Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak, Pleasance Above, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A solo show written by, and starring, Victoria Melody.  She enters wearing, as she explains, an accurate recreation of a woolen musketeer's outfit from the 17th century.  On a hot summer day.  Suffering for her art!

Melody started off script, and seemed genuinely surprised, and very grateful, that so many people had turned up to see her final Fringe performance this year.  But she soon got going into a fascinating tale.  

Her response to life crises is to immerse herself into a new activity.  In the past this has led her into pigeon fancying and beauty pageants.  When divorce entered her life she became fascinated by the Diggers, the grass roots radical action group that sprang up in England in the mid 1600s.  With no active Diggers society to join, she did what flet like the next best thing - English Civil War re-enactment groups.  An activity she is totally unsuited to, but still gets herself involved.

The story switches to a deprived council estate in Brighton, where she gets involved in projects to improve the life of the community.  They provide meals, a space to meet, advice and help in dealing with the autorities, and space where groups can get together.  With some amazing personal stories lying behind these achievements.

The culminaion of the tale is the bringing together of these two worlds, and the surprising success that it brings.  

Melody brings all this to life with her impressions of various important characters (some of them represeted on stick portraits), some imaginative props, and audience interaction through key jangling.  It's lovely, funny, inofrmative and inspiring, and creates a seamless link btween the revolutionaries of more than four centuries ago, and modern community action groups.  

Simply wonderful.

Margolyes & Dickens: More Best Bits, EICC, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Outspoken, hilarious, talented and with her heart in the right place, Margolyes is always good valuie to watch.  This show mixed stories from her life, with short performances of Dickens characters, bring them fully to life within a few seconds.  Her ability to swap around during dialogue, to introduce the right levels of pomposity, or avarice, or innocence, the swiftly changing body language, is a mini master class.  And the intonation and expressiveness of her voice shows just why she is in such demand to record audio books.

As an added bonus there was a short Q&A session, with her tour manager reading out a few queries from the audience.  As unfiltered as ever Miriam was swift to give her opinions.  It was good to hear a prminent Jewish voice condemning outright the current criminal and genocidal actions of the Israeli government, and saying what needs to be said about the likes of Trump and Farage - she is very defintely not a fan of either of these manipulative liars.  

Wonderful entertainment, a standing ovation, and it all felt far too short a time...

LOLA: A Flamenco Love Story, EICC, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

A Spanish widow leaves Franco's Spain for London, seeking a job which will allow her to send money back to her poor parents and children.  She gets a job as a cleaner, is miserable, desperate, and then finds love.  That's about it for a plot, simply conveyed with screen subtitles over the Spanish narration.

But this isn't really about the story, less so than an opera might be.  This is the vehicle for dance and music, prinairly flamenco style, but with modern touches.  The dancing is impressive, especially the male lead.  The music is good, and the use of flute for solos was a nice touch.  The singing is traditional flamenco style, well done, but an acquired taste.

It did get repetitive at times, and I'm not sure diehard flamenco fans would be impressed by the 'flamenco lite' approach.  But overall it was entertaining enough to avoid boredom, and had several highlights in the dance..

The Poetical Life of Philomena McGuinness, Surgeon's Hall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Starring Jasmin Gleason as the eponymous Philomena, this is the story of Irish nurse, reluctantly so, in Britain during the second world war.  She has drifted into the profession, largely because her mother had been one before her, but McGuinness is a different character to her mum.  She's a bit more of a dreamer, like her dad.  She describes herslef as a poet (despite haven written no verse), others are always calling her 'flighty'.

But she's faced with the harsh realities of nursing in wartime, of trying to fit in, of making friends, and of trying to remain who she sees herself as.  If she feels a bit of a phoney at first there is more than enough opportunity for that feeling to pass.  Her experience grows, but can that poetical soul, that flightiness, survive?

This is a story about who we are, how we, and others, see ourselves.  About women in wartime, and wider society, having to be so many things to different people.  Gleason is superb in making us feel we know this young Irish woman, and in portraying several other characters along the way.  She even finds time for a bit of audience interaction.  

A tremendous acheivement, an hour of laughs and sadness and a sesne of questioning.  Highly recommended.

Iona Fyfe, Ukrainian Community Centre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 

A solo perfromance from Scots balladeer Fyfe, piano and voice.  A good mix of material - tradional ballads, self penned compositions, a bit of Dylan and Nick Cave (in Scots), an Appalachian song.  A few unaccompanied, with just the purity of her vocals to enjoy.  Her introductions can be amusing and informative, she tried to get the audience singing along (response was muted...), and kept things flowing.  Low key but enjoyable, and I'm glad I made the effort to go. 

James Gardener : Jockney Rebel, Le Monde, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Gardener is a weegie, living in London, and very much a Scot while he's there.  But a Scot with some Indian heritage as well.  So can he do an Indian accent and not be racist?

Through incidents from his upbringing and life Gardener questions identity, relationships and what it means to be a man.  There's some moving family material, about his brother who has severe cerebral palsy, but this is all about the laughs.  He has some good punchines, smart observations, and makes the point that it isn't imkjigrants who are the problem, it's the rich.  An endearingly socialist rant gets strong support from the audience.

There's no killer humour, but it's always enjoyable.  Good without being great.

Mark Thomas Comedy Counterattack, Stand 3, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Not stand-up from Thomas, but a talk about his career, both in comedy and as a political activist, and how the two form a common thread.  Beginning with three early experinces that shaped his attitude to life.  Realising the power of getting a laugh, seeing how a stage drama had the power to change views, and becoming aware of the power of collective action in forcing change.  

So this talk is often politic, but often funny too.  He takes us through some of the highlights of his activist activites, and the prolific use of absurdism to bith confuse and defy those in authority.  How he learned to adjust tactics to suit the tagets identified, to have purpose in protest.  That effective action is communal, cooperative, based on solidarity with those being affected by the injustices being fought.  And that the despicable criminalisation of Palestine Action, a legitimate protestt grouo against genocide, is going to be fought and fought.

Hilarious, inspiring, smart and informative.  With one final message - fuck 'em.

Ordinary Decent Criminal, Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Frankie (Mark Thomas) is in prison.  Maybe not your typical con, as he's botha writer and a political activist.  But also a drug user, and, the thing that got him inside, drug dealer.  He's in a new prison, a much nicer one than the old Victorian institutions, with one prisoner to a cell and decent sanitation.  Frankie looks to survive as best he can, make firneds weho might protect him, make himself useful.  A writer is often in demand. 

There's a wide range of characters he interacts with, some violent, some needy and vulnerable, and a female prison officer with her own agenda.  Thomas plays them all, all carefully crafted and well delineated.  He also goes off script, true to his stand-up roots, and interacts with the audience to provide extra laughs.  It's a high energy performance (in a very hot room) that never falters and keeps the aiudience constantly engaged.  There's prison politics and the poutside world.  Reminders of revolution, of British political violence in Northern Ireland (one of the characters may, or may not, be a previous member of the IRA), the excesses of the Thatcher period, a prisoner who is in touch with the realites and hardships of the real world.

Funny. scary, thought provoking and never dull, this is an impressive perfromance of a wide ranging and well considered script.  Great stuff.

Spirit of the Favela, Spiegeltent, Gyle Centre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A different location, way out at the Gyle, a different Spiegeltent (plain outside, fancy inside, with a central stage), and a different show for us, outsiode our usual comfort zone.  I am not, historically, a fan of cabaret, but this one sounded intriguing.

And I came out very happy that I took the risk.  It was certainly different, but it was great fun.  Music, dance, some spectaciular acrobatics, a thread of a story about the poor of the favelas stadning up to the rich property developers.  Colour, spectacle, audience interaction, and some breathtaking stunts (the woman spinning from the ceiling by her hair was a highlight).  Very enjoyable.

Jo Caulfield : Bad Mood Rising, Stand 3, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

She's been told to be grateful for life - but there are too many fucking irritating people in the world.  The arch bitch is back with a nother doe of stories about friends, family and the people she meets.  And what's wrong wiyth them all...

Sharp observations on relationships, a sharp tongue against the world, despiser of fascists and brexshit, and hilarious audience interaction.  One of the funniest shows you'll see, and one of the bitchiest.  Always recommended

From Hilde, With Love

Low key, but all the more powerful for it, this is the mostly true story of Hilde Coppi, a young woman in Nazi Germany who finds herself falling into a small resistance group.  Their resistance isn't dramatic, more the kind of amateurish effort that concerned citizens feel obliged to take part in when face with the horror of a dictatorship.  Sticking up slogans, making radio calls to Moscow, listening in to banned radio stations.  Low level bravery, doing the best they can rather than passive acceptance.  They might not achieve much, but they take up the regime's resources, and every small sting counts.

The film begins with the arrest of Hilde and boyfriend Hans, and follows the by-then-pregnant young woman through her questioning, imprisonment, giving birth, and the end that we know from the start will be inevitable.Flashbacks show her falling in love with Hans, falling into the group he was a part of, not as an ideologue, but as someone persauded to do her bit to fight back.  The group are ordinary young people, aware that their government is evil.

Yet the functionaries they encounter in the system are not, by and large, the monsters we like to imagine, but ordinary people, trying to go about their jons.  Showing an human side at times.  Not fanatics, but full of the gullibility that comes with the urge to fit in with the system.

The acting is excellent, especially Live Lisa Fries as the scared but stoic heroine.  It's an impressive film, a hard watch at times, but for all the right reasons.  And a reminder that we must not be won over by fascism, but resist in whatever way we can.  Reform must not win here.

Luke Wright : Pub Grub, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Pub Grub as the opening poem, the sometimes-need to slum it a bit, to ignore the fine dining and go for the comfort food.  And if there's a theme then maybe that's it, but this show ranges far and wide, covering family and friends and the past and telling stories.  All done with sparkling verses and bucket loads of humour.

There's also fun ways for Wright to show off his technical mastery of the language and form.  A poem using no vowels but 'O'.  Another where every noun, vern, adjective and adverb staerts with 'D'.  And then there's the pub joke - an old fashioned one, mildly amusing at first telling.  But as the show goes on further versions emerge, five in total, so that the joy of wordplay becomes far funnier than the joke itself.

It's a joyful hour, witty, clever, and sometime sthought provoking.  With the ocaasional groan at the lunguistic tortuosity he indulges in to make hsi monovowel verses work out!

I've loved Luke's work since first seeing him over a decade ago, and this show is one of his best.  Not to be missed.

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Menu One, Pleasance One, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 For us the first was last, completing our viewing of this year's menu trio with number one on the list.  Which turned out to be the best of the set.

SUCH DREAMS AS STUFF IS MADE ON

When robbery and snobbery work together.  If you're going to be robbed you want it to be one that's going to impress the neighbours.  Even if that means giving the thieves a helping hand.  An amusing satire on social climbing and class pretensions.

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING ON THE PHONE

Two people on a bus, both on their phones, each with their own issues to deal with.  The one-sided conversations interlace to hilarious effect, but underneath are two tales os sadness.  Clever stuff, beautifully played.

THE GAFFER

It's the FA Cup final so you'd expect everyone to be keyed up and ready to go.  So why is the manager of the underdogs sitting it out and not bothering to give a team talk?  His assistant, and the club's psychiatirst, trt to understand to cajole, to bully if neccessary, but nothing seems to work.  A surreal twist provides the truth, in a world where reality and virtual reality are so hard to tell apart.  

EMERGENCY CONTACT

His ex has turned up at the hospital because she's still, years after they split, listed as his emergency contact.  So when she finds that it's only a broken arm she's not too happy at having to come.  And even less happy when there seems to be some manipulation going on.  Very funny comedy with a twist and killer punchline.

ANNND SCENE (OF THE CRIME)

When the police are called to the theatre to invesigate a murder within an improv group, they find that the actors are not going to behave like normal witnesses.  So if you can't beat 'em...  Very funny comedy with some excellent dialogue and an interesting premise.

Dean Owens and the Sinners, Spiegeltent, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

What is there to say that I haven't said before in several reviews of Dean's shows?  The line up was the same as the last time I saw him, last December, but without the drummer present.  The quality, both of music and Owens' storytelling, was high as ever.  A fun show, that left me buzzing with enjoyment.

Shaparak Khorsandi, Pleasance : Scatterbrain, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Khorsandi talking about life since her ADHD diagnosis.  It's still chaotic, but at least she understands why now.

She admits it's unstructured, and it certainly feeels random at times, but there is more cohernece to it all than she suggests.  Even if she does lose her way a few times.  She's got a lot of interest to say on how she copes with her condition, how it affects her choildren, and just how mental health aware the latter are, in a way that would have been impossible for her generation.  She now understand s her younger self a lot better though.

If this sounds a bit like a rambling form of self therapy that wouldn't be far from the truth.  But redeemed by being very funny at times, with some brilliant punchlines, and rolling along at breakneck speed.  There's a lot to think about too, so it's very far from being a bad show.  Just be prepared to accept confusion....  

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Menu Three, Pleasance One, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Strawberries, croissants and coffee.  And the next five plays on the menu.

SOMEPNE'S SITTING THERE

She's on a Tinder date, in a busy pub, and he's late.  The battle to keep him a seat is getting on her nerves.  So when he does eventually turn up... will it work out?  Because she has already shown us her high expectations.  This one was fun, farcical at times, but with a feelgood factor.

DADDY ISSUES

Finding the right sperm donor for a gay couple's pregnanacy can be tricky.  But what if the answer is close at hand?  Maybe you can even keep it in the family...   An unexpected proposition has unexpected consequences, and a moral dimension that's given as much thought as you could expect from a ten minute drama.  A nicely balanced piece.

FIGHTING MISS RIGHT

A first date, and she's sure she's found what she's looking for.  But the other she has bneen bured too often, and she has rules, hurdles to be overcome, before a relationship can move on.  Is there a way to jump those hurdles faster?  She'll do everything she can to find out...  Awkwardness, inventiveness, the minefield of dating, an intrgiuing take on what people will do to find and resist love.

TOP FLIGHT

On a plane to Gdansk two people are brought together into sharing the reasons for their being there.  Escape being one of them, so when the flight is forced to turn back there's reason to be concerned.  But sometimes the solution presents itself, and offers something neither party had thought might happen.  A short play with a twist.  A special mention to Rosie Edards for her hilarious cameo as the stewaress.

THE APPLE INSPECTOR

A farcical black comedy set on a cider farm.  Apples, romance, murder and legal complexities.  A bit daft really, and probably the weakest of the quintet, but a bit of fun to ned the show on.

The Big Singalong, Ross Bandstand, Edinburgh International Festival

 A sold out crowd, a sunny sky and the castle looking down on the event.  The perfect setting for a big choral effort.

With a singing master leading proceedings (taking over from a Radio Forth DJ) we had three community choirs performing a couple of numbers each.  One mixed voices, one women only, one male voice, with one from Edinburgh and two from Glasgow.  All interesting perfromances, but by far the most ineresting was the female voice collective, comprised of women from other nations, often refugees, and songs of liberation and struggle.

Then it was time to give the audience a bit of instrcution and practice in an arrangement of one of Scotland's best loved songs, to be fronted by the singer/songwriter who made it famous.  Getting it right provided some laughs, but it was just about there by the time Dougie MacLean took the stage, joined by a scratch choir to help out.  The song was, of course, Caledonia, and it did sound good.  Another couple of numbers from Dougie, a final rendition of the anthem, and that was that.

A pleasantly gentle and fun way to spend some of a Sunday afternoon.

Homo (sapien), Assembly Roxy Snug, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A one man coming of age play written by, and starring, Conor O'Dwyer.

Joey is a bad gay.  At least he thinks so, primarily because he's in his early twenties and still hasn't had sex, despite several opportunities.  But maybe life is a bit more complicated than one night stands?  Maybe he just needs to understand himself a bit better.

O'Dwyer gives an energetic performance, with a cast of characterts well delineated, and emotional depth.  There are a lot of laughs, moments of pathos, and a solid reflection of what it's like to gorw up 'different', when you're not too sure who'll accept you as you are.  

Highly recommended, as both entertaining and thought perovoking.

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Menu Two, Pleasance One, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Onwards and upwards for the Bite-Size crew, this year moving to Pleasance One.  Another three 'menus', with differing offers of short, sharp playlets.  A mostly familiar cast (two men, three women) with only one newcomer from previous years.  And the same offerings of strawberries, coffee and croissant before the show begins.  Still a delight.

For Menu 2 the five courses are...

THE THIRD WHEEL

A young couple of a Ferris wheel.  Him annoyed that a third person has been placed in their pod, her puzzled as to why.  He's got it all planned, the most romantic proposal ever.  But plans don't always work out, and that extra person is suddenly an important part of the scenario.  A sharp little comedy commenting on how easy if it is to find yourself with a different vision of your future to that of the person you want to share it with.

FOOD BANK

The only people at a food bank are those providing the service, and those in dire need of it.  But can you be both?  A new helper has turned up, and wants to turn everything into a drama.  Maybe he hasn't got the hang of it?  Or maybe he has...?   Played for laughs, but there is a side ordering of pathos in this one.  We aren't always what we pretend to be...

PROOF

A parcel arrives, the courier takes the photo of proof.  But then you relaise it's the worong hand in the pic...  Farce ensues, the gas man gets roped into the silliness.  Maybe a bit too silly?

BOTTOMLESS

Three old friends get together for pre funeral drinks  - something their dead pal had very much wanted, organised.  |A happy and sad occasion.  And argumentative.  And surprising, very surprising.  But old friendships remain strong - don't they?  A quick rollercoaster ride through pasts and presents.

WHATEVER, THE WEATHER

A US news channel, with an English weather presenter.  He just wants to tell the truth about the weather and what's causing it, while his co-presenters want to keep the sponsors sweet.  Who's going to break down first?  This one isn't the funniest, but it does point at one of the reasons why we still have climsate change deniers... (Also the only one of the five where all five cast memebrs made an appearance.)

Another excellent quintet from the Bite Size crew, always entertaining, and occasionally thought provoking, with scenarios that take the truth and stretch it a little.  Always worth seeing.