Break My Windows (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 At the office of Uber-alike Bring My Wheels, Brandon (Ross Baxter) is getting annoyed with Eric (Tom McGovern) for trying to tell him how to do his job.  But arguing with Eric isn't easy, because he's not only Brandon's boss, but his dad as well.  To complicate things Brandon wants to introduce his father to Sam (Jamie McKillop), both as a potential employee of the firm, and as Eric's prospective son-in-law.  And he knows just how Dad is going to react...

Things start badly, and only get worse, with Eric and Sam becoming more and more opposed to one another.  Brandon is stuck in the middle, but where do his loyalties lie, especially when the issues are as much political and legal as they are personal?

Dave Gerow's script is smart and funny, with plenty of little call-backs and contemporary references.  On one level it's comedy about relationships and loyalties, on another it's a satire about the increasing polarisation of our political scene.  Three excellent performances help serve up the laughs and nuances, with perfect timing and pace.  Hugely enjoyable and well worth grabbing a ticket if you can.

A perfect example of how clever these fifty minute plays can be.

Sally (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 A one-woman show based on the character of Cabaret's Sally Bowles has gone viral when the actor playing the character, also called Sally (Sally Reid), starts ad-libbing and insulting her audience.  So viral that a big name producer has signed her up for the Festival Theatre. And then?  Who knows?  London's West End and New York's Broadway beckon...

So the producer sends in Tyler (Sam Stopford) to be Sally's PA.  Because every big star big star needs a PA, right?  Juliette Binoche loved Tyler, didn't she?  Sally isn't convinced.  So it's Tyler's job to do the convincing, to turn a small town mentality into a big stage ego.  And Sally is fertile territory, and prey to conspiracy theories. But what else is the ambivalent Tyler there to do?

This show wears it's anti-fascist credentials proudly on it's sleeve.  Resulting in a script that feels like a wallop to the head too often.  It foghorns political references to the increasingly sinister tory policies we're seeing, and squeezes in bucket loads of 'names' (mostly 'celebrities' or extreme right wingers like Dorries and Trump, but there's a neat joke about the First Minister too), all of which gives a clunky, heavy handed feel to the script.  But with some good laughs along the way.  And it does manage to deliver something of a twist in the end, and it's always good to have reminder of what a powerful anti-fascist message the 1972 film delivered.  

The cast do a good job with what they've been given.  Reid's Sally is living up to her new celebrity status, but still clinging to her socialist principles, and that conflict comes across well.  Stopford's Tyler is camp, creepy and sinister, increasingly the latter, and is impossible to warm to.

Far from the best I've ever seen in the A Play, a Pie and a Pint series, but Sally has it's heart in the right place and enough comedy (and artificial flowers!) to be worth a watch.  And the pies are better than last time...

Luke Wright: The Remains of Logan Dankworth, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Logan Dankworth is about to make it. His career as a stand up wasn't really going anywhere, but now he's writing a well paid column for a big newspaper. Make it funny, make it controversial, make it large.  But when you make a living from bating public opinon, and lose your own sense of what you really do believe in, what's left?

Set against the background of the UK political scene over the past decade, it's a strong reflection of the amorality that appears to dominate so much of public discourse, and the damage that does to society and individuals.    A storming performance from Wright, with not just a play for our times, but a lyrical treat, his poetic impulses shining through in sudden couplets and shifts of rhythm and mood.  

Excellent.

 

Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Returning after a couple of years of pandemic related absence, this was a recording for Radio 4 to introduce the contenders for Best Show and Best Newcomer.  Each contender was given a three minute slot to give some inkling of their style and the content of their shows.  

Russel Kane, a previous winner, hosted, and did an excellent job.  Professional, calm, but swiftly able to whip an audience into laughter and improvise to fill in the inevitable gaps you get during a show of this nature.  But also moving thigs along swiftly, for time was tight.

The Best Show contenders were Larry Dean, Lauren Pattison, Seann Walsh, Amy Gledhill, Colin Hoult (as his alter ego Anna Mann), Alfie Brown, Jordan Gray, Josh Pugh and Sam Campbell.  And the Newcomers were Vittorio Angelone, Emmanuel Sonubi, Emily Wilson, Josh Jones and Lara Ricote.

You can't tell a lot from such short stints, but, for what it's worth, Dean and Pattison impressed me most in the first category, with Alfie Brown the most intriguing.  And Angelone, Sonubi and Ricote all made me laugh a lot.  While Hoult, Campbell and the timewasting Wilson seemed best forgotten.  But what do I know?  The results will be announced this Saturday.

Stand Up for the Bin Workers - Gala, New Town Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A benefit gig, laid on at short notice by mark Thomas and The Stand, to help fund the striking refuse workers.  A large audience were treated to ten minute sets from a star studded comedic line up.

The first half was MCed by Mark Nelson, always a reliable opening act to get the audience in the mood.  He introduced Kiri Pritchard-McLean, who talked about her plans to almost adopt and why four was better than one; Danny Bhoy with an alternative and much funnier speech for Queenie to come out with; Shazia Mirza on how little influence us older white men have in society; and the incredible Jason Byrne who riffed out a hilarious set from one audience interaction.

The acerbic Jo Caulfield took over the introductions after the interval, with her own take on the class distinctrions of Edinburgh - and Leith!.  First to be brought on was another local luminary, Vladimir McTavish, and his confessionally awful haircut; another Scot, Sisie McCabe, whose accent probably baffled a large section of the audience, which only enhanced the laughs for the rest of us as she talked about trying to bring her parents into the twenty first century; Rachel Fairburn on her Mancunian accent; and Mr Thomas himself venting his ire against the tory government by taking the piss.  The gig ended with an impassioned speech for solidarity and the upholding of workers' rights from Chris Mitchell of the GMB, and reminder of what the evening was all about.  

In Conversation With... Andy Burnham, New Town Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 The interviewer was Neil Findlay, a Labour MSP until last year and seen as being on the left of the party.  The interviewee was Andy Burnham, now Mayor of Manchester but a Labour leadership contender not so long ago, and also seen as being on the left.  So this was always going to be more cosy chat than probing questioning.

Burnham's a good speaker, fluent and amusing, but always making his point.  He had valid criticisms of the current Scottish Government, especially over their mania for centralisation.  His plea for more cross party dialogue and cooperation, but excluding the tories, makes sense in our partisan times.  It was good to hear someone telling the truth about the disasters of the eighties and how we are now reaping the problems sewn back then by short termist populism.  And he outlined some of the excellent initiatives taking place in Manchester, particularly around homelessness.  His genuine hatred of the current breed of ukip-soundalike tories is something we need to see more of. If the Labour Party was a bit more in his image I might even consider them a viable alternative for my vote.  But it's not.

And sometimes what's not said is as important as what is.  Burnham has a dubious past voting record, such as favouring the Iraq War, and not voting to properly regulate fracking.  In questions from the audience he tried to glaze over Labour's refusal to contemplate negotiating with the EU to at least return to the single market, saying that those arguments were over - seeming happy to effectively disenfranchise the growing majority that favour reversing the 2016 disaster.

And there were hints of yet another southern politician who thinks he knows better what Scotland wants than the people who live her.  Funnily enough almost all of the audience members who asked questions came from down south - including the man weho welcomed Burnham to Edinburgh, having just said he was up here from Herts!  What strange times we live in.

I liked Burnham as a speaker, he has a lot of sound ideas in his social policies, and he would be a far better labour Leader than Starmer.  But he still feels out of touch with people in this country.

Marjolein Robertson : Thank God Fish Don't Have Hands, Stand 2, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 What's this show about?  Robertson is good at telling us what it's not, but doesn't reveal the real point until near the end.  Along the way she chats to the audience, tells of her childhood on Shetland and student life at uni, the year of the men and the best and worst of lockdown, and a diagnosis that helped her make sense of her world.  Several good visual gags, plenty of decent punchlines, and a flirtatious energy drive the show along.  And yes, the show title does get to make sense, sort of.  Far from a waste of an hour of your time.

Marjolein Robertson : Thank God Fish Don't Have Hands is on at 16:00 in Stand 2 until the 28th.