High calibre show which bristles at Brexit Britain ●●●●● Who knew so many popular songs and showtunes were actually about finance? Elf Lyons – part comedian, part singer, part clown – promises a musical about the economy, and delivers much more.

Combining characters, clowning and more personal material, she throws together skits, musical numbers and wise words from her dad that run the gamut from charming to bewildering. The songs are likewise eclectic, being drawn from multiple sources and keeping the energy levels high with accompanying dances which are joyously bizarre in their own right.

Lyons creates a dizzy, lisping ingenue character who flutters her eyelashes and coquettes it up, channelling Marilyn Monroe’s character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes who uses a ditzy facade to hide her perspicacity about the importance of financial independence (albeit obtained through marriage or gifts of jewellery).

This violently clashes with Lyons’ more aggressive style at other times and, together, creates an off-kilter production that constantly threatens to veer off in any number of directions, despite her insistence on keeping to her dad’s advice about how to execute an effective talk. Her father’s thoughts on both economics and his daughter’s finances surface throughout the show, grounding and adding some heart to this otherwise esoteric conglomeration.

Lyons works incredibly hard to bring to life a frenetic hour of barely contained chaos that mostly lands despite a few uneven spots. The result is an over-the-top spectacle of contemporary economics that somehow manages to combine lucid explanations of fiscal policy, references to 18th-century economist Adam Smith and US punk band Dead Kennedys, with high-calibre physical comedy. (Suzanne Black) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13), 6.50pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£7.50–£9.50).

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list.co.uk/festival PHOTO: JAMES BELLORINI PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: NICK RUTTER

MR SWALLOW AND THE VANISHING ELEPHANT Another Swallow spectacular ●●●●● The wilfully irritating but curiously loveable Mr Swallow has performed some amazing feats of wonder during his time on the Fringe, from incredible memorisation to perilous Houdini-inspired water-based escapology.

But now he’s in Edinburgh to attempt the biggest one of them all: to make an elephant disappear before our very eyes! Except the practicalities of making such a preposterous illusion work every day means that there really is no elephant in the room (or is there . . . ?).

Instead, Nick Mohammed’s creation throws together a cornucopia of magical delights, with more memory games, a floating table and an attempt at sawing himself in half. The appeal of a large-scale Mr Swallow show such as this is twofold: there are the tricks and illusions which, in the main, come off brilliantly, but there is also the character himself.

An uptight, over-enthusiastic, crisps-obsessed man who always stays just on the right side of having a meltdown in a public place, the laughs are always of equal importance to the spectacle. While the gags aren’t as plentiful as in previous shows, Mohammed as Swallow as an over-the-top Liverpudlian psychic is a delirious success. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 7.30pm, £11.50–£14.50 (£10.50–£13.50).

LOUISE REAY

INGRID DAHLE: WINGRID

A plight made worse by ploughing on ●●●●●

A positive show about an unconventional upbringing and fridges ●●●●●

Normally, when a comedian is reading from their notes on stage, it means they’re still in preview mode and working out whether bits of their new material should stay or go. It’s not often that a stand-up is clutching a script that has been approved by their lawyers just two days before the start of the Fringe. But due to ongoing legal proceedings which resulted from Reay’s last hour-long show, she’s been instructed that she cannot improvise in case she spills something out that can be used in court against her and that there are only a certain number of topics she can broach. Weirdly, they all appear to start with the letter ‘p’, such as pregnancy, pets and pizza.

What Reay is left with is, well, zilch. With a jolly hockey-sticks demeanour and a bodyguard / tech called Michael (a woman with false moustache and wig), she powers through on energy alone, but the joke-free atmosphere becomes highly claustrophobic.

It’s easy to sympathise with her plight, but given her planned show was not deemed fit for public consumption, Reay could have brought back one of her old shows or cut some losses and pulled out completely. Instead, she’s left with a 50-minute ‘show’ that’s a waste of everyone’s time. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, until 26 Aug (not 14), 4.15pm, donations.

It isn’t the Ingrid Dahle of the present that opens this show, but the Ingrid Dahle of the future. Appearing from behind a colourful blanket to a tinkly sound effect, she tells us of her confidence in a wildly successful future, with not one but two Americanstyle fridges. But her story starts back in the present before she has those things.

She’s an incredibly warm host, with bags of energy. Her debut show is an exuberant affair as she wonders how we can recapture the joy we have as children. This is the time before other people’s opinions of us matter, and when we’re still riding about on an imaginary horse. Originally from Norway, Dahle regales us with some brilliant tales of her dorky childhood being ‘bored in the fjord’, from joining the Jesus revolution to her weird family and unconventional response to romantic rejection.

The jokes thin a little as she moves onto the realities of working as a stand-up comedian but we share in her triumphs along the way. Wingrid is such a joyous show that Dahle’s positive outlook should make you believe that you too can find your childhood horse.

(Rowena McIntosh) ■ Heroes @ Bob’s BlundaBus, until 26 Aug (not 8), 9.20pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

NINA CONTI IS MONKEY Skilful and testing work from UK’s best-known ventriloquist ●●●●● It seems a shame to mention how Nina Conti appears on the stage at the beginning of her show but if I don’t this review will end pretty much here. If you thought the ventriloquist’s act with her legendary filthy simian sidekick Monk couldn’t go any further, you’d be wrong. This time Conti has actually become Monk. Yep she’s got an ape suit and she’s going to wear it.

And uncomfortably at that. Whether the awkwardness will be in the show near the end of the run, who knows, but it would be a shame to lose the fun to be had in the sheer impracticality of wearing a massive monkey outfit. Lumbering clumsily about the stage, the only way Conti can breathe is to occasionally open Monk’s mouth so he momentarily pauses, gob agape, staring vacantly into the upper circle.

The conceit enables Conti to push further the contrast between her sweet stage personality and that which she projects onto Monk. The filthy, inappropriate, crude monkey is simply part of her, having always enabled her to say what is deemed inappropriate for a girl, and to be all those things that we know girls are as well (crude, dirty, animalistic), but are expected to hide.

Then, halfway through, when we see the lithe and beautiful Conti emerge from the hairy-assed chrysalis, donning a little skirt and heels, she embraces her femininity again content in the knowledge that we know that’s not all she is. The show’s remainder is more conventional but serves to display Conti’s brilliant ventriloquism skills to great effect. She’s had the masks that make an audience member into a life-sized dummy out before, but her skill at controlling them and responding to the body language of three people at once places the depth of her abundant skill into sharp relief. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), 7pm, £16–£19 (£15–£18).

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews PHOTO: ZERO DEGREES WEST

THE PIN: BACKSTAGE Duo combine like a dream in latest innovative delight ●●●●● In the same room where Joseph Morpurgo last year went all meta in Hammerhead with his after-show Q&A session, The Pin pair of Alex Owen and Ben Ashenden deliver a similarly postmodern treat.

The conceit for Backstage is that they are the support act for a more seasoned twosome of old-school campaigners, Philip and Robin. After doing their warm-up, a typically Pin-like ten minutes of sketches featuring a superb array of communication breakdowns, they go backstage to ponder their existence, wondering if they will ever be the main attractions.

A large curtain becomes the dividing line between onstage and behind-the-scenes. As you can easily imagine, the seams between those two worlds begin to slowly fray until the lines are not so much blurred as totally obliterated with Philip and Robin making their presence known while Ashenden and Owen race around to keep up with themselves and their alter egos. But which pairing will end up being onstage at the end?

The laying out of this meta construct, impressive as it is, could only really take this show so far. Ashenden and Owen’s subtly brilliant chemistry and the routines they concoct are the things that really make a Pin show stick. And here the gags and skits are excellent, with a confusing job advert, a three-page script with the middle page missing, and the reading of a new Scandi drama all involved. When something goes wrong (it always does), it’s mainly down to a ‘harmless mix-up’.

While there’s not so much of the obvious double-act trope where one member is trying to undermine the other, it’s still clear that Ashenden is portraying the more clinical, mature half to Owen’s giggly, naïve 50 percenter. And as a totality in Backstage, their writing and performances combine like a dream. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 11), 8pm, £9.50– £12.50 (£8.50–£11).

LAURA LEXX: TRYING

Punchy show without boundaries ●●●●●

An hour about depression that lifts the spirits ●●●●●

Shame isn’t healthy. It weighs a person down and contributes to deep-rooted mental and self-esteem issues. So says Lou Sanders, whose lunchtime show has her sharing some of the great misadventures of her life. Sex is a popular topic (which means we get some wonderful turns of phrase of which ‘stunning fellatio’ is a favourite) as is biting her friends (well, nobody’s perfect) and drinking (in which we find out why Sanders is teetotal).

Shame Pig is a show without any boundaries in which Sanders takes her less proud moments and owns them, drawing a line in the sand between embarrassment (a temporary, fleeting sensation) and shame with its damaging permanence. Getting the mortifying moments out in the open is empowering, and thanks to Sanders’ punchy writing and commanding delivery, it’s something today’s audience can get behind too.

It’s got a cathartic air, but Shame Pig never deviates from being silly. Sanders’ labia is discussed quite extensively; it’s a recurring punchline and the comic’s secret weapon. She’s still ironing a couple of creases out but Sanders wields a confident stage presence that’s made of tough stuff. (Craig Angus) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug (not 15), 12.30pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

There’s a lot of reminiscing about the late 80s and early 90s going on at the beginning of Laura Lexx’s new show, Trying. But don’t worry, this is not just some flaccid rose-tinted ‘do you remember when’ Peter Kay-lite musings (though for a moment it does threaten to go down that road), it’s a narrative means of setting up the story of a recent family camping holiday (just like the old days) which offers a joyous comfort in the midst of her anxious existence.

Mental health is right at the heart of Laura Lexx’s new show, as she contemplates her own depression in the context of trying to start a family. That turns out to be a monthly cycle of frustration and anguish as she rails bitterly at those who seem to get pregnant by just glancing at their partner.

Trying is a lot funnier than it might be sounding here (though her description of suffering a kind of postnatal depression without having a small human to look after is very sad stuff), with her comparisons of Lush workers and miners, and her surreal experience in the make-up department of a high-street store making for delightful setpieces. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug (not 15), 5.15pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

PHOTO:DALLAS BLAND

PHOTO: KARLA GOWLETT

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

LOU SANDERS: SHAME PIG

GARRY STARR PERFORMS EVERYTHING A ballsy interactive affair ●●●●● With his shock of curly hair, Elizabethan ruff, leather jacket and way-too-prominent crotch area, Garry Starr (aka the Gaulier-trained Damien Warren-Smith) certainly cuts a striking figure. Chucking out some wildly exaggerated movements and outlandish gestures, this Australian ac-tor has one simple ambition: to change the pitiful landscape of theatre.

So, this hour showcases Starr’s all-consuming talents in everything from ballet to Pinter, butoh to Wicked. This might ultimately be a one-man mission, but help is required in the guise of continuous audience participation. While there are moments here that on other nights might have the picked-upon wanting to curl up and die, this particular crowd is dotted with extroverts who are very game for a laugh.

And no matter what Starr puts them through, this malaprop-heavy character is never more committed to a cause than when it comes to trashing his own dignity. The RSC may have shunned this inspirational if flawed creative type, but Stratford-upon-Avon’s loss is Edinburgh’s gain. Garry Starr Performs Everything is a brazen and often hilarious treat with jeopardy written into every scene. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.10pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

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Whyte & Mackayy sponsors Underbelly comedy at the Fringe 2018.

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ANDREW LAWRENCE: CLEAN Self-deprecating hour which fails to spark ●●●●● It’s almost four years since Andrew Lawrence posted a lengthy diatribe on his Facebook page decrying what he perceived as a cultural assault on right-wing politics and on his right to offend.

There followed a series of spats between him and a number of his contemporaries such as Dara Ó Briain and Frankie Boyle with TV work drying up after Lawrence lambasted ‘aging, balding, fat men, ethnic comedians and women-posing-as-comedians’. Meanwhile, his Twitter feed descended into a vicious echo chamber as conservative zealots championed the comedian as one of their own. Lawrence was unrepentant.

So you might think you should approach Clean with trepidation, wary of this firebrand provocateur. Not so. Lawrence is so selfdeprecating that he’d probably consider that description too lofty.

He bemoans his appearance, his voice and, oddly, his material.

Only passing reference is made to the fact that he used to feature on TV, and that in years gone by he’d have filled a room like this.

Perhaps having a two-year-old daughter has given him some perspective on life; she certainly contributes his best material.

Otherwise, this is a pretty hackneyed set. For a comedian who’s been plying his trade for 15 years, Lawrence’s writing lacks precision. His metaphors are unimaginative and there’s no spark.

Towards the end, he claims that in these litigious times it’s unsafe for a comedian to take risks and cause offence. ‘I tried to keep it clean tonight,’ he deadpans. Indeed he did: this is one of the few shows in the comedy section that would offend practically no one.

But having alienated swathes of his fanbase with those previous antics, and courted a sizeable following from people who rail against the prevalence of left-wing comedy, it’s hard to see who this new Andrew Lawrence will appeal to. (Murray Robertson) ■ Assembly George Square Studios, until 26 Aug, 8.10pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10).

PHOTO: PRAKASH DANIEL

PHOTO: JAMES DEACON

EVELYN MOK: BUBBLE BUTT

LAURA DAVIS: GHOST MACHINE

Anecdotes and chats fill an amiable hour ●●●●●

A spirited show about identity and mortality.

Possibly . . . ●●●●●

The child of Chinese parents, brought up in Sweden and now living in the UK, Evelyn Mok has a rare perspective on the difference between the three cultures. Opening her new show Bubble Butt, she emphasises her love for how uncomfortable British people get around awkward conversations. And quickly proves her point after a reference to child grooming casts a hush over the room.

A Swedish upbringing meant contact with people who were comfortable in their bodies, including a nude teacher. Mok sets up some brilliant anecdotes about growing up looking different, including an identity crisis brought on by black Barbie. Her funny phrases, rolling of words for effect and easy chat shows a comedian very much in command.

The momentum drops in the later part of the hour, there’s a segue back to her previous show where she catches up on being a late bloomer sexually while a #MeToo routine doesn’t have the pay-off to justify the build-up. Mok brings it back with a candid look at a genuinely uncomfortable incident from her past and leaves us on a song about the female equivalent of sweaty balls which, in very un-British fashion, everyone joins in with. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 6pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Comedians are constantly wearing a second skin to deflect attention away from the real person on that stage. Usually this step is taken metaphorically but Australian comedian Laura Davis has gone the whole hog, and for her new hour’s bulk, is wearing a white sheet that covers her entire body. Two eyeholes are cut out which, with a slight adjustment, also doubles as an orifice so she can rehydrate throughout. Before you think the KKK have stormed the Fringe, fear not, the title Ghost Machine should give the game away.

There’s something going on about hiding your true self; perhaps a comment on the women who have finally come out of hiding to tell their scary tales of abuse? Davis herself reckons that men are more likely to listen to a ghost doing comedy than a woman.

But mortality is also at stake, and we are all permanently close to ‘existing’ in the spirit realm. ‘Why haven’t you killed yourself?’ she asks a few members of the audience in a move which might suggest callousness but is merely teasing out what people want to live for. A fascinating show with a message buried in there somewhere and, happily, a lot of laughs from this rising stand-up star. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 5.40pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

CARL DONNELLY: STRICTLY CARL DONNELLY! An hour that resonates when it's fresh ●●●●● The setting of last year’s show may have been the 25-seater upper deck of Bob’s BlundaBus, but for 2018, Carl Donnelly is back in a more familiar performing environment. Here, he reminisces on the past decade of his life, questioning the big changes that have resulted in him straddling the intersections between a middle and working-class identity.

Donnelly has a tendency to go off on tangents and, the majority of the time, these digressions slot in well with his observational-style comedy. But where this doesn’t work is when the observation in question seems overused and all-too obvious. One example is his reflection on Queer Eye, which is humorous but wholly predictable if you’re a follower of memes and social media in-jokes of any kind.

Despite this, his skills as a storyteller appear to come naturally. It’s entirely understandable then, that his ten years at the Fringe have included two Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations, numerous accolades and plenty of sell-out performances. As he returns to Edinburgh with this latest solo run, it’s safe to say his story is one that continues to resonate widely. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6.45pm, donations.

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list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: A&E COMEDY @ GEORGIA APSION

CHRISTIAN FINNEGAN: MY GOODNESS

ENTER THE DRAGONS

MARNY GODDEN: MARNY TOWN Uninteresting, too broad tale of nonsense ●●●●●

Seasoned and sassy stand-up ●●●●●

Sketch fun that caters for an ignored demographic ●●●●●

Pretty much unknown on these shores, Christian Finnegan has a much higher profile in his US homeland where he appears on VH1 and Comedy Central. There’s always the danger that a comedian’s material won’t translate to a Fringe audience. Heck, even London comics forget that not everyone at their Edinburgh show has intimate knowledge of the Circle line. Finnegan’s production, however, has universal appeal and no such translation issues. To make sure of this, he does throw in the obligatory dissing of Trump so that we know what kind of American he is.

He reveals the general type of person he is in great detail during the rest of the hour. Based on the clever premise of giving himself scores out of ten in various aspects of humanity, the show’s structure is both contained yet flexible enough to allow him to work in asides on his dog and what it means to ‘look gay’.

All this comes before inevitably moving towards a heartfelt conclusion, which has enough legs for a whole show in itself. Confident, seasoned and, when pushed, sassy, Finnegan delivers a worthy Fringe debut which deserves a warmer welcome than the small crowds he has been pulling. (Suzanne Black) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 8.45pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12).

Imagine a version of Eat Pray Love in which Julia Roberts is a menopausal Frodo and you’ll be halfway towards an idea of what Enter the Dragons is like.

Double act Abigail Dooley and Emma Edwards offer up a tale of adventure, self-discovery and courage in the face of Oil of Olay for women who are grappling with ageing and the impossible demands of society: if you have plastic surgery you’re trying too hard; if you don’t you’ve let yourself go.

The story unfolds in a series of sketches which takes the audience through silliness as well as more serious meditations on the challenges facing middleaged women as well as a rousing song about how to react to it all. Their crone characters are a highlight – any moment they are onstage is a joy – and the long-armed one has a delightful touch of Sue White from Green Wing about her.

The rapport between the pair is believably antagonistic, with their bickering reminiscent of comedy duos like French and Saunders. This show is not just for women of a certain age, but it is nice to see something created by and for a demographic that is often ignored. (Suzanne Black) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13), 4.10pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

This whimsical tour of Marny Godden’s life is an (apparently) autobiographical tale of little consequence, peppered with caricatures that are so broad they barely register as human. Godden introduces us to her eccentric aunt, her palm-reading Dutch granny and various other family members, none of whom are intriguing enough to justify spending much time in their company.

The Grandees member is an imaginative comedian whose zealous performance encourages a fatiguing crowd to sing along and occasionally join her on stage.

But this is a chaotic show (in a bad way): at one point numerous audience members are married to each other before Godden annuls each matrimony because the various grooms have fleas. Later, a punk laboriously goads some audience members to recite an unfunny mum joke. And when Godden spots a fake rat on stage, picks it up and starts punching it, the whole pointless scene feels like a metaphor for the entire show.

Far better when performing as herself, Godden is ill-served by Marny Town. It could be that the events that we’ve seen take place are an allegory, and that this is comedy as therapy. But whatever it is, it’s neither interesting nor funny. (Murray Robertson) ■ Heroes @ The Hive, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), 6.20pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

KIERAN HODGSON: ’75 A sterling display of comic prowess ●●●●● After receiving fully deserved Edinburgh Comedy Award nominations for his last two shows, Lance (about disgraced cyclist Armstrong), and Maestro (concerning the psychologically troubled AustroBohemian composer Gustav Mahler), Kieran Hodgson is back with a Brexit-shaped show that is easily on a par. But all these Fringe hours are much more than mere biographical analyses or, in ’75’s case, about taking the increasingly fevered temperature of a nation and continent in flux and confusion: they are all largely about Hodgson.

On the face of it, ’75 is a note-perfect examination of Britain’s seemingly permanent conflicted relationship to the project of European unity. When the country debated joining the common market during the early 70s, it was the Conservatives who were leading the march to closer ties with Brussels, and Hodgson looks back on then Prime Minister Ted Heath as hero of the hour.

But heroes, as Hodgson discovered to his angst when Lance Armstrong's misdemeanours finally came to light, almost always let you down. Hodgson has the perfect right to look back fondly on the late Heath’s achievements (in classical music, competitive sailing and being an empathetic WWII veteran) while rumours and allegations of his hidden life as a sexual predator still rumble on.

With an array of vivid political characters portrayed by Hodgson within a script tighter than the SNP majority in North East Fife, the laughs are free flowing as he imagines the Labour party of the early 1970s like a West Side Story spoof, and delightfully conjures up the period’s power cuts in a single image. But the true story here is about the comic’s relationship with his Leave-voting mother, a living example of the division experienced in families and friendships across the land in 2016. But as proven by the Brexiteers’ campaign and the post-referendum fog we all live in, nothing is quite as it seems in ’75. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8.15pm, £8–£12 (£7–£11).

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ANDREA SPISTO: MISS VENEZUELA Boldly creating work while her country burns ●●●●● Clown comedy doesn’t always have a specific message or profound theme, but when it does, it can often become a powerful and unexpectedly moving experience. Andrea Spisto’s Miss Venezuela may be a mish-mash of character comedy, dance, absurd physical theatre and dynamic clowning, but it has a fundamental message at its heart, as Spisto tears apart her identity as a queer Venezuelan woman.

We meet her in preparation for the Miss Universe competition, as the pageant music plays on a loop with a pushy voiceover challenging her at every turn. She repeats the all-important walk over and over, with each iteration revealing that little bit more of her frustrations with the specific notion of womanhood and perfection projected by this element of pageantry. When she eventually snaps, kicking off her sparkly heels and trading her ball gown for a suit, there is a direct view into her resentment of beauty standards, machismo pride and the burdens of expectation.

The political situation in Venezuela remains problematic as a result of what is described as the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, with basic needs being affected and people suffering at the hands of politicians. So as one of the only Venezuelan performers at the Fringe this year, shouldn’t Spisto be engaging with the crisis in some capacity? And here lies her predicament: how can she present a ‘carnival of queerness’ with the situation back home constantly influencing her creative output?

But as she concludes with a dance number, it’s clear the answer to her dilemma lies in celebration and spiritual revolution. With a mood-board of her idols, heroes and inspirations perched behind her, Spisto provides a valuable reminder of the power of creativity when liberation is the goal. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Just the Tonic at The Mash House, until 26 Aug (not 13), 10.10pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.

PHOTO: MARK VESSEY

PHOTO: ELEANOR KELLY

WIL GREENWAY: EITHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING

ZOE LYONS: ENTRY LEVEL HUMAN

IVO GRAHAM: MOTION SICKNESS Eton chap on life’s inevitable trajectory ●●●●●

A delicate hour of intricate stories ●●●●●

Show abut whinging goes to another level ●●●●●

Making his debut in the Fringe programme’s Comedy section, Wil Greenway’s work remains a tricky beast to pin down. Not quite dramatic enough to sit neatly in Theatre, is it really funny enough to be considered in Comedy? Until they start a Whimsical Music & Storytelling Stuff section, this likeable Australian will continue to be awkward to accommodate during a month when everyone is hellbent on pigeonholing for reasons that are both cultural and practical.

Either Side of Everything is a delicate creature, a story with warm loveliness at its heart but with the odd rough edge applied to keep you from getting too cosy. Accompanied by two vocalists, one of them gently strumming a guitar, Greenway immediately conjures up the feeling that we’re in a boat on the sea, announcing that this is all just one big metaphor (the pedantic might say that if you have to tell people that you’ve created a metaphor then maybe it’s not doing such a great job).

Over the course of this fragile and beautiful but oddly forgettable hour, Greenway tells recurring mini-tales of a beetle heading home to his family, a woman grieving for her dog, and quite a lot of figs. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 13), 2.50pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

Zoe Lyons has reached the stage in her career where it’s not the promise of such-and-such a show that lures people in, they just want to hear her talk for an hour in her fast-paced, energetic and at-times misanthropic style. This year she turns her gaze to people who leave a lot to be desired in the brains and manners departments: ‘entry level humans’, she calls them. We’ve all encountered these types (and they seem particularly prevalent during the Fringe when every opponent of pavement etiquette seems to descend on the city) and we’ve all been them in our less clever or noble moments.

Lyons talks us through the indignities of internet connectivity problems, motivational phrases and holiday misadventures, mixing observations about the absurdities of the world around us with her own foibles, somehow working in an impression of a fly that is an unexpected highlight.

From a show that is mostly about whinging about the annoyances of other people, there emerges a deeper message: to think critically about the way we interact with the world and the choices we make even if it’s about something trivial. (Suzanne Black) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 5.45pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

Admitting that his comedy USP remains his status as a young Etonian of a surprisingly liberal-left persuasion, Ivo Graham’s life is slowly moving on. He’s gone and poached himself a lady, it seems, and they’re now engaged to be wed. Naturally, given his prowess with the opposite sex to date (he claims to have had just the one sexual partner during his 27 years on the planet), this impending scenario is the latest thing he can add to his worry list.

Ever the gentleman, Graham apologises for kicking off late, all of which was Nicholas Parsons’ fault, but given that he’s one of his heroes, there’s never any chance of him bad-mouthing the Fringe veteran.

Easily packing out the iconic Cabaret Bar, this is quite simply just another fine show from Graham, with deliciously crafted lines and funny imagery aplenty.

Though it perhaps doesn’t quite pack the hilarious punch of last year’s Educated Guess, the stories of being trapped at outdoor activity centre Go Ape, reminiscing about the woman eight years his senior to whom he lost his virginity, and the escalating Fawlty Towers-esque delirium of his attempts to propose are all worthy members of the Ivo Graham anecdote club.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6.40pm, £8.50–£12 (£7.50–£10).

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PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

JOHN PENDAL: WE ARE FAMILY

SINDHU VEE: SANDHOG

Uncovering excitingly dirty laundry ●●●●●

Trinket-laden assessment of the US ●●●●●

Tapping into our current obsession with family trees, John Pendal’s second solo Fringe show looks at his own lineage having finally found something to talk about with his ordinarily monosyllabic father. The comic’s preoccupation is that he’s the last of a long line of staunch Baptist Pendals, and that as a gay man who’s not planning on having any children, the name is likely to die with him.

There’s a universality to this story given that in every family there’s a couple of rogues, babies born outside of wedlock, and folk that travelled to far-flung lands.

Pendal is a charming and affable storyteller and the tale is constructed as smartly as his neatly clipped appearance. There are some nice contrasts to be enjoyed here too, with him having a buttoned-up religious upbringing before being crowned Mr Leather in 2003 (that was the last solo show’s story).

But the moment of friction that carries the tale forwards lies in his elderly father’s reluctance to accept Pendal’s marriage to a man. Old school, to say the least, his dad is a man who likes to leave newspaper clippings for people in odd places and is not used to being contradicted. A thoroughly enjoyable hour. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 5.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

When you’ve been married for over 20 years, says Sindhu Vee, you don’t have arguments anymore.

You have throwdowns. Her tips on staying happy involve destabilising her spouse in order to obtain more power and using lies strategically; it’s for the benefit of the couple in the long run, she insists.

Raised in India, educated at Oxford and now married to a Danish man, Vee (a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Comedy of the Week) comes across a bit like a Hindu Jo Caulfield, with plenty of bitchy and biting material about mothers-in-law, dull female pals and her own Mommie Dearest-style approach to parenting.

Although Sandhog covers a lot of similar ground to last year’s Iguana Mum – and seems to be pitched squarely at middle-aged couples in longterm relationships – Vee is careful to chuck in some sincere romance among the jaded rants about her husband’s hyper-rational personality, her fear of ‘new dick’, and expertly acted-out examples of the crushingly dull things they constantly fight about. Her impression of her long-distance phone calls to Delhi with her mum, a constant peddler of sensationalist fake news and giant superfan of any royal wedding, is a highlight. (Claire Sawers) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 4.30pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).(£8.50–£9.50).

LOLLY JONES: FIFTY SHADES OF MAY Political satire with spot-on impressions ●●●●● The titillating flyers for this show depict Lolly Jones in sexy black lingerie with Theresa May’s hair and demeanour. The show itself is a combination of audio clips of the Prime Minister and other political figures, to which Jones lip-syncs and dances, interspersed with pre-recorded footage of ‘Jacob Rees-Mogg’ issuing political diktats with sadomasochistic glee.

The uncanniness with which Jones takes on the attitudes of May, Margaret Thatcher and Nicola Sturgeon combined with her burlesque-style stripteases and other dance breaks is disconcerting: she really does capture the physicality of each one. The coordination of a dizzying number of sound cues, costume changes and choreography in this provocative political satire is astounding, but what is even more so is the way that Jones, by presenting May as a figure of constant scrutiny, manages to make her appear more vulnerable.

Is the show a savage indictment of the way in which female politicians are judged more for their looks and clothing choices than their political records? Or is it a bit of saucy schoolboy entertainment for middle-aged men who get a thrill from thinking about the PM in her knickers? A bit of both. (Suzanne Black) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 14), 8.15pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

PHOTO: PATRICK DENTERS

FIN TAYLOR: WHEN HARASSY MET SALLY Contentious statements and caustic arguments delivered with a wink ●●●●● If you need someone to give a weighty and delicate subject a little prod, Fin Taylor is your man. It’s easy to imagine him being unable to walk past a hornets’ nest without giving it a welly, revelling in the chaos and irritation that ensues. In consistently acclaimed Fringe hours, he has pondered the state of racial privilege and last year he tore into lazy liberal values.

For this year’s hour, he’s dipping an unsightly toe into the caustic waters of the modern gender wars, which have gone nuclear ever since the Harvey Weinstein revelations ushered in #MeToo and a raft of horrible stories and volley of accusations. From Taylor’s perspective in When Harassy Met Sally, there are clear shades and nuances to the behaviour of those men who have been outed as abusers, with Aziz Ansari’s ‘bad date’ tale one that should never have been equated with the serial assaults perpetrated by the Miramax monster. Perhaps more controversially, he shrugs a disdainful shoulder at the Louis CK scandal when he perceives a level of distorted chivalry at play in the comic’s actions.

Admitting from the top that there will be something to annoy someone in almost everything he will say during the hour, he sits down to make his most poisonous comments, because things never sound quite as bad when pronounced from a chair. His pause, glance and guilty giggle that arrives after opening up yet another wound might give away his true motives, and he generally will dole out his most contentious statements closely after siding with those who have been hurt at source.

The joy of a Fin Taylor show, whether you agree with even very much of what he’s saying on stage, is that his analyses and arguments are rarely hack, and come from a place of considered argument where the grey areas are king. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 15), 9.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

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GRANT BUSE: THE BIRDS AND THE BEATS An energetic and often educational musical comedy hour ●●●●● Grant Busé’s day job is something of a gift for a comedian looking for material: he teaches sex education and music to kids on the autism spectrum. So he’s definitely not shy about breaking it down about beating off, baby making, butt sex and BDSM. He’s also able to put it skilfully to music, and works his way through beatboxing, acoustic ballads and audience singalongs with help from loop pedals, improvised rhyming and the occasional man-scream.

The neurodiverse angle would be a refreshing and underdone one, so it’s quite disappointing that it doesn’t seem to get enough airtime. Instead he skips past that early on and focuses on the Truth or Dare style of teenage overshares, inviting the crowd in his Gilded Balloon basement, or ‘castle sex dungeon’, to ask him for no-holds-barred details on his own sex life, flicking his shoulder length, blonde curly hair, and very casually mentioning that he’s totally STI free with good stamina, and no stranger to heartbreak.

There are moments like the call and response bits of ‘penis!’ ‘vagina!’ that get pretty cringey, and are probably in there to keep the late-night crowds giggling into their pints, but there’s also stuff about animal and insect mating rituals, natural aphrodisiacs and Catholic guilt to keep things more interesting.

There’s a safe sex and consent message woven in among his facts and cabaret songs, making for an educational, daft hour that invites the crowd to shout out their secrets while he bounds about the stage like an energetic, uninhibited, one-man Australian version of Flight of the Conchords playing Spin the Bottle in a student flat. (Claire Sawers) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 8, 15), 11.45pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

JEN BRISTER: MEANINGLESS Family and toxicity blend in a show that’s far from a let-down ●●●●● Now that LGBT+ performers are thankfully much more visible on the comedy circuit, it would be passé for Jen Brister to discuss her coming out or relationship status. Plus she’s gone into detail on that in past Fringe shows. This year, she’s talking about a fractious relationship with her Spanish mum, who’s been living with Jen, her girlfriend and their twin boys for a lot longer than anyone planned.

Her stories about raising two IVF babies (there’s a bio and a non-bio parent, she explains, a bit like washing powder) are like a London lesbian version of TV show The Letdown, where real talk replaces smug gushing about the miracle of motherhood. She also gets confessional about peri-menopausal rage, and her bursts of pure unleashed, cathartic fury are pretty amazing to watch; particularly when she imagines directing them at the kind of toxic men who wind her up so much.

The patriarchy gets a good, hard shoeing, as does period poverty, austerity and the gender pay gap. Her accents are particularly special, and although she still deals in some gender stereotypes of her own, Brister finds an entertaining way to talk about the trickier sides of family, love and sexism. (Claire Sawers) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug (not 15), 1.45pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

QUEEN CUNT: SACRED OR PROFANE?

ROB AUTON: THE TALK SHOW A warm and frequently funny hour ●●●●●

An aimless mess about important stuff ●●●●● Queen Cunt is a sketch show combining comedy, drag, song and ‘the grotesque’. A series of scenes play out before a cloth backdrop built to resemble a vagina, and costume changes are filled by projected video clips in which a clitoris addresses the audience.

So far, so Fringe.

The show purports to explore issues of consent and sexual assault while challenging the patriarchy; all important subjects which need to be addressed, but not like this. Two men’s rights activists insult womankind and are unable to bring themselves to say the word ‘feminist’ out loud (an exasperated audience member shouts it out after an interminable wait, just to move things along). And two old ladies recreate a porno scene after dragging onstage two members of the crowd who then stand around aimlessly.

Even though one of the two volunteers has spent the entire show drunkenly shouting out pissed-up, insulting nonsense at the performers, his stage-based humiliation still seems like steep penance. It would usually be safe to bet that this is the only show in which a topless performer lactates over the crowd but, well, this is the Fringe. (Murray Robertson) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 11.45pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Following on from shows about the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep and hair, Rob Auton’s latest hour explores the forgotten art of talking. On this, the opening night of his Edinburgh run, he shoots the breeze with audience members, introducing strangers to each other and reacting with childlike wonder upon discovering two separate groups are from the area surrounding Stoke on Trent. His affable disposition and charisma mean he could pull this off for longer than five minutes, but his plans for The Talk Show are greater.

This is an absorbing hour that sits somewhere between comedy and spoken word. Auton has many strings to his bow as a performer; his voice soothes, his writing is both eloquent and uniquely strange, he can pull off puns and one-liners, but also delivers a poignant piece of short fiction about selling a house on planet earth to aliens. He imagines his parents' first date and it's both touching and bizarre.

Despite the philosophical tangents, The Talk Show is still, at its heart, a comedy. A routine that considers what leaves might say (if only they could talk), triggers a prolonged period of laughter, and there are frequent moments of that kind in this warmest of shows.

(Craig Angus) ■ Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6.10pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

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Reviews at a Glance | FESTIVAL COMEDY

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REVIEWS AT A GLANCE For full length versions of these reviews, see list.co.uk/festival

ALEX KEALY: A KEALY’S HEEL ●●●●● The liberal-left Remainer (you may have spotted a couple of those at this year’s Fringe), gives both barrels to Woody Allen, talks a lot about his current relationship, and is a little sad that his parents are not supportive of his career choice, albeit that they’re coming from very different angles of disapproval. Once the tweaks are ironed out, Kealy should be a sight to behold. (Brian Donaldson) Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, until 26 Aug, 5.15pm, donations.

ASHLEY STORRIE: ADULTING ●●●●● Storrie’s compere skills are well-known on the comedy circuit, as are her viral videos which have stacked up millions of views over time. But in her brand-new show, the stand-up takes centre stage as she reveals some hard truths about growing up when everyone still views you in some capacity as a child. Cheeky banter and regionspecific jokes are appreciated, but it’s not only the Scots in the room that get on board. (Arusa Qureshi) Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, until 26 Aug, 8pm, donations.

BREAD AND GELLER: PRIME TIME ●●●●● Ellie Ross and Andrew Bloomer have a great chemistry and instinctive quality, with their tight performance skills very much on display in the mafia scene where boss, doomed colleague, henchmen and daughter are all played by the duo. A few sketches aren’t quite as strong as others but nevertheless Bread and Geller are well worth an hour of your time. (Marissa

Burgess) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 12.10pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

CATHERINE BOHART: IMMACULATE ●●●●● It’s little surprise to learn that Bohart has the perfectionist form of OCD, as her show oozes meticulous organisation.

Immaculate ticks all the boxes of a Fringe debut: confident demeanour, a strong theme, quickfire gags and the ability to make you well up a bit.

Her lines are well-honed yet there’s a supremely natural quality about her delivery. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 14), 4.15pm, £8–£10.50 (£7–£9.50).

CHARLIE PARTRIDGE: I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD. BY COMPARISON. ●●●●● Partridge opens his show with a sustained faux-German accent, live beatboxing, and loop machine tricks from audio equipment laid out on a deconstructed ironing board. Eventually he drops the façade and embarks on a tale of unrequited love, a history of awful jobs and taking DMT in a fake ashram in San Francisco. Partridge is likeable, and at times warm and earnest, but his stand-up lacks pace and laugh-outloud moments. (Kenza Marland) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 4.50pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

CHRIS MCCAUSLAND: SPEAKY BLINDER ●●●●● As a blind comedian, McCausland is even more reliant than his peers on the laughter of an audience to sustain him. His retelling of a happy marriage to a hot-blooded Brazilian psychologist is peppered with hilariously caustic asides as he envisages using sex in PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

Ashley Storrie

order to better manage the utility usage in his household. A moving but never manipulative story with gags aplenty (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6.35pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10).

DANIEL MUGGLETON: MOUTH BREATHER ●●●●● This Australian stand-up’s material ranges from the everyday (arguments with his girlfriend) to the controversial (whether parents should smack their children) with a confident delivery and a sense of ease with the audience. After a final segment detailing an episode with his girlfriend, the jury is still out on whether Muggleton’s angle of trying to straddle the line of offensiveness is a winner.

(Suzanne Black) Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, until 26 Aug, 4pm, donations.

DAVID EPHGRAVE: MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL ●●●●● No matter how hard Ephgrave tries in spiking some energy into the room or putting smiles on our faces, he seems too haunted by his past to plough forwards in comedy with any great conviction.

There are serious issues at play here, with his mental health history pored over, but while his songs are good (if not especially funny), the humour doesn’t land often enough. (Brian Donaldson) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), noon, £5 (£4).

DOUGLAS WALKER PRESENTS: OF CHRISTMAS PAST ●●●●● With previous Fringe shows, Walker (also a member of the Racing Minds improv gang) has shown off a desire for recalibrating the stand-up / sketch comedy form. Here he is content to simply conjure up a yuletide yarn which may be wild-eyed fantasy, but sticks rigidly to its own rules of engagement and offers up a delightful late-night treat. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 14), 10.50pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

EGG: RICHARD PICTURES ●●●●● TV would probably benefit plenty from the strange, feminist sketch comedy and rubbery-faced characters brought to life by Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini, aka the comedy duo, Egg. A few accents could use some work but watching Egg cavort around proves that it really does take two to tango. When it comes to getting a break, Egg are asking for it. (Claire Sawers) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £7–£10 (£6.50–£9).

ELI MATTHEWSON: THE YEAR OF MAGICAL FUCKING ●●●●● Matthewson is back at the Fringe with a solo show about gay love, Grindr hook-ups and bullshit jock culture. His bratty, sex positive and smugly fabulous

patter is good fun and served with plenty double entendres alongside the occasional clearly very rehearsed, and great, Shania Twain impression. The delivery is confident although the ending fizzles out in a slightly anti-climactic way. (Claire Sawers) Underbelly George Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), 9.20pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

HELGI STEINAR: COLD AS ICELANDIC ●●●●● A big advocate of thinking for yourself, this Icelandic’s outsider perspective makes for plenty of out-of-the-box ideas as he offers his views on marriage (including a great analogy for giving away the bride) and an interesting and possibly workable idea for world peace. This short show feels like Steinar is just dipping his toe into the Fringe, but it would be great to see him try a full hour. (Marissa Burgess) Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 2.10pm, donations.

HOLLY MORGAN: MADONNA OR WHORE? ●●●●● This is a musical retelling of history based on Freud’s Madonna-whore complex, which has been interpreted in contemporary culture to describe men only being able to view women as either virtuous, virginal saints or debased, sexual beings. Ably acted, beautifully sung, funny and poignant in equal measure, there are so many little touches that make this ambitious, whirlwind herstory a success. (Suzanne Black) Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 14), 7.35pm, £10–£12.

ISMO LEIKOLA: WORDS APART ●●●●● Finnish stand-up Leikola takes his deconstruction of the English language to a depth not often seen outside of a linguistics seminar. Despite pushing 40, there’s an endearing childlike quality to Leikola’s observations. Standing very much on the outside, he ponders the mysteries of language and life, filtering his observations through his somewhat absurdist yet essentially logical worldview. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.20pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

JACOB HAWLEY: HOWL ●●●●● Hawley brings us a very memorable, confident voice, full of white guilt, working-class self-awareness, smart views on the oxymoron of ‘lad culture’, and some good old-fashioned punchlines too. A down-to-earth talent who’s got it in spades, it’s an impressive, strong debut show that makes it feel like he’s already been doing this for years. (Claire Sawers) Just the Tonic at The Mash House, until 26 Aug (not 13), 3.40pm, £5–£6 (£4) in advance or donations at the venue.

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews at a Glance story of misadventures at a graduation ceremony, which has some genuine laughs. Perhaps it won’t be the most structured or jam-packed comedy hour you’ll see this year, but it’ll reassure you that Jupitus is still worth his salt. (Katie Flannery) The Stand 3, until 26 Aug (not 13), 4.30pm, £12 (£11).

Steen Raskopoulos

JAKE HOWIE: READ MY LIPS ●●●●● Howie seems like a sweetheart and claims his show is meant to bring a more human, real alternative to the usual gay stereotypes.

But his unfunny gags about rim jobs, blowjobs, bum waxing and cum faces is probably not going to blaze any new trails. (Claire Sawers) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 9.30pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

JAKE LAMBERT: LITTLE LOST LAD ●●●●● Possessing a blend of Tom Lucy’s motormouth youthfulness with Jon Richardson’s older-than-hisyears compulsive pedantry, Lambert might have some distance to go to carve out an authoritative and singular stage presence, but there are enough sparks to suggest a future in the crowdpleasing game. Among Lambert’s gambits are musings on the fact that he lives on his own and positively loves it, and that time he went on a speed awareness course. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

JULIA SUTHERLAND: EXPOSED ●●●●● Having interviewed many a comedian for radio, Sutherland is putting herself in the spotlight for a change. Slapping a series of questions in the hands of a willing front-row member and then being interrogated by a familiar face on-screen, her aim is to expose the real Julia. Sutherland is never shy of taking herself down a peg or two, with self-deprecating remarks about her wardrobe and musical abilities. (Brian Donaldson) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 1.30pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

LIAM WITHNAIL: HOMEBOY ●●●●● Withnail considers how straight-forward he’s had it up until now, both personally and professionally, by dint of his sexuality and skin colour.

Such introspection becomes him: his reflections on why people don’t read books written by women, or why female comics don’t book as many gigs as their male counterparts never seem selfcongratulatory, as he also riffs on his own ignorance and deepest anxieties about

how equality may diminish his creature comforts. (Deborah Chu) Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug (not 14), 5pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

LUCA CUPANI: GOD DIGGER ●●●●● Cupani has such an infectious smile that it’s difficult not to get swept up in his comedy. He covers fairly conventional subjects like his relationship with his parents, and proposing to his girlfriend from the perspective of how Catholic faith intersects with his life. This fresh take on well-trodden topics serves him well, but a lack of overall structure and a flagging final 20 minutes let him down. (Suzanne Black) Underbelly George Square, until 27 Aug, 5.20pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

MATT REES: HAPPY HOUR ●●●●● For a show about struggling to deal with drug dependency, a lot of time is spent recollecting the awkward encounters he’s had with canines. And whenever it looks like he’s getting deep into the heart of the matter, he diverges all too easily into meandering sections about a nostalgic obsession with the mashed potato-loving kids’ TV show Bodger & Badger, and the time he attempted to entertain the troops, with disastrous consequences. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 4.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9.50).

MYRA DUBOIS: WE WISH YOU A MYRA CHRISTMAS ●●●●● Following a stint on tour with Drag Race winner and comedy queen Bianca del Rio, Dubois brings her razor-sharp putdowns back to the Fringe for an hour of raucous fun, but this time with a festive theme in tow. There are tales of Christmases past and the complexities of LGBT acronyms to an audiencewide rendition of a beautifully scatty ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. (Arusa Qureshi) Underbelly George Square, until 26 Aug (not 18), 4pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

PHILL JUPITUS: SASSY KNACK ●●●●● Although starting off slow with a visibly fatigued Jupitus strumming in a rambling singalong about the pointless phenomenon that is a Porsche 4x4, he then segues into a light-hearted

RICHARD TODD: WE NEED THE EGGS ●●●●● Cribbed from a line in Annie Hall, the title expresses the notion that you need to follow your crazy ideas in life regardless of whether they end in failure. Having had a bad year, Todd had to convince himself to carry on with comedy despite feeling like a failure. Of course, the irony here is that Todd is far from that. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 15), 10.45pm, £8–£9.50 (£7–£8.50).

ROSIE JONES: FIFTEEN MINUTES ●●●●● Jones is all about subverting expectations. Framing the show around how cerebral palsy has made her the woman she is, she makes expectations her theme, musing on how her life would differ had she been able-bodied.

From her slighter, free show last year, she has honed and expanded her repertoire to a fully formed and wickedly funny hour. (Suzanne Black) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

ROSS SMITH: I AM ROSS SMITH ●●●●● While at a terrible party, Smith got a Facebook message from someone he didn’t know offering him a plane ticket to Hamburg in his name because their mate and his namesake couldn’t make it. For a comedian, this is a gift: heading off on a weekend away with complete strangers is pretty much a readymade Edinburgh solo show, and this is assured stuff. (Marissa Burgess) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug (not 13), 12.40pm, £5 (£3) in advance or donations at the venue.

SARAH KEYWORTH: DARK HORSE ●●●●● Keyworth has a subtle, slightly sinister stage persona, which only serves to emphasise the wildly funny material.

As liberal as her outlook obviously is, there’s a frankness in Keyworth’s willingness to disclose her own prejudice and lack of open mind, unsure as she is of polygamy and scared of Rocky Horror transvestites. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 5.30pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

SHHH: AN IMPROVISED SILENT MOVIE ●●●●● Italian troupe i Bugiardini create their whole performance based on one single suggestion, with a small variable added to the mix later on. Not only that but, after asking for a show theme based on an occupation, the performers dismiss the first suggestion out of hand. It’s an inauspicious start.

When the action very occasionally livens up it injects some excitement into the room but that seldom happens. (Murray Robertson) C, until 18 Aug, 4.20pm, £9.50–£11.50 (£5.50–£9.50).

SIAN DOCKSEY: INTERDEPENDENT WOMAN ●●●●● Docksey presents a onewoman odyssey of stand-up, skits and songs anchored by the premise that she told her mum she was a successful cruise-ship comedian and now has to prove it. If stars were awarded on effort alone then Docksey would be rolling in them but unfortunately very little of her carefully crafted material survives the leap from idea to execution. (Suzanne Black) Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.15pm, donations.

STEEN RASKOPOULOS: STAY ●●●●● This latest mash-up of character comedy and audience participation loosely follows the storyline of an interrogation. The Australian shrugs a vast cast of characters on and off with absolute ease and total commitment. Some are related to the central plot, like prisoners or a psychiatrist, others are familiar, including young Timmy, making the best of life’s disappointments, and some are completely leftfield, including a phoenix in a burns unit. (Rowena McIntosh) Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–£11.50).

SUZI RUFFELL: NOCTURNAL ●●●●● What’s keeping Ruffell ‘nocturnal’ is worry. Specifically that 3am ‘press conference’ when all her concerns congregate to compete to be the biggest anxiety, all the way from North Korea’s nuclear arsenal to the state of Britney Spears’ mental health.

One thing Ruffell shouldn’t need to worry about is her reviews as she just seems to get better and better year on year. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 9.45pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

TAMSYN KELLY: YOU’RE WELCOME ●●●●● Taking to the stage as a cockney man, Cornish comedian Kelly presents the first of multiple personae. Later on there are moments of faltering audience interaction including a date scene which provides the evening’s biggest laugh, although sadly that comes courtesy of a comment from the crowd.

(Murray Robertson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 15), 9.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

TOM LUCY: RELUCTANT MILLENNIAL ●●●●● The talented 22-year-old’s latest Fringe hour about his generation’s shortcomings is sabotaged from the word go, taking on a new form: Tom Lucy versus the Hen Party. He does manage to get some jokes in, dry observational stuff about dating apps, the vanity of those would-be video journalists who love just to juice, and binge drinking (how fitting), but review-night is not his night. (Craig Angus) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

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L-E-V DANCE COMPANY Choreographer Sharon Eyal brings two high-energy works to the festival When Israeli dance company L-E-V brings its two companion pieces to the Edinburgh International Festival this month, there’ll be a lot of love in the room – but also a lot of speed.

Linked under the heading ‘Love Cycle’, OCD Love and Love Chapter 2 will be performed with choreographer Sharon Eyal’s trademark fast-paced twitches, jerks, thrusts and general compelling brilliance. But working her dancers hard for the full duration of the show is more of a by-product than a quest.

‘I’m not intentionally thinking how hard can I make this? That’s really not interesting to me,’ says Eyal, who creates the shows with her long-time partner on stage and off, Gai Behar. ‘I’m interested in going through extreme experiences, and creating something very, very strong physically that goes into an emotional state.

‘So I’m not deliberately trying to create a full evening without stopping, that just happens because it’s the life of the piece, it’s about the dancers experiencing something very deep.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ OCD Love, King’s Theatre, 9, 11 Aug, 8pm; Love Chapter 2, King’s Theatre, 10, 12 Aug, 8pm, £14–£32.

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Hitlist PHOTO: ANDREJ USPENSK

DANCE HITLIST Kelly Apter picks out the dance highlights from week two of the Fringe

Theatre, 9, 11 Aug, 8pm; Love Chapter 2, King’s Theatre, 10, 12 Aug, 8pm, £14–£32.

WAYNE MCGREGOR COMPANY: AUTOBIOGRAPHY Wayne McGregor had his entire genome sequenced in preparation for this show. The results dictate the running order, so a different show is performed each night – which one will you get? See feature at list.co.uk/ festival Festival Theatre, 11–13 Aug, 7.30pm, £14–£35.

MY LAND The performers in Budapest-based company Recirquel weave their phenomenal acrobatic skill into a truly theatrical experience in this show inspired by Ukrainian myths and legends. See feature at list.co.uk/ festival Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 8.10pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

THE ARTIST Surrounded by canvases, pots and paints, an artist (aka clown extraordinaire Thom Monckton) attempts to paint a masterpiece, but everything keeps going wrong, in this clever, hilarious show. See review, page 69. Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 14), 4.20pm, £12 (£10).

BACKUP Brussels-based company Chaliwaté use puppets, live video feeds and deadpan clowning to tell the story of a film crew’s road trip to the North Pole in what our critic called ‘a wee gem of a show’. See review, page 69.

Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 10.50am, £9 (£7).

L-E-V DANCE COMPANY Two complementary, yet standalone, works from Israeli creative duo Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar. Prepare to be exhausted just watching this talented company of dancers perform. See preview, page 67. OCD Love, King’s

SEDIMENT Former Circa and Casus member David Carberry co-stars with Alice Muntz in this engaging and clever twohander subtly inspired by Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. See review, page 70. Assembly Roxy, until Aug 27 (not 8, 13, 20), 1.40pm, £13 (£11).

Autobiography

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Reviews | FESTIVAL DANCE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: DAVID KREBS

PHOTO: ANTTI SAUKKO

THE ARTIST

THE SPINNERS

ÉOWYN EMERALD & DANCERS

A hapless painter isn’t as clumsy as he seems in this charmingly irreverent comedy ●●●●●

Fierce, fun take on Greek mythology ●●●●●

Short works from an evolving company ●●●●●

There’s nothing like a trio of kick-ass goddesses to get your adrenaline going. The motive for this impressive, wordless physical theatre collaboration between Australian dancer-choreographer Lina Limosani and Scottish director Al Seed is a re-examination of the Moirai, or Fates, of Greek mythology whose shared task is to preside over the destiny of humankind.

Embodied with a fabulously fierce, seemingly telepathic focus by Limosani, Tara Jade Samaya and Kialea-Nadine Williams, these apocalyptic warriorwitches treat their responsibilities with poker-faced dedication. They’re a wonder to behold too, even if the entire premise is faintly preposterous.

But what holds the attention tight and fast is the collective drive of those fully inhabited performances, the visceral pull of the show’s kinetic content, the spare yet bold designs and the staging.

The trio’s buggy, totemic body configurations are striking. Ditto their play with knitting needles and thread. All of the mightily active tableaux might diminish a little in memory, but while it’s happening it’s a concentrated wild ride with a charged sense of mystery at the core. (Donald Hutera) ■ Dance Base, until 19 Aug (not 13), 4.45pm, £13 (£11).

Since her successful run at the Fringe in 2016, Éowyn Emerald has made some changes. She’s relocated to Aberdeen, and for this latest programme of eight short works, has taken on new dancers.

They’re engaging to watch, and the works varies enough to hold interest, but the choreography seems underdeveloped, and the execution uneven.

There’s a lot of wobbling, and the floor work feels heavy and noisy, which doesn’t seem to fit with the contemporary / modern aesthetic of Emerald’s choreography.

There are also some baffling and incongruous choices, such as a deliberate sudden drop from a lift, and a phrase featuring a slow back-bend which looks horribly foreshortened because of the stage positioning.

Subtler ideas appear from time to time, like when two dancers touch with scissoring fingers, or a lovely swimming gesture which seems to carry an emotional weight of its own. These are promising moments – delving deeper into fewer pieces might have borne more fruit. Nevertheless, the dancers are fully invested in the work and each other, which carries the hour. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Greenside @ Royal Terrace, until 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 1.50pm, £12 (£10).

Upstairs at Assembly Roxy, a painter is searching for inspiration. His studio’s a mess, with shabby curtains, dying houseplants, and a drip from the roof that’s driving him crazy. With Circo Aereo, and directed by Sanna Silvennoinen, Thom Monckton has created an imaginative hour of gasps and giggles.

A clumsy, loveable chap in spectacles, he struggles to put a frame together, then staples his sock to it.

Monckton is an accomplished clown, joyous to watch as he flops around bored, making up silly dances, but the slips and stumbles belie his skill as an acrobat.

He has you on the edge of your seat as he finds ten ways to climb a ladder (none of them safe, all of them jaw-dropping) to reach a jar of paintbrushes.

Easily distracted, he plays with the still-life fruit, drinks the wine, then takes a banana to a nightclub.

Finally he invites an audience member onstage to paint his portrait, with hilarious consequences. The ending had a sense of innocent magic, as his entire studio became a playful work of art.

Acrobatics, silliness and great set pieces follow one after the other, and this endearing show will please audiences of all ages. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 14), 4.20pm, £12 (£10).

PHOTO: ALICE PIEMME

BACKUP Snowflakes, puppets and skiing clowns make up this sweet piece of theatre ●●●●● This is a wee gem of a show and a great start to the day. The Chaliwaté company from Brussels brings a concentrated cast of three, who use puppets, live video feeds and deadpan clowning in ski wear to tell the story of a film crew’s road trip to the North Pole.

With an electric fan creating a lo-fi blizzard, props appear on the soles of giant puffy snow boots, tiny model cars zigzag over the legs of a white pair of ski salopettes, and a tiny winter landscape with miniature lights and trees is seen from a distance, almost like an enchanted model train set.

As if watching a film, the simple set manages to create the impression of zooming in, panning round and changing angles, just by shifting the props and fiddling with the volume, as the trio (Julie Trent, Sicaire Durieux and Sandrine Heyraud) travel through a snowstorm in an old beat-up van.

Watching the three try and clumsily pour hot tea from a flask, light a cigarette to smoke out the window and also keep a hand on the wheel is a gorgeously synchronised piece of toned-down, gentle slapstick – not too twee and just quirky enough, like a child-friendly, snowy take on The Life Aquatic (it's recommended for 8 years and up.)

When the reporters make it to the icecap, there’s a giant polar bear waiting, and an unexpectedly touching story quickly unfurls, through only a few wordless gestures and puppets. Fluffy earmuffs, vintage sunglasses and a nicely picked soundtrack only add to the charms of this piece of physical theatre. Short and very sweet. (Claire Sawers) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 10.50am, £9 (£7).

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Reviews

SEDIMENT Exceptional and absorbing circus two-hander ●●●●● Performer David Carberry, whose credits include Circa and Casus, has cooked up and directed (with Chelsea McGuffin) this exceptionally engaging, absorbing and thematically elusive work.

Inspiration comes from classic literature, but whether or not you’re familiar with Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground doesn’t matter. What counts is how well the small creative team, including fellow cast member Alice Muntz, have used that source material as a springboard.

This is circus based on character traits almost as much as crowd-wowing skills. Carberry, handsome and limber, is an inarticulate and hyper-sensitive male. Muntz – rather unattainable, somewhat manipulative, incredibly lithe – is the woman in his orbit.

Or vice-versa. The nimble pair meet, with him trying to infiltrate her hula hoop. Later she tries to speak but he, irritatingly, keeps interrupting her physically. They’re like each other’s obstacles. The tensions between them outweigh accord, and yet they can’t keep long apart. And their mutual sense of trust is quietly thrilling. He loops her round and round his body, and there’s a lovely sequence with them both balanced on their feet atop glass bottles. Another, darkly witty bit has Muntz seeking help after secreting herself inside a coffin-like box, like a woman ready to be sliced in half.

Carberry slips some quotes from Dostoyevsky into the mix, while both he and Muntz dabble at playing instruments without making a big deal of it. They also take physical risks. When Carberry flips backwards onto a trapeze, ending up hooked by his ankles, some members of the audience gasp. The show as a whole wears its intellectual pretensions lightly, which is likewise how the two performers deploy their talent. They make what they do matter. To quote the woman sitting next to me after it ended, ‘I don’t know what that was, but it was great.’ (Donald Hutera) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 1.40pm, £13 (£11).

PHOTO: DECLAN ENGLISH

BREAK FREE

GISELLE

WRoNGHEADED

Champion Tokyo breakdancers showcase their skills ●●●●●

Classical ballet gets modern makeover ●●●●●

Poignant piece on women’s rights ●●●●●

Full-length classical ballets are hardly common on the Fringe, which lends Ballet Ireland’s update of this Gothic lynchpin of the Romantic era an immediate novelty factor.

Choreographed by former Royal Ballet dancer Ludovic Ondiviela, it’s a sleek little touring production even if some of the dramaturgy is questionable. The opening is neat yet weak, with our titular heroine (played by Ana Enriquez-Gonzalez, a fine dancer as well as a convincing corpse) blithely taken for a ride

by Mario Gaglione’s two-timing Albrecht. Spoiler alert: Giselle kicks the bucket, but whether it’s because the poor girl’s ticker gave out (as tradition has it) or due to being knifed by her sweetie’s snooty fiancée Bathilde (Ryoko Yagyu, excellent) is a moot point.

The show slips into act two’s realm of the dead via, we kid you not, a police procedural. More surprising, in the #MeToo era, is to not have the man bear as much of the blame for Giselle’s tragic early death as in the source work. Hilarion (Rodolfo Saralva), too, is treated with considerable sympathy. If the performance overall carries little emotional heft, those who rise from their grave – and that’s nearly the entire cast of ten – are effectively creepy. (Donald Hutera) ■ Dance Base, until 19 Aug (not 13), 8.45pm, £13 (£11).

Acclaimed Irish choreographer Liz Roache premiered WRoNGHEADED in 2016, and following Ireland’s historic vote to repeal the 8th amendment, the work has only gained in resonance.

Stephen Dodd’s lighting creates a claustrophobic twilight world, where two women struggle, stare, and wait. Their bodies are pictures of stifled anxiety, legs crossing and uncrossing, sometimes splayed wide, thrusting, remembering.

Mary Wycherley’s prize-winning short film is projected onto the floor of the space, creating an illusion of shifting ground. Elaine Feeney’s fierce poetry overlays to create an urgent accompaniment.

It’s a vivid stream of consciousness which evokes the repression and helplessness experienced by women seeking an abortion.

Sarah Cerneaux and Justine Cooper are sublime dancers. At times they drift like sleepwalkers, reaching into empty space, yet always executing steps with clarity and precision. The combined effect is intense without hectoring. The elements of WRoNGHEADED are perfectly balanced, and the piece ends as the women embrace, a poignantly humane image for this timely work. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Dance Base, until 19 Aug (not 13), 1.30pm, £11 (£9).

Six champion breakdancers, all with world titles, headspin, bodypop, windmill and do the worm in this afternoon dance show from Tokyo. The Wasabeats crew have been thrown in jail for breaking the ‘no dancing’ rule in this cop and robber tale, showcasing their impressive skills.

They pack a lot into an hour; crunchy robotics in time with a power drill, turning their bodies into a human Chesterfield chair, hopping on one hand like an upsidedown Air Jordan logo and pulling tightly choreographed shapes like the Asian Backstreet Boys on fast forward.

Their backflips and acrobatics are staggering, although their cartoon acting seems a bit pantomime and OTT sometimes; the storyline has no doubt been added to make it more family-friendly, but feels like gilding the lily when you have talents like these. (It’s advertised as suitable for five year plus, but there is the odd four-letter word in the soundtrack if that’s an issue.)

A dance battle in the middle gives each of the dancers their moment to shine, accompanied by beatboxing through a megaphone, and a live video feed of two dancing fingers in a tiny pair of hi-tops is a highlight. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), 4.35pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).

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FOUR GO WILD IN WELLIES Pleasing dance piece for under-fives plays with fun and friendship Oodles of fun and lashings of easily recognisable ideas ensure that Indepen-dance 4’s Four Go Wild in Wellies is an instant hit with its target audience of pre-schoolers.

Four tents at the back of a stage littered with fallen leaves, and a soundtrack of forest birds make for an autumnal setting as the audience take their seat. When the lights go down, and the tents start dancing to a simple melody, you know it’s going to get a little silly – and the giggles keep on coming.

The four dancers do eventually emerge, and spend plenty of time playing around with getting dressed before – at last – getting to the wellies and setting forth with some galumphing dance moves.

There’s a strong narrative in here too, however. One that cuts through the giggles when a game of statues gets out of hand and two of the dancers, Emma Smith and Julie Spence, take the huff with each other. Fortunately Adam Sloan and Blair Flucker are on hand to play their own games and entice them back into the fun.

Ultimately this is about the joy of exploring the world, celebrating life and getting on with those around you.

(Thom Dibdin) ■ Dance Base, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 2.10pm, £9 (£7) ●●●●●

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FESTIVAL KIDS | Hitlist

Kelly Apter picks out the highlights for children and families from week two of the Fringe BEOWULF The great Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf is given an intelligent makeover by Take Thou That, with a poignant added layer that might have you reaching for the tissues. See review, page 75. Underbelly Bristo Square, until 17 Aug, 11.40am, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

DICK AND DOM: DICK V DOM The children’s TV presenters prove they’ve still got it going on, perhaps even more so, in this dynamic and fun show where the audience is split in two. See review, page 75.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 12 Aug, 1pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50).

WILDE CREATURES Tall Stories, the team behind Fringe hits The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom presents its funny, moving and musical show inspired by Oscar Wilde’s tales. See review at list.co.uk/festival Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 9, 11,

PHOTO: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

KIDS HITLIST 13, 15, 17, 19, 21–23, 25), 2.50pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

JOHN HEGLEY: MORNING WORDSHIP What a way to start the day, spending a joyous 45 minutes with one of Britain’s finest performance poets, as he shares his unique brand of witty, wonderful nonsense. See review, page 76. Pleasance Courtyard, until 19 Aug (not 8, 13–15), 10.30am, £10 (£8).

STICK BY ME Armed with colourful sticky tape, hundreds of lolly sticks and his own unique capacity to entertain, Andy Manley takes us on a joyfully funny journey filled with friendship, caring, loss and healing. See review at list. co.uk/festival Dance Base, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 12.30pm, £9 (£7).

DENIM: THE DENIM JUNIORS Prepare to be dazzled at this drag show for young audience, with wall-to-wall glitz and a great central message about gender politics and inclusivity. See review, page 76. Assembly George Square Gardens, until 19 Aug (not 13), 4.35pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

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Reviews | FESTIVAL KIDS

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: MANUEL VASON

BEOWULF

DUCKIE

THE TIME MACHINE

Adventure and emotion go hand-in-hand in Take Thou That's retelling ●●●●●

Le Gateau Chocolat’s first foray into children's theatre ●●●●●

Puppetry and storytelling brings the first science fiction novel to life ●●●●●

The great Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf is given an intelligent makeover by Take Thou That, who create a play that echoes with adventure and derring-do – but which has a much deeper layer of meaning, too.

Finding a way into the 900-year-old text by way of 9-year-old Sophie (Eva O’Hara), whose mother is a world expert in Beowulf, is a nice touch. It immediately gives the language its own interest before all the exciting sword play.

The clever touch here, however, is that Sophie's mother has cancer. As she explains her illness, Sophie's imagination dreams up a live Beowulf (Charlie Layburn), whose fight to save King Hrothgar from the monster Grendel and his mother, she imagines is like the medical attempts to defeat her own mother's tumours.

While Sophie and her mum talk about the memories that they will not be able to share, the story in her imagination is given a bold physical telling by the eight-strong ensemble. There's plenty of clashing of staves, great warrior chants and the imaginative creation of monsters and settings of Beowulf's deeds as Sophie attempts – and fails – to bring reality under her control. (Thom Dibdin) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 17 Aug, 11.40am, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

The heart and soul are both there in Le Gateau Chocolat's updating of the story of the ugly duckling, told with a plummy voiceover moderated by the cabaret star's own impressive vocals and stage presence.

The telling, however, leaves a lot to be desired.

For all that the costume designs are both delightful and intrinsically clever, the production is let down by too many elements of its technical presentation, from lighting to blocking and direction.

In Le Gateau's world, his first created for a young audience, Duckie is not a mis-named swan, but a proper yellow chick who finds himself unwanted by his fellow circus ducklings because of his inability to quack.

So Duckie sets off to find an animal whose act he can join. Lions, flamingos, elephants and sea lions all reject him until a hen peacock looks to his future and a wee mouse gives him a few wise words.

Each animal has a song to sing, a subverted version of a pop hit, sung in that rich, resonating voice but moderated down for young ears. And while Duckie might not find a place to fit in, his experiences create an inclusive lesson of learning to be who you are. (Thom Dibdin) ■ Summerhall, until 12 Aug, 2pm, £12 (£10). (£6.50–£9).

This accessible retelling of HG Wells’ 1895 novel comes with a pedigree so strong, it would get Best in Show at Crufts. The entire team, from performers to director and dramaturgy, are all central arteries of the beating heart of Scottish children’s theatre (Andy Cannon, Shona Reppe, Rick Conte to name but three).

So it comes as no surprise to find that the storytelling is crystal clear. Wells’ narrative is not without its complexities, but the Scientific Romance Theatre Company, as this crew is named, know how to simplify a tale without dumbing down.

Set in the Victorian era, an ambitious scientist heads off into the future in his brand new invention. Finding himself in 802,701, he meets Weena, one of the passive Eloi people (a character ripe for puppetry if ever there was one) and a scary subterranean Morlock, who likes nothing better for lunch than an Eloi sandwich.

Despite the peril involved (the Time Traveller’s machine is stolen – will he make it back home?), there’s no real sense of danger portrayed here.

Which leaves the show enjoyable with the occasional laugh, but lacking adrenalin.

(Kelly Apter) ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, until 19 Aug (not 15), 2.30pm, £10 (£8).

DICK AND DOM Kids TV stars make entertaining Fringe debut ●●●●● 'Ant and Dec are like Waitrose, and we're Lidl,' say Dick and Dom with pride; although to extend the supermarket comparison further, if there's no Waitrose nearby then Lidl will do just fine. Or if Ant and Dec are indisposed and off our television screens for well-documented reasons, then commissioners looking for another much-loved pair of sometime kids’ show presenters to make the step up to family work could do worse than Dick and Dom. The pair – Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood – are best known as the hosts of BBC children’s television show Dick and Dom in da Bungalow between 2002 and 2006, and although their star has fallen somewhat since then, the fact this is their first appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe still comes as a surprise.

With the large McEwan Hall nearly full just after lunchtime, their gameshow Dick v Dom is a perfect fit for the festival, an audience participation game in which the crowd is split in half and made to contest for each performer. It’s the kind of show which is aimed squarely at children, yet skilfully draws on elements of music hall performance, gleeful local radio presentation and postmodern turn-of-the-millennium kids’ television, for those who like to spot such influences.

McCourt and Wood are skilled and clever hosts whose preparation and fluency with one another is a rare thing, even when they’re orchestrating a pie fight, entreating a pair of dads to drink a baked bean smoothie or asking a couple of mums to literally punch their way out of paper bags. At one point the audience is asked, ‘are there any grubby students in who don't have kids but just bought tickets to relive their childhood?’ The number of hands raised in the air suggests an older audience is willing the pair on to make a crossover. (David Pollock) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 12 Aug, 1pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50–£13.50).

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FESTIVAL KIDS | Reviews

JOHN HEGLEY: MORNING WORDSHIP Cross-generational guffaws with the performance poet ●●●●● In an ideal world, John Hegley would be mass-produced and sold in the shops. Not his books, they're already out there, but the man himself. Family life would be a lot easier if you could just open the cupboard and pull out your Hegley every time things got fractious, heated or miserable. He'd calm people down, cheer everyone up and distract you long enough to forget what you were bothered about.

The performance poet has spent so many years handling beered-up punters in comedy clubs and children in schools, that he knows how to deal with just about anyone. And for 'deal with' read 'make laugh', because one of the joys of sitting in a Hegley show for families, is watching his cross-generational appeal in action. Whether it's at his ludicrous drawings, silly join-in songs, or clever and unexpectedly structured poems, he hits the spot with all ages and brings in the laughs. The odd hilarious comment in Morning Wordship is thrown specifically at the adults, but precious few – Hegley knows his audience and pitches it perfectly so no-one feels excluded.

Starting with a picture painted by his father in France years ago, he works his way through a series of photographs and sketches, peppering the act with key words and phrases that the audience has to respond to at each hearing. We get them right eventually.

You get a sense that this show has been cut and paste from various past sources: Hegley's popular children's picture book, Stanley's Stick; school visits, and previous theatre shows. But it all hangs together well, albeit a little tenuously (not that we care), via the series of slides he clicks through at pace.

If you're a fan of Hegley, you'll already know what to expect. If not, his droll, dead pan yet utterly charming manner is the ideal antidote to the in-your-face exuberance overload at the Fringe. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 19 Aug (not 8, 13, 15), 10.30am, £10 (£8).

CHARLIE BAKER PRESENTS: THE GREATEST GOAT OF ALL TIME

DENIM: THE DENIM JUNIORS

THE DRAGON AND THE WHALES

Drag show for young audience shines ●●●●●

Gentle tale uses upcycled objects to create an underwater world ●●●●●

Sweet show with something for everyone ●●●●● This two-hander featuring actor/comedians Charlie Baker and Sam Battersea (known respectively from Harry Hill’s Tea Time and CBBC’s Class Dismissed) makes a decent fist of creating a show that appeals to everyone. A fairytale with a contemporary edge, it also serves as a vehicle for Baker’s gregarious sense of showboating humour. When he tries out a rap filtered through his own upbringing in the Devon countryside, for example, he introduces it as ‘clip-clop’ music; it’s ‘cultural approximation’, not appropriation, he pleads with us breathlessly.

Yet there’s sweetness as well as silliness here, in the tale of a shy songwriter named Glenda who is bequeathed a singing goat by her lonely farmer landlord and takes it out on the road. In many ways this is Battersea’s show, or at least her character leads the way. But it’s Baker’s all-action silliness which adds an unpredictable spark to play off, against Battersea’s gentle storytelling reserve, as she enhances the story with overhead projector shadow puppetry. The balance between each style isn’t always even, but the results are sweet and funny. (David Pollock) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug (not 21), 3pm, £10 £8.50 (£9 £7.50).

Bold and brash – at least on the outside – the five drag queens of supergroup Denim descend on Edinburgh for just one more gig in front of their adoring fans, the Denim Juniors.

Wrapped up in the pretence of a super-gig in front of thousands, they bring an hour of cleverly re-tooled pop songs and a properly exuberant mix of gender politics and glitter. It's pitched at just the right level for 5–10 year olds, with the odd line (mostly about paying for merchandise) that will resonate with parents.

Man, woman, princess, queen and diva, Denim's stage personas are just as real as any teen group.

Maybe even more so. Once past the big crowdpleasers such as ‘Barbie Girl’ (and a couple of numbers for the parents), they drop into serious mode with a story about fitting in and a truly wonderful spoken-word pastiche which leads into a buzzing take on ‘Let It Go’.

There's a routine where audience members get a drag makeover and quite a bit of interaction, but it’s the quintet's voices that really make it work. And this is drag for the junior generation which, without being rude or saucy, says loud and proud, that queens just wanna have fun. (Thom Dibdin) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens, until 19 Aug (not 13), 4.35pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

While some productions use flashy animatronics to bring creatures to life, Glasgow-based theatre company Modest Predicament stays true to its name and takes a far more home-spun approach.

In this gentle tale of a baby dragon dropped into the ocean and raised by whales, everyday household objects take on a whole new purpose.

A simple lampshade and tumble dryer vent hose becomes a dragon, a table tennis bat is transformed into a ray fish bobbing under the water, a small paper lantern is opened and closed to depict a puffed-up blowfish. Each clever invention not only raises a smile, but lets the young audience watching know how easy it is to be imaginative in their own home.

The story itself feels drawn out, leading at times to a lack of pace – and there’s less here to warm the heart than in Modest Predicament’s 2016 Fringe outing, Erin, Errol and the Earth Creatures.

But with shadow puppetry, songs, audience engagement and plenty of energy from the two cast members, there’s enough here to make for a pleasant hour. (Kelly Apter) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 12pm, £9 (£7).

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FAMILIES! LET’S...

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AYE,

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78 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

“ENGAGINGLY DAFT COMEDY”

GILDED BALLOON AT ROSE THEATRE - BASEMENT

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NEU! REEKIE! Spoken word and music showcase brings dream guests to Leith Theatre When the German electronic musician Michael Rother became aware of the promoters who were booking him for Edinburgh International Festival’s Light on the Shore series at Leith Theatre, he naturally took a pause for thought. ‘When I first heard the name I was puzzled,’ he says. Rother, of course, was one half of the pioneering Dusseldorf duo Neu! alongside the late Klaus Dinger in the early 1970s, the project immediately following on from the pair’s short-lived time in Kraftwerk; and the people behind this show are Neu! Reekie!, Edinburgh’s much-loved and always edgily enjoyable showcase of music, spoken word and film.

Run by poets Michael Pedersen and Kevin Williamson, Neu! Reekie! are returning to Leith Theatre after their Trainspotting special last year and they’ve programmed two events filled with some of their dream guests: Rother, Lydia Lunch and Fire Engines on 12 August, and the Vaselines, the Pastels and Linton Kwesi Johnson on 17 August.

Neu! Reekie!, we reassure Rother, chose their name partly out of sheer love for the music he makes (‘Neu!

influenced Bowie, Eno, us and far better,’ Pedersen had earlier told me) and partly because it’s a nice play on words. Besides, they’re in good company in seeking inspiration from Neu! ‘Some people just try to pick up ideas, like David Bowie when he chose to call the track “Heroes” after our track “Hero”,’ says Rother.

With a 60-minute set programmed for Neu! Reekie!, Rother says to expect tracks from his Neu!, Harmonia and solo periods, and that the presence of Hans Lampe – who played on Neu!’s third and final record Neu! ’75 and in Dinger’s La Dusseldorf – means we might expect the former album’s ‘E-Musik’ to appear. His live trio is rounded off by guitarist Franz Bargmann from Berlin band Camera. ‘We are a good band, we get along well and the music output is very pleasing,’ he says. ‘Successful. Better than the German football team!’ (David Pollock) ■ Leith Theatre, 12 Aug (Michael Rother, Fire Engines & Lydia Lunch) & 17 Aug (the Vaselines, the Pastels & Linton Kwesi Johnson), 7pm, £25. For a longer version of this interview, see list.co.uk/festival

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Henry Northmore picks out music highlights from across the Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival 24/7 LIVE Feisty electro pop at this Fringe debut from British-Chinese androgynous pop star in the making Le Fil. C royale, 7–11 Aug, 9.15pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

DJANGO DJANGO Cosmic indie rock and shimmering synth pop from Scots Django Django with impressive support from C Duncan and Free Love. Leith Theatre, 10 Aug, 7pm, £20.

THE KEVIN ROWLAND DJ SHOW An eclectic mix of genres from northern soul to punk rock via blues and new romantic from music lover and Dexy’s frontman Kevin Rowland, who doesn’t just DJ but also sings live vocals over his set. Summerhall, 10 Aug, 11pm, £14.

BEEFHEART Orange Claw Hammer pay tribute to the avant-jazz/rock madness of Captain Beefheart with their show Fast and Bulbous, Also Tapered! Henry’s Cellar Bar, 10, 17 Aug, 8pm, £12 (£10).

PHOTO: LUKAS VIAR

MUSIC HITLIST PUSSY RIOT Punk rock activists Pussy Riot have only just been released after their protest at the World Cup final in Russia, hitting Edinburgh with a mix of music, video and narrative in their Riot Days project. For an interview with Pussy Riot, see list. co.uk Summerhall, 10–19 Aug, 7pm, £17.50 (£16.50).

THE KATET PLAYS STEVIE WONDER Edinburgh seven-piece The Katet, led

by Mike Kearney on keys and vocals, pay tribute to the soul/funk/jazz masterblaster that is Stevie Wonder.

The Jazz Bar, 10, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 26 Aug, midnight, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

NUMBERS Glasgow electronic collective Numbers curate this club night of forward thinking beats. Lineup includes SOPHIE, Lanark Artefax, Spencer & Sofay. See feature, page 16. Leith Theatre, 11 Aug, 10.30pm, £15.

TOGETHER IN SONG One of Scotland’s foremost songwriters, Rab Noakes, in collaboration with Paisley Americana/ country singer Jill Jackson (ex-

Le Fil

Speedway). Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC, 12 Aug, 8.30pm, £14 (£12).

HANSEL & GRETEL Dark magic and evil witches abound as the RSNO bring to life Engelbert

Humperdinck’s (not that one) opera based on the classic Grimm Brothers’ fairytale. Featuring mezzo soprano Laura Wilde and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Usher Hall, 15 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£47.

IT’S

SHOW

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06/08/2018 17:40

Crow Hill | FESTIVAL MUSIC

list.co.uk/festival

FLYING

THE NEST Crow Hill is an album, graphic novel, film and immersive theatre show from the creative mind of Neil Pennycook, aka Meursault.

David Pollock caught up with him to find out more about this ambitious new project

A

lready well-known to Edinburgh audiences by his songwriting alias Meursault, named in honour of Camus’ character in his classic existentialist novel The Outsider, Neil Pennycook’s music is heartfelt, complex and deserving of far wider attention than it has received up to this point. With four full albums already released on Edinburgh’s Song, By Toad label, he sings resonantly of doubt, heartbreak, emotional hurt and hope amid the darkness, with a spine of pitch-black humour throughout. Supported by the Made in Scotland scheme for this two-night Edinburgh Fringe appearance at Summerhall, Pennycook’s latest project is unlike anything he’s ever attempted before.

Crow Hill is first and foremost an album, to be released in October or November on new Edinburgh label Common Grounds Records, run by Graeme Young of the city’s Chamber Studios where it was recorded.

It’s also a graphic novel, written and drawn by comic-lover Pennycook himself, which will form part of the vinyl sleeve art; it’s a planned film project, which Pennycook is working on with Mario Cruzado, a musician with Plastic Animals and a filmmaker for artists including the Spook School and Faith Elliott; and at the Fringe it will be a live performance supported by dancers, actors and bespoke projections.

‘Crow Hill is my first stab at writing something completely fictional,’ says Pennycook. ‘It’s a collection of 12 stories, all focusing on an individual character from the town of Crow Hill, which take place within the same 24 hours. They’re presented as these strange little urban horror vignettes; the themes and morals are left ambiguous in the songs, but I’ve tried very hard to keep the tone consistent and to give a real impression that they exist in the same space as each other.

‘So you have a song like “Strong Armed Son”, which tells the fairly

mundane story of a man returning to his family home and wrestling with the idea of his responsibility to his elderly parents, alongside a song like “Beast”, which plays out like a kind of Lovecraftian death cry from a monster the world has long since stopped believing in. I’m very interested in pairing these fantastical characters with banal, real-world settings and giving the listener just as much information as they need to have an impression of what this town is.’

These Summerhall shows, he says, are the first attempts to present these songs as the individual stories that they are, with an emphasis on setting a different scene for each one in order to bring the town of Crow Hill to life.

‘I’m keen to have these shows be a good deal more immersive and narrativedriven than previous Meursault shows,’ says Pennycook. ‘While I still love the idea of a band just getting up on stage and playing their music in a nononsense manner, recently I’ve found myself pining for acts to be a bit more adventurous in how their music’s framed. I wish there was more stuff out there – especially within the indie sphere – that focuses on telling stories in unique ways, rather than just trying to sell the act’s general aesthetic.’

He wants to do something untried, although Pennycook admits the thought makes him nervous and excited. ‘I’ve no idea if this is something that’ll carry into future Meursault projects as I’ve no idea what they might be yet, but I know this is the way I want to tell these stories,’ he says. ‘I’m just very lucky to have a band and a label that are as accommodating and enthusiastic as they are, and I hope we’re able to present the songs in a way which does them justice. And if we can disturb as many people as possible along the way, then all the better.’

Crow Hill, Summerhall, 15 & 16 Aug, 11pm, £14.

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FESTIVAL MUSIC | Previews & Reviews

LOKI, THE SCOTTISH RAPPER: POVERTY SAFARI LIVE Uncompromising rap and spoken word ●●●●● ‘This is a trigger warning for working class people,’ says Darren McGarvey, otherwise known as Loki, ‘they're selling juice with bits at the bar.’ Yet the rapper from Pollok in Glasgow, working class himself, seems firmly in his comfort zone here, performing to a large audience of mixed age and sex. They may or may not have been getting what they expected – given his star has risen significantly in the last few months thanks to the success of his Orwell Prize-winning memoir Poverty Safari and his reinvention as a cultural commentator of straight-talking insight and accuracy – but they were certainly getting what they needed.

Poverty Safari Live is a rap and spoken word show telling the story of a working class Glasgow boy with a middle class girlfriend at university, and the alienation and threat he feels in her world. It’s also a piece of first-person polemic from McGarvey himself, who notes wryly that he has to annotate his character’s blunt edges – particularly the homophobia – in a way middle class writers don’t have to (‘I'm a rapper, so no sophistication is assumed’).

He rails against the notion of social mobility being possible from a position of extreme poverty, confronts the difficulty he initially experienced in coming to terms with contemporary feminism, and – not forgetting we’re at the Stand – makes it all darkly funny; ‘I’m invisible to London . . . I’m Warrington in human form.’ The voice McGarvey has found for himself is one for our times, and sorely needed; uncompromising in his quest for basic decency across class borders, but humble enough to know that our opinions should fluctuate in the face of others’ lived experience. Before you see any knowing political shows by men in expensive suits this year, see this one instead. (David Pollock) ■ The Stand’s New Town Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 15), 5pm, £12 (£10).

PHOTO: YUNIS TMEIZEH

P R E V IE

W

CHOIR OF MAN

PREHISTORIC

DEAN OWENS

Relentlessly upbeat pub singalong ●●●●●

Visceral punk rock theatre from Australia ●●●●●

Singer lets the audience choose his setlist

Welcome to the Jungle: a pub packed with sensitive manly men, with beards and/or ponytails, who can't help bursting into song. Good looking and rugged but in a safe cuddly way. The set features a working bar as they pour pints for a few lucky punters (and reward anyone dragged on stage to be serenaded up close and personal). There's a cheesy, slightly cringey intro to all nine members of the Choir of Man and this mythical bar that remains untouched by time.

Their set veers wildly from Guns n' Roses (you can guess what track), through Katy Perry ('Teenage Dream'), Adele ('Hello') and Queen ('Somebody to Love). Singing over a backing track with added live piano and guitar, a few gags and some simple choreography, it’s a well-polished affair that manages to make this seemingly random mix flow seamlessly.

There's not quite a narrative, more a theme of brotherly love and bromance. It's also impossible to deny they have decent voices best showcased on an a cappella rendition of Sia's 'Chandelier.'

CoM know their audience and embrace the cheese for an unapologetically populist show and it's hard not to be worn down by their relentless energy and slick stagecraft. (Henry Northmore) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8pm, £15–£17.50 (£14–£16.50).

Brisbane was the heart of Australia's punk scene in the closing years of the 1970s. The city bore distinctive conditions for the genre's rise – with the state of Queensland under the oversight of authoritarian premiere Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Prehistoric reveals a hidden history of illegal gatherings broken up by badgeless cops cracking heads and stealing takings.

Melbourne-based theatre company Elbow Room's production is thrilling, a piece of gig theatre in one of the grimiest and most atmospheric rooms in Edinburgh, a perfect space to hear cathartic, guts-out punk thrash. The cast playing rebellious punk group Pink Monkeys are excellent: Grace Cummings as middle class girl gone rogue, Rachel Privilege; Sahil Saluja as musically skilled Australian-Indian kid Nick Everything; Brigid Gallacher as the charismatic and fiercely committed Deb Station and Zachary Pidd as disturbed working class drummer Pete Fender. The quartet are mismatched but united in their need to cast off the restrictive norms placed upon them, and as their infamy grows and the costs and physical risk to them escalates, a loud and furious portrait of visceral nonconformity erupts. (David Pollock) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 9.15pm, £10 (£8).

With seven albums of signature Americana behind him, as well as records with his old group the Felsons, Leith-raised singer-songwriter Dean Owens finds it hard to make up a setlist for his shows. ‘So I thought I’d let the audience do it this time,’ he says, referring to the concept behind this year’s Hatful of Songs Fringe gigs.

‘I’ve been encouraging people to message me via social media with their requests, I’ll put them into one of my many hats and draw them out during the show.’

Currently receiving praise in places like Mojo for his latest album Southern Wind (recorded in Nashville with producer Neilson Hubbard and guitarist / singersongwriter Will Kimbrough), Owens’ work skilfully blends youthful influences like Aztec Camera and Elvis Costello with his adult Americana heroes, from Gram Parsons to Tom Petty, Hank Williams to Elvis Presley. ‘In terms of kindred spirits, I guess I relate to the classic singer-songwriters most,’ he says.

‘Anyone who’s ever put a sweet, sad melody over some chords . . . I’m never happier than when I’m listening to some misery.’

So how many songs can his fans choose from? ‘As many as I can get in there,’ he says. ‘I guess I might need a big hat! (David Pollock) ■ The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 11, 14 Aug, 10.30pm, £14 (£12).

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Directed by Katie Pesskin Original production by Lisa Spirling

MCS Produc tions presents a play by Nathan Ellis

01 Aug - 27 AuG

(EXCL. 10 Aug)

5PM www.pleasance.co.uk | 0131 556 6550 +++++

BritishTheatreGuide.com on The Runner

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Jay Conway (portrayed

by Darrell ipidellendi quo mo occupta tincto is moloraSwaggering Pudignis dolo consed et autas sequeD’ estissi are dense with ideas about identity, semantics, the vicious vigour) a veteran American actor: nimagniet is elignam, oditistor ab illecto Silva with ommolor personal as political, and the political as personal. ectio.isOrest earuptasita voles part Kris Kristofferson, Sam, and essintenis apelest arion essiti quoditi ossitati necerum fugitpart offiYosemite ctem et, omnim diaall doluptat With #MeToo still foremost in people’s minds, about to embark on what could be ut latqui corem non por anihil ilibeate nus.bastard. He’s Ruth Davenport is the heroic riposte to the boorish faccum eat. the project of his career, a new play in Ireland.

Busdande que voluptu reperis inihit Weinstein generation: a strong woman who not only Temos ex et harum quidset et re, sequo et, he doesn’t even know where ate Ulster is. aborporrum ium quis es aut pra net, sam Problem restia is, reacts, but enacts, a catalyst for change in a corrupt, sequae peliqua eriamusapedi volumquis PlacatedeosRorrorent by seemingly ut wet liberal director and yes volore, sum, que etur sitio molores nis untio shallow but money-obsessed industry. que esequos quassitate man (Robbie Jack), Conway lets slip an ill-reperume Ulster American pulls down Hollywood and spanks con est omnissi modita veliquis aut officiur adLeighparumquam illiciant acesequam rem judged and tasteless comment about Princess Diana it; a timely reminder that the expiry date for showbiz in a debate about limitations. And when it emerges misogyny passed a long time ago. (Lorna Irvine) the playwright Ruth Davenport (Lucianne McEvoy) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), times vary, £20.50 is not only a feminist but a unionist, Conway, from a (£15.50) ●●●●●

A brutal, unsettling and uncompromising dark comedy about power

PHOTO: SID SCOTT

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Hitlist

THEATRE HITLIST Gareth K Vile picks out some of the theatre highlights from week two of the Fringe A SOCKFUL OF CUSTARD A meta-theatrical look at the career of Spike Milligan, jester to the nation who famously battled depression, expanded British comedy after WWII, was a cult figure to a generation of children and an icon of surrealistic wit. See review, page 88. Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 8pm, £10–£12.50 (£9–£11.50).

CENTURY SONG A powerfully operatic exploration of the intersection between sex and race, a one-woman show that crosses genres and examines at the experience of women in the past century. Flitting between visual opulence and musical majesty, it is an arresting statement that refuses to pull punches. See review, page 97. ZOO Southside, until 18 Aug (not 8, 15), 3pm, £12–£14 (£10– £12).

BRIDE OF THE GULF International collaboration that fuses a North American script with

contributions from the people of Basra to correct the assumption that the Gulf War was a European drama. Intelligent and moving, it follows one woman’s attempt to find her lost husband.

See review at list.co.uk/festival C cubed, until 27 Aug (not 14), 3.10pm £9.50–£11.50 (£5.30–£7.50).

SOLARPLEXUS: AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PLAY Putting their beliefs into action, Project Mercury discuss environmental chaos and power their show via a bicycle on stage. The plot concerns a race to save the planet, but the company’s commitment to making their own electricity suggests that they are more than virtue signalling. See review at list.co.uk/festival ZOO Charteris, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 7.35pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10).

WAR WITH THE NEWTS Knaive’s One Man Bin Laden was a Fringe hit. They bring War . . . this year, hidden away in a basement, where, inside a sound installation, an oyster dredging ship becomes the site for a battle against the rise of a monstrous new world order. See review at list. co.uk/festival Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 5pm, 8.15pm, £12 (£10).

War With the Newts

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06/08/2018 16:13

Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

FRIEDA LOVES YA

HOW TO BE AMAZINGLY HAPPY!

ENTROPY

One for the sweeter tooth ●●●●●

A one-woman show seeking happiness ●●●●●

Overheated writing weighs down an otherwise intriguing concept ●●●●●

Frieda Loves Ya is as cake-centric a burlesque show as you’re likely to see at the Fringe, or anywhere else.

Like the sentient French Fondant Fancy which plays a central role in what plot there is, this show exudes sweetness.

Frieda (alter-ego of performer Rebecca Kenny) has sad eyes and a petted lip. They combine with her ukulele songs about heartbreak to provide a double jab of intense twee. This is still a burlesque show and so there are ample jokes involving the exchange of bodily fluids and whipped cream. Unsettlingly, Kenny still manages to infuse these gags with her trademark dose of sugar.

The show is a thinly veiled vehicle to showcase Kenny’s various talents, which are undeniable. Her voice is pleasant, her jokes are amusing and her physicality impressive. The problem is that they don’t gel together in any sort of organic way. By forcing all her skills to the fore of her performance, none of them are given the time or space they need to flourish.

Frieda Loves Ya attempts to propagate a warm fuzzy feeling, much like eating freshly spun candyfloss.

But, like eating that treat you’re likely to be left with an intense desire to brush your teeth. (Liam Hainey) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 13), 10.25pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Written and performed by Victoria Firth, How To Be Amazingly Happy! follows fortysomething Firth as she is forced to face the fact her life isn't turning out the way she always wanted, and to seek happiness any way she can.

The show relies on shared experiences, with a somber voiceover informing the audience that Victoria is grieving her inability to have children. Instead of acknowledging the failed IVFs and relationships, she looks for distraction. In bouts of physical theatre, she humorously recalls the times she tried to take up running or looked for spiritual guidance.

Firth’s retelling of her misadventures are entertaining and easily relatable, in a similar vein to the TV series Miranda, but rarely get beyond easy comedy. Her moments of open desperation are human and emotional, but get drowned among comedy routines and other songs about dogs that delay the focus of the show.

How To Be Amazingly Happy! still remains enjoyable however, mostly thanks to Firth’s warm personality and ease of interaction with her audience. Her acting skills make for an hour of playful and amusing entertainment. (Adeline Amar) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13, 14), 11.35am, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

The set-up of Jennifer Roslyn Wingate’s two-hander is simple: Sam arrives unannounced on Barbara’s doorstep and demands to be let in. As they hash out the details of their fraught history, Sam and Barbara engage in a rapid-fire exchange of recriminations, threats, word play, innuendo and tenderness.

The pacing of their descent into the black corners of their memories is precise, and its depiction of childhood trauma – especially when victims grapple with feelings of love and hate towards those complicit in their pain – is moving. Lewis Bruniges is compelling as Sam, veering erratically between childish indignation and true menace. Unfortunately, Katharine Drury is given much less to work with as Barbara, and her silent, taut figure is lost amid Bruniges’ rages.

This leaves the play unbalanced; by the second half, there is the sense of things spinning in circles.

The dialogue is also clunky at times, with characters lapsing into legal jargon and obscure terminology, that only serves to take the audience out of the moment.

Though Entropy convincingly explores the very worst of what humans can do to one another, it ultimately fails to fulfil its ambitions. (Deborah Chu) ■ Underbelly, Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), £11 (£10).

A GHOST’S TALE Creepy and busy trip into the past ●●●●● Edinburgh’s awash with creepy ghost tours at the best of times: but with its ambitious, innovative approach to the genre, this atmospheric audio drama creation from sound designer Tomaž Pritekelj and writer François Olivo stands out. It’s a rare show within the Fringe that dares to take on the site-specific encounter with such gusto, and such immediate engagement with Edinburgh’s environment.

From the shadow of the castle, the journey winds through the Old Town, with a surround-sound binaural audio soundtrack conveyed through state-of-the-art headphones relating tales from Edinburgh’s grisly past, of spooks and apparitions, executions, murders and plague victims.

What brings the show alive is Pritekelj’s magical sound design, which creates a thoroughly convincing 3D aural environment for Olivo’s dark tales. Most impressive is its uncanny blurring of reality and recording in fleeting moments between tales – the snort of an unseen horse, the jangle of keys from an unknown figure who suddenly materialises.

Olivo’s wordy script could never be accused of shortchanging with a paucity of sinister stories, but requires more attention than Edinburgh’s teeming evening streets permit. His cast of Scottish voice actors give vivid performances, but the show’s breathless pace sometimes detracts from the atmospheric impact of its spooky stories. Nevertheless, it’s a gently unsettling melding of cutting-edge technology and ancient tales that provides a disquieting glimpse into Edinburgh’s dark past: and a tribute to the potential of a type of theatre that pays more than lip-service to local history, and grapples with the excitement of theatre that escapes from the auditorium. (David Kettle) ■ Outside Johnston Terrace Nature Reserve (by the red telephone boxes), until 2 Sep (not 8, 16, 22, 30 Aug), 9.30pm, £12 (£9).

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews

THE SONG OF LUNCH PHOTO: ALEX BRENNER

A miniature portrait of male failure ●●●●● Driven by Robert Bathurst’s commanding performance and Christopher Reid’s elegiac poetry, The Song of Lunch celebrates and commiserates with the crisis of a man as he hopes to rekindle a lost passion. Through telling descriptive detail and melodramatic bursts of romanticism, Bathurst unveils the interior despair of a man lost in his disappointed hopes for love and meaning.

Set in a Soho Italian restaurant, The Song of Lunch is a litany of frustrated sophistication, depicting Bathurst’s unnamed hero imagining that a lunch with his former lover – played with stoic aplomb by Rebecca Johnson – might redeem his increasingly desiccated soul. Confronted by her for his collection of poems describing their relationship in epic terms, he gradually unwinds, with alcohol dealing the decisive blow.

Being a melancholic elegy for both lost love and lost lunches, the script leans as much on nostalgia as poetic eloquence. Bathurst’s charisma carries the sometimes dated and wistful descriptions of kitsch restaurant fittings and a London that was already disappearing. And the central conceit – a man desperate for his fading muse – speaks less of contemporary concerns than an idealised past.

Charles Peattie’s animations provide a shifting, and sometimes suggestive backdrop, and Reid’s language is a precise analysis of both a London that is disappearing and a man’s mind as it succumbs to failure. Bathurst is charismatic and captures his protagonist’s unease, and his lack of self-awareness. Confident rather than ambitious, the production frames the poetry comfortably: the animations are often timid illustrations rather than expanding the story, and the subtle play of hope and misery remains a quiet rather than overpowering tragedy. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13), 2.20pm, £11–£14.50 (£10–£13.50).

PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

A SOCKFUL OF CUSTARD

MY KIND OF MICHAEL

BENNY

Celebration of comedy pioneer ●●●●●

The rise and fall of Michael Barrymore ●●●●●

A post-mortem reflection on former TV funny-man ●●●●●

Part autobiography and part reflection on the post-war surrealist comedian, A Sockful of Custard follows the life of Spike Milligan. Displaying bouts of Milligan’s anarchic humour – which were undermined by his frequent bouts of depression – the production veers into meta-theatrical commentary on the making process, and the importance of Milligan to the performers, sometimes losing the biographical narrative beneath the mayhem but emphasising the importance of Milligan in pushing comdedy boundaries.

Paying respect to Milligan’s legacy is a hard task: known to be difficult, his disruption of expectation saw him refusing his status as national treasure, even insulting Prince Charles’ attempts to flatter him in old age. The Goon Show, still regarded as a watershed moment in British radio, defined a chaotic attitude that influenced Monty Python and its absurdism intrudes into Sockful’s more reflective moments, lending the production a suitably uneven flow.

Sockful struggles to balance the elements and, like The Goon Show, collapses into chaos at times. Yet the sincerity of the intention, and the attention to his life’s contours, even if his motivations remain obscure, push this beyond a mere hagiography. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 8pm, £10–£12.50 (£9–£11.50).

Nick Cassenbaum is warm and likeable in this bizarre comedic hour dedicated to the rise and downfall of entertainer Michael Barrymore. The show is a mixed bag, with nostalgic flashbacks to This is Your Life and Strike it Lucky, a vast range of celebrity impressions and a whole heap of audience interaction.

Cassenbaum navigates two narratives throughout: Michael Barrymore’s life and times, as well as his own early path to a career in entertaining.

The show is fun and very silly. Keyboardist and coperformer Andy is a highlight, funnily playing the goofy sidekick and assistant. The chaotic and high energy delivery gets wearisome, however, with several less-than-seamless moments. Cassenbaum’s overall point is that clowns and entertainers are hugely important and that society is callous in its instant rejection of figures who were once much loved. It’s hard, however, to really believe his sombre delivery of this point after an hour of ‘the Celebritree’ and Cheryl Barrymore impersonations. The balance is off, making the serious moments jarring and uncomfortable.

Overall, this is an interactive, amusing performance exploring the importance of childhood heroes and Barrymore's general legacy. (Kenza Marland) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 7.30pm, £11 (£9.50).

This engaging one-man show offers an insightful reflection into the life of British comedian Benny Hill.

Slapstick and double entendre maestro Hill, renowned for living frugally despite immense wealth, died alone, to be discovered in his flat two days later. Liam Tobin’s performance is confident and affable as a post-death Hill delivering an aural autobiography, and the show’s success lies in the strength of the script and delivery.

The rhythmic, natural writing takes the audience through the highs and lows in Hill’s quest to succeed.

At times, the play does lacks pace: Hill’s treatment of women feels slightly rushed for the sake of comedic impressions. The set is quaint, with nice nostalgic touches such as a vintage Tesco carrier bag. However, much of the show is dependent on Tobin’s impressive vocal delivery alone.

The most genuine moments come from the character’s discussion of his loneliness. The common dichotomy of fame runs through the script: what’s the point of sharing a stage or screen with millions of people, if you don’t have people to share your life with?

Benny entertainingly explores what it’s like to crave the limelight, and to be rejected by it. (Kenza Marland) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 3.45pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

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@AssemblyFest #MyAssembly

assemblyfestival.com 0131 623 3030 CHOIR OF MAN

&

Cabaret

ASSEMBLY ROOMS

2 – 26 Aug, 20:00

LADY RIZO: RED, WHITE AND INDIGO

ASSEMBLY HALL

2 – 19 Aug, 21:10

New line-ups everyday

BEST OF THE FEST DAYTIME ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE

3 – 26 Aug, 13:00

BRIEFS: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

SVEN RATZKE: HOMME

ASSEMBLY HALL

FATALE

2 – 26 Aug, 19:15

14 – 26 Aug, 18:00

ASSEMBLY HALL

YANA ALANA –

BETWEEN THE CRACKS ASSEMBLY CHECKPOINT

2 – 26 Aug, 20:00

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR ASSEMBLY HALL

2 – 26 Aug, 14:30

Untitled-1 89

ALI MCGREGOR:

THE MAGNETS:

ASSEMBLY HALL

ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE

DECADENCE

2 – 12 Aug, 18:00

NAKED 80S VOLUME 2

2– 26 Aug, 19:00

06/08/2018 17:03

FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

LADYKILLER Sinking into the mind of a murderer ●●●●● Madeline Gould’s self-consciously nasty script dives into the mind of a woman who not only kills, but enjoys it. Part rationalisation of a murder (with the dead body still fresh), part exploration of the murderous mentality, Hannah McClean’s energetic performance almost makes her vicious chambermaid charming and sympathetic, despite being covered in blood and more than happy to own her impulses.

Gould’s interests are not merely in the psychology of the murderer: the most bracing moments see her protagonist mock the patriarchal stereotypes of femininity that might allow her to escape punishment. Occasionally slipping into a lecture on the history of the serial killer, the script returns to McClean’s unnamed character’s motivations and reflects on how the construction of femininity permits outrageous behaviour, as long as it is suitably framed.

Fragments of other justifications emerge, only to be subsumed beneath the murderer’s egotism and pleasure in the kill: a revolutionary impulse for change becomes another excuse for violence, and Madeleine Moore’s direction keeps the pace rapid and the focus on a character who repels and attracts in equal measure. The notion of feminist equality is presented, but in its darker aspects: a roll-call of types of serial killer wryly notes that the literature can only understand women who kill ‘for gain’, and the protagonist celebrates their personal obsession as resistance against the everyday abuse that inspired #metoo. Without ever becoming a condemnation, it pokes at the optimism of feminist beliefs in equality and the innate compassion of women in a bracing and difficult to resolve monologue of fierce intensity.

(Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13 & 14), 1pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

ANGRY ALAN

A new way of reading the past ●●●●●

Reply to the curse of male victim culture ●●●●●

Zoo Co’s inclusivity is a valuable corrective to the Fringe’s often empty boasts. Sirens announces its ‘relaxed’ performance, encouraging the audience not to obey the expected rules of engagement, and to feel free to move about, leave, even talk. With both surtitles and a musical number including signlanguage carrying the story of three mythical women attempting to correct misogynistic lies told about them, the company challenges the lip-service paid to accessibility.

The story is told in a playful, straight-forward manner: the sirens of Greek myth are transplanted to the present, discovering that they are the victims of negative poetry. The adventure is a rudimentary excuse for the performers to riff on themes of patriarchal oppression and gender identity.

The enthusiasm to cover a range of social justice issues at times makes their politics perfunctory, and the dramaturgy aims for clarity rather than depth; grappling with a fundamental patriarchal myth of the femme fatale, their response is cheeky rather than comprehensive.Yet their enthusiasm and sincerity push the narrative along to its positive conclusions.

(Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 3.35pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

A reasonable response to the men’s rights movement, Angry Alan follows the radicalisation of Roger (Donald Sage Mackay), who finds the answer to his alienation in the online rants of the titular activist. Roger, having lost his well-paid job, his marriage and self-respect, promptly rips the rest of his life to pieces.

The ugliness of men’s rights activism, unfortunately, does not make for a serious drama: Roger’s parroting of the party line is risible and his tragedy – never realising his own privilege – is engineered by the abrupt arrival of a son in crisis. MacKay does his best to make Roger amiable, but Penelope Skinner’s script is too willing to present the stupidity of the activists without answering its contradictions or digging beneath the simple equation that perceived male failure leads to acceptance of a frankly incoherent anti-feminism.

The drama fails to rise above Roger’s naivety: the tragic finale is forced, partially because Roger is telling the story and cannot see beyond his own concerns, and the serious investigation of a toxic yet potent movement is reduced to a series of shocked, mocking laughs by the audience. A vital matter is reduced to an isolated and personal tale of foolishness. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Underbelly, Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 3.20pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

PHOTO: DANIEL HUGHES

PHOTO: THE OTHER RICHARD

PHOTO: YOONA PARK

SIRENS

BABY FACE Exploring the sexualisation of youth ●●●●● Baby Face, a solo performance by Katy Dye, explores the infantilisation of adult women in a society that equates attractiveness with youth. Using her self-described ‘physical childlike attributes’ (a lean dancer’s body), a plastic highchair and some baby toiletries, she explores the uncomfortable reality of a world where young girls are sexualised.

Dye brings an intense and unrelenting physicality to the performance: dancing over, under and around the highchair, throwing it in the air like a baby and spinning it dizzyingly around her head. She speeds through characters: a doting mother, a provocative teenager, a wailing toddler as she shows how both sexualisation and infantilisation can be forced on someone, but also invited. As she asks a woman to stroke her hair and a man if he fancies her, Dye’s complete control of the room never wavers.

The script is compact, with funny flashes, but some of it is lost in the pulsing backing track. By the end, Dye is down to her underwear and moves seamlessly and unnervingly between sexualised writhing and a baby wiggling, moaning then gurgling. Baby Face is an often uncomfortable show that throws a mix of messages into the air. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.30pm, £9 (£7).

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Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: SID SCOTT

PHOTO: ALEX BRENNER

STARDUST

CORIOLANUS VANISHES

DYSNEY DISFUNCTION

Provocative expose of narco reality ●●●●●

Powerful play changes gender ●●●●●

Surprising depth in powerful conclusion ●●●●●

Stardust is an unflinching look at the narcotics history of Colombia, created with an international team of artists and performed by Columbian actor and theatre-maker Miguel Hernando Torres Umba.

Co-written with Daniel Dingsdale, the play is a tour de force of disciplines with beautiful hand-drawn animations, physical theatre and verbatim stories used to communicate the complex realities of the narcotics trade.

Umba is a passionate and versatile performer, giving a quick fire history of the drug and busting some dynamite dance moves as a voiceover explains what cocaine does to the body. He becomes the host of game show, 'Plata o Plomo', where the audience weighs in with whether we would use money or guns to move up the drug chain and plays up to the stereotype of a Colombian perpetrated by TV shows like Netflix’s Narcos.

There's weighty research evident behind this educating, provocative and irreverent expose. It shows that cocaine is a problem for the world, not just Colombia – and while Miguel laments that he doesn’t have an answer, Stardust has at least started the conversation. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 4.20pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).

In David Leddy's striking meditation on power and abuses of power, Irene Allan takes on the role of Chris. It's fascinating to see as a standalone piece, and works just as well as the first version starring Leddy himself. Where Leddy's portrayal was inscrutable, Allan conjures Chris as sweet and twinkly-eyed, making her descent into psychopathy the more jarring.

She's a feral creature. From the belt of her father, to a justification of arms deals to Saudi Arabia, or a lover's bite marks, totemic lashes are deployed in the boardroom and the bedroom: Chris makes little distinction between pleasure and business.

Such capricious mood swings are signalled by Danny Krass' sounds, crackling in the air like a lightning bolt. As Chris drip feeds the information into how it was she came to lie, cheat and kill, Becky Minto's design and Nich Smith's neon lights shower the room in beautiful and disturbing primary colours.

Symbols of romance are eroticised: cherry blossom rains down, and strewn rose petals from a pillowcase become props in a dangerous game of seduction.

Chris' nihilism may seem fantastical, but it is rooted in real pain. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Alice faces a return to Sydney, Australia. It’s not her home anymore, and Dysney Dysfunction – for the most part – ponders whether her very own prince can save her from that fate. It’s a neat juxtaposition; as a child she watched (and related to) Ariel, Jasmine and Snow White. As an adult, marriage is closer to an economic necessity than anything else: an action based in pragmatism as well as love.

The first half of this show is hard work. More than anything, what Dysney Disfunction does well is convey the roller coaster feeling of being in a turbulent relationship. Alice (portrayed by the show's writer Michelle Sewell) delivers her lines at breakneck speed and the effect is dizzying: some strong lines have no room to breathe. VCR footage of therapy sessions provide a calming counterpoint, though it speeds and slows in a stilted, unsettling manner.

Dysney Dysfunction concludes with a revelation of childhood trauma and the clear message that coping and living with abuse requires the sort of salvation that a prince (or a visa for another country) can't provide alone. It requires self-love. It's a powerful ending and one that makes this a show worth seeing.

(Craig Angus) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug (not 14), 3.40pm, £10–£11 (£8–£9).

PROXY A mother and daughter’s deadly struggle in post-Katrina USA ●●●●● Directed by Colin Watkeys and written and performed by Caroline Burns Cooke, Proxy is a one-woman show based on a true story that tells of a mother and daughter struggling to survive in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Dee Dee is an ex-beauty queen whose daughter Gypsy suffers from all manner of ailments. They are regular benefactors of charities, including the Ronald McDonald charity and Disney’s Make A Wish Foundation. But the reality is that the worst thing afflicting Gypsy is her mother, and as the nature of the parent-daughter relationship is uncoiled, Proxy leads the audience unflinchingly towards the darkest of conclusions.

The show starts and ends with ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’, the song from Disney’s Pinocchio. As with the recent film The Florida Project, Proxy derives considerable power from tapping into the way that grim social realities fall short of the Disney dream, and how the yawning charm between harsh actuality and cartoon fantasy can be impossible to bridge. To capture this, Burns Cooke gives a strong, meaty turn as the various characters; while nodding towards various wicked step-mothers, she manages to locate the pulse of the women involved without resorting to caricature.

With warnings about intensity and darkness, Proxy is a good example of how a show can make limited resources go a long way; it’s not easy conjuring tragedy from a bare stage with only a few lighting changes, but Proxy manages to spin a heart-wrenching yarn, riddled with genuine pathos.

(Eddie Harrison) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 11am, £8–£9 (£5.50–£7.50).

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25 YEARS AFTER THE EXECUTION OF THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY, NOTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE

++++

The Pleasance in association with Bill Kenwright presents

QUIETLY WONDERFUL...

A TRIUMPH

++++

HEARTFELT, FIERCE...

BEAUTIFULLY PERFORMED

Evening Standard (for Maurice’s Jubilee)

The Guardian (for A British Subject)

A new play by

NICHOLA McAULIFFE

Directed by

Designed by

PATRICK SANDFORD

CHRISTOPHER RICHARDSON Cast includes

NICHOLA McAULIFFE PETER STRAKER KEVIN MOORE TOK STEPHEN

0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk

5

PM (90min)

1 – 27 AUGUST

92 9 2 THE TH T HE L HE LI LIST IST ST FESTIVAL FES F FE ES E STIV STIV TIVAL TIVAL AL 8–1 8 8– 8–15 –15 A Aug ug g 201 2 2018 018 01 018

Untitled-1 92

06/08/2018 17:08

Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: TOM FIGGINS

PHOTO: AENNE PALLASCA

CAN'T STOP CAN'T STOP

FAMOUS PUPPET DEATH SCENES

PROVIDENCE

Tough honesty on a personal condition ●●●●●

Beautiful puppetry with horror and laughs ●●●●●

A biography of a racist horror legend ●●●●●

Few Fringe shows this year can be rawer or more unflinchingly honest than Sam Ross’ sometimes harrowing examination of his own obsessive compulsive disorder. It doesn’t make for an easy watch, but it’s a compelling, illuminating experience, even if it offers few easy solutions.

Performed in the round, Ross’ solo show explores current research and thinking into the condition – the division into obsessions and compulsions, the misfiring in the brain to cause them, how talking therapy sets about helping. But he places the theory within his own experience: how his condition began (and its surprising source), and most importantly the ticks and incessantly repeated actions that, provoked by unlikely factors, invade his everyday life. It’s not all about relentless hand-washing. Ross also consistently blurs the line between performance and reality: at times it’s as if the show itself is being interrupted by his unavoidable actions.

There are a few laughs, and a well-dispatched song. But this is a serious, confrontational hour that feels as much like therapy for its performer, and challenging elucidation for its audience, as it does straightforward entertainment. (David Kettle) ■ C royale, until 27 Aug (not 13, 17, 20, 24), 4.35pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£4.50–£5.50).

The title says it all, really. From psychedelic German kids’ show Das Bipsy und Mumu Puppenspiel to the rotund everyman in Nordo Frot’s The Feverish Heart, by way of a stylised Japanese suicide, the fall of a dictator and masses more, Calgary’s Old Trout Puppet Workshop brings together a showcase of the most iconic puppet death scenes in theatre history.

Heard of them? Of course not. They’re all invented

by Old Trout’s master manipulators, in a bewildering succession of episodes, mostly hilarious, but sometimes tragic, poignant, even downright beautiful. Occasionally they dare the audience to laugh.

This is a very clever show, at once extremely funny in the horribly inventive ways in which Old Trout’s puppeteers dispatch their lovingly crafted creations, while also an astute reflection on death itself – its horrors, its comedy, even its simple mundanity.

It’s breathtaking how much work has gone into Old Trout’s dozens of puppet creations, often on stage for just a few moments before their bizarre ends, though inevitably some scenes are stronger than others. For some gleeful mid-evening schadenfreude, and some beautifully delivered puppetry, Famous Puppet Death Scenes is a thought-provoking delight. (David Kettle) ■ CanadaHub @ King’s Hall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 8.30pm, £11 (£9).

Despite battling with one of the hottest rooms in the Fringe, Dominic Allen and Simon Maeder frequently conjure up a cold, dank and dark atmosphere in this biography of HP Lovecraft that is rich on psychological analysis. Beginning in laughter, Lovecraft is visited by the lively and egotistic ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. Slowly, Lovecraft’s nastier opinions unfold, and are related to the horrors that would become the Chthulu Mythos – a fictional universe shared with his literary successors, based upon his writings.

Lovecraft’s racism is well known, and Providence does not flinch from this. Racing through his eccentric childhood, attempts to become an amateur journalist, his marriage, and abortive travels away from his hometown, Allen and Maeder draw explicit links between his life and work. Oppressive lighting and disturbing visitations from Lovecraft’s library of heroes suggest that the Chthulu Mythos reflects – or anticipates – the chaos of the late 20th century.

The tone is sometimes uneven, yet towards the end, the structure becomes dream-like and delirious, conjuring the unsettling aura that Lovecraft manages to surround his stories with. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug (not 13), 5pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

WHEN YOU FALL DOWN: THE BUSTER KEATON STORY Buster Keaton musical lovingly covers the highs and lows of a Hollywood great ●●●●● James Dangerfield’s one-man musical show When You Fall Down tells the story of an all time comedy great. More than simply a tribute to someone he’s clearly in awe of, Dangerfield’s show focuses on artistic integrity and the importance of sticking to a vision.

The show introduces Keaton – a seasoned stage performer from a young age – as someone suspicious of the camera.

His conversion to the technology and his mastery of it follows shortly after, with the majority of the hour focusing on a tenyear period where Keaton made some of the most influential pictures of all time, ambitious and groundbreaking independent comedies.

Not satisfying the moneymen, those glory years ended with an ill-fated MGM partnership. Dangerfield is a terrific Keaton, bringing a wide-eyed sense of wonder to this intimate show.

A song about The General and its iconic train chase scene is a highlight, and there’s a change of pace in material about the decline of his marriage to Natalie Talmadge and the murder charges levelled against his mentor Roscoe Arbuckle. For the latter, Dangerfield focuses on Keaton’s loyalty to his friend during this major Hollywood scandal.

The non-musical moments aren’t as strong; unless you’re in the front row, watching Dangerfield draw for a few minutes is a dull experience, and the pay off isn’t worth it – but it’s a minor complaint. When You Fall Down is an enjoyable hour. Fans of Buster Keaton will lap it up, and the uninitiated will find a new career to explore. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 14), 12.05pm, £9–£9.50 (£8–£9).

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews

THE ARCHIVE OF EDUCATED HEARTS Quiet, reflective storytelling intimately tackling mortality ●●●●● In what feels like an artefact-crammed garden shed tucked behind the Pleasance Courtyard, there’s a show of quiet, fragile magic.

Casey Jay Andrews’ solo performance The Archive of Educated Hearts lasts barely half an hour, and invites just a tiny audience into its intimate space stuffed full of books, photos and the ephemera of several lives. But the themes it tackles – nimbly and with unexpected power – are profound: empathy and emotional intelligence; illness and mortality; and our need to capture and celebrate the fleeting instants of our lives.

Blending personal storytelling with philosophical reflections on the need for human kindness, Andrews transforms what might have been a well-meaning but somewhat slight reflection on the impact of cancer into something far more universal. She’s a disarmingly informal performer, sliding gracefully between perspectives as she gradually recounts her family’s history, gently nudging lighting and audio cues herself from her storyteller’s seat. In-your-face it isn’t.

But if you’re in need of a moment of quiet reflection, and an invitation to consider our shared humanity and potential for generosity, The Archive of Educated Hearts provides a wonderfully warm environment of quiet and calm away from the festival hubbub. (David Kettle) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), times vary, £7 (£6.50).

PHOTO: KEVIN MURPHY

WEIRD

DI & VIV & ROSE (IN AN HOUR)

KIN

OCD is placed under the spotlight ●●●●●

Condensed play loses impact ●●●●●

Riveting exploration of sibling love ●●●●●

Based on the experiences of writer Lucy Burke, WEIRD is a heartfelt appeal for greater understanding that weaves the symptoms and behaviour of obsessive compulsive disorder into a familiar coming-of-age narrative. Yasmin, returning from university, finds herself the subject of family discomfort, pity and frustration while struggling to reconcile the consequences of her OCD and a personal tragedy.

Burke’s script details the thoughts and compulsions of Yasmin without resorting to simplistic stereotypes: Yasmin counts, obsesses and struggles with typical teenage adventures in sex and friendship. A chance encounter with a former school bully disorientates her but it is an attempt to reconcile with her sister that pushes her to the edge.

The narrative packs in a considerable amount of action. Yasmin herself is sympathetic, but the production plays safe, moving between episodes with sound interludes and heading towards a predictable finale that offers an ambiguous hope. While the message of compassion towards others and the self is eloquent and positive, the restraints of the format don’t allow the ideas and performance to fully develop the emotive moments. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 14), 1.45pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Handmade Theatre present a condensed version of Amelia Bullmore’s play about three unlikely friends who meet at university. Bullmore’s script was lauded for presenting three unique women, without resorting to stereotypes or obvious character arcs.

Unfortunately, in condensing the play to an hour, Handmade Theatre remove some of the nuance and genuine pathos.

The characters are engaging, from the bubbly and promiscuous Rose, to cynical lesbian Di, and determined Viv. Wisely, the young theatre company choose to focus on the play’s university days. These scenes, as the young women navigate work, life and sex, are instantly recognisable, authentic and infectiously charming, as the future beckons them.

Sadly, as we skip ahead in time (the shifts in music on the soundtrack presumably indicate new eras, but little else does), the trinity become recognisable and obvious plot points are hit purely as a way of moving the narrative forward. Despite this, Handmade should be commended for their handling of the early years of the story and the easy chemistry in these scenes does make the viewer curious as to where the friendships will go. (Sean Greenhorn) ■ C cubed, until 14 Aug, 5.45pm, £10.50–£9.50 (£8.50–£7.50).

Written by Max Dickins, Kin is a two-person play about a pair of sisters, brought together for the first time in 20 years by their father's imminent death. While the father remains absent, just a garish jacket draped on a chair and the sounds of breathing from next door, the estranged sisters face off across a dining table.

Actors Abigail Burdess and Kate Alderton are excellent as the Chapman siblings, in turns tender, bitter and furious as they grapple with different versions of their shared history, as well as the realities of the adult lives they have chosen for themselves.

Long-held resentments contrasted with genuinely affecting moments between the pair, like the joyous remembering of a shared dance routine complete with very literal dance moves, help create an intricate dichotomy between sibling rivalry and sisterly affection.

The artfully crafted script boldly interrogates assumptions of what it means to be a family. The pace is rushed in places, with Dickins’ vivid musings on the nature of love slightly lost in the emotionally charged atmosphere. With dark comic flashes to break the tension Kin is a taught and riveting examination of the complex nature of sibling love and the lasting fall out of childhood experience. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 4pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

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Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: SID SCOTT

PHOTO: GERAINT LEWIS

THOR AND LOKI A smash hit for Marvel and musical fans alike ●●●●● In a near-apocalyptic world, not unlike our own, the fate of the gods and everyone else rests in the hands of the mighty Thor – but he's not too keen on using his mighty hammer. This adaption of the Norse legend sees Thor as a vegan pacifist, and Loki as the under-confident and scorned ugly duckling, who just wants to picnic with friends and make dreamcatchers. Together they must overcome their differences, family ties, and insecurities in order to save the world.

This production carries all the quick wit of a Marvel movie, with a few parallels drawn between the Asgard and 2018 USA. Odin appears cloaked in gilded wrestling gear, while Thor's jocular brothers sport American football attire; together they sing a very enthusiastic song about the merits of building a wall. There's plenty of snappy throwaway lines, political gags, and a healthy dose of silliness to keep everyone laughing. And if that's not enough, the cast's talents will continually amaze: they sing, dance, tap, play multiple characters, and numerous musical instruments. This feel good show by Vicky Graham Productions is full of talent used well. (Clare McVay) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 13), 7.15pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

THE GREATEST PLAY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

LOVECRAFT (NOT THE SEX SHOP IN CARDIFF)

Moonage daydream in life-affirming play ●●●●●

A show with a heart and intelligence ●●●●●

Some plays should be prescribed on the NHS. The Greatest Play . . . is one such play, a feelgood story with love inscribed even in its process of creation.

With the warmth and ease of a stand-up comedian, Julie Hesmondhalgh narrates a space-age love story written by her husband Ian Kershaw which weaves poetry into the most mundane situations.

Time seems to have stood still for Tom, an aspiring writer and lost soul. But as he stands at his window, there is another figure on the street across the way mirroring him. Has he found a new plot point, or a true soulmate? What unravels is often profound, funny and heartfelt. It takes skilful storytelling to bring chance, parallel universes, and cosmology to what is ostensibly a light rom-com.

That Kershaw's script does it with humour and heart reveals the voice of a talented playwright.

From the first moments, when Hesmondhalgh asks audience members to divest themselves of their shoes, she flawlessly brings to the fore reminders and eloquent evocations of the vastness of space, and incidents of human interconnectivity.

A small, perfectly formed production. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 13,20) times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Lovecraft aims to bring people together by explaining the science of love. This one-woman performance by Carys Eleri promises to explain how understanding the brain can help us tackle loneliness, and fight the growing isolation epidemic. It's a noble idea, and one which is obviously backed-up by a lot of research (there is a reading list handed out). Like a Brian Cox of love, Eleri's explanation of how the brain works and the chemicals it releases in different love-related situations is insightful and comforting.

Moreover the frankness and honesty of her stories creates a sense of intimacy and complicity. As Eleri confides her personal history of past relationships, the audience nod, groan, and laugh with recognition and sympathy (there's a lot of shared pain over Tinder in particular).

But the many post-breakup songs which punctuate the wry storytelling are given too much of a centre stage here, and in the end leave little time to tie the lesson together, nor answer the key questions posed at the start. Nonetheless, it seems Eleri genuinely cares, and the audience leave feeling closer to one another than when they first sat down. (Clare McVay) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 9pm, £15 (£12).

PHOTO: JOHN LAUENER

CENTURY SONG Unconventional exploration of womanhood and race ●●●●● Classically trained soprano Neema Bickersteth is a wholly compelling performer, despite not uttering a single word during Canadian company Volcano's multimedia performance work, Century Song. Alongside pianist Gregory Oh, and percussionist and computer effects technician Benjamin Grossman, she presents a one-woman show that fuses art forms to interrogate 100 years of the black North American female experience.

Century Song is multidimensional in its creation, with Bickersteth's wordless singing of classical songs and improvised instrumental music providing an affecting soundtrack to stunning projections and tenacious choreography. The music and visual art used is bold, supplying an ideal backdrop to the lush vocal arrangements.

Beginning with Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Century Song goes on a stirring journey that includes music by Messiaen, Cage and composer Reza Jacobs. As well as classical music, there's also a comical medley of classic TV theme songs, as played by Oh and Grossman. In each time period and piece of music, the experimental nature of Bickersteth's melisma and the matching musique concrete creates the kind of theatre that doubles as art through the interconnectedness of its many different and arresting elements.

With collaborators Ross Manson (direction) and Kate Alton (choreography), Bickersteth provides an insight into the unspoken history of black women. The lack of a set storyline accentuates the theatricality of each period depicted, while placing a focus on an unconventional exploration of changing realities. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ ZOO Southside, until 18 Aug (not 15), 3pm, £12–£14 (£10–£12).

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews at a Glance

REVIEWS AT A GLANCE For full length versions of these reviews, see list.co.uk/festival

ACTION MAN ●●●●● A gripping, moving play from a talented young cast, Action Man confronts posttraumatic stress disorder, NHS cuts, and the treatment of disabled people by the welfare state. Unflinching in its address of real, important and pressing issues in British society today, Action Man is a fantastic piece of theatre which deserves a full audience during every performance. (Kenza Marland) Paradise in Augustines, until 11 Aug, 5.35pm, £10 (£8).

ALL THE LIGHTS ARE ON ●●●●● There’s little startling or surprising about ACE-Production’s eloquent, poignant show; a part of the Fringe’s From Start to Finnish showcase. But it’s an honest, strongly delivered reflection on the impact of life-changing disease on a loving family, with hopes raised then dashed, and impossible decisions that have to be made. (David Kettle) Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 8, 13, 20), 11.40am, £10 (£8).

EREWHON ●●●●● Despite his likeable magic lantern slides, it’s Arthur Meek’s droll storytelling that carries this show, supported brilliantly by the retro-futuristic tunes played live by Meek’s compatriot Eva Prowse. The show becomes more opaque as it strays into time travel and the threat from conscious technology towards its end. But as a critique of colonialism, and a merciless send-up of handwringing liberal inertia, Meek’s Erewhon is a sublime achievement. (David Kettle) Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.25pm, £10 (£8).

FRONTING ●●●●● Playwright Darren Hardie covers a lot of topics – sex, family, music, religion and more – so many, in fact, that few are examined in the depth they deserve.

Conor O’Donnelly is nicely thoughtful in the central role of David, but Kirsty McAdam’s direction strikes too restrained and too similar a tone throughout, and opportunities for drama and development sometimes feel left unexplored. It’s a touching hour of theatre, but one that ends up seeming more like lengthy exposition than compelling drama. (David Kettle) Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 14), 12.45pm, £8–£11 (£7–£10).

THE FLOP ●●●● ● Enjoying the silliness of a judicial system obsessed with male genital efficiency, The Flop never manages to overcome the inconsequentiality of this historical oddity and revels in slapstick. The comedy is pleasant rather than uproarious yet the depiction of naive yet sincere love is moving and mildly tragic.

(Gareth K Vile) Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 4.55pm, £12 (£8).

GRACE ●●●●● Grace is a onewoman theatre show about Alfie, the male half of a comedy double act, who re-enters the stage as Zora, a woman.

Except Zora battles stage fright, so Alfie plays characters they meet until she’s ready. As well as sharp observations on the entertainment industry, Grace addresses gender fluidity and trans acceptance. (Adeline Amar) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug (not 13), 1.45pm, £8.50–9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

HOW TO KEEP TIME ●●●●● There’s masses of potential here, but for the moment How to Keep Time feels too much like two ideas placed side by side, PHOTO: ERIK NORDER

Erewhon

neither of which are explored in the depth they need. Nonetheless, Antosh Wojcik is a likeable, engaging actor, as well as a brilliantly skilled drummer across many styles, and he sets a nicely thoughtful pace throughout this rewarding, reflective hour of music and memory. (David Kettle) Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 10.15am, £10 (£8).

JOHN PARTRIDGE: STRIPPED ●●●●● While the show contains moments of vulnerability and emotional honesty for Partridge, this is perhaps not as obvious for those who are not familiar with his career. Still, few people couuld pull off a rendition of Bowie’s Bring Me the Disco King as impressively as he does, and Stripped remains a powerful, enjoyable moment of entertainment. (Adeline Amar) Assembly, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 6.30pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14).

MENGELE ●●●●● Mengele has a resonant message: that xenophobic ideas, while extreme, continue to proliferate today, and such evil can emerge from the most mundane of sources. The play does a fine job of inter-cutting his ravings with documentary footage from the Holocaust – a formidable counterpoint to Mengele’s historical revision, and an ominous warning to us all. (Deborah Chu) Assembly, until 26 Aug (not 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25), £10–£12 (£9–£11).

MODEL BEHAVIOUR ●●●●● A study of life for a model that veers between general thoughts on patriarchal oppression and more pointed critiques of the fashion industry, Model Behaviour does not always integrate the personal and the political, but is a forceful condemnation of a system that reduces women to skin and bone facsimiles of beauty. (Gareth K Vile) theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, until 11 Aug, 8.20pm, £7.50 (£5).

OFFSTAGE ●●●●● Offstage is a physical, almost wordless play exposing the mental health struggles that happen behind the mask of performance.

At points, the symbolism becomes muddied and can be hard to follow, but the intention of showing that mental health issues often lurk behind the scenes is achieved effectively. (Nyla Ahmad) Pleasance Dome, until 27 August (not 14), 12.10pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

QUEENS OF SHEBA ●●●●● A series of powerfully sung or spoken vignettes that detail the various microaggressions that black women must contend with on the basis of both their race and gender. Their vocal prowess is only matched by equally

excellent choreography that highlights the strength these women draw from one another, come what may. In the immortal words of Diana Ross: there ain’t no mountain high enough for these queens. (Deborah Chu) Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug (not 13), 6.50pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10) RE:PRODUCTION ●●●●● Re: Production follows Karen and Tom, whose status as the most disgustingly endearing couple on the planet is threatened by the revelation that Karen doesn’t want children, and Tom desperately does. The issues at the heart of the matter are frequently interposed with asides about the scientific and anthropological basis of love and reproduction, as well as snippets of friends and families weighing in. As such, the conclusion is perhaps a bit slight for Re: Production’s emotionally hefty premise. (Deborah Chu) ZOO Southside, until 27 Aug (not 15), £12 (£10).

SHAKESPEARE FOR BREAKFAST ●●●●● The ensemble are playful and confident, dealing with the corruption of English’s ‘Great Playwright’ and audience participation gleefully: nods to the problems of the text don’t really resolve the clear disrespect for women, but the broad humour manages to keep the tone light and witty. A lively start to the day – with free food and drink – ensures Shakespeare for Breakfast will continue being a familiar Fringe favourite for the future. (Gareth K Vile) C, until 27 Aug (not 13), 10am, £7.50–£9.50 (£5.50–£7.50).

SHOWMANSHIP ●●●●● Showmanship is a modest, understated affair, with just a table of candles and an exotic, peacockfeathered costume – plus a couple of tiny but telling special effects – to create atmosphere. But it’s a captivating, thoroughly bewitching hour of theatre nonetheless, and one with dark resonances for our own troubled times. (David Kettle) C royale, until 27 Aug (not 14), 5.40pm, £7.50–£10.50 (£6.50–£8.50).

VERY BLUE PETER ●●●●● The show’s humour depends on the juxtaposition of the Blue Peter format with adult emotional tragedy. The cast has little to do but shout and mug, and many of the jokes fail to land.

Lacking interest in satire or structure, VBP is shallow and crushes potential wit beneath blunt references and occasional meta-theatrical slapstick.

Underdeveloped and slapdash, it is disappointing and seems to care more about being brash than entertaining.

(Gareth K Vile) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 11.15pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

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festival

VISUAL ART

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

REMBRANDT: BRITAIN’S DISCOVERY OF THE MASTER Old master gets the Edinburgh Art Festival blockbuster treatment The formula for a blockbuster Edinburgh Art Festival summer exhibition is adhered to without much deviation here. First, take an acknowledged classical master or masters of painting; then painstakingly source enough paintings to tell a story, put all the research done up there on the walls and in the brochure, put it in the National Gallery of Scotland’s RSA building, and await success.

As such, nobody is likely to be stunned by the shock of the new when they visit this extensive exhibit of the work of 17th-century Dutch master Rembrandt, although they are likely to be impressed by the effort which has gone into building the exhibition. Some pieces are being shown for the first time, while others haven’t been seen in Britain in as long as a century.

There’s a certain intrigue to the historical sections which detail exactly how Rembrandt’s work first

started making its way to the UK some years after his death, how they were later definitively attributed to him (or, in some cases, not), and how they came to flood the market in the 18th century, with ‘The Mill’, in particular, inspiring landscape artists including JMW Turner and John Constable.

Among the greatest examples on display are the mysterious ‘Balthazar’s Feast’; the atmospheric nocturnal ‘Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt’; the famed portrait ‘An Old Woman Reading’; and pieces by numerous other artists who bear Rembrandt’s influence, including Paolozzi, Eardley, Bellany, Frank Auerbach and – unusually – the sculptor Jacob Epstein. It wouldn’t be a blockbuster, after all, without a few greatest hits in there too. (David Pollock) ■ National Gallery of Scotland, until 14 Oct, £10–£15 (£8.50–£13). ●●●●●

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FESTIVAL VISUAL ART | Hitlist

ART HITLIST Rachael Cloughton picks some of the best visual art to explore in the festival’s second week ROSS BIRRELL & DAVID HARDING: TRYPTYCH A three-channel film installation showing a recital of Henryk Gorecki’s 1976 Symphony No. 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, performed by the Athens State Orchestra with the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra. Set within the historic Trinity Apse it is a powerful exploration of the thresholds between music, politics, poetry and place. See review, page 103. Trinity Apse, until 26 Aug, free.

SHILPA GUPTA: FOR, IN YOUR TONGUE I CANNOT HIDE: 100 JAILED POETS Indian artist Shilpa Gupta brings fragments from the work of 100 poets who have been jailed through the centuries together in this poignant sound installation. The work draws directly on the work of poets who have found themselves in conflict with political powers as a direct result of their ideas. The Fire

Station at Edinburgh College of Art, until 26 Aug, free.

TAMSYN CHALLENGER: FREE THE PUSSY! In her curatorial debut, Tamsyn Challenger has organised a fierce exhibition of works made in response or in homage to the band Pussy Riot. There are also playful interventions around Summerhall

by Challenger herself, including the renaming of the Royal Dick bar (The Royal Pussy) and a pop-up mini dance floor, complete with disco ball for you to boogie mid-show.

Summerhall, until 23 Sep, free.

LIBERTY ART FABRICS & FASHION Dovecot is hosting a major retrospective of the innovative retailer and design studio, Liberty.

There are over 100 garments and fabrics on show, spanning 140 years, charting not only Liberty’s lifetime of work, but also key turns in cultural history from aestheticism and art nouveau to psychedelia. See review, page 103. Dovecot Gallery, until 12 Jan 2019, £9 (£4.50).

For, in your tongue I cannot hide: 100 Jailed Poets

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Biodiversity | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART

list.co.uk/festival

A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Biodiversity is the subject and title of a new collaboration between artist Siobhan Healy and the creative genius that is Alasdair Gray. Neil Cooper caught up with the duo as they prepared for the show’s Edinburgh Art Festival opening PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

I

t’s a hot day in Glasgow, and in the city’s leafy West End, Scotland’s greatest living polymath is at his desk. In the coolness of his front room, Alasdair Gray is painstakingly writing words for a label that will accompany the environmental constructions of Glasgow-based artist Siobhan Healy. Gray has missed out the ‘d’ of ‘Scotland’, and takes a minute or two to carefully add the detail in his inky hand-writing.

Such is the evolution of Biodiversity, a collaboration between Healey and Gray that sees a steampunk-styled laboratory installed with Healy’s glass-based sculptures. With each one etched with Gray’s hand-written missives, they are shown in a series of found display cases.

Rather than some arcane excavation, Gray’s customising of Healy’s creations is designed to give a fresh resonance to the environment we’re living in now.

‘Biodiversity is the main interest of my artwork,’ says Healy, who initiated the project as part of a residency at Edinburgh College of Art. ‘So I’ll tend to make clear glass artworks depicting rare species, just to highlight them and show the beauty of them. Alasdair’s texts to go with them are really strong, and are warnings in a lot of ways. They’re much more forceful texts than my quite decorative artwork might portray.

We’re highlighting a historical element, but there’s a modern edge to it as well.’

Key to Biodiversity is Patrick Geddes, the radical 19th-century Edinburgh town planner who talked of living in a green world, with animals depending on leaves to survive. ‘Even at that stage,’ says Gray, ‘people were talking about the effect that humans were having on the environment. Geddes set up an organisation that he called the Social Union, derived from Burns’ To A Mouse. Geddes applied that to human beings as well. He had advice to town planners that I wish they had all taken to heart, that before you demolished anything, you first took a survey to find out what was in working order, and kept that as far as possible. This has not been much obeyed in Glasgow, I’m afraid.’

In his research, Gray discovered that Charles Darwin wrote a letter of reference for Geddes.

Gray points out that this was probably when Geddes became professor of botany at Aberdeen University. ‘There’s something fascinating about looking into these historical links, and seeing how these visionaries of that time can feed into our knowledge now,’ says Healy. ‘At the time a lot of people probably weren’t listening to what they were saying, but years later they start listening and eventually take those ideas on board.’

With Biodiversity the show and the science itself both works in progress, Gray’s texts look set to be incorporated into a health centre as a public artwork. With the Edinburgh College of Art show running concurrently with an exhibition at Pollok House in Glasgow, which will feature several prints and a painting by Gray, Biodiversity has a clear political aim as much as an artistic one.

‘Oh, yes,’ yelps Gray, who Healy says, ‘brings in the human elements of the effects of these things’. As if to prove her point, Gray joins the dots between the attitude to pollution and other environmental effects then and now.

‘People then took the line that Trump takes,’ he says, ‘in that they couldn’t afford to do anything about pollution, because it makes too much money, and that the industry causing it should not be penalised. Today, it’s almost gone too far, but the European Union was one of the few power blocks who were doing anything about it. Britain pulling out of the European Union is attempting to follow America in any way it can, but if human beings don’t combat pollution, they haven’t got long left.’

Biodiversity, The Fire Station at Edinburgh College of Art, until 26 Aug, free.

8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 101

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Canopy by Tom Hammick 2018

look at the wood and see the trees 28 JULY 2018 – 12 JANUARY 2019

Celebrating 140 years of Liberty textiles from Orientalism and Art Nouveau to the Swinging Sixties and Liberty today

28.07.18 01.09.18

BOOK NOW dovecotstudios.com In association with Fashion and Textile Museum London

5 William Street Edinburgh www.galleryten.co.uk infogalleryten@gmail.com

3.30 pm 3 – 18 August

(60min)

0131 556 6550 www.pleasance.co.uk

­¬ ŧ YoungPleasance

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Quotes refer to Young Pleasance’s previous shows

“ Y O U N G P L E A S A N C E I S E X T R A- O R D I N A R Y ”

102 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

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Reviews | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART

list.co.uk/festival

ROSS BIRRELL & DAVID HARDING: TRIPTYCH Essential exploration of absence and loss ●●●●●

Powerful stage for imprisoned voices ●●●●● A country could be said to be in a bad way when it starts putting poets in jail. For this installation, Mumbaibased Shilpa Gupta brings together the words of 100 poets who have been imprisoned for their writing or beliefs, from the 8th century to the present day.

In the darkened space, 100 rusted metal rods each spear a page on which a few lines of verse are written. The same lines spoken in a variety of languages form a sound installation for the100 voices: ‘Tomorrow, maybe they will kill us,’ whispers a voice in your ear, before being echoed and joined by other voices from around the room.

Immense care has been applied to orchestrating the voices, resulting in a work that is more than the sum of its parts. Despite these writers very different stories, there are common themes of love, home, freedom and equality to be found in their writing.

The individual microphones evoke the isolation of prison. Here they come together, from dark corners, in a powerful chorus of witness. These are voices which others tried but now failed to silence; here, they are given voice again to speak. (Susan Mansfield) ■ The Fire Station at Edinburgh College of Art, until 26 Aug, free.

Absence and loss are everything in this ongoing collaboration between Ross Birrell and David Harding.

It’s there in the epic sweep of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (1976), a filmed performance of which forms the show’s heart. Shown across three screens, the film, ‘Lento’, features a collaboration between the Athens State Orchestra and the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra. With the orchestras filmed from the back of the central screen, Syrian soprano Rasha Rizk eventually comes into view to sing a haunting 15thcentury lament on loss through war.

The resonances of enforced migration are lent even more intensity by the washes of blue and red that cover the windows of Trinity Apse. The different shades are derived from another piece rooted in the words of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, and lend the film and performance fire as they reflect the slow-burning sombreness of the music. The piece was originally conceived for documenta 14, along with a new piece, ‘Fugue’, developed in collaboration with Syrian composer and violinist Ali Moraly. Its overriding sense of a world in endless exile makes for an essential experience. (Neil Cooper) ■ Trinity Apse, until 26 Aug, free.

PHOTO: GEORGES MéLIèS, LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE, 1902 COURTESY INGLEBY, EDINBURGH

PHOTO: COURTESY EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL. PHOTO JOHNNY BARRINGTON

PHOTO: COURTESY EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL. PHOTO JOHNNY BARRINGTON

SHILPA GUPTA: FOR, IN YOUR TONGUE I CANNOT HIDE; 100 JAILED POETS

JACOB'S LADDER Star-studded space-themed exhibition ●●●●● Fifty years after Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and just a year shy of half a century since man walked on the moon for real, space is still very much the place. With this in mind, Ingleby’s group show of 15 artists aims for the stars. This is perfectly evoked by ‘Colour Field’ (2016), Katie Paterson’s reimagining of the night sky with the dancing neon of Los Angeles after dark.

One can orbit from Marine Hugonnier’s redacted American and Russian newspaper front pages of the moon landings in ‘Art For Modern Architecture’ (2018) to the half-ton boulder of Alicja Kwade’s ‘Stellar Day’ (2013) revolving in painfully anti-clockwise fashion.

Both David Austen’s waggish film, ‘Smoking Moon’ (2007) and George Melies’ vintage moving picture, ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’ (1902), that inspired it, provide lightness, though it is left to ‘From home’ (2018), Peter Liversidge’s seemingly free-standing tape measure and Jonny Lyons’ ladder in ‘High Bias’ (2018) to really defy gravity.

But nothing on this planet can compete with the images taken by NASA and the crews of Apollo 8 and 9. Astronaut Bill Anders’ seminal 1968 photograph ‘Earthrise’ encapsulates a new dawn and astonishes still. (Neil Cooper) ■ Ingleby Gallery, until 20 Oct, free.

LIBERTY ART FABRICS & FASHION A history of the iconic label that will have stylists drooling ●●●●● It’s now 140 years since Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened his emporium on London’s Regent Street and began writing his own peculiarly British chapter in fabric design history. This exhibition, adapted from a show at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London, explores this history, one dress at a time.

Liberty began life as an importer of fabrics from the Far East, feeding the desire among British aesthetes for all things oriental.

But Arthur quickly realised there was money to be made by printing more affordable fabrics at home with similar designs. In the early years of the 20th century, as the market grew for comfortable, loose-fitting dresses, he added a dressmaking department too.

It was in the inter-war years that the classic Liberty fabrics emerged, finely patterned florals which were made into tea dresses and house-coats. At a time when people felt they needed reassurance, Liberty spoke of stability and better days.

To seize the zeitgeist in the 1950s, designers reworked art nouveau designs into dress fabrics in psychedelic colours. Strong colours and bold patterns continued through the 1960s, beloved of designers such as Mary Quant and Jean Muir (whose first job was as a stockroom assistant at Liberty). But in the tricky years of the 1970s, Liberty drew on its archive for soft florals to be turned into floaty peasant dresses by designers like Annabelinda.

The decades since have seen Liberty fabrics maintain a presence in the fashion industry, rather than leading the field. But, just when they might have seemed to lose their edge, in walked Richard Quinn, stealing fashion headlines with his clashing innovations.

The story of Liberty is a story of repeated reinvention, how a winning idea can work again and again. Anyone who loves vintage clothes will be drooling before they’re halfway round.

(Susan Mansfield) ■ Dovecot Studios, until 12 Jan 2019, £9 (£4.50).

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the list

EVENTS

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PACKED FESTIVAL EVENTS PROGRAMME

EVENTS CALENDAR

ART LATE FEATURING JARED CELOSSE The third Art Late starts off at the Gallery of Modern Art where audiences can enjoy a performance from Catherine Street.

Next stop is the Travelling Gallery, before heading off to Jupiter Artland to view new works and see an acoustic performance from Jared Celosse. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 16 Aug, 5.30pm, £11 (£10), list.co.uk/artlate

MUSEUM AFTER HOURS: FRIDAY FRINGE TAKEOVERS Night-time Fringe showcase lights up the National Museum of Scotland

I

f you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have a night at the museum, or just really like the 2006 movie with Ben Stiller, then the Museum After Hours Friday Fringe Takeover is where you want to be in August. Each Friday during the Fringe, you can let loose after a week of festival-going by exploring the incredible surroundings of the National Museum of Scotland under the cover of darkness – with the added bonus of no screaming kids running around.

Each takeover includes 12 acts on three different stages: the main stage in the Grand Gallery, the Hawthornden stage in Hawthornden Court and the Space Stage in the intimate Earth in Space Gallery. Performing across the three nights are highlights from the 2018 Fringe all under one roof, such as comedian Jessie Cave, Australian cabaret singer Ali McGregor (pictured), glamorous drag queen Gingzilla and theatrical circus performers Cirque Berserk!, plus many more.

In between watching top-class acts, you can enjoy street food or a tipple (or two) at one of the numerous bars dotted throughout the venue. You can also keep yourself entertained with fun temporary tattoo stalls, an 80s themed dress-up box or a photo booth which makes your pic into a classic album cover.

Giving you more bang for your buck is the bonus of free entry to Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop, which usually costs £10. The exhibition is a survey of Scottish music from the 1950s until the present day and includes relics from all your favourite Scot-pop stars.

BRUCE DICKINSON Over at the Book Festival, the Iron Maiden frontman reflects on his life as part of the famous heavy metal band, as well as his eccentric childhood, his recent brush with cancer and his penchant for beer brewing, fencing and aviation entrepreneurship. Charlotte Square Gardens, 18 Aug, 9.30pm, £12 (£10), edbookfest.co.uk ART LATE FEATURING THE NINTH WAVE The final art late takes in Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Edinburgh Printmakers, Ingleby Gallery, Arusha Gallery and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Performances include sets from Signy Jakobsdottir and The Ninth Wave. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 23 Aug, 5.30pm, £9 (£8), list.co.uk/artlate

National Museum of Scotland, 10, 17, 24 Aug, 7.30pm, £18 (£16), nms.ac.uk 104 THE LIST FESTIVAL 8–15 Aug 2018

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