The List Festival 2019 - Week 1

l a v i t fes 31 JUL–7 AUG 2019 | WEEK 1 LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

FREE

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CRYPTIC FREE LOVE TIM VINE NICK HELM LARA KRAMER ALFIE ORDINARY SCOTTISH BALLET COURTNEY PAUROSO EXTINCTION REBELLION

southside

SHINE ON ECLIPSE AWARD WINNER RACHAEL YOUNG FIGHTS THE GOOD FIGHT

best of the

CIRCUS | FAMILY | DANCE | THEATRE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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

WINNER

WINNER

2017 YOUTH’S FAVOURITE SHOW

2017 PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

MAISON DE LA CULTURE DE POINTE-AUX-TREMBLES

CITY OF RIMOUSKI AND CITY OF BELOEIL

“SO EXCITING YOU CANNOT LOOK AWAY FOR A SECOND” EVENING STANDARD &

AN COMP E S R HO present R ACE

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WORLD CLASS CIRCUS AND CLOWNING Cirque

MONTREAL

TIME OUT

THE TIMES

THE ADVERTISER

2PM (3.20PM) 03 (3.20PM) - 24 AUGUST (NOT 13, 20) 2PM

9PM (10PM) 02 - 24 AUGUST (NOT 7, 12, 19) 9PM (10PM)

03 - 24 AUGUST 2019 (not 13, 20)

02 - 24 AUGUST 2019 (not 7, 12, 19)

WEEKEND NOTES

IN DAILY

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Untitled-20 25/07/20191 15:29 GLAM ADELAIDE

and

GREAT SCOTT! MEDIA

and

Short Round Productions

an acrobatic coming-of-age story

5PM (6.10PM)

03 - (6.10PM) 24 AUGUST (NOT 7, 12, 19) 5PM 3 - 24 AUGUST 2019

6PM (7PM) 3 - 24 AUGUST 2019 (NOT 12, 19)

25/07/2019 15:3

festival

CONTENTS FESTIVAL 2019 | ISSUE 1 | LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL

Big Fat Bribes

2

Top 20

5

News

13

FEATURES Rachael Young

14

Forest

29

You Are Here

33

FOOD & DRINK FeastFest

PHOTO: MARCUS HESSENBERG

CABARET

38

Alfie Ordinary

40

Top Tips: Week 1

42

COMEDY

45

Nick Helm

47

Ciarán Dowd

51

Shappi Khorsandi

52

Catherine Bohart

58

Top Tips: Week 1

73

80

COVER PHOTO: MARCUS HESSENBERG

FOREST

Graduates of Moscow Art Theatre School explore the relationship between humanity and nature.

33

82

Top Tips: Week 1

85

YOU ARE HERE

Season of challenging work from world-leading artists and companies arrives at the EIF.

89 89

I’ll Take You To Mrs Cole!

91

Top Tips: Week 1

92

MUSIC

95

LA Philharmonic

OFFERS Win tickets to Museum Late 8 Win tickets to Roots at EIF

8

Win tickets to My Leonard Cohen

9

Win tickets to SYTYF after party

9

Win £50 worth of Fringe vouchers and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky

10

Win beers & food for four at Innis & Gunn Brewery Tap Room

10

80

Scottish Ballet: The Crucible

9

PHOTO: JULIO BANDIT

29

45

Courtney Pauroso

KIDS

As the inaugural winner of the Eclipse Award, theatremaker and live artist Rachael Young brings two critically acclaimed pieces of work to Summerhall this Fringe. We speak to the eclectic performer about her two boundary-pushing shows, the idea of visibility and her exploration of otherness and authenticity. Find out more on page 14.

38

Oasissy

Dance Base

RACHAEL YOUNG

36 36

DANCE

COVER STORY

14

95

Free Love

97

Plastic Elvis & Fat Cops

98

Top Tips: Week 1

101

THEATRE

103

I, AmDram

103

Climate Change

105

History on Stage

109

Can Theatre Change the World?

113

Top Tips: Week 1

116

VISUAL ART

123

NOW

123

Below the Blanket

125

Cindy Sherman

127

EVENTS So You Think You’re Funny?

128 128

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

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S E E PA G E

BIG

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BRIBE

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

IBE

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It's that time of year again. Se nd us something nice and/or weird and we might just cover your show.

The more bizarre, the better.

The more edible, the best. Just please, for the love of god – don't post anything illegal or gross.

WANT TO BRIBE US? Send your bribes to: The Keeper of the Bribes The List | Tweeddale Court | 14 High Street | Edinburgh| EH1 1TE 2 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31Jul–7 Aug 2019

CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHING Editor Arusa Qureshi Subeditors Brian Donaldson, Paul McLean Senior Designer Lucy Munro Designers Stuart Polson, Seonaid Rafferty Head of Software Development, Publishing Andy Carmichael SECTION EDITORS 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 DATA AND CONTENT SERVICES Content Manager Murray Robertson Senior Content Producer Alex Johnston Content Producers Deborah Chu, Megan Forsyth, Katharine Gemmell, Sofia Matias Affiliate Content Executive Becki Crossley Head of Data Development Andy Bowles Data Developers Alan Miller, Stuart Moir Director of Data and Content Services Brendan Miles ADVERTISING AND EVENTS Senior Events and Promotions Manager Rachel Cree Senior Account Managers Ross Foley, Debbie Thomson Account Manager Jakob Van den Berg Ad Ops Executive Victoria Parker Events Development Executive Amy Clark Events and Promotions Intern Shaun Scott Publishing Director Sheri Friers 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 © 2019 The List Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the written permission of the publishers. The List does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material.

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

Use of magazine content is at your own risk.

Printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, W.Yorkshire.

A man walks into a bar and orders a pint of Innis & Gunn.

We’ll save you the jokes this Fringe and just serve you the beer.

Please drink responsibly @innisandgunn

@innisandgunn_

festival

TOP 20

MUSIC

Free Love The experimental pop duo, formerly known as Happy Meals, play a standingonly live set that uses a table of hardware electronics to create an energetic cross-genre set. See feature, page 97.

Summerhall, 2 Aug.

PHOTO: MARCUS HESSENBERG

PHOTO: GRETJEN HELENE

VISUAL ART

EIF

THEATRE

XR take over Summerhall for a series of exhibitions, films, documentaries and performances that seek to communicate the current climate emergency. See feature, page 18. Summerhall, until 25 Aug.

A series of performances, conversations and readings across genres that pose questions about where we are in the world. See feature, page 33.

Various venues, 2–26 Aug.

Rachael Young explores the story of three women denied entry into a London nightclub, with a bit of Grace Jones and Afrofuturism thrown into the mix.

See feature, page 14. Summerhall, 1–11 Aug.

Extinction Rebellion

You Are Here

Nightclubbing

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 5

PHOTO: KATE PARDEY

DANCE

CABARET

Forest

Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous

Graduates of Moscow Art Theatre School explore the fraught relationship between humans and nature, and the rituals which tie us to a spirit of place.

See feature, page 29. Assembly Checkpoint, 1–11 Aug.

Alfie Ordinary’s award-winning show takes the audience on a drag journey to a queer utopia amid a soundtrack of Sugababes and Whitney Houston. See feature, page 40. Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3–25 Aug.

COMEDY

DANCE

The tale of young Ashley and his mum at the height of ska, with an original soundtrack and video animation.

See feature, page 91. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12).

The lothario returns in this follow-up to the show which nabbed the 2018 Comedy Award for Best Newcomer.

See feature, page 51. Pleasance Courtyard, 1–25 Aug (not 14).

Tribute to The Blues Brothers, featuring dance, acrobatics, fire routines and more set to rhythm and blues. See feature, page 22.

Assembly Rooms, 1–25 Aug.

I’ll Take You To Mrs Cole

Ciarán Dowd: Padre Rodolfo Black Blues Brothers

PHOTO: ARNIM FRIESS

PHOTO: CIRCO E DINTORNI

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

PHOTO: SARAH AINSLIE

KIDS

THEATRE

Trying It On In his profesional performance debut, playwright David Edgar is confronted by his 20-year-old self about his beliefs. See feature, page 109. Traverse, 3–25 Aug. PHOTO: ED MOORE

PHOTO: COURTESY OF METRO PICTURES, NEW YORK / THE SAMMLUNG VERBUND COLLECTION, VIENNA

VISUAL ART

COMEDY / MUSIC

An overview of the seminal early works of Cindy Sherman, coinciding with a major retrospective of her work at the National Portrait Gallery in London. See review, page 127. Stills, until 6 Oct.

Helm makes a welcome return to the Fringe after a six-year absence with two very different shows. See feature, page 47. Phoenix from the Flames, Pleasance Dome, 1–24 Aug (not 12); I Think, You Stink!, Assembly Roxy, 1–24 Aug (not 12).

Cindy Sherman: Early Works 1975–1980

6 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Nick Helm

PHOTO: FABIENNE RAPPENEAU

THEATRE

COMEDY

Fishbowl

Catherine Bohart: Lemon

Comedic physical theatre in the spirit of Chaplin and Mr Bean, which follows the everyday lives of three lonely misfits living in adjoining Parisian bedsits.

See feature, page 17. Pleasance Courtyard, 1–26 Aug.

Following on from her acclaimed debut last year, Catherine Bohart returns to skewer our preconceptions around sex, sexuality and relationships. See feature, page 58. Pleasance Courtyard, 1–25 Aug (not 13).

Character clown and burlesque Fringe debut from the American comic.

See preview, page 45. Underbelly Cowgate, 1–25 Aug (not 13).

PHOTO: DAISY KING

Courtney Pauroso: Gutterplum

PHOTO: NEIL JARVIE

PHOTO: ANDY ROSS

COMEDY

DANCE

VISUAL ART

THEATRE

Adaptation of Arthur Miller’s seminal play, choreographed by Helen Pickett, with a new score by Peter Salem. See feature, page 82. Playhouse, 3–5 Aug.

A visual, sonic and kinetic evening journey inspired by the peatlands of the northern Highlands. See feature, page 125. Royal Botanic Garden, until 25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20).

Maxwell’s story of reconciliation – with her history, hometown and love of musical theatre. See preview, page 103. Pleasance Courtyard, 1–26 Aug (not 12).

Scottish Ballet: The Crucible

Below the Blanket

I, AmDram

PHOTO: STEFAN PETERSEN

ICS

MUSIC

As part of the Indigenous Contemporary Season, Lara Kramer confronts colonialism. See feature, page 27. Native Girl Syndrome, 2–11 Aug (not 5 & 6); This Time Will Be Different, 13–18 Aug; Miijin Ki, 20–24 Aug; all Summerhall.

One-off show from comedian / Elvis impersonator Vine who performs all the hits backed up by his High Noon Band. Plus special guest appearance from Big Buddy Holly. See feature, page 98. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 7 Aug.

Lara Kramer

Tim Vine Presents: Plastic Elvis in Concert

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7

READER OFFERS WIN TICKETS TO SEE ROOTS AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

The List are partnering up with Edinburgh International Festival to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to see Roots on Sun 11 Aug. Following its International Festival debut in 2015, the stylish and subversive 1927 theatre company returns with the European premiere of brand-new show Roots. 1927 has unearthed a series of rarely told folktales that offer a glimpse into imaginations from a pre-industrialized age. Tyrannical ogres, magical birds, and very, very fat cats are brought to life with the company’s signature fusion of handcrafted animation and storytelling.

To be in with a chance of winning tickets to the performance on Sun 11 Aug at 7.30pm, simply log onto list.co.uk/offers and tell us:

In what year was 1927 theatre company last seen at the Edinburgh International Festival?

Roots at Edinburgh International Festival Fri 9 – Sun 25 (not Wed 14 & 21) 7.30pm (3pm) Church Hill Theatre | Morningside Road Edinburgh EH10 4DR

eif.co.uk

WIN TICKETS TO ART LATE - WESTWARD

The List are teaming up with Edinburgh Art Festival to offer readers the chance of winning a pair of tickets to their Westward edition of Art Late.

Art Late is a special culture crawl with artists’ talks, hands-on workshops and one-off performances – celebrating the city’s galleries by night. With drinks provided by Edinburgh Gin and Bellfield Brewery.

The second instalment of the Art Late series starts with an after hours visits to Cindy Sherman at Stills: Centre for Photography, Bridget Riley at Royal Scottish Academy, and Corin Sworn’s festival commission, finishing with a special performance from Hanna Tuulikki at Edinburgh Printmakers.

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

Name one of the artists featured in this instalment of the Art Late series Edinburgh Art Festival: Art Late Thu 8 Aug 5.30pm – 10pm Various locations

edinburghartfestival.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes We 7 Aug 2019. Offer is only valid for the performance on Sun 11 Aug at 7.30pm. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Mon 5 Aug 2019. Image credit: Hanna Tuulikki: Deer Dancer, HD Video Still, 2019. Courtesy of the artist. Entrants must be 18 or over.

The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO SEE TRACEY THORN AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

WIN TICKETS TO MUSEUM LATE: FRINGE FRIDAYS

The List are partnering up with the Edinburgh International Book Festival to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to see Tracey Thorn this August.

Returning to our roots can be tough, revealing and, as Tracey Thorn discovers in Another Planet, inspiring. The singer-songwriter behind Everything But The Girl follows up her bestselling debut book Bedsit Disco Queen with a wonderfully witty walk through the maligned suburbia of her youth.

Don’t miss your chance to hear from a pop sensation, ask your questions, and have your book signed afterwards. This event will be live captioned.

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

What is the name of Tracey Thorn’s bestselling debut book?

Tracey Thorn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mon 19 Aug 8.30pm Charlotte Square Gardens Edinburgh EH2 4DR Tickets £12 (£10)

edbookfest.co.uk TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Mon 12 Aug 2019. Event lasts one hour and is followed by a book signing. This event will be live captioned. The List’s usual rules apply.

8 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

The List, in association with National Museums Scotland, are giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to their spectacular Museum Late: Fringe Fridays series.

After five sell-out years, the Fringe is taking over the National Museum of Scotland again for three exhilarating nights where you can experience a unique taste of the Fringe with handpicked performers and top-class evening entertainment. Showcasing highlights from their acts, talented Fringe performers come together to provide an amazing night within the inspiring backdrop of the National Museum of Scotland. With pop-up bars and entry to this summer’s major exhibition, Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland, this adults-only extravaganza offers an unmissable take on the Fringe.

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

Which night of Museum Late: Fringe Fridays would you like to attend?

Museum Late: Fringe Fridays Fri 9, 16 and 23 Aug 2019 7.30pm – 10.30pm National Museum of Scotland Tickets £20 (£18)

nms.ac.uk/fringefridays TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Mon 5 Aug 2019. Over 18s only. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN TICKETS TO THE OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY OF SO YOU THINK YOU’RE FUNNY? 2019 Join Gilded Balloon and a troupe of comedy heavyweights as they bring their 32nd annual So You Think You’re Funny? 2019 competition to a riotous close. We’re giving readers the chance to attend their official VIP after party on Thu 22 Aug. This will be a night to remember, where you can walk the Gilded Balloon themed pink carpet, meet the years funniest contestants and party with the newly crowned comic of the year. Thanks to Coors Light and Glen’s Vodka, you’ll have plenty of fuel to help you dance through the night.

It’ll be a good yin, so make sure to enter by answering the question below:

How many years has So You Think You’re Funny? run for?

So You Think You’re Funny? Afterparty Thu 22 Aug 10pm Gilded Balloon Teviot Teviot Row House 13 Bristo Pl Edinburgh EH8 9AJ

soyouthinkyourefunny.co.uk #SYTYF TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Wed 14 Aug 2019.

Entrants must be 18+.

Tickets are only for the So You Think You’re Funny? After Party, not the Grand Final.

The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN A BOTTLE OF CAORUNN GIN

WIN TICKETS TO SEE MY LEONARD COHEN

The List are partnering with GO Productions to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to see My Leonard Cohen at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh this August.

The List are partnering with Caorunn Gin to offer readers the chance to win a bottle of their award winning gin.

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

Running throughout the Festival, this peaceful yet vibrant outdoor sanctuary gives you the opportunity to escape the bustling festival crowds and indulge in a suite of mouthwatering Caorunn Gin cocktails and al fresco dining. Caorunn Summer Garden is brought to you by Hotel du Vin.

Fringe favourite D’Arrietta & his band are back in Edinburgh by popular demand, offering creative arrangements of Leonard Cohen’s iconic music and poetry. There will also be stories of his life and the drive behind the creation of each song. And a good dose of laconic humour.

In 2016 and 2017, My Leonard Cohen sold-out at the famous Sydney Opera House, Edinburgh Fringe and Adelaide Fringe Festivals. You do not want to miss this year’s Edinburgh Fringe show!

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

Where is the Caorunn Summer Garden?

In what cities has the show My Leonard Cohen sold out before?

Caorunn Summer Garden Thu 1 – Sat 31 Aug 12pm till late 11 Bristo Place Edinburgh EH1 1EZ

My Leonard Cohen Thu 1 – Sun 25 Aug | 6.30pm Assembly Rooms - Ballroom 54 George St Edinburgh EH2 2LR

caorunngin.com

assemblyfestival.com

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Sat 31 Aug 2019. Entrants must be 18 and over.

Offer is only for a bottle of Caorunn Gin. The List’s usual rules apply.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Thu 15 Aug 2019. Over 18s only. No cash alternative.

The List’s usual rules apply.

31 Jul–7 Aug THE LIST FESTIVAL 9

WIN TICKETS TO LATE’N’LIVE

WIN BEERS & FOOD FOR FOUR AT INNIS & GUNN BREWERY TAP ROOM

The List are teaming up with Gilded Balloon to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to Late’n’Live this Fringe season.

Back for its 33rd year Late’n’Live is the original, the wildest and THE latest of late night comedy shows, presenting unadulterated comedy mayhem.

Every night is based on a winning recipe: one hilarious compere, four amazing acts, one incredible band, two hours of dancing and a whole lot of fun – but that’s where the similarities end – anything and everything can and will happen on that stage each night. Let this year’s comperes John Hastings, Scott Gibson and Jayde Adams lead you into the darkness...

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

How many years has Late’n’Live been running for?

Late’n’Live Fri 2 – Mon 26 Aug 1am – 3am (Mon – Wed) | 1am – 5am (Thu – Sun) Gilded Baloon Teviot, 13 Bristo Pl, Edinburgh EH8 9AJ Tickets £12.50 – £16

gildedballoon.co.uk TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Wed 14 August 2019. Entrants must be 18 and over.

The List’s usual rules apply.

WIN £50 FRINGE VOUCHER AND A BOTTLE OF JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL

The List are teaming up with Innis & Gunn to offer you the chance to win an evening of beers and food in their Brewery Tap Room on Lothian Road.

Featuring one of the biggest and best draught beer menus in the city, the Innis & Gunn Brewery Tap Room showcases the best of their own beers and other amazing guest beers by guest brewers from a range of 26 taps.

Along with delicious Scottish soul-food, it’s a great place to socialise and have a good time. Innis & Gunn are offering you and three friends a meal on the house, with three rounds of beers!

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

The List are teaming up with Johnnie Walker to offer one lucky winner the chance for an unforgettable time at this years Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Johnnie Walker are giving you the chance to win £50 worth of vouchers to use for any show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Theatre, circus, comedy - whatever you fancy!

You can also enjoy a bottle of their classic Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky. Made from over 30 whiskies from the four corners of Scotland, this deluxe blend hints flavours of rich fruit, vanilla and smoke. Perfect for either a night in with friends or the start of a night out on the town.

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

How many different whiskies are used to create the Johnnie Walker Black Label blend?

How many draught beer taps are pouring at The Brewery Tap Room?

Innis & Gunn Brewery Tap Room 81-83 Lothian Rd Edinburgh EH3 9AW

innisandgunn.com

Johnnie Walker Black Label

johnniewalker-uk-store.shortlyst.com Please enjoy Johnnie Walker responsibly.

Visit drinkaware.com.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Mon 5 Aug 2019. Entrants must be 18 or over.

The List’s usual rules apply.

10 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition closes Sat 31 Aug 2019. Entrants must be 18 and over.

Offer can be redeemed for either lunch or dinner. Offer is for a meal and drinks for four at The Innis & Gunn Brewery Tap Room on Lothian Road, Edinburgh.

The List’s usual rules apply.

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BEST CHILDREN’S SHOW

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1PM (2PM) 03 - 24 AUGUST (NOT 12, 19)

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NEWS NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM ACROSS THE FESTIVALS

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• The Edinburgh International Festival officially opens with a night of glamour at Tynecastle Stadium for the Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event with the LA Philharmonic.

The free concert celebrates Hollywood film scores with music by John Williams among others.

• The Inspiration Machine and the MakeYourFringe app make their debut this year courtesy of the Fringe Society. The first is an interactive, arcade-style machine, situated on the Mound, that shows videos of Fringe artists on demand; while the app game challenges users to explore venues, see shows and complete challenges.

• The Edinburgh Book Festival has boosted its number of Pay What You Can events after a successful pilot last year, in a bid to make the festival more accessible. Among the 20 PWYC options are conversations with Eddie Izzard and Ian Rankin.

• The free-to-borrow Sensory Backpacks from the Fringe are back again and available in an increased number of locations.

The packs contain items designed to make the Fringe as enjoyable and stress-free as possible for those on the autism spectrum and anyone who might feel a bit overwhelmed by the festival crowds. Find them at the Fringe Shops, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Pleasance Dome, Dance Base and Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre.

• Edinburgh Art Festival is hosting a series of Art Early events inspired by its Art Late programme. This time, all-ages are welcome to spend the morning doing family-focused festival tours and activities.

WHAT A SELL OUT GOING, GOING . . .

8:8, Al Murray: Landlord of Hope and Glory, A Charlie Montague Mystery, Enough, Table Manners with Jessie Ware, Stephen Fry’s Mythos Trilogy

GONE . . .

Eddie Izzard: Expectations of Great Expectations, Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, Nick Offerman: All Rise, Ian McKellen On Stage

OW

BEST IN SH

Goss Foley EDINBURGH’S #1 AGONY AUNT

Dear Mr G Foley, I’m a newcomer to the Fringe: any advice on how to navigate my first festival?

George, 55, Coventry

Are you pale, George? Deathly, milky pale? The reason I ask is that it seems like you wouldn’t have gotten very much sunlight under that rock you’ve been living under all these years.

You see, I know you’ve been living under a rock because – if you hadn’t been – you would surely know that telephones are cameras now and they are also maps. Toss away that old brick of yours and pick up a ‘smart phone’. You’ll never have navigational issues again (plus you’ll be able to ‘instant message’ all your old underthe-rock neighbours – the moles, ants and spiders).

#FRINGEISAWYOU

GEORGIE MORREL | KELLY CONVEY | JIM CAMPBELL According to the dodgy old marketing theory, ‘sex sells’. However, we think that’s overrated, because you know what sells better?

Dogs. Smol doggos, big ol’ doggos, puppers, pupperinos, woofers, floofers and subwoofers.

And it seems like festival marketing teams have cottoned on to our theory as dogs have become the star of show posters this year. Here’s some of the best.

From 1995 to 2009, The List ran a ‘missed connections’ column, where people could submit sightings of folk around town that caught their eye. In those 15 years, submissions ran the gamut from the truly foul to the wildly romantic, resulting in at least one confirmed marriage and an Arab Strap song.

This Fringe, we’re bringing it back. So if you feel the spark with some random handing you a flyer, let us know via Facebook message, tweet us at @thelistmagazine or send us an Insta DM on @thelistuk. Your Fringe affair may even get published in our festival magazines. #FringeISawYou.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 13

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | Rachael Young

R

PHOTO: MARCUS HESSENBERG

RAISE YOU 14 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

RAISE YOU list.co.uk/festival

Rachael Young | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

The creation of the Eclipse Award aims to shine a spotlight on the lack of BAME performers at the Fringe. Yasmin Sulaiman caught up with performer and artist Rachael Young, the prize’s inaugural winner, as she prepares to bring two challenging shows to Edinburgh

T

he Fringe might seem like it’s already teeming with awards, but 2019 welcomes a new prize that’s urgently needed. With BAME artists criminally under-represented at the festival, the inaugural Eclipse Award – co-presented

by Summerhall and Sheffield’s Eclipse Theatre – is taking steps to address this deficit, and its first winner is acclaimed black, queer theatremaker and live artist, Rachael Young.

It’s not Young’s first time at the Fringe; in 2017, she was at Summerhall for a week with Out, a heavily physical dance-based duet examining identity, black bodies, homophobia and transphobia. The show connected so strongly with its audience, it inspired a podcast. ‘I feel like existing in the world sometimes is just labour intensive,’ she laughs, speaking over the phone ahead of her trip up to Edinburgh in August. ‘It’s having lots of difficult conversations, or absorbing the way the world sees you and trying to push back against that. It was important [in Out] that we try to dismantle ideas of gender, beauty and all these things.’

Thanks to the Eclipse Award and the £10,000 of financial assistance it provides, Young will bring Out back to Summerhall in the second half of August, performing alongside live artist and choreographer marikiscrycry.

But for the first 12 days of the festival, she’ll be performing Nightclubbing, a critically acclaimed piece of work inspired by the true story of four black women being refused entry to a nightclub in London in 2015.

‘I identify as a dark-skinned person,’ she says, ‘and I’m from Nottingham – which is important in this context because that kind of thing I expect to happen in Nottingham. But whenever I’ve lived in London – maybe it was misguided but I always felt like you could be whoever you wanted to be.

When you’re black and brown, you’re made to feel othered from a very young age, and I just felt like on a night out, trying to get into a club, it’s just not ok. I wanted to explore that.’

The result of that exploration encompasses music, movement, Afrofuturism and the inimitable Grace Jones, whose 1982 album gives its name to the show. ‘I was looking for a black, dark-skinned woman who was a role model,’ Young explains, ‘someone who wasn’t looking to uphold Western ideas of beauty and who was also looking to be authentically herself, and the only person that I could think of was Grace Jones. From a queer standpoint, I like how she mixes androgyny and femininity and masculinity, all of those things into one, but is hugely beautiful. When you look around at the artists we have now, you see how she really paved the way for some of them.’

‘When she was around,’ she adds, ‘she didn’t really have many allies, she was going for it on her own. There’s an idea that if you’re going to be othered anyway, then you may as well stand out. There’s something in that – if you’ve always been invisible, then how do you make yourself really fucking visible so that no one is going to miss you? And that feels

political in some ways. All of these things just kind of meshed together.’

‘Meshing together’ is what makes Young’s work so alluring. After performing with the Nottingham Playhouse in college, she trained at Manchester’s Arden School of Theatre. But it was only on returning to Nottingham and working for the New Art Exchange – the largest centre for BAME arts outside of London – that she started moving towards live art and experimental performance. ‘I like to keep my practice open,’ she says. ‘I’m writing at the moment, but I’ve done installations, dance-based performances – Nightclubbing, for instance, is movement and music, but definitely not musical theatre. It’s creating a visual landscape as well.

Maybe that’s something to do with the fluidity of our identities – if you’re always evolving, it makes sense that your practice is as well.’

And at their heart, both Out and Nightclubbing are essentially about black and brown voices being seen, heard and recognised. Young says, ‘The work that I create has always been about marginalised people and giving voice. It’s about validating an existence that hasn’t been validated.

I can remember being at school, and every time I had anything to say that was race-related, I was told I had a chip on my shoulder. I’ve literally heard it so many times. It invalidates your experience – it says that you are complaining and what you feel doesn’t matter. Of course it matters, it shapes who we are – we carry all of those things we’ve been told as a child into adulthood, and we spend a lot of time unlearning all of those negative things that have been told to us over time.

‘So that’s why the work exists. For some people, it’s going to really fucking land and connect. And it’s going to land because when they look at the stage, they’re going to see people that look like them and that’s hugely important. For some people, they’re going to come into the space and they’re going to feel uncomfortable. And that’s ok also, as long as that uncomfortability helps them to shift the way they view the world, and think about how maybe they can do things better.’

‘There’s this moment in Nightclubbing,’ Young explains, ‘where I flip the world inside out. It’s black and then it turns gold. And it’s like shining a mirror back on everyone – have a look at yourself, how can you help to make things better? Are you going to put yourself out or stand up for something even if it doesn’t directly affect you? If you’re saying you’re an activist, then that’s what it’s about because some of us can’t decide to pick and choose when to fight, we have to do it all the time.’ She laughs momentarily. ‘It’s about all of that really.’

Nightclubbing, Summerhall, 2–11 Aug, 3.45pm, £12 (£8).

Previews 31 Jul, £5 & 1 Aug, £8.

Out, Summerhall, 15–25 Aug (not 19), 3.45pm, £12 (£8). Previews 13 & 14 Aug, £8.

UR VOICE

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 15

C 0- P ROM OT I ON | Fringe By The Sea

FRINGE BY THE SEA

Scotland’s freshest festival, Fringe By The Sea, is packing it all in at the East Lothian seaside with more than 160 music, comedy, film, conversation, literature, wellbeing, exploration and family events running over 10 days (2–11 Aug).

Moishe’s Bagel, and Matthew Byrne, Tim Eriksen and Ryan Young are among those performing in the North Berwick Fry. Stuart Cosgrove and The Amateurs author John Niven discuss their favourite music.

WHERE IS IT EXACTLY?

FAMILY FRIENDLY?

Two atmospheric Spiegeltents form the heart of the festival at the North Berwick harbourside with pop-up events also taking place around the town: folk gigs at the chip shop, Scottish film at the Community Centre and environmental talks in the Scottish Seabird Centre.

There are kids shows aplenty from Major Minor Music Club to Ceilidh Kids, Seaside Science to Dr Ben Garrod’s Dinosaurs show; a pop up creche (Mon– Thu) where you can check in the kids and check out speakers like Kylie Reid and Sara Sheridan. You can always resort to beach and an ice cream for a bit of downtime.

TOP NAMES? Headline music acts provide a varied line-up with Groove Armada (sold out), Inner City, Alexander O’Neal, Idlewild @ The List By The Sea Party, Eddi Reader and The Cuban Brothers on the bill. Reginald D Hunter, Fred MacAulay and Janey Godley take to the comedy stage. Kirsty Wark, Gordon Brown, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Cathy Newman, Alexander McCall Smith and David Mundell also all feature.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT? A new ‘fresh talent’ strand showcases new and emerging Scottish acts such as Be Charlotte, Rubian, MALKA and The Honey Farm plus phenomenal jazz from Fergus McCreadie Trio. If you want to chill out at the coast, you can try stone stacking, yoga, treks up The Law, wild swimming and garden walks. The festival’s folk and trad roots remain strong with Blue Rose Code, Old Blind Dogs, 16 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

HOW DO I GET THERE? Regular trains run from Edinburgh, taking about 35 minutes to get you from Waverley Station to North Berwick. A special late service runs for the festival duration, returning to the Capital just after midnight. On arrival at the train station, the main festival site is a 10/15 minute stroll along the bustling North Berwick High Street or, if you prefer, you can head along the beach. East Coast Buses also run services around East Lothian and to Edinburgh.

The N124 nightbus also operates through the night on Saturday and Sundays. Visit scotrail.co.uk and eastcoastbuses.co.uk for further information.

ANY SCRAN ON SITE? Think gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, hand cut fries, and homemade seasonal soups from Wild at Heart; Scotland’s finest and tastiest fish

and seafood with a modern twist from Hooked; healthy and delicious Indian-inspired hearty curries and light bites from Spice Pots; Big Blu’s wood fired perfect pizzas; Moules Frites from a horsebox; Alandas’ championship winning gelato ice cream and Hometown Coffee’s wonderful, speciality beans ground by attentive, passionate baristas. Sponsors Curious Brewing are on hand with delicious beers at the bar and NB Gin will be mixing up special cocktails throughout the festival.

THE LIST BY THE SEA PARTY As long-standing supporters of the festival, The List thought it was about time to throw a party. The event on Friday 9 August features Be Charlotte and Idlewild, with DJ Eva Las Vegas on hand with the tunes, and NB Gin will get the night started with a welcome cocktail for guests. See you there!

■ Find out more and buy tickets at fringebythesea.com

Fishbowl | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

list.co.uk/festival

B ED B U DS Deborah Chu catches up with the creative team behind hit French show Fishbowl who hope its comic message and exploration of the absurd and the poignant will successfully translate to Fringe audiences in Edinburgh

A

hoarder, a clean-freak and a bombshell with a penchant for destruction live cheek-by-jowl in adjoining Parisian bedsits. This is Fishbowl’s main punchline, which it explores through a series of mostly silent vignettes about the everyday lives of these three lonely misfits. But as anyone who’s had to share a living space will know, living in such close proximity to others can lead to some unexpectedly profound discoveries.

‘This play, it opens hearts,’ says actor and cowriter Agathe L’Huillier. She recounts exchanges she’s had with audience members, who often flock to her after the show with a disarming familiarity to recount their own stories: of torrid affairs with neighbours, or sleeping in hammocks when rooms were too small for a bed. ‘I like that it’s very popular; people feel they can express themselves, they don’t feel silly. Sometimes when you play something more intellectual, they’re afraid to say something wrong,’ says L’Huillier. ‘But nothing is wrong when you talk about your feelings.’

Indeed the show itself, which was created

by Pierre Guillois, and co-written between himself, L’Huillier and Olivier Martin-Salvan, is a composite of many such personal anecdotes.

When creating the first sketches for Fishbowl, the team drew upon their own experiences of awkward encounters and corridor dance parties while living in such chambres de bonnes. These attic rooms in Paris were originally built in the

20th century to house the servants of wealthy families. In more recent history, these tiny spaces have become the favoured housing of students looking to keep a roof over their heads in the notoriously expensive city.

The cramped conditions and thin walls of these chambres make fertile ground for comedy, as L’Huillier can personally attest, but the show is not strictly autobiographical. The trio also looked to the comedic giants of the silent film era, such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, drawing from their physical theatrics and their play on contrasts. ‘We found these stories everywhere: in movies, in the streets, in the people we loved,’ she says. The character of the hoarder, for example, was loosely based upon Guillois’ grandmother, who had lived through the war and subsequently couldn’t bear to throw anything away. ‘We wanted our three characters to be very human,’ says L’Huillier. ‘We chose for them to be failures. That’s why they’re so moving, I think. We can recognise aspects of them in ourselves and other people.’

Fishbowl’s lack of dialogue also made it easier to connect with audiences abroad, which they found during their run at Toronto’s Canadian Stage last month. ‘We weren’t sure if the audience would laugh; we were afraid that the humour was too French, but they did!’ she says, with clear relief. For its Edinburgh run, the show’s name will be changed from its French title Bigre (which roughly translates to an oldfashioned expletive, like ‘crikey!’), and certain

sketches will be cut, as they’re based on idioms that an English-speaking audience may not understand. Luckily, their experience in Canada has assured them that the essential humour of their sketches will need no translation.

But when it came to staging Fishbowl back in their native country, it was important for them to challenge certain prejudices around the value of comedy on stage. In France, explains L’Huillier, most state-run theatres feel compelled to favour more ‘important, intellectual’ productions. And yet Fishbowl’s examination of the absurd and the poignant, existing side-by-side in an otherwise mundane life, seems to have resonated with audiences and critics alike, as the show has wrapped up its sell-out run across France’s publicly funded theatres with a Molière — France’s national theatre prize – under its belt.

‘We want to say, humour is good for us.

Comedy can be noble. It’s important to laugh,’ insists L’Huillier. How else, she asks, can we respond to life’s many moments of boredom and disappointment, but also its manifold beauties?

‘That’s what I like about this show,’ she says.

‘It’s about three people dealing with some very trivial and very beautiful things; the trivial and the beautiful living right beside one another. One is on the toilet, while another is dreaming of a big life.’

Fishbowl, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 14), 1pm, £14–£17.50 (£12–£15.50).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £9.

PHOTO: PASCAL PERENNEC

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 17

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | Extinction Rebellion

REBELS WITH A CAUSE Cementing its position at the cutting edge of Fringe programming, Summerhall this year plays host to a month-long residency by Extinction Rebellion, the headlinegrabbing radical climate change protesters. Susan Mansfield finds out more

L

ast year, one of the highlights of the Fringe at Summerhall was the gig-documentary Riot Days by Russian punk band Pussy Riot, telling the story of the 2012 protest action which led to two band members being tried and imprisoned.

This year, the venue is keeping its finger on the radical pulse by inviting Extinction Rebellion Scotland (XR) to take part in a month-long residency in its basement galleries, hosting an art exhibition and a programme of live events which changes daily.

If the radical climate change protesters are best known to the public for blocking roads, glueing themselves to trains or staging a ‘die-in’ at the Natural History Museum, the organisers of their Summerhall stint say it’s time to think again.

Natalie Taylor, a Scottish artist who is one of the cocurators of the Summerhall project, says: ‘In XR there are different working groups for different areas of expertise. As a practising artist, using culture to reach people in different ways really appealed to me. People think XR is about road blocks, but there are other aspects of the organisation, including using art to speak to people.

‘I think that art has a really great connectivity, an ability to reach people that can’t be reached through other media. I think [it offers] more poetic, visceral ways of expressing one’s reaction to the climate crisis, allowing thinking about our place in the natural world and trying to create a bridge between ourselves and people who might be afraid to acknowledge the enormity of the problem.’

The group issued an open call for artwork which speaks directly to XR’s three demands: that the government tells the truth on the climate and ecological emergency, that the government acts now to reduce biodiversity loss and commits to net zero carbon emissions by 2025, and the creation of a Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes.

18 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

The works selected take a range of approaches, some tackling the issues head on, others taking a more oblique approach. Artists engage with diverse subjects, from melting ice caps to the food industry, plastic waste to endangered species, and works range from creative archaeology to a painting created with mica dust, gum arabic and human tears.

Gabrielle Gillot’s ‘Safe Haven’ (pictured), a long lilac corridor leading into an empty bunker in a postapocalyptic world, which was one of the highlights of this year’s Edinburgh College of Art degree show, will be recreated for the XR residency.

Taylor says: ‘When I saw it, it blew me away. It invited you to put yourself in the position of the person who might be prepping for that moment. It makes you think: is prepping logical? How can you prepare for multiple food crops collapsing?’

The finale of the residency will be a project by Monster Chetwynd, the 2012 Turner Prize nominee who was recently the focus of a NOW exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Chetwynd will run workshops on 31 August to create costumes and props, then host a performance that evening dedicated to raising awareness of insects, which are particularly badly affected by biodiversity loss.

Daily live events will include performances and film screenings aiming to create conversations and grow the XR movement, with contributors such as Earth Ensemble, Glasgow’s ecological festival UNFIX, experimental theatre company Oceanallover and Tom Bailey aka Mechanimal.

Taylor says: ‘The fact that we’re in the basement is really interesting. We’ve been very underground, a grassroots movement. Are we going to emerge from the basement of the public psyche into a more public space?’

Extinction Rebellion, Summerhall, until 25 Aug, free but ticketed.

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

For the sixth year in a row the world’s biggest arts festival features a showcase of dance and theatre direct from Taiwan The Taiwan Season proudly returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a sixth consecutive year with some of the best live performances being made on the island today.

Carefully curated by the key Fringe venues Dance Base and Summerhall, the season shines a spotlight on dance and theatre via a diverse quartet of uniquely entertaining productions. Experience a range of ideas, emotions and flavours in a hand-picked sampling of some of the most stimulating contemporary performances from Taiwan.

f taiwanseasonfringe t @taiwanseason19 c @twseason.edinfringe 20 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

 sites.google.com/view/taiwanseason-edinfringe

SUMMERHALL festival19.summerhall.co.uk | 0131 560 1581 BOUT CHANG DANCE THEATRE Summerhall – Old Lab, 2–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 10.20am, £12 (£9).

Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8. Suitable for ages 8+.

Taiwan’s Chang brothers, co-creators of Fringe 2018’s hit show Bon 4 Bon, bounce back with Bout, a new dance trio that reveals fresh facets of fraternal relationships and the rich possibilities – and inherent conflicts – of male bonding. Inspired by the ritual and physical rhythms of the boxing ring, this work is the deft and thoughtful expression of three contemporary young Asian men who communicate best through their bodies. By exploring their strong, if sometimes strained, personal connections, the Changs once again endear themselves indelibly to us.

Chang Dance Theatre was founded in 2011 by four brothers, all graduates from the dance department of Taipei National University of the Arts. f ChangDanceTheater | t @chang_dance

FISH SHINEHOUSE THEATRE Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre, 2–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), noon, £10 (£8).

Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8. Suitable for ages 8+.

Sign language meets puppetry in Shinehouse Theatre’s engaging, BSL-signed production Fish, based on a short novel by the revered Taiwanese author Huang Chunming. Revolving around the expected delivery and unfortunate loss of a much-desired fish, the conflict between a grandfather and grandson unfolds in a touching, richly sensory experience for d/Deaf and hearing audiences. Shinehouse, making its European debut, draws upon diverse skills to shine a warm and loving light on the subtlety and complexity of generational differences.

Founded in Taipei in 2006, and specialising in inclusive, socially conscious productions, Shinehouse Theatre creates imaginative performances that reach beyond stereotypes and cross contemporary cultural boundaries in order to bring people together. f shinehousetheatre | t @ShinehouseTW

DANCE BASE dancebase.co.uk | 0131 225 5525 FLOATING FLOWERS B.DANCE Dance Base – Studio 1, 6–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 3.30pm, £13 (£11).

Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £11 (£9). Suitable for ages 5+.

Inspired by one of Taiwan’s most beautiful and popular Buddhist ceremonies, PoCheng Tsai’s Floating Flowers is a subtly detailed yet fabulously dynamic expression of body and spirit created for his company B.Dance. Dressed in vaporous tulle skirts, a gorgeous tribal ensemble of eight are pushed and pulled through the swirling rhythms of a dance that reveals tumultuous uncertainties beneath peaceful surfaces. Set to a propulsively cinematic score, Floating Flowers is a dance that reaches as high as the sky as it plumbs the depths of the ocean.

A graduate of Taipei National University of the Arts, prize-winning choreographer Po-Cheng Tsai founded B.Dance in 2014. His work is an artful fusion of martial arts, classical ballet, folk dance and contemporary movement. f B.DANCE.com.tw | t @BdanceTaiwan

MONSTER DUA SHIN TE PRODUCTION Dance Base – Studio 3, 6–25 Aug (not 8, 12, 15, 19, 22), 5.15pm, £13 (£11).

Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £11 (£9). Suitable for ages 12+.

Described by the choreographer Yen-Cheng Liu as ‘a psychedelic fantasy,’ Monster is a daring, intense and quite possibly mind-blowing questioning of one’s sense of self. Created for his company Dua Shin Te Production, Liu’s hard-to-categorise but strangely seductive dance-installation features symbolic props, spoken and written text, a carefully chosen soundtrack and, ultimately, an explosion of motion to help pick apart the mystery of individuality. It might lead you to discover the dear, fierce and vulnerably human monster inside yourself.

Dua Shin Te Production (translation: Grand Body) is a company founded by the cross-disciplinary dance artist Yen-Cheng Liu. f duashinteproduction | t @duashinte

Produced and managed collaboratively by Zhong He Creative International Co., Ltd., Taiwan and Step Out Arts, UK and funded by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 21

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | The Black Blues Brothers

PHOTO: CIRCO E DINTORNI

I

talian academic Alessandro Serena knows a thing or two about circus. Born in a caravan, Serena – a professor of circus history and street entertainment at the State University of Milan – is part of an impressive Italian circus dynasty, touring with his performing parents as a child. His acrobat mum wowed crowds with her elastic body, his trapeze artist auntie was a TV star who tamed doves and lions, his granny and grandad had a routine where she lifted him effortlessly up on her shoulders.

Serena has never been tempted to slip into Lycra or raise any dumbbells himself, but his passion for circus runs deep. He’s written books on juggling, edited circus magazines and worked as a consultant everywhere from TV to the Venice Biennale. He has also been managing acts since the 80s, so during a lecture trip to Nairobi a few years ago, he made a visit to Sarakasi, a community circus school and artist development scheme. He watched five young acrobats do a slick act of hand balancing, tumbling and human pyramids, and signed them straight up. That was almost five years ago and The Black Blues Brothers has now performed to more than a quarter of a

million people across 500 dates in 200 cities.

‘Back then we were doing more of an African show,’ recalls acrobat Seif Mohamed Mlevi. ‘It was ok, it was part of our culture and tradition about the jungle and warriors. But Alessandro said he didn’t want us to do that show, he wanted to write something especially for us. Not the African jungle show, but something American.’

Serena created a show based on the 1980 hit film The Blues Brothers starring Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Aretha Franklin and James Brown, but specially adapted for his five-man troupe. The circus show is set in an American bar and features songs from the musical and voiceover blasts from Belushi and Aykroyd.

‘Soul Man’ plays while they do back flips in full suits and shades; by ‘Shake a Tail Feather’, things have warmed up and they’ve shed a few layers as they leap through skipping ropes doing press-ups; and for ‘Sweet Home Chicago’, they’ve got volunteer kids up out of the crowd to try to limbo under flaming poles with them.

‘They work together like brothers,’ says Serena. ‘I wanted the title to show that. And I wanted the show to have the rhythm and blues soundtrack to go along with their energy and

sense of fun – what they do is incredible.’

Although the title may look problematic on posters plastered around town, the performers don’t see it that way. ‘We don’t have parents back in Kenya, we are like a family to each other. Brothers. We give courage to each other,’ says Bilal Musa Huka.

‘We used to perform in street shows in Nairobi for no money, then pass a hat around,’ says Mlevi. ‘Now we have a salary and when we go home to Kenya we can help out our families.

The younger kids in Sarakasi learn from us.

They want to be like us one day!’

The five acrobats trained for years at Sarakasi before getting the chance to tour the world.

‘The school taught us discipline, about being professional and punctual, working hard.

Respecting others. This isn’t a job for us – it’s a passion. Even when the five of us are fasting during Ramadan, we still give the show the same energy every night. We might lose a bit of weight, but the energy levels stay the same.’

The Black Blues Brothers, Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug, 4.30pm, £14–£16 (£13–£15). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10.

BODY A ND SOU L A reimagining of a hit American film by an Italian professor performed by five Kenyan acrobats . . .

Claire Sawers unravels the intriguing theatrical hybrid that is The Black Blues Brothers

22 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

SP

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31 JUL - 26 AUG 2019

LI G

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ROSE MCGOWAN: PLANET 9

360 ALLSTARS 31 JUL - 26 AUG | 13:00

15 - 18 Aug | 13:00

A S S E M B L Y

P R E S E N T S

FRISKY & MANNISH: POP LAB

STAND UP FOR YOUR PLANET 01 - 25 Aug | 19:00

THE MAGNETS: NAKED 90S

12 - 25 Aug | 17:30

BLACK BLUES BROTHERS

Proceeds go

to support

01 - 25 Aug | 16:30

STAND UP FOR YOUR PLANET

LA GALERIE

19 Aug | 17:30

01 - 25 Aug | 18:00 02 - 25 AUG | 00:05

17:30

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | Female Impressionists

TH E I M ITAT Wherever you look (and listen), this year’s Fringe is jam-packed with and well in Edinburgh and women are leading the way. Here we PHOTO: JOSHUA BILTON

ST E F F TO D D

N AO M I M C D O N A L D

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

Comedian and impressionist. But I don’t mind!

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

Cheryl, when she was judging on The X Factor: this was before I started doing stand-up. I uploaded the video online and got an awesome reaction. I still include her in my stand-up routine: it’s one of my favourites.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

I think Debra Stephenson doing Davina McCall is legendary.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

I’m still working on Holly Willoughby. Some do take longer than others but I’m determined to keep going with her!

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

I’d say Al Foran. He’s very unique, puts out amazing content and has built up a huge fanbase. He is one to watch.

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

Voice magician.

■ Steff Todd: Reality Check, Just the Tonic at The Caves, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 2pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

Aged ten I did impressions of Jerry Springer guests to my parents and they loved it, particularly the swearing bits which I would censor out myself during the impression.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

Alistair McGowan’s take-off of Richard Madeley was so good; I sometimes think back to the clip and wonder if that was actually just the real Richard Madeley.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

My dad Mac McDonald. I have tried my entire life and have never gotten even close.

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

I couldn’t possibly choose one! But Jon Culshaw, Rory Bremner, Kristen Wiig and Alistair McGowan always slay in my books.

■ Naomi McDonald: Copycat, Just the Tonic at The Caves, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 8.50pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £5.

24 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Female Impressionists | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

list.co.uk/festival

TION GA M E people impersonating other people. The ancient art of mimicry is alive ask a sextet of acts some questions about impressionist matters PHOTO: KARLA GOWLETT

J ESS RO B I N S O N

JA N RAV E N S

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

I think of myself as FAR more than an impressionist. Impressions is just one set of skills I bring to the party. I’m a comedian, singer, actress and impressionist in that order!

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

Actor SLASH comedian SLASH impressionist.

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

Apart from my mum (to make my friends laugh), it was Kate Bush. I LOVED her voice and her dancing. She’s a gift for an impressionist. She’s so distinctive in looks and movement as well as her incredible singing voice.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

I particularly love Lewis MacLeod. He’s incredibly talented. Matt Forde is another favourite of mine because he’s such a fine satirist. It’s all about the material for me.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

Taylor Swift. Even though I enjoy her songs, I find her voice so bland. There’s nothing distinctive to hook onto.

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

I love Tracey Ullman. I always admire not only her aptitude for brilliant voices, but also her incredible comedy performances. She’s a very funny lady. Oh, and Dawn French’s Björk and Fern Britton will always be favourites of mine.

For me impressions are about either making people laugh or moving them.

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

The first impression I ever did was my mum. She sounded a bit like Hyacinth Bucket.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

I’ve always had a soft spot for Jon Culshaw’s John Craven, Rory Bremner’s Nick Robinson, and Debra Stephenson’s Claudia Winkleman.

Duncan Wisbey’s Paul McCartney is brilliant and Lewis MacLeod’s Trump is inspired.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

Jenni Murray from Woman’s Hour. Can’t get deep or husky enough . . .

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

I work with so many of them I couldn’t possibly say! The guys are all so brilliant in their different ways. I would like to see more young female impressionists coming up, particularly doing satirical material. Of the younger guys, Luke Kempner and Josh Berry are doing some very wellobserved stuff.

■ Jan Ravens appears in Dead Ringers, Pleasance at EICC, 3–13 Aug, 6.30pm, £17 (£16). Preview 2 Aug, £10.

■ The Jess Robinson Experience, Assembly Rooms, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 7pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 25

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | Female Impressionists

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

C H R I ST I N A B I A N CO

RO N N I A N CO N A

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

I always say that I’m an impressionist. I’m not striving to look like a particular celebrity, like an impersonator typically does, and for some reason the word mimic often has negative connotations. So, impressionist it is!

Do you prefer to be called impersonator, impressionist, mimic, or something else entirely?

I don’t think of myself as an impersonator / mimic / impressionist. I’m not sure what I am to be honest! More of a comedy actress who does some voices.

At the risk of sounding too pretentious, I think I would probably use the term ‘performer’ as it covers all areas.

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

The first impressions I attempted were Basil Brush and Miss Piggy. Or at least I thought it was. Then I did a programme talking about how I started off in comedy and went back to my old primary school. Evidently, as it transpired, I was taking off a lot of teachers as my first impressions. I do remember getting into trouble when a teacher caught me once. Classic cliché of trying to make people laugh to make them like me, I’m afraid.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

I can’t choose my favourite impressions of others as all impressionists have one particularly sublime ‘voice’. For example, Jan Ravens’ Theresa May, Alistair McGowan’s Richard Madeley, Lewis MacLeod’s Jeremy Vine, Rory Bremner’s Nelson Mandela . . . the list goes on.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

David Cameron. I found him very difficult! Seriously though, there are loads that I find tricky but the stand-out one that fills me with shame is when I was doing The Big Impression with Alistair McGowan all those years ago when Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan were incredibly popular on This Morning. Alistair did the most sublime Richard you ever heard, and I just couldn’t get Judy right.

But because it was Alistair’s favourite, we did so many sketches of them and I felt very inadequate.

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

Really difficult question. Not trying to wriggle out of it, but I love different impressionists for different reasons and am friends with most of them. But as I’m doing a show with Lewis MacLeod, I better say him or it could get unpleasant on stage . . .

What was the first impression you ever attempted?

Although I’m told I did impressions constantly as a kid, the first one I remember doing with the intention of entertaining someone other than myself was Celine Dion. I’d been singing along to her songs for my whole life and would often mess around singing in her accent and including her particular pronunciations.

What is the finest impersonation you’ve ever heard by someone else?

Marilyn Michaels doing Lena Horne on the Kopykats TV show absolutely knocked my socks off. I only saw it about ten years ago but I can’t count the amount of times I watched it since, trying to analyse just how she does it. She’s extra broad with the physicality of the impression, as is the way of most sketch comedy shows, but her vocals are completely dead-on and so incredibly nuanced.

Is there one impersonation that you’ve tried and tried, but just cannot quite get right?

There are a few I’m thinking of but the one that hurts most is Joan Rivers.

What an icon! I know I’m close to getting it but Joan would be the first one to say that close is no cigar. The problem is, I simply don’t have a raspy voice.

For me to put that vocal effect on, I would essentially have to wreck my voice completely.

Who is your favourite impersonator working today?

Tracey Ullman’s ability to completely transform herself into men, women, mythical creatures, inanimate objects and everything in between is astounding to me. You know who she’s impersonating immediately, by the way she simply raises an eyebrow. She’s my gold standard.

■ Christina Bianco: First Impressions, Assembly Checkpoint, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 6.20pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7.

■ Ronni Ancona and Lewis MacLeod: Just Checking In, Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 3–17 Aug, 9pm, £14.50–£15.50 (£12–£13). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8.

Go to list.co.uk/festival for much more of these Q&As.

26 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Lara Kramer | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

list.co.uk/festival

HOME TRUTHS

Spanning Edinburgh’s various festivals, Indigenous Contemporary Scene (ICS) present a monthlong programme of Canadian performers aiming to highlight what it means to be indigenous today. Multi-disciplinary artist Lara Kramer, who takes up a residency at Summerhall as part of the venture, tells Deborah Chu how her works explore the past, present and future

‘T

to present a reality that the public cannot look away from,’ she says.

‘It’s there, day to day, walking down the street. They have to go, “okay, there’s life, there’s vitality there.”’

Family remains an enduring focal point in This Time Will Be Different, her most contemporary challenge to Canada’s colonial history. Created in collaboration with Monnet, the piece emerged from their frustration with the government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which they felt ultimately stifled the very indigenous voices that the commission was meant to honour. Centred upon the emotional toll that the commission wreaks upon three generations of a family, This Time Will Be Different is an attempt to reclaim the indigenous community’s place at the centre of a pain that continues to reverberate through the years. ‘It’s not a joke when we talk about intergenerational trauma,’ she says. ‘We’re not just making actions and choices for our own personal selves. We’re acting as a bridge to the future generation and the past.’

For Kramer, it’s this eye to the future that is sorely missing from the Canadian government’s attempts at reconciliation, which currently amount to little more than band-aid solutions and face-saving measures.

True reconciliation, she argues, would begin with the government honouring aboriginal title to land; but unfortunately, she doesn’t hold out much hope of that happening. ‘We’re a colonist country, built upon the back of indigenous destruction,’ she says. ‘To rectify that would mean changing the very identity of Canada.’

And yet, this doesn’t stop her from imagining better futures ahead. In Miijin Ki four performers explore the damage that Ki, colonial land ownership has done to the people and the land, but also of possible outcomes wherein humans and nature can exist as one.

‘Performing it as an open lab can be seen as a risk,’ she admits, ‘but there’s something really inviting in that. It’s a way of trying to break away from what’s expected of material.’

Indeed, Miijin Ki’s clear focus on joy is a radical departure from what has become commonly expected from indigenous narratives, and is a hopeful note she wishes to explore in her work going forward. ‘I want to look at moments that we don’t usually see in the proposition of indigenous bodies on stage,’ Kramer says, ‘one that plays with nuances of dignity, beauty and celebration.’

PHOTO: STEFAN PET

ERSEN

here’s just so much life that happened between the three pieces,’ marvels Lara Kramer. A multi-disciplinary artist of mixed Oji-Cree and settler heritage, Kramer is expressing a vestigial measure of surprise at the works she’s bringing to the Fringe this year: Native Girl Syndrome, a theatrical piece inspired by her grandmother, a survivor of Canada’s catastrophic residential school system; the performancebased installation This Time Will Be Different; and Miijin Ki, her most recent work, performed as a scratch night.

These works, despite their disparate styles, will run together as a chronological progression of past, present and future, staged at intervals through the month of August. Kramer had never intended them to be grouped in such a way, having made each at very different points in her career; but after some prodding from Indigenous Contemporary Scene’s artistic director Émilie Monnet, she can certainly see the connections now. ‘There’s this stripping back of these layers of time, to arrive at an unloading of intergenerational trauma and its effects,’ says Kramer, ‘before coming into something that is more about celebrating the dignity of what my work is trying to hone into.’

Though these layers are interwoven through all three works, the past makes itself most explicitly known in Native Girl Syndrome,, which Kramer first created as a means of trying to understand the cultural genocide that her grandmother had endured, and her subsequent struggles with addiction and homelessness.

‘It’s about portraying the humanity of these women, of street culture,’ she says. ‘I was trying to claim its importance: this is not a forgettable life.’

But alongside the pain, there is also abundant humanity, ‘laughter and ugliness and beauty – all of it.’ In exploring what genocide looked and felt like in such terms, Kramer could greater contextualise her family’s historical trauma within colonialism’s legacy.

‘Here’s an opportunity

Native Girl Syndrome, Summerhall, 2–11 Aug (not 5 & 6), 4.20pm, £10 (£8).

This Time Will Be Different, Summerhall, 13–18 Aug, 4pm, £10 (£8).

Miijin Ki, Summerhall, 20–24 Aug, 4pm, £10 (£8).

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 27

Right in the Eye Alcoléa & cie The cinema of Georges Méliès in concert 2-25 August

VIVE

Fri 2 - Sun 25 August 2019 Open daily | Free entry

Quatuor Mona Plays Debussy & Beethoven String Quartet 18 August

LE FRINGE 2019

Shop handmade objects from 41 Scotland-based makers

Worldwidewestern Raphaël Gouisset digital theatre 12-25 August

Ensemble 1880 Plays Wagner & Brahms Directed by Alec Frank-Gemmill 13 August

Fringe venue 205 Second floor, White Stuff 89 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3ES

A funny, frank look at infidelity and desire

French Institute (Venue 168) West Parliament Square Edinburgh EH1 1RF

www.craftscotland.org

Book now at tickets.edfringe.com More info at ifecosse.org.uk

HHHH

“Intimate and intricate ” THE SUNDAY TIMES

by Kenny Emson directed by Eleanor Rhode

12:40 31 JUL - 25 AUG

28 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

list.co.uk/festival

Forest | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

PHOTO: EKATERINA KRAEVA

Actor Brian Cox fell in love with Russian theatre, then passed that love on to his children. Kelly Apter speaks to the Cox family and the young Russian actors they’re bringing to the Fringe >>

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 29

F EST I VA L F E AT URES | Forest

PHOTO: EKATERINA KRAEVA

M

oscow Art Theatre was founded in 1898 by Konstantin Stanislavski, the godfather of theatrical acting technique. But when Brian Cox talks about the ‘great lineage’ passed down through the company and school over the years, he could just as easily be talking about his own family.

Brian first saw the company perform when he was a student in London, and was later invited to Moscow to teach at the school in the late 1980s.

‘The work ethic and methodology these young Russians employed was incredibly impressive – their movement was astonishing,’ he recalls.

‘Then I did a TV programme called Brian Cox’s Russia for BBC Scotland a couple of years ago, and met up with the students again, who are now running theatres and starring in films.

‘And because theatre and ballet are so fundamental to Russia, there’s always been an edge to it – the way it reflects society is really quite unique.

The tradition of “going to the bottom of your soul”, as one young Russian student described it to me, is what the Russian theatre and ballet is all about.’

Like father like son, Brian’s son Alan was also bitten by the Russian theatre bug as a young man. ‘I think it’s because it was an enthusiasm of my dad’s when I was at a formative age,’ says Alan. ‘It was a culture I was exposed to and responded to.

I did a summer school with people from Moscow Art Theatre and then a student exchange scheme. There was always a sense that they were the keepers of some mystery, and had an approach to acting and theatre that I became fascinated by.’

Meanwhile, Brian’s daughter Margaret was studying Russian at university in St Petersburg and is now fluent in the language. Which has come in handy as she, brother Alan and dad Brian, have helped bring recent Moscow Art Theatre graduates, now part of the Brusnikin Studio theatre collective, to this year’s Fringe with Forest.

As the name suggests, Forest is set in a woodland and while Alan has been scouring the woodyards of Perthshire to secure timber for the show’s Fringe set, the performers in Moscow have been polishing up the production they originally created in 2017. Back then, the show’s director Dmitry Melkin discovered that most of the young actors had little connection with the natural environment – so took them into an

30 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

actual forest for a month-long preparation period.

‘With our eyes blindfolded, we walked barefoot with an escort for 30 minutes through the forest,’ recalls actor Nikita Kovtunov. ‘We were trying to feel a unity with the forest, to feel the forest inside of us. We were really overwhelmed with the result and it opened up a lot of emotions and feelings. And we’ll try to transfer that experience to the audience, to offer them the possibility to stop and think about the natural things that are inside all of us, to feel that connection and harmony with nature.’

The performers rehearsed using the Meyerhold system of biomechanics, in which an actor uses gestures and movements to express emotions. ‘It’s a universal language,’ says fellow actor Eva Milgram. ‘We don’t have any lines, we don’t use words – we just have movement. In rehearsals we would take an object, discover it, find all the possibilities of how to use it – then put the object away and continue to move as if it was still in our hands.’

Speaking to the young graduates, it’s clear their experience of working with director Melkin has been illuminating.

‘In regular theatre, the director tells you what to do – and at the beginning of our rehearsals for Forest, I expected it to be like that,’ says performer Dmitri Severin. ‘But this is actually much simpler, you’re not an actor but you are a performer. You inhale and exhale with the rhythm of the show, hear the atmosphere with your own ears, operate with a new vocabulary, it’s all about being natural.’

All three performers speak with enthusiasm about sharing the work with an international audience. And when the Moscow performers arrive in Edinburgh, the Cox family will be here, too – welcoming them to the UK, just as they were all welcomed to Russia.

‘Forest is quite astonishing and dazzling in many ways,’ says Brian.

‘One of the things that struck me when I first went to Moscow, is that theatre there very much reflects society – it was the one way that the truth of society was being told. And the performers in Forest are reflecting what’s happening now, how the natural world is being disturbed and their concerns about that.’

Forest, Assembly Checkpoint, 2–11 Aug, 4.40pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.

tre ea Th

SPRAY

14:35 (15:35) 31 JULY-26 AUG ASSEMBLY ROXY, CENTRAL

tre ea Th

BLACK AND WHITE TEA ROOM : COUNSELLOR 18:20 (19:20) 1-25 AUG

ASSEMBLY ROOMS DRAWING ROOM e nc Da

GOLIATH IN THE WATER 12:00 (12:50) 1-26 AUG (NOT 12)

ASSEMBLY CHECKPOINT

sic Mu

CAMINO DE SANGJARU

12:00 (13:00) 31 JULY-26 AUG (NOT 12, 19) ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE STUDIO-FOUR ow s Sh en’ r d l Chi

DOODLE POP: WOOGIE BOOGIE VER2

10:50 (11:45) 31 JULY-26 AUG (NOT 12, 19) ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE STUDIO-ONE

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31

SUM LIST ADVERT NO2 2019 - V2_Layout 1 25/07/2019 12:24 Page 1

VENUE 26

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 2019

“Host to some of the most provocative, avant-garde works to be found anywhere in Edinburgh during the festival season.”

The List 2019

PERFORMANCE LUNG - Who Cares National Theatre of Wales - double bill Leyla Josephine - Daddy Drag Rachael Young - Nightclubbing & Out … and many more …

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VISUAL ARTS

11am-6pm Exhibitions are FREE

Alan Smith - The New World Andrew Sim - New Sodom...

Jane Frere - Exit - 100 Days of Khaos Carbon Casualties - The New York Times … and more …

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Grandmaster Flash Rachel Sermanni Siobhan Wilson Broken Records … and many more…

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

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31July - 25Aug

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You Are Here | FEST I VA L F E AT U RES

OT O:

list.co.uk/festival

GR ET N JE HE N LE E

OT

PH O: M DA IAN OS

IR UE

SIQ

WHERE AM I? The EIF has broadened its scope with You Are Here, an adventurous new ‘festival within a festival’ exploring many of the questions affecting our lives and communities today. Kate McGrath, the curator of this provocative season, tells Gareth K Vile what audiences can expect

W Left to right: Cas Public’s 9, Hear Word!, Jackie Kay

ith 14 main stage productions, 265 artists from around the world and four strands with multiple approaches to engaging both audiences and artists in dynamic conversations, You Are Here has the flavour of an important new direction for the Edinburgh International Festival. Curated

by Kate McGrath of Fuel, a production company which has supported some of the most exciting and challenging performances of the past 15 years, under the aegis of both the Royal Lyceum’s David Greig and International Festival director Fergus Linehan, this festival within a festival has both the high production values associated with the EIF but also a more eclectic and provocative edge.

‘We are interested in artists that are really engaging with audiences, who are looking socially, politically and culturally at the world around us today, and creating work that has different perspectives on where we find ourselves now, and where we might be going,’ says McGrath. ‘The form and the scale of the works are diverse, from one person work in development as part of the Departure Lounge strand to a big

ensemble piece on the Lyceum main stage or an orchestral piece in the Usher Hall, but they share a contemporary connectedness.’

The four strands of the programme are split between the expected main stage performances, more informal work in The Departure Lounge (the Lyceum Rehearsal Studio) – including readings and conversations between artists and audiences – professional development which allows Scottish and international artists to exchange ideas and enhance their skills, as well as a series of community projects.

There appears to be a broad agenda within You Are Here to address the disconnect between Edinburgh and its festivals, encouraging a comprehensive experience for potential audiences that goes beyond simply consuming performances, towards re-examining the status of the EIF and its relationship to the host city and the country’s cultural communities.

‘The other part of that theme is the audience,’ McGrath continues. ‘I am interested in work that is seeking to engage the audience, to share ideas and celebrate live performance.’

The main stage strand is an intriguing mixture of the familiar (Guardian favourite Kate Tempest, contemporary dance from Cas Public, the National Theatre of Scotland presenting >> 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 33

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F EST I VA L F E AT URES | You Are Here

OT O: BE HU RT AM IEL

PH OT O: HA MI AB EL V LO OD IC

<< an adaptation of poet Jackie Kay’s autobiography Red Dust Road), the critically acclaimed (Purposeless Movements from activist and provocative theatre maker Robert Softley Gale, Tim Crouch pondering belief and control in Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation), Scottish artists and artists who have not previously appeared in Scotland.

The juxtaposition of their diverse styles generates less an homogenous programme but a series of potential interactions.

The questions raised by the performances cover some of the most pressing contemporary issues: class, environmental danger, the role of faith both spiritually and politically. ‘[The aim is] to actually have conversations and not just consume performance: to use that moment of internationalism and see what conversations might happen,’ says McGrath. ‘And expand the experience of theatre so that the audience have more opportunities for deeper engagement – to talk with other people, to meet artists, maybe make connections across different pieces in the programme.’

The Departure Lounge aims to take the audience deeper into these topics. In the daily Morning Manifesto, hosted by Greig and playwright Sara Shaarawi, audiences are asked to respond to a series of manifestos from artists, including Javaad Alipoor, who has Rich Kids running at the Traverse throughout the Fringe, War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, theatremaker Maya Zbib, academic and TV presenter Emma Dabiri and Palestinian lawyer Raja Shehadeh. ‘It is about recognising that a festival has within it the possibility of creating something bigger than the sum of its parts,’ notes McGrath, who explains that at the end of the three weeks of the festival, a collectively authored manifesto will be produced. The project has been inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which was created collectively by people from all over the world.

Another strand within the Departure Lounge is Breaking Bread, an opportunity to sit down and eat at an artist-led meal. From the always witty and bold Scottee, through teaching artist Sarah Rose Graber to British bharatanatyam artist Seeta Patel and Australian choreographer Lina Limosani, the artists kick off with a short provocation, leaving the guests to follow and lead their own conversations. The conviviality of the theatre becomes transformed into the 34 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

intimate and immersive experience of sharing food.

The weaving of the four strands is certainly a move away from the more passive notions of performance: while ‘raising awareness’ still sits at the heart of the programme, the community and artist development events demonstrate a willingness to risk a closer conversation and a refusal of the traditional belief that a play or gig can be an end in themselves. ‘Both David and Fergus are interested in what kind of city Edinburgh is, what kind of world we are living in, and I think connecting these local questions about community with the way that we are internationally known is really of interest to the EIF and the Lyceum and Fuel,’ adds McGrath.

The emphasis on artists from around the world not only challenges the Euro-centric bias of much theatre – the Fringe struggles with inclusion – but introduces forms and perspectives that are less familiar. Hear Word! examines the experiences of Nigeria’s women, through a cast of ten of the nations’ famous film, theatre and television performers; La Reprise Histoire(s) du theatre (I) from the International Institute of Political Murder delves into a murder that shocked Belgium but opens up a reflection on the nature of tragedy. Kiinalik sees two Canadian artists – one a musician, the other performing a Greenlandic mask dance – consider colonial legacies and climate change.

McGrath affirms her belief in the potential of performance. ‘I think everyone can make a difference: the arts culture in many ways punches above its weight. We understand ourselves in the world through stories and images. That’s nothing new but the question of what stories are being told, what does that tell us about who we are and what we value, and how we relate to each other?’

By overturning traditional boundaries and encouraging audiences to grapple with the politics of performance, You Are Here marks a welcome and adventurous approach to the possibilities of the Festival: while remaining within familiar programming, it seeks to expand the experience and points towards new formats and blurred boundaries between art and society.

You Are Here, part of Edinburgh International Festival, various venues, 2–26 Aug, eif.co.uk/whats-on/you-arehere

PHOTO: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

Clockwise from left: Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation, La Reprise Histoire(s) du theatre (I), Purposeless Movements

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Modl Theatre (Korea) in association with C theatre

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Shakespeare for Kids: Fools and Bottoms

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Yellow Submarine

Macbeth

The Happy Prince

Hoichi the Earless

Ubu the King

Along

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Shakespeare Up Late!

With more than 100 shows and events across our venues in the heart of Edinburgh, we celebrate our 28th Fringe with an inspiring international programme of cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, musicals, theatre and family shows. See it all with C venues.

festival

FOOD & DRINK Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience

FOOD FOR THOUGHT David Pollock tucks into FeastFest, a new venture which aims to combine the joys of performance with more gastronomic delights

36 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

F

or those tackling the Edinburgh Festivals in the right spirit – that is, diving headlong into the programme with a checklist of as many shows as can possibly be seen in one day – we advise taking a healthy approach and factoring in a couple of stops where food can be taken onboard. If you need any reminders to take care of yourself in this way, hopefully seeing some shows from the inaugural Edinburgh FeastFest programme will keep you right.

Instigated by London-based performing arts management agency Performance Infinity, it’s something of an experiment; an exercise in marrying the strangely widespread fascination with food among a number of disparate Fringe shows with a semblance of joined-up programming. The aim is to help guide people who like to think about art and their appetite at the same time to shows they might like.

It’s also a widening of the cultural horizons, with the shows presented originating in a host of countries around the world. Having premiered at the Southbank Centre in 2018, Citizens of Nowhere? (Sweet Novotel, 16–25 Aug) is a site-specific audio-visual piece in a hotel bar, which allows the audience to eavesdrop on the wedding plans of a bickering British-Chinese family through headphones; light refreshments shall be served.

Recommended for many reasons, not least the soundtrack by Maximo Park’s Paul Smith, Unfolding Theatre’s Hold On Let Go (Summerhall, 31 Jul–25 Aug) should be a particular treat. It’s about memory – what we choose to remember and what we let our technology take care of for us – but an

integral part of the show is live bread-making.

At the same venue, Clout Theatre’s FEAST (Summerhall, 6–18 Aug) – produced between the UK, Turkey and France – is a returning work of dance and physical theatre which looks at our relationship with food and drink, using milk and meat as props.

New Zealand’s Java Dance, meanwhile, present their own dance and physical theatre performance (pictured) which sounds as though it’s cut from the same block of butter as FEAST; except this time the focus is solely upon Chocolate (Assembly Rooms, 1–24 Aug). Finally, for younger audiences, storyteller Daniel Serridge presents Feast of Fools (Scottish Storytelling Centre, 1–18 Aug), a series of stories about food which won’t necessarily leave you feeling hungry by the end (it’s for ages four and older).

‘Our idea is that we want the theatre to be as close as possible to our daily life,’ says Performance Infinity director and FeastFest founder Joanna Dong. ‘By presenting works from different cultural backgrounds, the festival encourages people to not only respect the differences between each other but also celebrate the similarities we share.

‘Eating is an activity which links everyone in commonality, we all have something to say about food, whether it relates to our memories of childhood, family or friends . . . it can also represent our countries, religions and traditional values. In this spirit, we aim to use food as a tool to promote internationalism in the theatre.’

FeastFest, various venues, Edinburgh, until 25 Aug, feastfest.org

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CANADA EDINBURGH FESTIVALS 2019

Canada returns to Edinburgh in 2019 with an array of artists, performers, comedians, musicians, writers and many others who will descend on the city.

This year, the CanadaHub @ Edinburgh Fringe will feature five performances – showcasing some of the very best of Canada’s contemporary performance scene. From circus to music, to dance and literature and everything is between – there is something for everyone!

To see all that Canada offers, at the CanadaHub and beyond, check out The List’s dedicated Canada brochure or visit www.list.co.uk/canada

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 37

l a v i t s e f

CABARET FOR MORE INFO GO TO

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

OASISSY’S LATE NIGHT QUEER CABARET Mad for it monobrowed mayhem with a lairy twist

38 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

to find vulnerabilities in amongst the laddie stuff. Then there are bits where we peek through, and woke, modern, queer feminist ideas slip in . . . anything can happen!’

After being supported by streettheatre company Surge, the pair have been performing as Oasissy around festivals, in the street and at queer cabaret nights since 2018.

They’re now curating their first, very own cabaret for four nights on the opening and closing Fringe weekends, featuring ‘a Wonderwall line-up of queer cabaret superstars from Scotland and beyond.’

(Claire Sawers) ■ Late Night Patter Party, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 2 & 3 Aug, 23 & 24 Aug, 10pm, free.

PHOTO: TIU MAKKONEN

‘We call ourselves drag clowns,’ say Kirsty Biff and Annabel Cooper.

They perform together as Oasissy, not so much a straight Stars in Your Eyes tribute to the Gallagher Brothers, but definitely maybe a monobrowed, queer cabaret double-act poking lairy fun at their problematic heroes. Cooper has seen Oasis live seven times and Biff loved Oasis tapes in primary school, but also remembers being freaked out by paparazzi stories of the brothers being in punch-ups.

‘There’s this tension onstage about which one of us is Noel and which is Liam; that’s part of it, the famous brotherly rivalry,’ says Biff.

‘We’ve kind of swallowed them whole and regurgitated them, trying

Hitlist | F EST I VA L CA BA RE T

list.co.uk/festival

Arusa Qureshi chooses the best cabaret to check out in week one HELP! I THINK I MIGHT BE FABULOUS Multi-talented drag prince Alfie Ordinary heads to Edinburgh for his Fringe debut, welcoming audiences into Madame LeCoq’s Preparatory School for Fabulous Boys, armed with charm, incredible pipes and a little help from good friends (and puppets) Whitney Houston and Bette Midler. See feature, page 40. Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3–25 Aug, 6pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

LITTLE DEATH CLUB Join Bernie Dieter and her gang of misfits, miscreants and fantastic freaks for a night of entertainment like no other, with dark comedy, satirical songs, gender-bending circus, and astounding burlesque. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 8pm, £16–£18 (£15–£17).

MAGICAL BONES: BLACK MAGIC Direct from TV appearances as well as his acclaimed London residency, breakdancing magician Magical Bones offers a different take on the

PHOTO: SCOTT CHALMERS

CABARET HITLIST traditional magic show, celebrating historical black magicians while challenging ideas of what black magic really is. Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 6.25pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.50.

GINGER JOHNSON’S HAPPY PLACE The alt-right is rising, the permafrost is melting, and every other sea turtle has a plastic straw jammed up its nostril; it’s all a bit much for Ginger Johnson. In this comedic cabaret confessional, Johnson puts two fingers up to all sense of reality and jumps – high heels first – into a world of absolute delusion.

Pleasance Dome, 3–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.40pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £9.

LATE NIGHT LIP SERVICE Hosted by giant, ginger, awardwinning Glamonster Gingzilla, Late Night Lip Service features the wildest acts from across the Fringe, lip-sync battles, debauched drag, catwalkoffs and midnight madness. Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3, 8–10, 15–18, 22–24 Aug, 11.30pm, £12.50.

Preview 2 Aug, £10.

Paris de Nuit

Late Night Lip Service

MY LAND  The List  The Scotsman  British Theatre Guide  Edinburgh Guide  Edinburgh Reporter  Voice Magazine  Fest Magazine  The Wee Review  One4Review

 Broadway Baby  Voice Magazine  One4Review  The Reviews Hub  Across the Arts  The Wee Review  The Scotsman

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 39

F EST I VA L CA BA RE T | Alfie Ordinary

ABSOLUTELY

FABULOUS An exciting crossover of clown and queen, Alfie Ordinary is set to take the Fringe by storm. Arusa Qureshi finds an act who is tapping into drag’s race for the mainstream

F

or many artists and creatives currently producing work and performing to audiences around the world, it’s impossible not to see certain artforms as escapism. For Brighton-based drag queen Alfie Ordinary, the idea of freedom and insistence on joy has been a key tenet of his award-winning show Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous, which challenges everything from homophobia to toxic masculinity, all while celebrating who we are inside.

Having taken it to festivals across the globe, Alfie brings the show to Edinburgh for the first time, introducing the city to his affable and charming creation, and the story of his life at Madame LeCoq’s Prep School for Fabulous Boys. ‘I wanted to make a drag character that didn’t fit in with a community,’ he explains. ‘There are drag queens and there are drag kings, but I wanted to create something that was a little bit off to the side of those. You’d hear all the songs I do at a drag show but they’re pulled from Alfie’s perspective. So it’s as if all of his clothes have been made by his mum, all of his friends are from his mum, and it’s like he’s grown up purely through drag. He’s having a wonderful camp old time!’

With his sequined pantaloons and blonde bowl cut, Alfie Ordinary is not your average drag queen, despite what his name might suggest. In fact, he’s not a drag queen at all, but a drag prince: the son of a drag queen who, as he proclaims, ‘identifies as one thing and one thing only, and that’s goddamn fabulous!’

The character was born through a mix of academic research and a love for cabaret that was discovered early. ‘I sort of dived into the cabaret world,’ he notes.

‘At the same time, I was studying a masters degree at the University of Chichester where I was looking at how drag is a sort of queer expression and how clowning deals with otherness. That’s how I ended up with the character of Alfie Ordinary, where he’s a kind of nice crossover of clown and drag queen.’

While funny and fabulous in equal measure, Help! sets out to portray a message of acceptance, inspired by Alfie’s own journey. ‘I wrote it about my experiences of growing up gay but I sort of stripped it back into not being specifically about that. I wanted to address the feeling of being different in a much more general way. And what I’ve found is that I get people of all backgrounds and ages, and with different stories coming to the show and taking different things away from it. It’s a really fun show to perform and the audience can get involved. Everyone’s playing and singing along and hopefully feeling empowered at the end.’

Alfie’s Fringe debut comes at a time where drag has firmly cemented itself as a dominant force in popular culture, with new scenes and queens popping up all the time. But Alfie remains positive about the future of drag and its ongoing impact on the everyday.

‘We’re seeing so many different types of drag, and people not being afraid to just go ahead and give things a try,’ he says, ‘which is wonderful because that’s what drag is all about; it’s two fingers up to society and society’s norms. It’s amazing the power that drag has to communicate to everyone. Drag is not just for the LGBT community; everyone’s getting a good dose of it and enjoying it. I think it speaks to people when they see someone up on stage being an extravagant and happy version of themselves.’

Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous, Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3–25 Aug, 6pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

40 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

HHHH ‘ACHINGLY FUNNY...

WORTH SEEING AGAIN AND AGAIN.’ TIME OUT

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 41

F EST I VA L CA BA RE T | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 The best cabaret and variety in the first week of the Fringe, arranged in handy chronological order

NOON SUPER HUGH-MAN Assembly George Square Studios, 2–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 12.50pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10. Solo cabaret following the personal journey of a young Maori boy and his Hollywood hero, Hugh Jackman. This heartfelt story is intricately woven together using comedy, storytelling, dance, song and Maori cultural / performing arts, to provide a stunning cabaret experience.

1PM TOM BRACE: BRACE OF SPADES Pleasance Dome, 3–26 Aug (not 22), 1.30pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Following a sold-out run at last year’s Fringe, Tom Brace returns with a brand-new magic show for the whole family. Featuring Tom’s unique blend of comedy and magic, the show promises to have a little something for everybody.

2PM EXPOSING EDITH Assembly George Square Studios, 2–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 2.20pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul

& 1 Aug, £10. Experience legendary French icon Edith Piaf’s life, loves and losses through the songs that shot her to stardom. The songs are punctuated with a collection of extraordinary stories of her life as recounted by Australian cabaret star Michaela Burger, who takes on a multitude of key characters.

ADA CAMPE AND THE PSYCHIC DUCK The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 2.50pm, £10 (£9).

Join award-winning variety artiste Ada Campe and her Psychic Duck for a show about wonderful women, strange encounters and a fairground mystery, with plenty of audience involvement along the way.

6PM HELP! I THINK I MIGHT BE FABULOUS Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3–25 Aug, 6pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Drag prince Alfie Ordinary makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut with his distinctive blonde bowlcut wig and sequined pantaloons.

Set in a camp, queer utopia with a soundtrack including Village People, Whitney Houston and the Sugababes, this coming-of-age story is a beautiful ode to celebrating who we really are.

See feature, page 40.

ANDREA SPISTO: BUTCH PRINCESA Heroes @ The SpiegelYurt, 2–25 Aug (not 13), 6.20pm, £5. Character comedy, dance and Latin beats guide you deep into a surreal queer immigrant wonderland. Andrea Spisto presents an unflinchingly emotional art explosion full of insights into gender boundaries, politics and human magic.

CHRISTINA BIANCO: FIRST IMPRESSIONS Assembly Checkpoint, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 6.20pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7. The girl with a thousand voices returns to the Fringe with a brand-new show.

Through her uncanny impressions and musical mash-ups, Christina Bianco will celebrate the stars who’ve made lasting impressions on us all. See feature, page 26.

LEN BLANCO: FIRING BLANCS In his musical comedy cabaret, recovering boy-band member and drag king amongst men, Len Blanco will be exclusively revealing just how far he’s come since the 90s through a performance filled with live vocals, lip syncs and choreography straight from everyone’s favourite music videos. Just The Tonic at The Charteris Centre, 1–24 Aug (not 12 & 13), 9.20pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

42 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

MAGICAL BONES: BLACK MAGIC Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 6.25pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.50. Join one of the most explosive names in street magic today as he effortlessly combines intricate sleight of hand with jaw-dropping breakdance moves in his muchanticipated Fringe debut.

7PM IVY PAIGE: QUEEN OF THE SWINGERS Le Monde, 2–25 Aug, 7.15pm, £10. With pianist Pete Saunders in tow, international showgirl Ivy Paige celebrates the glamour and music of Hollywood’s golden era in this live music cabaret. There’ll be singing and swinging, but with Ivy’s own naughty twist.

ASK A STRIPPER Heroes @ Bob’s BlundaBus, 1–25 Aug (not 14, 21), 7.50pm, £5. Join Morag (aka Gypsy Charms) and Stacey Clare (The Ethical Stripper) for an X-rated exposé of their industry.

With 30 years of combined stripping experience, a PhD, a TED Talk, a book, three properties and several ex-fiancés later, the creative team behind Illicit Thrill bare their souls, not just their bodies.

8PM LITTLE DEATH CLUB Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 8pm, £16–£18 (£15–£17). A Weimar punk-jazz band soundtracks a night of dangerously funny cabaret, breathtaking circus and fire-breathing sideshow at its most inappropriate, provocative and hilarious best. Join award-winning mistress of mayhem, Bernie Dieter and her family of misfits for a night of debauchery.

COLIN CLOUD: SINFUL Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 8pm, £15.50–£17.50 (£14–£16).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £10. In Sinful, Colin Cloud will charm the demons in your head and reveal whether you are saint or sinner. With special guest Chloé Crawford, Colin will reveal why it’s so much more fun to ask for forgiveness than permission, and why enough is never enough.

GOLDEN DELICIOUS: GOOD JOB! CC Blooms, 3–25 Aug (not 9, 15, 20), 8pm, free. A riff on the very gay tradition of referencing pop culture, Golden Delicious takes her audience on a journey to nurture the inner child, own up to our mistakes and live life enthusiastically.

IT’S MISS HOPE SPRINGS Assembly Rooms, 3–24 Aug, 8.20pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. Join comedy cabaret superstar Miss Hope Springs at the piano, presenting original musical numbers from her vintage repertoire of toe-tapping show tunes, fingersnapping pop and heart-rending ballads, interspersed with scandalous stories from her showbiz life.

Top Tips | F EST I VA L CA BA RE T

list.co.uk/festival

REUBEN KAYE Reuben Kaye finally returns to Edinburgh with his solo show which just won the prestigious Green Room Award for Cabaret in Melbourne. Prepare for an explosion of high camp and filthy humour as Kaye delivers drama, stage presence and scandalous storytelling in equal measure. Assembly Checkpoint, 2–25 Aug (not 7, 21), 9.30pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £9.

MODERN MAORI QUARTET: GARAGE PARTY Underbelly Bristo Square, 2–25 Aug (not 5 & 6, 12–14, 19–21), 8.35pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £9. Modern Maori Quartet invite you to experience a Maori garage party, which are hotbeds of undiscovered talent and a central part of their cultural and musical legacy back home in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

With a special guest artist every night, enjoy cheeky banter, uninhibited truths and hearty harmonies from the awardwinning group.

9PM

GINGER JOHNSON’S HAPPY PLACE Pleasance Dome, 3–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.40pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £9. In a valiant, ridiculous attempt to cope with the increasing horror of everyday life, Ginger Johnson packs her bags and poses the question: how far are we willing to run to escape reality, and at what cost? This show is crammed full of bait and switch, songs, chats, music and an acute awareness of how messed up everything is.

11PM

JESUS L’OREAL: STILL NAILING IT! Voodoo Rooms, 2–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 9.10pm, £10–£12. Having spread the gospel in the award-nominated Christ on a Bike, calorie-burning Cross Fit and rapturous Nailed It, Jesus L’Oreal descends once again in a cloud of Febreeze to celebrate highlights from this fabulous Holy Trinity.

THE KAYE HOLE Assembly Checkpoint, 2–4, 9–11, 16–18, 23–25 Aug, 11.15pm, £16 (£15). Described as ‘church for people who don’t stand a chance of getting into heaven’, The Kaye Hole is a queer, messy, fast and hilarious night out.

Reuben Kaye hosts the sweatiest latenight party in town where the Fringe’s riskiest and most diverse acts get free rein backed by Reuben’s own band The Preferred Pronouns.

AARON CROW: FEARLESS Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug, 9.30pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. Aaron Crow, the first European artist ever to perform both on Broadway and at the Sydney Opera House and known more recently for his appearances on America’s Got Talent, arrives in Edinburgh with a show that features dangerous stunts involving swords, bow and arrows and more.

LATE NIGHT LIP SERVICE Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3, 8–10, 15–18, 22–24 Aug, 11.30pm, £12.50. Preview 2 Aug, £10. Sevenfoot Australian drag sensation and crimson queen Gingzilla returns to the Fringe with the iconic Late Night Lip Service. Featuring live performances, the Fringe’s wildest stars, lip-sync battles, midnight madness and plenty more from Ging herself, this is a party not to be missed.

JUST DESSERTS Join Michelle Pearson, the creator of the award-winning Comfort Food Cabaret, for the UK debut of her new show. Featuring a live rock-poppowered soundtrack, this sensual chanteuse explores empowerment, social pressure, our obsession with perfection and desire through song, sex and sugar. Includes dessert! Underbelly Cowgate, 3–11 Aug (not 5 & 6), 10.40pm, £14.50–£15.50 (£13.50–£14.50). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10.50.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 43

l a v i t s e f

COMEDY FOR MORE INFO GO TO

LIST.CO.UK /FESTIVAL

COURTNEY PAUROSO A dark clowny treat developed by Doctor Brown When you hear that a show is being brought to us by the people who produced Natalie Palamides’ Laid and Nate, and has been developed with the assistance of Doctor Brown, you get a sense of what might be in store. Courtney Pauroso’s Gutterplum promises a character clowning show, a spot of burlesque and feminist allegory to comprise a ‘surreal and stupid heart-warming hour of groundbreaking comedy’.

Already firmly established on the list of many fellow Fringe comedians’ must-see shows, Pauroso has stayed largely under the pre-publicity radar ahead of August, with just some old clips floating around of her eating a burrito and doing a spoof character reel (it certainly had some people fooled believing they were witnessing an actress having a proper meltdown as she becomes increasingly more frustrated at her creations being ‘forced’ and ‘not organic’). A dark treat surely awaits. Mark Ronson saw an early version of Gutterplum in LA and loved it if that’s something which might influence your show-going behaviour. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 9.40pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 45

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Hitlist

COMEDY HITLIST Brian Donaldson picks out some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week CATHERINE BOHART Turning an unfortunate instance of passive-aggressive heckling (that soon dropped the passive) into humour, the Irish comic goes straight for the jugular on sex and sexuality.

See feature, page 58. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

BASIL BRUSH Ha ha! Boom boom!! will be reverberating around the city as we all try to replicate one of the finest catchphrases in showbiz history. Baz is in town! See feature at list.co.uk/ festival. Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–25 Aug, 6.45pm, £12–£13 (£11– £12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

CIARAN DOWD Those who loved Dowd’s Best Newcomer-winning imaginings of a Spanish lothario-priest will be cocka-hoop that Don Rodolfo is back once again. See feature, page 51.

Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug

(not 14), 9.45pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

NICK HELM Several years since his last full Fringe run, the man from Uncle tears up his venue and rips our hearts asunder with an hour of pure comedy bombast. See feature, page 47. Pleasance Dome, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 5.40pm, £12.50– £14. Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

COURTNEY PAUROSO If you loved Dr Brown and Natalie Palamides, chances are this might be up your alley given that the actual (and spiritual) pawprints of both are firmly on Pauroso as she delivers her Fringe debut. See preview, page 45.

Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 9.40pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50.

JONNY PELHAM Looks like this could be the year that Pelham takes things up a notch as he digs deep into a traumatic childhood for a tale that will veer between funny and frightening. See feature, page 56.

Just the Tonic at The Caves, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 3.20pm, £5–£7.50 in advance or donations at the venue.

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46 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

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Nick Helm | F EST I VA L COME DY

PHOTO: ED MOORE

With two shows at the Fringe this year, Nick Helm is plunging headlong into a no-holds barred return to Edinburgh. Brian Donaldson hears about the comic’s terrible nerves, his TV nightmare and being a control freak over punctuation >>

RISING STAR 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 47

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Nick Helm

F

or a man who needs to gently rest his voice and relax his body in between performances of his bombastic solo work, it’s mildly concerning that Nick Helm has two shows doing full runs at this year’s Fringe. Phoenix from the Flames is the first August-long stand-up show he’s given us since 2013’s One Man Mega Myth (his second hour to receive an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination) while I Think, You Stink! is the resurrection of a musical horror comedy thingy he wrote and laid on in 2008 at the all-too appropriately named Bedlam Theatre.

First things first, that comma feels fairly crucial doesn’t it? ‘There is a comma there, yes,’ freely admits Helm. ‘And there’s an exclamation mark. So, maybe it should be pronounced as “I Think” [pause] “YOU STINK!” I wanted to very much emphasise the point between “I Think” and “You Stink”, so at the time the comma was very important because it controls the way the reader reads it.

It’s really just about my need to be a control freak so much that I control even the way that a stranger who has just come across a poster for a show reads and digests the info from it. Let’s give it a positive spin: it’s part of the creative process.’

Another positive Helm can glean from that 2008 run is that he claims (and we have no real evidence to doubt him) that I Think, You Stink! is the only show which has made him any money during the Fringe: the princely sum of £50. ‘I thought that I’d like to do this horrorthemed poetry show but as it all came together, I started writing more songs, so then it became more of a musical with a couple of poems in.

I found it hard to describe what it was, so I started calling it an anthology horror: they’re individual stories, a collection of horror scenes, 48 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Nick Helm | F EST I VA L COME DY

list.co.uk/festival

SCARE TACTICS You may well be screaming with laughter at these five monster hits

CHILDREN OF THE QUORN Durham Revue alumni Ambika Mod and Andrew Shires are set to raise literal hell with a séance amid their torrent of deftly-written sketches.

The show title itself references a classic 80s horror based on the book from, inevitably, Stephen King.

Just the Tonic at La Belle Angele, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 3.30pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.

GHOST ORGY

songs and vignettes. I mean, it sounds wank . . .

No one saw it in 2008, other than a handful of my real friends; some comedians still say it’s the best thing I ever did. And that makes me fucking furious!!’

Being in a general state of fury is all part of Nick Helm’s winning stage persona. He will rail and rant and rage one minute before being thoroughly sweet the next as he passively aggressively serenades an audience member.

But the scripted anger is never too far away from the surface. ‘I do get very nervous and stressed before a show, and the day of a gig can be a complete write-off. That is why my act is the way it is. I get nervous all day and bottle all this tension and then I go on stage and let it all out. I’m very loud.’

A couple of years ago, Helm embarked on a national tour with There Is Nothing You Can Do to Me That I Haven’t Already Done to Myself, a show that was as close to pure storytelling as the St Albans-born comic has come in his career. This stripped-back affair had him laying the verboseness to one side for a bit as he took a step back and produced his most personal show to date. With Phoenix from the Flames, he’s promising yet more of a delve into his own personal issues, but there is one major difference.

‘I tend to do shows with production numbers and costume changes and props and a set, and the after the tour I did miss doing a proper oldschool Edinburgh show. So this is me going back to what I started doing. What Phoenix from the Flames is really all about is me rising back from the year I’ve had. It’s been an up and down year personally: I suffered from mental health issues and depression, but I’m now coming back to be my best self and bouncing back in an Alan Partridge-esque way. It’s really a tongue in cheek look at my life.’

Helm relishes the fact that he can switch to a different creative output mode depending

on how the artistic mood is taking him. As well as stand-up, he writes music (releasing albums such as Hot ‘n’ Heavy and Nick Helm Is Fucking Amazing), pens a bit of poetry, and does some acting (mainly in comedy stuff such as BBC Three’s Uncle, Channel 4’s Loaded and Sky One’s The Reluctant Landlord alongside his mate Romesh Ranganathan). Though one TV gig proved to be more of a challenge than you might expect.

‘I did a food show for Dave called Eat Your Heart Out and put on a lot of weight.

We filmed that very intensely so you were eating meals at 9.30am, 11.30am, 2.30pm, and 5.30pm. Everyone is going ‘that must have been nice eating all that food?’ Well, no, it was fucking miserable. Not only are you getting fatter while you’re making this show, but you’re being filmed as you’re getting fatter; there’s a camera in your face constantly while you’re eating. The show is great but the process of making it was very uncomfortable; you’re always full and there’s always a camera on you when you’re least attractive and most vulnerable.’

Asides from the horrendous nerves he experiences, getting back onto the live stage seems to certainly be pleasing Helm. ‘I’ve had a break from stand-up and missed it. I’ve done some gigs to come back to it and I’m enjoying it again. I’ve got a pile of songs and stories over here, a pile of jokes and poems over there, and the preview process is like having a bucket of Lego and throwing it all over the floor. You can do whatever you want with all the pieces.’

Nick Helm: Phoenix from the Flames, Pleasance Dome, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 5.40pm, £12.50–£14. Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6; I Think, You Stink!, Assembly Roxy, 2–24 Aug (not 12), 9.45pm, £12– £14. Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.

A despicable merging of sex and the supernatural in a show which was partly influenced by this trio of Canadian stand-ups trying to convince some Edinburgh locals that they were ghosthunters. Yes, some other kind of spirits had been consumed. Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 1–25 Aug, 12.45am, donations.

RICHARD BROWN: HORROR SHOW What are the connections between terror and laughter? One of Scotland’s rising stars of stand-up will send chills up and down your spine slash funnybones. Scottish Comedy Festival @ Nightcap, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 3.30pm, £5 (£4) in advance or donations at the venue.

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £3.

THE HOUSE OF INFLUENZA: A SPOOKY TALE OF FRIGHTENINGNESS Ever wondered what it would be like finding yourself trapped in your home just as the zombie apocalypse gets into full flow? Lily Edwards aims to show you that creating a silly horror story might help save your bacon. Just the Tonic at The Charteris Centre, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 12.40pm, £5.

MOON Jack Chisnall and Joshua Dolphin, these two ‘boiler-suited provincial louts’, return to unleash more terror as their venue actually appears to be turning on them. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9.30pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£7.50– £9.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 49

The Lisa Richards Agency at the Edinburgh Fringe 30 years of Irish entertainment @LRComedy

David O’Doherty Ultrasound

7.30pm Assembly George Square Theatre

Joanne McNally The Prosecco Express 6.25pm Assembly Studio Four

Kevin McGahern Taking Off 10.50pm Underbelly Bristo Square Clover

Dreamgun Film Reads 10.15pm Underbelly Bristo Square Dairy Room

Aidan Greene Did I Stutter?

9.30pm Gilded Balloon Wee Room

Neil Delamere End of Watch

Fred Cooke Fred Space

7.30pm Gilded Balloon Billiard Room

6.30pm Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose Nip

LISA RICHARDS PRESENTS IRISH COMEDIANS With 25 years of experience at the Fringe, the Lisa Richards agency is excited to showcase some of our new and established talent.

A different Irish comedian each week including:

Alison Spittle Mother of God

5.15pm Gilded Balloon Balcony

Stephen Mullan: Son of a Preacher Man (31 Jul-3 Aug) Shane Clifford: Near Shane Experience (4 -7 Aug) Julie Jay: Julie Really Love Me? (8-11 Aug) Hannah Mamalis: Keeps Coming (12-15 Aug)

Gearóid Farrelly: Home Truths (16-20 Aug) Chris Kent: Work-in-Progress (21–26 Aug) 18:45 (60 mins) Gilded Balloon Teviot - Sportsmans

GILDED BALLOON presents the UK’s biggest and best new comedy competition, back for it’s 32nd year!

“Getting to the final was probably the most exciting moment of my life” Rhod Gilbert

“Changed my life forever!”

Jason Byrne

SEMI-FINALS 2018 WINNER: DANNY GARNELL

22:15 (90 MINS) 4-6, 11-14 AUGUST

GRAND FINAL MEDIA PARTNER:

SOYOUTHINKYOUREFUNNY.CO.UK

50 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

19:30 (120 MINS) 22 AUGUST

Ciarán Dowd | F EST I VA L COME DY

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: IDIL SUKAN

‘It’s easy to forget that things like carrots exist’ Winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, Don Rodolfo gives his top tips for surviving the Fringe. Best read in a Spanish accent, albeit not a good one . . .

T

he Edinburgh Festival is a magical place where dreams go to die and comedians go to have affairs. It’s the largest gathering of jesters, travelling players and circus freaks anywhere in the world. The closest we get to this sort of entertainment in my hometown is the annual Pig Tickling competition.

You’re looking at a three-time winner right here.

For those unfamiliar with my legend, allow me to introduce myself: I am Don Rodolfo Martini Toyota, a slayer of men, a layer of women, a righter of wrongs, a writer of dogshit poems, a famous lothario, cad and libertine, known the world over for both having and being a spectacular bellend.

The Fringe offers so much to see and do, ground-breaking theatre, dance, comedy and music, and always at least nine productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, each one more eye-clawingly awful than the next. There’s something for everyone in Edinburgh in August: don’t forget about the Book Festival for nerds, the International Festival for snobs, and the TV Festival for parasites.

But if you’re here for any amount of time, it’s good to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Fringe; visit the beautiful Botanical Gardens, have a picnic or an orgy on top of Arthur’s Seat, dance naked in the moonlight on Portobello Beach.

Beware the locals: the Scots are a barbaric race of godless heathens, and will leave you broke and destitute as they charge £3000 per week for a two-bed mud hut. But don’t let the price of accommodation put you off coming; sleep under the stars or in the stables with the horses or find yourself a beautiful wench and lay your head in their bosom for the night.

After you’ve been in Edinburgh for a few days it’s easy to forget that things like carrots exist or

that food can be eaten in places other than the side of the road. But they do and it can, so maybe eat a carrot in a house at least once.

If you’re not a performer but are feeling low and in need of an ego boost, take a walk down the Royal Mile to see all the young, beautiful, hopeful performers absolutely debasing themselves for your attention. Relish their misery and bask in the life choices you’ve made. Menial office work never seems so bad after this.

People will tell you to explore the whole festival, don’t just see shows at the big four venues, see up-and-coming comedians you haven’t heard of. Don’t bother. There’s nothing worth seeing that isn’t on in the Pleasance Courtyard at 9.45pm and that isn’t being plugged in this article.

Nobody leaves the Fringe the same person they arrived; you may leave a huge success, you may leave completely broke, you may leave in or out of love, you may leave with gout, you may leave with an unwanted pregnancy, you may leave with new friendships that will last a lifetime or old friendships that didn’t survive the bedshare.

What you do at the Fringe will echo through the ages; it’s where legends are born, where heroes are made and where STDs are becoming immune to antibiotics. But remember, whether you’re a patron or performer, you’re not doing the Edinburgh Festival right if you don’t need the entire 11 months before the next one to recover. (As told to his humble yet patient interlocutor, Ciarán Dowd) Ciarán Dowd: Padre Rodolfo, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 9.45pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 51

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Shappi Khorsandi

Hi Shappi. What’s your new show about?

A survivor of the often brutal comedy circuit in the 1990s, Shappi Khorsandi has a new show all about those crazy old days. Ahead of her run, she tells Murray Robertson about humanism, chips and Farage

It’s a love letter to the comedy circuit. I talk about why I got the compulsion to be a comedian (and it is a compulsion; if I could be passionate about accounting I’d say that would be a safer career option) and I talk about how rubbish I am at playing ‘the game’.

How has the comedy landscape changed since you started out in the 90s?

Back then you had ‘made it’ when you were playing the big clubs regularly. It was all about the circuit which was oldschool vaudeville with bonkers characters and a punk attitude.

Now, though, it’s all much more sensible. New comics are dead professional from the get-go and hardly anyone goes on stage naked now.

When was your first Edinburgh Fringe and what was it like?

I did a three-hander with Russell Brand and Mark Felgate in 2000 or 2001. It was a stupid amount of fun. I ran around the city seeing as many shows as I possibly could and I blagged drinks and tickets using only lip gloss and a zest for life. When I’m there, I still feel that there’s no place on earth that I’d rather be or that has better chips at 4am.

Did you enjoy your hiatus, skipping the Fringe last year?

Yes!!! It was the most amazing summer ever. I didn’t shout at my children once and I saw friends who didn’t thrust a review in my face and cry ‘three stars?!’ I came to the Fringe for a few days as a punter. It’s always been my dream to swan around the city singing ‘I’m just here to watch some shows’ to performers who are grey with malnutrition and lack of sleep.

What was it like being president of the Humanist Society and how do you see the future of humanism?

It was a lot of fun and I felt very grown-up giving talks, and meeting lots of very brilliant and interesting people. I want humanism to be a part of the curriculum in schools alongside learning about faiths.

Despite vociferously defending rape threats from fellow right-wing political candidates as ‘comedy’, Nigel Farage seems to have recently become very sensitive to jokes by Jo Brand and Matt Berry. Has Brexit changed the comedic discourse?

Oh blimey. Everything has become so contentious hasn’t it?

I don’t think Farage will ever be my go-to guy when I want opinions on comedy.

‘Hardly anyone goes on stage naked now’

Is there some material that you’d now think twice about performing in light of how humour is currently perceived?

Certainly not at a live gig. That ‘rape joke guy’ is not a comic.

A comic works a crowd, takes risks, reads an audience, and sometimes offends or misfires a gag. You can’t just walk around being an appalling bastard and say ‘but I’m a comic!’

Let him do his rape jokes on a Saturday night in front of a live audience that he hasn’t handpicked himself and we’ll see how well they go down.

It’s been three years since your debut novel, Nina Is Not OK. Can we expect a follow-up soon?

I’m writing two new books: one novel and one not, and I can’t talk about either yet which is frustrating as showing off is something I enjoy.

What are you up to next?

I’m writing a play of Nina Is Not OK and I have a book deadline in November, so I’d better get on. See you at the Fringe!

Shappi Khorsandi: Skittish Warrior . . . Confessions of a Club Comic, The Stand, 4–10 Aug, 1.40pm, £12 (£10).

In Conversation with . . . Shappi Khorsandi, The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 10 Aug, noon, £12.50.

52 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

PA O L O N A N I

THE LETTER International Hit Show from “One of the world’s greatest clowns” (La Repubblica)

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31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 53

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Anna and Helen

54 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Julâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;7 Aug 2019

Anna and Helen | F EST I VA L COME DY

list.co.uk/festival

RAT TALES After working with some top names in British TV’s higher echelons, Anna O’Grady and Helen Cripps are back at the Fringe playing extended versions of themselves. The pair assure Claire Sawers that their brand of silly slapstick is a world away from The Chuckle Brothers

‘I

usually forget to eat,’ shrugs Helen Cripps, much to the horror of her costar, Anna O’Grady. ‘It terrifies me so much, her appetite is so small! She doesn’t even eat breakfast!’ confirms the other half of this London comedy duo.

Luckily, O’Grady has put herself in charge of snacks and cooking for their upcoming Fringe run, performing their show Stuck in a Rat in the Pleasance Attic. ‘I like to graze consistently, on top of four small meals,’ she explains, sounding suddenly slightly swotty. ‘Lots of healthy fruit and veg and perhaps a blueberry muffin or an interesting tart when we need a sugar boost.’

It’s the first time in years that either has performed at the Fringe and their excitement, much like O’Grady’s disapproval of skipping the most important meal of the day, is palpable.

O’Grady was last onstage in Edinburgh as a student in 2006, and for Cripps, it was 2009 when she performed in bone-dry doubleact show, Alex and Helen’s Radio Nowhere.

They’ve hardly been idle though; both starred in double Bafta-nominated dark comedy film Black Pond alongside Simon Amstell, and have racked up an impressive list of stage and TV credits, including Netflix series Flowers with Julian Barratt and Olivia Colman, where they acted together again.

‘We’ve been very lucky to work with highprofile people and it was a delightful shock when Black Pond was nominated for awards,’ says Cripps. ‘Everyone’s been very nice unfortunately, so we have no showbiz horror stories to tell.’

‘I guess we’ve both just really missed the immediacy of live shows,’ says O’Grady. ‘That adrenaline and energy you get from a live crowd.’ Both enjoyed writing scripts for TV but are looking forward to the autonomy of their own Fringe show. ‘With TV there are often lots of different voices in the room, lots of waiting around to hear back,’ continues O’Grady.

‘With a Fringe show, it’s totally different. Your deadline is basically the moment you drop the line in front of the crowd.’

What they’re dropping is an hour-long, musical self-help seminar for people whose lives have become stagnant. It’s full of handy hints on ‘how to change your approach to money, live an active life, travel, animal companionship, psychology and even falling in love.’ Anna and Helen play ‘extended versions’ of themselves, blundering through with incredibly good

intentions but maybe not the best attention to detail.

‘They’re well-meaning idiots, basically,’ says Cripps. ‘They think they are very slick and have been on a fantastic journey, so are very excited to share their wisdom. But they’re actually making tons of mistakes. This tension grows and grows, and Anna is soon driving me up the wall.’

The title comes from a (fictional) typo on a blurb about their show, sent in for the Fringe programme. Determined to look professional, they’re just going to style it out, with Stuck in a Rat plastered over tour merch and posters.

‘When I say we’ve based the characters on exaggerated versions of ourselves . . . let’s just say we’ve drawn on some very real reserves,’ Cripps says with a snorted laugh, confessing she tried to tweet back in February to promote a ‘work-in-progress’ version of this show, but accidentally just tweeted only to O’Grady, the one person guaranteed to be going anyway.

‘I also used to write scripts using lots of different colours and fonts,’ offers O’Grady.

‘Helen found them . . . “unpalatable”. She is now the trusted scribe.’ They had Dear Joan and Jericha, the darkly hilarious podcast from Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine, in mind when writing Stuck in A Rat, as well as Amy Poehler, a comedy hero of them both. ‘Our show is silly and surreal, but not full-on slapstick like The Chuckle Brothers or anything,’ says Cripps.

‘It’s not as graphic as the content of Dear Joan and Jericha, but the earnestness is there. We love Parks and Recreation; it’s obviously total nonsense but there’s so much heart in it too. All the characters are so well rounded, you really buy into it.’

They feel they’ve maybe done things ‘the wrong way around’ by having big-screen success then returning to the Fringe, but are pleased to be fine-tuning their double act. ‘It’s taken years but we’ve kind of honed the writing down so it’s just us,’ notes O’Grady. ‘The dream would be for people to like the show and give us a chance to keep doing stuff together,’ adds Cripps. ‘We have folders on our laptops with years of material, a huge catalogue of scripts.

We’re just not very hot at the old promotion and admin side of things . . . ’

TWIN PEAKS Here’s a selection of other twosomes acting up

GIANTS ARE FJORD Just in case it slipped your mind, Fjörd lifted Norway to Eurovision glory in 2015 but sadly such triumphs were not to last. Enduring a brutally painful separation, Lars and Ulrich are now back and ready to record a brand new live album. Brace yourselves.

Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 5.45pm, £9.50–£11.50 (£8.50–£10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

THE DELIGHTFUL SAUSAGE After last year’s affair which we dubbed as ‘trippy madness that beguiles and baffles’, The Delightful pair of Amy and Christopher-Louise do a split stand-up set of gritty political comedy . . . of course they don’t: expect more daft lunacy in the latest slice of their ‘chipolata trilogy’.

Monkey Barrel, 4–25 Aug (not 13), noon, £5–£7 in advance or donations at the venue. Previews 2 & 3 Aug, £6.

MARK AND HAYDN What do you get when you have a double act who can’t stand each other? You have Mark and Haydn and their show Llaugh, where different styles of comedy go head to head.

Just the Tonic at The Caves, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 5.30pm, £6.50 (£5).

HUNT & MURPHY The snarling co-hosts of America’s number one feminist shopping channel are here to Beg, Borrow and Bitch, with Abbie Murphy and Ricky Hunt taking on the roles of Cindy and Cassandra. They’ve been removed from the air before but can they get through this hour without impaling each other on their claws? Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 10.30pm, £6 in advance or donations at the venue. Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £4.

MANHUNT 2 Footlights duo and good pals Leo and Emm return with more sketch-based Gen-Z existential angst as they go on the prowl for men and a sense of who they are. Bedlam Theatre, 2–25 Aug (not 15), 8pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8 (£6).

Anna and Helen: Stuck in a Rat, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 5.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 55

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Jonny Pelham

PA IN RELIEF In his new show, Jonny Pelham reveals a childhood trauma that still leaves him feeling numb. Jay Richardson talks to the stand-up about how he coped previously and his new strategy for finding comedy amid the carnage

R

ichard Gadd and Hannah Gadsby won plaudits and respect at recent Fringes for shows that dealt with their sexual abuse. Like them, Jonny Pelham is now revisiting earlier material with the disclosure of his own abuse, as an eight-year-old, by a family friend. Yet while he admired the respective 2016 and 2017 Edinburgh Comedy Award winners, he’s eschewed their more theatrical, revelatory approach, sharing his mistreatment at his hour’s start and opting for ‘something closer to traditional stand-up. It is very gaggy and punchy I think.’

Off Limits expresses changes over the last three years of the 28-year-old’s life, when he went from being ‘pre-therapy, very sexually repressed, never even had a girlfriend, never been in love’ to entering a stable relationship with another stand-up and ‘fairly happy, a lot more present in myself really’. As a child, Pelham became a Walter Mittystyle daydreamer in order to cope with both the abuse and the regular surgery required on his legs for his rare popliteal pterygium syndrome.

‘I found my body a very difficult place to be, so constructed this ideal world where I would

imagine winning an Oscar or being a football manager,’ he reflects. ‘I was getting my emotional connection to the world through fantasy rather than reality. It was a great coping strategy because I needed to find a way out. But as an adult, it stopped me caring about the world, repressed my anger, my anxiety, my sex drive.’

In both his stand-up and a comedy short he made for Sky about belatedly losing his virginity, Pelham projected a persona that was only semi-truthful, exaggerating some oddball aspects as reason enough for his haplessness with women. Consequently, his previous Fringe hour, 2017’s Just Shout Louder was only ‘ok. A boring, middle-class, beta-male show.

The tension within me as a comic is that I don’t quite know what my voice is. But this show helps. When I’m remembering going on my first date as a 25-year-old, I’m no longer having to think “what’s my relationship to the audience?” because I’m able to just express what happened. Two years ago, trying to talk about this and ignore the abuse, I was thinking “I’m going on this date: what would my character be doing?” There wasn’t the same truth behind it.’

Despite this, he can still find the situation very funny where he’s ‘trying to internet date while not being able to reveal that you were abused as a kid. I’m not angry about it in the same way Hannah is because I’m still quite numb to it’. Instead, he’s using his detachment and the insight he’s gained from his mother, a therapist working with non-offending paedophiles, to explore how society ignores or sensationalises child sexual abuse.

He quotes some frankly horrific statistics and decries the way we conjure an image of ‘evil bogeymen who snatch kids . . . every couple of years we allow ourselves to feel good by talking about how bad they are. But these are our friends, our family, our neighbours.’ Pelham talked to one expert on the subject. ‘I don’t think he was being hyperbolic when he said that if we understood the level of child abuse happening in this country, it would fundamentally change how we view ourselves. Because it’s happening at such a crazily high level.’

Pelham is in love now, and his Channel 4 pilot, Blazing Bangladeshis, about his time in an Asian youth gang, starts shooting in September. ‘I’m fine. Or as fine as any of us are, rather than having this catastrophic thing that I’m always going to be traumatised by.

I’d like the show to be funny, light-hearted and not mawkish enough so that people can leave and have a conversation afterwards, instead of abuse being an absolutely massive thing that we never talk about.’

Jonny Pelham: Off Limits, Just the Tonic at The Caves, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 3.20pm, £5– £7.50 in advance or donations at the venue.

56 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Now in its 15th year, The Pleasance Comedy Reserve has helped launch the careers of 60 comedians at the Fringe.

this year’s

pleasance

comedy reserve

Josh Jones

21:30

Mo Omar

Comedy

Reserve 19:00 Below

17:30 Bunker Two

Michael Odewale

18:30 Above

Rhys James

19:00 Attic

Yuriko Kotani

with Just Eat Cycles

Lily Phillips

Mamoun Elagab

Sophie Duker

Do summer your way

18:00 Bunker One

Helen Bauer

17:45 Below

Jack Gleadow

Alumni

at the pleasance

20:15 Beneath

Darren Harriott

Search Just Eat Cycles in your app store to start your cycle hire

18:00 Upstairs

Catherine Bohart

18:45 Bunker Two

Nigel Ng

Avoid the crowds and get across town faster from just £1.50

18:50 Jack Dome

Alasdair Beckett-King

21:30 Baby Grand

edinburghcyclehire.com

A bike for everyone

Simon Brodkin

Supported by the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 57

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Catherine Bohart

LEMON S You can’t please all the people all the time. But Catherine Bohart wasn’t prepared for the loathing she seemed to trigger in one audience member at last year’s Fringe. The Irish stand-up tells Brian Donaldson that facing such open hostility was a shock to her system

L

ast year’s Fringe was, in the main, a positive experience for debutant Catherine Bohart.

Her show Immaculate focused on her OCD, bisexuality and religious family, and was well attended, received a slew of star-friendly reviews and garnered plenty talk of possible award nominations.

But the oft-quoted truism that any single act of comedy simply won’t be for everyone was never more obvious to Bohart when she spotted one audience member sitting in a clearly displeased fashion. Her passive-aggressive negativity became distracting to the comic who just managed to keep things on course. But word reached Bohart later that her more frank material hadn’t gone down well with this punter who eventually made it verbally clear that the Irish comic’s act and, by extension, her very existence was an abomination to her.

The barely concealed bigotry that had oozed from this person affected Bohart so much that she simply had to write her second Fringe hour around her encounter with this woman in the lemoncoloured cardigan. ‘It was week three and she was on the back row of the right hand side in Bunker Two [in Pleasance Courtyard],’ says Bohart with a very vivid recall. ‘I remember her very well; I could pick her out of a line-up. I see her when I close my eyes. I was told that she said I was disgusting. I wasn’t really prepared to deal with a walkout at my first Edinburgh, but if someone does walk out this year it will be fun. I’ll check out what they’re wearing and use it for next year.’

So, Lemon was born, and judging by the early previews in midsummer, it looks like being a very worthy follow-up to 2018’s successful maiden voyage. This unsavoury incident became the trigger for a new show about sex, sexuality, relationships, bigotry and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ‘It feels like there’s slightly less pressure in keeping the ball rolling than there is in getting it off the mark in the first instance,’ notes Bohart about the different feelings she has just ahead of the 2019 Fringe compared to this time last year. ‘The show is less prepared in a way that is good. I need to cut out some time, but I feel that it’s looser in a positive way. Last year I was so rigid; I hadn’t realised that I’d imposed so many rules on what a debut should be but now I’m free of that.’

Something Catherine Bohart is unlikely to be free of for a while are questions about Sarah Keyworth, and, well, this interview was no different. Both fine comics, they just so happen to be partners in life, and last year were inadvertent competitors in a way that only the Edinburgh Fringe can pit comedians against each other. With the pair being spoken of for awards recognition as the month rolled on, Keyworth ended up on the Best Newcomer shortlist while Bohart’s name didn’t quite join her there.

‘Honestly, I was so happy that she got nominated,’ Bohart says. ‘She is very hard on herself and she’s very brutal to herself, and she needed it both for her career and for herself as some sort of validation. She needed to know that she is good. I was very happy and relieved that she got it and when she found out that I hadn’t got a nomination she burst into tears. Initially I was disappointed but I’ve had a good year since and it showed you don’t need those things. Everybody was telling me I was going to be in contention but I didn’t feel that. And the people who got nominated were all brilliant. A lot of things have come easy to me and maybe it’s good that this didn’t.’

In Lemon, there’s a fair bit of Keyworth-baiting by Bohart who remarks that her partner is often not easy to live with (Bohart freely admits that the same can be said for herself thanks to her ‘demanding and bossy and stern’ ways). Amusing as it is, calling her girlfriend ‘thick’ might seem harsh to some observers. ‘I think I get away with it because I assume that the audience will know that Sarah is really very intelligent,’ insists Bohart. ‘But as a partner, she’s an idiot. She’s so articulate, so thoughtful, and she wrote a beautiful show on gender last year, but when it comes to living with her it’s like having a child. A child I love very much but one who acts out.’

So, for Catherine Bohart, what would constitute a successful Edinburgh Fringe 2019? ‘Liking my show at the end of it, and being better than I was at the start of the month.’ If the early taster of Lemon is anything to go by, those ambitions are very likely to be fulfilled.

Catherine Bohart: Lemon, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

58 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

list.co.uk/festival

SOUL

Catherine Bohart | F EST I VA L COME DY

SECOND HELPINGS In what looks certain to be a strong year for funny women, four of last year’s Best Newcomer nominees are heading this way again for their follow-up stab at Fringe glory

MAISIE ADAM With Hang Fire, the Yorkshire comic (from the superbly named village of Pannal) takes a look at our hostile social media environment and wonders if we should just all calm down a bit. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug, 5pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

SARAH KEYWORTH As she has admitted herself, the aim to just come and do a funny hour of comedy at the Fringe has turned into another analysis of where we are now in the gender debate. Fear not though, Pacific will still be awash with gags. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 5.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

OLGA KOCH Following up last year’s hour about her Russian politician dad, If / Then tells of an unlikely love story viewed through the somewhat unusual lens of computer science. Monkey Barrel, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 4.30pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £5.

SARA BARRON Keeping those Enemies Closer, the New York live storyteller treads a tightrope between honesty and cruelty in her tale about loving those you shouldn’t and feeling hatred towards the folk closest to you.

Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 8.30pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 59

PICK UP BROCHURE

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southside best of the

CIRCUS | FAMILY | DANCE | THEATRE Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO showcase some of the most exciting work at the Fringe – and 2019 looks set to be another great year. Each venue annually plays host to performances from around the world that can shock, entertain and educate in equal measure. This year’s offerings include something for everyone, from acclaimed circus troupes and shows for the wee ones to award-winning theatre-makers and experts in the field of dance.

To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve picked out some of the top shows to see this August in the Southside, whether you want to challenge yourself and stray from your comfort zone or you’re looking for a fun show for all the family.

So read on and discover something brilliant this Fringe at Pleasance, Summerhall and ZOO!

31 Aug–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 61

CO-PROMOTION

c irc u s

fam ily PLEASANCE WALLACE & GROMIT’S MUSICAL MARVELS Carrot Productions Pleasance at EICC – Pentland Theatre, Thu 15 & Fri 16 Aug, 1pm & 3.15pm, £18 (£15.50).

Join everyone’s favourite dynamic duo as Wallace prepares to perform his musical masterpiece My Concerto in Ee Lad with help from his faithful canine companion Gromit.

This interactive experience features specially created animations from Aardman, as well as live orchestral accompaniment and escapades from some of the UK’s top musicians and presenter Matthew Sharp.

Staged

PLEASANCE CIRQUE BERSERK! Cirque Berserk!

Pleasance at EICC – Lennox Theatre, Sat 3–Tue 6 Aug, 6.30pm, Wed 7–Sun 25 Aug (not 21), 1.30pm & 6.30pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£13–£15). Preview Fri 2 Aug, £12.

Showcasing the finest in traditional circus thrills and skills, Cirque Berserk! combine contemporary cirque-style artistry with adrenaline-fuelled stunt action, bringing this treasured form of live entertainment bang up-to-date. The international troupe includes over 30 acrobats, aerialists, dancers, drummers and daredevil stuntmen, alongside the world’s most hair-raising circus act; the legendary motorcycle Globe of Death.

SUMMERHALL EVERYTHING I SEE I SWALLOW Shasha and Taylor Productions Summerhall – Demonstration Room, Sat

62 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Aug–7 Aug 2019

3–Sat 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 6pm, £13 (£11).

Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8.

A provocative examination of a motherdaughter relationship, set against a backdrop of shifting attitudes to empowerment, feminism and sexuality. How does a woman defend the objectification of her own body and the gaze from those around her? Fusing theatre and aerial rope work with the erotic art of Japanese rope bondage, shibari, Swallow is an unusual and compelling encounter.

ZOO STAGED Circumference ZOO Southside, Thu 15–Sun 25 Aug, 7pm, £12 (£10). Previews Tue 13 & Wed 14 Aug, £8.

Join Circumference for their latest theatrical spectacle, Staged. Featuring three performers on an aerial platform as precarious as our perceptions – a single action changes everything, but everything is not always what it seems.

MUSTARD DOESN’T GO WITH GIRLS Bric à Brac Theatre Pleasance Courtyard – Upstairs, Sat 3–Fri 23 Aug (not 13), 11.30am, £9–£11 (£7–£9).

Previews Wed 31 Jul–Fri 2 Aug, £7.

When the children of Bow-on-Tie start disappearing, Abigail decides to investigate further. She embarks on a music-filled adventure to uncover the town’s secrets, topple the cabinet of treacherous animals in charge and prove that girls are made of more than just sugar and spice. This production pokes fun at fairy tales from the past whilst creating new storylines for the young generation of today.

MOONBIRD Handprint Theatre Pleasance Courtyard – Beside, Wed 31 Jul– Mon 26 Aug (not 12, 20), 10.30am, £6–£10 (£7.50–£9).

A tale of a family who don’t know how to communicate. Can the Moonbird and animal friends show them that listening is not always about hearing? Handprint have inspired children for 10 years and now make their Fringe debut with this heartwarming story based on the popular book by Joyce Dunbar and Jane Ray. I’LL TAKE YOU TO MRS COLE! A Complicité and Polka Theatre CoProduction Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Beyond, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 12), 1.45pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

The 1980s! Ska music pulses and young Ashley creates havoc by getting lost in a wild, imaginative world. When Jedi battles and forest adventures go too far, will their hardworking mum resort to the scariest threat of all?

Accompanied by an original ska soundtrack and stunning video animation.

Superhuman

SUMMERHALL BOUT Chang Dance Theatre Summerhall – Old Lab, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 10.20am, £12 (£9). Previews Wed 31 Jul & Thu 1 Aug, £8.

Originally inspired by the ritual and physical rhythms of the boxing ring, this simply staged, unpretentiously eloquent new work is the physically deft and thoughtful expression of three contemporary young Asian men who communicate best through their bodies. By exploring their strong, if sometimes strained, personal connections, the Changs once again endear themselves indelibly to us.

SPARKLE Annie Cusick Wood, Honolulu Theatre Production supported by Catherine Wheels Summerhall – Tech Cube 0, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 10.20am, £10 (£6). Previews Wed 31 Jul & Thu 1 Aug, £5.

Sparkle, who loves to dress in tutus, tiaras and sparkly dresses, finds on his first day of school that not everyone wants to let him shine. In this playful and poignant show, Sparkle discovers the magnificence of standing up for himself and being unique – even in his own sparkly slippers.

FIRST PIANO ON THE MOON Will Pickvance Summerhall – Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Fri 2–Sun 18 Aug (not 12), 11.30am, £12 (£10).

Previews Wed 31 Jul & Thu 1 Aug , £8.

Adapting Mozart, Chopin and Scott Joplin for outer space requires a specially equipped pianist. Will has been doing some groundwork.

As schoolmates study for exams, he’s busy making preparations for his lunar recital. Stories come alive from the piano stool as Will builds variations on themes and experiments with ways to play.

ZOO THE BEAUTIFUL GAME Next Door Dance ZOO Playground, Mon 5–Mon 26 Aug (not 14), 2pm, £10 (£9). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £7.

A laugh-out-loud look at our undying obsession with football, celebrating everything from weird match day rituals to ridiculous armchair punditry. Four women deliver a knockout performance in this ballsy show which is brimming with nostalgia and set to a buzzing soundtrack. Even if football isn’t your thing, this electric, feel-good show will persuade you of its charms.

UN POYO ROJO Un Poyo Rojo in association with Aurora Nova ZOO Southside, Wed 21–Mon 26 Aug, 5.10pm, £13 (£11).

The athletic bodies of Luciano Rosso and Alfonso Barón move fluently from wrestling

to dance, acrobatics to physical comedy in an irresistible distortion of the expectations of manhood. A funny, raw, playful hour interspersed with competitiveness and camaraderie as well as seduction and sabotage, showcasing the best of Argentinian contemporary dance.

IT WILL COME LATER iCoDaCo ZOO Southside, Tue 13–Sun 25 Aug (not 14, 20), 1pm, £14 (£12). Previews Sun 11 & Mon 12 Aug, £12.

A stripped back, thrilling and edgy contemporary dance work. Performed and watched around a revolving set that’s flooded in light like the shifting light of day, six bodies push against each other in a constant flow of transformation. Neverending effort is put into minute moments as the artists seek a greater good, a common goal, and maybe together they will get somewhere.

SUPER HUMAN Next Zone ZOO Southside, Fri 2–Sat 17 Aug (not 5, 12), 5.30pm, £14 (£12).

In a unique and mind-awakening performance, the super physical team redefine the human being in new optimised versions. The distinctive choreographic language of Next Zone and choreographer Lene Boel builds on explorations of mental states, translated into extreme physical movements in a fusion of urban dance, new composed music and scenography lights.

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CO-PROMOTION

dan ce PLEASANCE ELEMENTS OF FREESTYLE ISH Dance Collective Pleasance at EICC – Lennox Theatre, Sat 3– Sun 25 Aug (not 7, 12, 21), 4pm, £14–£17.50 (£10–£14).

In this adrenaline-fuelled explosion of extreme urban sports, dance, music and theatre, the Netherlands’ ISH Dance Collective, create breathtaking poetry with every single moment. Elements of Freestyle is about those redeeming seconds that make a complicated trick ultimately succeed; about the freestylers’ total focus on the moment, the ecstasy and the feeling of complete and total freedom.

HAVANA AFTER DARK Danza Cuba Pleasance at EICC – Lennox Theatre, Mon 5– Sun 25 Aug (not 21), 9pm, £15–£17.50 (£12– £14.50).

Ballet by day, salsa by night. The world premiere of a breathtaking new Cuban dance musical. Starring the incredible singer Luna Manzanares, a sensational seven-piece live salsa band, Havana’s top female DJ, and gorgeous star dancers from Carlos Acosta’s company, Ballet Nacional de Cuba and Ballet Revolucion. Discover the secrets of the world’s most sensual city as night falls.

SUMMERHALL FRONTX Cie No Way Back / Milan Emmanuel Summerhall – Demonstration Room, Fri 2–Sat 24 Aug (not 7, 12, 14, 21), 3pm, £9 (£7). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug , £8.

FrontX shows a range of international street artists who combine exceptional energy and resilience.

Their fascinating personal life stories are the main theme of the show. As spokespersons of our contemporary society, these performers embody the true sense of integration.

THE AFFLICTED Groupwork Summerhall – Demonstration Room, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 12), 7.30pm, £14 (£10). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8.

Inspired by real events, this new dance-theatre piece tells the story of a mysterious illness that infects a group of young women in small-town America. As the girls and their families search for a diagnosis for their strange affliction, they come face to face with their personal and collective demons.

ALI AND ALPO Alpo Aaltokoski Company in association with From Start to Finnish Summerhall – Old Lab, Tue 6–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 1.05pm, £10 (£8). Preview Tue 6 & Wed 7 Aug, £8.

A beautiful wordless dialogue between Iraqi traditional music and Finnish contemporary dance by

64 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Aug–7 Aug 2019

oud lute virtuoso Ali Alawad and choreographer Alpo Aaltokoski.

The piece touchingly brings out the human experience and the consequences of increasingly restrictive asylum policies.

OUT Rachael Young Summerhall – Old Lab, Thu 15–Sun 25 Aug (not 19), 3.45pm, £12 (£8). Previews Tue 13 & Wed 14 Aug, £8.

Performed with marikiscrycrycry, originally created/performed with Dwayne Antony, Out is about shapeshifting in a bid to fit in. Challenging homophobia and transphobia within our communities, it’s a conversation between two bodies; a live art/dance performance, reclaiming dancehall and celebrating queerness amongst the bittersweet scent of oranges. Supported by the Eclipse Award.

THE POPULARS Volcano Theatre Summerhall – The Library Gallery, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.20pm, £12 (£8). Previews Wed 31 Jul & Fri 2 Aug, £5.

A fun, young, provocative foursome raises the heat on the dance floor. They are looking to the future and wondering how it will feel when we get there.

They have questions for you, things on their minds and a playlist of great songs that tug at the memory and the muscle fibres.

ZOO RAIDERS OF THE GREY GOLD Don Gnu – Physical Theatre and Film ZOO Southside, Sun 4–Sat 10 Aug, 7pm, £13 (£12).

In a battle against time, the Danish theatre company Don Gnu throw themselves into a physical and blazing acrobatic quest for the grey gold and to find

the beauty in the decay of time. Daredevil antics, musical poetry and humorous self-realisation is the foundation of this tragicomical struggle against bittersweet old age.

NOT TODAY’S YESTERDAY Seeta Patel and Lina Limosani ZOO Southside, Mon 19–Sat 24 Aug, 3.40pm, £14 (£12).

An international collaboration between UK awardwinning Bharatanatyam artist Seeta Patel and Australian choreographer Lina Limosani. This work blends techniques from Bharatanatyam, contemporary dance and theatre to create a poetic narrative that has the beauty and disquiet of a Grimm’s fairytale. It is a one-woman show which subversively co-opts whitewashing against itself.

RITUALIA Scottish Dance Theatre ZOO Southside, Mon 19–Sat 24 Aug, 9pm, £14 (£12).

An ensemble of other-beings vogue through a wedding ceremony, donning queer wigs in a visual feast of wearable art and lush lighting set to Stravinsky’s original modernist score. As we reach the climax and witness the vows, society’s pre-assigned roles are shed in an androgynous gender utopia created by internationally celebrated choreographer Colette Sadler.

theatre PLEASANCE BIBLE JOHN Poor Michelle and the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Above, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 13), 3.50pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £7.

1969 at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow, three women are murdered by an Old Testamentquoting serial killer, nicknamed Bible John. He has never been caught. 2019, four women bound by their obsession with true crime want to change that. Immersing themselves in the world of Bible John and his victims, they try to solve the case, once and for all. Supported by the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for Theatre.

A WOMB OF ONE’S OWN Wonderbox and the Pleasance Pleasance Dome – 10Dome, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 13, 22), 2.50pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £6.

Funny, clever and politically challenging A Womb of One’s Own follows 18-year-old Babygirl on her journey of self and sexual discovery, exploring the emotional rollercoaster that is an unwanted pregnancy and asking why it’s still such a taboo.

Supported by the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for Theatre.

Elements of Freestyle

LOOPING: SCOTLAND OVERDUB Scottish Dance Theatre ZOO Southside, Mon 19–Sat 24 Aug, 10.30pm, £12–£14 (£10–£12).

A late-night dance, party and politics experience where everyone is welcome. Led by a full company of dancers and embracing the collective spirit of ceilidh dancing and Brazilian street festival vibes, Looping is an immersive performance-party with a distinctively Scottish edge. It celebrates individual freedom and the collective right of revolution through words by acclaimed writer Kieran Hurley and set to a fresh electronic dance score mixed live by Torben Lars Sylvest.

FISHBOWL SIT Productions in association with Le Fils Du Grand Réseau Pleasance Courtyard – The Grand, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 14), 1pm, £14–£17.50 (£12–£15.50).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £9.

The funniest show in Europe comes to

Edinburgh after a sell-out tour and a Molière Award for Best Comedy Play. Paper-thin walls barely separate three neighbours who strike up unlikely and moving friendships. The show packs a punch with technical genius, an incredibly realistic set, and tricks and surprises that shock and delight.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Rhum and Clay in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard – Forth, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 14), 3.20pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £10.

Written with Isley Lynn (Skin A Cat) and inspired

by Orson Welles’ radio broadcast, The War of the Worlds explores the ongoing power of fake events to cause real reactions. Intense, unsettling and entertaining, this super-smart and multi-layered show proves that in dark times the truth is a precious commodity.

THE LAST OF THE PELICAN DAUGHTERS The Wardrobe Ensemble, Complicité, Royal & Derngate Northampton Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Beyond, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 17), 4.40pm, £11.50–£13.50 (£10–£12). Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

Joy wants a baby, Storm wants to be seen, Sage wants to be paid, Maia doesn’t want anyone to find out her secret and Granny’s in a wheelchair on day release. Mum’s presence still seeps through the ceiling and the floors. The Wardrobe Ensemble grapple with inheritance, loss and justice in this comedy about four sisters trying to come to terms with their mother’s death.

LOVELY GIRLS The Hiccup Project ZOO Southside, Mon 5–Sat 17 Aug (not 7, 12), 8.50pm, £14 (£12). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £10.

Chess and Cristina are multi award-winning duo, The Hiccup Project, often introduced as ‘the lovely hiccup girls’. At first, they didn’t react, because women are supposed to be lovely. But then they started to wonder what else they could be. Using their powerful blend of dance, theatre and comedy, they delve into the ridiculous and limiting contradictions and clichés of being a woman today.

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CO-PROMOTION

THE LAND OF MY FATHERS AND MOTHERS AND SOME OTHER PEOPLE Rhys Slade-Jones in association with the Pleasance and COMMON Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug, 2.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

An all-singing, all-dancing re-enactment of what Rhys’s Mam wrote down 40 years ago. This frenzied one-man cabaret mixes stand-up, dance and good old-fashioned singalong to breathe life into his Mam’s stories, and bring Treherbert rugby club back to life.

Nightclubbing

E8 The North Wall in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Dome – QueenDome, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 14), 4.10pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

In a school for excluded pupils in Hackney, Bailey waits for a decision that could change her life, while her headteacher prepares to leave it all behind. Full of humour and heart, Marika Mckennell’s timely new play gives voice to those who have fallen through the cracks in mainstream education. Directed by Fringe First Award winner Ria Parry.

THE ACCIDENT DID NOT TAKE PLACE YESYESNONO in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard – Beside, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 13), 1pm, £10–£13 (£10.50–£12).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

Somewhere on the other side of the world a plane is falling from the sky. You can see it on your laptop. You can watch it happening on Youtube.

You can watch it burning on repeat. From awardwinning YESYESNONO comes a summoning of hyper-reality, with a new guest performer each night.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FRAGILE MALE EGO Jordan & Skinner in association with the Pleasance Pleasance Dome – AceDome, Sat 3–Mon 26 Aug (not 14, 21), 4pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £7.

The multi award-winning Jordan & Skinner present a riotous new solo show that cuts to the bone of gender politics. Andrea has been giving her lecture but it’s not been going well – previous events were marred by protests and she’s hoping the openminded audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe will hear her out.

THE TROJANS Trojan Women Project Pleasance at EICC – Pentland Theatre, Wed 7 Aug, 4.30pm, £15 (£10).

Directed by Victoria Beesley and adapted by Mariem Omari from Euripides. A brand-new, haunting and uplifting adaptation of Euripides’ great anti-war tragedy, The Trojans is written and acted by a cast of Syrian refugees living in Glasgow. With original writing by the cast.

Translated by Alaa Saloum and Sanaa Al Froukh.

BRYONY KIMMINGS: I’M A PHOENIX, BITCH Avalon Promotions Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance One,

66 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Aug–7 Aug 2019

Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 12), 5.30pm, £15–£17 (£14–£16). Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £12.

Bryony Kimmings hits the festival as part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2019, following a critically acclaimed extended run at Battersea Arts Centre. Kimmings weaves a powerful, dark and joyful masterpiece about motherhood, heartbreak and finding inner strength.

Combining ethereal music, personal stories, epic film and feats of human strength.

A GRAVE SITUATION Young Pleasance Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Beyond, Sat 3–Sat 17 Aug, 3.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

Preview Fri 2 Aug, £6.

Armed with only five spades and Albert’s trusty toothpick, will our grave-digging heroes tunnel back to Blighty in time to return Ethel’s library book, see Ginger earn his wings and taste Daphne’s Battenburg? Will Chippy get his girl and Bitsy outwit the Colonel? Chocks away for more exciting jolly japes!

BIRTH Theatre Re in association with Glynis Henderson Productions Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Beyond, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug, 12pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Previews Thu 1 & Fri 2 Aug, £9.

Following a sell-out run at the London International Mime Festival 2019, Theatre Re presents a powerful, poignant and uplifting visual theatre piece with live music exploring the bond between three generations of women, their shared loss and the strength they discover in each other.

THE INCIDENT ROOM New Diorama Theatre in co-production with the Pleasance and Greenwich Theatre Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Two, Sat 3– Mon 26 Aug, 4.30pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11.50– £13.50). Previews Wed 31–Fri 2 Aug, £8.

New Diorama go behind the scenes and investigate the case that broke the British police force. Follow Sergeant Megan Winterburn as she joins hundreds of officers working around the clock to find the man known as the Yorkshire Ripper.

With public pressure mounting, the investigation resorts to increasingly audacious attempts to catch one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers.

THE BRUNCH CLUB Grid Iron, SDTN and the Pleasance Pleasance Pop-Up – Levels, Sun 4–Sat 24 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 8.15pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11).

Previews Fri 2 & Sat 3 Aug, £7.

Rebel, geek, emo, which were you? Or were you the popular one? Scotland’s brightest new talents,

encyclopaedia in his head. Luca has one on her phone. Most of us forget most things, most of the time. What if we forget something important?

Something that might make the world a better place? Searching opens a can of worms. Luca asks, can we become memory champions?

LIKE ANIMALS SUPERFAN in association with Tron Theatre Summerhall – Old Lab, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 2.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 31 Jul & Fri 2 Aug, £5.

A funny and poignant investigation into love and communication in human (and not-so-human) relationships. Inspired by true stories of animal language experiments and performed by a real couple, it blends surreal comedy with moments of tenderness and vulnerability to explore the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone else.

ZOO

Daddy Drag

The Network, take on the cliques in a homage to classic coming-of-age movies, with a soundtrack that will take you right back to the tears and triumphs of finding your place in the world.

SUMMERHALL NIGHTCLUBBING Rachael Young Summerhall – Old Lab, Fri 2–Sun 11 Aug, 3.45pm, £12 (£8). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8.

Rachael Young and her badass band of superhumans embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in Nightclubbing; an explosive performance bringing visceral live music and intergalactic visions to start a revolution. Supported

by The Eclipse Award.

DADDY DRAG Leyla Josephine Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre, Sat 3– Sun 25 Aug, 5.45pm, £10 (£8). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8.

Daddy Drag asks us to consider how the relationships with our fathers affect us for the rest of our lives. Leyla Josephine attempts to understand what it means to be a father through her witty performance style, drag costumes and complex but unconditional love for her dad. Winner of the Autopsy Award.

ALL OF ME China Plate, Cambridge Junction and The Yard Theatre Summerhall – Main Hall, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 3.10pm, £15 (£10). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8 (£5).

An intimate and absurd exploration of wanting

to live, wanting to die and what can happen if we sit together with the dark. Caroline Horton reunites with director Alex Swift to bring you the show that happens after the curtain call, when the lights have gone down but the mess remains.

BEFORE THE REVOLUTION Temple Independent Theatre Company (Egypt) Summerhall – Main Hall, Wed 14–Sun 25 Aug (not 19), 9.50pm, £10 (£8). Preview Tue 13 Aug, £8.

The Egyptian revolution was not just about the desire to change the political system. It was the expression of the accumulation of decades of oppression, deception, insecurity, violence, inefficiency and depression. Mixing fiction and non-fiction, Before The Revolution transports its audience to the moment of stagnation before an inevitable eruption.

COTTON FINGERS National Theatre Wales Summerhall – Main Hall, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 12.15pm, £14 (£12). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8.

As social and political upheaval grips her country, what hope does Aoife have to regain control? A timely, politically charged show written by awardwinning writer Rachel Trezise at the time of the historic referendum of the eighth amendment in Ireland, Cotton Fingers takes us on a journey from Belfast to Cardiff.

HOLD ON LET GO Unfolding Theatre Summerhall – TechCube, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 7, 12, 20), 8.40pm, £10 (£8). Preview Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8.

Alex is 56. Luca is half his age. Alex has an

THE SENSEMAKER Woman’s Move ZOO Playground, Mon 5–Mon 26 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £7.

Hilarious yet uncomfortable, The Sensemaker shows a woman battling with an answering machine. Critical of new technologies and of bureaucracy, it mixes theatre, dance and even lipsyncing, and addresses, with irony, the fears and frustrations of our interconnected world.

NIGHTS AT THE CIRCUS Spare Tyre ZOO Playground, Tue 13–Sat 24 Aug (not 18), 3,15pm, £10.

In a circus after the lights have been turned off, four characters emerge in the darkness slowly revealing their desires, hunger and inner conflicts.

Part mythical, part real, they define their own sense of sexuality and identity. Nights at the Circus is a provocative performance created by award-winning learning disabled and non-disabled artists.

PROGRESS Trip Hazards ZOO Playground, Mon 5–Sat 17 Aug, 4.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews Fri 3–Sun 4 Aug, £7.

As far back as they can remember, Jasmine and Nikhil have been in a room with a dance mat, trying to win the iconic arcade game Dance Dance Revolution. It hasn’t been going as well as they had hoped. Recently named one of the Guardian’s Best Emerging Theatre Companies, Trip Hazards presents a playful and painful exploration of how friendship survives when we win and when we lose.

LANDSCAPE (1989) Emergency Chorus ZOO Playground, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 12.45pm, £10 (£9).

As of 2018, the Doomsday Clock is the closest it’s ever been to midnight. Combining text, choreography and music, Landscape (1989) is a slow zoom in on an Oregon National Park and the people passing through. Emergency Chorus present a meditation on forgotten histories and lost futures, asking what we do when there’s nowhere left to go.

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CO-PROMOTION

HOW TO USE A WASHING MACHINE SLAM Theatre ZOO Southside, Mon 5–Mon 26 Aug (not 14, 21), 12pm, £10 (£8). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £6.

This original musical, featuring a live string quartet, follows Cass and James – siblings called back to their childhood home to pack up for one last time.

As they box up their old lives, tensions rise and they must confront themselves and each other about who they’ve become, the decisions that led them there and what it means to be grown up.

UNICORN PARTY Nick Field ZOO Playground, Sun 11–Mon 26 Aug (not 18), 6.50pm, £10 (£9).

Unicorns, have you noticed they’re everywhere right now? As is the far right. This hilarious, rollicking, razor-sharp show asks what the simultaneous rise of these phenomenons tells us. Hunting the omnipresent one-horned icon across civilisations to explore how ideologies spread and our imaginations become capitalised, Nick Field envisions a dystopian Unicorn Fascist State Britain.

ZOO Southside, Mon 5–Mon 26 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 7.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 2– Sun 4 Aug, £7.

Hippana Theatre invites you to the distant recesses of the mind to meet the stranger inside you. How much do we know about ourselves? Are we not one person, but many? SHINE is an immersive psychological thriller that blurs the senses and tricks the mind into feeling what might not be there.

HONEY Tove Appelgren, ACE-Production in association with From Start to Finnish ZOO Southside, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 4.30pm, £10 (£8).

Honey, a freelance journalist and single mother of four (and a half) seeks control, agency, confirmation and solvency from her rebellious daughter, disappointed mother, sceptical friends and imperfect men. A comedic one-woman show from Finland featuring Scottish actress Sarah McCardie embodying eleven triumphantly dysfunctional characters in one hour, precisely.

STYX Second Body ZOO Southside, Fri 2–Sat 17 Aug, 3.05pm, £14 (£12).

An award-winning theatre-concert performed by an international supergroup of musicians. An exploration of what it is to lose the memories that make us who we are and the stories that connect them.

Original songs, live sound-processing and personal recordings bring light to the experience of living and dying with dementia and the imprints that outlast us.

I SWALLOWED A MOON MADE OF IRON Music Picnic (Toronto) / Point View Art (Macau) ZOO Southside, Tue 6–Sun 25 Aug (not 13, 20), 10pm, £10 (£9).

A requiem for our digital age from Toronto/Macau composer Njo Kong Kie. This concert experience sets the poetry of Chinese poet and factory worker Xu Lizhi to song. Powerful, haunting and gutwrenching, these poems give voice to millions of migrant workers worldwide whose existence is often forgotten.

BLACK HOLES Seke Chimutengwende and Alexandrina Hemsley ZOO Southside, Mon 19–Sun 25 Aug, 2.20pm, £14 (£12).

An Afrofuturist history of the universe from the Big Bang to dreamshout death. Propelling lived experiences onto a cosmic scale, Chimutengwende and Hemsley shapeshift through poetic text and movement. Step into an alternative speculation on how to orbit bodies which carry histories of marginalisation and anti-blackness.

ARE WE NOT DRAWN ONWARD TO NEW ERA Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit, Richard Jordan Productions, BiB with ZOO ZOO Southside, Tue 6–Sun 25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 11am, £14 (£12). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £10.

Like its title, this performance is a palindrome; you can see it forwards and backwards. Some people believe humanity is moving forward, while others believe the opposite. Some say the world’s coming to an end, others call them doomsayers. No matter who’s right, our quest for progress has dramatically changed the world we live in. Are our actions irreversible or can we undo them?

SHINE Hippana Theatre in association with From Start to Finnish

STYX

B OX O F F I C E

pleasance.co.uk 0131 556 6550

68 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Aug–7 Aug 2019

summerhall.co.uk 0131 560 1581

zoofestival.co.uk 0131 662 6892

ENJOY IT ICE COLD

F EST I VA L COM E DY | Susie McCabe

HOME TRUTHS Susie McCabe has gone from being an electrical estimator to sparking laughter in rooms across the land. As the big time beckons, she tells Brian Donaldson that happiness and anonymity are sometimes hard to find

N

ot many successful showbusiness careers are triggered by a night of contemplation in Forfar.

But for Scottish stand-up Susie McCabe, that’s exactly where she happened to be when comedy truly forced itself onto her psyche. Tentatively doing some open stand-up spots at weekends in Glasgow while working as an electrical estimator in the Angus town, McCabe was feeling a strong pull from the west.

‘I took a job in Forfar where they gave me a flat and there was a directorship at the end,’ she recalls. ‘I remember sitting there one night and I just thought “I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be in this job, and I don’t want to be away from the person that I want to spend my life with.” I came home that weekend and my mum and dad were both unwell, and I just thought that this was the sign for me to take a massive leap of faith.’

With job abandoned and her life starting to sort itself out, she was determined to make a comedy career take off.

A lot has happened since she took that big step, with her supporting the likes of Stewart Francis, Jason Manford, Zoe Lyons and Ardal O’Hanlon, selling out her gigs at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival in record time three years in succession, and heading out on an expansive Scottish tour in the autumn with Born Believer, a show all about her attempts to change from having a deeply ingrained cynicism to becoming a shining beacon of optimism.

‘It’s very difficult when you’ve spent 40 years living in the west coast of Scotland because optimism does not come naturally to us,’ McCabe insists. ‘I did a show before called There Is More to Life Than Happiness which asked whether happiness is over-rated; I think there is an element of that in the Scottish psyche.

So, I’m going to try and be positive, but it’s going to be a struggle. The British in general are pretty miserable. I spent two months in Australia and they’re so happy. The world is upside down just now, but this show is about why I think that everything is going to be alright.’

For now though, she’s preparing to perform an Edinburgh month of Domestic Disorder, the show which she took to Perth and Adelaide in Oz. Given the large number of antipodean comics who have made it big in the UK, from the very diverse likes of Jim Jefferies and Hannah Gadsby, maybe it’s time they sampled a bit more of our Scottish comedy talent. But for McCabe, playing to the public Down Under sharpens her mind to the bits of material that travel better than others.

‘There’s a bit in Domestic Disorder about bigotry where I said that when I used to work on building sites, I never got any sexism or homophobia but I would get called a “cheeky wee fat fenian”. We were all OK with the LGBTI stuff but not so good with the Catholic-Protestant thing.’ For an overseas audience, those idiosyncracies of Scotland’s particular brand of religious bigotry can require a bit more context. ‘I’d then have a story about the ridiculousness of religious intolerance to emphasise it. It keeps you constantly match fit and makes you aware of what you’re saying and the way you’re saying it.’

With Susie McCabe’s star very much in the ascendancy, she’s keeping an eye on the ways her life might change if she follows in the west-coast footsteps of Frankie Boyle and Kevin Bridges to cement her spot in comedy’s big league. ‘I’d like to play theatres and do some TV to build up my profile, and to tour the country and Europe. But my ultimate goal is to have a career where I can still walk down the street without having to wear a baseball hat and a set of headphones.’

Susie McCabe: Domestic Disorder, Assembly George Square, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 8pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

70 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

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This summer, we’re excited to have joined forces with The List to bring you Glen’s Guide — our pick of the best events happening this festival season. From classic stand-up to dance troupes to lip-sync battles, there’s something to get everyone giggling. Get the pre-drinks poured Edinburgh, you’re going out out.

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ED BYRNE: IF I’M HONEST Assembly Rooms, 2–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £17–£18.50 (£16–£17.50).

Preview 1 Aug, £12 The sharp observational comic turns his gaze inwards and ponders whether he has any traits worthy of passing down to his progeny.

AL MURRAY: LANDLORD OF HOPE AND GLORY Assembly George Square Gardens, 2–11 Aug, 5pm, £19.50 Britain’s favourite blowhard publican beckons audiences to step backwards into a new, more glorious future in this hour of political satire.

YUCK CIRCUS Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows, 3–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 4pm, £13.50–£15.50 (£12.50–£14.50) Sprinkle some sense of humour over mind-bending acrobatics and groovy dancing by an all-female troupe and you get the powerhouse that is YUCK Circus.

THE BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 2–25 Aug, 8.20pm, £15 (£13) Get ready to laugh the night away with a fully Scottish line-up of comedians, featuring new talent alongside seasoned veterans.

LATE NIGHT LIP SERVICE Gilded Balloon, Rose Theatre, 3, 8–10, 15–18, 22–24 Aug, 11.30pm, £12.50. Preview 2 Aug, £10 Fringe-favourite Gingzilla returns to the Scottish capital with her fabulous array of live performances, lip-sync battles and much more.

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@glensvodkaLLG 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 71

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TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 NOON STUART LAWS IS ALL IN Monkey Barrel, 1–25 Aug (not 14), 12.20pm, £5. Stuart Laws reflects on the day his life changed forever when he risked everything in a Vegas poker tournament.

1PM AHIR SHAH: DOTS Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug, 1.45pm, £7–£8. Preview 1 Aug, £5. Nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2017 and 2018, Ahir Shah returns to the Fringe with a new hour of thought-provoking stand-up.

2PM ROB AUTON: THE TIME SHOW Assembly George Square, 2–26 Aug (not 13), 2.50pm, £10–12 (£9–£11). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. Following on from previous shows about hair, sleep, water, faces, the sky, yellow, and talking, Auton now turns his attention to time. The chat about cutting daylight savings has got thinking lots of deep yet funny thoughts about time, and he’s here to share them.

3PM LOU SANDERS: SAY HELLO TO YOUR NEW STEP-MUMMY Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 14), 3.15pm, £8. Preview 1 Aug, £5. Lou overshares, chats about spirituality and gives everyone some much unwanted advice.

SIMON MUNNERY: ALAN PARKER URBAN WARRIOR FAREWELL TOUR The Stand, 2–26 Aug (not 12), 3.20pm, £12 (£10). Preview 1 Aug, £6. Once the most radical, now the only radical.

The bedsit anarchist returns with the old gold, the old truths and some new truths (based on the old truths).

RICHARD BROWN: HORROR SHOW (WORK IN PROGRESS) Scottish Comedy Festival at Nightcap, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 3.30pm, £5 (£4). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £3. Rising Scottish star Brown highlights the connections between terror and laughter as he confronts an ever-changing world.

4PM GLENN MOORE: LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE GLENNY MOORE Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug,

4pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8. Glenn Moore follows up last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination with a new hour of jokes.

PHOTO: AMELIA ALLEN

Some of the best comedy in the Fringe’s first week

GIANTS ARE FJORD Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 4.30pm, £9.50–£11.50 (£8.50– £10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug. Iconic Norwegian Eurodance duo Fjörd are back. After a three year ‘sabbatical’, the legendary Scandinavian pop duo are recording a new live album. A new character hour from comedy double act Giants.

OLGA KOCH: IF / THEN Monkey Barrel, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 4.30pm, £7. Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £5. Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee Olga Koch is back. In her feminist investigation into what happens when we can’t separate love and technology, Olga teaches you how to code and explores what happens when our expectations for love, happiness and Michael Bublé no longer compute.

JOHN KEARNS: DOUBLE TAKE AND FADE AWAY Monkey Barrel, 2–24 Aug, 4.45pm, £9.

Double Edinburgh Comedy Awardwinner presents his fourth show.

GARRETT MILLERICK: SMILE Just the Tonic at The Tron, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 5pm, £7. The critically acclaimed Breakthrough Act 2019 Award nominee returns with a defiant battle cry against the gloom.

MAISIE ADAM: HANG FIRE Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug, 5pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. 2018 Best Newcomer nominee and Amused Moose National New Comic 2018 winner Maisie Adam returns to Edinburgh with her second hour, working out who is to blame and for what.

5PM JOHN-LUKE ROBERTS: AFTER ME COMES THE FLOOD (BUT IN FRENCH) DRIP SPLOSH SPLASH DRIP BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!

Assembly George Square, 2–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.30pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8. The critically acclaimed idiot returns with a brand-new hour of extraordinary daft-hearted comedy, following a complete sell-out at last year’s Fringe.

SARAH KEYWORTH: PACIFIC Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 5.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee

GRACE CAMPBELL As the daughter of New Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell, she would certainly have had options to enter mainstream party politics. But instead, Grace Campbell co-founded the feminist activism collective Pink Protest and is now launching her Fringe comedy career with a show about a childhood lived along the corridors of power. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

and winner of the Herald Angel Award returns with a brand new hour of comedy about the little things.

6PM FERN BRADY: POWER AND CHAOS Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 12), 6pm, £8–£10. Preview 1 Aug, £6.

Following two shows that sold out

through word of mouth alone, Brady is back for another fine hour.

FLO & JOAN: BEFORE THE SCREAMING STARTS Assembly George Square, 3–25 Aug (not 10), 6pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £8. Following a sell-out run last year, the musical comedy sisters have a new hour of their dark and waggish songs.

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F EST I VA L COM E DY | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1

HARRIET BRAINE

ROISIN AND CHIARA: GET NUPTY Heroes @ The Hive, 1–25 Aug (not 10, 20), 6.20pm, £8 (£5–6). A brand-new hour of improvising genius from cultin-the-making duo Róisín and Chiara.

Expect a whirlwind of synchronised, audience-tickling, surreal character sketch, mash-up musical madness . . . and a wedding.

PHOTO: KARLA GOWLETT

F iIa V E le e le

PHIL ELLIS: AU REVOIR Heroes @ The Hive, 1–25 Aug, 6pm, £5. Phil says goodbye to Edinburgh forever. Prepare to hear hard truths about his past, the industry and laugh along the way.

show for the adults, as he gives his comedic take on everything from Love Island to Westminster in his trademark anarchic style, with different guests nightly.

7PM IVO GRAHAM: THE GAME OF LIFE Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug, 7pm, £8.50–£12 (£7.50–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. More hilariously anxious blather from one of the most hilariously anxious blatherers in the business.

ROSIE JONES: BACKWARD Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 5, 12), 7pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. After a sell-out debut hour, Jones explores the hilarious difficulties of navigating the world whilst being the only disabled, gay, northern comedian in the Edinburgh village.

fresh-faced / world-weary comedian mischievously changing up the tempo.

JEN BRISTER: UNDER PRIVILEGE Monkey Barrel, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 7.45pm, £7–£8 (£6–£7). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £5. Brister has it all: a wife, kids, a house and a job she loves (sometimes) so what does she have left to moan about? Best come and find out.

ADAM RICHES: THE BEAKINGTON TOWN HALL MURDERS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug, 7.50pm, £11–£14 (£10–£13). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8. An ingenious, interactive comedy whodunnit as one of you lot (the audience) is a murderer. Of some tortoises . . .

Five people I most admire? This is very easy, thank you, The List. In my show Les Admirables, I happen to focus on five amazing women from the history of science. I talk about a lot of other admirable people too, including members of my family, but who cares?

The only living one out of the five is Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and still the only woman to have completed a solo space flight. Then we have the fab dead four: Maria Sabina, Ada Lovelace, rear-admiral Grace Hopper, and Hedy Lamarr. All four were brilliant scientists, but they had trouble being taken seriously during their lifetimes and / or since, basically because they had boobs.

Lamarr in particular, despite being a pioneering wireless communications physicist, was cursed with a particularly nice pair.

Sabina’s life is a sad and familiar tale of indigenous cultural and medical practices being trampled on and exploited by – guess who?

– a bunch of rich white guys.

Speaking of rich white guys, Lord Byron spawned the most famous of the five, Ada Lovelace, who wrote the first ever computer program. Personally, I think it’s even more impressive that the computer she programmed never actually got built. Being so frustratingly ahead of her time (and having Byron for a father) it’s no wonder she drank quite heavily (allegedly).

Hopper is probably my favourite one. She was so insanely talented that despite being too tiny to join the US Navy during WWII, and never actually going to sea, she was, without any doubt, the best IT guy in the galaxy. She has nine military medals to prove it, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom given posthumously by Barack Obama. What a babe.

TOM ROSENTHAL: MANHOOD Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 6.30pm, £11.50–£14 (£10.50– £13.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

Let the chap from Friday Night Dinner and Plebs tell you the story of how he spent his life trying to avenge the theft of his foreskin.

Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 6pm, £6 in advance or donations.

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £4.

Before Voldemort became The Dark Lord, he was regular young Tom Riddle (for a guy Who Must Not Be Named, he certainly seems to have a lot of them). As we discover Tom’s early dabblings with snakes and Hufflepuff girls, the folk behind Baby Wants Candy and Thrones! The Musical deliver their second helping of pun-packed Potter-prequel parodying. Assembly George Square Studios, 2–26 Aug (not 14), 5pm, £13–£15. Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.

DESIREE BURCH: DESIREE’S COMING EARLY! Heroes @ The Hive, 1–25 Aug (not 13, 20), 7.40pm, £10 (£7). She was born late, bloomed late and always missed the bus. But a compelling shift has the

GARRY STARR CONQUERS TROY Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 8pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50– £11.50). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50.

Comic wunderkind Garry Starr delivers another anarchic drama masterclass to remember as he delves deep into his Greek ancestry to enlighten us all with the ancient art of Pretendism.

PHOTO: CHRIS GRACE

74 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

BASIL BRUSH: UNLEASHED Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–25 Aug, 6.45pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Basil makes his much-anticipated Fringe debut in a

8PM

VOLDEMORT AND THE TEENAGE HOGWARTS MUSICAL PARODY

CO - P ROM OT I ON

PRESENTS

& Discover Gilded Balloon’s brand new Fringe venue, Patter Hoose, home of Festival stars, local legends, and the fabulously pink Johnnie Walker Lounge This year, Gilded Balloon are casting their rose-tinted glow far and wide across the city as they welcome two new venues into the family: Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market and Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose.

The brand-new Patter Hoose will be giving Adam House on Chambers Street the pink treatment, complete with five venue spaces: the Big Yin, the Other Yin, Doonstairs, Nip, and Dram. Bringing in the big laughs are the likes of comedy icon Tom Stade and queen of the absurd Harriet Dyer, while physical comedy faves The Kagools and the wonderfully chaotic David Correos keep the energy turned up high. Comedians are branching out beyond stand-up too, with two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Andrew Maxwell making his theatrical debut with brand new play Julius ‘Call Me Caesar’ Caesar and Scottish stand-up stalwarts Keir McAllister, JoJo Sutherland, and Jay Lafferty joining forces in Madame George. Plus, don’t miss pop dream Jessie Ware as she brings an exclusive live version of her Table Manners podcast to Patter Hoose.

Keeping the festivities going strong off stage, our new spirit partners will be shaking up a storm in the Johnnie Walker Lounge, where you’ll find first class cocktails, perfect pints courtesy of Tennent’s, and hearty bites from Edinburgh legends Bross Bagels. After the watershed, head down to the Lounge for after hour revelries at the Late Night Patter Party, curated by Paradise Palms and featuring cult favourite Fringe acts and local DJs until 5am every night.

Tickets on sale now. Tel: 0131 622 6552 or book online at gildedballoon.co.uk/programme/fringe.

Open 31 Jul–26 Aug.

f GILDEDBALLOON c GILDED BALLOON t @GILDEDBALLOON

Top to bottom: Tom Stade, Harriet Dyer, Julius ‘Call Me Caesar’ Caesar, Table Manners

76 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

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TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

SUZI RUFFELL: DANCE LIKE EVERYONE’S WATCHING Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 8.30pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50– £10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

Ruffell has made a name for herself turning tragedy and anxiety into big laughs. This year, she is happy. This show answers the question: are all stand-ups at their best when they are miserable? Fingers crossed no.

CANDY GIGI PRESENTS: FRIDAY NIGHT SINNER! Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 20), 8.35pm, £7 (£6.50). A onewoman, horror-comedy musical about a Jewish, sexually repressed, newly married maniac.

ALICE FRASER: MYTHOS Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 8.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Alice Fraser has been lying to herself. But aren’t we all? In Mythos, she takes on the stories and lies that we tell ourselves about ourselves and each other.

9PM CHRISTOPHER MACARTHURBOYD: DREAMBOAT Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. The wee speccy future of Glaswegian stand-up returns to Edinburgh with a brand new hour.

MAT EWINS: ACTUALLY CAN I HAVE EIGHT TICKETS PLEASE? Just the Tonic at The Caves, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £8–9.

Unpredictable shenanigans from prankster Mat Ewins.

Some 13 years after he scooped the first post-Perrier era Edinburgh Comedy Award (depending on who you spoke to that prize was either called The Iffies or The Eddies: either way, oh dear), the Canadian-Scot flings his hyperenergetic self onto the subject of love. A revelation which emerged after his parents celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary has made him question everything he thought about his own vie d’amour. Monkey Barrel, 1–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £7 in advance or donations at the venue.

TITANIA MCGRATH: MXNIFESTO Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Radical intersectionalist poet committed to feminism, social justice and armed peaceful protest. As a millennial icon on the forefront of online activism, Titania is uniquely placed to explain to you why you are wrong about everything and how to become truly woke.

MARK NELSON: BREXIT WOUNDS Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–25 Aug (not 19), 8pm, £12–£14.50 (£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Having barely survived his car exploding on a motorway, Nelson isn’t exactly about to pussyfoot around the political car crashes currently happening.

TOM BALLARD: ENOUGH Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug (not 13), 9pm, £7–£10 (£6–£9). Preview 1 Aug, £8 (£7). This Australian standup spent last year hosting his own late-night satirical TV show, Tonightly with Tom Ballard, and watching the neo-liberal order continue to destroy our collective future. Now he’s written some very funny jokes about all that.

PHIL NICHOL

PHIL WANG: PHILLY PHILLY WANG WANG Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 8pm, £13 (£12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8. Wang has sold out his entire run in quicksharp time, with a new show about morality and the modern sense of self. Keen an eye out for some extra shows being added.

JOSIE LONG: TENDER The Stand, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 8.20pm, £12 (£10). Preview 1 Aug, £6. Three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Josie Long is back with a brand new show for the first time in five years that looks at the mind-bending intensity of new motherhood.

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F EST I VA L COM E DY | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1

DEMI LARDNER: DITCH WITCH 800 Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 9.15pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50– £10.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

Once upon a time, in a faraway swamp, there lived an ogre named Demi Lardner whose precious solitude was suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy-tale characters. Welcome to her show . . .

ALUN COCHRANE: BRAVE NEW ALUN Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9.20pm, £10–£14. Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. No more Mr Nice Person!

Cochrane intends to drop truth bombs about vegetables, gender, religion and washing machines.

JENA FRIEDMAN: MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE Assembly George Square, 2–25 Aug (not 12), 9.20pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. As America slips into fascism, Friedman celebrates free speech while she still has it.

JACK TUCKER: COMEDY STANDUP HOUR Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 9.20pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50. Following sell-out shows in New York, London and LA, award-winning comedian Zach Zucker returns with a new hour of absurdist stand-up.

JORDAN BROOKES: I’VE GOT NOTHING Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 9.30pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. The Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee presents another unpredictable hour of high-energy humour.

MOON: WE CANNOT GET OUT Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 9.30pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£7.50–£9.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Two provincial louts perform grotty comedy sketches in an immersive comedy-horror experience.

SIMON BRODKIN: 100% SIMON BRODKIN Pleasance Courtyard, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 9.30pm, £12 (£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8. The Lee Nelson performer and prankster whose targets have included Theresa May, Sepp Blatter, Donald Trump, and Kanye West presents an hour of comedy as himself.

ALICE SNEDDEN: ABSOLUTE MONSTER Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 9.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. New Zealand’s Alice Snedden returns to Edinburgh with her brand new show.

10PM JAYNE EDWARDS IS TOP BODYBUILDER BRIAN Heroes @ Dragonfly, 1–25 Aug (not 15), 10pm, £5. Top Bodybuilder Brian demonstrates that shadow boxing outside Paddy Power can be a lifestyle choice. From the mind of comedian Jayne Edwards.

ALFIE BROWN: IMAGINATION Monkey Barrel, 2–25 Aug, 10.30pm, £7–£10. Preview 1 Aug, £6. Brand new hour from master Brown about family, friendship and inherited belief.

SOFIE HAGEN Former Best Newcomer Award winner and prolific podcaster, Denmark’s Sofie Hagen brings us another helping of thoughtful sensitive stand-up.

The Bumswing arose from a discussion with her therapist and revolves around memory, chickens, strawberries, sex holidays and a swing that once had a naked bum on it. Which, you can probably work out for yourself, has provided her with this show title. Pleasance Dome, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 7pm, £10–£14 (£9–£13). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

78 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

ZACH ZIMMERMAN: CLEAN COMEDY Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 3–26 Aug (not 19), 10.45pm, £9.50– £10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Newcomer Zimmerman skewers his traumatic Southern Baptist childhood and equally painful gay NYC adulthood.

Fi tiI alV iEts

PHOTO: KARLA GOWLETT

LAURA DAVIS: BETTER DEAD THAN A COWARD Heroes @ Bob’s BlundaBus, 1–25 Aug, 9.10pm, £5. Dark, bold and razor sharp, Australian comedian Laura Davis is critically acclaimed as one of the most unique comedic voices around.

MICHAEL LEGGE 5. NAVIN R JOHNSON Steve Martin’s character in The Jerk is probably the greatest movie idiot of all time. Not only is he very, very funny, he’s also incredibly sweet. And that’s how I like my idiots. The joy he gets from seeing his name in the phone book is hilarious and adorable.

4. IGNATIUS J REILLY A Confederacy of Dunces is probably my favourite novel. It tells the story of a complete idiot who is such a massive twat that he actually thinks he’s a genius. You couldn’t bear him in real life but the writing is so beautiful in the book, you end up quite liking the big dickhead.

3. PHIL ELLIS Phil is a great stand-up who in no way sticks to any traditional stand-up rules. He’s at the Fringe this year doing his last show. Go see him tell hilarious tales of his pathetic, decaying life. Of course, the real tragedy of this particular idiot is that he’s not fictional.

2. RICK My favourite comedy character of all time. The Young Ones changed my life and Rick is still the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. An anarchist poet riding on the last freedom moped out of nowhere city, and he hasn’t even told his parents what time he’ll be back.

1. IGGY POP Odd choice as Iggy Pop is neither fictional nor an idiot. But he made an album called The Idiot and, at 72, he still runs around half-naked on stage singing punk songs.

That man has lived our dream-life and he’s still living it. He is literally the symbol of freedom the world needs right now. I’ll tell you who the number one idiot is: us.

The Stand, 2–26 Aug (not 12), noon, £12 (£10). Preview 1 Aug, £6.

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ABOREHENAT DOLUM Id qui berum fugita sa nonseriam fugiature vereritisi dolum ius molo endae. Ut quia parchit, venis quae maion est Toriame que volo magnate molorum quoditatis aperit acesto excesciatque voluptatet, iusci moluptas et aut expeliquisit aut ex es con porectem ex et que volesse quiamus, ipicabo reictatur, tenis eturio dit escitae pel sunt fuga. Im imil mod que pore, tet debis maximusant fuga. Tioreriatur si occus sendae. audis velecat dolescipiet fugit, simusandi Oditatem quoditat fuga. Os aut ex elesequid ut doloratur, seque dende inum quamus exerum, delici aciassincit ea si aces etur, quod maximet velesequas voloreperum qui si archil mo te aut erita cus.Rem faccum ex ea que plandem doluptatur?Evenda inum sitis mil eic tem. ex evendigendel eiur?Ommoloratia acesendis Pudignis dolo consed et autas seque estissi ipidellendi quo mo occupta tincto is molora earuptasita volesProject to the Taiwan Season, shows From the Steve Reich nimagniet is elignam, oditistor illecto Many venues at the Fringe play ab host to quality danceommolor during ectio. Orest necerum offictem et, omnim diaabout doluptat death to shows joy, Deyes has put together essintenis arion essiti quoditi ossitati August, butapelest when you’re officially known as Scotland’s Nationalfugit about faccum ut latquifor corem non por anihil nus. your A game.

Centre Dance, you’ve reallyilibeate got to bring Thiseat. a programme that embraces contemporary dance, ballet Temos quid ettheatre. re, sequo et, celebrates the physicality of and physical It also Busdande que voluptu reperistoinihit year Dance Base has 29 shows tempt us with, chosen with ex et harum sequae eriamusapedi volumquis of allate shapes, sizes and ages. aborporrum ium quis aut pra net, sam restia care – as ever – by thees venue’s artistic director, Morag Deyes.peliquaperformers eosRorrorent ut ‘There’s que esequos quassitate a whole wave of new work made for unique body volore, sum, que etur sitio molores nisprogramme untio ‘The privileges of curating a dance for the parumquam illiciant reperume types,acesequam such as the rem Basque Showcase and the amazing con est omnissi modita aut offi ad Fringe,’ she says, ‘are aveliquis combination ofciur genuinely attempting Chiara Bersani in Seeking Unicorns,’ says Deyes. ‘Elder to please all the people all the time, while simultaneously bodies are strong and beautiful as evident in Ensemble, stopping them in their tracks with the unexpected.

Bridie Gane in The Sylph, and with the cross-generational ‘Another layer of this amazing experience is that each year Fear Less Age Less. Any body can dance and we applaud reflects the times, and is the freshest take on what is being this new liberation.’ (Kelly Apter) made right now, why, where and by whom. For example, in ■ Dance Base, 2–25 Aug, times vary, £13 (£11). Previews £11 2019, artists appear to be more vigorous in their eagerness (£9). See dancebase.co.uk for full programme. to take on profound, funny and often dark subjects.’

DANCE BASE

Diverse Fringe programme tackles profound, funny and dark content

PHOTO: CHOU MO

80 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Hitlist | F EST I VA L DA NCE

list.co.uk/festival

DANCE HITLIST Kelly Apter picks out some of the dance, physical theatre and circus highlights as the festival gets underway HAVANA AFTER DARK Direct from the Cuban capital, dancers from Carlos Acosta’s company, Ballet Nacional de Cuba and Ballet Revolucion turn up the heat with salsa, rumba and mambo, backed by a live seven-piece band. Pleasance at EICC, 5–25 Aug (not 21), 9pm, £15–£17.50 (£12–£14.50).

THE CRUCIBLE Scottish Ballet present Helen Pickett’s new full-length adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play, set during the 17th-century witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. See feature, page 82. Edinburgh Playhouse, 3–5 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£35.

BALLETBOYZ: THEM / US The all-male dance troupe present this stunning double-bill, created by the dancers themselves (Them) and one of the world’s finest choreographers, Christopher Wheeldon (Us).

Underbelly Bristo Square, 2–15 Aug (not 7), 1pm, £16.50–£18.50

(£15.50–£17.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £12.50 (£11.50).

CIRCA: HUMANS Making a welcome return with its 2017 show, Australian circus troupe Circa explores what it means to be human, with ten performers pushing themselves to the physical limit.

Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 7pm, £18–£20 (£17–£19). Preview 2 Aug, £12.

MY LAND We gave five big stars to My Land in 2018, and are more than a little happy to see this mesmerising circus show from Hungarian company Recirquel make a return visit. See review at list. co.uk Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 7.30pm, £16–£18.

DANCE BASE As you might expect, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance is once again home to an eclectic range of movement and physicality this Fringe.

Choose from no less than 29 shows, from ballet to contemporary to physical theatre and beyond. See preview, page 80. Dance Base, 2–25 Aug, times vary, £13 (£11). Previews £11 (£9).

Havana After Dark

10 — 26 AUGUST 2019

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F EST I VA L DA N C E | The Crucible

WITCH

She’s a choreographer from America’s West Coast, he’s a RADA-trained director – Kelly Apter finds out how Helen Pickett and James Bonas have given Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the best of both worlds.

I

n 2014, when Scottish Ballet premiered Helen Pickett’s one-act version of The Crucible, I wrote in my review that ‘the world needs more Helen Picketts’. Five years later, with the imbalance between male and female choreographers on the world stage still problematic, I stand by that statement. But happily, in 2019 what we do have is more of Pickett herself – literally.

That 45-minute, one-act adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem witch trials has been razed to the ground and rebuilt – emerging as a full-length narrative ballet that will premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Written in 1953, Miller’s tale of 17th-century paranoia and oppression has benefitted not only from Pickett’s punchy and intelligent choreography, but the assured directorial wisdom of James Bonas.

Each brings something unique and special – Pickett trained at San Francisco Ballet, spent 11 years working with William Forsythe at Ballet Frankfurt, then moved to New York to hone her own creative style.

Bonas bagged a First from Oxford University then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, before carving out a career as an actor, then theatre and opera director.

‘I’d never worked on a ballet before,’ concedes Bonas straight off the bat, ‘I didn’t even call myself a dramaturg, because I didn’t know what that meant. But the principal thing I could bring to The Crucible, is how to tell a story with people’s bodies – and a lot of the work I’ve done in both theatre and opera is coming from that place anyway.

‘And what was fun about working with Helen was having a really dynamic collaboration where we both brought a different perspective 82 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

to the table. She was telling the story through steps and I was looking at the storytelling and the relationships between people, how we let the audience know what’s happening and who people are. So in many ways, I worked with the dancers in exactly the same way as I work with actors.’

For Pickett, the chance to learn from Bonas about the times when less equals more proved pivotal. ‘Dance is my very being,’ she says. ‘So to work with someone for whom theatre is their very being, I learnt so much about what to leave alone – about the note that is not played, and leaving space for that note.’

The result is a show drenched in atmosphere, tension, passion and humanity in all its guises. Pickett’s choreographic style was born in the melting pot of ballet the US is known for, gleaned from Russia, France, Italy and Britain. Then she laced it with the fascinating, quirky movement typified in mainland Europe, before picking up cultural hues while touring the world.

‘I have an American sensibility because I grew up here – I’m a product of that typical go-getter aspect of the American stereotype,’ says Pickett.

‘But then, aged 19, I went to Europe and had the great fortune of being exposed to different styles of dance – icons such as Jirí Kylián, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Pina Bausch and many more.

‘Then moving to New York to work with the Wooster Group, touring to South East Asia – all of these things have had a huge influence on my artistic life, and have gone into who I am.’

Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible, Edinburgh Playhouse, 3–5 Aug, 7.30pm, £15–£35.

PHOTO: ANDY ROSS

CRAFT

31 JUL – 26 AUG 2019 (NOT 12 AUG) BIG YIN

22:30 60 MINS

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 83

y r e v e n I ! r u co lo

Top Tips | F EST I VA L DA NCE

list.co.uk/festival

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1

10AM TAIWAN SEASON: BOUT Summerhall, 2–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 10.20am, £12 (£9). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5–£8. The brothers and co-creators of last year’s hit Bon 4 Bon return with a new show about fraternal relationships and male bonding.

Inspired by the rituals and rhythms of the boxing ring, the Chang brothers explore their strong, yet strained personal connections.

11AM THE DESK Summerhall, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 11.35am, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5–£8. Director Reetta Honkakoski mines her personal lived experience of a cult in this ensemble piece about the seductive power of discipline, hierarchy, mind control and the search for an ultimate truth.

1PM ALI AND ALPO Summerhall, 8–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 1.05pm, £10 (£8). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £8. Lute virtuoso Ali Alawad and choreographer Alpo Aaltokoski perform a wordless dialogue between

Iraqi traditional music and Finnish contemporary dance, contemplating similarities and differences between these two cultures.

PHOTO: GEORGE PIPER

Some of the best dance, circus and physical theatre shows in the Fringe’s first week, in our handy hour-by-hour guide

CIRQUE BERSERK! Pleasance at EICC, 3–25 Aug (not 21), 1.30pm & 6.30pm, £17.50– £19.50 (£13–£15). Preview 2 Aug, £12. Returning after its sell-out Fringe debut in 2018, Cirque Berserk! is performed by a troupe of acrobats, aerialists, dancers, drummers and stuntmen combining contemporary cirque-style artistry with adrenalinefuelled action.

2PM KOMBINI Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 13, 20), 2pm, £12.50–£15 (£11.50–£14). Canadian company Les Foutoukours stage this sensitive show about two clowns with aspirations to international fame, but in the meantime are forced to accept a gig at a children’s birthday party.

LOUDER IS NOT ALWAYS CLEARER Summerhall, 2–25 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 2.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5–£8. A one-man piece of circus and physical theatre about Jonny, a seemingly-confident deaf man who struggles to find where he belongs in a hearing world, and his desire to dance and sing despite being unable to hear music.

ONLY BONES 1.0 His body is built the same way as the rest of us, yet when you watch Thom Monckton move it’s like he’s inhabiting a whole other set of apparatus.

After the clever physical buffoonery of Fringe hits The Pianist and The Artist, Monckton returns with his popular 2016 show Only Bones. Assembly Roxy, 2–22 Aug (not 12, 19), 8.20pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.

KNOT Assembly Roxy, 2–25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 2.45pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.

Through dance and hand-to-hand circus, Nikki Rummer and JD Broussé

depict the struggles of commitment, and whether we can be honest with ourselves without hurting those we love.

3PM FRONTX Summerhall, 2–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 14, 21), 3pm, £9 (£7). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5–£8. International street artists come together as an ensemble to act as a mouthpiece for the concerns of contemporary society, exploring their personal life stories and inner motivations at the same time.

OCKHAM’S RAZOR: THIS TIME St Stephen’s Theatre, 1–25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 3pm, £15.50–£17.50 (£13–£15). New aerial show from the acclaimed company, in which four performers, ranging in age from 13 to 60, are suspended in the air and swung close to the ground in a groundbreaking feat of design and acrobatics.

BALLETBOYZ: THEM / US Not many shows come to the Fringe already equipped with five-star reviews, but this superb double-bill does. An all-male troupe run by former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Trevitt and William Nunn, the BalletBoyz are known for combining physical athleticism with a special kind of grace you can’t take your eyes off. Underbelly Bristo Square, 2–15 Aug (not 7), 1pm, £16.50–£18.50 (£15.50–£17.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £12.50 (£11.50).

DNA Assembly George Square, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 3.15pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. From the team that brought you Knee Deep, Driftwood and You & I, Casus Circus performs a combination of acrobatics and physical theatre to explore deeply personal stories, from depression and homophobia to cultural genocide.

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F EST I VA L DA N C E | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 INTERBEING – STORIES FROM A CURRENT WAR Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 20), 3.30pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. Ukrainian artists plumb the roots of human conflict in this show featuring original music, documentary photography and semiautobiographical testimonies of love and PTSD.

4PM

FOREST Assembly Checkpoint, 2–11 Aug, 4.40pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.

Graduates of the Moscow Art Theatre School explore the relationship between humans and nature, connecting with deeper patterns of consciousness that exist in life’s rhythms. See feature, page 29.

5PM BACKBONE Underbelly Med Quad, 3–26 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 5pm, £18.50–£23.50 (£17.50–£22.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £18 (£13). Gravity & Other Myths present this display of physical virtuosity, testing the limits of strength: physical, emotional, individual and collective, and celebrating human connectedness.

THE CHOSEN Dance Base, 6–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 5pm, £13 (£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £11 (£9). Choreographed by Kally Lloyd-Jones, Company Chordelia explore how we choose to live in the face of death, and how we think about dying. What will we do with the time that is left to us?

SUPER HUMAN ZOO Southside, 2–17 Aug (not 5, 12), 5.30pm, £14 (£12). Using extreme physical movements and urban dance styles, Super Human takes influence from sci-fi, superheroes and real-life scientific experiments.

RAVEN Assembly Roxy, 2–26 Aug (not 7, 13, 20), 5.50pm, £14–£16 (£13–£15).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.

Berlin’s all-female collective Still Hungry confronts the challenges of 86 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

6PM LE COUP Underbelly Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 12, 19), 6pm, £17–£19 (£16–£18). The creators of Scotch and Soda return with this work set in the world’s last travelling boxing tent, using acrobatics and aerial stunts to explore what happens when you have nothing to lose.

9PM HAVANA AFTER DARK Pleasance at EICC, 5–25 Aug (not 21), 9pm, £15–£17.50 (£12–£14.50).

Dancers and musicians from the Cuban capital celebrate Havana’s 500th anniversary with this lively mix of salsa, mambo, rumba, ballet and hip hop.

SUPER SUNDAY Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 2–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 9pm, £17.50–£19.50 (£16.50–£18.50). Race Horse

Company presents this circus show featuring daredevil stunts on trampolines, teeter-boards, Russian bar and the Wheel of Death – all executed with black humour.

LIMB(E)S Assembly Roxy, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.25pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10 (£9).

This new aerial show by Gabrielle Martin and Jeremiah Hughes questions what it takes to carry or let go of another person, as two bodies are suspended in the limbo of loss.

PHOTO: VICKI JONES

THE BLACK BLUES BROTHERS Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug, 4.30pm, £14–£16 (£13–£15).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £10. Five acrobats perform a lighthearted tribute to the cult classic The Blues Brothers, combining feats of acrobatic daring and rhythm and blues with African beats. See feature, page 22.

modern motherhood in this blend of contemporary circus, storytelling and theatre, based on the performers’ personal experiences.

LA GALERIE Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 6pm, £17–18.50 (£16–£17.50). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £12. Quebec-based company Machine de Cirque’s latest show finds seven acrobats and a musician in a monochrome art gallery, where things start to go haywire when plumes of colour appear.

ANOTHER Dance Base, 3–7 Aug (not 5), 6.15pm, £13 (£11). Preview 2 Aug, £11 (£9). A quadruple bill of contemporary, ballet and neoclassical dance and poetry from emerging young European artists, including choreographers Emrecan Tanis, Louis Stiens and Fabio Adorisio.

7PM CIRCA: HUMANS Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 7pm, £20 (£19).

Preview 2 Aug, £12. Ten acrobats embark on a journey of what it means to be human, and how our bodies, connections, and aspirations form part of who we are. How much can we take, how much weight can we carry and who can we trust to support our load?

STEVE REICH PROJECT Dance Base, 6–18 Aug (not 12), 7.20pm, £13 (£11). Previews 2–4 Aug, £11 (£9). Three pieces by composer Steve Reich are reinterpreted by the MP4 Quartet and choreographer Isabella Soupart, fusing dance, music and video art.

XOXO MOONGIRL Assembly Checkpoint, 2–25 Aug (not 13, 19), 7.50pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10. Blending physical theatre, live music and humour, this semiautobiographical story explores the complexity and trauma of interpersonal relationships.

YUCK CIRCUS This all-female Australian troupe has so many awards to carry around, it’s a miracle they can climb so high. Making their European debut, the YUCK Circus performers share personal stories of young womanhood, stamping all over gender stereotypes as they flip and fly through the air. Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 3–24 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 4pm, £13.50–£15.50 (£12.50–£14.50).

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31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 87

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9

PHOTO: DAMIAN SIQUEIROS

Family dance show explores hearing impairment through movement, sound and silence A tiny white car drives around the stage; miniature chairs are climbed on, sat upon and played with – and six dancers get down on their hands and knees like dogs. But while aspects of this show for ages seven and over are clearly aimed at a family audience, there’s no dumbing down on the choreography.

Based in Montreal, dance company Cas Public is known for its dynamic and finessed movement, and 9 is no exception.

Choreographer and company founder, Hélène Blackburn took the hearing impairment of one of the dancers as the starting point for

this 50-minute work. Using both sound and silence, it questions how we experience music like Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (hence the show’s title) if, like the composer himself, we can’t hear it clearly.

Part of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, the show is accompanied by two family workshops aimed at ages 7–12, giving families a chance to have fun together with movement inspired by the show. (Kelly Apter) ■ Church Hill Theatre, 3–6 Aug, 6pm (2pm matinee 4 Aug), £12.50–£25; Family Workshop, Church Hill Theatre, 5 & 6 Aug, 11am, £6.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 89

F EST I VA L KI DS | Hitlist

Kelly Apter picks out some of the week one Fringe highlights for children and families BASIL BRUSH’S FAMILY FUN SHOW Everyone’s favourite fox brings his bonkers banter to the Fringe, in this fun-packed hour of storytelling, songs and Brush’s inimitable ‘boom boom’.

See feature at list.co.uk Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–15 Aug, 1pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–11.50).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £9.50.

9 Canadian dance company Cas Public use the hearing impairment of one of their dancers as the starting point for this athletic show for ages seven and over. With a fun family workshop for ages 7–12 on 5 & 6 Aug. See preview, page 89. Church Hill Theatre, 3–6 Aug, 6pm (2pm matinee 4 Aug), £12.50–£25.

FOX-TOT! Hot on the heels of the lovely BambinO comes Scottish Opera’s brand new show for little ones aged 12–24 months. Once again written by Lliam Paterson, this new interactive show mixes music and puppetry in a

PHOTO: STEVE ULLATHORNE

KIDS HITLIST woodland setting. Edinburgh Academy, 2–16 Aug (not 5, 12), 10am & 11.30am, £12 (adult and baby); £7 additional adult.

SHLOMO’S BEATBOX ADVENTURE FOR KIDS The record-breaking beatboxer’s entertaining show, where both he – and you – make music with just a mouth and a microphone. Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–18 Aug, 3.35pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

I’LL TAKE YOU TO MRS COLE! Complicité and Polka Theatre join forces for this tale of two mums with very different parenting styles, backed by an infectious two-tone score. See feature, page 91. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 1.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8.

CHORES They’re supposed to be tidying their room, but instead two brothers (aka the talented circus artists of Hoopla Clique) are finding lots of fun ways to get distracted. This hit show of 2018 returns.

See review at list.co.uk Assembly George Square Gardens, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), noon, £8–£10. Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7.

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www.pleasance.co.uk 90 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

I’ll Take You To Mrs Cole! | F EST I VA L K I DS

list.co.uk/festival

PHOTO: SARAH AINSLIE

I T TA K ES TWO A new show about single parent families set to two-tone music has brought two giants of the theatre world together, finds Kelly Apter

O

ne mum sets her child to work, encouraging him to do household chores – the other lives in organised chaos letting her children roam free. Two households, two very different approaches to parenthood, as depicted by author Nigel Gray and illustrator Michael Foreman in their 1985 picture book, I’ll Take You To Mrs Cole!.

The title is intended as a threat to young boy Ashley, a punishment for being naughty – but by the end of the book, once he discovers what life in the Coles’ home is actually like, it becomes a reward for good behaviour.

A study in cultural differences, parenting, life choices and the power of our imagination, the book is ripe for adaptation. Which is why director Catherine Alexander suggested it to Complicité, a theatre company known for its highly visual style and use of music and technology.

‘What I love about the book, is I don’t think there’s a hierarchy in terms of one mum being a better parent than the other,’ says Alexander. ‘Their styles of parenting are really different, so one instils a sense of responsibility in her child about doing jobs properly, while the other mum lets go of superficial stuff to enable more freedom and play. But they’re both actually very positive parents in my mind.’

Mindful that this was their first foray into creating work for primary school-aged children, Complicité joined forces with London-based children’s theatre Polka to produce the show.

‘Polka has a tremendous amount of expertise with young audiences,’ says Alexander. ‘So it’s

been great to have both organisations behind the show – Complicité makes work that’s a bit more experimental than Polka would perhaps normally do, and Complicité can be really grounded by Polka’s knowledge of work for children.’

Gray and Foreman’s book doesn’t specify a hometown for the two families, so Alexander chose to set the play in Coventry, the birthplace of two-tone music, which is used throughout the show. And while the book was written in 1985, Alexander has dialled it back a few years and placed the story in 1981 – a pivotal moment in two-tone’s history.

‘I grew up hooking into that two-tone sound and loving it,’ says Alexander. ‘As a young teenager, I remember also loving what it represented. Seeing bands with black and white members playing together with great joy was quite radical at the time.

And there was a real sense of protest against what was happening in society, the tensions that were rising in communities in 1981 were very tangible.

‘Coventry has that link to the music, so I thought let’s set the show in the heart of two-tone, where it really burst forth with the Specials, the Selector and others.’

But politics and location aside, Alexander was also keen to use ska music simply for the sheer joy of it.

‘When I take my son to parties, parents quite often play ska and reggae music, and the kids dance along and the parents love it,’ says Alexander. ‘And it does seem to be the kind of music that bonds generations.’

I’ll Take You To Mrs Cole!, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 1.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 91

F EST I VA L KI DS | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 The pick of the best kids’ shows in week one of the Fringe, in our handy chronological guide

10AM SPARKLE Summerhall, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 10.20am, £10 (£6). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5. Sparkle, who loves to dress in tutus, tiaras and sparkly dresses, finds on his first day of school that not everyone wants to let him shine – then Sparkle discovers the magnificence of being unique.

COMÈTE Assembly Checkpoint, 2–26 Aug (not 8, 13), 10.30am, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. Covers and compositions blend into a true rock music awakening, a live show for curious kids and nostalgic parents sure to have you all singing and dancing. For ages five and up.

I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS BY MICHAEL MORPURGO Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 14, 19), 10.30am, £10–£11 (£8–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.50. Young Tomas hates reading and school, but his world is turned upside down the day he meets the Unicorn Lady, in this intimate show set in a library.

ONE DUCK DOWN Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 20), 10.30am, £8–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Seven

DOWN WITH THE POETRY KING With over 12 million YouTube views to his name, spoken word artist Mark Grist knows how to write and deliver poetry in a fun, meaningful and accessible way. Aimed at ages eight and over, this hour of poetry, rap, comedy and interactive games doesn’t skimp on silliness. Help him claim the throne in the Kingdom of Rhyme. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3–18 Aug, 11.30am, £8 (£6.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

Seas, 7000 rubber ducks, one big adventure. Inspired by a true tale that saw 7000 rubber ducks cast adrift in a mighty storm, this show is jam packed with music, clowning and puppetry.

CAPTAIN FLINN AND THE PIRATE DINOSAURS: THE MAGIC CUTLASS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–19 Aug (not 13), 10.45am, £12–£13 (£10.50–£12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.50. Join Flinn as he attempts to rescue his kidnapped friends who have been forced to hunt for the Magic Cutlass by his nemesis, the tyrannical Mr T-Rex.

11AM ERTH’S DINOSAUR ZOO Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 11am, £14.50–£20.50 (£13–£19.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £12.50–£17.50. Get up close and personal with an array of prehistoric creatures, from baby dinos to the largest carnivores and herbivores that have walked the planet. Erth’s dinosaurs are unmistakably ‘alive’ in this fun, educational and performance.

ALICE AND THE LITTLE PRINCE Toby Mitchell, one half of the duo behind Tall Stories theatre company (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom) takes two of the world’s best-loved books and creates a mash-up. Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince both visit rose gardens in their respective books – so what might happen if they turned up in the same garden? Pleasance Courtyard, 3–18 Aug (not 9), 1.30pm, £8–£9 (£7–£8). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

92 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

MONSKI MOUSE’S BABY CABARET Assembly George Square Gardens, 5–15 Aug (not 9–11), 11am, £9. Join Monski Mouse and friends for a live musical cabaret of nursery classics, reworked songs, puppetry and fun for 0–5s and parents/carers.

MR MEN AND LITTLE MISS ON STAGE Underbelly George Square, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 11am, £11–£12 (£10–£11). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7. Featuring Mr Bump, Little Miss Splendid, Mr Tickle, Little Miss Inventor and many more, Happyland bursts to life in a series of colourful stories told through puppetry and music.

THE RUFF GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE Assembly George Square Studios, 7–17 Aug, 11am, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Expect silly sketches, toe-tapping songs and dastardly duels as Take Thou That celebrate the work of the world’s greatest playwright.

SLIME Pleasance Pop-Up: Central Library, 3–24 Aug (not 4, 11, 18), 11.15am, £7–£8 (£6–£7). Preview 2 Aug, £6. Slug and Caterpillar are starving, and the only leaf left in the garden is just out of reach. Enter the undergrowth to squish, squelch and play your way through this show for ages 2–5 and their families.

DON’T MESS WITH THE DUMMIES Underbelly Bristo Square, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 11.20am, £11.50– £12.50 (£10.50–£11.50). Previews

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list.co.uk/festival

31 Jul–2 Aug, £9.50. Set up camp and stampede into the jungle for an outlandish circus-filled extravaganza from this brand-new ensemble that blends circus, comedy and character.

FIRST PIANO ON THE MOON: WILL PICKVANCE Summerhall, 2–18 Aug (not 12), 11.30am, £12 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8. Adapting Mozart, Chopin and Scott Joplin for outer space requires a specially equipped pianist, but thankfully Will is on hand. Stories come alive from the piano stool as he experiments with ways to play.

MUSTARD DOESN’T GO WITH GIRLS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–23 Aug (not 13), 11.30am, £9–£11 (£7–£9).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

When the children of Bow-on-Tie start mysteriously disappearing, Abigail decides to investigate further, embarking on a music-filled adventure to uncover the town’s secrets.

BEETLEMANIA: KAFKA FOR KIDS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 14), 11.45am, £10–£12 (£8– £10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £8.

Join the Kafkateers for their cheerful show packed with stories, songs, puppets and laughter for all ages.

NOON CHORES Assembly George Square Gardens, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), noon, £8–£10. Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7. Two boys playing in their messy bedroom try to follow mum’s command to tidy up, so they can get the reward they’re promised – but all manner of fun circus antics keep getting in the way in this lively show for all the family.

JELLY OR JAM Underbelly Circus Hub, 3–11 Aug (not 5–9), noon, £13 (£12). An acrobatic adventure into the brains of young humans, inspired by real interviews with kids about their emotions and friendship.

THE SHOWSTOPPERS’ KIDS SHOW Pleasance Courtyard, 3–18 Aug, noon, £9.50–11 (£8–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Fringe favourites and Olivier Award-winning improvisers, The Showstoppers, take your kids’ ideas and transform them on the spot into interactive musical adventures.

MORGAN & WEST: UNBELIEVABLE SCIENCE Known for their onstage magic and general tomfoolery, Morgan & West have a secret past that’s coming to the fore in this new show: they’re both science graduates from Oxford University. So expect (knowledgeable) explosions, chemical spills and all manner of messy, scientific magical fun. Assembly George Square, 2–25 Aug (not 21), 4.30pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£10.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.

GIRL SCOUTS VS ALIENS Assembly George Square Studios, 2–26 Aug (not 13, 20), 12.10pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. Four teenage heroes are on their last ever camp, when an alien spaceship lands in the next field. With only camping kit, scouting skills and toasted marshmallows, can the girls save the world?

I HATE CHILDREN CHILDREN’S SHOW theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 2–18 Aug, 12.10pm, £11–£12.50 (£9–£11).

Awe-inspiring magic and caustic wit keep the crowds coming back year after year to this Fringe favourite – that, and the free glass of fizz the grown-ups are handed on the way in . . .

1PM THE AMAZING BUBBLE MAN Underbelly George Square, 3–26

Aug, 1.15pm, £11–£12 (£8–£9).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7. Louis Pearl has been entertaining audiences worldwide for over 30 years with the magic, science and fun of bubbles. A Fringe favourite, he’s back combining comedy, artistry and audience participation.

FEAST OF FOOLS Scottish Storytelling Centre, 2–18 Aug (not 7, 13 & 14), 1.30pm, £8 (£6). Preview 1 Aug, £5. Join storyteller Daniel Serridge at his dinner table of foolishness as he regales you with tales of disgusting banquets, salubrious suppers and measly meals.

THE LISTIES: ICKYPEDIA Pleasance Courtyard, 3–18 Aug, 1.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.50.

Based on Australian duo The Listies’ best-smelling book, Ickypedia aims to answer all of life’s unimportant questions, like: how do you take a smellfie?

3PM JARRED CHRISTMAS AND HOBBIT: THE MIGHTY KIDS BEATBOX COMEDY SHOW Assembly Rooms, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 3.50pm, £10–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6 (£5). Beatboxer Hobbit and comedian Christmas join forces for this interactive show, where you can pick up beatboxing tips to impress your friends, make music, win prizes and laugh a lot.

4PM MARK THOMPSON’S SPECTACULAR SCIENCE SHOW Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 4.30pm, £10.50 (£8.50). Preview 2 Aug, £6. If you think science is boring, think again, as Thompson introduces you to exploding elephant’s toothpaste, vortexgenerating dustbins and howling jelly babies.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 93

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Forward-thinking orchestra takes the EIF by storm

PHOTO: ADAM LATHAM

Unusually, the cheers that go up at Tynecastle football stadium on 2 August won’t be for home team Hearts, but for an orchestra. In a place where passion is generally fired by one side pitted against another, it’s harmony all the way in the programme of heart-stirring movie classics which the Los Angeles Philharmonic (and their astonishingly dynamic music director Gustavo Dudamel aka The Dude) bring to the Edinburgh International Festival’s opening (and free) event.

‘We’re incredibly excited about playing at Tynecastle,’ says the orchestra’s CEO, Simon Woods (incidentally, a Brit, who used to run the Royal Scottish National Orchestra). ‘We’re very accustomed to playing in vast venues, as our summer home, the Hollywood Bowl, seats 18,000.’

Their repertoire in Edinburgh includes a selection from John Williams, one of the most successful film music

composers ever: Star Wars, ET and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are all there. ‘We played our John Williams programme in the Olympic Stadium in Seoul [capacity 70,000], and for conductor Gustavo Dudamel, these large-scale events are something he finds very meaningful,’ says Woods. ‘He is passionately committed to music being for everyone. It’s a philosophy he feels very strongly about and it’s a wonderful chance for us to play for a broader Scottish audience.’

In addition to Tynecastle, the LA Phil play twice at the Usher Hall, with YOLA, their orchestra of young musicians, giving an open rehearsal. (Carol Main) ■ Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tynecastle, 2 Aug, 7pm, free but ticketed; Usher Hall, 3 Aug, 7pm, £20–£60; Usher Hall, 4 Aug, 7.30pm, £12.50–£50; Youth Orchestra Los Angeles with Big Noise Raploch, Usher Hall, 4 Aug, 3.30pm, free but ticketed.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 95

F EST I VA L M US I C | Hitlist

Henry Northmore picks some of the best music shows to check out in week one of the festival AKALA UK rapper and political commentator takes a break from his spoken-word show at Gilded Balloon Teviot to return to his hip hop roots. Expect a night of socially conscious beats, and intelligent, incisive lyrics. Liquid Room, 3 Aug, 7pm, £20.

AMADOU & MARIAM AND BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA African and US gospel and blues in this inspired collaboration featuring Malian husband and wife duo Amadou & Mariam and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Usher Hall, 7 Aug, 8pm, £14–£34.

DWARVES Trashy rock and hardcore punk from this Chicago quintet headed by vocalist Blag Dahlia, guitarist HeWhoCannotBeNamed and bassist Rex Everything (aka QOTSA’s Nick Oliveri). Expect shock tactics, frequent nudity and maximum rock’n’roll. You have been warned. Bannermans, 6 Aug, 7pm, £15.

SIOBHAN WILSON Beautifully delicate, captivating music from Scottish singer-songwriter Siobhan Wilson. Her recent album The Departure adds darker textures to the intimate yet cinematic atmosphere she weaves with her effortless melodies. Summerhall, 7 Aug, 7pm, £14.

TASTE 25 An Edinburgh institution as club night Taste celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Expect upfront house with a dash of techno from resident DJs Fisher & Price and Martin Valentine as they dip into the vaults for the best in dance music from 1994 to 2019. Liquid Room, 3 Aug, 11.30pm, £10.

YOUTH ORCHESTRA LOS ANGELES WITH BIG NOISE RAPLOCH A free open rehearsal, led by Gustavo Dudamel, as young musicians from disadvantaged backgrounds in LA and Scotland come together in a celebration of classical music. See preview, page 95. Usher Hall, 4 Aug, 3.30pm, free but ticketed.

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96 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

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Free Love | F EST I VA L MU S I C

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Electronic duo Free Love bring a genuine sense of mischief to their work. As the pair tell Fiona Shepherd, we should be exploring the small things rather than worrying about the big stuff

W

ith a name redolent of patchouli-infused hippy gatherings, it’s appropriate that Free Love are such an excellent festival band, injecting good vibes, community spirit, spontaneous performance and electro-pop pulses wherever they go.

So far this summer, the Glasgow duo of Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook have discovered their spiritual home at the Glastonbury Festival – ‘five days of paradise,’ says Rodden.

‘So many people there in a unified spirit,’ notes Cook. And, in contrast, they brought a punky taste of Eiggstinction Rebellion to the Howlin’ Fling festival on Eigg.

But they are also veterans of their own epic happenings such as the Full Ashram Sleep Garden, a bring-yourown-plant 12-hour son-et-lumière meditation / sleepover featuring a ‘continuous and collaborative sonic projection’ from a variety of kindred artists, rounded off with a vegan breakfast. ‘We asked people not to applaud because we wanted the audience to be able to zone out,’ says Rodden.

‘People brought things to sleep in; some meditated, some stayed up all night, some slept. It really embodied a lot of the reasons that we do this: being able to connect with people and finding new communities.’

The duo would like to revisit the Sleep Garden concept to mark the autumn release of their latest mini-album, Extreme Dance Anthems, and, while their forthcoming Fringe appearance may not spool out over quite that length of time, there will be fluid festival spirit aplenty when they play Summerhall. And there’s a strong possibility that the ever-curious Rodden will roam freely around the room in search of mischief.

‘With electronic music, it can be quite tempting to have it all polished on a computer file, and it’s ready to press play and you know it’s gonna go exactly as you planned it,’ says Rodden. ‘We deliberately play with instruments that are

falling apart, and it’s exciting having that risk there while we perform and not just have a polished piece that we act out each night. It’s a part of the band that I enjoy more than anything else because I can express myself really freely.’

‘It’s almost like thrill-seeking,’ says Cook. ‘Our ambition for this project was always to be free-flowing. It’s all too easy for things to get boring so we’ve always changed things up.’ Although Rodden and Cook have been together as a couple for more than a decade, they only started playing music together five years ago as Happy Meals before ‘transitioning’ to Free Love partly to avoid falling foul of a certain international fast food brand.

Across both incarnations, they’ve released a number of singles and mini-albums of diverse, irresistible psychedeliatinged synth pop with lyrics sung silkily in French and English by language teacher Rodden. ‘I quite enjoy writing whimsically and I find that works better in French than it does in English,’ she says. ‘It’s whatever feels good when I’m singing it and how it feels coming off my tongue.’

But while Free Love will willingly go with the spontaneous flow, especially in performance, they also pay attention to detail, putting in the hours and effort to make each record release special, whether that be handmade marbled sleeves or individually gold-stamped editions. ‘There’s a lot of happiness and meaning in life in looking at the small things,’ says Cook. ‘We’re constantly being bombarded with the big things in life. We’ve not evolved to be dealing with all these mass of issues, and these international crises on our mind all the time. When we try to do that we very quickly forget about the small details, so we try to encompass that a bit in our practice and hopefully it shows through.’

Free Love, Summerhall, 2 Aug, 7pm, £10.

31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 97

F EST I VA L M US I C | Tim Vine & Al Murray

BA ND O N T H E F U N Two of the Fringe’s best-loved comedians are showing their musical side as Tim Vine becomes Plastic Elvis and Al Murray drums with his group Fat Cops. Murray Robertson hears from them both about taking music seriously-ish

MYSTERY MAN Stewart Smith talks to Sarah Jane Morris about the complex but beautiful career of folk-rocker John Martyn whose work has inspired a new Fringe stage show

‘I

’m pretty sure I’m the first person to do a tribute act of Elvis Presley,’ reckons Tim Vine, possibly not all that seriously. ‘You might wanna look that up but I’ve got a feeling that I’m breaking new ground here.’

The King has been Vine’s favourite performer since he was ‘very, very young’ and he relishes the prospect of performing as Elvis. ‘It’s a vanity project,’ he levels. ‘But the great thing about Edinburgh is that you get to just go and do things for the heck of it. I’ve done it three or four times and it always seems to sort of work, and I don’t know why that is.’

Vine is adamant that, although his tribute is funny, it’s not a send-up. ‘I don’t think it’s disrespectful to Elvis,’ he explains. ‘I’m not there to make crass jokes about the latter stages of his life or anything like that. I think part of the humour of it, according to some friends of mine who’ve seen it, is that I really do appear to be trying extremely hard to be doing the best impression I possibly can of Elvis Presley.’

Uniquely, Vine is accompanied in his endeavour by a bona fide Elvis Presley songwriter. David Martin joins the comedian for a duet on ‘Let’s Be Friends’, a song Martin wrote for one of Presley’s final films, Change of Habit. ‘What’s new for me is doing an entire evening of it with a live band, and they’re so brilliant. To say that it’s a vanity project is fair,’ laughs Vine. ‘I often think it’s me getting the most out of this whole thing; I’m paying for the experience and, for me, it’s worth every penny!’

‘We look like a dad band, we smell like a dad band but we are not a dad band,’ insists Al Murray who plays drums in ‘not-dad band’ Fat Cops. ‘The fact that we all have families and children is unrelated to everything else to do with the band.’ The genesis of Fat Cops is highly 98 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

unusual and, in these politically turbulent times, somewhat reassuring. ‘It’s a bunch of people who met on Twitter, arguing with each other about politics,’ recalls Murray. ‘We then realised that actually we were all having fun, and we had more in common being into music and into each other’s wit and humour. It’s the strangest thing: I’m in a band from Scotland and I live in West London.’

The group initially coalesced over the issue of Scottish independence. While Euan McColm (guitar) and Bobby Hodgens aka Bobby Bluebell (keyboards) were at either end of that debate, they bridged the gap by talking about music, and by trading songs they’d written via email.

The band’s influences include Happy Mondays, Deacon Blue and the Cramps. ‘There are lots of different things going on all at once which reflects that there’s six people writing in the band and six people coming at it, all from their own direction,’ says Murray. ‘And I think that’s why it works so well.’

And do the band members still talk politics when they meet up for rehearsals? Murray emphatically says ‘no’ 12 times. ‘That’s all thoroughly passed, and the point of the band is the music,’ he says, evidently relieved. ‘The really lovely thing about it is that, although we did all meet on Twitter which you imagine is a boiling foment of people who want to throttle each other, that’s not what we’re like at all. Or at least that’s not what we’re like at the moment: you never know . . . ’ Tim Vine Presents: Plastic Elvis Live in Concert!, Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 7 Aug, 10.15pm, £15.50 (£14.50) Fat Cops, Assembly George Square Gardens, 7 Aug, 11.55pm, £13 (£12).

Sarah Jane Morris was 14 when she first encountered the music of John Martyn. ‘I had watched The Old Grey Whistle Test,’ she recalls, ‘and I remember how beautiful his voice was. He was performing “May You Never” – and I had developed one of those teenage crushes because he was so beautiful – but his voice spoke to me. It was just such a beautiful warm, chocolatey sound.’

Over subsequent decades, Martyn’s music would become a backdrop to her own life as she developed as a singer-songwriter.

For several years, Morris – who found chart success in the 1980s with the Communards and has continued to plough an individual path through jazz, soul and R&B – has closed her concerts with Martyn’s ‘Don’t Want to Know’. So when Morris found herself looking to take a breather from her own songwriting, a John Martyn project made perfect sense.

The stage show of Sweet Little Mystery is directed by comedian Mark Thomas, an old friend from the days of miners’ strike benefits and Red Wedge. Morris doesn’t want to give too much away about the show, but she does reveal that one of the filmed interviewees is the great singer Linda Thompson, who grew up with Martyn in Glasgow and moved to London at the same time.

‘I met up with his lovely sister who had a whole other take on him,’ adds Morris.

‘I’ve become friends with Beverley, John’s first wife, and you begin to piece together the man: a very complex character. But I think that “Solid Air”, the song that he wrote to Nick Drake, has to be one of the most brilliant songs written in friendship to someone with mental-health issues. I think it’s genius. I don’t think songwriting gets much better than that.’

Sarah Jane Morris: Sweet Little Mystery, Assembly George Square Studios, 2–11 Aug, 6.45pm, £13–£14 (£12–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.

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31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 99

Climb is a live album brought to life through compelling characters, storytelling, and original music blending bossa nova, jazz, reggae, and soul

THE LIVE ALBUM COWBARN

@ UNDERBELLY, BRISTO SQUARE

31 JUL–26 AUG 2.40PM £12 (£11)

Written by DUANE FORREST & performed with cast and band

silent disco adventures shhhhhhhhhhindig!

It’s a flash mob. It’s a silent disco. It’s a roaming, rhythmic riot through the sound-soaked streets of the Fringe...

silentadventures.co.uk

100 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

Top Tips | F EST I VA L MU S I C

list.co.uk/festival

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 Music highlights from the first week of the Fringe, arranged in a handy chronological guide

9AM BACH FOR BREAKFAST The Royal Scots Club, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16 Aug, 9.30am, £15 (£12). Talented young classical musicians perform Bach’s greatest compositions over breakfast for Fringe early risers. Tea, coffee and biscuits are included.

11AM FIRST PIANO ON THE MOON: WILL PICKVANCE Summerhall, 2–18 Aug (not 12), 11.30am, £8–£12. Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8. A unique children’s show that follows a pianist as he attempts to adapt compositions by Mozart, Chopin and Scott Joplin for outer space. Join Will Pickvance as he tells stories through song and uncovers how music is affected by space, distance and gravity.

NOON CAMINO DE SANGJARU Assembly George Square Studios, 2–26 Aug (not 12, 19), noon, £12 (£10).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8. Inspired

by Paulo Coelho’s novel The Pilgrimage, Korean Gipsy Sangjaru create indigenous world music based on Korean traditional culture. Follow three young men as they travel to Santiago and create original music throughout the journey.

NOSFERATU WITH LIVE SCORE One of the most important films in the development of horror cinema, this 1922 silent expressionistic tale of vampires – directed by FW Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the titular blood sucker – still has the power to shock. The movie is accompanied by a live score from renowned Scottish guitarist and composer Graeme Stephen, blending jazz, folk, classical and improvisation. Leith Depot, 4 & 5 Aug, 8pm, £10 (£8).

1PM BONNIE BAYOU The Jazz Bar, 2 & 3, 5, 10, 14, 16, 19, 22, 26 Aug, 1pm, £10 (£8). Upand-coming Scottish pop songwriter Jennifer Ewan performs her sincere original songs, as well as some Louisiana creole and cajun dance classics in this delectable musical feast.

Expect to hear accordion, bass and more from Ewan’s talented bayou band.

5PM AN AUDIENCE WITH KYLE FALCONER The Old Dr Bells Baths, 2–4 Aug, 5pm, £17 (£12). A special evening with Kyle Falconer, singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of the Scottish indie rock band the View. Hosted by podcast host James English, Kyle will tell stories, play some acoustic songs, and answer questions from keen fans.

ESTHER SWIFT Pianodrome at the Pitt, 3 Aug, 5pm, 13 Aug, 7pm, £8–£14. Scottish harpist, composer, singer and songwriter Esther Swift performs beautiful songs that effortlessly fuse her folk, jazz and classical influences. A perfect opportunity to retreat from the Fringe madness.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE Big lung-busting ethereal indie comes from Miss Florence Welch and her henchmen, with their mix of mesmerising art rock and the leader’s theatrical approach to live shows. Support comes from Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s experimental pop project Self Esteem. This is the opening gig at this year’s Summer Sessions series that also features Primal Scream, Chvrches, Lewis Capaldi and more. Princes Street Gardens, 7 & 8 Aug, 6pm, £55 (VIP £80).

6PM MY LEONARD COHEN Assembly Rooms, 3–25 Aug, 6.30pm, £16.50 (£15.50). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £11. A moving musical celebration of the late Leonard Cohen

by Stewart D’Arrietta and his band. The Fringe hit of 2016 and 2017 includes arrangements of Cohen classics, as well as poetic anecdotes that uncover the musician’s fascinating life.

SARAH JANE MORRIS: SWEET LITTLE MYSTERY Assembly George Square Studios, 2–11 Aug, 6.45pm, £14 (£13).

Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10. Sarah Jane Morris celebrates the music of British songwriter and guitarist John Martyn in this special show which also includes unreleased footage of Martyn.

Morris herself is best known for her work with pop group the Communards in the 80s.

7PM CHOIR OF MAN Assembly Hall, 3–25 Aug, 7pm, £14–£17.50. Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £12–£13. Creators Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay entertain audiences with pub tunes, folk, rock and Broadway numbers in this fun show for all ages featuring talented tappers, singers and multi-instrumentalists.

BRIGHDE CHAIMBEUL & AIDAN O’ROURKE Summerhall, 3 Aug, 7pm, £14.

Skye musician and piper Brighde Chaimbeul’s music is inspired by her Gaelic language and indigenous culture, as well as piping styles from Cape Breton, Eastern Europe and Ireland. The up-and-coming talent is joined by Aidan O’Rourke for this onenight-only performance.

BACK TO BLACK theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall, 2–24 Aug, 7.20pm, £14 (£12.50).

This highly anticipated new ‘showumentary’ premiering at the Fringe dives deep into six-time Grammy winner Amy Winehouse’s career, musical talent and legacy.

Winehouse’s hit songs including ‘Back to Black’, ‘Valerie’ and ‘Rehab’ are performed by the soulful Reine Beau Anderson Dudley in this stirring tribute.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND The Liquid Room, 7 Aug, 7.30pm, £30. The UK-born Canadian actor and singer performs country music songs from his recently released sophomore studio album, Reckless & Me. Jack Bauer of 24 trades in his gun for a guitar and cowboy boots in this rare, intimate performance.

8PM WEST SIDE STORY Usher Hall, 5 & 6 Aug, 8pm, £20–£60.

As two rival gangs fight for control of New York City’s Upper West Side in the 1950s, a pair of teenagers fall in love in this special production of the classic musical for the Edinburgh International Festival.

9PM CAMILLE O’SULLIVAN SINGS CAVE Pleasance Courtyard, 2–25 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 9pm, £22 (£20). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £13. Theatrical songstress Camille O’Sullivan sings haunting, powerful songs by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in this highly anticipated new tribute show.

10PM TWEAK FESTIVAL OPENING PARTY The Liquid Room, 2 Aug, 10pm, £10–£25. This late-night festival opening party returns after a three year hiatus.

Carl Craig, Simon Bays and Kieran Apter will be accompanied by live audiovisual displays in Room One, while Jamie 3:26, Athens of the North and a special guest are in Room Two. 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 101

F EST I VA L M US I C | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1

SK SHLOMO: SURRENDER Underbelly Cowgate, 3–23 Aug (not 12), 10.10pm, £12.50 (£11.50).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £8. The Fringe’s favourite beatboxer returns with a new one-man show to share his own journey overcoming grief, addiction and suicidal depression.

TIM VINE PRESENTS: PLASTIC ELVIS LIVE IN CONCERT! Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 7 Aug, 10.15pm, £15.50 (£14.50). Comedian Tim Vine is Plastic Elvis for this onenight-only concert event. Plastic Elvis is backed up by the High Noon Band and there is even a special guest appearance by Big Buddy Holly.

11PM MISS WORLD ALL STARS Sneaky Pete’s, 2 Aug, 11pm, £6. An

102 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

all-night party at Sneaky Pete’s on the first Friday night of the Fringe. Female DJs will be spinning all the best tracks until 5am so that you can get your festival month started off proper.

PHOTO: FABIO LOVINO

SYMPHRONICA The Jazz Bar, 6–10 Aug, 10pm, £10 (£8); also theSpace @ Niddry Street, 12–24 Aug, 8pm, £7–£10 (£8). Led by jazz pianist-composer and BBC Radio 3 regular Ron Davis, SymphRONica highlights and blends together various genres and sounds for an exciting and unpredictable performance.

MASSAOKE MIXTAPE Assembly George Square Gardens, 1–4, 8–11, 15–18, 22–25 Aug, 11.40pm, £12–£17.50. Spandexwearing band Massaoke performs all the best pop, indie and rock anthems live while the entire crowd is guided by massive video lyrics and encouraged to join in.

FAT COPS Assembly George Square Gardens, 7 Aug, 11.55pm, £13 (£12). Bobby Bluebell, Al Murray and friends (including none other than JK Rowling’s husband Neil Murray) make ‘hip-shakin’, garage-groovin’, punkglam chaos’ music as Fat Cops. The new group will play choice cuts from their critically acclaimed debut album.

MIDNIGHT THE KATET VS JOHN WILLIAMS The Jazz Bar, 7, 15, 20, 22, 25 Aug, midnight, £10 (£9). John Williams has composed some of the most

ELISA A heartfelt and passionate delivery has turned Elisa Toffoli into a massive star in her native Italy. Drawing on pop, electronica and alt.rock influences, she has performed with such luminaries as Pavarotti, Tina Turner and Antony Hegarty. And it’s just been announced that she will be the voice of Nala in the Italian version of The Lion King (the same part sung by Beyoncé for the English version). Liquid Room, 2 Aug, 7.30pm, £20.

popular and recognisable film scores including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and E.T. This show by

the Edinburgh eight-piece superband features funky, danceable renditions of Williams’ compositions.

l a v i t s e f

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I, AMDRAM The amateur players get their part in Hannah Maxwell’s story of return and reconciliation

PHOTO: DAISY KING

‘It ain’t High Art. There’s some stupid jokes and sing-along and extremely poor piano-playing.’ Hannah Maxwell’s description of I, AmDram might consciously reject the usual claims of live art – the genre in which she has established a reputation for engaging and witty work – but she revels in the tension between queer performance and the amateur dramatics that first inspired her.

‘I’ve tried to situate the show, in form and content, at a midpoint between my memories of amateur dramatics and my present experience of living in London as a queer performance-maker,’ she explains. From her time as a member

of Welwyn Thalians Musical and Dramatic Society, Maxwell retains a fondness for the ambitions of a theatre community that is often damned with faint praise.

‘What has also been fun, in sharing early bits of I, Am Dram to friends in London – drag kings/ queens, trans activists, live artists, lesbian academics – is realising how everyone has at some point been in the chorus of Calamity Jane!’ she continues. Observing the connections between two apparently diverse scenes drives the show, pulling out their shared supportive sensibilities.

Having worked with Split

Britches, a company internationally recognised for bridging the gap between experimental and accessible theatre, Maxwell’s celebration of her secret past refuses to exclude either group. ‘I really enjoy people from both sides being in the audience – making confused young LGBTQ+ people sing “Pack Up Your Troubles”, then slipping in some veiled references to drugs and cunnilingus. To the tune of “Modern Major-General” from Pirates of Penzance, so my nan probably didn’t even notice.’ (Gareth K Vile) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 2pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

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F EST I VA L T H E AT RE | Hitlist

Gareth K Vile picks out the best theatre to check out in week one I, AMDRAM Queer performance artist Hannah Maxwell has a secret – for 90 years, her family has indulged in amateur dramatics. Using moments from her onstage life, Maxwell considers the ways in which individuals create their sense of identity in a show that aims to please fans of abstract performance and classic musicals. See preview, page 103. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 2pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8.50).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.

TYPICAL After last year’s Fringe success with Queens of Sheba, Nouveau Riche are back with a script that examines questions of identity through one veteran’s experiences. Despite having served in the armed forces, a former soldier does not feel at home in the UK – is being black and being British always at odds? See feature, page 113. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 4.30pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

TRAUMBOY / TRAUMGIRL Part of the Swiss Selection, with a

104 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

woman and a man performing on alternate nights, Traumboy / Traumgirl emerged from Daniel Hellman’s thoughts on sex work, with a response created by Anne Welnec. The personal and the professional, the biographical and the philosophical, expose the underlying tensions of shame, sex work, identity and capitalist conditions.

Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 19), 8.10pm, £12 (£10). Previews 31 Jul, 2 Aug, £5.

PHOTO: PATRICK MATTRAUX

THEATRE HITLIST

Traumboy / Traumgirl

DADDY DRAG Leyla Josephine asks what it means to be a father, and how their influence can be felt in their children. Using drag, humour and her distinctive poetic style, Josephine demonstrates how performance can express both love and critique in intelligent and emotional terms. Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 5.45pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul, £5 & 2 Aug, £8.

GIRL BULLY With audience interaction, improvisation, plenty of humour and a guest appearance from right-wing ‘intellectual’ Ann Coulter, New York duo Mary Clohan and Mary McDonnell consider the use of the word ‘bitch’, pondering the problems of pressure

placed on women and girls to conform to polite and fierce stereotypes.

Laughing Horse @ The Place, 1–10 Aug, 8pm, free.

THE BURNING Going back as far as the origins of the word ‘witch’, Incognito consider the relationship between horror

and capitalism, witches and their persecutors, and promise to expose the moments in history that fractured female identity into the dualism of Madonna or whore. See feature, page 109. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7.

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Climate Change | F EST I VA L T HE AT RE

PHOTO: JACK OFFORD

CO N D I TI ON C R IT I CAL Climate change has become a hot topic for Fringe shows over the past decade. Gareth K Vile questions what impact such productions are having on cultural attitudes and whether reducing the carbon footprint of the festival season itself could be a more powerful and effective tool in combating the crisis

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PHOTO: MOLLY BERNARDIN

F

rom the littering of Edinburgh’s streets with discarded flyers to the consumerist rhetoric of ‘bigger and better’ in the annual announcement of the programme, and from the number of visitors placing pressure on the city’s infrastructure to the invitation in 2018 for critics to fly to Scandinavia for an early review of a show that made dire warnings about a global collapse, some might argue that the Fringe doesn’t appear to have much of a conscience about environmental degradation.

Yet many shows over the past decade have made climate change their focus, encouraging audiences to think a little bit more about the wasteful culture that is driving the planet towards disaster. As the climate change catastrophe comes closer, theatremakers are not only driven to speak of the threat but, in some cases, encourage performances that are actually less destructive.

Most obviously, many companies take an aspect of environmental danger as the subject of their performance. Last year, Tom Bailey pondered the migration of birds, but for 2019 he addresses an immediate threat. ‘Vigil is about the sixth mass extinction of animal and plant life that we are currently experiencing. It’s happening now and it’s happening very fast,’ he says. ‘Our show explores all 26,000 names in the IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] Red List of extinct, disappearing and endangered species. It may seem a lot, but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of actual species decline and extinction: there’s so much out there that is unknown.’

By homing in on a specific issue within the broader framework of climate change, Bailey’s Vigil follows a theatrical tradition of urgent content that engages with a public conversation. Rohan Gotobed, of Coast to Coast Theatre Company, expands on this practice. ‘I like my theatre to question the personal within the political. Play Before Birth puts this climate change catastrophe into four young women’s lives, 106 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

so our perspective shifts with their beliefs and agenda.’ Examining the consequences of human behaviour, Gotobed states that ‘this is a call to action: horror on stage.’

While Bailey and Coast to Coast have made efforts to limit their carbon footprints, other companies are working to move the message beyond the stage. BoxedIn Theatre are bringing The Greenhouse – a purpose-built, sustainable performance venue – to the Fringe with a mission of zero waste, alongside workshops and cheap entry, placing environmental cost at the heart of critical discussions. Artistic director Oli Savage explains ‘theatre isn’t just about the performance. At The Greenhouse, we believe good theatre has to be holistic. There is so much stuff that surrounds a theatrical production, why not use that to deliver a message as well?’

After visiting the Fringe in 2017 to research its environmental impact, Alice Boyd was moved to found Staging Change, ‘a growing network of performers, makers and venues who work together to improve the environmental sustainability of the theatre. Our team is keen to ensure the future of theatre is green.’ Through a series of workshops in August and via their website, Staging Change offers practical advice to alleviate the toll on the planet, while encouraging performers to recognise their responsibility and realise their creativity.

‘As of July 2019, we have rallied over 150 individuals and theatre companies to join our network,’ Boyd says. ‘By joining, members are recognising the urgent need for collaborative action on climate change, while committing to improve their environmental practice where possible.’ With venues also getting involved, Staging Change are challenging the wasteful practices that undermine theatre’s credibility when it discusses climate change.

Individual companies have developed alternative strategies. For their show, In the Shadow of The Black Dog, theatre company All The Pigs have abandoned the flyer. ‘Not only have we printed our show on jumpers,’

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Climate Change | F EST I VA L T HE AT RE

Left to right: Play Before Birth, Landscape (1989), The Greenhouse; previous page: Vigil

says writer Daniel Hallissey, ‘but we have also created a QR code you can scan and a link will appear sending you to our show’s booking and information page. This saves paper, waste, trees, is environmentally friendly and sustainable.’ Emergency Chorus have ensured that their production Landscape (1989) can be packed into just three suitcases and found an Edinburgh-based printer who uses recycled paper and soy ink.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of theatre companies who are keen to push environmental messages on the grounds of ‘raising awareness’, a possibly spurious belief that performance can have an impact on cultural attitudes. Theatre has rarely made direct social change, and the dangers of preaching to the converted, or investing resources in a production that plays to an empty auditorium, suggest that innovations in addressing the carbon footprint of an Edinburgh run are a more immediate way to combat climate change. Boyd, however, believes that productions which aim to raise awareness do have a role in the movement towards sustainability.

‘Alison Tickell, founder of Julie’s Bicycle [a not-for-profit organisation working to make environmental sustainability a core component in the arts and creative industries], explained it beautifully at their Season for Change briefing: the arts is the difference between knowing knowledge and feeling knowledge. Theatre, and other forms of art and entertainment, have the ability to create the stories needed to communicate the issue of climate change to the wider population.’

Debbie Hicks, producer of When the Birds Come, believes that ‘theatre can help us empathise with those already facing an insurmountable threat to their way of life,’ while Daniel Hallissey observes that ‘we connect with stories far better than we do facts.’ Clara Potter-Sweet and Ben Kulvichit from Emergency Chorus are positive that ‘theatre can add to the conversation – in ways which are intimate, emotional, nuanced, interdisciplinary. It is a space in which to pause, and think and feel deeply.’

There is a long way to go before the Edinburgh Festivals reconcile their environmental impact with an active commitment to becoming a solution, yet these artists are struggling against a set of conditions – financial stability, emotional wellbeing, the desire to find an audience for their message – to bring forward the conversation. Rather than preaching, theatre has a capacity to encourage a dialogue, and perhaps contains a more mysterious power. As Potter-Sweet and Kulvichit conclude, ‘it has the power to heal and transform people.’

And perhaps this energy can open up a more positive and effective approach that even reaches beyond the festival season.

Vigil, Summerhall, 6–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 1pm, £10 (£9).

Previews 2–4 Aug, £8 (£7).

Play Before Birth, Greenside @ Infirmary Street, 12–24 Aug (not 18), times vary, £8 (£6).

The Greenhouse by BoxedInTheatre, various shows during Aug at Pleasance Pop-up: Dynamic Earth, times and prices vary.

In the Shadow of the Black Dog, Assembly Rooms, 3–23 Aug, 6.30pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.

Landscape (1989), ZOO Playground, 2–25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 12.45pm, £10 (£9).

When the Birds Come, Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 2.20pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £7.

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History on Stage | F EST I VA L T HE AT RE

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Presenting historical events on stage is not a simple cut and paste job from the history books.

Katharine Gemmell asks some of the creatives bringing shows to the Fringe based on reallife stories where the balance lies between factual retelling and having artistic licence to interpret the past

T

he stage has long been the chosen medium for relaying acts of the past, but if the line between fact and fiction is unclear, it raises the question of whether theatre can ever truly represent history. And if it can’t, then why do we keep going back to past events for on-stage content?

‘I don’t think that’s the job of theatre. I think theatre is about ideas and feelings,’ says Roberta Zuric, director of Incognito’s The Burning, a new physical piece that follows women and witch hunters across time. ‘We’ve been working with a historian and he’s wonderful but, as historians are, he’s a stickler for detail.

That made it clear to us that our job is to give an interpretation that then opens discussion’.

Caitlin McEwan, writer and star of Poor Michelle’s Bible John, based her show on the unsolved 1960s Glasgow Barrowland murders but uses the production to consider the contemporary obsession with true crime. She agrees with Zuric that history in theatre doesn’t need to be accurate. ‘You can’t present things exactly as they are: there’s always the danger

MARSENIC PHOTO: MARKO

FAC E THE FACTS

that things get heightened or fictionalised.

I think it’s a really interesting medium to play with artifice and reality.’ So, is it about perspective rather than fact? ‘It gives you perspective, gives you more of the heart of the thing and why we shouldn’t forget it.’

The prolific playwright David Edgar, however, believes that theatre can be good at representing history. ‘It goes in waves,’ he muses. ‘If you were to look back over theatre during the last 60 years you would find a pretty good record of cultural, political and social changes that have occurred and how people have responded to them.’

Edgar’s first ever solo show, Trying It On, consists of his 20-year-old self in the 1960s arguing with his 70-year-old self in 2018 about how the world, and himself, has changed.

He points out that theatre exploring history wasn’t fashionable when he was 20. ‘I’m of a generation that believed that you should write plays set in the present. If that meant they had a sell-by-date then so be it. One way around that was plays in which the present and the past is confronted, plays in which the present investigates the past in some way.’ >> 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 109

F EST I VA L T H E AT RE | History on Stage

The Burning, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

Bible John, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.50pm, £11–£12. (£10–£11). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

Trying It On, 4–25 Aug (not 5,12,19), times vary, £22 (£15–£16.50). Preview 3 Aug, £15 (£9).

PHOTOS: SUSAN WAREHAM

110 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

In Trying It On, the history Edgar mediates on is the events of his youth – the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr and sex, drugs and rock’n’roll – with the added perspectives of well-known activists and figures of his generation like Tariq Ali, Anna Coote and Hilary Wainwright. He believes this type of solo show would have been hard to do ten years ago, ‘because all kinds of things have happened since then that bring back the feel of the 1960s.

‘I think people are clearly looking back with the rise of the populist right, people are looking back to the 30s, and what happened in Europe,’ he continues, ‘but they’re also looking back to what happened in the 60s and 70s.’ By exploring his younger and older selves through time, he reveals the various ways in which his life has bumped into history along the way. ‘I think it’s quite important to understand how history impacts on you and I think that is particularly true of the moment, because, God knows, whatever happens in the current political moment, all of our lives are going to change, and our personal lives are going to be impacted by the histories of which we are living.’

So, while theatre may never truly represent history as it happens in textbooks, the current political, social and cultural climate makes it a breeding ground for historical-based theatrical pieces. The juxtaposition of yesterday and today in theatre can reveal a lot about tomorrow, and might just be capturing the zeitgeist that defines our times.

PHOTOS: ARNIM FRIESS

PHOTO: KATIE EDWARDS

<< This trend of using history to examine the present isn’t new, but there’s a sense that in our current turbulent times, people are looking back more than ever. Zuric explains that The Burning is doing just that, ‘Witch hunts spiked in Europe at moments of great change . . . we’re asking, “are we again at a big point of change and turmoil?”’

She hopes that she can show history in a new light to provide an answer to why witch hunts happened in the first place, ‘I want people to understand that a lot of these big events came from basic human emotions of fear and anxiety.’

Essentially, we must realise that anyone has the potential to have been the bad guy in history.

‘We think “well they all just didn’t know what they were doing”, when actually they are a lot closer to us because we still operate from being emotional beings’.

Bible John similarly uses the past to confront the present and explores the popular genre of true crime and its uncanny ability to resonate.

‘They are just women who went on a night out and didn’t come home, I think there’s nothing really in place to stop that happening again. It looks at that with a modern lens and questions whether it could,’ McEwan explains.

The current cultural obsession with true crime tells us that storytelling based on real-life events captivates audiences. But when the stories in this genre rarely have resolutions, and the majority feature violence against women, why are we so enthralled? ‘The self-protection thing is really big,’ says McEwan. ‘The fact they have all the elements of traditionally good stories like intrigue, high stakes and evidence, and I think people are attracted by the psychological aspect of understanding why someone would do something like that.’

But for McEwan, her story isn’t really about that, it’s about opening up these histories and taking the spotlight off the perpetrators and on to the often faceless victims. ‘Centring the victims is the most important part of the play for me and if nothing else is remembered, if they know these women’s names, that will be the main thing.’

Clockwise from left: Bible John, Trying It On; previous page: The Burning

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Can Theatre Change the World? | F EST I VA L T HE AT RE

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First Time

AGE N TS OF CHANGE Can theatre change the world? Gareth K Vile takes a look at three plays asking the tough questions and challenging audiences at this year’s Fringe

P

olitical engagement has become one of the common themes within the Fringe.

Parcelled up into different strands of the programme, theatre companies attempt to address the pressing concerns of the moment – predominantly Trump’s ascendancy, the altright’s occupation of public discourse and austerity over the past few years. At the same time, the umbrella of political engagement is used to justify the continued importance of performance at a time when food banks have become all too familiar and worries about the financial security of the NHS are frequently evoked in the discussion of state funding of the arts.

Activism is rarely the sole focus of Fringe productions, with exceptions like Londonbased company Cardboard Citizens who retain a direct link between their organisation and their subject matter, working with homeless people as they tell their stories on stage. But it has become an important component in

contemporary theatre, while also influencing organisations like Extinction Rebellion who consciously incorporate theatricality into their protest actions.

Theatre is often content to operate as a form of consciousness raising, presenting certain perspectives – usually on the progressive or leftof-centre side – to encourage debate. The nature of criticism, however, often fails to extend this process, reducing shows to a star-rating and aesthetic commentary, and not taking the debate forward. It’s here that the consciousness finds its ceiling, contained within the performance and not moving beyond the stage.

‘I’ve learnt that telling a personal story can allow an audience a lens into a perspective they haven’t ever considered,’ says Nathaniel Hall, writer and performer of First Time, an autobiographical solo show that considers the impact of HIV. Beginning with his own experiences, Hall ‘zooms out to consider the global perspective: 35 million people have >> 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 113

F EST I VA L T H E AT RE | Can Theatre Change the World?

Splintered

<< died from HIV/AIDS and 37 million still live with it’. However, Hall is not content to limit his activism to the stage.

‘First Time has allowed me to promote the incredible developments in HIV healthcare and prevention to a huge audience,’ he continues.

‘Theatre allows audiences to directly reflect on their role and responsibility within our society. During the original run of the show in 2018, we had a whole host of participatory and wraparound activity which increased the audience reach from the 420 who saw the show to 4600 who engaged with a workshop, visited our community exhibition or joined in a discussion.

When we come to the Fringe, we’re proud to be partnered with HIV Scotland and will be delivering talks, workshops and fundraising – including an opportunity to donate by text. It’s my way of giving back and contributing to the aim of ending HIV in a generation.’

If First Time combines representation and workshops, Nouveau Riche, who stormed the Fringe last year with Queens of Sheba, hold a belief in the theatrical event as an impetus for change. Writer Ryan Calais Cameron says that ‘it is the sense of community that I keep coming back to; for an appointed time we are all watching this experience together, laughing together, talking together, cheering, crying, in shock and in awe, and then we all leave together and evoke conversations with those we came with and those who we have just met.’

His script, Typical, takes a true story and uses theatre to challenge preconceptions.

‘It is the story of a black man who is just a man when he is in his home, but when he leaves he must navigate through society’s ideas and prejudices about what it means to be black.

His story brings up questions about belonging and identity: he fought in the Falklands war, he sacrificed himself for his nation, yet is that enough to class you as British? Can you be black and truly be British? I wanted to explore the reality of something that has felt like a huge contradiction throughout my life. Especially now in a post-Brexit referendum Britain.’

By addressing a fundamental and timely concern, Cameron affirms the potential of performance within the public sphere, lending the subject an intimacy and immediacy, 114 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

transforming an idea into an emotive and emotional discussion. Emily Aboud, director of Splintered, has taken a similar belief and created a queer cabaret-theatre that has been influenced by Caribbean notions of carnival.

‘Representation matters,’ says Aboud, ‘and most resistance movements began in cabaret bars. Society currently promotes a racist structure, a homophobic structure and a patriarchal structure – theatre (and all art) should rise to meet it.’

Splintered simultaneously celebrates the cultural diversity of Caribbean society and questions its homophobia: Aboud ponders how a society that energetically embraces so many religions and communities struggles to include queerness. ‘It came to a head in 2018 when Trinidad and Tobago had its first Pride and I saw the sheer amount of queer people, celebrating and rebelling – it was fantastic,’ Aboud says.

‘I just wanted to speak to people and see what they had to say. I learned that so much of the queer experience is shared and, unfortunately, discovered that trauma around coming out was universal. I wanted to create a show that separated the trauma from queerness.’

Across the Fringe, the importance of autobiographical performance, the ubiquity of feminist-driven theatre and the increasing number of shows that engage with contemporary politics suggest a sustained belief in the power of theatre as a public space for discussion: Typical, Splintered and First Time, in different ways, challenge assumptions and make a connection between the stage and society. The question now becomes how these conversations are shaped through the responses of audiences to influence attitudes and policies.

First Time, Summerhall, 2–25 Aug, (not 12, 19), 4.15pm, £14.50 (£12.50). Preview 31 Jul, £5.

Typical, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 13), 4.30pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

Splintered, Bedlam Theatre, 2–25 Aug (not 13, 20), 9.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8 (£6).

Becky Barber-Sharp & Something for the Weekend present

Directed by Lisa Cagnacci 31 July - 26 August, 11:30am (not 13; 1hr)

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F EST I VA L T H E AT RE | Top Tips

TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 Our top tips for theatre in the first week of the Fringe

10AM WHERE TO BELONG Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 10.10am, £9 (£7). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5. The rise of the right in Brazil presents Victor Esses with a challenge: travelling to his childhood homeland in 2018, he discovers that his sexuality is increasingly unwelcome. Jewish-Lebanese, gay and Brazilian, Esses reflects on the diverse strands that inform his identity.

11AM BYSTANDERS Summerhall, 1–25 Aug (not 12,19), 11.30am, £12 (£10). Preview 31 Jul, £8 (£5). Cardboard Citizens, Britain’s leading homeless theatre company, doesn’t mess about: not allowing the audience be bystanders, they discuss the excessive number of homeless deaths (800 between October 2017 and March 2019) and use true stories to get at the reality behind the statistics.

NOON LAUREN BOOTH: ACCIDENTALLY MUSLIM Summerhall, 1–25 Aug (not 12,19), 11.30am, £12 (£10). Preview 31 Jul, £8 (£5). A personal tale of a women’s journey to Islam – via a life of partying. Lauren Booth talks about her life in a nuanced examination of the path to religion, although whether she’ll mention her famous in-law is not known at this stage.

ALGORITHMS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 12.45pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6.50. Sadie Clark’s one woman show navigates the online dating scene from the perspective of Brooke, a bisexual woman, as she turns thirty.

The preconceptions of women in society, sexuality, FOMO, and feeling (dis)connected through social media are addressed in this witty and moving new show.

BOBBY & AMY Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 12), 12.45pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Previous

Fringe First winner Emily Jenkins presents her dark new comedy about the impact of foot-and-mouth disease on a boy and girl’s life and friendship. As well as highlighting its catastrophic impact, it also celebrates the importance of British agriculture.

three wacky, lovable characters who live cheek-by-jowl in adjoining rooftop bedsits. A remarkable work of physical comedy and set design, Fishbowl has just come off of a sold-out European tour, so we wouldn’t expect anything less for their UK debut. See feature, page 17.

THE CLAIM Roundabout @ Summerhall, 4–25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 12.50pm, £14–£15 (£12–£13). Previews 31 Jul–3 Aug, £9–£14. While political parties claim that it isn’t about racism, the treatment of migrants is getting worse. The Claim responds to the Home Office interview, as one man discovers that he has to put on the performance owf his life to prove the truth of his request for asylum, as absurdism meets political satire.

HOICHI THE EARLESS C South, 1–10 Aug, 1.05pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£8.50–£10.50).

A mash-up of traditional Chinese music, storytelling and physical theatre, Hoichi delves into folklore through the story of a lute player who has an intimate connection to those who have passed.

1PM FISHBOWL Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 14), 1pm, £14–£17.50 (£12– £15.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £9. Winner of the prestigious Molière Award in France for Best Comedy Play, Fishbowl follows the everyday lives of

CATCHING COMETS Pleasance Courtyard, 3–25 Aug (not 7, 12, 19), 1.45pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. There are plenty of male macho role models – from Bruce Wayne to Willis, but are they still fit for purpose? When a young man finds the apocalypse is heading his way through an approaching comet, he is forced to emulate his heroes, even when his personal relationships already present enough of a challenge.

MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR How far would you go for financial stability? In the time of austerity, a company made up of Generation Z graduates face the questions that define their lives. Spies Like Us use comedy and physical theatre to ask whether principles and friendship trump getting on the housing ladder. Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 2.15pm, £8.50–£11 (£7.50–£10). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

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GOBSMACKED

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THE MAGNETS

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31 JUL - 25 AUG

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WORLD PREMIERE A THICKSKIN AND TRAVERSE THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTION, CO-PRODUCED WITH TRON THEATRE AND LAWRENCE BATLEY THEATRE

HOW NOT TO

DROWN

BY NICOLA McCARTNEY AND DRITAN KASTRATI

Traverse Theatre (Scotland) is a Scottish Charity (SC002368).

THE TRUE STORY OF AN 11-YEAR-OLD ASYLUM SEEKER ARRIVING IN THE UK. TOLD BY THE MAN HE IS NOW.

Sun 4 – Sun 25 Aug 0131 228 1404 traverse.co.uk

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Misanthrope Theatre (Kiev, Ukraine)

Misanthrope Theatre (Kiev, Ukraine)

UBU THE UBUKING THE KING "Alfred Jarry, adapted by the Misanthrope theatre"

"Alfred Jarry, adapted by the Misanthrope theatre"

118 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Julâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;7 Aug 2019

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TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 BLOOD AND GOLD Scottish Storytelling Centre, 2–26 Aug (not 12, 19), 2pm, £12 (£10).

Preview 1 Aug, £8. From Kenya to Edinburgh, Mara Menzies uses storytelling to transport the audience to a world where mythological imagination and mundane urban life come together to reflect on the postcolonial world.

THE GRAY CAT AND THE FLOUNDER Assembly George Square Studios, 2–22 Aug (not 12, 19), 2.05pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10. Commissioned by the Flounder himself, this celebration of a real-life love story encases the audience in binaural sound: through headphones, the musical numbers become intimate and immediate, and a decade spanning ‘series of conversations’ are captured in cartoons, song and puppetry.

A WOMB OF ONE’S OWN Pleasance Dome, 3–26 Aug (not 13, 22), 2.50pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Based on real-life experiences of abortion and a Catholic upbringing, Claire Rammelkamp’s show unflinchingly tackles relationships and the lack of information around having a termination.

3PM THE TRIAL Greenside @ Infirmary Street, 2–17 Aug (not 4, 11), 3pm, £10 (£5).

Franko Figueiredo directs a loose adaptation of the novel Tieta do Agreste. When Tieta comes home for justice, the audience are cast as the jury, and contemporary attitudes and struggles are examined in the light of what appears to be an international regression in the matter of rights and respect for trans people.

FATTY FAT FAT Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Roundhouse resident artist Katie Greenall brings poetry to a discussion of how body positivity has been usurped by ‘everyone but the people it was originally intended to represent’. Inspired by fat activism, Greenall explores the experience of living in a body that ‘the world tells you to hate’.

THE BURNING Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £11–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 31 Jul–1 Aug, £7. Going back as far as the origins of the word ‘witch’, Incognito chase through time and space to consider the relationship between horror and capitalism, witches and their persecutors, and promises to expose the moments in history that fractured female identity into the dualism of Madonna or whore.

RICH KIDS: A HISTORY OF SHOPPING MALLS IN TEHRAN With the gap between rich and poor increasing, and social media helping it along, Javaad Alipoor ponders the ways that gap is presented as societies gradually exhaust their ambitions and politicians seem to be self-interested. Traverse, 1–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), times vary, £21.

PHOTO: BERNADETTE BAKSA

2PM

BIBLE JOHN Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug (not 13), 3.50pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. The unsolved late-1960s Barrowland Ballroom murders by the mysterious Bible John are examined in a new piece from Poor Michelle theatre company. It follows four women in 2019 who try to solve the mystery fuelled by an obsession with true crime.

4PM A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FRAGILE MALE EGO Pleasance Dome, 3–26 Aug (not 14, 21), 4pm, £10–£12 (£9–£10).

Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7. Jordan

FIX US The debut from BareFace is a semi-autobiographical challenge to preconceived notions about disability. Zara, Lee and Kirsty present onstage personae that attack stereotypes and labels, and use the fantasy of the stage to deliver deeper truths. Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 12.20pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Previews Thu 1 & Fri 2 Aug, £7.

and Skinner come from the rising Scottish clown scene, and this history is a lecture from a member of the Society of Men’s Truth. The lecture tour hasn’t been going so well, even though Andrea is sure that her message will help humanity get out from under a pressing weight.

FIRST TIME Summerhall, 2–25 Aug, (not 12, 19), 4.15pm, £14.50 (£12.50).

Preview 31 Jul, £5. Written and performed by queer activist and performer Nathaniel Hall, this autobiographical story sees Hall explore his experience of HIV and breaking through the stigma of being positive. See feature, page 113.

5PM DRUNK LION Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 1–25 (not 5, 6, 20), 5pm, free. The return of this 2014 Fringe success has an alcoholic lion meeting Chris, who seems to be at least something of a reflection on the writer-performer, who spent three years living in Mexico before committing his life to becoming a celebrity on the Fringe underground.

Both Spanish and English are placed in the service of Davis’ reflection on ‘his second home country’, alcoholism and the connection between man and (anthropomorphic) beast.

CONFETTI AND CHAOS Imagination Workshop, 1–26 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 5pm, £45–£47.50.

From the team that brought the legendary immersive show Faulty Towers The Dining Experience to the Edinburgh Fringe, this will be a wedding like no other, with a threecourse meal, questionable dancing and some bizarre, hilarious incidents along the way.

MY MUM’S A TWAT Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 5.30pm, £12 (£10). Previews 31 Jul, £5 & 2 Aug, £8. This common complaint from teenagers is more justified in Anoushka Warden’s debut play. Mum joins a New Religious Community that has less fashion sense and more fake piety than a daughter can tolerate. Warden will be performing this roughly autobiographical tale of growing up with a family that has been drawn into a twilight world of cults and hypocrites.

PIZZA SHOP HEROES Summerhall, 3–11 Aug, 5.40pm, £12 (£10). Three years after introducing their ‘theatre of sanctuary’, Phosphorus return to the Fringe with autobiographical tales of migration, identity and ambition.

By placing refugees on the stage, Phosphorus go beyond the predictable content of serious concern and consider theatre as a community that gives voice to the marginalised, rather than speaking on their behalf.

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TOP TIPS | WEEK 1 comedy to theatre follows a dark path that exposes the unintended consequences of a random act of kindness. Having developed a comedic style that weaves darkness and laughter into an award-winning fusion, Gadd’s debut in the theatre section (after a decade on the Fringe) promises more than a predictable, observational solo show.

7PM DEAD EQUAL Army @ The Fringe – Drill Hall, 2–25 Aug (not 5, 12, 17–19), 7pm, £12 (£9.50). This opera draws on verbatim testimonies to describe two volunteer nurses during World War I. Writer Lila Palmer explores the hidden history of these exceptional women to reflect how ‘women negotiate differences of experience in the extremity of a theatre of war’.

FEMPIRE: MESS BY KIRSTEN VANGSNESS Kirsten Vangsness’ solo show meanders from Christian rock to quantum uncertainty, as the actor familiar from CSI delves into her own consciousness and finds pleasure in fragmentation and a TED talk that explains quantum objects, eventually arriving at the conclusion that perhaps mess isn’t to be feared but celebrated. Assembly Rooms, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 21, 24 Aug, 8.15pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Preview 2 Aug, £7.

6PM BETWEEN US theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 5–17 Aug (not 11), 6.20pm, £9.50 (£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £8 (£6.50). The vagaries of finding intimacy with a significant other and falling apart are explored in this moving play from Rachel E Thorn and Alex Keen. The script has been improvised by these acclaimed actors, so anything can happen here, as they

delve into the highs and lows of one couple’s relationship.

BABY REINDEER BY RICHARD GADD Roundabout @ Summerhall, 4–25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 6.25pm, £14–£16 (£12–£13). Previews 31 Jul, 2 Aug, £9, 3 Aug, £14 (£12).

Despite the cute title and innocuous beginning – offering a cup of tea to a stranger – Gadd’s shift from

SEX EDUCATION Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 7.10pm, £12 (£10). Previews 31 Jul & 2 Aug, £5. Sex Education blends startling performance, moving storytelling, a no-holds-barred interview with Harry Clayton-Wright’s mum and some good old-fashioned gay porn that his dad bought him when he was 14. Join Harry as he delves into his sexual past, live on stage.

AMERICA IS HARD TO SEE Underbelly Cowgate, 3–25 Aug (not 12), 7.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).

Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6.50. Miracle Village is a real place that is inhabited by sex offenders. Through a verbatim script, Methodist hymns and folk music, Life Jacket ask whether redemption is possible for people who have, through their actions, been

compelled to live in a community which is bereft of anywhere that children might be able to play for their safety. This might be one of the most controversial and challenging plays of 2019.

8PM TRAUMBOY / TRAUMGIRL Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 19), 8.10pm, £12 (£10). Previews 31 Jul & 2 Aug, £5. Performed on alternating nights, Traumboy and Traumgirl is part of the Swiss Selection programme in Edinburgh, emerging from Daniel Hellman’s insights on sex work – and the response to them from fellow performer Anne Welenc.

FEMPIRE: CLEO, THEO & WU BY KIRSTEN VANGSNESS Assembly Rooms, 3–23 Aug (not 5, 8, 11, 14 & 15, 18, 20 & 21), 8.15pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10). Preview 1 Aug, £7. Inspired by the darkness of the last US election, Vangsness ponders the fake news directed at Hillary Clinton.

Her script follows a woman’s journey towards self-realisation, with the help of some women who have been undermined by historians and are ready to manifest and tell her stories.

EJACULATION: DISCUSSIONS ABOUT FEMALE SEXUALITY Summerhall, 3–24 Aug (not 12, 19), 8.55pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul, £5 & 2 Aug, £8. Still something of a taboo subject, Finnish performer and creator Essi Rossi, along with electronic musician Sarah Kivi, presents an honest, raw piece of documentary theatre which is the result of extensive international research with women from different backgrounds, alongside some sex experts.

PHOTO: CHRIS PAYNE

LADYBONES ‘I wrote Ladybones because I wanted to show people that OCD is more than just a condition,’ says writer Sorcha McCaffrey. ‘It draws on personal experience of living with OCD, which I wanted to explore in a truthful way and also show that recovery is possible. I want people to leave with a bit more hope than when they arrived.’ Pleasance Courtyard, 3–26 Aug, 11.25am, £9–£11 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £7.

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PHOTO: HUBERT AMIEL

9PM A ROCK’N’ROLL SUICIDE! ZOO Southside, 5–26 Aug, 9pm, £10 (£8). Previews 2–4 Aug, £5.

Performed by a veteran of the punk scene (Lee Mark Jones AKA Gypsy Lee Pistolero), Ziggy Stardust is revealed as the ADHD of the rock star who nearly was. A one-man show with a roll-call of virtual celebrity guest stars, this suicide is by turns glamorous, punky, anarchic and tragic.

SPLINTERED Bedlam Theatre, 2–25 Aug (not 13, 20), 9.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8 (£6). According to artistic director Emily Aboud, ‘this is the show I needed to see growing up, the show that would certainly be banned back home, and the show that celebrates the people whose very existence is an act of rebellion.

Caribbean culture itself is based in rampant homophobia and misogyny and the terrific sadness of this piece is that it is a wholly Caribbean piece that cannot safely exist in the Caribbean.’

THE POPULARS Summerhall, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.20pm, £12 (£8). Previews 31 Jul & 2 Aug, £5. Volcano like to make theatre for people who aren’t typical audiences: this is forceful, dynamic and visually impressive. After having a crack at Chekhov, they are going for the toughest nut to crack in a dance party about Brexit.

BRANDI ALEXANDER Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre, 3–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 9.45pm, £9.50– £10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 31 Jul–2 Aug, £6. Ostensibly a visit to a comedy club in 1987 and the return of a stand-up after a long time away, Brandi Alexander asks some difficult questions about how a woman can survive in a scene dominated by men, before descending into darker territory: is this time for comedy to admit to its serious toxic problems?

10PM MY FATHER THE TANTRIC MASSEUR Assembly George Square Studios, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 19), 10.10pm, £9–£11 (£8–£10). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. Join Roann McCloskey as she attempts to navigate life as a British Algerian queer woman with a conservative English father turned tantric masseur and a traditional Muslim mother. Expect uncomfortable laughs in this uproarious solo show which won an Origins Award for Outstanding New Work at the 2019 VAULT Festival.

LA REPRISE HISTOIRE(S) DU THEATRE (I) Director Milo Rau is not content to direct his theatrical scalpel on a brutal Belgian murder, but chases back to the very roots of theatre itself. Examining the crime in forensic detail, the show questions how theatre can provide a cathartic resolution to complex real-life problems. See feature, page 33. Lyceum, 3–5 Aug, 8pm, £20–£25.

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VISUAL ART FOR MORE INFO GO TO

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NOW Anya Gallaccio takes centre stage in latest edition of contemporary art series This fifth instalment of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s NOW series explores the work of six well-known contemporary visual artists, particularly those associated with Scotland. Its centrepiece is the work of Paisleyborn sometime Turner Prize nominee Anya Gallaccio, which fills four rooms and takes in fearsome, mirror-effect slabs of obsidian; plinths venerating the melted down ceramic remains of a past work; and, most strikingly, a carpet made from the heads of innumerable red roses.

In the gallery’s hall, Peles Empire (the German artists Katharina Stover and Barbara Wolff) have created ‘Flat Moods’, photographic images of detritus associated with this gallery made into floor-to-ceiling wallpaper coverings and printed Jesmonite panel reliefs. Zineb Sedira’s oddly abstract photographs are documentary closeups relating to the sugar industry, alongside a boat’s anchor and propeller cast in pure sugar, prompting thoughts of the relative ease of transporting goods internationally compared to

the passage of human beings.

Charles Avery’s piece, an extension of his Islanders series, places a whirring old projector showing fluttering imaginary ‘insects’ swirling in uniform patterns against the cage-like shadow of a sculptural cube frame; while Aurelien Froment’s two discrete pieces of work jar slightly, one an arrangement of knotted neon rope, the other a moving image record of the 14th-century Apocalypse Tapestry of Angers juxtaposed with a recorded commentary on the Book of Revelation by Canadian poet Steven McCaffery.

Finally, Roger Hiorns presents an arrangement of obsolete items – a jet engine, an x-ray machine, a park bench – waiting to be ‘activated’ as part of a performance. Each room offers something unusual and stimulating, yet each feels like a starter bite next to Gallaccio’s main course. (David Pollock) ■ Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), until 22 Sep, free. ●●●●●

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F EST I VA L VI S UA L ART | Hitlist

Rachael Cloughton picks out some of the best visual art events in the festival’s first week CINDY SHERMAN: EARLY WORKS 1975–1980 Early works by the iconic American photographer Cindy Sherman including photographs from her most famous series Untitled Film Stills and the lesser known Doll Clothes, a stop-motion film Sherman made at college. See review, page 127. Stills, until 6 Oct, free.

CUT AND PASTE: 400 YEARS OF COLLAGE A major overview of the ultimate DIY artform; the exhibition ranges from 16th-century anatomical flap prints to computer-based images. A staggering 180 works are on show, from a folding screen purportedly made in part by Charles Dickens, to collages by children and revolutionary cubist masterpieces.

See review, page 127. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two), until 27 Oct, £11.

RUSSIA, ROYALTY & THE ROMANOVS The complex but riveting story of the British and Russian royal families from the late 17th century to Russia’s

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last emperor Nicholas II, told through portraits, sculpture, photographs and archival documents. Many of the works of art were commissioned as diplomatic gifts, others as intimate personal mementos. See review, page 127. The Queen’s Gallery, until 3 Nov, £7.20 (£3.80–£6.80).

BRIDGET RILEY Prepare to be dazzled by this major retrospective exhibition by one of the world’s most iconic and important painters. Seven decades of work are shown across ten rooms, creating an exhibition that does not simply investigate Riley’s work but the very act of painting and how we see. See review, page 127. Scottish National Gallery, until 22 Sep, £15 (£8.50–£13).

WILD AND MAJESTIC: ROMANTIC VISIONS OF SCOTLAND A fascinating investigation into the legacy of the 18th and 19th-century romantic movement and how its ideas and imagery continue to represent Scotland around the world today; from highland and military dress to art, literature and the beginnings of the Scottish tourism industry. National Museum of Scotland, until 10 Nov, £10 (£8.50–£7.50).

From Shakespeare to circus #MakeYourFringe this summer

Book tickets now @ edfringe.com

124 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND

ART HITLIST

John Knox, ‘Landscape with Tourists at Loch Katrine’ from Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland

Below the Blanket | FEST I VA L VI S UA L A RT

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PHOTO: MURDO MACLEOD

GO WITH THE FLOW

This August, Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens hosts an outdoor journey through artworks and soundscapes inspired by Scotland’s environmentally precious northern peatlands. David Pollock finds out what visitors can expect when they go Below the Blanket >>

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F EST I VA L VI S UA L ART | Below the Blanket

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ore than ever before, environmental concerns will be at the forefront of works being shown across the Edinburgh Festivals this year, with a sense of renewed determination to do something about climate change. In the field of visual art, however, it can be difficult for an artist to create something of beauty and of intriguing artistic value while attaching an overt and unambiguous

message to it.

In Below the Blanket, Glasgow-based art producer Cryptic’s outdoor group show at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens, the combined works of five artists are intended to accumulate the desired message in subtle fashion. Each of the works was created in residence at the RSPB centre in Forsinard, in the heart of Scotland’s Flow Country, a vast area of peatland in Sutherland and Caithness which sustains a huge array of wildlife and traps carbon, mitigating against climate change.

‘As a visual artist my main focus is the aesthetic and the look of the work,’ says artist Heather Lander, who is originally from Maine, yet who has practiced in Glasgow for more than two decades. ‘Obviously making it tie in with the project is crucial, but I guess the idea is that the artwork be interesting and attractive enough to people that they’ll want to find out what it’s about, where the idea came from and what it represents. That way the information about the Flow Country will seem more memorable and important.’

Created under the direction of Cryptic’s artistic director Cathie Boyd, Below the Blanket – which refers to the blanket bog pools which dot the Flow Country – features work created following instruction from some of the scientists who work with the Flow Country environment.

Many of the works are sound-based in nature: Kathy Hinde will present soundscapes based on noises from deep within the bogs and the sound of the Flow Country wind itself, as well as a water-powered sculpture, while Luci Holland has also created a work from ambient sound, which responds to the presence of visitors.

Matthew Olden’s ‘data flow’ involving 100 speakers sounds like the kind of piece which needs to be experienced in person rather than described, while Hannah Imlach’s work involves photography hung around the gardens and a film made with Daniel Warren and composer Thomas Butler. A new choral work composed by Malcolm Lindsay and performed by the Dunedin Consort will be installed as a recording, but will also be performed four times by the Consort in situ throughout August.

Lander’s ‘Do Not Disturb | The Permanence of Fragility’, meanwhile, uses paintings on perspex layered alongside one another on plinths to give some idea of the durational nature of the bogs’ sphagnum moss covering, with hundreds, if not thousands of years required to build up just one centimetre of moss.

‘Hopefully this exhibition will leave people with the idea that the Flow Country’s a very important part of Scotland which needs to be protected, and hopefully they might want to go and visit it,’ says Lander.

‘We want to spark people’s interest and to make them aware of the place – and protective and proud of it, especially if they’re from Scotland. If people find our work beautiful and interesting, hopefully they’ll think the Flow Country might seem very beautiful and interesting too.’

Below the Blanket, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, until 25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), timed entry slots from 7pm, £13.30–£15.40 (£8.80).

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PHOTO: © JIM LAMBIE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2019.

RUSSIA, ROYALTY & THE ROMANOVS The story of how two royal houses became entwined

Two full-length portraits flank the stairway to the Queen’s Gallery: on one side Peter the Great, the first Russian ruler to set foot on British soil, and on the other Tsar Nicholas II, the last. They bookend more than 200 years of diplomatic and familial connections between the British and Russian royal families.

Ultimately, this exhibition tells the story of how two royal houses, initially suspicious of one another, became intimately entwined, mainly thanks to Queen Victoria’s determination to marry her offspring into Europe’s most important families. Rare cine footage survives of the visit paid to her at Balmoral in 1896 by Nicholas II and his wife, her granddaughter Princes Alix of Hesse (‘little Alicky’).

Even if you spend much of your time trying to disentangle the dynastic connections and work out who was first cousin to whom (answer: most people are), there is something incredibly poignant about the family photographs of Nicholas and Alix enjoying the regatta at Cowes in 1909, and the tiny Cossack general’s uniform made for Prince Alexei, knowing that tragedy loomed just around the corner.

(Susan Mansfield) The Queen’s Gallery, until 3 Nov, £7.20 (£3.80– £6.80).

BRIDGET RILEY

Major retrospective exhibition of iconic British painter Ways of seeing are everything in this major overview of one of the UK’s greatest living painters. With work from seven decades shown across ten rooms, Bridget Riley’s vast back catalogue at first appears to move back and forth in straight lines. But as she goes from black and white to colour and back again, sensory responses are bent out of shape to a dizzying degree.

If there is an umbilical link running throughout, it is an increasing expansiveness as the decades roll on.

This makes for a thrilling dynamic, as the different coloured shapes seem to dance with each other.

Beyond kaleidoscopic exhilaration, there is a painstaking meticulousness to Riley’s work. The roots of this can be found in the first and last rooms, which bookend the exhibition, first with a look at the influence of 19th-century French artist Georges Seurat, then with a revelatory display of early, preabstract works. A room full of preparatory drawings, too, shows off Riley’s painstaking attention to detail and the sheer graft involved in what she does. This is proof positive, if it were needed, that in Riley’s world, nothing’s ever really black and white. (Neil Cooper) Scottish National Gallery, until 22 Sep, £15 (£8.50–£13).

CUT AND PASTE: 400 YEARS OF COLLAGE

The world’s first survey exhibition of collage Everything connects in this major overview of the ultimate DIY artform, which brings together more than 180 works dating as far back as the 16th century.

Back then, anatomical woodcuts with flaps to reveal bodily interiors were used as educational novelties, predating the sort of paper dolls appropriated by the ultimate dressing-up-box mistress of reinvention Cindy Sherman for her short film, Doll Clothes (1975).

Sherman was one of a wave of women artists using collage in a way that opened the door for the feminist photomontages of Linder or Penny Slinger. Along the way, an array of dadaists, cubists, futurists and punk provocateurs mix and match words and pictures to disrupt, satirise and explode old ideas out of existence.

While we never quite get to the aural collages of sampling, Eduardo Paolozzi’s 13-minute film, History of Nothing, uses sound as well as vision to both illustrate and subvert the busy rush of a multi-tasking world.

As it is, we finish with the likes of Christian Marclay, Jim Lambie and Jake and Dinos Chapman, who, in radically different ways, are still ripping it up and starting again. (Neil Cooper) Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two), until 27 Oct, £11.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF METRO PICTURES, NEW YORK / THE SAMMLUNG VERBUND COLLECTION, VIENNA

CINDY SHERMAN: EARLY WORKS, 1975–80

Seminal early works by the influential American artist Cindy Sherman is one of the most celebrated self-portrait photographers ever, and for good reason. Starting out her career in New York, she became immersed in the ‘Pictures’ generation of the late 1970s – a movement which recognised the photographic medium as a tool to criticise both high art and media culture – and Sherman’s output epitomises those aims.

The small, well-curated selection of work on show at Stills gives a strong sense of her affinity for adopting different personas from art history, film and mass culture. The series Untitled (Murder Mystery People) is a perfect example of this: she embodies stereotypical old-Hollywood film characters, using the humour found in dressing up to critique the overuse of such regurgitated images (‘The Dashing Leading Man’, ‘The Detective’, ‘The Drunken Wife’, to name a few).

Doll Clothes, a 16mm film she made in 1975, sees Sherman as a paper doll, being dressed up in various outfits by anonymous hands; emphasising society’s power to project the image they want onto the female body. Similarly, the four prints from her series Untitled Film Stills (1977–80) see her mocking the stereotypical presentation of female Hollywood stars in the media. (Arabella Bradley) Stills, until 6 Oct, free.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PACKED FESTIVAL EVENTS PROGRAMME PHOTO: JONATHAN LAPPIN

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THE LIST BY THE SEA PARTY The List has partnered with Fringe by the Sea – North Berwick’s take on the multi-arts festival, with an added dash of ocean spray – to host The List by the Sea Party, a giant seaside musical shindig. Confirmed headliners include indie rock legends Idlewild and Dundonian pop artist Be Charlotte (pictured).

North Berwick, 9 Aug; Be Charlotte plays the Wee Spiegeltent, 7pm, £12; Idlewild play the Simpson & Marwick Spiegeltent, 9pm, £30 (includes post gig DJ set).

SO YOU THINK YOU’RE FUNNY?

Exercise your chuckle muscles at semi-finals of legendary comedy competition

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et ready to be left in stitches as the semi-finalists of So You Think You’re Funny? put their best jokes on the line at this year’s Fringe. Now in its 32nd year, SYTYF? is one of the longestrunning competitions of its kind, and is credited with launching many a comedy career, including the likes of Maisie Adam (pictured), Lee Mack, David O’Doherty and Dylan Moran.

The cream of the crop have been selected from SYTYF?’s regional heats, which this year took place across London, Brighton, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh. Each evening of the semifinals will see emerging comics perform seven minutes of original material in front of a panel of judges, which will include the Gilded Balloon’s Katy and Karen Koren, as well as a yet-to-beannounced celebrity guest judge.

The winners of the semi-finals will then go head-to-head at the grand final on Thu 22 Aug, a twoand-a-half hour showdown which will see one comedian crowned the ultimate winner. In addition to a generous cash prize, they’ll go on to perform at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival; be guaranteed a Fringe run as part of Gilded Balloon’s programme the following year; and receive additional mentorship and support from Karen and the So You Think You’re Funny? team. So head on down to the Gilded Balloon and discover the comedy stars of tomorrow today.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4–6, 11–14 Aug, 7.30-10.30pm, £10, soyouthinkyourefunny.co.uk

128 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

MUSEUM LATES: FRINGE FRIDAYS The National Museum of Scotland opens its doors once again for this adults-only, afterhours showcase of performances, comedy and music – curated by the team at The List – which offers a welcome escape from the festival madness outside. There’s plenty of bars and nibbles on hand for guests to enjoy, as well as free entry into the NMS’ summer exhibition, Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland. National Museum of Scotland, 9, 16, 23 Aug, 7.30pm, £20 (£18), nms.ac.uk TRACEY THORN Before she became one half of acclaimed music duo Everything but the Girl, Tracey Thorn was just another cynical teenager living in a commuter suburb, waiting for her life to begin. The musician and writer comes to the Edinburgh International Book Festival to discuss her recent memoir Another Planet, her childhood growing up in the cul-de-sacs of the 1970s green belt and the lasting effects that environment had on her life and career.

Charlotte Square Gardens, 19 Aug, 8.30pm, £12 (£10).

#edintfest

Peter Gynt ‘an outstanding performance from James McArdle’ THE GUARDIAN

National Theatre of Great Britain

by David Hare After Henrik Ibsen

‘a mind-expanding dream of a show’ THE HERALD

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1—10 August Festival Theatre

Directed by Jonathan Kent Starring James McArdle

Book Now eif.co.uk



A co-production between Edinburgh International Festival and National Theatre of Great Britain Supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown

Image Mads Perch | Charity No SC004694

‘BELLYWRENCHING LAUGHS’ ‘A COMIC EXPLOSION’

sents e Productions pre Stories in Theatr du Grand Réseau Fils Le h wit on in associati

BEST COMEDY PLAY

MOLIÈRE AWARD 2017

Le Figaro

Télérama

IS

by PIERRE GUILLO ATHE L’HUILLIER AG co-written with TIN-SALVAN and OLIVIER MAR

HHHHH HHHHH Le Monde

Le Parisien

1.00 PM 31 Jul – 26 Aug (75min)

No performance 14 Aug

5 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2019

www.pleasance.co.uk 0131 556 6550