Edinburgh 2015

That’s the Way, A-ha, A-ha, Joe Lycett

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09/08/15

Cabaret Bar, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

The Cabaret Bar is sold out, and that’s the way (a-ha, a-ha) Joe likes it. He’s on good form this evening, positively oozing with wit and mischief; he makes stand-up look easy and the audience is on his side.

I’ve seen him performing a short set quite recently at a charity event, so I’ve already heard some of this material, but that doesn’t matter. It’s interesting to see how the routines develop and how they fit in to a broader context. There’s a theme of sorts (living in Birmingham), but it’s very loose; it’s more ‘what Joe’s been doing recently’ than anything else. And, honestly, what he’s actually been doing is pretty mundane: going on a stag night, having breakfast at a coffee shop, and messing around on social media. But, of course, it’s all in the telling, and the telling here is very good. Joe Lycett is seriously talented, I think; he engages effortlessly with the audience, and looks like he is having fun.

OK, so it’s a gentle form of comedy. There’s a moment – when he starts to talk about Fox News’s erroneous description of Birmingham as “100% Muslim” – when I think we might be heading towards something more challenging; he begins to question why Fox News presume – if this were true – it would be negative, and goes on to explore the idea of how the language we employ colours our views. But he doesn’t take this very far, soon wandering back into more comfortable territory, such as Cheryl Fernandez-Versini’s social media posts. Personally, I’d like to see more of the demanding stuff, but I’m sure Lycett knows his audience, and tonight’s punters seem more than happy with their lot.

Worth seeing, then – but you’ll need to be quick. The tickets for this one are selling fast.

4 stars

Susan Singfield

Takeaway

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08/08/15

Kes Theatre Company, The Spaces On The Mile, Edinburgh

The streets of the East End are under threat from a dreadful new scourge… that most devious and all-encompassing of drugs… onions! And now the kids are hanging around outside a local takeaway and consuming them voraciously with little thought for the consequences. But what’s to be done about the problem? This sparky allegory by Jackie Kay, cleverly substitutes illegal drugs for something completely innocuous and manages to both expose the harm that drugs do and the over-reaction that society exhibits when dealing with them.

This is a school production, but it’s a damned good one – and at times the cramped performance space seems to literally strain at the seams to contain the sheer energy and enthusiasm of the ensemble cast. There were thirteen of them out there and as the piece incorporates quite a bit of physical theatre, they did well simply to avoid bumping repeatedly into each other; let alone moving with such evident control and precision. All the performances were exemplary and there were one or two potential stars of the future strutting their stuff in the midst of it.

If there’s a problem with Takeaway, it’s in the final section of the play, where Kay, having nailed her main subject with aplomb then segues into a riff on The Pied Piper of Hamelin – it’s almost as though she realised she needed to add an extra twenty minutes running time and looked around for a suitable fairy tale to tack on the end. Don’t get me wrong, it’s as nicely written as what’s gone before but doesn’t seem to sit comfortably with the rest of the script. But that’s hardly Kes Theatre’s fault. These gutsy young actors, from years 11 to 13 and based in Bath, have come to the Edinburgh Festival to compete with the professionals and have given a really good account of themselves. They should feel justifiably proud.

3. 6 stars

Philip Caveney 

Foxfinder

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07/08/15

Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh

Dawn King’s Foxfinder is a gem of a play: it’s serious and playful with an awful lot to say. Set in the near future, the Britain we see here is a dreadful place, a dystopia where people are ruled by fear, and where foxes are the enemy. Sam and Judith Covey, whose farm is underperforming after a difficult year, are visited by Foxfinder William Bloor, sent to ensure there are no foxes on their land. If any are found, the consequences will be dire.

Master of None’s Fringe production is a bit of a gem too. The opening, where Sam (Hugo Nicolson) and Judith (Verity Mullan Wilkinson) are waiting anxiously for the Foxfinder to arrive, is beautifully done: the set, costume and lighting cleverly hinting at a bygone time, making explicit the connection with the witchfinders of old. This is reinforced by the arrival of Bloor, whose silhouetted, hatted figure looms menacingly at the door. When the lights go up and the actors move, the more contemporary setting is revealed – and it’s a relief… until we realise what’s going on.

William Bloor is the most interesting character: he is young, idealistic – and troubled. He has too much power and too little insight; he’s not mature enough to realise the truth of what he does. Indoctrinated since the age of five, he is a vulnerable and dangerous man – and Alex Stutt performs the role with charm and subtlety. He is utterly convincing as the conflicted Foxfinder, confused and disgusted by his sexual desires, and unswerving in his hatred of the evil, cunning fox.

This is a multi-faceted play, where the simple plot belies the myriad allegories. Foxes here are scapegoats for all society’s ills – they represent witches and devils, but the way they are treated aligns them with the persecuted too. This young theatre company clearly relishes the complexity, and their performances lay bare the toll such propaganda takes. Zoe Zak is particularly engaging as neighbour Sarah Box, who is forced to confront the limits of her own morality: will she, Stasi-like, inform on her neighbours to protect herself?

The direction is strong, although there is perhaps a little too much stage traffic at times, with a few unnecessary entrances and exits, but, all in all, this is definitely one to watch.

4.4 stars

Susan Singfield

Our Teacher’s A Troll

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06/08/15

 Roundabout@Summerhall, Edinburgh

Edinburgh has a fantastic new festival venue in Paines Plough, Summerhall. From the outside, it looks fairly unprepossessing and you think, ‘Oh, it’s a tent.’ But once you step inside, all preconceptions are swept aside. This is a fabulous theatre-in-the-round, complete with state-of-the-art programmable LED lights and a crystal clear sound system – but, even more remarkably, it can be dismantled piece-by-piece and packed into a single lorry, to be taken anywhere in the world. Roundabout are justifiably proud of their new baby and offered a pre-festival sneak peek at one of their upcoming plays – Our Teacher’s A Troll by Dennis Kelly.

Kelly must be one of the most eclectic writers in the business. It’s hard to link this chirpy slice of children’s theatre with DNA or Utopia or his TV sitcom, Pulling, but they are all the work of an accomplished and creative mind. OTAT tells the story of two ‘terrible’ twins at an inner-city school, who, having driven their head teacher to a nervous breakdown (she’s found eating sand in the sandpit), discover that her replacement is something that they could never have expected – a gigantic flesh-eating troll with a hard line on troublemakers. The children at the school are made to dig up the playground and work in the resulting goldmine, while the troll takes action against anyone who is unruly (pupils and teachers alike) by biting off their heads.

This is a two-hander: the twins (and everyone else in an extensive selection of characters) are portrayed by Sian Reese-Williams and Abdul Salis, who effortlessly switch from character to character, occasionally using a voice-transforming microphone to embody the unseen but terrifying troll. The duo’s command of the circular stage is total and there’s plenty of lively interaction with members of the audience. The play is suitable for children aged 7 and up, but there’s plenty here to entertain the grown-ups also, and only the grumpiest audience members will fail to be enthralled as the tale unfolds. So parents of young children, take note. This is too good a treat to miss and it’s on until the 23rd August, with the hardworking actors (who are also appearing in other productions at the same venue) taking only an occasional day off throughout the run.

4.3 stars

Philip Caveney

Richard Herring – An Appreciation

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05/07/15

We’re in Edinburgh and we’ve just been to an official launch party at the Assembly Rooms and in just two days, Ed Fest 2015 kicks off in earnest. For us, it’s always one of the most exciting, one of the most essential times of the year and yet here at Bouquets and Brickbats, we are unable to shake off the profound sense that something is missing; because this is the first year in absolutely ages that Richard Herring isn’t doing the Edinburgh Festival.

Let me explain. I am a relative latecomer to the fringe. The very first year I came to it (2010), pretty much the first thing Susan, my daughter Grace and I saw was Christ on A Bike: The Second Coming, Herring’s scurrilous take on the bible and the teachings of the Messiah. To say we loved the show would be an understatement. Indeed, I laughed so much I was in danger of giving myself a hernia.

Every year after that, our first task on arriving in Edinburgh was to book to see whatever Herring’s current show happened to be. Last year, we had a double delight. Not only was he performing Lord Of The Dance Settee, he had also written and produced a play, I Killed Rasputin, a surprisingly serious but rather enjoyable historical piece that was clearly a result of his obsession with ‘Russia’s famous love machine.’ We enjoyed and reviewed both shows, but Herring’s daily blog later revealed that he’d actually lost a lot of money at the festival. Of course, everyone loses money at Edinburgh, but this was a major loss– something like fifty grand – and he was thinking very seriously about not turning up the following year. We were pretty dubious about this claim. After all, Herring was the ‘King of the Fringe.’ Of course he’d be there. He had to be.

But matters were compounded when earlier this year Herring’s wife, children’s author Catie Wilkins gave birth to the couple’s first child and Herring found himself reluctant to be too far away from his daughter. So this year, instead of coming to Edinburgh, he’s decided to perform all twelve of his Edinburgh shows – plus a brand new one – over six weekends at the Leicester Square Theatre. It’s a positively Herculean task and one that is entirely typical of the man who must have a valid claim to being the ‘hardest working comedian in history.’

So, if you’re in London and you’re available to see some (or indeed all) of his Leicester Square shows, do go along and see what he has to offer. You won’t be disappointed. You’ll witness a breadth of invention that will stagger you. Meanwhile, in the vibrant buzz of Ed Fest, in the wonderful chaos that produces more than 3000 new shows every day, there will still be an empty stage that somehow will always belong to Richard Herring.

And there will remain the hope that maybe next year… if we cross our fingers and wish as hard as we can… he’ll return. We’ll catch up with him next at Manchester’s Lowry Theatre in February 2016. Can’t wait.

Philip Caveney