Edinburgh 2014

Jekyll and Hyde

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15/08/14

Spotlites at Merchants Hall, Edinburgh

I have recently written a novel involving Robert Louis Stevenson, so was initially drawn to this production merely because of its subject matter, but I soon found myself completely blown away by its sheer sense of style. In Headlock Theatre’s contemporary reworking of Stevenson’s classic tale, Doctor Jekyll is a young scientist working on clinical trials in order to develop a drug to combat depression. He’s spurred on by the fact that his own sister, Marta, suffers from the illness. Impatient to get the drug (C9) onto the market, he volunteers to test out its effects on himself… and quickly starts to go off the rails.

This fluid, energetic production utilises speech and physical theatre to tell a familiar story and in so doing, makes it fresh and riveting. Scenes flow effortlessly into one another, as the eight-strong team work superbly together to create all the locations with nothing more than two chairs and one clipboard as props.  In what is essential an ensemble piece there are of course, two standout roles: Nathan Spencer is a striking Doctor Jekyll while Tom Boxall, as a smirking, twitching Mr Hyde, manages to be absolutely terrifying.

It’s always exciting to discover new talent at Edinburgh and Headlock Theatre are surely destined for even greater things. Until then, Jekyll and Hyde is a triumphant calling card that satisfies on just about every level.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

Sara Pascoe Vs History

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14/08/14

Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh

Sara Pascoe is under the weather tonight. Some dreaded Fringe lurgy has struck and her set is punctuated by her recourse to occasional slugs of Lemsip. Whenever she attempts a high-pitched voice (for comic effect) what emerges is a kind of strangled squeak. So her delivery is perhaps more restrained than usual. But her vivacity and likeable personality shine through nonetheless and we’re treated to a confident amble through her childhood, with wry digs at former boyfriends and her current partner (fellow stand-up John Robins.)

Sexuality is a major theme here and while much of the material evokes wry smiles rather than belly-laughs, it’s nonetheless cleverly written and expertly knitted together. A story about being asked to provide an ‘intelligent’ quote for FHM magazine is a particular delight and a piece about human reproduction demonstrates that there’s real intelligence at work here and a determination to push the comedy envelope a little further than many of her peers.

This is political feminist comedy at its most engaging. I left with the distinct impression that had she been in full health, this would have been an even more satisfying event

4.4 stars

Philip Caveney

Mojo

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12/08/14

C Venue 34, Edinburgh

Set in 1950’s London, Mojo is Jez Butterworth’s Olivier Award winning play located in The Atlantic Club,  where pop singer Silver Johnny appears to be on the verge of the big time and the club’s various workers wheel and deal with each other, hoping for a slice of the action. But when the club’s owner, Ezra turns up dead in two separate dustbins, paranoia descends…

It’s a brilliant play – swaggering, macho, loaded with canny period detail and a homoerotic subtext – you have to remember that in the 1950’s, homosexuality was something that had to be kept clandestine. Mojo inhabits the kind of territory that Harold Pinter made his own back in the day and Butterworth excels at finding the dark humour in a brutal and unforgiving world. This is an amateur production, by the oddly named company My Son Tristan, but the actors rise to the challenge and submit excellent performances.

It’s hard to single out one player in particular, but Cody Maltby as the pill-popping Sweets, gets most of the funny lines and has a field day with them. The real tragedy is that on the night we visited, the production had attracted a crowd of just sixteen people and with hindsight, a more intimate venue would have been more appropriate. But we’ve seen packed venues presenting less assured performances and poorer material than is on offer here, so catch this before it’s gone. There’s plenty to admire.

4.4 stars

Philip Caveney

Paul Merton’s Impro Chums

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11/08/14

Pleasance Grand, Edinburgh

Paul Merton has been bringing this show to Edinburgh for quite some time and its lineage stretches further back to the days of the Comedy Store Players. We last saw it three years ago, with exactly the same format and pretty much the same comedians. It’s like slipping into a favourite cardigan or a comfy pair of slippers. You know you’ll always have a good time, even if you’re not remotely challenged by what you see. The format will be familiar to anyone who has seen Who’s Line Is It Anyway? The four presenters improvise their way through a series of suggestions thrown at them by the (packed and enthusiastic) audience. As ever with this kind of thing, there are moments of absolute hilarity, interspersed with episodes of mild amusement. Sometimes, the team chances onto something with ‘legs,’ something that will allow them to take it further. Other ideas just kind of peter out, but with so many years of comedy experience behind them, Merton and his chums know exactly when to call a halt and ask for a new suggestion. It’s all good, if rather old-fashioned fun and long may it continue.

 4 stars

Philip Caveney

Jo Caulfield – Cancel My Subscription

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10/08/14

The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh

In Cancel My Subscription, Jo Caulfield doesn’t confound expectations so much as revel in them. She gives exactly what her audience expects: a caustic, bilious and gloriously profane account of the world as she sees it. The humour is largely narrative, and none the worse for it; Caulfield demonstrates with admirable aplomb how it is possible to push the boundaries of taste and decency without ever descending into “look-mum-no-hands-I-just-want-to-shock” territory. But shock she does: acutely timed references to polar opposites Jill Dando and Josef Fritzl leave the audience gasping, but with delight at her chutzpah more than anything else.

I really enjoyed this show. It didn’t surprise me, but then I didn’t go to be surprised. I went because I am a fan, and because I knew I would laugh myself silly.

And because I was born in the same hospital as her.

4.3 stars

Susan Singfield

Lysistrata

09/08/14

C Venue 34, Edinburgh

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Christopher Adam’s loose adaptation of Aristphanes’ classic comedy – the tale of a prototype feminist who instigates a ‘sex strike’ in an attempt to gain more rights for women – brings the story bang up to date and sets it against Greece’s recent bailout by the IMF, an intriguing premise that really pays dividends (ha ha!). The four cast members work really hard to depict nine characters between them and largely pull it off, playing both genders with confidence, while Louisa Hollway is a striking, memorable Lysistrata, but if only they could have had the luxury of a couple more actors to take care of some of the minor roles! There were some problems on the night we viewed the play with the rather shonky set (a clothes drier that seemed to possess a life of its own and a rug on a polished floor that seemed like an accident waiting to happen) but these are minor niggles. Bringing contemporary issues like the economic crisis and trolling on social media into the action, breathe new life into the play and make it seem incredibly prescient. After a brief run of disappointments, this one redressed the balance.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts

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08/08/14

Northern Stage at King’s Hall, Edinburgh

According to their publicity material, “The Secret Theatre Company is a 20-strong ensemble of actors, writers, directors and designers created to challenge the way theatre is produced and presented in Britain.” They promise exciting, dangerous, risk-taking performances, and “never the same show twice.”

In reality, this translates into a group of young actors dressed in their PE kits, sitting at the edge of a stage, until an audience member chooses that night’s ‘protagonist.’ This, it seems, is the extent of the risk: the actors don’t know which of them will be called upon to perform the lead role. Oh, and there are lots of improvised bits, where one actor has a list of questions to read, and another has to respond spontaneously. So far, so drama workshop exercise.

There isn’t much of a narrative, and ‘protagonist’ seems an odd choice of word to describe the main actor, as there is nothing so traditional here as a character. There’s just a name (tonight’s was Cara), and a series of barely linked scenes. OK, so there’s some pretty full-on wrestling, some clothes swapping, a decent soundtrack and a bit of Romeo and Juliet quite nicely spoken. And, of course, there’s those “impossible tasks” – bending an iron bar, licking your elbow, eating a whole lemon. All made easier, it is revealed, with a little help from your friends. “What was tonight’s show about, Cara?” asked one of the actors. “Exhaustion,” replied Cara, “Exhaustion and friendship.” These words were added to the other – equally bland – statements scrawled on a whiteboard at the back of the stage, presumably the themes ascribed to previous shows.

In truth, this didn’t seem to add up to much. It didn’t feel risky, dangerous, innovative or vital – or any of the other epithets quoted on the publicity posters. It all just felt a little bit… so what?

1 star

Susan Singfield

Red Bastard

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07/08/2014

Pleasance Forth, Edinburgh

Another Fringe phenomenon, Red Bastard (or Eric Davis as his friends hopefully call him) was one of the biggest hits of 2013 and he’s back with a reputation strong enough to lure 300 punters at a time into one of the bigger venues at the Pleasance. We’d been warned to expect to be outraged. ‘Whatever you do, don’t put your hand up!’ And the posters for the show boasted that ‘something interesting will happen every 10 seconds.’ In the event, it didn’t, but maybe I’m quibbling.

Red Bastard is a skinny gentleman in a weirdly distended leotard, who bounds onstage and starts bullying the audience. It’s like an elaborate game of Simon Says. ‘All change places with each other!’ he barks. We all do. ‘Raise your mobile phones in the air!’ We all do as he says. His command over the audience is undeniable and it’s clear that many of the avid crowd have worshipped at this altar before, but… it’s hardly groundbreaking material. And then, he starts in with the self-help stuff and suddenly we’re into a different kind of show entirely. We are led to believe it is all about empowerment, about facing your fears, about realising that you are amazing and you have to stand up for yourselves. Which is frankly like the trite nonsense that people paste over pictures of dolphins on Facebook, to show the world how ‘sensitive’ they are. I suppose that Davis sees himself as ‘the fool who speaks the truth,’ but to me it’s more of a case of ‘the fool who talks like a novelty fridge-magnet.’ I cannot deny the show’s evident success, but this left me cold. On the way out, I overheard people enthusing about how brilliant it had all been; all I could think was that was an hour and twenty minutes I’ll never get back.

1.8 stars

Philip Caveney

The Fair Intellectual Club

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07/08/14

Studio 2, The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

The Fair Intellectual Club is comedian Lucy Porter’s first foray into play writing, and it’s certainly a promising start. It tells the true tale of three young women who, in 1717 – at the dawn of the Scottish Enlightenment, set up an illicit club with the aim of studying literature, science and philosophy, determined not to be kept in ignorance merely by virtue of their sex. This was a risky venture, with social censure and reputations at stake, and Porter cleverly conveys a sense of genuine peril and brave rebellion.

The director’s light touch means that we focus on the actors (Samara MacLaren, Caroline Deyga and Jessica Hardwick), who convey their respective characters with exuberance and wit. The three girls have a convincing rapport, with all the love, anger, misery and jealousy of a real friendship beautifully portrayed. There are moments of real heartbreak – and of untamed laughter; this play is definitely one to watch. It has a contemporary resonance that should not be ignored.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Gary Little – The Thing Is

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06/08/14

The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh

We chanced on Gary Little by way of the official Edinburgh Festival Fringe app, which has a handy section called ‘nearby now.’ It was five o’clock; we had a couple of hours to kill; what should we see? It had to be something in the less Fringe-dense New Town, so that we could be sure to make our later – planned – appointment with One Man Breaking Bad in St Andrew’s Square (see review). And, on paper, Gary Little’s show seemed to fit the bill. An hour at our favourite comedy club, The Stand, rarely disappoints, and we were keen to see at least one Scottish performance during our sojourn in the capital.

Little is certainly engaging; he commanded the tiny stage and my attention never wandered. There were inspired moments when he made me snort with laughter, such as his suggested method for breaking Thornton’s toffee, but – over all – this show was not for me. I found Little’s routine too reliant on gender stereotypes (men only agree to cuddle because they’re hoping for sex; it’s a real disappointment to discover that women fart and stop shaving their legs when they’re in a long-term relationship), and his general persona rather too aggressive (I couldn’t relate at all to the idea of chasing down a fellow dog-walker in a park because he failed to say, “All right?”).

That said, the latter section of the set was – for me – markedly better; Little’s routine about visiting Auschwitz was a lot less hackneyed, and his final piece about using Abba Gold as an anti-depressant was genuinely heart-warming. If the rest of his show were as original as this, he might have found himself a new fan.

2.6 stars

Susan Singfield