Loretta Hope on the ups and downs of Roger McGough’s Money-Go-Round
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Review: Afghanistan Is Not Funny, EdFringe 2022
Henry Naylor is a master of topical comedy and political drama.
Read More »Good Girl, Trafalgar Studios – Review
Pros: Cathartically brilliant! Cons: The only downside would be missing out on this performance. Following a winning streak at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017, Good Girl finally comes to London’s West End. Written and performed by Naomi Sheldon, this debut play is unmissable. Trafalgar Studios is in the heart of London, a stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square. There are two studio spaces at basement level and a conjoining bar. I made my way into Studio 2 and settled into my cosy seat. A circular ...
Read More »Dipping a Toe in the Edinburgh Fringe
When I arrived in Edinburgh on 22 August, the weather was as moody as I had expected it to be, changing from rain to sunshine and rain again during the short walk to my accommodation. A few months earlier, I had secured a room with the Network of Independent Critics and, for the first time in my life, I was about to experience the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. That first day went in a flash and provoked mixed feelings of discomfort, fear and excitement. Luckily, I ...
Read More »Slapstick, Assembly George Square Theatre – Review
Pros: Charming, hilarious clowns, who also happen to be virtuoso musicians. Cons: The section with the projection didn’t work well, and made the energy drop. The children in the audience are part of what makes a clown show, and this performance featured the rambunctious laughter of a little boy somewhere at the back, whose timing was perfect and brought the house down twice. The five clowns of Netherlands-based Wëreldbänd reacted with ready charm; in fact, the audience was part of ...
Read More »A Charlie Montague Mystery: The Game’s a Foot, Try the Fish/The Man with the Twisted Hip, theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Review
Two self-aware murder mysteries crammed with puns and clever dialogue. A must for fans of Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse and Dorothy L. Sayers.
Read More »Mental, Assembly Roxy – Review
Pros: Excellent songs, use of sound clips and lights make this play stand out. Kane Power is a confident performer who balances the light and shade of the piece. Cons: As the volume is turned up to 11, the lights are flashing and Kane’s mother leaves upsetting voicemail messages, sensitive viewers may struggle to watch. Early on in Mental, there’s a disclosure from the man behind it: ‘This show will fail – how can I capture my mum’s experience?’. Kane ...
Read More »Scribble, Assembly Roxy – Review
An admirable OCD awareness agenda and an enthusiastic team is hampered by a guest acting challenge and a patchy story.
Read More »Our Man in Havana, Pleasance Courtyard – Review
Pros: A perfectly executed adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel, with endlessly inventive choreography and the best use of a vacuum cleaner you’ll ever see on stage. Cons: None – it’s a solid all-rounder. Have you ever seen a vacuum cleaner become a coat stand, a bar, a phone and a dog? All these are possible, and many more transformations too, in Our Man in Havana, by Spies Like Us. Here, the household prop, which is sold by a vacuum salesman ...
Read More »Dates – at the Speed of Sound, Summerhall – Review
Pros: Quirky characterisation of four daters, and fair scrutiny of the modern dating scene. Cons: Audience numbers and logistics affect the speed dating process, which feels slightly disjointed from the plays. The Finnish connection isn’t obvious, either. This show belongs to the Start to Finnish events programme, celebrating Finland’s culture in honour of 100 years of Finnish independence. However, it’s hard to see traces of Finland in the script of these two interconnected plays, except in references to one character’s love ...
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