The List Festival 2018 - Week 3

l a v i t s fe 15–27 AUG 2018 | WEEK 3 LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

+ O SEE 0 5 T 2 WS NTH O H S MO THIS

FREE

RAISE THE ROOF UNIVERSOUL BRING THE PARTY TO THE FRINGE

+ JORDAN BROOKES LUCY SKAER JOHN GRANT TIM KEY CIRCA: WOLFGANG YUMMY AKRAM KHAN AKALA

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF

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

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Big Fat Bribes Top 20 News

CONTENTS FESTIVAL 2018 | ISSUE 3 | LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

COVER STORY UNIVERSOUL Bringing acts together from all over the world, UniverSoul Circus: Hip Hop Under the Big Top is the place to be this Fringe for a colourful and exciting array of performers and an all-round party atmosphere. We caught up with founder Cedric Walker, as well as a few of the performers, on page 10.

FEATURES

10

UniverSoul Tim Key Since Yesterday

10 12 27

FOOD & DRINK

28

Pop-up bars & food

28

BOOKS

31

Gaël Faye Hitlist Akala

31 32 33

CABARET Little Death Club Hitlist Yummy

COMEDY Jordan Brookes Hitlist Alex Edelman Maisie Adam Natalie Palamides Reviews at a Glance

DANCE Cirque Berserk!

Hitlist Infinita My Land

KIDS

PHOTO: BOON VONG

Chores Hitlist Circa: Wolfgang Brainiac Live!

27

PHOTO: BRIAN SWEENEY

12

CH WHAT’S ECK OUT WHERE HAPPENING YOU LIV E

TIM KEY

SINCE YESTERDAY

Former Edinburgh Comedy Award winner tells us about his return to the Fringe.

Carla J Easton and Blair Young talk forgotten female trailblazers of Scottish pop.

MUSIC

LIST.CO .UK

OFFERS Win tickets to Art Late

8

Win a case of Blue Moon

8

2 for 1 on Pleasance shows

8

2 5 9

37 37 38 39

43 43 44 47 51 56 57

63 63 64 65 66

68 68 69 70 72

73

Wye Oak Hitlist Brian Wilson stargaze

73 74 75 77

THEATRE

79

Trojan Horse Hitlist Vessel Underground Railroad Game Six Reviews at a Glance

VISUAL ART

79 80 82 90 91 92

93

Lucy Skaer Hitlist Bill Viola

93 94 95

EVENTS

96

Art Late

96

TOP RATED SHOWS AT LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL It’s our last issue of the month, but you can still head to list.co.uk/festival until the end of August for new reviews from across the Edinburgh festivals every day. Plus, keep an eye on our top rated page to see which show is number one at the end of the month, when all ratings are in.

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BIG

fat

BRIBE

Here at List Towers we’re not above a wee bribe to make us sit up and take notice of a show. Here are just a few of our favourites from this month

Badass iron-on badges and a lovely shout-out to Irn Bru from high-energy dance sensations DJUKI MALA. Assembly George Square Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 20).

Raspberry sweeties from Ingvild Haugstad, whose show DON’T KILL YOUR DARLINGS follows someone who loses a soulmate to a freak raspberry accident (eeek!). k!). ZOO Charteris, until 26 Aug.

Italian delights and a quiz book filled with obscure UK trivia that stumped even the Brits in our office. Grazie mille! DIARY OF AN EXPAT, Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug.

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 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 Designers Stuart Polson, Seonaid Rafferty 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 Managers Paul Murphie, Debbie Thomson Account Managers Ross Foley, Jakob Van den Berg Ad Ops Executive Victoria Parker Affiliate Content Executive Becki Crossley Events and Promotions Assistants Amy Clark, Maria Panagiotopoulou

A visit from Pamela left us with fabulous fringes for the Fringe (haha) and tote bags.

PAMELA S PALACE, PAMELA’S The Principal, until 27 Aug (not 16, 18, 20 & 21, 25).

A masterclass in ad-hoc cocktail making from the very sober thespians over at SHIT-FACED SHAKESPEARE AND SHITFACED SHOWTIME, Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug.

CONTRIBUTORS

truly magnificent inflatable shark A tru costume that had our office in raptures. cost DANGEROUS GIANT ANIMALS, DAN Underbelly until 26 Aug (not 21).

Unde

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

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.

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2 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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OFFICIAL SELECTION

EDINBURGH

INTERNATIONAL

FILM FESTIVAL

2018

‘Deeply felt love letter’

++++ THE GUARDIAN

EYES ORSON WELLES of

©Specialt y Films

The

A film by Mark Cousins

#TheEyesOfOrsonWelles

IN CINEMAS 17 AUGUST

BOOK YOUR TICKET: www.TheEyesOfOrsonWelles.com Untitled-1 3

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festival

TOP 20

COMEDY

Jordan Brookes Unpredictable and innovative hour from the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show 2017 nominee. The show is self-proclaimed ‘loosely justified nonsense’ that gets inside the audience’s head. See review, page 43.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.

PHOTO: RYAN BUCHANAN

PHOTO: BOON VONG

CIRCUS

VISUAL ART

DANCE

UniverSoul

Free the Pussy

Kadamati

A hip hop big top extravaganza with jaw-dropping contortionists, limbo fire-dancers and global internet sensations Fresh The Clowns. See feature, page 10.

Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug.

Exhibition protesting Pussy Riot’s imprisonment by the Russian government in 2012. Artists include Yoko Ono, Jamie Reid, John Keane and more.

Sciennes & War Memorial Galleries, until 23 Sep.

Akram Khan’s large-scale outdoor dance piece brings together thousands of local dancers to explore identity, belonging and connection. See feature, page 17. Palace of Holyroodhouse, 22 Aug.

>>

15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 5

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FESTIVAL TOP 20

PHOTO: © CAPITOL PHOTO ARCHIVES

MUSIC

MUSIC

Brian Wilson

John Grant

Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson plays the seminal Pet Sounds album, plus greatest hits and solo material. He’s joined by Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin.

See feature, page 75. Playhouse, 19 Aug.

The former Czars singer has a baritone to die for and a handful of critically acclaimed solo albums under his belt. He performs this concert as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. See feature, page 20. Playhouse, 20 Aug. PHOTO: DAMIEN BREDBERG

PHOTO: NICK RASMUSSEN

PHOTO: EMMA MICALLEF

THEATRE

DANCE

COMEDY

KIDS

Vessel

My Land

Natalie Palamides: Nate

Circa: Wolfgang

Poignant drama about a woman who unexpectedly becomes a right-tochoose activist as Ireland’s repeal of the 8th amendment approaches. See review, page 82. Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug.

Hungarian company Recirquel presents a balletic display of acrobatics and circus skills, against a stripped-back set and a dramatic score. See review, page 66.

Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug.

Palamides takes on toxic masculinity through her alter ego, Nate. Codevised and directed by Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Doctor Brown.

See review, page 56. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.

Australian circus troupe Circa does it again, this time in their show especially crafted for children, with an extra dash of silliness and slapstick for the kids. See review, page 70.

Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug.

PHOTO: ED MOORE PHOTO: PAUL HUSBAND

COMEDY

BOOKS

Lucy Pearman: Fruit Loop

Akala: The Ruins of Empire

Best Newcomer nominee from 2017 returns with a show that blends imaginative storytelling and a nonsensical plot line involving a misunderstood worm. See review, page 52. Monkey Barrel, until 27 Aug.

The hip hop artist, poet, and political commentator discusses his book Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire in which he deconstructs race and class in the UK. See feature, page 33. Charlotte Square Gardens, 24 Aug, 8.30pm.

6 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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FESTIVAL TOP 20

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: EMBELLISH PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

KIDS

Six

Chores

Roof-raising musical that places the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives front and centre, with irresistibly catchy tunes and an empowering message of female solidarity. See review, page 91. Underbelly George Square, until 27 Aug.

Delightfully chaotic physical comedy from Australian circus artists Derek Llewellin and Julian Roberts, with plenty of panto-esque capers. See review, page 68. Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug (not 20).

COMEDY

MUSIC

CABARET

THEATRE

Lost Voice Guy: Inspiration Porn

Since Yesterday

The Miss Behave Gameshow

My Left / Right Foot

PHOTO: TOMMY GA-KEN WAN

THEATRE

Britain’s Got Talent winner calls bullshit on being an ‘inspiration’ with his savagely funny comedy.

See review, page 45. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug.

A celebration of Scottish female pop pioneers with sets from a host of bands and a supergroup playing the songs of Strawberry Switchblade, Ettes and more. See feature, page 27. Leith Theatre, 24 Aug.

The anarchic game show returns.

Expect the unexpected from Las Vegas’ grand doyenne of frenzied fun.

See review, page 40. Gilded Ballroom Teviot, until 18 Aug.

A local am-dram society decides to comply with the equalities agenda by creating a show about ‘the disabled’ – without actually casting any disabled people. See review, page 83.

Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug. PHOTO: AYESHA HUSSIAN

PHOTO: WEI-SHENG CHEN

DANCE

CABARET

Bon 4 Bon

Little Death Club

Part of the Fringe’s Taiwan Season, four real-life brothers present a touching, humorous dance performance drawn from their childhood memories, guided by choreographer Eyal Dadon. See review, page 66. Dance Base, until 26 Aug.

Dangerously funny cabaret, breathtaking circus and plenty of debauched fun, set to a soundtrack of Weimar punk jazz, from award-winning Bernie Dieter. See review, page 37. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug. 15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7

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AND HAVE THE LIST DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR The List are proud to partner up with Pleasance 2018 this year, and to celebrate, we are offering our readers 2 for 1 discounts on specific shows.

List readers are entitled to 2 for 1 discounts on the following shows:

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WIN A CASE OF BLUE MOON

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.

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.

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

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How is Blue Moon best served?

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WIN TICKETS TO ART LATE

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 The Ninth Wave.

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.

On the fourth and final edition of Art Late for this festival season, the evening will begin at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, before heading to Edinburgh Printmakers, Ingleby Gallery, Arusha Gallery and The Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Bringing the evening to a close are Glaswegian band The Ninth Wave. You can find out more about the evening on their website.

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

What Glaswegian band will be closing the evening?

Edinburgh Art Festival: Art Late Thu 23 Aug 5.30-10.30pm Various locations Tickets £8/£9

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8 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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NEWS NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM ACROSS THE FESTIVALS

fast s fact

the city and Airbnb bookings going up 70% to more than 1.1 million stays.

• The Edwin Morgan Poetry Award recognises the work of Scottish or Scotland-based poets under the age of 30. Shortlisted poets for this year’s award are Tom Docherty, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Daisy Lafarge, Peter Ratter and Roseanne Watt.

The winner will be announced at a special Book Festival event on Wednesday 22 Aug. • Could you handle a longer Festival? The Edinburgh Hotel Association are urging the city’s leaders to spread out festivaltime to ease demand on accommodation. This comes after soaring prices to stay in

• Enjoy an authentic Finnish sauna outside Summerhall. To accompany the dance, physical theatre and circus show The Sauna, the team behind it have set up a real sauna that will be free for anyone to use and is open from 7–9pm everyday.

A good way to stay warm in Scotland.

• A savvy business mind has been selling up to 250 rolls a day of his specially made Donald Trump toilet paper at the Festival. New Zealander Tim Baker decided the comedy haven would be the perfect spot to peddle his unique product.

on a series of events (Fri 24 Aug) to help participants ease some pressure and stress. The sessions offer respite and the chance to try out therapy practices that are known to boost mental well-being.

5-STAR RATED Cold Blood My Left / Right Foot Ross Birrell & David Harding Shilpa Gupta Six Underground Railroad Game Vessel Spaces Jordan Brookes: Bleed

• A mentally well Fringe is key to having the best Festival experience possible and Fringe Central are putting

My Land Natalie Palamides: Nate

l

iva LIST AT THE Fest

INTO THE UNKNOWN The theme of this year’s Fringe – Into the Unknown – carries particular resonance, as old truths are challenged and the future sometimes seems imperilled by a single tweet. But the unknown can be a powerful quality too; one that moves us to greater empathy and understanding, rather than fear. We believe the following shows best encapsulate this ethos in their push beyond stereotype to explore deeper, more complicated truths about the experiences of those often marginalised by power.

HUFF Brutal yet darkly comic one-man play about the historical and institutional prejudice that is faced

by Canada’s indigenous population, centred on one family’s disintegration due to trauma, cultural genocide and solvent abuse. See review, page 81. CanadaHub @ King’s Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 4.15pm, £11 (£9).

QUEENS OF SHEBA A series of loosely structured vignettes around the rise of misogynoir, which follow four women who are denied entry into a club for being ‘too black’. An hour full of pain, joy and incredible vocal prowess. See review, list.co.uk/ festival Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 6.50pm, £11 (£10).

MY LEFT / RIGHT FOOT A riotously funny musical about a local am-dram society that tries to stage a play about ‘the disabled’ when they don’t know any disabled people.

Stereotypes and inspiration porn are skewered with close to the bone gags. See review, page 83. Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 21), 6.10pm, £16 (£12).

STARDUST A provocative

It looks like festival-goers have been loving their weekly edition of The List. Check out our editor Arusa reading her copy in her favourite office wear, Miss Behave and Tiffany checking out their feature in Issue 2, or our Issue 1 cover-star Anya Anastasia going all meta on us.

exposé of Colombia’s narcotics history, combining hand-drawn animations, physical theatre and verbatim storytelling to deconstruct toxic assumptions about the country and its people, as well as the trivialisation of the drug trade by movies and television shows like Narcos. See review, list. co.uk/festival Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 4.20pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).

15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 9

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | UniverSoul Circus

I

It’s not until the opening routine of UniverSoul Circus: Hip Hop Under the Big Top comes to an end, that you realise what your face is doing. Eyes wide and shining, mouth open and smiling, and a sense you’ve become Tom Hanks in Big (unless you’re a child already, of course).

So full of colour and wonder is the carnival celebration by Trinidad and Tobago group, Caribbean Dynasty, that the stilt-walkers, giant puppet and brightly costumed dancers catch you in their wave of energy.

Which is exactly the response UniverSoul founder, Cedric Walker, is going for. ‘That’s our goal,’ he says. ‘It takes you to a place where you turn into a child again and forget about all your problems.’ A lovely sentiment, but Walker’s reasons for starting his company 25 years ago

in Atlanta, Georgia had much deeper roots.

‘It was an idea whose time had come,’ he says.

‘In America back then, there was no family entertainment that reflected the urban culture – meaning the dance, energy, colourfulness of the kids in the urban communities. So our initial goal was to bring families together and create a show that reflected their culture.’

Walker stage managed and produced live music and theatre shows before turning his hand to circus, including touring with 1980s soul group the Commodores. When he looked around, however, he saw black lives represented in theatre, film and music but not in large-scale family shows. At that point he decided: ‘I want to be the Spike Lee of the live entertainment industry.’

A quarter of a century later, UniverSoul has played to more than 25 million people and

branched out both onstage and in the auditorium.

‘It’s done more than I expected, in that not only did it bring families together, it brought cultures together,’ says Walker. ‘We took in performers from America, Asia and Africa right from the start, but we performed it to mostly black audiences.

‘But then it took on a life of its own and evolved. We’re living in a time now where the internet allows us to learn about each other, which takes down the compartments that used to be there: this kind of music is only listened to by this kind of person, that sort of thing. And one of the most pleasing aspects of what we do is bring cultures together – I love watching all these different people have fun at the same time, with each other.’

UniverSoul’s Edinburgh show has performers from Cuba, South Africa, Mongolia,

PHOTO: MATT BEECH

PHOTO: BOON VONG

PHOTO: BOON VONG

PHOTO: BOON VONG

10 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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UniverSoul Circus | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

Colombia, Guinea and the US – as well as the aforementioned Trinidad and Tobago crew, whose fire work will have you clamping your legs shut. Straddling a burning pole before dancing underneath it, six inches above the floor, the dancers keep on smiling.

‘They don’t get hurt,’ assures Cheyenne RoseDailey, a member of the Caribbean Dynasty act, and the show’s co-host with ringmaster Lucky Malatsi. ‘There’s a technique called bongo dancing, where you dance over the fire before going under it. So you’re taught specifically where to place your feet and how not to get burnt. Usually you start learning when you’re very young, about four or five, because your bones have to get used to going under.’

Rose-Dailey and Malatsi are responsible for building, and maintaining, the party atmosphere inside the UniverSoul tent. A member of the

troupe since he was nine, Malatsi previously performed as an acrobat, contortionist and trapeze artist before they put a mic in his hand to ‘see what I could do’. What he does, is get us all up on our feet.

‘We’re known for being the most interactive circus in the world,’ says Malatsi. ‘We consider this a show for the people – and not just for you to watch, but to be a part of. We get everyone dancing, throwing beach balls around and having fun. That’s what it’s all about at UniverSoul, we create the atmosphere of a family reunion.’

One act we won’t be joining in with is the contortionism (although the incredible Mongolian acrobat team and Colombian tight-rope walkers probably wouldn’t have us either), which almost beggars disbelief. When a performer from the Guinean Bone Breakers

walks into the ring with one half of his body round the wrong way, it’s just the start.

‘Different parts of the world present different types of abilities and artists,’ explains Walker.

‘So when I’m looking for contortionists I go to Ethiopia or Guinea, and we use an African trainer because he understands their bodies.’

As with the rest of the cast, the contortionist group was found during one of Walker’s regular global searches. ‘We travel around and have agents in Paris and China that keep an eye out for us,’ he explains. ‘Our show is based on hip hop culture and urbanness, so we look for acts that fit that energy and can perform at that tempo.’

UniverSoul Circus: Hip Hop Under the Big Top, Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug, £19.50–£21.50 (£18.50–£20.50).

PHOTO: BOON VONG

PHOTO: MATT BEECH PHOTO: BOON VONG

With acts from around the globe under one canvas roof, the UniverSoul Circus is bringing an urban edge and a whole lot of joy to Edinburgh, finds Kelly Apter

15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 11

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Tim Key PHOTO: JONATHAN BIRCH

12 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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Tim Key | FESTIVAL FEATURES

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BOWLED OVER In his Fringe time, Tim Key has had a fully run bath and a double bed on stage as he seduced critics, judges and audiences with his poetrycomedy-multimedia thing. On his return to Edinburgh, he tells Brian Donaldson what he’s done with his ‘Perrier’ award

O

nce upon a time, Tim Key wouldn’t even consider taking to his stage without having the word ‘slut’ in the show title. Debut Fringe hour The Slut in the Hut (it was performed at the old Hut shipping container in the Pleasance Courtyard) was followed by The Slutcracker (winner of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award), Masterslut and Single White Slut. And what about that time he put on a work-in-progress show? Yup, it was called Work-inSlutgress.

For his 2018 Fringe affair (in the wide setting of the Pleasance Grand), he’s opted to get right out of the corner he had so adeptly painted himself into, and is embarking on a Megadate. ‘Those [Slut titles] were very arbitrary and bore no relation to what was happening on the stage, whereas this one is about a huge date,’ he insists over frothy coffee in Edinburgh back in June. ‘It was going to be about a car and that wouldn’t have been called Megadate. This one really does feel like a show called Megadate.’

This 70-minute piece is the true-ish (maybe) story of being on a London date at the Planetarium and Madame Tussauds followed by a flurry of texts (though not exactly what you’d call an exchange), and the hunt for a lost bank card at a bowling alley.

‘So, that bit of it is true. I did go to a bowling alley to retrieve a bank card and it was 9.30 in the morning and I did take a lane. I bowled a bit, I definitely left, there was drizzle, and they didn’t have my card. At the time, I thought, a) this feels, objectively, like a low point; and, secondly, the slight thought in my mind was to go straight to a café with my notepad. So I started more or less writing down what had just happened. I had to salvage something from the situation.’

And what he has salvaged is another curious slice of Key-shaped excellence, containing many of his familiar tropes of yore: there’s the passive-aggressive attitude with his audience; the reading of poems on cards which he then flings to the floor; some heavily artful black and white films intermittently played on a screen; and while entering the auditorium, you’ll see our entertainer for the evening stalking his own stage a good quarter of an hour before kick-off.

‘I’ve always done that,’ Key admits, wholly without apology. ‘Walking on is a bit much, isn’t it? There must be a reason why I don’t do that, but what can it be? It’s now force of habit, but if there is something in it, it’s that 15 minutes before going on I’d get increasingly anxious. In my mind I’d be picturing the audience as demons and devils and ogres carrying tridents and other pieces of equipment they might do me harm with. I think it’s quite a good thing that I actually have a nice audience; you watch as they come in and it has the opposite effect of being offstage: I get more relaxed and more reassured by each seat that is filled with a nice person.’

One other regular aspect of a Key performance that has remained intact is when the passiveness makes way for full-on aggression. It’s not the audience that gets it, necessarily, it’s usually his own vocal cords as he stamps a foot while bellowing a question or command.

‘Melbourne was a classic where I did three nights and it was shot to pieces. You drink lemon and ginger tea: it’s demeaning to put that stuff in your body when you want to be eating chocolate, but in it goes and it does revitalise you. In Edinburgh for a long month, it’s constantly on the verge. It’s quite a resilient organ (I want to say organ; it is an organ isn’t it?). It can bounce back.’

Now that he’s about to set foot back on Fringe soil, it’s perfectly reasonable for him reflect back on his moment of glory. In Megadate, Key pores over his successes such as being Sidekick Simon for the rebooted Alan Partridge, acting with Rufus Sewell, and that time he left Edinburgh with its major comedy award under his arm (on stage he amusingly and pompously keeps referring to it as the Perrier despite the water company having ended their sponsorship deal a few years earlier). ‘I stumbled upon it the other day,’ he notes.

‘It’s on a shelf, above a printer, and there’s stuff on it.

To not have it upright is a good sign of modesty, and to put other stuff on it is very humble. Your next step, I suppose, is melting it down or firing it into space. It’s nice to have about the place, but I don’t have a shrine.’

Tim Key: Megadate, Pleasance Courtyard, 16–26 Aug (not 21 & 22), 11.15pm, £14–£16 (£12–£14).

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13/08/2018 14:41

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.

To see it all, check out The List’s dedicated Canada brochure, or visit list.co.uk/canada

The disturbing truth of life’s great triumphs and sadness.

A SHOWBIZ LIFE… A LIFE THAT IS FRANK SINATRA.

13-26 AUG 7.55PM

PARADISE IN AUGUSTINE’S | 41-43 GEORGE IV BRIDGE | EH1 1EL

15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15

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13/08/2018 14:56

5PM (6PM)

04-27 AUGUST 2018 PRESENTS

’ G N I L ‘DAZZ K TIMES NEW YOR

1 - 27 AUGUST, 3PM (4PM) 13, 14 & 27 1PM (2PM) (NOT 8, 15, 20) Untitled-1 16

13/08/2018 14:56

FESTIVAL FEATURES | Pianodrome

LS PHOTO: TOPAZ PAU

BEYOND E M O R D O PIAN The creative team behind a bespoke 100-seater amphitheatre made entirely from upcycled pianos give Stewart Smith the lowdown on what inspired their unique project and the performers bringing it to life during the Fringe

R

ecent visitors to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh may have noticed an unusual structure taking shape. Built from 50 disused pianos, #pianodrome is a 100-seat concert venue, an interactive sculpture and a musical instrument, all encased within a geodesic dome. A creative and playful response to consumer culture, #pianodrome is the brainchild of Matt Wright and Tim Vincent-Smith, whose band S!nk curate the venue’s evening music programme, #pianodrome Live. Almost every part of the building is made from old upright pianos, from the tiered seating to the pins that hold it together.

Throughout August, the space will play host to in-the-round evening concerts, and free daytime community events, recitals, picnics, workshops, and talks. There will be five playable pianos on site, with lessons from internationally respected teacher Mary McCarthy.

The project began, Wright says, when Vincent-Smith noticed that pianos were being discarded at an alarming rate. ‘There was a huge boom in the industry 100–120 years ago.

Everyone wanted one. Pianos, like everything else, get old and they start to fall apart. They’re taking up lots of space in peoples’ flats so they get chucked out,’ explains Wright.

‘What we want to do is upcycle these beautiful machines, which are a bit like mammoths; they

have this lumpy magic to them and they’re sort of going extinct. The idea is to remind people of this heritage that we have, but also to give people a sense that it’s something to hold on to and keep working with because the piano is such a beautiful instrument. We like to think of pianos like people. No piano is wasted, even if it’s old and grumpy or a bit shit, we want to respect them all.’

S!nk, whose semi-improvised blend of Balkan and Nordic folk, Parisian cabaret, classical minimalism and jazz has been enchanting audiences for the past few years, will be hosting and collaborating with a range of acts they’ve met on their adventures.

Highlights include Edinburgh youth group Tinderbox Orchestra, Oregon folk duo Fellow Pynins, dance and improv project Something Smashing, Americana outfit Delightful Squalor, and popular Edinburgh group Jemima & The Fuse. The closing weekend sees S!nk joined

by Lost Maps pop oddity Ed Dowie, a regular collaborator, and Transylvania-via-Edinburgh singer Lizabett Russo. ‘She is extraordinary,’ says Wright, ‘She has an amazing voice, beautifully emotive lyrics.’

Although most of the acts are on the acoustic side, Wright promises some noisier eruptions.

‘We’ve got the Brackish coming up from Bristol who are total guitar heroes. They’ll be bringing

their very meticulous, deep version of prog rock up. We’re quite excited about that because most of the other acts are going to be quite acoustic and quite soft and lovely and then when we get the Brackish in it’s gonna blow people away.’

Glasgow group Painted X-Ray, formerly known as Ilk, are another highlight. ‘They have taiko drummers, they’re absolutely stunning.’

Of the individuals and groups contributing to #piandrome’s daytime programme, BE United perhaps best capture the project’s community spirit. ‘It’s all about exchanging Scottish music with South African music, so they go over there and they invite a bunch of performers over and host them during the Fringe. So there’s going to be some Zulu dance and a capella singing.

They’re just really excellent creative folk who are interested in building communities in a really powerful way.’

As Wright stresses, #pianodrome is not just an installation but a community project. ‘What we’re hoping is that we’re providing a focus point for people to interact with a beautiful heritage, interact with the piano, and interact with each other in unique and new ways.’ #pianodrome, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Pyrus Lawn, until 26 Aug; #pianodrome Live, until 26 Aug (not 20 & 21), 7pm, £15 (£12).

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Akram Khan | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

ALL TOGETHER NOW Across the central belt, young dancers have been rehearsing for their big moment on the world stage courtesy of Akram Khan. Kelly Apter finds out more

W

a large-scale work with the local community is ‘really exciting and beautiful’ – but for the young people involved, it’s an opportunity of epic proportions.

‘We’ve shown them the piece being performed in Trafalgar Square, but the young people can’t quite imagine how big this is, or how much detail and planning has gone into it,’ says Katie Miller, one of the dance artists recruited to teach Kadamati to the groups.

‘So we’ve let them know how massive this is and that things like this don’t come around very often – it’s definitely a once-in-alifetime experience.’

The youth groups were chosen as a tie-in with 2018’s Year of Young People in Scotland, but when the piece is performed again in Paris this September, it will feature 700 community dancers of all ages drawn from each of the city’s arrondissements – the whole ethos of Kadamati is about people coming together as one strong unit.

‘The themes of the piece have to do with identity, travelling, hope,’ explains Irons. ‘And about being an individual within society, and working out how you can contribute to that society but still maintain your individuality. Also the idea that by bringing people together,

you can somehow create something that you can’t do on your own.’

Part of a commission from 1418 NOW, the cultural programme set up to commemorate WWI, Kadamati isn’t directly about war – more how to avoid one.

‘The piece isn’t necessarily influenced by WWI, it’s more of a response to how the world is these days,’ says Irons. ‘The whole notion that we’re better off on our own, that difference should be shut out and kept away – this piece is an antidote to that.’

When Miller and the eight other dance artists were sent out to teach Khan’s choreography to the groups, they were armed with videos, tutorials and online resources to aid them. But one thing was clear, regardless of each young dancer’s skill level, the goal was to foster a spirit of synchronised individuality not create 300 clones.

‘The idea behind the piece was never supposed to be hundreds of people looking exactly the same,’ says Irons. ‘It’s hundreds of people sharing an expression through Akram’s movement.

Our approach has been about sharing the themes and the intentions of the piece – that’s the important bit, not that each dancer looks like the person standing next to them.’

PHOTO: KIOS MIAH

hen you turn up to watch a show, it’s all about what happens on stage.

The months of rehearsal, the stage technicians beavering away behind the scenes, none of that matters in the moment.

But after the six special minutes of Kadamati have passed, and the young dancers are walking away triumphant, spare a thought for how the whole thing came about.

Choreographed by Akram Khan in 2016 for The Big Dance in London’s Trafalgar Square, the piece has continued to have legs. This August, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, it will be performed outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse by 300 young people drawn from dance companies and schools across the central belt.

‘Something as simple as getting name badges for everyone or planning toilet breaks takes a really long time,’ explains Jennifer Irons, mass movement director.

‘And the reality of that dictates how much time you have to rehearse.

So logistics kind of underpin everything and become an integral part of the creative process.’

Known for his incredible fusion of contemporary dance and Indian Kathak, Khan himself is performing at the International Festival in Xenos, his powerful solo about an Indian soldier fighting in WWI. For him, the chance to also stage

Xenos, Festival Theatre, 16–18 Aug, 8pm, £10–£35; Kadamati, Palace of Holyroodhouse, 22 Aug, 6.15pm, free.

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CO-PROMOTION

PLEASANCE THE CANTERVILLE GHOST Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug (not 15 & 16, 18, 20, 22, 24), 2.45pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12).

When the thoroughly modern Otis family move into Canterville Hall, they’re warned about its fearsome ghost. But has anyone warned the ghost about them? Awardwinning theatre company Tall Stories presents its latest show – for those who dare . . . (Definitely not suitable for under 12s).

BEETLEMANIA: KAFKA FOR KIDS! Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug, 1.15pm, £12–£15 (£10.50–£13.50).

Kafka for kids? Karter thinks it’s a brilliant idea. Kat just wants to have fun! And Karl wants a kebab . . . but someone very strange and very important has arrived to shut everything down. And Edinburgh Pest Control are planning on killing the show.

Karl is keeping quiet because strangely, he’s started growing extra legs.

SUMMERHALL LIMITED RUN FROM 14 AUG

LIMITED RUN FROM 14 AUG

TETRA DECATHLON

VOID

SHOWROOM Until 26 Aug (not 20), 11.55am, £12 (£10).

Having never set foot on a running track in her life, Lauren Hendry decided to sign up for the Tetra-Decathlon, a gruelling 14-event athletics competition. This amusingly audacious solo show, directed by Fringe First-winner Jenna Watt, asks pertinent questions about the psychology of sport and what drives us to compete.

V/DA AND MHZ, IN ASSOCIATION WITH FERAL Until 26 Aug (not 20), 7.20pm, £10 (£8).

Based on JG Ballard’s cult novel Concrete Island, VOID meshes experimental dance and abstract glitch-video landscapes. Taking in typically Ballardian themes of dystopian worlds, liminal spaces and urban paranoia, Mele Broomes performs edgy choreography to the backdrop of an industrial soundscape.

‘VOID assails you, unnerves you on many levels, with Broomes at the heart of the risktaking ★★★★ The Herald

ZUGUNRUHE

PASSIONATE MACHINE

MECHANIMAL ZOO Southside, until 26 Aug (not 15), 1.45pm, £10 (£9).

Zugunruhe (zoo-gun-rue): ‘migratory restlessness in birds’. Body-compasses, magnetic fields, African sunsets, star-chasing, storm-riding . . .This feast of bird behaviour explores a marsh warbler’s wild flight, the world’s only bird whose song echoes its migration route.

ROSY CARRICK ZOO Charteris, until 27 Aug, 3.30pm, £10 (£8).

What would you change if you could travel through time? Using the questionable theoretical framework of all your favourite scifi movies, Rosy Carrick blurs fact and fiction in an exhilarating multimedia mission to find herself – literally.

ZOO

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Censorship and Stigma | FESTIVAL FEATURES

list.co.uk/festival

F**k You, Pay Me

Illicit Thrill

‘WE REJECT SHAME’

Plays and performances about striptease-based entertainment have become something of a genre in their own right in recent years. Here, three women from shows exploring the subject at this year’s Fringe speak out about societal stigma, censorship and fighting to be seen and heard. As told to Gareth K Vile

JOANA NASTARI WRITER AND PERFORMER OF F**K YOU, PAY ME This is a show for the community by the community.

It’s a fictional story but taken from lived experience.

My intention is to transcend the tired public narrative that sex workers always get pigeonholed into either ‘happy hooker’ or ‘tragedy porn’.

The public view of what working in strip clubs is like is skewed: I want to create a show that honours the things that are beautiful and damns the things that are unacceptable. Part of this is how the public unconsciously play a role in those things. I hope that destigmatising the industry will also help destigmatise the ‘creepy’ fictional consumer.

The most damaging thing to sex workers is societal stigma which allows people to not listen to their needs, exclude them from society, and permits people to treat them with disrespect. I see all strippers as highly powerful women: society tells women to be small, and quiet and easy – in a strip club a woman can wear their sexuality freely, take up space, demand pay for emotional labour. If strip clubs weren’t run exploitatively, and there was no stigma, they could be a place where the rules could be reversed, where women rule the roost.

GYPSY CHARMS CREATOR AND PERFORMER OF ILLICIT THRILL Illicit Thrill always includes cast members who have worked strip clubs: each edition of the show seeks to ‘peek under the g-string’ and strip bare aspects of strip-club culture with full-frontal honesty. This year’s edition, Breakin’ The Rules, analyses sociopolitical and morality-based discourses that influence legislation and censorship of striptease-based entertainment. Freedom of expression and restrictions placed on commodified striptease are central.

Would we watch the same performance in a theatrical / cabaret venue and a strip club in a different way? Does the dramaturgy influence the manner in which we consume striptease-based entertainment?

Does the gender (or perceived gender) of the performer affect the way in which we consume? What role does ‘agency’ play [the capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices]?

Can striptease-based entertainment be viewed outwith the patriarchal paradigm? Can a show about strip-club culture be viewed as a site for gendered resistance?

Illicit Thrill doesn’t set out to answer these questions, but does address them.

We are also exploring the concept of de-robing and re-robing women’s bodies and the repression of sexualised female bodies. The concept of agency is paramount to this year’s edition.

STACEY CLARE PERFORMER OF ILLICIT THRILL AND AUTHOR OF THE ETHICAL STRIPPER The male gaze is not as harmful as male entitlement and patriarchal conventions that silence, exploit, and fail to uphold our rights as workers and women.

What lies at the core of patriarchy is women being silenced, misrepresented and spoken for.

We are fighting to be seen and heard, we reject shame, and we demand laws and policies that protect our freedoms and rights as workers. Laws which criminalise sex work put us in danger, you don’t have to look far to find a sex worker activist organisation with the research to back this up.

The aims of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 were to help women by cleaning up the industry. Licensing was tightened up, but nothing was done to protect workers’ rights. It led to an increase in exploitative practises: we need policies designed around the needs of those affected.

In a strip club, whilst we may be performing a sexually objectified gender stereotype in return for money, we also have agency. The more our autonomy can be upheld, the greater the chance we have to challenge the patriarchal conventions on which the industry is built. If we shut down clubs, we will lose that opportunity.

F**k You, Pay Me, Assembly Rooms, until 26 Aug (not 21), 3.25pm, £10–£11 (£8–£10).

Illicit Thrill – Breakin’ the Rules, The Voodoo Rooms, until 26 Aug (not 15, 20–22), 11.55pm, £10.

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+ ++++ ‘A DEEPLY MOVVING

DOCU DO C ME MENT NTARY PLAY PERFORMED BY REAL SOLD SO LDIEERS RS.. PO P WERFULLY AFFECTING AND G IPPPI GR PING NG.’.’ THE TELE TE GRAPH *

Em-Lou Productions present

by Jackie Skarvellis directed by Peter Darney

Writer GARY KITCHING

Director PHIL HOFFMANN

Creative Producer KIM HOFFMANN

Original Concept ALICE DRIVER

3.15PM | TUE 21 – MON 27 AUG

0131 556 6550 | www.pleasance.co.uk #unspoken

*Bravo 22 Company‘s The Two Worlds of Charlie F

Supported by

- I’m just going out to destabilise Western civilisation.

- Can you take the dog with you?

- Okay.

PEOPLE SHOW 130:

THE LAST STRAW SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH 1 - 26 AUGUST 2018 15:00 (finishes at 15:55)

Summerhall Box Office: 0131 560 1581 Fringe Box Office: 0131 226 0000 all.co.uk peopleshow festival18.summerhall.co.uk peopleshow.co.uk

15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 21

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | John Grant

As he prepares for his Edinburgh International Festival show and the release of his latest album, darkly brilliant singer-songwriter John Grant talks to Craig Angus about his changing attitude to love and how it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks

T

hank goodness John Grant kept going after the split of the Czars. Following the break-up of that band – critically acclaimed, never quite making it beyond cult status – he worked as a waiter, a translator and even an air steward, unsure he’d ever release music again. Encouraged by label-mates Midlake to get back in the studio, he’s now preparing for the release of his fourth album as a solo artist, Love Is Magic. Following a trio of records – 2010’s Queen of Denmark, 2013’s Pale Green Ghosts, and 2015’s Grey Tickles, Black Pressure – that delved deep into a life wrestling homophobia, depression and drug and alcohol addiction, and talking openly about contracting HIV, he’s established as one of the most fascinating pop acts in the world of contemporary music.

‘I had probably the most fun I’ve ever had doing a record,’ Grant explains over the phone about the making of Love Is Magic. ‘I made an album with Creep Show (Grant’s project with experimental electro act Wrangler) and I stayed down in Cornwall afterwards with [musicianproducer] Benge. I was like a kid in a toyshop’, he says, ‘using all these synths that I’ve fantasised about my whole life. And over the next year I created a whole bunch of sound canvasses.’ When that was done, Grant decamped to Texas to work with an old friend, Midlake’s Paul Alexander.

‘He got involved with vocal harmonies, some guitars, and acoustic drums, and did a bunch of basslines – mostly it was a synthesiser affair.’

It’s no surprise to hear Grant enjoyed making Love Is Magic, ten tracks which veer between lush instrumentation, throbbing electronica and sensitive balladeering. ‘I’m exploring all the different facets of my personality’, he says.

It’s all there in the stunning opening track ‘Metamorphosis’, in which Grant meditates over loss and the futility of religion (‘she just slipped away / it didn’t seem to matter how much she had prayed’) over a gorgeous soundscape, bookended by two techno-like sections over which he thrillingly recites a stream of surrealist lyrics. ‘Diet Gum’ clocks in at just under seven and a half minutes, an instantly addictive riff backing Grant as he spits: ‘Do you even know where that cheese is made? It’s from Iowa – you dullard’, before growling ‘ever heard of it?’ He laughs, ‘I loved doing that song. It’s an absurd version of me, it’s exploring the feeling of . . . ’ he pauses for thought, before adding, ‘when you resent somebody, but you still feel like fucking them is an absolute must – even though you don’t respect them.’

While in the past Grant’s break-up songs have often been brutally angry, Love Is Magic represents a change in attitude on that front. ‘I came to the end of a relationship just about a year ago,’ he says, ‘and that’s definitely reflected in this record – it’s a different take.

You can let somebody go and continue to love them anyway and just get on with your life.

That’s something that’s taken me a long time to learn. Better late than never, huh?’

The album’s title track – and lead single – contrasts exaggerated portrayals of love in popular culture with the often mundane reality of such a partnership in the context of the daily routine (‘There’s no milk in the refrigerator, and you’ll be hearing all about it when you get home tonight’). ‘It’s me making fun of my own cynicism about love,’ Grant says.

‘When I was writing the song it just sounded like a big 80s power ballad and I was trying to think what absurd title I could come up with. “Love Is Magic” seemed appropriate but it’s also true. If you give yourself to it, and give yourself to the process it’s still a very magical thing – in spite of all the trouble.’

MAGIC MAN

John Grant, Playhouse, Mon 20 Aug, 8pm, £25–£35. Love is Magic is released on 12 Oct.

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | Ken Campbell

BEYOND OUR

KEN Legendary theatrical japester Ken Campbell’s life is celebrated in the play Ken at this year’s Fringe. Lorna Irvine caught up with the people behind the show as well as performers who worked with and were inspired by this human dynamo

K

en Campbell, the late mischievous firebrand of British theatre, once referred to his many projects as ‘capers’. His stories are the stuff of legend – bizarre, yet all true. He once put ferrets down the trousers of future Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy, left his puppets to ventriloquist Nina Conti, staged a 22-hour play cycle – an adaptation of Neil Oram’s The Warp, putting him in the Guinness Book of World Records – and, rather wonderfully, gave eulogies for pet funerals in Ilford.

The very epitome of eccentric, his legacy can still be felt today, whenever shows are staged in unusual settings or take an iconoclastic approach. Any shows which raise eyebrows and take a lowbrow approach to high-minded subjects are reminiscent of his forward-thinking ethos. It is as though his impish ghost stalks the Edinburgh Festival, barking out instructions to ‘act less’. Now Ken, a co-production between the Showstoppers and the Pleasance, is at the festival, examining his extraordinary life and career.

Terry Johnson, who wrote and stars in Ken, says that the time was right for the play. ‘It’s ten years since Ken’s death, and I’m shunting into the mortal time when your knee doesn’t heal, and you look around the living room full of eccentric mementoes of the past and you realise there’s quite a lot of that unresolved. So you ponder your own inspiration, and up he comes.’

Campbell’s own approach is threaded throughout the play. ‘He became obsessed with the glorious fairground of storytelling and how to do it well,’ adds Johnson. ‘I unashamedly plundered his seemingly free-wheeling but precise structuring. And his turn of phrase. Ken thought differently, and if you hung around him enough, so did you’.

Adam Meggido, performer and member of the Showstoppers, whose work is fuelled by improv energy, says Ken Campbell was simply one of the finest in theatre. ‘Like many others, I owe him not just my career, but the rediscovery of joy in my work. He understood the actor-audience dynamic and knew how to work a crowd like a great vaudevillian. He brought theatre to pubs, market places and working men’s clubs with his famous Roadshow. For Ken, theatre was everywhere. He would probably make queueing part of the show.’ And Campbell is still a mentor, too. ‘I always think about how I can be bolder. I go closer towards that which I fear’, says Meggido. ‘I am not afraid to fail. There is no such thing as a mistake.’

Looking back at Campbell’s epic play cycles, fellow Showstopper Kate Alderton says: ‘People often say they “went through” The Warp rather than worked on it. It was like running away with a cosmic circus, a crash

course in life, the universe and everything and a reminder that great theatre can be made with a mix of professionals and non-professionals, furniture from skips, sleep deprivation and synchronicity. Ken completely changed my perception of what theatre was, who it was for and how you could make that happen. My mum and dad (actors Pauline Collins and John Alderton) also met in one of his plays, so he used to cackle with glee that he might be responsible for my very existence.’

Nick Tigg, of experimental theatre company The People Show (staging The Last Straw at this year’s Fringe), worked with Campbell on The Warp and muses on his influence. ‘Like The People Show, Ken was, at his best, an enabler’, he says. ‘He cajoled, encouraged, forced people to do things they would never normally have done, to take risks, to be a “seeker”, as he would have said, in search of the unexpected and unusual. He undoubtedly helped me become a more interesting performer and maybe more importantly, for me, he encouraged me to believe that what I had to say as an artist, as a maker of work, was interesting, and that theatre was the right arena in which to say it. To me, the theatre landscape seems very risk averse, much more so than in the past. Could a Ken Campbell figure emerge now? I’m not so sure.’

Lucy Trodd, also of the Showstoppers, celebrates his unorthodox approach. ‘Ken is an important figure for me, as Showstopper! grew out of our work with him (so did my marriage!). He was a champion of the strange and the impossible’, she says. ‘He wanted you to be the best you could be and would get annoyed with you if you weren’t brilliant immediately. He also introduced me to improvisation in a unique way. It was life changing and all-consuming and it was different. There were no levels of organised courses, but more a sense of ensemble and remembering how to play and stagecraft. He put me on a stage improvising an opera song before I’d had a chance to think. He was my call to adventure. I would miss him very much, but I can’t get away from him! I’ve tried’.

Ken, Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20) 3.20pm, £11–£14.50 (£10–£13.50).

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 6pm, £13–£17 (£11–£15).

The Last Straw, Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 3pm, £12 (£10).

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list.co.uk/festival

Ken Campbell | FESTIVAL FEATURES

Ken

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FESTIVAL FEATURES | VOID

INTO THE VOID As Mele Broomes brings her experimental dance work VOID to the Fringe, she talks to Deborah Chu about Made in Scotland, getting personal and finding her community

F

For Glasgow-based performer and choreographer Mele Broomes, dance has always been about pushing the boundaries of the possible. As the artistic director of V/DA, she’s made a name

for herself through her explorations into the extremities of movement and the deeply multidisciplinary nature of her work, which blends notions of theatricality, dance and scenography to startling, disorientating effect. But in VOID, Broomes now engages with something much closer to home.

Loosely based on JG Ballard’s novel Concrete Island, VOID centres Broomes’ risk-taking choreography against glitchvideo and industrial soundscapes to explore liminal spaces and urban paranoia. Since its premiere in 2016, however, Broomes has been redeveloping VOID to reference more explicitly her experiences as a black woman. On reflection, Broomes says it wasn’t much of a choice.’Even though I’m always channelling my identity as a dancer, when it came to getting this Fringe platform, I needed to be clearer – from the music to the physicality to the structure – that this message is from a black female perspective.’

This shift began 18 months ago when Broomes, Ashanti Harris and Rhea Lewis founded Project X, which champions dance and performance within the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in Scotland. Contemporary dance is still seen as a white, Western form and although Project X emerged as a rebuttal to such misconceptions, it also furnished Broomes with a community that provided the safety and scope to explore her identity as a black female dancer. ‘Project X made

me feel empowered, because I know I have people around me who understand where I’m coming from,’ says Broomes. ‘Obviously you can have a conversation with people about systematic racism or micro-aggressions, but if you don’t live it you can’t fully know it.’

VOID explores notions of fugitive space within Ballard’s narrative, with Broomes drawing ideas from Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s book The

Undercommons. ‘Concrete Island is a survival story about alienation and urban disaster – VOID still has all those elements, except whose survival story is this? It’s still taking the same notions but I’m now owning those notions and those ideas.’

Ballard’s character Maitland becomes Broomes’ Angela; and whereas a car accident strands Maitland on the derelict land between intersecting motorways, Angela is the agent of her own marooning.

Only once Angela is outside the system which dictates reason and logic through a white, male perspective, Broomes explains, can she finally explore her own selfhood and voice. ‘Even having a conversation, creating your own groups, is a kind of fugitive space,’ says Broomes.

Delving into such fraught issues can take its toll, Broomes admits, wearily. ‘Colonialism is this mental disturbance,’ she says, referencing Frantz Fanon’s seminal 1961 publication The Wretched of the Earth.

‘I use that as a reminder that this history has disturbed mine and many others, and that I can create work to use as a channel for my disturbance into the world.

Into the world she will go – for of the 968 Scottish works at the Fringe this year, VOID is one of the 23 works in this year’s Made in Scotland showcase. ‘I feel like we worked for it, I feel like we’re ready,’ she says emphatically. ‘I’m really excited to be a part of representing black female dancers in Scotland. It’s especially important for our young people that we work with in Project X – like, anything that I do, it gives them confidence in whatever it is that they want to achieve.’

Made in Scotland is not merely a seal of approval, however; Broomes will be given money to travel VOID internationally for the first time. What journey does she envision? ‘I don’t know!’ she laughs. ‘To think about the conversations that are potentially going to happen by going to new venues, with other audiences, with other artists, to be able to continue this conversation about identity and experimental dance work – it’s super exciting.’

VOID, Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 7.20pm, £10 (£8).

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“Summerhall, Edinburgh’s year-round cultural village, which is for many the beating heart of the fringe ” The Guardian 3 Aug 2018

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

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Since Yesterday | FESTIVAL FEATURES

Y E S T E R D AY ’ S WOMEN

The makers of a new documentary exploring the forgotten female trailblazers of Scottish pop chat to Kirstyn Smith about the live Edinburgh International Festival event celebrating the music of those bands and the new generation of women musicians challenging the status quo

I

If you close your eyes and picture an image of a band, you’ll probably think of four or five white men in the shape of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, according to Carla J Easton and Blair Young.

Despite the fact that, in Scotland in particular, all-female bands have been a mainstay of the music scene for decades, their legacies are often lost to a more male-focused history. Musician Easton (from allwomen band Teencanteen), and Young, a filmmaker, have teamed up to produce a documentary – Since Yesterday: The Unsung Women Pioneers of Scottish Pop – that aims to bring the female side of Scottish music history to light.

‘I’d had this idea for a good ten years,’ says Easton (pictured), ‘and Blair mentioned he’d been looking for a music documentary to work on. We started talking about how girl groups and girl bands have been represented in music videos and went down that route.’

In their spare time, the pair started contacting people, meeting up to interview them and hear their stories, and unearthing old photos and tracks. Young admits that some of the women they spoke to were confused, if happy, as to why the duo were embarking on their project.

‘There’s a key quote in the documentary where someone says: “I just wanted to see more women in bands”, and I think there’s a feeling that it never really happened,’ he says. ‘I get a sense of frustration from some people we interviewed from previous generations. They were like: “How has it not changed?”’

Of course, women making music together isn’t a new phenomenon, which is something the documentary explores. But why, then, do we not know about so many of these bands, some of whom, says Easton, have done more Peel Sessions than their male counterparts. ‘They did albums and long tours and had top ten singles,’ she says. ‘So why has it not carried on from the time when they were active until now?’

The documentary has inspired the International Festival event of the same name, a night of live music, clips from the documentary and guest performances celebrating all-female bands from the 60s until the present day who have been doing their bit to redress the gender imbalance. Sacred Paws, Bossy Love and the Van T’s will perform, as well as a house band headed by Easton, who’ll be covering some of the tracks discovered while researching the documentary.

‘It’s cool to have today’s bands involved in it, so it’s not just a nostalgia night,’ she says. ‘But I am conscious that the main band of the night is basically going to be playing songs people have not heard. It’s the greatest hits of songs that no-one knows.’

To round the night off with a bang, a number of the women who wrote and performed the songs originally will take to the stage, some of them for the first time in 40 years. ‘I’m quite nervous about it,’ admits Easton.

‘We’re obviously going to do the songs respectfully, and it’s an honour to have these incredible people joining us on stage to perform them.’

Among those guest appearances are Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade), Patricia ‘Trash’ Brown and Anne Morrison (Ettes), Jane McKeown (Lungleg), Jeanette McKinley (the McKinleys), Rachel and Gaye Bell (the Twinsets) and Louise Rutkowski (Sunset Gun). There’s also support from Adele Bethel of Sons and Daughters and Emma Pollock of the Delgados playing the music of cult favourites Sophisticated Boom Boom and His Latest Flame.

One aspect Young is concerned with is audiences coming away from the event thinking about – and knowing about – a different genre of female-fronted music. ‘Obviously there’s loads of women involved in music,’ he says. ‘The biggest solo artists in the world are female: Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga. It’s always just felt like women are only allowed to make music and be signed in a certain shape, either as a solo artist or a pop group. It’s a really defined shape that record companies know they can sell a female act in.’

This, along with the differences in confidence that vary from male bands to female bands, is what Easton wants people to get from the event. ‘Younger people are encouraged in different ways and we haven’t learned that it’s something we need to do a lot of work on, in terms of behavioural issues that get started in youth,’ adds Blair. On top of that, there’s the simpler notion of championing women for what they’ve achieved over the years. Both Easton and Young stress the importance of remembering that, for women picking up instruments and performing back in the 60s and 70s, it was dangerous to just be in the audience, let alone to get on stage and subject yourself to the spotlight.

‘There’s a certain amount of bravery. Let’s celebrate it,’ says Easton. ‘Some of the stories we’ve heard, without going into detail, are a bit uncomfortable to listen to, but we’re not trying to victimise women at all. We’re trying to celebrate everything that they’ve achieved and all the fun times. They’ve paved the way to make it easier for us to do what they did.’

Since Yesterday, Leith Theatre, 24 Aug, 7pm, £20.

PHOTO: BRIAN SWEENEY

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FOOD & DRINK EAT IT UP David Pollock offers up some top tips if you’re looking for Festival food on the fly

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Jarvis Pickle

erhaps it’s just us, but there don’t seem to be quite the same number of ad-hoc pop-up bars and food venues around Edinburgh this year as there have been in the past; at least in terms of empty garages and shopfronts which have been commandeered in the name of doing something different for three weeks only. Perhaps it’s the escalating levels of redevelopment in Edinburgh, and the fact that all the good venues have been taken?

Anyway, a couple of the more interesting spaces we’ve seen come courtesy of a most unusual source, PBH’s Free Fringe.

While you’re on the lookout for some free – or, more specifically, donation-in-the-bucket – comedy, check out the new temporary venue the Three Broomsticks, a shopfront space on the junction of South Bridge and Chambers Street, with a bar which is open until 1am.

Around the corner on the Royal Mile is the similarly temporary venue Tolbooth Market, although this one features Decagram’s Skylight Bar, updated and moved from last year’s home at Leith Volcano.Decagram is an Edinburgh music promoter which is bringing artists and DJs including Urban Farmhand, Siobhan Wilson and Nasty P to the space for sets. There are food stalls onsite – including vegetarian and vegan options – and the free entry bar, which is open until 3am, is funded by what the promoters call their ‘profit-to-artist’ beer.

As far as in-venue pop-ups go, we’ve also spotted BRGR+BUBBLES (Apex Grassmarket Hotel, pulled pork burger with Irn Bru barbecue sauce and Cajun spiced fries, £14), an extension of the vowel-free burger bar BRGR on Nicolson Street which has added champagne and prosecco into the menu.

Otherwise it’s not unusual to find that some of the best popup food at the festival is actually in and around the venues themselves. In the courtyard at Summerhall, for example, the Rost! (crispy duck banh mi, £8) truck is back, and it’s been joined by good-quality pizza van Fire & Dough (nduja pizza, £8).

Despite the Assembly Rooms’ prominent presence on George Street, there are only a couple of options outside; you can get crepe and waffles, or you can try East Lothian seafood chain Alandas (chargrilled half Eyemouth lobster and chips, £15).

At the Pleasance Courtyard you can find St Andrews’ Cheesy Toast Shack (mac’n’cheese toastie, £6), but more than ever, the centre of the festival as far as food stalls go is George Square.

Here, there are places to eat at either end of the square and encircling it. There are too many to mention the lot, although standouts include Ting Thai Caravan (chicken pad Thai, £6.80); Jarvis Pickle pies (Moroccan lamb pie and mash, £8.50); Shri Bheema’s (chicken masala dosa, £7), which serves north and south Indian food; and the Basement Food Truck, which specialises in Mexican staples (tacos, £7).

28 THE LIST FESTIVAL15–27 Aug 2018

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EDINBURGH TV FESTIVAL YOUR CHANCE TO HEAR THE INSIDE STORIES FROM TV’S BIGGEST STARS

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JOANNA LUMLEY IN CONVERSATION

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CATCHPHRASE LIVE WITH ROY WALKER

17.45-18.30

MICHAELA COEL MACTAGGART LECTURE

THURSDAY 23 AUGUST 09.30-10.30

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EXCLUSIVE SCREENINGS WEDNESDAY 22 AUGUST 19.00-20.15

JEREMY CORBYN MP IN CONVERSATION WITH MAXINE PEAKE 13.00-14.00

TAPPING INTO THE NEW TALENT REVOLUTION WITH YOUTUBER DANTDM 13.00-14.00

HOW TO WIN THE FUTURE HOSTED BY DARA Ó BRIAIN 14.45-15.45

VANITY FAIR, ITV – EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW, EPISODE 1 + CAST & CREATIVES Q&A THURSDAY 23 AUGUST 19.00-20.00

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SAVE ME: MASTERCLASS: WITH LENNIE JAMES & STEPHEN GRAHAM

DERRY GIRLS: MASTERCLASS WITH CAST & CREATIVES

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A SMALL COUNTRY MADE BIG Musical storytelling of Gaël Faye’s debut novel

PHOTO: PHILIPPE NYIRIMIHIGO

Rapper, author and composer Gaël Faye’s stunning novel, Small Country (Petit Pays) won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens 2016 and now, translated from French to English for the first time, will be brought to life at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Part of the Playing with Books strand, the event is sure to be a compelling mixture of storytelling in English and French combined with haunting music. Faye (pictured) will be joined by Rwandan musician Samuel Kamanzi, actor Thierry Lawson and translator Sarah Ardizzon for a performance that promises to be expansive in more ways than one. (Lynsey May) ■ Charlotte Square Gardens, 26 Aug, 7pm, £15 (£12).

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FESTIVAL BOOKS | Hitlist PHOTO: KRISTIN KOZELSKY

BOOKS HITLIST Lynsey May picks the best events from week two of the Edinburgh International Book Festival SALENA GODDEN & MOLLY NAYLOR If you like your poetry sharp, loud and insightful, then this duo is sure to please. Poet, memoirist and broadcaster Salena Godden is an electrifying performer who’ll be sharing highlights from her spoken word album LIVEWire while poet and theatre-maker Molly Naylor brings deep, confessional poetry from her debut collection, Badminton. Charlotte Square Gardens, 18 Aug, 6.45pm, £12 (£10).

SUSIE ORBACH Therapy can be a mystifying subject from the outside but the talking cure can be massively powerful in the right circumstances. Join Susie Orbach, a psychotherapist for over 40 years and author of In Therapy: The Unfolding Story, for a peek behind the closed door. See feature, list.co.uk/festival Charlotte Square Gardens, 24 Aug, 11.45am, £12 (£10).

AKALA Rapper, writer and social entrepreneur Akala set out to write a politics book

and ended up with a passionate, polemic memoir. Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire draws on his own experiences, as well as academic studies, as it examines class, race and Britain’s imperial past. See feature, page 33. Charlotte Square Gardens, 24 Aug, 8.30pm, £12 (£10).

LAUREN GROFF Get a taste of Florida’s sinkholes, snakes and powerful storms through a fictional lens with Groff’s powerful collection of short stories. Florida is the follow up to her much-feted Fates and Furies. Hear Groff speak about the emotional insights that make her book so compelling. Charlotte Square Gardens, 26 Aug, 10.15am, £12 (£10).

GAËL FAYE Blending music and spoken word, this lively event brings Small Country, Gaël Faye’s prize-winning novel, to life. The rapper and composer is joined by Samuel Kamanzi, actor Thierry Lawson and translator Sarah Ardizzon for what promises to be a big performance. See preview, page 31.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 26 Aug, 7pm, £15 (£12).

11 — 27 August 2018

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

Lauren Groff

FRANK QUITELY With a career spanning 30 years an a whole host of huge titles, from Batman and Superman to the recent Jupiter’s Legacy, comic book artist Quitely has amassed a huge body of work and plenty of fascinating

experiences. He’ll be chatting about a few highlights as well as his new book, Frank Quitely: Drawings + Sketches at this conversation-driven event. See feature, list.co.uk/festival Charlotte Square Gardens, 25 Aug, 8.45pm, £12 (£10).

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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Akala | FESTIVAL BOOKS

list.co.uk/festival

ROAD RUIN

TO

Speaking to Stewart Smith in the run up to his Edinburgh International Book Festival appearance, rapper and writer Akala unpicks the inherent racial and class narratives examined in his passionate polemic-cum-memoir

A

s Akala writes in his powerful new book Natives: Race and Class In The Ruins Of Empire, public discourse about racism is still as ‘childish and supine’ as it ever was. We have been trained, he argues, to see racism as an issue of interpersonal morality, rather than a form of structural violence. And as the hysterical reaction to decolonising activism like the Rhodes Must Fall protest has shown, Britain is still strongly wedded to its imperial past.

In Natives, Akala unpacks these thorny issues through a combination of analysis and memoir. The rapper, writer and social entrepreneur was born in Sussex in the early 1980s to a British-Caribbean father and Scottish/English mother, and grew up in the north-west London borough of Camden, ‘a petri dish for examining race, class and culture’.

A self-proclaimed ‘nerdy boy’ drawn to books, music and sport, Akala faced the same struggles with poverty, racism and gang violence as his peers and family members. ‘I was setting out to write a politics book, but we realised that the best way to do that was to use

my own experiences,’ he says from his London studio. ‘Rather than have race and class as these abstract ideas, this is how they manifest in the lives of ordinary people on a daily basis.’

He gives the example of his friend, ‘a very successful black British actor’ whose children are essentially upper middle class yet have had interactions with the police throughout their lives.

‘We live in a city where there is no class analysis for black people. Crime committed by the black underclass is black crime, so upper middle class black children who’ve gone to private school, who’ve never committed crimes, who are statistically unlikely as almost anyone else in the country to ever stab anybody, it’s still somehow legitimate [to see them] as potential gang members because we have a narrative that is classless, that is solely focused on the skin colour of the perpetrator.

Scotland has had long problems with gang crime too, and of course there is a whole class-based stigmatisation of the schemies, but no one would ever call what happened in the east end of Glasgow white on white violence.’

>>

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PHOTOS: PAUL HUSBAND

>>

Natives is impressive in its historical sweep, mapping the construction of racial identity onto the growth of empire and capitalism. It is also full of nuanced cultural critique.

In the chapter called ‘Linford’s Lunchbox’, Akala dissects racialised discourse in sport. Asked about the recent World Cup, he brings up England footballer Raheem Sterling, who was criticised by the right-wing press for his tattoo of a gun.

For Sterling, the tattoo reflected his vow never to touch a gun after his father was shot, but such subtleties did not fit the tabloid narrative.

‘The stick Raheem Sterling’s getting, it’s not even subtle at this point. The Daily Mail in particular are upset that an irreverent, not sufficiently grateful young black kid – from Stonebridge [in northwest London], to make it worse – whose dad was killed, is earning a quarter of a million pounds a week.

‘What I found really fascinating, is that we live in a capitalist society, where theoretically speaking, a kid from that kind of environment who’s made good, the Daily Mail should love him. But in their mind, people like him are not supposed to make that kind of money, and if they do, they should be “yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir” grateful, and Raheem is not that.

‘It’s weird when you’ve got people sweating their heart out for England, they’re being treated essentially as if they’re

foreigners and enemies of the country. I think that speaks to this insecurity that people have in relation to black athletes.

And let’s be real, Raheem’s not built like Linford Christie, so it’s not even about the sexual insecurity towards the hypermasculine, 6ft 5 ripped-to-shreds [black athlete] – I mean, black men would feel insecure looking at Linford Christie!

So the fact that someone like Raheem, who’s much smaller, slender, is still given this treatment, albeit in a slightly different way, I think that says something about a particular section of the British press and their relation to black athleticism.’

Akala stresses the need for wider education about the British Empire; to learn from the past you need to understand it at the very least. He has been encouraged by efforts to acknowledge Scotland’s role in the Empire, citing the work of scholars Tom Devine and Stephen Mullan. ‘I don’t romanticise Scotland, but there is a political culture where Scotland seems to be trying to become a small, prosperous European social democracy, and Scotland’s kind of satisfied with that. England still wants to run the world. I don’t see how they’re going to survive in a union together for the next 30 years if these massive contradictions remain.’

Akala, Charlotte Square Gardens, 24 Aug, 8.30pm, £12, (£10).

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Top Tips | FESTIVAL BOOKS

list.co.uk/festival

TOP TIPS Plan a day out with the many events on offer at the Edinburgh International Book Festival over the next week and a half

THU 16 CHITRA NAGARAJAN & OLUMIDE POPOOLA Charlotte Square Gardens, 4pm, £12 (£10) Join Chitra Nagarajan, editor of the groundbreaking collection She Called Me Woman, and writer, speaker and performer Olumide Popoola for a discussion on feminism and intersectionality in contemporary African communities and countries.

MICHAEL PEDERSEN’S OYSTER PARTY FOR SCOTT HUTCHISON Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £12 (£10) Michael Pedersen pays homage to the late Frightened Rabbit frontman and artist Scott Hutchison, who illustrated the poet’s second collection Oyster, which they launched together at the Book Festival last year. Join Pedersen and some of his and Hutchison’s close friends: Hollie McNish, Withered Hand and EA Hanks as they perform their own work and share stories.

FRI 17 JUNO DAWSON: CLEAN Spark Theatre, George Street, 5.30pm, £5 Juno Dawson returns to the Festival with her razor-sharp novel about one young girl’s rise from the lows of heroin addiction. Clean is a gripping and edgy portrait of addiction and tackling demons, which Dawson discusses in her characteristically honest style.

SUN 19 INSPIRING WOMEN WITH CHELSEA CLINTON Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £5 The former First Daughter discusses her two children’s picture books, She Persisted and She Persisted Around the World. Come and be inspired by some of the real-life heroes who feature, including Marie Curie and JK Rowling.

INUA ELLAMS Charlotte Square Gardens, 5.45pm, £12 (£10) A captivating hour with award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams, as he performs selections from his 2017 Ted Hughes Award shortlisted work #Afterhours.

MON 20 ALI SMITH WITH NICOLA STURGEON Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10) Now at the halfway point of a planned quartet of novels titled after the seasons, Ali Smith discusses her work with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

TUES 21 JACKIE KAY Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, £12 (£10) An hour with our national bard as she discusses new collection Bantam, her first as Scotland’s Makar, which is a shimmering reflection on the gallus spirit that animates ordinary lives.

Chaired by Ruth Wishart.

SAT 18 PUSSY RIOT’S MARIA ALYOKHINA WITH YANIS VAROUFAKIS Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £12 (£10) Yanis Varoufakis, DiEM25’s co-founder, discusses with Maria Alyokhina the different varieties of totalitarianism that we are currently threatened with, her fight for free speech against the forces of Putin’s regime, her hunger strike protest while in prison, as well as the work she is now doing to help Russian prisoners at home.

HERLAND SALON WITH GLASGOW WOMEN’S LIBRARY Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, pay what you can The Herald Salon is a forum for women to learn and share their thoughts about the world in a creative space. Today’s salonières are Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh, who are joined by Katie Ailes, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Heir of the Cursed, Diljeet Bhachu and Hannah Lee.

WED 22 CHRIS BROOKMYRE Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) Known around the world for his hugely successful crime novels, Chris Brookmyre now ventures into outer space with Places in the Darkness. Expect a lively conversation as Brookmyre discusses his book.

Claire Askew

Donn Babatunde return to the Book Festival after last year’s barnstorming visit, alongside author of the novel The Last Poets, Christine Otten. This time round, they perform tracks from their first album in 20 years, Understand What Black Is, alongside some classics.

FRI 24 CAMILLA GRUDOVA & HELEN MCCLORY Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £8 (£6) Camilla Grudova’s latest work, The Doll’s Alphabet, is a collection of surreal, dystopian horror stories and in Mayhem & Death, Helen McClory returns, delving deeper into mythical yet recognisable stories woven from dark and light, human fear and fortune.

Chaired by Sasha de Buyl.

SAT 25

STUART COSGROVE Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) BAFTA-winning broadcaster and journalist Stuart Cosgrove presents the second instalment of his award-winning Soul Trilogy, this time focusing in on 1968.

Chaired by Phil Harding.

BRETT ANDERSON Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) With his recent memoir Coal Black Mornings, Anderson ponders not only the heady days of Britpop, but also an upbringing that never suggested the wild success to come. Chaired by Sarfraz Manzoor.

THURS 23 AKWUGO EMEJULU, HEIDI SAFIA MIRZA, DJAMILA RIBEIRO & SARA WAJID Charlotte Square Gardens, 2.15pm, £12 (£10) Heidi Safia Mirza and Sara Wajid join Djamila Ribeiro and Akwugo Emejulu to discuss the women of colour who play a critical and revolutionary role in ‘detoxing’ institutions in the education and museum sectors.

THE LAST POETS Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) Musicians and poets Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole and Baba PHOTO: SALLY JUBB PHOTOGRAPHY

CLAIRE ASKEW & ZAFFAR KUNIAL Charlotte Square Gardens, 7.30pm, £12 (£10) A star of the Faber New Poets scheme, Kunial reads from his much-anticipated first collection Us. Askew performs from This Changes Things, her debut collection shortlisted for multiple awards including the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.

DJ SEMTEX Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) With Hip Hop Raised Me, DJ Semtex, the host of BBC Radio 1’s flagship hip hop programme, sheds light on the genre and its context, discussing everything from the cult of Kanye to MCs, DJs and B-boys.

SUN 26 JUDITH KERR: THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA TURNS 50 Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, £5 This year is the 50th anniversary of much-loved classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Join Kerr, her art editor Ian Craig and award-winning author Daniel Hahn for a lively discussion honouring the career of a writer who has inspired generations of children.

GINA MILLER Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.45pm, £12 (£10) Gina Miller came to prominence when she successfully took the British government to the Supreme Court, challenging its authority to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval. She discusses her book Rise and why she felt compelled to write it.

MON 27 THE FREEDOM FINALE Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.15pm, £15 (£12) Over the course of the Festival, writers from across the globe have discussed freedom and its complications. This grand Festival finale brings together musicians, writers and artists for an international musical collaboration created by Daniel Krass and featuring novelist and guitarist Luke Sutherland (formerly of Mogwai) and Ghanian-born percussionist Gameli Tordzro, inspired

by The Freedom Papers.

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CABARET

PHOTO: ROD PENN

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

LITTLE DEATH CLUB Cabaret with hilarious satire and a true punk spirit With its allusions to the hedonism of the Weimar cabaret and insistence on celebrating difference, Little Death Club is a beautifully dark and satirical show that places emphasis on the joys of sexuality and diversity. Awardwinning cabaret star Bernie Dieter embodies all the elements of a model host, with her charismatic presence and wonderfully inappropriate interactions with the audience setting the tone for a steady stream of excellent and provocative acts.

In between the various performers, Dieter sings about dick pics and emojis, owning the spotlight with her dynamic magnetism. Dieter’s vocals are accompanied by a three-piece band that perform a range of genres, matching the raucous spirit of the show itself. Each

performer offers something fresh, from Jess Love’s skilful hula-hooping to drag queen Myra DuBois’ hilarious butchering of the Chess duet ‘I Know Him So Well’. In between, there’s some intense fire breathing, nudity, a thoroughly pissed-off mime and plenty of debauchery.

One of the final sequences, which sees Dieter singing to the stunning movements of a male trapeze artist, is atmospheric and a truly affecting moment that falls perfectly between the risque jokes and more eccentric segments of the show. This is unconventional cabaret, with each artist subverting their own brand of performance art, adding an element of punk spirit and humour along the way. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug, 8pm, £12.50–£15 (£11.50–£14) ●●●●●

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FESTIVAL CABARET | Hitlist

CABARET HITLIST Arusa Qureshi picks the best cabaret to check out in week three YUMMY The Melbourne powerhouse of drag, dance, circus, and music bring their smash-hit show to the Fringe for the first time. Directed by James Welsby, Yummy features an all-star cast: Karen From Finance, Valerie Hex, Jandruze, Zelia Rose, Hannie Helsden and Benjamin Hancock. See feature, page 39. Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug, 9.40pm, £14 (£13).

LITTLE DEATH CLUB Join Bernie Dieter for a night of provocative cabaret, circus and fire-breathing, as a Weimar-punk jazz band soundtracks the fun. See review, page 37. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug, 8pm, £12.50–£15 (£11.50–£14).

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 review, page 40. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 18 Aug, 10.30pm, £12.40–£14 (£10.50–£12).

COURTNEY ACT: UNDER THE COVERS Drag superstar Courtney Act returns to Edinburgh hot on the heels of her big win on Celebrity Big Brother, where she succeeded in shifting the public mindset on gender and sexuality.

Under the Covers is an intimate affair packed full of cover versions of wellknown songs. See review, page 40.

Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 18 Aug, 6pm, £18–£21 (£17–£20).

ANYA ANASTASIA This year’s South Australia & Adelaide Cultural Ambassador in Edinburgh presents what she describes as ‘a satirical millennial neo-cabaret’. Anya Anastasia’s musical-comedy takes a sardonic look at the 21st-century landscape.

See feature, list.co.uk/festival. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 8pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12).

Anya Anastasia

Two lovers face her fate and his mother: can they defy destiny and triumph over tragedy?

A new chamber version of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ for three voices and piano, devised and produced by Alison Thorman, with staging by Martin Berry.

Violetta Alfredo The Mother The Pianist

........ ........ ........ ........

Loretta Hopkins Borja Gómez-Ferrer Alison Thorman Simon Howat

(Sung in Italian with English subtitles)

20-25 August at 16:30 (70 mins) Venue 125 artSpace @ St.Mark’s 7 Castle Terrace | EH1 2DP Tickets £12 (£10 conc / £32 family) tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/violetta 38 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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Yummy | FESTIVAL CABARET

list.co.uk/festival PHOTO: ALEXIS DESAULNIERS-LEA

EXPRESS YOURSELF The crew behind politically charged drag cabaret Yummy chat to Kirstyn Smith about pushing boundaries, inspiring their audience and living in a golden age of drag

W

e’re spoiled for choice when it comes to cabaret this year. While a plethora of beautiful, bolshie acts descend upon Edinburgh every Fringe, 2018 is particularly saturated with great shows. Yummy stands out; a kaleidoscope of talent, with a cast including drag queens, dance artists, burlesque acts and circus performers in an exciting, politically charged exploration of queerness and gender.

‘We pay tribute to the hallmarks of drag,’ says James Welsby, aka Valerie Hex, drag queen supreme. ‘But we’re also pushing forward. Our show is as charming as it is outrageous, and as fun as it is sophisticated.’

Welsby is one of three members of Yummy who have a degree in dance from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. The troupe’s love of contemporary dance is evident, and they take their knowledge and run with it to ensure their interpretation of the art form always reaches new places.

When Welsby began Yummy in 2015, four maleidentifying people and four female-identifying people made up the cast: his aim was to create gender equality in a drag show. ‘We don’t need any special recognition. It just seemed like the right thing to do,’ he says. ‘We never boxed ourselves in too much.’

Karen from Finance is one of this original cast, and has seen her career explode in the last few years, allowing her to become a global drag superstar. When she started out, however, it was

the alt.cabaret scene that seduced her.

‘Something the alternative drag scene lacked in Melbourne, when we got together, was any form of production values or sisterhood, in terms of working together,’ she says. ‘There was nothing with the alternative scene that was pushing the boundaries. So being involved with Yummy was really exciting: a drag production that wasn’t part of the mainstream.’

It has been in her favour – and Yummy’s, and the myriad performers who are taking on the genre – that drag is becoming more and more globally mainstream with each passing year. Welcoming drag into the cabaret scene just makes sense, with both art forms based around storytelling, song and dance, to various extents.

‘It’s very near to cabaret,’ Karen agrees. ‘But I’m interested in the way different drag queens are getting involved and how they’re using the cabaret format to tell their own stories.’

These stories can be anything, from good oldfashioned entertainment to something more right-on. Yummy falls on the latter side of the spectrum. As Welsby explains, audiences are far more inclined to listen if you can dress up what you’re saying in a socially aware way that’s also fun.

‘We try to catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,’ he says. ‘The way we deliver our politics is particularly seductive and joyous, and the real question is gender: how can we go beyond gender? How can we use performance to

conceal and reveal gender? How can we display that gender should never limit our possibilities for artistic expression?’

Audiences know what they want from cabaret these days, and a discourse and dialogue with the performer is important. One of the things Karen gets most pleasure from is seeing people, post-show, chatting about what they’ve seen and getting not only joy, but a feeling of inspiration and aspiration from it.

‘I think what a lot of people take away from drag shows is a sense of free will and a sense of self,’ she says. ‘I feel like people are inspired to express their own self more after seeing our show; they feel a lot better about letting their guard down and being a little bit more openminded.’

The hope is, of course, that the success of shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race won’t result in the current love for drag becoming a flash in the pan. Welsby believes we’re living in a ‘golden age of drag’ right now, but he’ll still be around long after the initial popularity fades.

‘I’m kind of committed for life,’ he laughs.

‘Within Yummy, it’s an identity. Audiences don’t always know what they’re going to see, but they always know that they’re going to like it. We, certainly, are not trying to ride any wave, we’re trying to steer our own ship.’

Yummy, Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 21), 9.40pm, £13–£14.

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FESTIVAL CABARET | Reviews

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

THE MISS BEHAVE GAMESHOW

HANS – LIKE A GERMAN

Anarchic and interactive cabaret ●●●●●

Unadulterated fun from the AGT finalist ●●●●●

Chaotic, messy and anarchic: these words may have negative connotations but they also provide the best definition of The Miss Behave Gameshow. With audience participation at its core, it's an unpredictable and frenzied interactive show in which host Miss Behave splits the audience in two according to their phone preferences, leading them through a series of random challenges. Anyone reluctant to participate is soon taken in by the camaraderie and competitive nature of the room, becoming accessories to Miss Behave's shenanigans in no time.

The hit production has finally made its way back to Edinburgh, with Miss Behave accompanied by her fabulous assistant Tiffany (aerial hoop expert Bret Pfiste), who performs dance numbers throughout, somersaulting across the stage and twerking at the audience with his trademark glamour and sass.

With games like 'Shazam That Riff' and 'The Laid Lottery', flying plastic balls and a decent amount of nudity, the show doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but therein lies the beauty of it. The Miss Behave Gameshow provides a reminder of the unjust and often unreasonable nature of daily life while offering a celebratory hour away from it all. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 18 Aug, 10.45pm, £12.50–£14 (£10.50–£12).

The wunderkind from Berlin has taken a break from appearing on America’s Got Talent to fly to Edinburgh and complete another run at the Fringe. His show is a side-splitting, all-singing, all-dancing evening of glittering cabaret that has a cross-generational appeal.

In the hour, Hans makes it his aim to embarrass all of the heterosexual-identifying males in the audience, much to the audiences’ delight, by catching them out and giving them a little lap dance or inviting them on stage to get into costume.

He addresses his time on AGT and provides chuckles in a skit that presents all the abuse he gets on Facebook and talks about his enemy, Heidi Klum, who was the catalyst for (completely true) rumours that he’s not actually German. But as Hans reminds us this is Like a German and he goes into a reworking of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’, except in his version it’s ‘Deutsched for the very first time’.

Make no mistake, this show is pure escapism.

There aren’t any political statements (aside from a few Trump jokes) and there isn’t any mention of identity politics. Hans just wants you to have a break from everything that’s going on in the world and have some unadulterated fun. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 19 Aug, 9.50pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12)

JONNY WOO'S ALL STAR BREXIT CABARET High-energy, hot-topic satire ●●●●● Jonny Woo is a charmer. His cheeky chappy persona and shimmering sequinned gown ensure that when he is on stage, all eyes are on him. He is the trump card and his showmanship papers over any cracks in this hour of political satire that too often drifts into cliché.

The music, from Richard Thomas of Jerry Springer: The Opera, is standard Broadway fare, hindered further by the cast's occasionally straining vocals, and jokes which often reach for the lowest hanging fruit. Boris Johnstone is portrayed as a clown. Remain voters are avocado-munching millennials and Leave voters are poor, and have never left Norfolk. There is nothing new being said here.

There are exceptions. Le Gateau Chocolat, the Nigerian-born drag star, makes a brief appearance as Nigel Farage. The casting itself is a finely crafted insult towards the high-priest of Brexit, and Chocolat's performance proves a highlight of the hour.

Jonathan Swift this is not, but it does provide the kind of high-energy, hot-topic satire which has pleased Fringe audiences for years. It won't change your life, or your mind, but it does entertain, even if unimaginatively. (Liam Hainey) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens, until 27 Aug (not 20), 6pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14).

PHOTO: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

COURTNEY ACT: UNDER THE COVERS Celebrity Big Brother chat and favourite cover songs ●●●●● Courtney Act’s newest show goes under the covers of what made her a household name and under the covers of famous cover songs – what would a drag show be without them?

Throughout the hour, Courtney takes the audience on a tour of well-known tracks, from ‘Valerie’ to ‘I Will Always Love You’, and manages to take her version of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ from Disney princess to cabaret without missing a beat.

A highlight of the show comes when Courtney (aka Shane Jenek) talks about her time on Celebrity Big Brother, from challenging Ann Widdecombe to her special relationship with Andrew Brady, who she admits was the first man who let both Courtney and Shane into ‘the boys club’.

From talking about Andrew accepting who she is, Courtney goes into a mash-up of Beyoncé’s ‘If I Were a Boy’ and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’; with Shane singing on a screen behind her, Courtney shows the audience that it’s OK to be both.

The ease with which she effortlessly banters with the crowd gives her the aura of a superstar; even when she lets out a fart, she still embodies feminine grace.

Courtney knows she doesn’t need to be too naughty or too over-the-top, it’s her subtle frankness and willingness to talk about hard truths that make her a star. Sure she may be resting on pretty, but she’s so much more than just that. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 18 Aug, 6pm, £18–£21 (£17–£20).

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festival

DANCE COMEDY

& PHYSICAL THEATRE

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ABOREHENAT DOLUM Id qui berum fugita sa nonseriam fugiature vereritisi dolum ius molo Toriame que volo magnate molorum quoditatis moluptas et aut expeliquisit aut ex es ipicabo reictatur, tenis eturio dit escitae pel maximusant fuga. Tioreriatur si occus sendae.

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Recalling Michael Clark’s hairless Caliban in Prospero’s Books, Brookes coils himself around and jolts about his stage in a fearless display of physicality that shape-shifts from tomfoolery to menace. The trigger for this uncompromising Bleed is that his commitment

endae. Ut quia parchit, venis quae maion est aperit acesto excesciatque voluptatet, iusci con porectem ex et que volesse quiamus, sunt fuga. Im imil mod que pore, tet debis audis velecat dolescipiet fugit, simusandi doloratur, seque dende inum quamus exerum, velesequas voloreperum qui si archil mo te to a joke from last year’s showmil resulted in him doluptatur?Evenda inum sitis eic tem. splitting then et girlfriend.

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Orestofearuptasita voles passive-aggressive relationship with crew, necerum fugit offictem et, omnim diahis doluptat and his musing on Tommy Cooper’s public faccum eat. death areex almost softening for the Temos et harum quid etus re,upsequo et, moment when he finally, literally, inside sequae peliqua eriamusapedi ate gets volumquis our heads. eosRorrorent ut que esequos quassitate Thankfully, illiciant Brookesacesequam has the skill and guile parumquam rem reperume to inject plenty laughs into his hour, but this seems to be the least of his concerns. If he is indeed ‘the riskiest comedian in the business’, this Pleasance room becomes far from anyone’s safe space. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8.30pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12) ●●●●●

JORDAN BROOKES: BLEED A majestic hour of uncompromising stand-up

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Hitlist PHOTO: NICK RASMUSSEN

COMEDY HITLIST Brian Donaldson picks out the comedy highlights from week three of the Fringe IMRAN YUSUF The story of how the first ever Free Fringe act to receive a Best Newcomer nomination began to evaluate his life and found that he’d come up short. See review, page 55.

The Stand’s New Town Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 20), 5.30pm, £10 (£9).

LUCY PEARMAN This Fruit Loop gives us another show from the odder side of the comedic spectrum, and it’s all the better for that.

See review, page 52. Monkey Barrel, until 27 Aug (not 15), 6.30pm, £6 in advance or donations at the venue.

MAISIE ADAM The Brighton-based Yorkshire lass delivers a strong debut with Vague, a show partly about her epilepsy.

See review, page 51. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 4.30pm, £9 (£8).

JORDAN BROOKES Another stirringly innovative hour from the 2017 Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee in which he literally gets inside his audience’s collective head.

See review, page 43. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8.30pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12).

NATALIE PALAMIDES Another bravura hour as the Best Newcomer from 2017 goes deep into the heart of toxic masculinity in Nate.

See review, page 56. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 6pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12).

LOST VOICE GUY The reigning Britain’s Got Talent winner shows that he can get political as well as personal with Inspiration Porn.

See review, page 45. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 4pm; 15 Aug, 7.30pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

ALEX EDELMAN Having explored the murky depths of New York’s neo-Nazi movement, Edelman returns to tell a very funny tale. See review, page 47. Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8pm, £10–£14.

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Reviews | FESTIVAL COMEDY

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: MATT CROCKETT

STUART GOLDSMITH: END OF

LAUREN PATTISON: PEACHY

LARRY DEAN: BAMPOT

Priceless musings on a different life ●●●●●

A joyful hour about life’s curious turns ●●●●●

Assortment of the hilarious and the hack ●●●●●

It’s so often the case for comedians that when life takes a turn for the ordinary, there’s only so much inspiration you can glean from going to work and looking after your kids. Despite being recently married and with a second child on the way, those events certainly haven’t removed Stuart Goldsmith’s talent for crafting a gag. Indeed, he derives material from his toddler son, having no friends anymore and stopping at a petrol station for a snack on the way home from a gig. In many other comics’ hands it could seem pedestrian, but Goldsmith is still endlessly inventive.

This hour is truly a comedy masterclass, mining the intriguing within the mundane; there’s a vicious take down of the Little Miss kids’ books while his description of attempting to reach for his second pain au chocolat in the car is priceless: or ‘pathetic’ as his young son might say.

His analogies too are intelligent and evocative whether it’s passing on life advice back down the line like Shackleton’s team shouting to each other as they cross the Antarctic or a suitable Play-Doh style punishment for sex offenders. Thankfully, Stuart Goldsmith has still got it. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Liquid Room Warehouse, until 26 Aug (not 16), 2.50pm, donations.

Lauren Pattison admits that she had a job on her hands to replicate last year’s debut success of Lady Muck which featured heartache aplenty. After all, she’s disarmingly happy now (no longer seeking to be dubbed ‘the Taylor Swift of comedy’), the ultimate barrier to creating meaningful art. The Geordie comic singlehandedly dismantles that theory with a follow-up show that is a strong mix about honesty (she strategically saves one story that will put her in a bad light for right at the end), fear (snakes) and love across the class divide.

Having decided that being in a couple was not for her while she continues to shimmy up the comedy ladder, Pattison stumbled into a relationship with a posh lad which has left her spinning. But what could put more of a strain on such a fledgling partnership as one of the pair having to head to the other side of the world for a job?

So, a large core of this hour has Pattison telling of her adventures in Australia as her stand-up career thrived. While mum might still need some convincing that her daughter can take care of herself out in that big, bad world, the comedy universe is a better place for having Lauren Pattison in it. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 7pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

There have been many incidences down the years when comedians had to rewrite their Fringe show due to an unforeseen development that made their pre-prepared hour largely redundant. When Larry Dean confides in us about the recent break-up with his Australian boyfriend (his dad doesn’t know about it, so keep mum, OK?), he was relieved to go over his material and realise that the routines worked perfectly well whether he was in a relationship or not.

The 2013 Scottish Comedian of the Year kicks off with the slightly hack observation that a Glaswegian accent sounds innately threatening even when its owner is voicing something perfectly benign. He’s on firmer ground when discussing his own menacing eyes and mimicking his father’s facial quirks, but it’s only when he gets into the story of that recently ended partnership that Bampot truly takes off.

Aided and abetted by anecdotal diversions into his own experiences of child therapy and the perils and pitfalls of relieving yourself sexually in a train station toilet, the laughter and bonhomie keep on flowing.

And the heartfelt finale will have any Larry Dean sceptics left in the room resolutely on his team.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Assembly Checkpoint, until 26 Aug (not 15), 5pm, £8.

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

LOST VOICE GUY: INSPIRATION PORN A passionate cry against preconceptions ●●●●● Having won this year’s Britain’s Got Talent, comedian Lee Ridley (better known as Lost Voice Guy) is one of the Fringe’s hottest tickets. The comedian has cerebral palsy which has left him unable to speak, and so he presents his show using a pre-written script which he performs using a computer-generated voice through an iPad. He opens Inspiration Porn with a video produced by Channel 4 for their Paralympics coverage before puncturing its inspiring message with a superbly pithy put-down. A rapturous welcome greets Ridley as he takes to the stage for what he inaccurately describes as ‘a man standing still for an hour’.

Banish any misconceptions you may have that this is a familyfriendly hour: Inspiration Porn is a resolutely adult show littered with judiciously employed profanities and sexual peccadilloes, and Ridley deftly plays on his audience’s fears about what they can and can’t laugh at, to glorious effect. He precisely measures the timing of his delivery, and he’s a compelling presence on stage: gesturing, dancing, and grinning with relish at his best lines.

With all his material delivered in the same, slightly robotic tone, it’s a testament to his impeccable writing that he’s able to engagingly express subtlety and nuance throughout sections of long-form storytelling. There’s pathos, too, in his material, particularly the heartfelt story of a failed romance.

Before a wonderful pre-recorded sketch brings things to a close, Ridley passionately argues against the UK government’s sanctions against disabled people. He recounts some statistics of the number of people who have died due to Tory policy, and he decries a society that simply ‘sees you as a fire hazard’. As well as being a consummate comedian, Lost Voice Guy has plenty to say.

(Murray Robertson) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 4pm; 15 Aug, 7.30pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

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ESHAAN AKBAR: PROPHET LIKE IT’S HOT

MOON

DAMIAN CLARK

Poking Islam without jeopardy ●●●●●

Eerie but finely honed boiler-suited comedy ●●●●●

Aussie comedian is masterful about being a new dad ●●●●●

Eshaan Akbar is a lapsed Muslim, and brings us a show that seeks to help out Islam during the current PR crisis that he thinks they’re going through. He’s read the Qu’ran back to front (boom! boom!) so is able to dip into his copy and read aloud passages that could potentially be spun, for good or for evil.

As the British child of Bangladeshi-Pakistani parents, Akbar addresses some of the more problematic aspects of the religion he was raised with, or at least the bits that are most open to abuse.

So, for example, the notion that women are the property of men gets a quick unpacking; he brings up a passage with the message that the onus should be on men to look upon women respectfully, rather than blame them for turning them on.

As he says himself, it’s often not about laughing and more about learning. So with that said, Prophet Like It’s Hot is an entertaining, if not quite sidesplitting chance to find out more about the five pillars of Islam, hear about the point-collecting scheme to get into heaven, and discover Allah’s needier, petulant sides without fear of starting any holy wars. (Claire Sawers) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug (not 15), 2.45pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Moon are no ordinary sketch duo. Maybe it’s something to do with their provincial upbringings, but they now exist in an infinitely strange and totally wonderful little world. They begin by inviting us to order a curry with them, the doctored menu allowing for the first of the more straight observations in the show.

Describing themselves as ‘immersive’, Jack Chisnall and Joshua Dolphin are tinkering with the sketch format, using the audience a touch but also pushing the boundaries of the space, both heading off into the crowd and also leaving the room completely for a while. The skits blend slickly but eerily into each other– usually by twisting a noise from one to the next, which elicits a laugh before they’ve even started. But it’s not all about the gimmick, and not one segment ends with a lame punchline.

There’s an other-worldly quality here, too; maybe it’s the sinister, stark white boiler-suits they sport: after all, we all know the bad things that can happen when guys wear that item of clothing. If that wasn’t enough to fit into an hour they throw in a bunch of highbrow references, though not to the point of inaccessibility.

Magical stuff. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 9.30pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£9).

Despite the show's ambiguous title, Extra Show, Damian Clark should have renamed it something along the lines of ‘The Dad Diaries’ with his Fringe hour detailing the ups and downs of becoming a firsttime father. Clark muses on why adults make baby noises when they talk to infants, why others love to ask the weight of a new-born (hint: it’s not to do with the child), and why in 2018 the only way to know you’re pregnant is to pee on a stick.

Throughout his set, the Aussie firebrand tells rapidfire jokes, barely even coming up for air let alone a sip of water. His fast delivery and ability to blend lines from 40 minutes ago into new jokes is impressive, and he creates an energy that the crowd immediately connects with.

The story about going to buy a car as a present for his pregnant wife but unfortunately ending up in jail is a highlight of the hour. Clark weaves anecdotes, with jokes, asides, movement and general goofiness that sets him out as a masterful comic storyteller. As he proceeds through the show, you keep expecting the next joke not to be as spot-on as the last one: but it always is. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 10pm, £10–£11 (£8–£9).

ALEX EDELMAN: JUST FOR US Another excellent hour from Boston’s finest ●●●●● If you were faced with a line-up of 20 people which included Alex Edelman and were asked to pick out the person who went undercover at a neo-Nazi meeting, you’d possibly have the comic as perhaps the most 18th likely; maybe 15th at best. Yet, here he is, on stage, telling us how he went all full-metal Theroux, by slipping largely unnoticed into a New York apartment which housed a number of far-right activists, including an eightysomething jigsaw-puzzle addict.

Just for Us – Edelman’s third Fringe hour after the Best Newcomerwinning Millennial and its equally strong follow-up, Everything Handed to You – is a show of many parts, all of which are mercurially brought together by this confident almost 30-year-old. Kicking off with the story of the late Koko the Gorilla being told of the death of her friend Robin Williams and ending with Edelman just about escaping from that meeting alive when he lets slip about his Jewishness (some of the people in that room had already figured it out): is he drawing a comparison between an empathetic simian and hateful anti-Semites?

Insisting that all he does is ‘dumb jokes’, the gravelly voiced Bostonian recalls the moment when he decided to write a show that had a little more heft than his previous Fringe hours, when his eyes were opened in a conversation with Bridget Christie. Just for Us isn’t all about a comic’s awakening and their subsequent actions, though, it also features celebrity encounters with Stephen Fry and Prince William, discusses how sexy the last few US presidents have been (spoiler alert: the incumbent does not fare too well), pokes fun at his twin brother’s sporting accomplishments (he’s appeared at the Winter Olympics for Israel in the skeleton event) and the toxic side to social media.

For 60 whole minutes, Alex Edelman keeps the momentum going and has his crowd knee-deep in laughs with a show that reveals him to be far more than a ‘dumb joke’ machine. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8pm, £10–£14.

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JAMALI MADDIX: VAPE LORD A sombre show with flashes of inspiration ●●●●● It may not be up there for dramatic impact alongside Hannah Gadsby’s stand-up retiral, but three-quarters of the way through Vape Lord, Jamali Maddix half-announces that he’s probably, maybe, going to give comedy a swerve from now on. Possibly. At age of just 27, the Londoner feels over-the-hill and creatively spent.

For some people, time flies with our spell on this planet merely fleeting: for Maddix, his less than three decades have dragged.

There are lots of things in the world to get upset about it, but it’s unclear what exactly is bringing Maddix down, He does, however, seem especially hostile to the programme that helped make his name. In Viceland’s Hate Thy Neighbour, Maddix went around America and Europe challenging the views of far-right groups, often putting himself in real danger. One incident left him feeling outraged and as though his soul had been fully sold to the TV devil: he now decries the programme as the ‘worst show ever’.

Back in the comfort zone of live comedy, his stage presence is undeniable even if he opens with the warning that his show ‘might not be that good’. Feeling his age, he simultaneously pays tribute to the original motives behind political correctness while fretting about the censorious nature of current public discourse.

This ‘bad boy’ might vape away on stage but he seems ill at ease with his material, falling back on some decent crowd work when he reaches another dead end. To his credit, he has a bit on cats and dogs which reminds us that this long-deceased stand-up topic is always worth resurrecting if the joke is worthy enough.

And unsurprisingly, he has some strong routines about racism and gender politics, musing on whether the assassination of a prominent white woman is the inevitable step in this #MeToo world.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug, 6pm, £8 in advance or donations at the venue.

OLAF FALAFAL: THERE’S NO I IN IDIOT Unique logic takes us on a silly journey ●●●●● At first, an Olaf Falafel show appears as random as a bag of Revels whose contents have been entirely replaced by parsnips. But in among the daftness somehow a semblance of sense and structure begins to emerge, albeit that which adheres to a uniquely Falafel kind of logic involving dolphins, tiny Mexican waves and the Cure’s Robert Smith. There can’t be many shows at this year’s Fringe more loveably idiotic than this. Even Falafel’s version of that stand-up staple opener of comedically pointing out what you look like is far more inventive than most.

Among the ridiculous and surreal ideas is Jenga with old people, a series of silly funerals and throughout Falafel returns to Biscuitology, where he tells your fortune by what biscuit you favour. But frankly, that makes as much sense as personality traits based on what time of the year you were born.

There’s plenty of skill in evidence though as well as a love of the English language within his myriad of one-liners, plays on words and puns aplenty. The childlike joy of this middle-aged Scandinavian builds to an equally nonsensical climax topping off his hour of silly. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, until 20 Aug (& 26), 2.45pm; 21–25 Aug, 12.15pm, donations.

JOANNE MCNALLY

CHRIS WASHINGTON: YOU BEAUTY

A shaky start with a solid recovery ●●●●●

Top-notch bull from a rising comic ●●●●●

Joanne McNally is not exactly a stranger to the comedy circuit. Some might still think of her as a newbie, but over three years of stand-up under her belt and her sold-out shows here prove otherwise.

The Irish comedian definitely has the skill, but needs perhaps to learn a few things from the ‘woke’ friends she consistently jokes about.

Wine Tamer starts with McNally choosing a member of the audience to be the ‘energy barometer’ who rates the level of excitement in the room. This is a good ice-breaker, had it only been relevant again in the set. She pumps up the crowded room only to dive into jokes about how unfortunate she is that she doesn’t have depression or has never been abused so that she could have ‘bad’ things to talk about.

After awkwardly calling out comedians that use their craft as a vehicle to work through such issues (only a year after her own show was based on her history of eating disorders), McNally steps into the spotlight with fresh, relevant material. It’s an uphill journey as she hilariously explores the gender disparity of online dating, feminism and sexual liberation. The show closes strongly, but the rocky introduction leaves a sour aftertaste. (Sofia Matias) ■ Assembly George Square Studios, until 27 Aug, 5.35pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

Chris Washington bemoans the fact that technology has ruined the everyday speculation and misplaced certainties that led to classic banter. ‘Where have all the bullshitters gone?’ he asks. It would be fair to say that professional bullshitting resulted in Washington having a monumental past 12 months. Having taken three weeks off from his job in Wigan, he wandered up to Edinburgh to just have a go with the easy-going comedy he claims is all ‘ballbags and biscuits’.

The fact that he subsequently landed a Best Newcomer nomination was as much of a surprise to him as it was to the wider comedy community which had barely registered his name until it was announced on the shortlist. Returning home to reality at the end of last August, he had little idea that he would soon be making headlines for another reason . . .

This follow-up hour is largely his fish-out-of-water story about suddenly being elevated in an alien world, with the recollection of keeping his Wigan mates under control at the awards ceremony a highlight.

Despite fluffing his big finish, Washington had already created enough warmth in the room for the crowd to let that slide. Having finally quit the day job, his career change is shaping up nicely. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 8.30pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

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OLGA KOCH: FIGHT Telling a crazy true story that barely requires embellishment ●●●●● Russian-American twentysomething comic Olga Koch occupies a pretty unique spot for taking a quick look back at Russia’s history.

Born in the year Boris Yeltsin was elected, this confident millennial in a jazzy purple shellsuit traces her parents’ love story, her motherland’s transition from the Soviet regime into capitalism and her own recent rise to fame.

She describes her dad’s wooing of her mum, then shows a bunch of 90s home videos of her family fooling around, before dropping in the fact that her dad became Russia’s deputy prime minister. After being vilified for failing to distribute the country’s wealth evenly, he then became a game-show host, and is now living in exile in Germany since being mysteriously stopped at Moscow airport a few years ago: hearing his strange-but-true story is worth the ticket price alone.

The vintage clips of pro-Gorbachev TV adverts for Pizza Hut are absolute gold, as Koch describes a country trying to quickly get onboard with brand advertising and Western culture, just as she was developing her own crushes on boys and Chicago Bulls basketball merch.

Koch is clearly trying to figure out where she fits in to all of this bizarre back story, and finishes with a musical finale about her love of dating younger boys. She forces herself too much into the limelight a few times (her used-tampon business idea probably won’t make her a mint), but the photos of her posing dramatically as a kid do work pretty well, as she sweetly admits with a shrug that she’s always been a bit of a show-off. Naturally comfortable onstage, Koch burns brightest when she’s not trying too hard and is just telling it straight about her own family, and her country’s often ludicrous journey to the present day. (Claire Sawers) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 7.15pm, £7–£9 (£6.50–£8).

PHOTO: ED MOORE

ROB KEMP: WHEEL OF SHOWS Disappointing follow-up to a cult hit ●●●●● Proclaiming that he is defiantly neither a musical comedian nor ‘that film guy’, Rob Kemp’s new show sheds little light on what he actually is. Having ripped up last year’s Fringe with the cult late-night hit of The Elvis Dead (in which he energetically performed Presley classics which he’d rewritten to fit with scenes from Evil Dead 2 which played on a screen behind him), it’s clear that he was at a loss about what to do next. Deciding that the best option available was to do a follow-up show about doing a follow-up show, this meta affair (with strong hints that he’s been watching a lot of Stewart Lee lately) regrettably doesn’t amount to a great deal.

Dressed in a black and white suit (which might make you think of the prisoner outfits from olden times), he begins by misremembering the events of last August and later recalls a dream he had featuring the likes of Vanilla Ice and Bruce Hornsby which reveals his fear of being a similar one-hit wonder.

Admitting to having made a ‘terrible mistake’ and later screaming ‘I’ve got nothing!’ as a defence for the lightweight hour he’s put together here, it’s difficult not to nod sadly in agreement.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug, 1.15pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

SEYMOUR MACE GETS SUCKED OFF BY GOD

OWEN ROBERTS: I LET A SIX-YEAR-OLD WRITE MY SHOW

A ramshackle hour with a little bit of quantum physics ●●●●●

Wild and surreal frontiers of a child’s mind ●●●●●

‘I’m known for being a bit mad,’ explains Seymour Mace shortly into his show, surprising precisely no one in the room. Claiming to be unable to perform anything so banal as regular observational material, the former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee is a surreal oddball blessed with a wonderfully offkilter worldview. He claims to have come up with his show’s provocative title in order to sell tickets but then, incredibly, he goes on to explain how it’s possible to extract a literal meaning from it based on a mixture of quantum physics, theology and oral sex.

Mace’s imagination runs riot throughout his hour, although some sections are certainly more focused than others. A scene in which he lip-syncs to Radio 4 falls a bit flat when the live broadcast happens to be an uninspiring news interview about corporation tax (he claims that it works best during the week, when The Archers is on).

But Mace’s short attention span rarely settles on anything for too long and he quickly flits between distractions. This unpredictable show is imaginative, ramshackle and bit of a mixed bag, but Seymour Mace himself is great fun to be around. (Murray Robertson) ■ The Stand 3, until 26 Aug, 1.30pm, £12 (£10).

Owen Roberts stands on stage as Shrek’s Lord Farquaad, dressed like a chicken. ‘What the fuck is this?’ he cries. ‘You’ve paid good money to watch a grown man shitting eggs!’ This isn’t Roberts’ show, really, having been scripted by his girlfriend’s six-yearold daughter as the result of an amusing quid pro quo, the gist of which is ‘I’ll help you with your homework if you write my Edinburgh show’. Kids write the best jokes and – judging by his contributions to Isabella’s education – he got the better deal.

Roberts presents a charming hour of comedy about the wonders of a young and vivid imagination, with all its bizarre frontiers. Putting his art in the hands of a child means punchlines and coherent set-ups go out the window. In their place, the wonderfully nonsensical tale of Boss Stern and the Clumsy Police is told.

Roberts is faithful to the source material, which is piped over the sound system, a bossy reminder to stick to the script, please. This is a touching performance about love and family, and although the show’s repetitive nature becomes apparent at the halfway stage, it’s all tied up in a first-rate finale. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 4.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

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PHOTO: JAMES DEACON

NICK REVELL: BROKENDREAMCATCHER

ALFIE BROWN: LUNATIC

ROSE MATAFEO: HORNDOG

When flaws and frailties can be funny ●●●●●

Relatable Kiwi produces punchy show ●●●●●

Actions count, not words, insists Alfie Brown with his latest Fringe hour. A shame, then, that he is so good with language and imagery, but thankfully he is able to get those words into the public realm by taking total command of his stage. Brown’s style remains a potent mix of cheeky scamp and verbose preacher as he rails against the kind of ‘performative dads’ he meets in the park while acknowledging his own parental failings. A ‘horrible honesty’, he proposes, is way better than those pious soundbites we all make in order to be on the right side of the debate.

And a large bulk of Lunatic has him laying out plenty horrible stuff. The heart of his hour revolves around a man who collapsed nearby while Brown was impatiently waiting for a bus to get him to a gig he was already running late for. He may have stood inert while others around him exploded into action, but is this unfolding drama the kind of sight he needs to witness to put his own troubles into some sort of perspective?

This is just another bold hour of stand-up from Alfie Brown which dares to delve into the darkness and consider what it is that makes us human.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug, 9.30pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.

A prediction: Rose Matafeo is headed for crossover success, into Netflix series territory or the big screen. The 26-year-old Kiwi’s comedy resonates, her charisma is undeniable and, today, once she found her rhythm she had a sold-out audience in the palm of her hand.

Horndog is about the things Matafeo loves most, or so she says. Featuring a soundtrack of Fall Out Boy, Phantom Planet and Keane, we journey through her adolescence, interspersed with feminist-focused stories set in the present day. We’re living in a time where comedy and theatre are one, where disciplined adherence to a theme makes the critics giddy.

Horndog isn’t that show: but it’s a high-energy hit of adrenaline nonetheless, delivered by a born performer.

She recalls the age of dial-up internet and hours spent on IMDB forums, and calls out Facebook memories for being like an abusive friend. She mocks herself too, for being in awe of men who can, for example, ride a boat, despite being astonished at the scumbaggery they’ve proven themselves capable of. Late in the show, her own #MeToo tale comes (as all her material does) with a punchy gag at its core. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 6.20pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Anarchic and erudite storytelling ●●●●● What starts as one middle-aged man’s entertaining look at his own personal yin and yang tendencies – from the combative style he had in the past to the more ‘tai chi and hummus’ approach he takes nowadays – develops into an absolutely outstanding piece of dystopic, Jungian fantasy storytelling.

The delivery alone is pretty staggering as his monologue becomes progressively more dense and hallucinogenic as the pace gets faster (some might recognise his voice from The Nick Revell Show, his surreal 90s Radio 4 sitcom). But the writing too, is a fetid, far-fetched JG Ballard-style fairytale, where there’s traffic congestion on the astral plane, Revell bonds unexpectedly with Gwyneth Paltrow at a pub quiz in a London bar, then casually helps reinstate LGBT rights to Russia after wrestling bears with Putin.

The fact that Angela Merkel has taught herself English through listening to The Archers and now sounds like a rough and ready Yorkshireman, or that Paltrow now runs a chain of opticians called Society of the Spectacle are just two of the myriad details why this is a glorious piece of esoteric, literary fiction, finding a fun route into anarchic, erudite comedy.

(Claire Sawers) ■ The Stand 4, until 26 Aug, 3.35pm, £10 (£9).

PHOTO: ANDY HOLLINGWORTH

MAISIE ADAM: VAGUE Satisfying hour of solid mainstream comedy ●●●●● Maisie Adam isn’t here to dump controversial opinions all over the Fringe’s head, but she might get huge amounts of flak for one assertion: millennials are the worst dancers. Risky stuff, for sure, but it’s grounded in a solid theory and made flesh through a very amusing bit of physical comedy. Indeed, Adam (the reigning champion of So You Think You’re Funny) has plenty weapons in her comedic armoury and a relaxed charm (even in the face of an intoxicatingly warm room) is uppermost among them.

Adam’s USP, if you can call it that, is her epilepsy. Diagnosed at the age of 14 with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, or JME for short (aficionados of grime might know where that joke is headed), the main indicator that a seizure was upon her were fluttering eyelids. Given her teenage status, this was put down by most observers as eye-rolling stroppiness. The amusing aspects of her condition get plenty mileage in the show, with the title coming from a comment by one medic that she should start to ‘expect vague episodes’.

Once we’ve filed into her sauna, her enjoyable beginning is to thank the people who have given her certain emotional instabilities, delivered in the style of a lounge singer introducing the band. From here, Adam makes a quick dash around her material to fill us in on her biography. A tall Yorkshirewoman from a village called Pannal, she recalls a childhood of landlines and hand-me-downs; she has now relocated to the metropolitan hubbub of Brighton in order to follow her dreams.

Pitched somewhere between a very Fringe story of personal struggle and a satisfying hour of fine set-up and punchline comedy, Maisie Adam’s Vague might not move the earth. But if you can stand the heat, get into her Wee Room.

(Brian Donaldson) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 4.30pm, £9 (£8).

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LUCY PEARMAN: FRUIT LOOP Outlandish and absurd worm-based narrative ●●●●● Returning with a new show following her Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination last year, Lucy Pearman is quickly becoming the go-to comic for all things weird, wonderful and fruit’n’veg related. Fruit Loop requires you to use your imagination, with hand puppets doubling as confused worms while audience members take on starring roles in Pearman’s outlandish narrative.

She makes use of some absurd costumes and props plus her signature character-based style to tell the story of a worm that has misunderstood its entire existence. Avoiding the evil Early Bird while trying to learn how to fly, our little worm friend goes through an identity crisis which ultimately leads to an epiphany. Like 2017’s Maid of Cabbage, Pearman’s new hour puts the focus on design elements which are purposely silly and low-budget in order to unleash the chaos.

With Pearman taking on the role of a worm, a bird and various pieces of fruit among others, she accentuates her natural talent at character comedy, intertwining various elements of the plot to draw attention towards her charisma as a performer. One particular highlight is Pearman’s grape character, for which she dons a giant lumpy green outfit and clip-on moustache, talking to the audience in an accent that you won’t be able to place with any real conviction. The show moves along quickly but the fast-paced nature of the narrative connects the audience in a way that keeps the energy high and the confusion just at the right level.

Spending an hour in Pearman’s world is a true delight and one that you’ll be glad to have left the hubbub of the Fringe for. If you’re after a one-woman comedy show about a little worm on a journey of self-discovery, Lucy Pearman’s Fruit Loop is undoubtedly the place to be. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Monkey Barrel, until 27 Aug (not 15), 6.30pm, £6 in advance or donations at the venue.

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

KEN CHENG: BEST DAD EVER Thought-provoking tale of an untold family history ●●●●● What at first might look like just another silly Fringe title takes on a whole load of import as the secret family history of Ken Cheng is laid out before us. At the age of 27, this Cambridge lad is a manchild in many ways: he loves cereal without milk and has an iron-like attachment to objects from his childhood. He also now has a solid sense of his own worth, given that he can say things like ‘I see phrases differently from other people’ without even slightly blushing.

The winner of last year’s Dave Joke of the Fringe Award proposes the line that he believes will make him victorious two years’ running: it’s deliberately and hilariously not a contender. With a mum who is a hoarder and a dad whose pronouncements on social media could do with coaching, we hear about how his show title came about via a Toblerone campaign.

Meanwhile, he muses on Pixar fathers, recalls an encounter with ‘avant-garde racism’, and shows off the curious things he’s discovered while considering numbers and mathematics. A winning stage cocktail of arrogance and vulnerability, Ken Cheng has produced a thought-provoking and occasionally awkward tale of secrets and lies. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Bedlam Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 15), 3.30pm, £10 (£8).

HELEN LEDERER: I MIGHT AS WELL SAY IT Pacey chit-chat about life in entertainment ●●●●● The woman famous for Ab Fab, Celebrity Big Brother and various other reality and acting spots makes her stand-up comeback at this year’s Fringe.

Helen Lederer’s hour is one filled with talk about getting older, the menopause, HRT, dry vaginas and gastric bands. There are also jokes about her time on Celebrity Big Brother (all the reality stars were apparently on medication for psychotic disorders), doing the reality TV diving show Splash! with Tom Daley and getting fired from Loose Women.

Throughout the set, Lederer occasionally forgets where she is, taking cheeky looks at her script and asking the audience to remember for her: it isn’t clear whether this is part of the set or she indeed just can’t remember. However, she almost revels in this and it soon becomes endearing rather than annoying.

Quick punchlines and cheeky add-ons to the end of her jokes give a pacey feel to the bletherings about her life and it becomes a revealing insight into the life of someone who has been in the entertainment industry for a long time. And she is fearlessly not going anywhere. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 25 Aug, 5.05pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

GLENN MOORE: GLENN GLENN GLENN, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT Quirky and personable hour ●●●●● Glenn Moore offers a stunningly well-crafted show, with fantastic delivery and admirable writing. The premise lies in his application to be selected as one of the first civilians on Mars. The real story, however, is simple: it’s the start and eventual end of a recent relationship, a move to London, and his growth into a supposed, self-declared ‘honest comedian’.

Content-wise, Moore’s show is unremarkable in many ways, which says a lot about his fantastic use of call-backs and set-ups. Overall, the punchline and gag rate is stupendously high with the wonderful comedy writing only heightened by a committed, entertaining delivery. Moore is a quirky, personable goof who is unafraid to be so on stage.

At times, it feels as though he labours his underlying point around honesty within the show, although this concern is somewhat assuaged with his clever final material. An indisputable rising star, Moore deserves to reach the top of the comedy circuit, and fast.

It’s refreshing to witness a young performer play so effectively with framing, plot and narrative.

(Kenza Marland) ■ Just the Tonic at The Tron, until 26 Aug, 6.20pm, £6 (£5) in advance or donations at the venue.

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This pint is for Edinburgh Castle.

Just a few thousand more pictures and then you’re off until New Year.

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PHIL ELLIS IS READY FOR THE BIG TIME

TOM HOUGHTON: THE HONOURABLE

PROM KWEEN

Upper-class fun from cheeky stand-up ●●●●●

Musical parody tackles gender fluidity ●●●●●

The Honourable is not just a playful show name: ever since Tom Houghton’s father became a lord, it is in fact the stand-up’s official title. Houghton lives in the actual Tower of London and was labelled last year as ‘the next Jack Whitehall’; this is most definitely upper-class comedy. But even though he inhabits a world where horses and Land Rovers are just regular possessions, his material remains relatable as it revolves around family.

Houghton is a brilliant storyteller, with extended anecdotes about accompanying his dad to the House of Lords for the first time and his little sister’s early embrace of goth culture at boarding school. Through energetic physicality and character turns, he brings the stories vividly to life, hunched over as a geriatric lord and scuttling about as a demonic child.

A brief mention of guns is the only time he teeters on the edge of topical political debate, but honesty about both growing up as the son of an over-achiever and how privilege doesn’t stop you seriously messing up adds emotional depth to this relaxed and wellhoned hour of easy laughter. Honourable or not, Houghton’s confident cheekiness seems an obvious fit for the TV panel show market. (Rowena McIntosh) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug, 8.10pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Prom Kween is a High School Musical spoof with a difference, employing clever satirical elements to share a central message of tolerance and acceptance. Inspired by the true story of non-binary student Matthew Crisson who, in 2016, made headlines for being crowned prom queen at his high school in New York, the show is a colourful and sequinned romp through pop culture with sassy songs and plenty of glitter.

The musical numbers are both silly and smart in their structure, with the ensemble cast excellently playing a range of characters from mean girl Lexi to handsome jock Trey. But there is an important and underlying theme of otherness that connects every piece of narration, with four performers each taking on the role of Matthew at various points to emphasise gender fluidity and play with stereotypes.

The sharp criticism of society is balanced well with Prom Kween’s camp comedy and gentle mocking of familiar teenage tropes. With RuPaul as the story’s fairy godmother figure, and ‘cameos’ from Cher, Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John along the way, the musical channels the magic of Drag Race, while fiercely dissecting society’s need to conform. (Arusa Qureshi) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug, 9.05pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

Not as chaotic and stupid as it looks ●●●●● Phil Ellis thinks he has the formula to make it big, with his mix of stories, magic and sadness surely set to send him rocketing to the next level. In reality, the Funz and Gamez guy’s show parodies the concept of ‘big time’ comedians purposefully doing almost the exact opposite.

The stories are all depressing or pointless (a dead neighbour or running over a badger). A member of the audience is in charge of the backing track with Ellis changing the tone and pace of his material to match the music. Adding in a death-driven game show, some awful magic and an inappropriate book club, there’s a desperation and self-flagellating sense of humour which somehow manages to land nearly every joke.

It looks chaotic and stupid but it’s incredibly clever, with material that shares the same astute grasp of the mechanics of comedy as Stewart Lee or Richard Gadd. A show like this can only work live and exist in the moment, and it builds up to perhaps the most audacious finale at this year’s Fringe. It’s too manic and weird for TV, but Phil Ellis does deserve the big time.

Cracked genius from start to finish. (Henry Northmore) ■ Heroes @ The Hive, until 26 Aug (not 15), 7.40pm, £5 (£3.50) or donations at the venue.

PHOTO: BRANDON BISHOP

IMRAN YUSUF: SAINT, SINNER, SUFI Tackling the big issues in quickfire speed ●●●●● Finding a lump downstairs (as in the trouser department, not the living room) has made Imran Yusuf evaluate his life so far. Has he really done enough in his 38 years? He initially came to critical attention with his first solo show, An Audience With Imran Yusuf, which garnered an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for Best Newcomer in 2010, with its musings largely covering his Muslim background.

He has talked about that subject in later shows, but this year he reckons he’s had enough of defending himself, his faith and his culture, feeling that Muslims are still ‘sitting at the bottom of the table and could be relegated at any time’.

Despite his assertion, he does tackle being a Muslim to a degree as well as a hell of a lot of common-sense observations about racial harmony too. If it does turn out that he’s only got a few months left to live, he’s decided that he ought to address some of the fundamental aspects of his life and of British society: prejudice, spirituality, love and finally finding his confidence.

If you can’t imagine that he could fit all that into one hour then presumably you’ve never seen Yusuf perform live. His material is so quickfire that you feel as though you should go back for a second time in case there was something you missed. He takes on these big issues by employing an intelligent, informed and reasonable response. And he brings a humble, centred and realistic response to his own life too. He’s resigned to the fact that he can’t continue to see the girl he loves because her family won’t accept him while he ponders the forgiveness he offers his abusive father. And yet despite the weighty topics, the gags come thick and fast. This is thought-provoking stuff.

(Marissa Burgess) ■ The Stand’s New Town Theatre, until 26 Aug (not 20), 5.30pm, £10 (£9).

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NATALIE PALAMIDES 2017 Best Newcomer's blistering show about consent ●●●●● You might expect Natalie Palamides’ portrayal in Nate to be a scathing one; for the eponymous character to be a parade of insufferable douchebaggery as a tool to explore the myriad shortcomings of men. It certainly starts that way. Riding in on a tiny bike, he throws his weight around and smashes the place up.

Nate then cracks a raw egg directly into his mouth and chugs a can: you think you’ve got him figured.

Then you notice the can is a Perrier, and remember Palamides hasn’t made her name in comedy by doing the obvious thing.

While Nate (a character Palamides has been working on since her college days) is depicted as a confrontational bro who likes to get blasted, he’s also oppressed and sensitive. Furthermore, he’s totally clear on – and on board with – the sexual politics of the day, workshopping consent to hilarious effect with the (mostly keen, but in some cases deeply confused) audience. ‘All you gotta do is ask,’ he says, adding: ‘it’s that simple.’

It isn’t though. An evening out takes a promiscuous turn and Nate finds himself in an unexpected position. ‘Was what I did wrong?’

There are a few murmurs in the audience but nothing is clear. It’s an extremely uncomfortable moment, and having followed an hour of masterful, hilarious character comedy, it’s an effective twist.

Palamides is sensational in this commanding and courageous hour of performance art. The comedy, both the writing and the improv, is fantastic, and the moment where Nate’s perspective effortlessly shifts to that of the female is powerfully acted.

The show relies heavily on audience participation and Palamides controls it. ‘I hope my message was clear,’ says Nate, riding off into the sunset. This conversation has only just started. Nate is a challenging tale from Palamides who’s made that difficult second album count and then some. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 6pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12).

SANDERSON JONES: THAT’S THE SPIRIT!

SHEEPS: LIVE AND LOUD SELFIE SEX HARRY POTTER

JACK DOCHERTY: MIEKELSON AND MCGLASHAN – SERIOUS MEN

Inhibition-free show ●●●●●

A sketch comeback to celebrate ●●●●●

Underwhelming hour from the TV star ●●●●●

A man that’s broken the Guinness World Record for the longest hug (over 25 hours) is in town to provide a communal catharsis for his congregation (or audience). Giving new meaning to ‘cult comedy’, the bearded stand-up was covered everywhere from Vice to Russia Today after he founded a secular gathering called Sunday Assembly.

He splits his show into a recap on his career so far followed by a short atheist sermon. Crushing together what he’s gleaned from mindfulness, pop culture, laughter therapy and church ceremonies, Jones explains the neuroscience of bliss and relaxation while inviting us to sing along to Toto’s ‘Africa’ and achieve ‘peak you!’ in a new-agey, happy-clappy finale.

The forced euphoria, rousing bagpipe tunes and life-coach vibes will be uncomfortable for some, depending on how you feel about being whispered at sensually through a mic, then being ordered to clap ‘harder, HARDER!’ But many seem to enjoy the gospel-style unleashing of inhibitions, and indeed take the sincere, excitable Jones up on his offer of a free half-hour drop-in chat afterwards. (Claire Sawers) ■ Heroes @ Boteco, until 25 Aug, noon, £5 (£4) in advance or donations at the venue.

Promising humour so intelligent that ‘Einstein wouldn’t get it’, the Sheeps trio might not reach quite those stupendous heights, but audiences should be prepared for a frequently hilarious hour. The show opens as the threesome arrive in top hats and canes for a deliriously over-the-top opening number, crooning about how this show will be ‘good’.

Thereafter follows a series of routines which easily ramp up that modest claim while a narrative continuum is provided by Daran Johnson’s off-stage relationship breakdown and his colleagues’ utter indifference to his misery. Meanwhile, the actual reason for their Edinburgh reunion (they last appeared at the Fringe in 2014) is finally revealed.

Among the many highlights are a multi-layered sketch that keeps going wrong and two British diners experiencing curious extras to a bill at a Dutch restaurant, while alt-right academic Jordan Peterson makes an appearance and a thriving tech company has to deal with its odd third wheel. Asides from one slightly clumsy piece about Syria and their deliberately bad musical sequences, there’s barely a false note in this heralded comeback. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 25), 7pm, £10–£14 (£8–£12).

Edinburgh native Jack Docherty last performed at the Fringe 25 years ago, but arrives with serious comedy pedigree. Currently starring as Chief Constable Cameron Miekelson on Scot Squad, he wrote for Spitting Image, was a script editor on Vic Reeves' Big Night Out, and then wrote and performed on the hugely influential sketch show Absolutely. Tonight's affair isn't going to rank as a career high point.

It's a disappointing hour, but starts promisingly as Miekelson performs a lecture on the future of Scottish policing. He effuses about the ‘sick beats’ of NWA, has a cheeky pop at his emergency service rivals, too preoccupied ‘fannying about’ with board games, box sets and PlayStations to be any use, and recalls the days of violence towards suspects, grinning broadly.

At the halfway stage Docherty tags in Absolutely’s McGlashan. There’s one joke, repeated ad nauseum, which is that this fervently pro-Independence man loves everything Scottish and goes into a fit of rage over the thought of anything English. A glance around the room reveals a lot: laughter and nonplussed looks in equal measure. (Craig Angus) ■ Gilded Balloon at the Museum, until 27 Aug (not 20), 9pm, £15.50–£16.50 (£14.50–£15.50).

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REVIEWS AT A GLANCE ANTHONY AYTON: KITCHEN PARTY ACTION ●●●●● Anthony Ayton always ends up in the kitchen at parties (hence the title). So he tries getting a party atmosphere going in this nightclub basement.

Maybe it’s just the crowd he’s got in, but attempts to strike up banter don’t go anywhere very good; what’s much more interesting is his slant on UK race politics, class, drugs and social inequalities. Ayton also wishes people were more honest, and less doe-eyed about the realities of marriage after his own one broke down, amicably, not long ago. The moments where he stumbles over words and stops himself, saying he’s trying to be as truthful as possible, seem like bits where he’s on the right track. Ayton could stand out more if he left some of the more clichéd crowd chit-chat behind. (Claire Sawers) Laughing Horse @ Espionage, until 26 Aug (not 20), 10.45pm, donations.

ASHLEY BLAKER: OBSERVANT JEW ●●●●● A born-again Orthodox Jew, Ashley Blaker delivers a comedic lecture based around the six tenets that most frequently come up in such cultural discussions. You can probably hazard a guess as to what these might be, but there are other things to take away from Blaker’s show that might surprise those who are not of the Jewish faith. Enlightening as this hour is, the humour remains rather light, conservative and wholly predictable.

When ‘you’re ahead of me’ is uttered by our host for the second time, it shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a compliment to the writing. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 18, 25), 3pm; 18 Aug, 11.55pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

BETH VYSE AS OLIVE HANDS: THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE ●●●●● When you walk into the venue, you are faced with a promising and intriguing set-up: there are fly swatters scattered across the front rows, a giant hand-shaped chair, an inflatable phone and a projected background that promises this show is ‘sponsored by cheap white wine’.

However, as the hour goes on, you realise that is all there is: random props and on-screen jokes that land better than the comedian’s. Beth Vyse has a good premise here with her Olive Hands persona: after a short-lived acting career, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get back into the limelight, even if she has to use her baby to get there.

There are some entertaining moments, such as Tiny Hands’ (Vyse’s son, Henry) short appearances and a ‘sass in life’

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

For full length versions of these reviews, see list.co.uk/festival

Darren Harriott

skit that is close to being empowering.

But they are heavily overshadowed by the continuous and distracting demand that the audience raise their fly swatters every time she says ‘hands’, an influx of forced impressions and jokes that go nowhere. (Sofia Matias) Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug (not 15), 3.45pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

the Disney canon lets Audritt down temporarily but he soon rallies with a gag about meat and veganism that’s a neat bit of wordplay rather than an assault on either of those parties. Now, there’s a good boy. (Brian Donaldson) Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, until 26 Aug (not 15), noon, donations.

CROFT & PEARCE: DOUBLE TAKE ●●●●● Does it get any more Radio 4 than this? That, sadly, isn’t intended as a compliment, for this double-act sketch show fails to hit any sort of heights within its lengthy hour. Hannah Croft and Fiona Pearce have worked together for so long now that they instinctively know what makes each other tick, and while their onstage chemistry is enjoyable enough to watch, the writing that should bolster the performances is patchy in the extreme. There’s a welcome change of pace when an inappropriate Brown Owl raps her way onto centre stage, but soon enough we’re back to the pedestrian likes of a stress workshop which disintegrates into a family schism. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug, 2pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

DARREN HARRIOTT: VISCERAL ●●●●● Early on in the hour, Darren Harriott informs the audience that he’s not ‘good’ with emotions. Opportunities for meaningful connection – like discovering a housemate has been using his cans of Diet Coke to smoke crack – are deflected with a blithe comment. Certainly his childhood did not permit many opportunities for weakness. As a young man growing up fatherless and working class, he joined a gang out of a desire for masculine camaraderie, and a story about getting ‘Terror Clan Killaz’ printed on a hoodie in Times New Roman has the audience in stitches. Despite the strength of the central thread, other trains of thought (like one about masculinity and Mike Tyson) feel integral to the plot but are suddenly abandoned in favour of jokes about Twitter. This sudden veering to and from hefty topics to light-hearted quips feels jarring in an otherwise funny, emotional hour of excellent storytelling craftsmanship. (Deborah Chu) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 15), 9.30pm, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£9).

DANIEL AUDRITT: TRYING TO BE GOOD ●●●●● What does it mean to be good these days? Daniel Audritt is working hard on being a better person, but is the title actually just a hint that he would far rather prefer to be a superior comedian? In a perfect world, of course, both goals could be achieved. He may be in rush to have kids of his own, but Audritt revels in his distancing role of godparent, which provides plenty glory with barely any of the responsibility. A rather hackneyed analysis of the negative aspects in

EDD HEDGES: FOR EVA, FROM FOREVER AGO ●●●●● The Fringe should always have a space for sensitive storytelling comedians and Edd Hedges is swiftly marking out his place in that genre. Following on from last year’s debut Wonderland, he

brings us For Eva, From Forever Ago, an extremely winding tale which takes us from an obsession with Winnie the Pooh’s existential philosophy to a dark road called Snakes Lane where disaster seems certain to strike. While Hedges wants this to be remembered as a narrative about the power of stories, it’s the family drama at the heart of his tale which keeps momentum pulsing forwards. Though he ramps up tension which is released a little anti-climactically at the grand finale, like all the best journeys, the trip was well worth taking for its own sake.

(Brian Donaldson) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 4pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

ELEANOR MORTON: GREAT TITLE, GLAMOROUS PHOTO ●●●●● Taking the stage to the thudding bass of Beyoncé’s ‘Run the World (Girls)’, Eleanor Morton announces her reinvention as a sexy, confident (and inexplicably American) comedian who trades on gags about secreting bags of semen from her conquests. Canned laughter punctuates such excruciating punchlines, just in case the audience doesn’t cotton on quickly enough.

As the hour runs on, the persona disintegrates as the ‘real’ Morton breaks through, full of worry over her body and stand-up career. The best jokes come from this Morton, when she takes aim at notoriously male-dominated panel shows and compares women and Ferrero Rocher as symbols of wealth and power. Unfortunately, after having revealed the razor-sharp edge beneath her nervous, offbeat energy, concluding with an (albeit spot-on) impression of an atypical sad male comic feels like ending on a whimper rather than a bang. (Deborah Chu) The Stand 4, until 25 Aug (not 20), 12.05pm, £9 (£8).

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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews at a Glance GARETH WAUGH: OH BOY . . . ! ●●●●● Morbid or organised?

Decide for yourself, but when Gareth Waugh was 14 he wrote himself a bucket list of all the things he wanted to do in his life. They ranged wildly from the philanthropic ‘giving blood’ to the hedonistic ‘drink on all seven continents’. The list, of course, provides a sneaky structure for Waugh’s largely unrelated autobiographical anecdotes: a nifty move for creating a theme for an Edinburgh show. It’s particularly impressive that he’s willing to share some of his wet-behind-the-ears teen endeavours such as some pretty toe-curling love-song lyrics he once penned. The show’s ending is pretty obviously signposted but it’s a fitting and joyous finale to this uplifting hour of apparently effortless, hugely personable comedy. (Marissa Burgess) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 3pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

HEIDI REGAN: HEIDI VS SHARKS ●●●●● Heidi Regan is obsessed with shark movies, a hobby she’s long shared with her best friends, Joan and Greg. Throughout Heidi vs Sharks, she

details the ups and downs of this niche (but surprisingly crowded) genre, from Jaws to Shark Attack 3: Megalodon and beyond. Along the way she weaves in little biographical snippets including some rather lovely stories about her winningly supportive father. Having spent the best part of a decade in dead-end and wholly unsatisfying jobs, Heidi Regan has finally broken free and is rapidly making her mark as an intriguing comedian with a unique voice.

As a statement of intent, this marks her out as someone to watch. (Murray Robertson) Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 7.15pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

JAMIE MACDONALD: BLINKERED ●●●●● Describing himself as ‘that funny blind guy’, MacDonald explains that this is a set absolutely about his blindness and the funny situations it has put him in. After a slightly unsteady start, the Scot settles in nicely and the crowd responds well to his growing confidence. Gesticulating passionately with his folded white stick, he tells stories from his past, such as when he worked as a banker, surrounded by macho arseholes all

trying to out-arsehole each other while he simply tried (in vain) to get along. He later details the ridiculous process of converting his benefits at the behest of a Tory government still mired in maladministration, although he holds well back from deep political commentary. (Murray Robertson) Assembly Rooms, until 26 Aug, £10.50–£11.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

JOSH GLANC: KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA KARMA CHAMEDIAN ●●●●● A lawyer until very recently, Australian Josh Glanc moved into the comedy world, where he fluidly morphs from a fetching Tom Selleck in Magnum PI-type snug short-shorts to an American footballer doing cheesy infomercials for natural sports remedies. He’s got a warm, flirty, show-off style from the off; men and women are pulled out the crowd as volunteers for his musical singalong intro, and he whispers and grins at them with a charm that doesn’t ever dip during his show. Elsewhere there is lip-syncing, mime, slapstick and silly deconstruction of certain very familiar comedy set-ups. It’s a good balance of light, daft stuff and cleverly meta bits about what performers usually do. Special mention goes to the sound guy for nailing the many cues, but be warned about the raw fish sections which might give some the dry heave. (Claire Sawers) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug, 5.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

LEO KEARSE: RIGHT-WING COMEDIAN ●●●●● While Leo Kearse may dub himself the ‘rightwing comedian’ (last year he insisted that he could make people Tory), his political opinions turn out to be a little more nuanced than your average Conservative. For one thing, while he clearly has no time for Jeremy Corbyn, Kearse is fulsome in his belief that the rail network should be re-nationalised, although this is mainly down to seeking more convenience within his own life than anything amounting to an ethical crusade. Where Kearse’s show works best (and when it flies it really does soar to some great comedic heights), is when he lays down his arms and simply shoots the comedic breeze.

(Brian Donaldson) Laughing Horse at Espionage, until 26 Aug, 7.30pm, donations.

Róisín & Chiara

PETER BRUSH: CHASING SNAILS ●●●●● Peter Brush isn’t the first to downplay his own material, but he certainly makes an art of it. Chasing Snails starts with a whimper, as Brush essentially apologies to his audience for his show. This goes on for longer than is comfortable and is a bizarre tactic, even for someone advertised as an ‘awkward jokesmith’. It kicks off a low-energy gig that lives up to its name.

Brush would do well to quit apologising for being on stage, because he isn’t as bad as he says he is. On a good day his Free Fringe audience will consider that

taking a chance on him was an hour well spent. (Craig Angus) Banshee Labyrinth, until 26 Aug, 12.30pm, donations.

RED RICHARDSON: SEEING RED ●●●●● ‘Red’ is not Richardson’s stage name but the result of his parents watching a particular Clint Eastwood film shortly after his birth.

In his debut hour, Richardson weighs up whether being named after a minor character that gets his butt kicked is better than being named after a sex-symbol. Richardson’s laid-back demeanour makes for a convivial atmosphere as he shares stories of social awkwardness and muses on the problems of giving your children aspirational names. Despite some good throwbacks to earlier jokes and a neat story arch, the show doesn’t yet feel like a fully fleshed-out 60 minutes of material. A few gaps need plugged but it’s well on its way to being a terrific show. (Rowena McIntosh) Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 5.45pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).

ROBIN MORGAN: HONEYMOON ●●●●● In a slim suit and pointy shoes, with a bowtie unfastened, Robin Morgan is fresh from his honeymoon. He got married to his teenage sweetheart a week before his Edinburgh Fringe run started, and feels a bit guilty for leaving her and their son behind. The view from inside his straight, white, well-spoken bubble – where there don’t seem to be any real obstacles or awkward scenarios which make you really want to root for him – doesn’t make for a gripping show.

He grins and oozes smug charm, but the smooth confidence acts as more of a barrier than a way into his world.

It’s as though he’s showing us the professional photographer version of a perfect wedding, when it would be way more fun to share the behind-thescenes meltdowns and messiness.

(Claire Sawers) Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, until 26 Aug, 4pm, donations.

ROISIN & CHIARA: BACK TO BACK ●●●●● The term ‘classic Fringe’ could have been invented for the work of Róisín O’Mahony and Chiara Goldsmith.

All seriousness must be left outside the room as this pair go through a series of sketches and audience interactions that forego any meaning and offer nothing more or less than a momentary flash of nonsense in all our terribly sensible lives. You might not learn too much about the pair here, though they insist that they have switched national stereotypes with Irish Catholic Róisín being the passionate one, while Italian Chiara is severely repressed.

A mad show full of crazy things, with bemused laughter acting as the perfect soundtrack. (Brian Donaldson) Heroes @ Boteco, until 26 Aug (not 15, 22), 2.40pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

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Reviews at a Glance | FESTIVAL COMEDY

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THE TROUBLE WITH SCOTT CAPURRO ●●●●● Opening with a series of quickfire jokes about the boys who were trapped in the cave in Thailand, Scott Capurro quickly establishes for anyone in the room who wasn’t aware (and there were a few), that he’s a shock comic. No one is safe and nothing sacred in this hour that doesn’t so much toe the line of bad taste as march straight across it. The audience chats feel fresh and many of his later anecdotes are bolstered by the inclusion of jokes he made at their expense, with the cheating boyfriend and outed son popping up in gay clubs like a supporting cast. However, a lot of the set material feels tired: in 2018 he’s still making jokes about Madeleine McCann and the death of Princess Diana. It’s still a shock show but not a particularly current one. (Rowena McIntosh) Heroes @ Boteco, until 26 Aug (not 21), 9.20pm, £7 (£6) in advance or donations at the venue.

SID SINGH: AMERICAN BOT ●●●●● There’s a slight hint of the Todd Barrys about San Francisco comic Sid Singh. The languorous delivery and semi-surrealist chatter are intact, but Singh is a far more explicitly political comedian. Those nasty billionaires are firmly in his sights as he believes, with plenty of justification, that they’ve helped to destroy his home city, as Silicon Valley has its wicked way with the Bay Area. Singh goes through all the tech bosses one by one as he denounces the heads of Google, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal et al, with clarion-call material that would deafen anyone who finds themselves trapped in his echo chamber. For this IndianAmerican comedian, the worst aspect of the San Fran sea-change is that racism has risen many-fold, with Singh himself being the nightclub victim of the bigots’ ire. (Brian Donaldson) Just the Tonic at The Mash House, until 26 Aug, 6.25pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

Witt ‘n Camp

has a promising premise. Suzanne Lea Shepherd and her Kansas family gather for Thanksgiving, and wind up visiting a strip club. An unlikely scenario, it would be a believable journey if it was written well, but Shepherd gives the impression of a capable actor let down by her script. There are some good bits: she describes the stalking of an ex-boyfriend on Instagram well, and her vision of dating as a pyramid scheme gets the biggest laugh of the show; partly because of her inspired choice of who to put at the top. She successfully mines the politics of being sexually active while sharing a room.

It’s a difficult show but, to her credit, Shepherd is unperturbed. She’s an expressive and engaging talker but needs to better figure out what works and what doesn’t. (Craig Angus) Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, until 26 Aug, 4.45pm, donations.

SUSAN HARRISON IS A BIT WEEPY ●●●●● The child of pathologically modest parents, pocketsized performer Susan Harrison found herself fed up acting out a performative happiness after her marriage broke down. So she took her minor meltdown – and the fact that she could no longer cope with daily chores like sending invoices, but bizarrely found her anxiety soothed by improvising musicals – and made a character sketch show about it. Harrison’s observations about the weirdness of north London flatshares and her sometimes overwhelming fear of change are acted out with lots of warmth. She also bonds quickly with her crowd as she uses them as bit parts for her odd scenarios. (Claire Sawers) Voodoo Rooms, until 25 Aug, 2pm, donations.

THE LAMPOONS: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL ●●●●● This late-night, schlocky spoof of the 1959 horror film House on Haunted Hill is presented by The Lampoons.

Comprising Adam Elliott, Christina Baston, Oliver Malam and Josh Harvey, the team receive additional help from the moustachioed spirit of Vincent Price, star of the original film. Like a poltergeist who loves toilet humour, they chaotically rearrange the story of guests invited to a haunted house party with dare money of $10,000 for anyone who is brave enough to spend the whole night. Like the man force feeding himself pickles in one especially nuts scene, there’s just too much to fit in, and it will make you feel a little nauseous by the end. (Claire Sawers) Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug, 11pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

SUZANNE LEA SHEPHERD: YOU’RE OKAY! ●●●●● You’re Okay!

TIM RENKOW TRIES TO PUNCH DOWN ●●●●● A commonly heard

comedy rule is to ‘not punch down’, which causes Tim Renkow some difficulties. He has cerebral palsy, is from the American south, has both Mexican and Jewish heritage, and has been called every racial slur you can imagine.

‘Frankly, I find it insulting’, he says. ‘I gave you options, officer.’ As you’d expect from a comedian of over ten years, Renkow’s timing comes naturally, his writing and wordplay strong to boot (the London night bus is ‘Lord of the Flies in a tin can’). His sexual anecdotes (not run of the mill stuff) are compelling, and a joke about playing up his disability to avoid paying for things is outstanding, an example of the shock stuff done very well. The room roars with laughter.

Punching down certainly works for him.

(Craig Angus) Monkey Barrel, until 26 Aug (not 15, 22), 8pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

VIV GROSKOP: VIVALICIOUS ●●●●● Viv Groskop’s devotion to Oprah Winfrey is abundantly clear. A celebrity whose self-help message resonated with Groskop is nonetheless shown to be massively vain given a quick scan of the covers from her own magazine, which feature, seemingly every month, one Ms Winfrey. And even when she shares space on the front, it’s either with a bunch of dogs or other versions of herself. During her childhood, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People was a set text in the Groskop household.

While she is good company for an hour, Groskop hasn’t made enough friends with punchlines to carry her show through without a struggle. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug, 4.10pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

WILL HALL: NETFLIX AND WILL ●●●●● Will Hall offers a pleasant hour of anecdotes that sadly lacks in laughout-loud moments. As a self-declared

‘almost posh’ comic, comparisons to Jack Whitehall are unavoidable.

Perhaps this works to his detriment, as while Hall’s delivery is mostly relaxed and his stage presence good, he needs to tighten up his material and raise the punchline level. Covering his experiences attending a boys’ boarding school, growing up in Surrey, struggling with girls, meeting his childhood hero Ian McKellen, and his time at university, Hall is honest and open about some crucial life experiences.

Overall, this is an enjoyable, funny talk that is unfortunately deficient in enough originality. (Kenza Marland) Just the Tonic at The Caves, until 26 Aug, 2.15pm, £5 (£4) in advance or donations at the venue.

WITT ‘N CAMP: SWAG ●●●●● You may well leave this show wondering quite what it was that you just saw, but wow, these ladies have skills. This debut Edinburgh show from Charlie Howitt and Holly Campbell is a heady whirlwind mix of musical styles, impeccably coordinated choreography, wry comedy and physical theatre.

It does feel that they’ve thrown all their know-how at it and the result is somewhat nonsensical. But it doesn’t matter one bit as the pair are so hugely talented and, overall, the effect is mesmerising. Transforming themselves back and forth between personae, they’re sexy and sassy one minute, performing graceful classical operatics the next. Then they’re into the hauntingly folk strains that provide the backdrop to a pair of teary chickens discussing whether the grass really is greener on the other side, then listing all the African countries. Does it make any sense? Does it matter? Just immerse yourself in their world for an hour and enjoy it. (Marissa Burgess) Assembly George Square Studios, until 26 Aug, 8pm, £10–£11 (£8–£9).

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CIRQUE BERSERK! Step right up for tickling and thrilling family entertainment The pace never slackens in this slick, zesty serving of knowingly Vegas-style variety circus acts, spotlighting a big international cast. The performance is wall-to-wall fun, striking just the right balance between the genuine and the tongue-in-cheek. It also looks and fits great in this venue.

Attention is grabbed from the get-go by the seven waistcoated, somersaulting Timbuktu Tumblers. Chief among other hit performers are Bolas Argentinas, featuring the macho camp of a showbiz gaucho who patently loves ruffling his own long, curly black hair by fastly spinning two weighted balls on cords, and the Czech knife-thrower who sends lethal instruments flying in the direction of a blissfully beaming female counterpart.

Or the oh-so-deft French female foot juggler.

Or the quasi-fierce Tropicana Troupe from Cuba, feather-adorned specialists of teeter board jumps. Or, without doubt, the insanely thrilling Lucius Team, whose four bikers zoom at speed inside a circular cage known as the Globe of Death: inhaling petrol fumes has never been such a kick.

Even the Brazilian clowns are delightful.

Dubbed the Mustache Brothers, their characterful brand of adept knockabout outclasses most of what you’d see at Cirque du Soleil, leaving you grinning throughout the entire 75 minutes of this generous slab of happy-making entertainment. (Donald Hutera) ■ Pleasance @ EICC, until 26 Aug (not 22), times vary, £15.50–£19.50 (£10–£15) ●●●●●

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Hitlist PHOTO: JEAN LOUIS FERNANDEZ

DANCE HITLIST Kelly Apter picks out the dance highlights from week three of the festival

long. See feature, page 17. Palace of Holyrood House, 22 Aug, 6.15pm, free.

AKRAM KHAN COMPANY: XENOS One of Britain’s most acclaimed dancers and choreographers, Akram Khan bids goodbye to his performance career with this solo inspired by WWI. See feature, page 17. Festival Theatre, 16–18 Aug, 8pm, £14–£35.

MY LAND A five-star show from Hungarian company Recirquel, weaving phenomenal acrobatic skills and a theatrical staging. See review, page 66. Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 20), 8.10pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

CIRQUE BERSERK! The pace never drops in this entertaining show packed with acrobatics, knife-throwing and the incredible Globe of Death motorbike finale. See review, page 63. Pleasance at EICC, until 26 Aug (not 22 Aug), times vary, £15.50–£19.50 (£10–£15).

KADAMATI The second helping of choreography by Akram Khan at this year’s International Festival, performed by 300 young dancers.

Don’t arrive late, it’s only six minutes

BACKUP This short but sweet show from Brussels-based company Chaliwaté will have you laughing out loud, then blinking away tears. See review, list. co.uk/festival Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 10.50am, £9 (£7).

8 SONGS The hugely talented Gandini jugglers are back with this musicinspired show, featuring routines set to Bowie, Beach Boys, Velvet Underground and more. See review, page 66. Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 15, 21), 4.40pm, £12–£14.

Xenos

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Reviews | FESTIVAL DANCE

list.co.uk/festival

BURN THE FLOOR: REBELS OF BALLROOM

CASUS: YOU & I

CASTING OFF

Small-scale circus with a gay theme ●●●●●

Three-hander has rough and ready charm ●●●●●

It’s a good thing that the two creator-performers of this Edinburgh world premiere from Casus, a company that previously scored with Fringe hits Knee Deep and Dritftwood, are patently skilful and easy on the eye. Why? Because the basic material they’ve come up with is pretty thin. Not disagreeable, mind you, but also not gamechanging. Unless, that is, you regard same-sex relationships in a circus context as radical.

Compact and blond Lachlan McAuley and lanky brunette Jesse Scott are well-paired. The show is presumably set in a stage representation of their home, where they dance tango tinged with acrobatics, and play dragging up games via clothes pulled out of a trunk.

Then McAuley disappears, temporarily, triggering Scott being morose on a trapeze. Eventually they’re reunited, and build and balance atop a stack of chairs before a double trapeze finale. Alas, the domestic details aren’t especially interesting, nor do the performance’s emotional undercurrents generate much dramatic resonance. Pity, because both men have likable stage presences and are no slouches in terms of their circus prowess. (Donald Hutera) ■ Assembly Roxy, until Aug 26 (not 20), 3.10pm, £12 (£10.50).

The oldest member of Casting Off has just crashed off the stage and into the laps of two women in the front row. Mock mortified, she freezes, checks they’re ok, then reattempts her leap, this time executing it perfectly.

It’s the first of several moments when the playfully christened Slip wrongfoots our expectations about older women’s bodies. Grey haired and wiry, she proves as agile as her two (much) younger co-performers.

Casting Off merges spoken word with acrobatic tricks and an aerial finale. Subverting stereotypes of circus women as young and glamourous, they chat about their to-do lists while balancing atop each other’s shoulders, or on a precarious stack of chairs.

The show has a rough and ready charm, but set-ups between tricks drag, and the dialogue lacks sparkle.

The absence of music also contributes to a sense that the show just never lifts off the ground, despite excellent tumbling and cradle work.

With crash mats being re-positioned, and performers humorously apologising in advance for accidents, the piece treads a risky line between deconstructed and under-rehearsed. Having said that, a few more performances will tighten things up.

A promising new company. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens until 26 Aug (not 20), 5.15pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Mixed bag of ballroom and more ●●●●● This is Strictly Come Dancing, sent into hyperdrive.

The dancers are put through an incredibly fast-paced hour of extreme lindy hop, breakneck mambo and a tribute to Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ video.

Their precision and energy is incredible and they consistently nail the art of working hard while looking like they are hardly working.

But it’s the choreography and staging that gets progressively more intense – and baffling. For those who like Vegas-style melodrama, with plenty of air grabs, tortured facial expressions and knee drops, this is the show for you. If the use of a heartbroken Spanish language version of Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ and a leather bondage gladiator fight scene straight out of Attitude magazine mixed in with an intense tango to ‘Carmina Burana’ sounds too much, consider yourself well warned.

A tuneless cover of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and a barefoot, tortured duet to ‘Hallelujah’ don’t help matters much, and by the last 20 minutes, things have got so amped up, you’re half expecting Siegfried and Roy to appear with their tigers and start setting things on fire. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 15, 20), 3pm, £18–£20 (£16–£18).

PHOTO: EVY SCHUBERT

INFINITA Mask, music and movement transport you to an other-worldly place ●●●●● The silhouetted figures of a funeral procession are projected onto the back wall of the theatre as the audience take their seats. Youth and old age, friendship and loneliness, bookend this poignant and magical piece from acclaimed German mask company Familie Flöz.

A grown daughter enters, pushing her father in a wheelchair. He places a flower at his wife’s grave, then both tilt their faces into the light. Hajo Schuler’s masks are exquisitely expressive: she appears sad, he stoical, both are lost in memories. Quickly, the scene changes and a toddler is centre stage, struggling to take its first steps. The illusion of scale is cleverly created with an oversized playpen, and the physicality of a tottering, wobbling infant is conveyed with uncanny accuracy.

Scenes of nursery wars are interspersed with scenes in a care home. The stoical father is reluctantly checked in by his daughter, only persuaded to stay by the presence of a piano on which he plays haunting melodies. The care home is larger than life, with residents at the mercy of a harassed, key-jangling nurse.

A swarthy lothario in a brown dressing gown jabs his walking stick about, forcing our pianist to play ragtime in order to dance with the nurse, while a timid fellow in white pyjamas is eager for medication time. Wry comedy ensues after he takes his pills – he becomes a new man, gliding across the stage, all jittery struts and finger clicks.

The company of four are masters of economical gestures and comic timing, and their bodies so expressive you can feel every sigh. A variety of scenes of varying pace bring much laughter, spontaneous applause and gasps of delight. Old age can be cruel, and children can be mean, but Infinita reveals the joyful magic present in both. Enchanting. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 1.30pm, £12–£13.50 (£11–£12.50).

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FESTIVAL DANCE | Reviews

MY LAND Ballet meets the circus in this mesmerising show ●●●●● Using the word ‘circus’ might give the wrong idea about this impressive show from Hungarian company Recirquel, featuring some pretty outstanding Ukrainian talents. Yes, there are acrobatics, jugglers and gymnasts, but it’s circus staged in a braver, more minimal and modern way, allowing each act time and space to show off some fairly mind-bending skills.

There’s a circus saying, that the less talent you have, the more props you need. And whether that’s true or not, there are no motorbikes, safety nets or hula-hooping girls here, just a very stripped-back set covered in sand, and seven artists in a nude-coloured wardrobe of hessian monks’ hoods and zero VPL underpants. It’s nothing like the show Recirquel brought to the Fringe last year, Paris de Nuit, a saucy cabaret set in the 1930s with lots of Bob Fosse-style dance moves and athletic high kicks in fishnets.

Andrii Spatar opens My Land with a balletic display of soft power, serenely shifting his weight from one hand to another, making mesmerising curves and lines with his taut torso in the air. Twin brothers Andrii and Mykola Pysiura draw gasps from the crowd as one balances gracefully on the other’s head and stoic contortionist Roman Khafizov doesn’t flinch as serene gymnast Yevheniia Obolonina does a feather-light routine on his upturned solar plexus, effortlessly dovetailing their elastic limbs around one another.

The finale involves some athletic partnering with a ladder from Sergii Materynskyi in time with the music; part of a specially created, dramatic score of strings and drumming that involved getting monks in a remote Ukrainian village to record their chanting just for the show. Some simple magic with mirrors and old-fashioned suspense and timing puts the cherry on the cake. (Claire Sawers) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 26 Aug (not 20), 8.10pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

PHOTO: SOILE MAKELA

PHOTO: ALLICE ALLART

8 SONGS

THE SAUNA

BON 4 BON

Hugely entertaining rock’n’roll juggling ●●●●●

Slow-burner fails to heat up the blood ●●●●●

Beautiful evocation of brotherly love ●●●●●

Master jugglers Gandini choreograph a riotous romp through eight great rock’n’roll songs, skilfully blending dance and juggling tricks to sublime effect.

The joyous harmonies of the Beach Boy’s ‘Good Vibrations’ kicks things off. These six are a tight ensemble, and they’d have to be – there’s very little margin for error with so many balls in the air, yet Gandini makes it look effortless. The most visually luscious moments are when the company synchronise throws to the beat of the music. There’s something so pleasurable about watching the coloured balls hang in the air, before being caught with ease.

Individual identities are showcased with panache.

An edgy punk girl does a sassy turn to ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, rebounding balls off her legs and chest to make them disperse like a firework. A basketball spinning routine to Janis Joplin’s ‘Summertime’ provokes gasps as the performer casually rolls backwards while keeping the ball on his finger, culminating with a beautiful image of planets in orbit.

The show finishes with a quirkily comic silent disco send-up, with each performer singing, dancing and juggling wildly to their own beat. Truly exhilarating to watch. (Alexandra Gray) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 15, 21), 4.40pm, £12–£14.

There is an actual sauna out the front of Summerhall, operating for just a couple of hours in the evening.

A visit there might well be more rewarding than this slow-burn piece of wordless mask and object theatre from Finland that never truly sparks into life.

Created by the Helsinki-based Teatteri Metamorfoosi, the show focuses on an elderly woman sitting in a sauna essentially waiting to die. But then a sauna spirit materialises, triggering memories in the old lady that lead her back to life.

It’s a fairly simple, low-key but promising premise.

Cast members Ilka Hartikainen and Johanna Kultala are encased in some pretty convincingly stylised body suits, with skinny, low-hanging, breasts for the old woman and love handles for the more buxom spirit creature. The production’s physical set-up is potentially pretty charming too, with three platforms arranged centre-stage and, off to the side, a third performer, Riina Tikkanen, who provides nice live sound effects (creaks, scrapes, bell-tones, water drips and the like).

But the theatre space itself isn’t conducive to the kind of gentle intimacy for which the show strives.

The addition of dim lighting, a slow pace and the overall lack of drive means this sauna fails to gather steam. (Donald Hutera) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 5.25pm, £10 (£8).

Part of the Taiwan Season, Eyal Dadon has made Bon 4 Bon especially for Chang Dance Theatre, a unique young company comprised of four brothers. Needless to say, it’s a family affair in this sensitively expressed piece about the bonds – and fruit – they share.

As the audience enters, one brother is lying on the floor. He reminisces about times he remembers spending with his family, when they would fight over the delicious cool mangoes they loved to eat.

In a surprising use of the space, his three brothers creep in through the venue door. They have a warm, slightly mischievous presence and glide with beautiful lightness and looseness through shifting floor patterns and configurations that evolve organically.

Taking turns to speak, each brother begins ‘I remember . . .’, the words extending a thread into the past. Lovely moments of unison describe their shared history, such as when all four point their foot with the words ‘my three brothers’. The profound themes of belonging and family are evoked with subtlety, the boys exchanging socks, posing like a boyband, or quoting street dance moves.

Sometimes tender, sometimes fierce, this is a beautifully constructed evocation of brotherly love.

(Alexandra Gray) ■ Dance Base, until 26 Aug (not 20), 5pm, £13 (£11).

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15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 67

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stivalal fefsteiv

MUSIC KIDS

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LISFTo.rCO.UK /FiEnSfoTIgmVoAotrLoe LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

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CHORES

Tidying the bedroom was never so much fun

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Hitlist | FESTIVAL KIDS

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: ANNA KUCERA

KIDS HITLIST Kelly Apter picks out the highlights for children and families from week three of the Fringe BRAINIAC LIVE! With live explosions and a considerable amount of mess, this stage version of the former TV show makes for a noisy and fun hour for families. See review, page 72.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug, 11am, £12–£15 (£10–£13).

CHORES It turns out tidying up your bedroom can be fun after all – as long as you’re an incredible acrobat, juggler and clown, like these two Australian funsters. See review, page 68.

Assembly George Square Gardens, until 26 Aug (not 20), noon, £7–£9.

MICHAEL MORPURGO’S KENSUKE’S KINGDOM Morpurgo’s tale of a young boy separated from his family at sea, who makes a fast friend on a desert island, is deeply touching. See review, page 72. Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

CIRCA: WOLFGANG The Australian Fringe regulars are back, this time with a show for children and families. Expect the usual top-notch acrobatics but with lots of silly slapstick thrown in.

See review, page 70. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug (not 20), 2pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

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 Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 15, 17, 19, 21–23, 25), 2.50pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

JOHN HEGLEY: MORNING WORDSHIP Spend a joyous 45 minutes with one of Britain’s finest performance poets, as he shares his unique brand of witty, wonderful nonsense.

See review at list.co.uk/festival Pleasance Courtyard, until 19 Aug (not 15), 10.30am, £10 (£8).

Brainiac Live!

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FESTIVAL KIDS | Reviews PHOTO: STEVE PORTER

PHOTO: MARK KESSLER

BETTER TOGETHER

DAVID BADDIEL’S ANIMALCOLM

Clowning show with right-on message ●●●●●

Adaptation of comedic novel that’s strong on character ●●●●●

The three clowns of Better Together manage, just about, to overcome the problems of a title that is guaranteed to alienate almost half its potential Scottish audience. Although it still has that unpleasant taste of being told what is good for you.

A clown at a bus stop? That's great. A clown listening to their walkman and dancing? Even better. Two clowns? Double the fun – particularly when they're both listening to music and can't hear each other. It just gets more and more silly as they roll around the stage.

Add a third clown – the wonderfully bendy, athletic Avi Simmons who can't stop looking at her phone – and a long-running gag about waiting on a bus, and this could be an hour of pure wonderment, sight gags and rollocking physical comedy.

The innate silliness of modern life where our handheld devices get in the way of our friendships is a solid starting point, and when the clowning grows out of such silliness, this is properly giggle-inducing.

But that is also its message and there are just too many times when the message becomes the point of the show – rather than a consequence of its comedy. (Thom Dibdin) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 19 Aug, 10.30am, £8–£10 (£7–£8).

Malcolm hates animals – they can’t talk, they take up all his family’s time and, worst of all, they’re not a new laptop, which is what he was expecting for his birthday. Instead, he gets a chinchilla and, the final straw, a school trip to a farm.

There’s a lovely sentiment at the heart of David Baddiel’s novel for younger readers, which has been whole-heartedly embraced by Story Pocket Theatre in this lively adaptation. Arriving on the farm, a magical goat puts a spell on Malcolm, which turns him into a series of animals: tortoise, cat, sheep, chinchilla, bird.

All of whom prove how clever and instinctive they are, and slowly allow Malcolm to re-think his stance on non-human creatures.

As we’ve come to expect from Story Pocket, characterisation is strong, whether the actors are playing Malcolm’s family members or a pig. What feels less strong however, is the humour – something Baddiel is famous for, and yet feels thin on the ground here (although Goaty McGoatface definitely pulls in the laughs). Also, the songs are less catchy than they should be to keep everyone hooked for the full 70 minutes. (Kelly Apter) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 19 Aug, 11.30am, £11–£12 (£9–£10).

THE NEW I HATE CHILDREN CHILDREN'S SHOW Still a great magic show ●●●●● Run children, run! Paul Nathan returns with more avuncular rudeness and an all-new, improved version of the magic show for kids which pretends to hate the audience and is all the more engaging for it.

That's 'returns' as in, goes back into the room where he has just performed his original I Hate Children Children's Show with a second audience for the day. And 'all new' as in, these are tricks that he hasn't done in the original show – but with cutting a rope in half, forcing cards and plenty of deft sleight of hand, they are by no means new to the world.

As for 'improved', well yes, you might say so if you happen to think the added edge given by routines and tricks that aren't quite fully formed yet is an improvement. They don't all work, but that doesn't matter, he can always blame his oh-so-willing helpers.

There's still glasses of bubbly for the mums, John Anaya on ironic guitar riffs and knowing interaction from Nathan who makes sure as many kids as possible get on stage to help with the tricks. And it's still a great magic show with tricks that engage to the point where you cease to care how they are done, just enjoy their presentation. (Thom Dibdin) ■ theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, until 25 Aug, 1.35pm, £11 (£8).

PHOTO: DYLAN EVANS

CIRCA: WOLFGANG Acclaimed circus company does it for the kids ●●●●● Each year, Australian circus troupe Circa heads to the Fringe with a new and improved way to demonstrate its skill. Whether it’s through acrobatics, aerial work or hula hooping, you know you’ll see beauty and strength in equal measure.

But this year the company is doing things a little bit differently.

An hour in Circa’s company still spells first-class lifts, stretches and tumbles, but with a young audience to entertain, they’ve also thrown some slapstick and silliness into the mix.

With nobody around to help celebrate her birthday, Kathryn O’Keeffe slumps in a chair and puts on some classical music.

Seconds later, Mozart (aka her real-life husband Paul O’Keeffe) appears in frock coat and wig, and the fun begins.

Accompanied by Gareth Chin on the accordion, playing new arrangements of Mozart’s music, they help and hinder each other, fall out and make up, but ultimately become fast friends.

Circa is known for its impressive acrobatics, and there’s no shortage of that here: with the O’Keeffe's balancing on top of each other (and often it’s him standing on her); circling the stage on a bicycle while getting dressed; or stacking chairs high and giving us that sharp intake of breath when they’re successfully scaled. ‘Don’t do it!’ shouts one child cautiously, ‘that’s tricky’, acknowledges another.

Such bravery and skill is a given with Circa – what we’ve seen less of, but is ably demonstrated here, is the company’s ability to get the kids giggling rather than gasping. But a simple yet effective routine involving a misbehaving spotlight that keeps moving becomes increasingly funnier, as does the slow-motion fight scene. A great introduction to contemporary circus, and Mozart, for younger audiences. (Kelly Apter) ■ Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 25 Aug (not 20), 2pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

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MICHAEL MORPURGO’S KENSUKE’S KINGDOM Family drama at sea proves deeply moving ●●●●● With such great source material, you’d have to work hard to mess up a Michael Morpurgo novel. But WildChild Productions treat his 1999 book with the respect it deserves, perfectly capturing the familial love, sea-faring adventure and friendship the story embodies.

When his unemployed parents decide to use their redundancy money to buy a yacht, life for 11-year-old Michael is turned upside down. No more school, no more critical granny telling them all their plans will ‘never work’. Instead, Michael’s view of the world expands in ways he could never have imagined: both geographically and emotionally.

Visiting Africa, South America and Australia on their travels, Michael, his parents and trusty dog Stella Artois are a tightly bonded unit – so when the young boy falls overboard and wakes up on a desert island, we feel their collective sense of loss.

With Stella to chat to (an ably handled puppet), we can hear Michael’s innermost thoughts, which are surprisingly perky given the circumstances. But it is his connection with Kensuke, an elderly Japanese man resident on the island for 40 years, that really brings the show alive. Like Stella, and two gorgeous orangutans, Kensuke is played by a puppet, which somehow gives the character even more emotional resonance.

As Kensuke teaches Michael to fish, paint and look after the orangutans when a ship-load of poachers arrives, their relationship blossoms. Which means, in true Morpurgo style, you’re reaching for the tissues in the last two scenes (no spoilers here, for those who haven’t read the book).

As with many Fringe shows, the set of sails, pulleys and foliage could do with more room to breathe, as could the action. But when a show’s heart is firmly in the right place, none of that matters.

(Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10).

PHOTO: ANNA KUCERA

IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE

THE BEAR

BRAINIAC LIVE!

Engaging visual show for the wee ones ●●●●●

Raymond Briggs' classic brought to life ●●●●●

Former TV show explosively re-born ●●●●●

Particularly successful in the United States, the 1985 children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie doesn’t offer much in terms of material to adapt.

Written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, it’s a simple tale of a boy who gives a cookie to a mouse he finds in his house, and then finds himself asked for a glass of milk to wash it down, scissors to trim the mouse’s hair, a bedtime story, and so on. The book was so successful that it’s generated 15 sequels and a recent animated version on Amazon.

Produced by the Manhattan Theatre Company – although the acting company consists of two Scots (Kamen Brown and Imogen Reiter) and an English actor (Sarah Haddath) – this version stretches the original tale out, and plays it for slapstick laughs and silly fun.

The glass of milk is a character in itself, for example, while the slightly odd decision to have both Reiter and Haddath play the mouse does give rise to an amusing mirror scene. At 45 minutes, the very simple thread of the original tale is diluted somewhat, but the show works well as an engaging dose of visual fun for smaller children.

(David Pollock) ■ Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug, 10.30am, £6–£9.

You can tell just how big Bear is by the way it squeezes through the window into Tilly's room as she sleeps, pushing against the frame, big paws – detached from its huge hooped body – plodding down onto the toy box beneath the window.

There's nothing scary about this bear, however.

It's more friendly than Raymond Briggs’s rather stern picture book original. It seems to be half smiling when it comes to stay with Tilly and her parents, who seem to spend their time at work or in the shed, leaving her and the bear to explore the house.

There's no question that the bear puppet is the star of this show, but it does take a long time to arrive. First the adaptation from Pins and Needles Productions needs to establish Tilly (the hugely engaging Leigh Quinn) in her room, and her parents (who will operate the puppet) as long-suffering.

When Bear does arrive, the focus is on events in the house – having a bath is particularly effective and an opportunity to spray the audience. Riding out into the midnight sky is, sadly, rather tagged on to the end and there is no loping around town at night. But the discovery of Bear in its Arctic home with its baby is a well-worked pay-off. (Thom Dibdin) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 20), noon, £9–£12 (£7.50–£10.50).

‘The show that farts in the sleeping bag of science,’ is what Brainiac Live! proudly declares itself, and it becomes hard to imagine that this perfectly pitched show for young kids who want to hear rude jokes and see things blow up, was once aimed at adults; or at least, the television show from the 2000s was.

Now, however, this big-room event in the McEwan Hall is situated in a space which reverberates with the sound of exploding oil drums and screaming kids.

Although it’s fair to say that this probably isn’t a show for kids susceptible to loud noises – or at least those not yet able to read the fingers-in-ears warning signs.

Yet for most, Brainiac Live! appears to be absolutely thrilling, with our quartet of hosts (Ned, Ed, Raz and Dave) conducting live ‘experiments’ which have more grounding in the world of stunts, albeit with hard science backing them up.

This involves running through a sheet of plasterboard, shooting T-shirts at the crowd through air cannons, blowing smoke rings with a special bazooka contraption and popping oxygen-filled balloons with an almighty bang. Racket aside, it’s an accessible, informative show which speaks to kids about the excitement and mystery of science. (David Pollock) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug, 11am, £12–£15 (£10–£13).

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WYE OAK

PHOTO: SHERVIN LAINEZ

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

Baltimore band return with swooning, expansive album and Fringe gig The first time Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak visited Edinburgh she was, in her own words, ‘an idiot high-schooler on a very clichéd backpacking trip through Europe’. She returns in August with Wye Oak, responsible for one of the year’s most critically acclaimed albums in The Harder I Call, The Faster It Comes. ‘When you’ve been a band as long as we have,’ she says, ‘it’s nice to hear that people who aren’t familiar with us are finding out about it.’

For the first time ever, the group (formed by Wasner and drummer Andy Stack in Baltimore) are touring with a third member, Will Hackney, tasked with bringing the additional keys and samples from the new record onto the stage. ‘We’re all multi-tasking pretty hard as it is,’ says Wasner, ‘so it’s not like a three-piece band is a huge ensemble but it feels like it to us!’

While making The Harder I Call, The Faster It Comes, the duo made the decision not to consider the live performance

element, working on the album first and foremost. The result is a swooning, expansive collection that recalls Cocteau Twins (on ‘It Was Not Natural’) and St Vincent (on ‘Symmetry’), but has its own unmistakeable identity. Wasner remains a skilful lyricist of great intelligence, something particularly evident on album highlight ‘Lifer’, which juxtaposes her own struggles as a creative person against a real life-or-death scenario.

Sometimes giving up isn’t an option. Songwriting is an integral part of Wasner’s identity, the way she makes sense of the world, her ‘fear and apprehension about the future’ and ‘intense grief about the avoidable suffering of people’. Despite the logistical and financial difficulties of being in a band in 2018, there’s only one thing for it. ‘I know that I’ll be making music in some form until my dying breath,’ she says, ‘because it’s my only real joy and passion in life.’ (Craig Angus) ■ Summerhall, 21 Aug, 7pm, £14.50.

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FESTIVAL MUSIC | Hitlist PHOTO: NEDDA AFSARI

MUSIC HITLIST Henry Northmore selects the music highlights from across the Fringe and International Festival OTWAY A fantastically entertaining evening of music and stories from pop’s cult figure and perennial underdog John Otway. The Voodoo Rooms, 15, 22 Aug, 4.40pm, free.

THE BEGGAR’S OPERA One of the standout productions at this year’s EIF is Théâtre Des Bouffes Du Nord’s modernisation of John Gay’s 18th-century opera, directed

by Robert Carsen. King’s Theatre, 16–18 Aug, 7.30pm (also 2.30pm 18 & 19 Aug), £16–£55.

GRUFF RHYS: RESIST PHONEY ENCORES The Super Furry Animals frontman makes his Fringe debut with his sprawling psychedelic indie pop. For an interview with Rhys, see list.co.uk/ festival Pleasance Courtyard, 17–25 Aug, 11pm, £21.50–£23.50 (£19.50– £21.50).

ANNO: VIVALDI A mix of classical, electronica and visual art as Anna Meredith and the

Scottish Ensemble present their reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s classic Four Seasons. Pleasance at EICC, 17 Aug, 3pm, 5pm & 8.30pm; 18 Aug, 4.30pm, 6.30pm & 9.45pm, £16 (£14.50).

KASABIAN ‘Offt. Ahhh ahhh ah.’ Rabble rousing indie rockers help the Summer Sessions close with a big triple bill of Paloma Faith (17 Aug), Kasabian (18 Aug) and Brian Wilson (19 Aug).

Princes Street Gardens, 18 Aug, 6pm, sold out.

WASABI DISCO Norwegian ‘maestro of the hypnotic groove’ DJ Sotofett rocks up for a sixhour set at Edinburgh’s most intimate club space, covering everything from jazz and ambient to Afrobeat and techno. Sneaky Pete’s, 18 Aug, 11pm, £7.

MOGWAI Expect explosive instrumentals and quiet complex introspection from the Scottish masters. Leith Theatre, 22 & 23 Aug, 7pm, £30.

OMNI Lo-fi post punk as Atlanta’s Omni headline Good Grief and City of Glass’ summer party, also featuring KAPUTT!, Jonny Pariss, DJs and a vegan BBQ by Harmonium. Leith Docker’s Club, 19 Aug, 5pm, £10 in advance, £13 on the door.

BRIAN KELLOCK / COLIN STEELE PLAY MARY POPPINS Two of Scotland’s top jazz players (Kellock on piano and Steele on trumpet) with their interpretation of the classic tunes from the classic movie.

The Jazz Bar, 22 Aug, 5.30pm; 23–26 Aug, 7pm, £10 (£9).

St Vincent

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JACKHAMMER End the fest with a flurry of techno beats from Dave Clarke, Ben Sims and Stephen Brown (live). Sleaze Records take over the second room with Records with Hans Bouffmyhre and Lex Gorrie. La Belle Angele, 24 Aug, 11.30pm, £10 in advance.

ST VINCENT Intelligent, sleek electro-pop from one of the most dynamic performers in modern music. Playhouse, 26 Aug, 8pm, £25–£40.

“Top Hip Summer Opera Tip!” The Independent

Broadwaybaby

ANDREA BAKER PRESENTS

Internationally renowned singer Andrea Baker presents a celebration of the African American female voice. A joyous mix of storytelling, jazz, blues, gospel and opera.

ASSEMBLY ROOMS - VENUE 20 TICKETS £13/£11

17:55

19 - 26 AUG

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Pet Sounds | FESTIVAL MUSIC

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: © CAPITOL PHOTO ARCHIVES

The Beach Boys (Al Jardine, second right)

THE BOYS R E M M U S F O Brian Wilson is celebrating the Beach Boys seminal album Pet Sounds in concert with co-founder Al Jardine. Henry Northmore caught up with Jardine to chat about the making of one of the greatest albums of all time

T

he Beach Boys cast a ray of sunshine over the 60s music scene. Formed at high school in Hawthorne, California, brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson teamed up with cousin Mike Love and childhood friend Al Jardine and went on to become one of the most influential bands in pop history.

‘We started on a hope and a prayer,’ explains guitarist and co-founder Jardine, who also sang lead vocals on some of their biggest hits (including ‘Then I Kissed Her’, ‘I Know There’s an Answer’ and ‘Help Me, Rhonda’). ‘In fact I had to rent the instruments because we didn’t own any at the time, but when we sang together we knew we had a pretty good blend. We had no idea it would turn into 100–200 million records [some estimates put their sales as high as 350 million], it wasn’t supposed to last at all after that first record.’

The group were inspired by doo-wop, 50s girl groups,

Mel Tormé, the Ink Spots and even Roy Rogers. ‘It’s simple, it’s complicated and everything in between; it’s barbershop, jazz and folk, it’s pretty much everything, it’s hard to define,’ says Jardine. ‘We created our own unique formula. Brian had this ability to articulate and hear harmonies that most people don’t hear, so that helps, and then you have the messengers, the Beach Boys, who delivered.’

They found their niche singing about summer holidays, beaches, parties and, of course, surfing, with their early hits playing up to California clichés. Then 1966’s Pet Sounds changed everything. Chief songwriter Brian Wilson was reaching for something bigger and more complex – a trip into the psychedelic end of pop with multi-layered harmonies, found sounds and extensive use of the theremin. It’s a more personal album and a labour of love for Wilson. And it’s still considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time.

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BLAZING A TRAIL ‘It continues to resonate because it is just so profoundly simple and relatable. Its multi-layered production and good quality songwriting just makes the whole complete. All those elements together, those arrangements, it’s a phenomenon.’

The protracted recording sessions also took their toll on the band.

‘I remember two songs in particular which took the longest and were the most difficult – “Wouldn’t it be Nice” and “Good Vibrations” – we expended months of energy perfecting them. They were both going to be on Pet Sounds but as it turned out, “Good Vibrations” didn’t make the grade. Brian insisted on holding it back for the next album because he thought it was too advanced. It’s probably the worst decision he ever made,’ says Jardine with a wry chuckle.

Those mammoth recording sessions stretched on for months. Not only recording Pet Sounds but also working on its fabled follow-up Smile. In many ways it was the beginning of the end of the classic lineup. ‘Oh yeah majorly, majorly physically, emotionally, creatively taxing,’ admits Jardine. ‘And expensive I might add. I don’t think we’ll ever know how much it cost but I did hear “Good Vibrations” had a $60,000 bill by itself and that’s a lot of money back in the 60s.’

Brian stepped away from touring to concentrate on ever-more complex recording projects, most of which never saw the light of day. He struggled with agoraphobia, drink and drugs, withdrawing from public life. Then in the 90s and 00s, Wilson gradually began to resurface, working on new material, touring and finally releasing Smile in 2004, 37 years after he had first started working on it.

Jardine rejoined Wilson on the road in 2006. ‘His wife called me and asked if I’d like to come back, give it a try with the band, he needed a little shot in the arm and our friendship is strong and non-threatening.’ Brian contributed vocals to Jardine’s solo album A Postcard From California and they have been playing together ever since. Jardine returned the favour appearing on Wilson’s most recent record No Pier Pressure in 2015 alongside Blondie Chaplin who has been playing with the Beach Boys since the 70s.

It’s nice, too, to hear from Jardine that relations between the original Beach Boys are less fractious than the media would have you believe.

‘We got together a few nights ago at Capitol Records and there was no enmity at all, just a lot of respect. Unfortunately managers and agents all have competitive spirits so it often looks worse than it is. I’m hoping we can all get together for one last bash and do some shows.’

For the capital’s Summer Sessions concert series, Wilson will be joined

by Jardine and Chaplin and unsurprisingly their set will concentrate on Pet Sounds alongside other Beach Boys classics. ‘I never expected it to last this long,’ says Jardine. ’It’s a testament to the songwriting; a group of guys who stumbled forward and never quite knew what we were doing.’

Brian Wilson presents Pet Sounds, Playhouse, 19 Aug, 7pm, £50–£85.

Powerful songs from the fight for civil rights and artistic freedom For a show where you are never quite sure what style of music is going to come next, but can be confident that it will be performed with passion and style, Sing Sistah Sing! is one to look out for. Based around the idea of celebrating the sound of the African American female voice, it is a unique concept and one that mezzo Andrea Baker has very much made her own, both in the live show and the CD of the same name released in May. ‘We’re telling untold stories about African American female trailblazers’, she says, ‘with a focus on blues singer Linda Hopkins, who was the first African American singer to star in a one-woman show on Broadway.’ Hopkins, who died last year at the age of 92, was a personal friend of Baker’s, making the inclusion of her story all the more powerful.

This is no song recital in the conventional sense. It weaves together the voices of women who led the way for artistic freedom as part of the civil rights movement. The show, which started life in a previous incarnation at the 2015 Fringe, is now more overtly theatrical, including being fully lit by designerdirector Carolyn Sittig. ‘It’s storytelling, it’s music, it’s my own personal story, my history and my travelling in Scotland and how I came to make East Lothian my home,’ says Baker.

There is opera – Baker was the first African American to sing Carmen in Australia at the Sydney Opera House – as well as German lieder, blues and jazz.

How she and accompanist Richard Lewis pack it into an hour is a feat in itself, but says Baker, ‘I think it’s a show that people will really enjoy, through looking, listening and learning.’ (Carol Main) ■ Assembly Rooms, 19–26 Aug, 5.55pm, £13 (£11).

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PHOTO: MICHAEL MURCHIE

PUSSY RIOT: RIOT DAYS The revolution will not be performed ●●●●● Between gig and theatre show, but satisfying as neither, Pussy Riot's performance sets their origin story to a rough soundtrack of pulsing electronics, tribal drumming and saxophone. With an audience happy to cheer quotations from Castro but flinching at water flicked from the stage, this event documents a revolution without provoking a reaction.

The story is gripping, interspersing the detail of the group's celebrated subversion of an Orthodox ritual between fragments of a manifesto that contests Putin's manufacture of consent. Told in urgent Russian, it has the force of authentic rage and an attention to the vicious subordination of protest, while the music circles menacingly.

The interaction between audience and performers is inevitably the most fascinating part of the gig: a plea for them to behave ‘punk’ is inevitably greeted by a security guard asking an old man to step down from standing on a seat, and the reverence for Pussy Riot’s achievements – and suffering – ensures a respect for the band that cannot translate into parallel activism.

The gig itself slips between brilliant storytelling and agit-prop provocation, but the ability of performance not to embody protest but tame it into a commodity is sadly too obvious. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Summerhall, until 19 Aug, 7pm, £17.50.

MODERN MAORI QUARTET: TWO WORLDS

AN EVENING WITH AMANDA F*CKING PALMER

Heart and soul in every song ●●●●●

A show for die-hard fans ●●●●●

Imagine a Maori Rat Pack and you're half way there.

Much like Sinatra and co., the Modern Maori Quartet are about more than just music. There's charisma, comedy and charm alongside slick interpretations of classic tunes mixed with traditional music.

However, this isn't a straight concert; there are also elements of cabaret, theatre and dance woven into their show. It starts with sunny summer vibes but there's a story running through Two Worlds that adds another layer to the performance. There are themes of unfulfilled potential, hidden truths and the erosion of indigenous culture. In places it's genuinely funny, in others it's surprisingly poignant, as Koro, Big Bro, Uncle and Bub (aka James Tito, Matariki Whatarau, Francis Kora and Tainui Kuru) step forward to take their turn in the spotlight. The plot acts as a clever framework in which to drop covers of Elvis, Queen, Carpenters and more – all given a unique spin by the MMQ. Unsurprisingly this group are already stars in their native New Zealand. Whilst they are fabulous singers offering some truly lovely vocal harmonies, what really wins the audience over is the heart and soul put into every song. (Henry Northmore) ■ Assembly George Square Studios, until 27 Aug, 2.25pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

If you were expecting to come to Amanda Palmer’s new show and enjoy a punk rock party — then you will leave disappointed. This time Palmer insists that she’s putting on a sad show. So much so that when she previewed it earlier in the year, audience members said they left because it was just too upsetting.

Palmer presents a stripped-back set using nothing but piano, vocals and ukulele, interspersed with anecdotes about her life. Fan favourites like ‘Ampersand’, ‘Oasis’, and ‘Map of Tasmania’, are accompanied by explanations of the inspiration behind them. She also packs in plenty of material inspired by her new experiences as a mother and wife — as well as the many controversies that have overshadowed her.

Her warm demeanour and ‘one of you’ attitude has made her a cult favourite. However, long speeches about the problematic situations she’s been in (Kickstarter, not paying her band), mixed with the fact she keeps stressing it's a ‘sad’ show, makes it feel like she’s trying to make us feel sorry for her.

Ultimately, this show is for die-hard fans, not anyone looking for her to be held accountable for her dubious practices. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Queen's Hall, 10, 17 & 18 Aug, 7pm, £26.50.

P R E V IE

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STARGAZE Orchestral reimagining of Boards of Canada's Hi Scores EP

Contemporary Dutch collective s t a r g a z e are grounded in contemporary classical but readily expand to absorb myriad genres. They have worked with Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Matthew Herbert, These New Puritans, Pantha du Prince, Bryce Dessner (The National) and many more over the years. For this year's EIF they are reinterpreting Boards of Canada's early EP Hi Scores. s t a r g a z e's guitarist, arranger and composer Aart Strootman tells us about the project: 'I've always been interested in everything released on the Warp label. I'm a huge fan of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher and via them found Boards of Canada. I think everybody has albums they keep going back to and for me Boards of Canada might be number one. It has an orchestral quality even though it's produced by synthesisers.

'There will be 12 musicians in total [for this Edinburgh performance]. One side is strings with bass and the other is a woodwind section. For this particular programme we added electric guitar and because it's so groove-orientated, percussion and drums. ‘[Hi Scores] is built on computers but as soon as you have to translate that to drums or percussion there are endless possibilities, but you are also limited because some of the synthesised sounds cannot be remodelled with analogue instruments. So on one side there's the question of how do we recreate it with our instruments? And the other question is where are we limited?

'You want to stay loyal to the original but actually by combining certain instruments or creating synergy between woodwind and strings, you can get quite close to the synthesised quality.' (As told to Henry Northmore) ■ Leith Theatre, 25 Aug, 5pm, £20.

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25 YEARS AFTER THE EXECUTION OF THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY, NOTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE

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The Pleasance in association with Bill Kenwright presents

QUIETLY WONDERFUL...

A TRIUMPH

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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

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LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

TROJAN HORSE A searing indictment of ‘British values’ and Tory policy in modern Britain In 2014, documents alleging that teachers and governors at three Birmingham schools were indoctrinating children with extremist Islamic views were leaked to the media.

While those allegations have now been widely discredited, the subsequent maelstrom of Islamophobia and political posturing that engulfed the Muslim-majority, working class community of Alum Rock has been well-documented – indeed, much of LUNG’s Trojan Horse is taken verbatim from the real-life testimonies of those at the heart of the Toriame que volo magnate molorum quoditatis government inquiry. endae. Ut quia parchit, venis quae maion est moluptas et aut aut exwhirling es Five actors doexpeliquisit an excellent job through aaperit litanyacesto of excesciatque voluptatet, iusci ipicabo reictatur, tenisout eturio dit escitaedetail pel and instilling characters, fleshing documentary con porectem ex et que volesse quiamus, maximusant fuga. Tioreriatur si occus sendae. it with real confusion, fury and pain, from the Birmingham sunt fuga. Im imil mod que pore, tet debis Oditatem fuga.damage Os aut ex elesequid councillorquoditat attempting control to theutgovernors audis velecat dolescipiet fugit, simusandi delici aciassincit ea si aces etur, of quod and teachers crushed as years hardmaximet work evaporates doloratur, seque dende inum quamus exerum, aut eritadays. cus.Rem ea que plandem within Evenfaccum a racistex ‘whistleblower’ is no monster, velesequas voloreperum qui si archil mo te ex evendigendel but her inability eiur?Ommoloratia – or unwillingness acesendis – to adapt to thedoluptatur?Evenda needs inum sitis mil eic tem. ipidellendi quo curriculum mo occuptaand tincto is molora has tragic of a changing demographic Pudignis dolo consed et autas seque estissi nimagniet is elignam, oditistor ab illecto consequences. ommolor ectio. Orest earuptasita voles essintenis apelest arion quoditi ossitati Transitions are set to aessiti driving, relentless bass, overlaid necerum fugit offictem et, omnim dia doluptat utbylatqui corem non por nus.and party lines, distorted snippets ofanihil mediailibeate coverage faccum eat.

Busdande que reperisfurore inihit as politicos andTemos highlighting the voluptu disorientating press ex et harum quid et re, sequo et, aborporrum iumtoquis aut pra net, samsituation. restia But alike scramble takeesadvantage of the what peliqua of sequae eriamusapedi ate volumquis volore, sum, que eturwho sitioendured molores nis untio the schoolchildren, months of needless scrutiny eosRorrorent ut que esequos quassitate con omnissi modita veliquisperspective aut officiurisad andest surveillance?

This crucial what Trojan parumquam illiciant acesequam rem reperume Horse manages to excavate from the noise, centring the tale’s emotional core around Farah, a young girl who finds respite from her troubled home life through school. Her fate becomes a chilling reminder of who the true victims of the catastrophe are, a fact that will not be found in any government document or think-piece on the subject. (Deborah Chu) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug, 3.15pm, £12 (£11) ●●●●●

ABOREHENAT DOLUM

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THEATRE HITLIST Gareth K Vile picks out theatre highlights from week three of the festival UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME Rough and tough, funny and bold look at racism, educational theatre and the complicity of the audience.

Taking in bad art, rousing song and a wry exposure of how cliches become common, past sins become modern sickness. See review. page 90. Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

THE CHORE OF ENCHANTMENT A magic show that asks questions about magic: the final show from an artist becomes a dream within a play within an illusion. See review, list.co.uk/festival Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 20), 5.45pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

URBAN DEATH With horror theatre in vogue at the moment, Zombie Joe takes the grand guignol tradition and adds an unpleasant contemporary edge. Not just about the jump scares, it moves

into viciously relevant monstrosities.

See review, page 85. Sweet Grassmarket, until 26 Aug, 9.30pm, £8.50 (£6.50).

MY LEFT/RIGHT FOOT Robert Softley Gale – unsurprisingly, given his track record – writes a provocative musical that skewers hypocrisy and self-interest in the representation of disability: entertaining, funny, but refusing simple answers or self-satisfaction. This Birds of Paradise co-production with NTS is a powerful call for inclusivity with meaning. See review, page 83.

Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 21), 6.10pm, £16 (£12).

VESSEL A sensitive and subtle take on the debate for reproductive rights, using the recent Irish referendum on abortion as a springboard for a nuanced discussion of activism and compassion. See review, page 82.

Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug, 1.05pm, £10 (£9).

SIX Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,

Vessel

Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr are brought back to life in this thrilling new musical that offers a bold

retelling of history. See review, page 91. Underbelly George Square, until 27 Aug, 7.30pm (except 27, 3.30pm), £13–£18.50 (£12–£17.50).

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PHOTO: ALY WIGHT

PHOTO: JAMIE WILLIAMS

A CLOWN SHOW ABOUT RAIN

HUFF

DRIP FEED

Creative take on battling mental health ●●●●●

Brutal and darkly comic one-man show ●●●●●

Dark comedy of queer female identity ●●●●●

Mental health is depicted as an unpredictable sea in A Clown Show About Rain. Sometimes you can lay down a towel and bask on the deck under blue skies; on another day it throws you violently around the boat.

This richly metaphorical (mostly) silent comedy takes time to reveal its true purpose. It follows three characters, the Shipping Forecast-inspired Forth, Cromarty and Dogger, as they navigate a series of storms. A parallel storyline involves a couple on a camping expedition, where the politics of snacking are given a long overdue theatrical interrogation.

While the latter plot provides some laughs, it feels underdeveloped in comparison with the first.

For the most part, A Clown Show About Rain is a sweet ode to team spirit and friendship. The choreography is a joy, and the ebb and flow of the sea is conjured marvellously. Mops are thrown across the stage with pinpoint accuracy. The cast combine the rule of three and a cup of tea with some of the most understated audience participation you could hope to see, and there's applause too for the impressive consumption of a biscuit. An occasionally brilliant and creative take on the reality of battling the elements. (Craig Angus) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug (not 20), 1.40pm, £11 (£10).

Huff is a punishing performance of raw emotion – a visceral portrayal of a family falling apart – that also examines the institutional and historical prejudices that have held back Canada’s indigenous population.

Written and performed by Cliff Cardinal, this one-man play opens with its protagonist, Wind, suffocating himself with a plastic bag, gasping desperately for breath. It's a disturbing introduction, setting the tone for a show in which alcohol and solvent abuse is the norm, the trauma of suicide casts a dark shadow, and sexual assault has a devastating consequence.

Cardinal immerses himself in the roles of the family members. His depiction of the three central siblings is remarkable – the aforementioned Wind; his younger brother, the loyal and innocent Huff; and the eldest, Charles, damaged by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He's equally convincing as an emotionally stunted patriarch, an unsympathetic school teacher, a talk show host and an aggressive skunk, snapping in and out of character at the drop of a hat. His range and the energy he brings to each performance is stunning. A powerful, darkly comic show that explores the damage caused when people and cultures are written off as irrelevant. (Craig Angus) ■ Canada Hub @ Kings Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 4.15pm, £11 (£9).

‘You know when you’re doing something that you really shouldn’t be doing?’ This quip begins Drip Feed and summarises this vivid, immersive and ultimately hopeful exploration of identity. Brenda is dissatisfied with life; she has become part of the furniture in her hometown of Cork. Her relationships are strained, her work is unfulfilling and she's currently raiding a bin.

In this dark and powerful comedy, Karen Cogan’s portrayal of down-on-her-luck Brenda is raw, dramatic and at times almost disgustingly detailed.

The utilisation of music and sound is ingenious and the space, populated with a few chairs and a dingy sofa bed, acts as a clever visualisation of the sparseness of Brenda’s life.

As relationships are dissected and homophobia investigated, Cogan is bright and funny, whirling from subject to subject with a speed that can occasionally feel disorientating. Although her observations veer towards predictability, the overall result is compelling, and gains pace and depth as Brenda navigates the horrors of a virulent hangover.

The transition from her night out to the morning after is a real highlight of Drip Feed, a performance characterised by warmth and insight. (Rachel Walker) ■ Assembly George Square Theatre, until 26 Aug, 2.30pm, £13 (£12).

PHOTO: MATTHEW THOMPSON

WAITING FOR GODOT Dazzling production of Beckett’s tragi-comedy ●●●●● Samuel Beckett's absurd tragi-comedy in two acts comes to the Festival from Galway-based company Druid and Tony-award winning director Gary Hynes in this exemplary production.

The set design by Francis O’Connor is sleek, with a heavy white illuminated border and a marble-grey background.

A single bare tree sits slightly drooping, as if the wind has caught it, and casts a shadow across the dirt-bare stage floor.

The frame makes the whole scene look like a postcard snap – a generic stock picture that nods to Beckett’s directions that it could be set anywhere.

Lucky (Garrett Lombard) and Estragon (Aaron Monaghan) flow through their random chatterings about boots, ailments and suicide with a physicality which is a revelation. Realised by movement director Nick Winston, the pair combine elements of slapstick and clowning which propel the hidden hilarity of the play. The actor's soft Irish accents also feel perfect in this production and it becomes hard to believe anyone would stage it without this as a necessity.

Bringing chaos to the tale, Rory Nolan plays Pozzo as a gross and camp man-child who devilishly manipulates the pair and treats Lombard’s Lucky with a knowing evilness. When Pozzo proclaims ‘but I am liberal in my nature’, it seems eerily apt in 2018, as he professes his tolerant ways while holding his slave on a rope.

As the play ventures into act two and ‘nothing happens, twice’, the relationship between the two main characters is so warm and endearing that you almost forget they are waiting for something to happen. This dazzling production reinforces why staging the classics (well) is still necessary today.

(Katharine Gemmell) ■ Lyceum Theatre, run ended.

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VESSEL Tackling the debate over Ireland’s abortion law ●●●●● Maia lives in Ireland, weeks away from the repeal of the 8th amendment of the country’s constitution. A tweet about her own unwanted pregnancy turns her into a right-to-choose activist and she lets tabloid reporter David accompany her to England for her abortion.

The minimal set and direction make way for excellent writing (by performer Laura Wyatt O’Keeffe) to shine. Maia and David are complex and subtle characters. They are superbly portrayed by O’Keeffe and Edward DeGaetano, who bring real life and humour to these two unlikely companions. Maia and David hesitate, they make mistakes, and they certainly haven’t considered all the implications of their activism.

Vessel is both poignant and subtle. It questions the easy stereotyping that comes with a binary view of activism. David wants to make Maia the vessel of reproductive rights for the greater good of the Repeal the 8th campaign, but he still carries inconsistencies and bias in his own view of fertility.

There are hints something more might develop between the characters, but maybe nothing will: Vessel doesn’t offer a happy ending or clear resolution for the characters. Instead it shows what happens after the struggle, be that Maia’s clinical procedure or the referendum, the results of which are announced halfway through the show.

Vessel focuses on the individuals having to make important choices, and suggests the campaign for reproductive rights doesn’t end with a referendum; instead it acknowledges the choices women have to make, and questions what happens to them now they have that freedom. (Adeline Amar) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug, 1.05pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

PHOTO: ROBBIE JACK

GREYHOUNDS Atmospheric and entertaining evocation of a WWII village ●●●●● Following a time-honoured tradition of a play within a play (think Chekhov, Brecht, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Greyhounds takes Shakespeare’s triumphant Henry V, a tale of battle, loss and that famous ‘band of brothers’, and adapts it to the fraught setting of a small English village in 1941. Villagers are putting on a lacklustre production of Henry V to raise money for a Spitfire; an aptly selected play for a war-weary village, although one that occasionally produces parallels and metaphors that are too laboured.

Yet when Greyhounds isn’t working too hard to convince the audience of the links between Henry V and this curious, well-sketched cast of characters, it is a treat. The setting is skilfully rendered: costumes, a few choice posters and the hint of busy if stultifying village life beyond the confines of the drama production all evoke a convincing sense of WWII life.

Familiar but still intriguing tropes of the war feature, and the characters – who range from downed pilot to Fiona Primrose’s brilliantly endearing displaced London chorus girl – are entertainingly portrayed. Playwright Laura Crow’s turn as the socially awkward Katherine is a highlight, as she dryly delivers comedic lines and fails to understand the nuances of life around her. (Rachel Walker) ■ theSpace on the Mile, until 18 Aug, 8.15pm, £10.

SITTING BY KATHERINE PARKINSON

TESTAMENT Matters of life and death and beyond ●●●●●

Incisive portrait of artist and subjects ●●●●● The set-up for this moving debut play from actor and writer Katherine Parkinson (star of Humans, The IT Crowd and more) might be simple, but she finds in it so much dramatic potential. Mary, Cassandra and Luke are each sitting for portraits by the mysterious, unseen John, the seemingly mundane conversations they conduct with their painter slowly revealing unexpected interconnections and moving truths.

Sitting is a glowingly assured and quietly incisive, drawing its characters with deft, succinct precision, and drip-feeding parallels and connections between its protagonists’ stories almost imperceptibly. To say more would spoil the huge pleasure of tuning into the intertwining polyphony of Parkinson’s writing.

Director Sarah Bedi allows plenty of space and air for the three stories to breathe, and gets beautifully nuanced performances from her three-strong cast: Grace Hogg-Robinson touchingly vulnerable as needy compulsive liar Cassandra; James Alexandrou all bluster and swagger as Luke, unsure why he’s there at all; and Hayley Jane Standing glorious as the unwittingly sensual Mary. Sitting is a sharp, perceptive piece of work, delivered brilliantly. (David Kettle) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 3.15pm, £14–£16 (£13–£14).

Audacious in its ambition, Testament slips between poetic and physical evocations of mental or metaphysical states, places the human at the centre of a battle between Jesus and the devil, reflects on grief, guilt and medical ethics before concluding with a meditation on the possibility of overcoming disappointment. Shifting between naturalism and melodramatic declamations, Testament is bursting with ideas, but its hour struggles to contain everything.

Like the experiences of protagonist Max, the structure is fragmented and disorientating: the scenes set in his subconscious are fluid, allusive and profound, but the interludes in the real world of doctors, guilty brothers and medical procedure are laboured by comparison. The cast are enthusiastic and dynamic, bringing a lively intensity to both happy memories and painful recollections.

Uneven yet promising, the script shifts mood frequently and sometimes clumsily. The ambition of the company is not yet matched by an effective dramaturgical execution, yet the seriousness of the themes suggest that Chalk Line are chasing a thought-provoking, intelligent and passionate ideal. (Gareth K Vile) ■ ZOO Charteris, until 27 Aug, 4.45pm, £10 (£8).

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PHOTO: MATT TULLETT

PHOTO: JAVIER ORTEGA SAEZ

KILLYMUCK Vivid and well-crafted social critique ●●●●● Impassioned societal critique and cleverly observed humour are the two disparate strands that define KillyMuck, Kat Woods’ exploration of a young girl growing up as a member of the underclass on a deprived housing estate in Northern Ireland. It’s a story of abuse, social exclusion and the viciousness of female friendship. Armed with experience, understanding and compassion for so-called ‘benefit kids’, it's also a call for equity and equality.

For a play beginning with actress Aoife Lennon pretending to be born, it’s no surprise that the rest of the performance is brimming with vitality, comedy and boundless energy. Lennon dives around the stage re-enacting fights and childish moments, her emotional resonance always close to the surface.

Tales of babysitting a prostitute’s children and sniffing deodorant to the music of the Cranberries are portrayed with wit and glee, but these quips don’t undermine the darker side of KillyMuck, where stories of suicide and sectarianism are told with powerful and moving simplicity.

Overall this is a clever and crucial examination of underclass life, delivered with fun and feeling.

(Rachel Walker) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug, 6.25pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

THE SHALLOW ENTERTAINMENT TOUR

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF SMACK AND CRACK

Sadly not quite escaping the title’s warning ●●●●●

Angry yet witty political theatre ●●●●●

The show’s intended performer, Sören Bergen, is unable to be with us, hesitant stand-in narrator Tim informs us – he’s currently stuck in Norway for murky legal reasons. Tim has never seen the show’s script before, and he’s about to read for the first time its tender tale of lost love in the small Norwegian town of Faukhan. His pre-show explanation, however, also comes with warnings about the veracity of what we’re about to hear, and whether we can actually believe a word of it.

This solo show charts a storytelling path that’s been trod many times before at the Fringe, of a quirky, sweetly sentimental story of young love. It’s made more complex by its elusive narrative, in which facts seem to slip from grasp under examination. What, for instance, did Sören do that was so wrong it made his beloved Mona run away?

Nevertheless, the rather flat delivery, despite frequent interactions with the audience, struggles to sustain interest, especially at the show’s late timeslot. This is a thoughtful creation about truth, rumour and identity, but rather too low-key for its own good. (David Kettle) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 15), 10.50pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).

Covering both the personal and social impact of heroin, Political History is a brash yet thoughtful analysis of how the British state was complicit in the increase of drug use during the 1980s. Following the adventures of a couple who battle with their own addictions, Ed Edward’s script balances informative interludes with darkly witty tales from the drug-use frontline.

The core thesis of the production is the shocking idea that, after the riots across the UK in 1981, the Conservative government indirectly allowed the development of an international trade in heroin so that the working class would shift their energy away from protest into gangsterism and addiction. Although the central relationship has moments of comedy, their lives are blighted by drug use, poverty and the threat of death, and the play refuses to condemn their criminality and recognises how social opportunity is denied to the working classes.

The fast pace, the juxtaposition of lectures on political history and episodes from the life of the couple, the urgency of the message and the dark jokes combine to lift Political History from being either misery-porn or polemical complaint. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Roundabout @ Summerhall, until 26 Aug, 5.30pm, £14–£15 (£10–£12).

MY LEFT / RIGHT FOOT Inclusivity musical is riotously funny and asks us to better ourselves ●●●●● The Kirktoon Players want to compete for am-dram awards. Their cynical solution; to stage a theatrical adaptation of the classic film My Left Foot, casting their own able-bodied leading man as Christy Brown. What could go wrong? Director Robert Softley Gale, who has cerebral palsy and a track record of wittily deconstructing stereotypes, remembers the Oscar winning film vividly – but rightfully considers it problematic since it is Daniel Day Lewis’ performance that is remembered and not the film’s real life subject. His daring musical, a Birds of Paradise and National Theatre of Scotland co-production, boldly sets about mocking inspiration porn and reclaiming Brown's story.

Too clouded by their own personal agendas to make real progress, the Kirktoon Players can't get their production right. My Left / Right Foot wastes no time in portraying their tactless takes on Brown's life (‘I want love / I want more / In the meantime I’m sucking whiskey through a straw’), a situation exacerbated when their CP-suffering stagehand, Chris (Matthew Duckett), gets roped in. The songs and performances soar for 90 minutes; Gail Watson's wouldbe matriarch Sheena is fiercely cutting, John McLarnon's thespian Grant is brilliantly self-obsessed, and as Gillian, Dawn Sievewright both sings and swears spectacularly.

This co-production is hilarious; the gags are close to the bone, and important questions are asked about inclusivity. It wisely resists depicting a fully transformative journey at its close, instead leaving plenty to consider, debate and argue about. (Craig Angus) ■ Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug (not 21), 6.10pm, £16 (£12).

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LOVE SONG TO LAVENDER MENACE LGBTQ+ history without sentimentality or too much tragedy ●●●●● Providing a whistlestop tour of the history of Edinburgh’s LGBT community, Love Song to Lavender Menace (directed

by Ros Philips) is a romantic comedy that eschews any kind of schmaltz. James Ley’s script, and Matthew McVarish and Pierce Reid’s performances, understand that moments of passion shine brighter when contrasted with a hint of darkness.

Set in an LGBT bookshop in the 80s (the Lavender Menace of the title), the play repudiates the tendency of some popular queer art to focus on trauma and misery and tells a story brimming with joy. It doesn’t, however, present a sanitised view of the gay community’s experience in early 80s Edinburgh. The show is punctuated by monologues from an unnamed gay man, married to a woman, terrified to come out. But, Lavender Menace refuses to let the era be defined entirely by suffering.

The most tear-inducing scenes involve the protagonists reminiscing on how being part of a supportive LGBT community was liberating and life-affirming. Though there is a film of nostalgia (Jimmy Somerville’s falsetto provides the play’s refrain), it never obscures what’s underneath and instead simply serves to emphasise the sense of a captured moment in time.

Lavender Menace expertly provides its audience with a small dose of the ecstasy that the bookshops patrons must have felt on discovering knowledge previously denied to them. It is an ode to the power of solidarity and a tribute not just to the bookshop that inspired it but LGBT spaces the world over.

(Liam Hainey) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 12.55pm, £12 (£10).

PHOTO: MARTI MATULIS

PHOTO: TATYANA KIM

OTOSOTR

URBAN DEATH

IT’S NOT A SPRINT

Gripping and revelatory show ●●●●●

Classic horror gets contemporary update ●●●●●

Marathon show misses opportunities ●●●●●

With an indecipherable acronym for a title and an esoteric slice of history framing its narrative, this hardly counts as one of the Fringe’s most immediately approachable shows. But be not afraid: OTOSOTR is well worth approaching.

Anatoliy Ogay’s solo drama with music about Soviet Koreans deported to Kazakhstan who later join the communist struggle against Hitler’s armies is a passionate, compelling, stylish show. Propelled along by Ogay’s magnetic performance, it’s a work that ultimately moves beyond its historical specifics to become a moving, captivating interrogation of family love, cultural identity and technology.

Ogay recounts the tale of his beloved half-deaf grandfather, shipped with thousands of others from a section of Korea that found itself within Soviet borders to landlocked, arid central Asia. He volunteers for brutal Soviet army training on the promise of a better life in Europe, only to find himself the victim of harrowing ordeals and brutal Nazi attacks.

Performing behind and with an electronic keyboard, Ogay, OTOSOTR is a gripping, revelatory show.

Listen hard and you’ll even get to hear what its title stands for. (David Kettle) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 6.40pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group’s nasty shocker is a cult institution in its native Los Angeles – and with the show’s superb mix of slick technical polish and grimy, macabre subject matter, you can see why.

Yes, there are plenty of scares to keep the adrenalin pumping. But Urban Death is so much more than that. It unfolds as a series of wordless, sometimes virtually actionless tableaux, offering peeks into bizarre, sinister worlds – from the downright bloody to the quietly menacing. There’s over-the-top grand guignol, but there are contemporary, urban horrors too; the dead-eyed stares of damaged prostitutes, or a grinning father getting too familiar with his daughter.

Technically, the show is faultless: performers creep imperceptibly into their disjointed positions in the pitch black to shock when the lights go up, and the sometimes glimmering lighting ensures our imagination fills in the full horror of what is half glimpsed.

But despite its well-drilled professionalism, there’s a raw, dirty edge to Urban Death and a gleeful desire to push the audience into uncomfortable territory that gets under the skin in a deeply unsettling way. This is a brave, sophisticated show – as darkly funny as it is creepily appalling. (David Kettle) ■ Sweet Grassmarket, until 26 Aug, 9.30pm, £8.50 (£6.50).

Grace Chapman presents a one-woman show about Maddy, a 30-year-old who decides to run a marathon, and the life decisions she must come to terms with over those 26.2 gruelling miles.

Chapman is alone onstage in running gear with a helium balloon tied to her waist, bobbing up and down as she mimics the effort of running a marathon. Maddy is accompanied on her journey by a disembodied voice with whom she verbally spars, the physicality of running and talking adding extra desperation to her reflections on her life. Chapman has an affable stage presence, and the down-to-earth nature of the story allows her to probe into darker territory when it comes to Maddy’s mother’s health and her genetic clock.

However, the unique framing of the marathon run is not used to full advantage: save for Chapman’s constant movement it is barely explored. Little is done with sound design, and the focus on numbers – 30 years old and 26.2 miles – becomes confusing rather than powerful at certain points. The piece is saved through Chapman’s charisma rather than the uniqueness of the narrative framework, something that seems a missed opportunity. (Sean Greenhorn) ■ Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug (not 21), 1.30pm, £10–£11 (£8.50–£10).

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PHOTO: ROS KAVANAGH

TO HAVE DONE WITH THE JUDGEMENT OF GOD

EXTINGUISHED THINGS

CLASS

Intimate and charming storytelling ●●●●●

Likeable comedy drama is old-school ●●●●●

Molly Taylor is a gifted storyteller with a canny ability to present events that are recognisably real and lived, but that become tinged with an almost otherworldly romance and poignancy in their telling. With direction

by Jade Lewis, this piece may be simple in both premise and execution, but nonetheless creates a vivid world for audience members to fall into.

One day, Molly’s childhood neighbours leave their flat for a holiday and never return. She enters with a spare key and examines the life of a couple married for 40 years without children. Mixing her own experiences with those of Al and Evie, Taylor creates an emotional narrative that darts forward and backwards in time, each moment revealing more about the couple, their relationship and the world they lived in.

In the unconventional space of Summerhall’s anatomy lecture theatre, with the audience peering down upon Taylor, she draws everyone into the home that Al and Evie inhabited for so long. What at first feels like intrusion soon becomes a comfort, as we get to know – and care for – the couple more and more. An absorbing hour that brings to light the lives being lived behind closed doors. (Sean Greenhorn) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 7.25pm, £11.50 (£9).

Writers and directors David Horan and Iseult Gordon's comedy drama follows quick-tempered mechanic Brian (Stephen Jones), his emotionally articulate wife, hairdresser Donna (Sarah Morris) and the standoff that develops when their son's teacher Ray (Will O'Connell) tells them their child is struggling at school and would benefit from seeing an educational psychologist. Class takes on different meanings as education and social status begin to clash.

Kind of a Breakfast Club in reverse with an Irish twist, the parents seem to regress back to their childhood selves when in the company of the more educated man, and disparate parenting styles, marital difficulties and toxic masculinity all bubble to the surface in a slightly soapy format.

The performances are superb, and the physicality of Jones and Morris in other roles as children make for some appealing physical comedy scenes. But the concept of a troubled childhood template for our future depressed selves is a well-mined trope and hampered by prosaic dialogue.

Still, there is an indisputably infectious energy and charm to the piece. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug, (not 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Classic work given physical heft ●●●●● Fear No Colour’s reinterpretation of Antonin Artuad’s final work is infused with brutal soundscapes and aggressive dance. Artaud has been cited as a significant influence on the output of Beckett and Ginsberg and fans of those betterknown writers will quickly recognise the rhythms and tones.

This physical interpretation is defined by intense noise and percussive dance. The piece deals in part with the brutality of industry and the cast’s movements are filled with violence. Even the opening segment, in which four men emerge from an egg-like structure and are quickly coached into adulthood by the cast’s two women, is filled with menace and threat.

Sadly the performers’ power and energy in movement is not matched by the spoken word. The purposefully fractured speech is passed between the performers and beats are too often missed.

When in sync, this pattern provides a mechanical beat that matches the brutalist tone of the piece, but also serves to highlight the too-frequent points when the rhythm is lost. (Liam Hainey) ■ C too, until 26 Aug, 8.15pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

PHOTO: SID SCOTT

WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF A kick up the 90s music scene and beyond ●●●●● Cora Bissett's autobiographical production, lovingly directed by Orla O'Loughlin, is like a superior cover of a song that never really registered before – it may follow a conventional route, but it dazzles with its energy and heart. And her version of Blur's 'This Is A Low' is actually better.

The tale is familiar: young, idealistic girl with talent from small town is promised recording contract; tours a bit with her band Darlingheart (massive slots supporting Blur and Radiohead) and won't play ball when asked to go solo and exploit herself; add to the mix a dodgy manager who vanishes.

If this sounds unremittingly grim, Bissett's script, showing Britpop from a Scottish perspective, is riotous, joyful and life-affirming. She's an engaging and warm performer, the kind of big sister we all wished for – articulate and impish, rocking PJ Harvey's ‘Dress’ in a vintage dress.

The show will resonate with the John Peel generation, those who spent hours in record shops and book stores.

Her 'band' and co-stars – Susan Bear, Grant O' Rourke and Simon Donaldson – also impress, swapping roles as various sleazy industry types and deadpan friends.

Based on her teenage diaries, all of which she rediscovered and read as her father was ill, this is never an overshare. It's as red and raw as a teenage love bite, but with the insight of an adult who is as passionate about her art now, decades later, as when she first gazed upon Patti Smith's uncompromising stare on the cover of Horses. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 20) times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

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ON THE EXHALE

AFTER TODAY

SHACKLETON’S STOWAWAY

Gun control drama is taut and timely ●●●●●

Infamous TV interview revisited ●●●●●

Compelling look at Antarctic exploration ●●●●●

A lecturer in women's studies, played by Polly Frame, suffers the ultimate in survivor's guilt when her adored son Michael is killed in a high school shooting.

Numb with grief, railing at the 'nebulous motives' of the killings, she seeks some kind of closure, only to become seduced by the companionship of owning a gun herself. She takes matters into her own hands, tracking down a Republican senator. Freudian imagery abounds in Martin Zimmerman's monologue, where the squeeze of a trigger carries an erotic charge.

It's a fine character study in one woman's meltdown, the gamut of emotions beautifully portrayed by Frame, although it doesn't fully interrogate broader issues around gun ownership from either side of the debate. The breathing technique used prior to firing a gun becomes a kind of mantra to destruction, performed with an eerie, detached kind of calm. It's here that the play feels most effective, ramping up the tension.

There are shades at times, too, of Lionel Shriver's prose in the novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Not too original then, but it's a taut production which has a real emotional resonance. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug, (not 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Stage d’Or look back at December 1976, when Bill Grundy famously mismanages an interview on live TV with the Sex Pistols. This two-man play finds Grundy in his later years, verbally sparring with the young director of the regional lunchtime television show he is presenting. Between perfect takes for Close Up On Castles, Alex Donald’s Grundy spits out bile as he remembers that era-defining moment on the Today show. It’s an interesting focus for a theatre piece, and could have a lot to say about the punk movement, what relevance it has today, and what it was that rattled the old guard.

Sadly, this piece becomes too absorbed in trying to impersonate Grundy’s cadence and propensity for flowery language to shed any real light on these themes or to grasp at any larger messages.

Constant references to Grundy’s reliance on alcohol and unrealistic self-image as a gentleman drinker are neither treated as comedy nor with the careful respect that alcoholism deserves.

Ultimately the play feels like a missed opportunity to explore the reality behind a man whose whole life and work became synonymous with the very thing he hated. (Sean Greenhorn) ■ PQA Venues @ Riddle’s Court, until 27 Aug (not 15, 21), 3pm, £10–£12.50 (£7.50–£10).

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 28 men set sail aboard the ship Endurance, with the intention of making the first land crossing of the Antarctic.

Though they ultimately failed in their ambition after becoming locked in the pack ice and stranded for more than a year, the expedition – as well as the figure of Shackleton – has been lauded throughout history as an epic feat of survival.

Shackleton’s Stowaway is faithful to this narrative, but refracts it through the lens of the relationship between Shackleton and Perce Blackborow, the 18-year-old Welshman who stowed away on the expedition. Craig Poole is delightful as the starry-eyed Blackborow: he adores Shackleton, but his hero worship is tested when the Endurance is destroyed.

Carl Thompson cuts an imposing figure as Shackleton. With only a black backdrop and a projected map for stage dressing, Shackleton’s booming voice describing with poetic awe the drama and violence of their surroundings is genuinely affecting. Despite retreading familiar ground, Shackleton’s Stowaway proves that the narratives from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration still make for compelling stuff. (Deborah Chu) ■ theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, until 25 Aug (not 19), £9–£10 (£7–£8).

A FORTUNATE MAN Radical deconstruction of classic book about the medical profession ●●●●● Doctors are pillars of our society, and it’s only natural that we should speculate about the how and why of the manner in which they operate on us. Journalist John Berger and photographer Jean Mohr collaborated in 1967 to create the book A Fortunate Man, an essay with photographs that reflected six weeks following the routines of a country doctor, John Sassal. It’s since become a classic within and without the medical profession, and gained an inadvertent mystique some years later when Sassal shot himself.

Created by New Perspectives theatre company, A Fortunate Man is an exploration of the original text from this dark hindsight, performed by Matthew Brown and Hayley Doherty in the clinical environs of one of Summerhall’s authentic medical lecture theatres.

Brown and Doherty act out scenes from the book under the direction of Michael Pinchbeck, but this isn’t a lecture, more of a deconstruction – if not an explosion – of the text.

The book remains intact in bookshops; this is a devised theatre piece, and some may find New Perspectives’s take on the material to be destructive or even self-indulgent. It’s certainly radical, with several scenes drowning each other out in a manner than might leave purists yearning for the clarity of the original.

This kind of meditation on a text can and should be divisive; New Perspectives and Pinchbeck perhaps overdo the technique at times, but the result is a stimulating and sometimes compelling piece of theatre, worth seeing whether you’ve read the original book or not.

(Eddie Harrison) ■ Summerhall, until Aug 26 (not 20), 4.30pm, £10.

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FESTIVAL THEATRE | Reviews PHOTO: BEN ARONS PHOTOGRAPHY

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME Tackling racism and control in audacious comedy ●●●●● Soho Theatre and Ars Nova's show is wilfully perverse and unforgettable. It's unwieldy yet beautiful; erotic, but teetering on ridiculousness. And it feels like a feverish Dixieland hallucination.

After the controversy surrounding Childish Gambino's explosive 'This Is America' video, it would seem that media representations of slavery are always going to be problematic. So this production is not only timely, it feels necessary in opening up a dialogue around race relations, with particular emphasis on historical distortion through clichés and bad art.

The piece initially seems like a frivolous parody of patronising educational tedium, presided over by excessively enthusiastic school teachers with rictus grins. 'Look under your chairs', they beam, à la Oprah Winfrey, and sure enough, a surprise gift awaits.

But then, the curtains part and Jennifer Kidwell's AfricanAmerican slave stereotype, in an enormous bustle skirt, offers her body to Scott R Sheppard's white soldier. And all hell breaks loose.

Who is fucking who? Where do boundaries lie, in terms of depictions of eroticised black bodies and slack-jawed white 'crackers'? The sins of the past inform the present.

Words are not without weight, nor can they be reclaimed, the pair suggest. Kidwell and Sheppard push stereotypes and language beyond discomfort, force until broken, until the room is utterly silenced. Images of dominance and submission roleplay are consistently undermined by humour as the duo, back in teacher mode with perky smiles, demand a rousing chorus of 'Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory'.

Then they simply turn, seemingly no longer in character, and chillingly stare and stare, reminding everyone of their complicity.

(Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 20), times vary, £21.50 (£16.50).

PHOTO: ALEX BRENNER

PHOTO: ALEX BROWN-HARVEY

POLARIS

ENTROPY

FALLEN FRUIT

Trite exploration of vital issues ●●●●●

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

Childhood stories from communist Bulgaria provide comparison with the present day ●●●●●

The set-up of Jennifer Roslyn Wingate’s twohander is simple: Sam arrives unannounced on Barbara’s doorstep and demands to be let inside.

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, gradually revealing the details of their dark and complicated history.

Their descent into the black corners of their memories is well executed and its depiction of childhood trauma is moving. Lewis Bruniges is compelling as Sam, veering erratically between childish indignation and true menace. Unfortunately, Katharine Drury is given less to work with as Barbara, her taut figure lost amid Bruniges’ rages.

The play thus feels unbalanced and flat; by the second half, there is the sense of things spinning in circles. The dialogue is also clunky, characters lapsing into legal jargon and obscure terminology that breaks the attention. 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, 7.15pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).

Katherina Radeva’s show arrives at a fascinating juncture. Walls are in vogue again: a compulsive liar of a US president is still talking about building a frontier on the Mexican border, while in Europe the idea is similar – less literal but still a dream of division.

The Bulgarian-born, British-based Radeva uses Fallen Fruit to explore the significance of the Berlin Wall’s collapse on her homeland; what it meant for her father (once jailed for owning a Beatles CD), her mother, grandmother and for a lesbian couple the family were friends with. Further to that she considers what it meant to the country’s economy. Where once Bulgaria had been a communist society, Sofia is now home to the same coffee chains and fast food restaurants as anywhere else in the western world.

An open endorsement of communism isn’t exactly forthcoming but it’s made clear that happiness comes from relationships, not from owning a Mercedes.

Radeva is a captivating performer and Fallen Fruit shows a historical perspective that translates into a series of compelling (if not particularly well-connected) stories, acting as a comparison piece with the politically tumultuous present day. (Craig Angus) ■ Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 11.25am, £12 (£10).

Male privilege, the double standards to which men and women are held, migration, climate change, consent and female empowerment are crucial issues, yet despite their charming presentation, the three tales that make up Polaris lack depth and conclude with an appeal to the fundamental similarity of all people . . . and dinosaurs.

Those three stories take on huge themes and render them simplistically. The points about male privilege (in outer space) are well-made, if clumsy, the Year Ten travails of two young women is clearer, but the dinosaur story fails to make coherent points about the exclusion of migrants or environmental devastation. Holly Norrington and Teddy Lamb, however, have lovely presences, and jump between the three narratives easily. But the attempt to take on weighty topics is undermined by the shallow conclusions.

Using a tyrannosaurus as a migrant is a splendid example of ‘fantastic racism’ and there is a confusion about whether the school story is about sexual double standards or informed consent.

Against the gentle dramaturgy, Polaris cannot contain the weight of its subjects. (Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 12.55pm £7.50–£9.50 (£6.50–£9).

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Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: HELEN MURRAY

PHOTO:ROBBIE MCFADZEAN/ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

MEEK

FACE 2 FACE

Musical of 1980s film is loveable romp ●●●●●

Religion and oppression in new drama ●●●●●

Technological advancement, romantic interest and narrative curveballs all a bit much ●●●●●

There are student shows and then there are Royal Conservatoire of Scotland student shows, and each year at the Fringe, the difference is marked.

Not only does RCS throw a lot of resources at its big musicals, in terms of staging and professional behind-the-scenes staff, but the on-stage action (and backstage musicianship) is all top-notch.

This year they’ve taken on Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek’s musical adaptation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the 1988 film starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine – and it’s a blast.

Two conmen, one refined, one less so (played here with comic aplomb by Derek Dishington and Jacob Bedford) lock horns while fleecing unsuspecting rich women on the French Riviera. A wager is decided to see who should leave town, and gullible soap heiress Janet Colgate (a very convincing and adaptable Sorrel Brown) is the target.

No spoilers of the plot-twist, but suffice to say it’s satisfying in the extreme. As is the post-modern script, peppered with funny outside-the-show quips.

All singing, all dancing, all witty, and (happily) an hour and a half longer than most Fringe shows, this is ticket money well spent. (Kelly Apter) ■ Assembly Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), £14–£15 (£11–£12).

Penelope Skinner's drama focuses on a timely issue, that of the censoring of female voices and the rise and influence of social media. It focuses on a deeply religious society, where shame is currency and the patriarchy dominates.

When Irene (Shvorne Marks) performs a protest song in a café, she is unaware of the fact someone has recorded it. The authorities hear it and she ends up incarcerated in a tiny cell.

Then the clip starts to trend on YouTube and she becomes an accidental celebrity of sorts. Pious best friend Anna (Scarlett Brookes) provides little comfort, instead basking in the warm glow of their childhood friendship, and sitting in purse-lipped judgement on Irene's affair with a married man.

A gorgeous, austere charcoal-marble set with a simple cross by Max Jones reinforces the sense of gnawing claustrophobia, but there are scenes which feel a little overwrought and too long, such as the dialogue towards the end which feels too expository.

Still, the central performance by Marks is touching and thoughtful, and the central theme of technology as a symbol of both progressive and prohibitive action is pertinent, particularly as innocent words can be taken out of context. (Lorna Irvine) ■ Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 20) times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Technology is taking us to thrilling places, but the consequences of these developments are varied and uncertain. Will automation take even more jobs and industries? How will it change the way we interact with each other – our personal relationships and sex lives?

Face 2 Face is set 20 years in the future; baristas are humanoids, the latest gadget is called a ‘sleevescreen’ and an app called Thinka has established synergy between our dreams and reality.

The topic is also widely covered in popular culture, and therefore carving out an original perspective is difficult. While there are some creative ideas here, the play doesn’t break new ground.

Face 2 Face is not without merit but the central plot (a love story about finding a real human connection) tries to achieve far more than you can expect from a 50-minute performance. There’s a narrative curveball that adds very little, a further twist that can be seen coming from another planet and an abrupt ending.

Luke Mazzamuto provides the best moments; his charisma shines through when he adopts the persona of an arrogant Porsche owner. Face 2 Face otherwise bites off more than it can chew. (Craig Angus) ■ The Space @ Surgeons Hall, until 25 Aug (not 19), 3.05pm, £10 (£8).

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

SIX New musical puts historical women centre stage and raises the roof ●●●●● English history books are filled with monarchs, yet none is more talked about than Henry VIII. Why? Because he had six wives. Up until now, though he has been the talking point, not them. Well Six is here to put that right, and describe married life from the women’s point of view.

Dressed in funked-up Tudor costumes, six superb performers (triple threats one and all) bring Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr back to life. Only this time, they’re telling it like it is.

Initially set up as a competition to see ‘who had the worst life with Henry’, the women realise there’s more that unites than divides them. As a bold piece of herstorytelling, Six more than earns the many plaudits already comings its way.

But this slice of 16th-century fun will find its own place in the theatrical annals of time largely due to the instantly likeable music and songs of co-writers, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Each beat-driven track builds an almost gig-like frenzy in the crowd (with a few numbers already racking up plays on iTunes and Spotify), and the slow songs have a bittersweet tenderness.

It’s not hyperbole to say that Six could meet the same kind of success as Hamilton and indeed deserves to. The two have much in common: historical re-dressing, great vocals, colour-conscious casting, and the kind of clever lyrics that make you smile in approval. (Kelly Apter) ■ Underbelly George Square, until 27 Aug, 7.30pm (except 27, 3.30pm), £13–£18.50 (£12–£17.50).

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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

ALMA, A HUMAN VOICE ●●●●● A tricky, very challenging piece that eventually manages a strange kind of alchemy; as a consideration of the idea, or the ideal, of a muse, it takes obscure material and creates something that’s both comprehensible and moving for audiences willing to make the considerable effort required. (Eddie Harrison) Summerhall, until Aug 26, (not 20), 11.50am, £10 (£8).

AILSA BENSON IS MISSING ●●●●● It’s a character study with real bite, meditating on the male gaze, and issues around trust when families are riven by parental separation. Ailsa Benson is not an easy or reassuring experience, but a thought-provoking and haunting piece which lingers long after. (Lorna Irvine) Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug, 2.20pm, £10 (£9).

THE ASPIRATIONS OF DAISE MORROW ●●●●● The excellent acting and precise staging, with entrances and exits among spectators, still succeeds in capturing Patrick White’s performative writing. Daise Morrow is captivating, easily shifting from humorous observations to moments of sheer energy or emotion.

The flashback to Daise’s first encounter with her lover, in particular, remains a highlight of poetic writing, acting and directing. (Adeline Amar) Assembly George Square Gardens, run ended.

DRENCHED ●●●●● It’s a neat concept for a show, and there’s masses of potential in the swaggering, misguided Drenched, among whose gems is a pedantic slagging-off of Poldark. But it’s hard to recommend a show that seems to want to mystify and frustrate its audience for so much of its length. (David Kettle) Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 3pm, £9–£11 (£8–£9).

FIRST SNOW / PREMIÈRE NEIGE ●●●●● Although fluently played by the cast, the Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? framework is hackneyed, and the failure to say anything political other than the blandest ‘why can’t we all just get along?’ hand-wringing marks First Snow as another missed opportunity to grasp the thistle and say anything at all about Scottish or Quebecois politics.

(Eddie Harrison) CanadaHub @ King’s Hall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 6.10pm, £15 (£13).

GLASGOW ’14 ●●●●● Written by Sally Lewis, Glasgow ’14 takes on male mental illness as a subject, performed as a series of interlocking monologues

by Neil Gwynne. Gwynne is a forceful, skilled performer who takes on each role with real verve, but putting together a jigsaw of a fictional tragedy against the background of a real one is a genuine error of judgment. (Eddie Harrison) theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, until 18 Aug, 8.10pm, £10 (£8).

HARPY ●●●●● Philip Meeks’ play is

THE CHORE OF ENCHANTMENT ●●●●● What makes this hour really special is that this is a magic show about magic itself. Vincent Gambini uses the distancing device of a dream to allow him to complete what he claims is his final show. But this is a brilliantly provocative blend of theatre and magic, as challenging and stimulating as it is entertaining. (David Kettle) Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 20), 5.45pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50).

CHECK UP: OUR NHS AT 70 ●●●●● Home truths, as with pills, are better with a little sweetener, and Mark Thomas’ scathing delivery is, of course, hilarious and self-deprecating, musing on his own weight and potential future

more than simply a vehicle for Su Pollard: it’s a shifting, elusive piece, part thriller, part family tragedy, that asks pointed questions about our care for the elderly, and the ease with which we attribute blame to those we misunderstand or fear. Its gags – and yes, there’s plenty of gentle humour – are occasionally rather obvious, and the ending feels a shade too heartwarming for its earlier darkness.

But Harpy is a likeable, deceptively provocative show all the same. (David Kettle) Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug, 4pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12).

HUNCH ●●●●● Beneath the humour is a deeper examination of how we make decisions: simple staging and well-measured lighting effects allow Kate Kennedy to be lying in bed, travelling through time or addressing the city with minimal fuss and neatly avoids an over-use of blackouts. This comic play is testament to the power of a oneperson show to create entire worlds.

(Rowena McIntosh) Assembly Roxy, until 27 Aug, 5.05pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£10.50).

THE LAST STRAW ●●●●● While the production is masterful, the cerebral direction prevents the ideas from entirely engaging: a litany of disasters, expressed playfully, become distant jokes rather than present dangers and the austerity of the scenography heightens the sense of alienation, both within the characters and from the audience: The Last Straw is ultimately more admirable than loveable.

(Gareth K Vile) Summerhall, until 26 Aug, 3pm, £12 (£10).

OLD SOULS ●●●●● Old Souls is an exploration of the universality of friendship. The friendship between Rosie and Vera is heartwarming, with the usual exchange of life lessons; PHOTO: KARLA GOWLETT

THE BASEMENT TAPES ●●●●● Stella Reid is captivating in the central role, but there’s a sense that even she’s occasionally treading water rather than cranking up the tension before the unnerving final moments. Nevertheless, it’s a chilling, cleverly conceived hour of theatre that will have you unpicking its clues long after the show’s over. (David Kettle) Summerhall, until 26 Aug (not 20), 6.30pm, £12 (£10).

illnesses. It’s a compassionate and trenchant show, with typical Thomas zingers and some nice theatrical touches. (Lorna Irvine) Traverse, until 26 Aug (not 20), times vary, £20.50 (£15.50).

Harpy

imposter syndrome and the fear that accompanies any life development are dealt with eloquently and cheerfully, and the consideration of the possible loneliness of old age is moving but sympathetic. (Rachel Walker) PQA Venues @ Riddle’s Court, until 27 Aug (not 20), 5pm, £8 (£5.50).

PRICKS ●●●●● Moments of humour and hilarity are delivered with a punch and the more melancholic episodes are agonising in this play detailing life with type 1 diabetes. The stunning crescendo of the piece arrives when the audience are invited to experience a hypo, with Jade Byrne’s enigmatic commanding presence exploding off the stage. (Nyla Ahmad) Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 2.15pm, £10–£11 (£8.50–£10).

THE ROCKFORD FILE ●●●●● This isn’t much of an homage to the classic TV show: playing the fabled theme at the start and finish doesn’t make this feel any less of a ‘bait and switch’. It’s a shame, because Liam Grundy’s barroom rock / country stylings are more than enough excuse for a show, and one that’s likely to be of considerably less interest to Universal Television’s copyright department. (Eddie Harrison) Pleasance Dome, until 26 Aug, (not 20), 2.50pm, £9–£10, £11–£12.

TIMMY ●●●●● A meditation on the issue of modern-day dating, it gently rails against rom-com sensibilities.

The mundane subject matter is handled with humour, and the nuances of incompatibility are presented in neat dialogue. While the narrative is predictable, the play is chock-full of laugh-out-loud funny moments. (Nyla Ahmad) Assembly George Square Studios, until 27 Aug, 4.15pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

USER NOT FOUND ●●●●● The show might feel a little too whimsical to truly grapple with issues surrounding our online identities. But as a portrait of twice-lost love, it’s heartbreaking. And a couple of truly moving moments remind us that, for all the show’s technological cleverness, what’s vital to us all is human contact. (David Kettle) Traverse at Jeelie Piece café, until 26 Aug (not 20), 8pm, £20.50 (£15.50).

THE VANISHING MAN ●●●●● For those who delight in the rush of live magic, The Vanishing Man contains truly glorious sleight of hand and thrilling magic reveals. Some of the script wanders into the stauncher magic fan territory as the plot becomes more complex before a surprisingly poignant turn drills right to the core of our desire to believe in real magic. (Rowena McIntosh) Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug, 2.10pm, £9.50–£13 (£8.50–£12).

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VISUAL ART

For m info gootroe

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

LUCY SKAER: THE GREEN MAN A new era of myths and and rituals awaits in major new show Open house is very much de rigeur in this extensive new show for Edinburgh Art Festival led by Lucy Skaer. And a very nice house it is too, as Skaer invites other artists in to what might well be an epic house-warming, such is the extent of their contributions to Skaer’s manufactured open-plan environment here.

With Fiona Connor, Haneline Visnes, Will Holder, input from 20th-century American novelist Hilda Doolittle, aka H.D., and – as one half of Nashashibi/Skaer – Rosalind Nashashibi all taking part, the result in the downstairs white gallery, at least, looks part trophy room, with assorted archaic hunting horns hung on the wall. Beneath them, oversize bronze, wood and copper constructions are laid out on the floor in formation like a forensically excavated crime scene; such a pick and mix from the natural world keeps everything in its place while finding a place for everything. The works take in the full expanse of the Talbot Rice, including hitherto unexplored areas. Laid out as such they resemble giant model kits waiting to be pieced together. Upstairs, customised stage-set models or toy theatres await plot devices before being similarly scaled up.

Also upstairs, Nashashibi/Skaer’s film, ‘Why Are You Angry?’, models its images of Tahitian women on Paul Gauguin’s 1896 painting of the same name, remaking and remodelling a work originally painted in the throes of women in New Zealand first being given the vote with an even more vigorous sense of emancipation.

The combination of works and their arrangement in the space suggests a new era of myths and rituals in waiting. Which realm it leads to next is up in the air. (Neil Cooper) ■ Talbot Rice Gallery, until 6 Oct, free ●●●●●

PHOTO: COURTESY TALBOT RICE GALLERY

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FESTIVAL VISUAL ART | Hitlist

Rachael Cloughton highlights some of the best visual art to explore in week three of the festival ADAM LEWIS JACOB: NO EASY ANSWERS An experimental moving image installation within the grand interiors of the French Institute on West Parliament Square. Early-career artist Adam Lewis Jacob’s ambitious and complex work takes JG Ballard’s novel Kingdom Come, Brexit and the increasing abstraction of economics as starting points to explore the role consumer spaces play in forming identity and public opinion. See review, page 95. Institut Français d’Écosse, until 26 Aug, free.

BILL VIOLA: THREE WOMEN Installed in the atmospheric Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Bill Viola’s mesmerising video installation, ‘Three Women’ offers festival audiences a place of calm and reflection, away from the festival frenzy of Lothian Road. The work is from the acclaimed video artist’s Transfigurations series and explores spirituality, birth and death. See review, page 95. The

PHOTO: COURTESY EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL. PHOTO JOHNNY BARRINGTON

ART HITLIST Parish Church of St Cuthbert, until 1 Sep, free.

LUCY SKAER: THE GREEN MAN Lucy Skaer has spent the past few months on an artist residency at the University of Edinburgh, exploring the institution’s huge collections. This exhibition has been greatly informed by this period of working, and is an exploration of our desire to collect.

Skaer has also invited artists Fiona Connor, Will Holder, Hanneline Visnes and Rosalind Nashashibi to show alongside her. See review, page 93.

Talbot Rice Gallery, until 6 Oct, free.

EDWIN G LUCAS: AN INDIVIDUAL EYE A major – and long overdue – retrospective exhibition, shining a light on one of the most enigmatic and unique Scottish painters of the 20th century, Edwin G Lucas. The show traces the life and career of Lucas, from early watercolours to bold, surrealist paintings in the 1940s and 50s. City Art Centre, until 10 Feb 2019, free.

Adam Lewis Jacob

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Reviews | FESTIVAL VISUAL ART

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PHOTO: COURTESY EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL. PHOTO JOHNNY BARRINGTON

BILL VIOLA: THREE WOMEN

THE COMMON SENSE

Spiritual beauty from seminal American video artist ●●●●●

Eerie representation of the future ●●●●●

ADAM LEWIS JACOB: NO EASY ANSWERS

Hidden deep in the bowels of Edinburgh College of Art, Melanie Gilligan’s The Common Sense is an installation you’ll want to spend time with. Arranged over an angular, snake-like frame, which winds its way around the gallery room, 15 television screens each show a small clip of filmed narrative drama, a medium which Gilligan continues to return to in her work. The theme of the show is social media, specifically a focus upon a futuristic form of human integration known as The Patch; a kind of implant worn on the roof of the mouth which allows users to access the feelings and thoughts of others.

Across various scenes, the film – which totals around 90 minutes when its component parts are added up – looks at The Patch’s effect upon education, commerce, population control and social order, and the extrapolated parallels with social media as we use them now are apparent.

Yet more than this, the film is a sculpture too, and seemingly alive to our presence; as we walk near to each screen wearing our personal headphones, the installation switches films on and off to react to our presence, a wholistic and eerie representation of a world designed to observe and respond to us individually. (David Pollock) ■ Edinburgh College of Art, until 26 Aug, free.

Shopping malls occupy a particular place in dystopian thinking; their soullessness seems to capture the emptiness of consumer culture. JG Ballard was drawn to them, as is Glasgow-based artist Adam Lewis Jacob, who references Ballard in this installation.

Jacob, a graduate of GSA’s MFA course in 2015, throws a lot at this multi-layered work, the title of which comes from a 1992 essay criticising Britain’s membership of the EU.Three screens show a film collage mashing together phone footage of shopping malls with family snaps, cartoon characters, advertising billboards and found footage from the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 1977. The boundaries between the personal, entertainment, corporate marketing and political identity become increasingly blurred. Elsewhere, desk lamps pulse out messages in Morse code.

It adds up to sensory overload, the same kind of over-stimulated alienation that is induced by too many malls. However, it feels like a body of work coalescing around a theme, rather than a directed response.

Is Jacob gunning for capitalism or is this a personal response to his own memories? As with the Morse code, we’re left wondering what it means.

(Susan Mansfield) ■ Institut Français d’Écosse, until 26 Aug, free.

On a rectangular screen that might be mistaken for a mirror, a woman and her two daughters walk slowly towards the camera in silence. As they walk, these three graces occupy a fuzzy greyness that makes them appear like classicist statues come to life as sylph-like sirens. Once they step through some kind of waterfall, the rush of water gives them life, and they stand in vivid colour, their dresses blue and white. They peer out a moment, only to turn back into the greyness, the youngest daughter lingering like Orpheus for one last look until she too steps back in line towards the underworld.

Part of seminal American video artist Viola’s Transfigurations series, ‘Three Women’ (2008) is a nine-minute video looped so the trio appear to be destined to repeat their walk for Sisyphean eternity.

The fleeting moment of transcendence recalls Breath, Samuel Beckett’s even briefer matter of life and death. The sheer spiritual beauty of the piece sees it perfectly placed in the chapel of St Cuthbert’s in keeping with the appearance of many of Viola’s works in churches. Seen in this way for Edinburgh Art Festival, it suggests not so much an abyss, but a shadow line crossed. (Neil Cooper) ■ The Parish Church of St Cuthbert, until 1 Sep, free.

Dystopian show from emerging artist ●●●●●

RAVI AGARWAL: NADAR/PRAKRITI Exhibition exploring the Scottish environment ●●●●● Last summer, Indian artist Ravi Agarwal undertook a residency at Edinburgh Printmakers and, during his time in Scotland, travelled and researched in the Highlands. An environmental activist in India, Agarwal wanted to find out more about people’s relationship to nature in Scotland, and how land is managed and conserved.

Used to working with lens-based media, Agarwal was new to printmaking and worked with expert printmakers in Edinburgh to turn his photographs into lithographs and copper etchings. He describes the process as one of ‘slippage’: made into a print, the image becomes less documentary, more an aesthetic object in its own right.

His lithographs are beautiful, intensifying the textures in a photograph: patterns made by moss on fine twigs, or by wind on the surface of water, or by the forms of trees in a forest. He has an eye for a good composition: a forest pool seen from above, an angular rock at the edge of water.

A series of copper etchings layer landscape photographs with images of people: crofters working on the land or hunters shooting a wolf (Agarwal is particularly interested in the large animals now extinct in Scotland as the tiger might one day be in India). A further room includes work made in India: several photographs and a rather beautiful film, ‘The Sewage Pond’s Memoir’.

Agarwal is interested in the similarities and differences between his home country and this one, and includes film interviews with people from both countries talking about nature, forestry and land ownership. While this is not a large body of work, it is an interesting one, not least because it gives us a chance to see our own country through the lens (literally) of an artist from the other side of the world. (Susan Mansfield) ■ Edinburgh Printmakers, until 20 Oct, free.

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EVENTS

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PACKED FESTIVAL EVENTS PROGRAMME

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EVENTS CALENDAR PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE TRAVELLING GALLERY

CH WHAT’S ECK OUT WHERE HAPPENING YOU LIV E

ART LATE FEATURING JARED CELOSSE The third Art Late starts off at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art where audiences can enjoy a performance from Catherine Street.

Next up 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

ART LATE WITH NINTH WAVE Final instalment of Edinburgh Art Festival’s evening tours

A

ll good things must come to an end, and as we enter the tail end of festival season, the Edinburgh Art Festival hosts the last of its peripatetic evening tours. The programme begins at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop for a viewing of Hemispheric Phases, a newly commissioned work that emerged from a six-month exchange between Argentina and Scotland by artists Birthe Jorgensen, Santiago Poggio and Scott Rogers. Their work, which engages with a range of mediums, explores themes of feminism, geographical and temporal displacement, history and our relationship to the natural world.

The tour then returns to the city centre for a trip round the Edinburgh Printmakers, Ingleby Gallery, the Numbers Shop at Embassy Gallery and Arusha Gallery, where visitors can enjoy a performance by Glasgow-based percussionist and sound artist Signy Jakobsdottir. The final venue will be the Scottish National Portrait Gallery which currently houses the exhibition Beyond Likeness, a collection of portraits by Scottish artist Victoria Crowe, who has depicted the inner lives of luminaries such as RD Laing, poet Kathleen Raine and pioneering medical scientist Dame Janet Vaughan.

Also at the Portrait Gallery is Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a photographic showcase of how modes of transportation have developed in Scotland from 1840 onwards, from the mundanity of the daily commute to the sublime of international travel. Featuring photographs from the likes of Alfred G Buckham, Humphrey Spender and Alfred Stieglitz, Planes, Trains and Automobiles examines the indelible impact that modern transportation has had on Scottish society. The evening concludes with a musical performance from post-punk Glasgow quartet the Ninth Wave, bringing to a close another enlightening festival season.

MUSEUM AFTER HOURS Twelve acts over three different stages take over the museum for the second and third editions of the NMS’ afterhours events.

Included in the admission is a chance to see the museum’s summer exhibition, Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop. National Museum of Scotland, 17, 24 Aug, 7.30pm, £18 (£16), nms.ac.uk BRUCE DICKINSON The Iron Maiden frontman reflects on his life as part of the famous heavy metal band – but also his eccentric childhood, his recent brush with cancer and penchant for beer brewing, fencing and aviation entrepreneurship.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 18 Aug, 9.30pm, £12 (£10), edbookfest.co.uk

Art Late 4, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, 23 Aug, 5.30pm, £9 (£8), list.co.uk/artlate 96 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15–27 Aug 2018

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