Born from the collaboration of 16 international artists, the myth of Medea is revisited in contemporary and conceptual terms with mesmerising results.

A kick-ass tribute to Artemisia Gentileschi, the young artist whose 17th century rape trial shocked Rome. This production tells her side of the story, using serious creative energy and raw power.

Pros: The opportunity to see, as a part of the Fringe Festival, productions that come from different cultural and geographical backgrounds. Cons: The frantic delivery, which spoils the dramatic intensity of the play. Endesha Ida Mae Holland was born in 1944 in Greenwood, on the Mississippi Delta. She never knew her father, whilst her mother was a well-respected midwife called ‘Ain’t Baby’ by everyone in town. Nobody knew her real name. Raped at the age of eleven, Holland was later ...

Pros: The importance of keeping the memory alive on the centenary of the end of WWI. Cons: This is a work in progress, which could benefit from the contribution of a dramaturg. When Winifred Lucy Hall died in 1978, her two daughters found a shoebox hidden in her wardrobe, which was full of letters she received from the front during the First World War. She was only 19 when the war ended, and, in the final months of the conflict ...

Pros: It’s fun and makes time go fast. Cons: The storyline can be enriched with more comedic material. Two lads wake up in an unfamiliar room lit in violet, dressed only with an hospital gown and covered up to their faces with a white sheet. One of them (Mark Olszewski) sneezes, as the room is visibly chilly. When he gets up, he notices a paper tag tied around his big toe, which reads “Vince Parker”. ‘Am I a birthday present?’ ...

Pros: The acting is very intense. Cons: The plot and the characters are too stereotypical. Handmade Theatre‘s abridged production of Di & Viv & Rose is structured like a situation comedy. The story follows the lives of three young girls, who move in together to go to university and, even with the odd skirmish, unconditionally support each other when life throws at them the most horrible things. Despite the recurring dramas, the play is cheerful, with a warm atmosphere and, ...

Pros: The topic is weighty. Cons: The show didn’t make me feel any wiser. Suicide is a particularly important issue in Britain, where it is the leading cause of death for men under 45. That’s why it has become an increasingly recurrent topic in fringe theatre, where it is covered from many different angles. In this new piece, written and directed by Eve Walton, the subject is developed in the form of a dark comedy, with a quite unexpected final twist. ...

Pros: A topical issue – men’s mental health and the influence of toxic masculinity – that invites further discussion and suits a one-man play dynamic. Cons: The first 20 minutes feel less tight and less thematic; some sub-plotting could be cut. James is a single man in his mid-thirties, sorting his childhood possessions in the attic of the family home, prompted by his mum’s fresh start with irritating new man Roger. Writer and performer Craig Malpass brings all these characters ...

Pros: Accessible storytelling by a fascinating creative. Cons: The simple format can often feel more like a lecture, so might not appeal to everyone. This is a show about the moments when we’re caught off guard: the photos taken when we drop our poses and show our real selves, baggage and all. Volker Gerling, a trained filmmaker, began making flipbooks in 1998 as an experiment. Soon he was touring cafes and bars in Berlin, showing flipbooks from a hawker’s tray ...

Pros: Well written, well thought out script. It deals with serious and relevant issues faced in today’s society. Cons: The pace is slow and monotonous in some areas. Extra detail could have been paid to direction in the first half of the play, as there sometimes seemed to be no justification for some of the characters’ actions and movements. In The Wake Of, by Michael Black, is a new play by Faded Ink Productions. It tells the story of Rob (Mickey ...