Pro’s: It’s so much more than cabaret and acrobats as each performer gives their character personality that draws the audience in even more. Con’s: As always at the Underbelly, the views can often be obscured without any banked seating. The beauty of live performance is that anything can happen. It be the same script every time, but there is always a difference here, an error there, or an accident can occur. When the show in question is Black Cat: Bohemia, a ...

A unique formula of movement and masks relies on relatable topics and non-verbal language to touch a universal audience.

Exploring life and loss, Fellows takes us on a journey in which we hit the sky with laughter before being dropped from a great height.

Pros: Laugh-out-loud funny. Cons: There are some seriously icky scenes. Best friends Lydia (Evangeline Dickson) and Megan (Flora London) are partying in a club, when the latter realises that her period has suddenly started and she hasn’t got any sanitary products. The toilet attendant Winnie (Savanna Griffiths) wants to charge her £2.50 for a tampon, but the young girls don’t have any cash and the bar’s card reader doesn’t work. The only choice for Megan is to wait inside the ...

Pros: A silent but expressive, accordion-toting Verges Cons: Too many cicadas It’s common these days to watch ‘high’ culture in a ‘low’ setting: Mayerling at the local multiplex, Hamlet on catch-up, in PJs. Watching Antic Disposition’s Much Ado About Nothing is the opposite experience. It’s a sort of cheesy sitcom (with shades of honour killing), in the pannelled and stained-glassed splendour of Gray’s Inn Hall. This cheesy sitcom is set in France, 1945. There are pretty girls in tea dresses ...

Pros: Candid and resounding. Cons: This show deserves a bigger audience. Anders Lee’s background as a comedian comes across distinctly in Dummy, although this is not quite the show one might expect. The jokes are there, as well as some awkward private revelations and a little interaction with the room. Yet, in his new work, Lee is promoting a socio-political message that is strongly relevant in our evolved civilisation. Diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder as a child, Lee is now a grown-up, ...

Pros: The storyline is genius! Cons: Considering the quirky talents of the performers, the show could be enriched. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme is brimming with thousands of solo-shows, which are particularly suitable for their limited budget and less demanding venue requirements. Inspired by this phenomenon, USA comedy-duo, Patrick Romano and Benjamin Behrend devised Two-Man, One-Man- a goofy play about two performers and their one-man shows, who find themselves sharing the limelight, or to be more precise, taking turns in it. ...

Laugh-out-loud slapstick comedy with flawless role-play and a rich vocabulary.

Pros: A versatile cast, clever props and a well-rounded piece that delivers lots of humour alongside the take-home message. The cast and crew should be proud. Cons: None. Loneliness is a hot topic that can leave you out in the cold. We’ve known for decades that it affects the elderly, but the media has only discussed loneliness in millennials and upwards in the last few years. Carrie, the protagonist of When the Friendship Has Sailed, has a goldfish to talk ...

Pro’s: Two exceptional Caryl Churchill scripts Con’s: Committed but inexperienced actors With thousands of shows competing to make an impact in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it’s a bold move for a student ensemble to dive into the fray, pitching their production up against veterans and professionals. The young players of the University of Greenwich’s Bathway Theatre Company deserve kudos for taking the plunge with a pair of challenging Caryl Churchill plays. They realise this project with no shortage of commitment ...