"Sub Rosa" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Sub Rosa draws audiences into the murky world of music hall troupes and artist exploitation at the Winter Palace theatre. The story of young Flora McIvor’s revolution against cruel theatre manager Mr Hunter unfolds gradually as we move from room to room encountering members of the company. Pay close attention as seemingly throwaway remarks may take on huge significance before the end.

The six strong cast of Adam McNamara, Angela Darcy, Isabelle Joss, Benny Young, Isabella Jarrett and Clare Dargo give compelling performances and with the audience often only inches a genuine connection can be created. It’s unfair of me to single out one performance above the others but Jarrett's steel eyed callousness was chilling beyond belief.

David Leddy's tale is gruesome in the extreme and there are times since the show I've wished it was a little less unforgettable. In many ways the show is a puzzle and while the outcome of the artists' rebellion is eventually revealed to us, other aspects are left very much for the audience to piece together. Technically the show is almost flawless - the only problem we encountered were a couple of occasions where views of the performers were restricted if you were unfortunate enough to have a tall person in front of you. There are several sets of audiences each night and many of these will be in the venue simultaneously - yet the way we are moved around by our guides ensures that we feel as though our group is in an otherwise empty space.

The script has been tweaked from the production that we adored at the Citizens last year to take account of its new location in a Masonic Lodge but while lighting and sound help to create an intense atmosphere, the venue simply can’t accommodate some of the most striking visuals from that earlier show. In its new home Sub Rosa is unquestionably a marvellous piece of theatre – but it remains a piece of theatre. The previous incarnation in the backstage spaces at the Citz was so utterly immersive that it felt like we were watching the past unfold in front of our eyes.

But while it may have lost a little bit of magic in the move to Edinburgh, for anyone who loves theatre, Sub Rosa will probably still be the best thing they see at the Fringe this year.

David Leddy's Sub Rosa is a Fire Exit production in association with the Citizens Theatre. The show runs several times each night until 30th August. Audiences meet at New Town Theatre at 96 George Street before walking to the venue.
Image by Douglas McBride used with permission.

"Jacobite Country" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

It was very tempting for this review to simply read "If you can't say something nice..." but we like to think that we're better than that. So I will try to convey how bad this was - although I suspect 'Option 1' may have been kinder.

Over the four years we've been writing reviews at View From The Stalls we've seen over 300 shows and Jacobite Country is undoubtedly in the bottom five. It is painful to watch and has no redeeming qualities.

Set in a mental institution in the Scottish highlands we are introduced to Haggis McSporran (Sarah Haworth) who fancies himself as a stand up comic and local bad lad Craitur Face (Fiona Morrison). The cast is completed by Annie Grace as Uncle Angus and Mairi Morrison in a number of roles. The observant amongst you may have picked up on the fact that 3 of these male characters are portrayed by female actors - and one of Mairi Morrison's roles is also male. Now, I have no problem with cross-gender casting and it can often bring a new angle to a play, but this is simply bizarre. There is no obvious rationale behind it and it would seem straightforward enough if the company wished to use a female cast to rework the text a little. And what makes it worse is that another of Mairi Morrison's characters appears to be a female nurse - named Eddy.

McSporran's stand up routines are pretty awful but I'm prepared to give writer Henry Adam the benefit of the doubt that this was intentional - however this makes it no less painful for the audience. The only moment during the whole play that got a laugh out of me was a line about the previous comic persona of a Scottish comedian who made it big in the States - a gag I'm certain flew over the heads of at least 90% of the audience.

What follows appears to be intended as a comic romp with Haggis and Craitur Face on the run - including encounters with Craitur's gun-totting, mobster granny and a showbiz agent. We also get a subplot about Uncle Angus and his nationalist extremist campaign. Now some of these scenes may be delusions but I was long past caring by this point - as were many others in the audience. I'd put the initial audience at around 30 and we lost our first two after twenty minutes, and then another one around an hour, quickly followed by another two. There may have been other escapees sitting further back that I didn't notice and there were at least two 'sleepers'.

To be fair to the cast, there's nothing wrong with their performances. It's just that, with the exception of a couple of pointed lines about Scottish identity, the whole thing is drivel. I haven't the faintest idea what made writer Henry Adam, director Matthew Zajac and Dogstar Theatre decide to mount this production.

The one saving grace of the afternoon is that although we have a policy of not accepting press tickets we're happy to take advantage of offers open to the general public - so my ticket was free courtesy of an offer in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.

I hate that I've had to write such a negative review and I hate the fact it may be to the detriment of a small theatre company. So I'll just say this... If you were considering seeing "Jacobite Country" - don't. Instead go and see Dogstar Theatre's other show at this year's Fringe - "The Tailor of Inverness". It's a fantastic piece of theatre which we enjoyed immensely last year.

Jacobite Country runs at Udderbelly Pasture until 30th August (not the 16th)
The Tailor of Inverness runs at Udderbelly Pasture until 30th August (not the 16th)
Image used with permission.

"Fresher. The Musical" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

After an afternoon of really dreadful theatre, I sought reassurance from the Zoo Roxy box office that Fresher wasn't going to compound my woes. They were convincingly enthusiastic about it, so I took them at their word - and they were right. 'Fresher. The Musical' is the perfect tonic for just having seen a really bad show.

For a musical to work, every element has to be perfect. One underperforming vocalist or overacting cast member can be the death of a show, and I've lost count of how many times poor sound levels have rendered a musical almost pointless. But when everything comes together in harmony, like it does here, nothing else can energise an audience in quite the same way.

Set in a flat share during Freshers week, we begin with the first meeting of five students and watch as the dynamics within the group are established. The cast of five all make significant contributions vocally but they also bring additional strengths to the piece. Andrew Bryant shows great comic timing as the cocky and laddish Tuc, but also gives him a believable depth as the show develops. Natasha Barnes does well with the difficult task of making the unlikable Ally more than a cliche and displays some serious vocal talent. Steven Aspinall makes the twit-ish Rupert endearing and has the audience in fits of laughter while Mark Lawson convincingly conveys the turmoil Baz is experiencing. As Hayley, Victoria Gimby is the emotional heart of the show and she delivers a perfectly nuanced performance.

Sally Torode's book and Mark Aspinall's music and lyrics make sure the laughs keep coming but don't shy away from how hard those first days of student life can be. It doesn't take itself too seriously and happily mocks the musical genre at times to great effect. The balance of dialogue and songs is spot on and there isn't a poor musical number in there - and two or three are instantly memorable. A word also for director Guy Unsworth who keeps the show moving at pace while allowing the quieter moments room to breath.

Seeing the show is rather like the experience of Freshers Week itself - an absolute blast of energy and laughs, Fresher deserves to sell out every night.

Fresher. The Musical runs at Zoo Roxy until 30th August (not the 16th) at 17:35
Image used with permission

"Spring Awakening" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Like many, we were aware of the existence of this musical which has quickly established itself with a cult following - if not always combined with commercial success. And while we knew a little of its 'controversial' plot, neither of us had heard any of its musical numbers. We went into the show looking for a bit of a lift in tempo after a couple of serious plays and it didn't disappoint.

"Spring Awakening" is every bit a modern musical, despite its source material dating from 1891. Teenagers are teenagers, regardless of their place in time, and Steven Sater's book and lyrics use the language of today to express their shared angst. As a result, this makes some of the language a little...shall we say..'robust'. When combined with Duncan Sheik's music we get something reminiscent of 'Girls Aloud' or the latest flavour of Boy Band. But despite that, there are several songs that made sufficient impression on me that I'll be hitting iTunes or Amazon later to buy the Broadway cast soundtrack.

RSAMD's One Academy have put together a show with high production values - large cast, live musicians and considerable effort put in to costumes and choreography. The cast perform the musical numbers well, but with the majority being of the pop/rock variety and the venue's less than ideal acoustics there's little scope to really blow the audience away with stunning vocals. But what does that matter when you can generate an intense enthusiasm in the audience for the performances with sheer energy? I can't say that there was a widespread standing ovation given at the curtain call but there were certainly a good number on their feet.

I think it's pretty clear that this is going to be one of the hits of the Fringe, so don't delay booking (but do be careful you don't confuse it with the original play which is also being staged at this year's Fringe).

Spring Awakening runs at the Pleasance daily at 3.05pm until 30 August (not 18th, 19th or 25th)
Image by Kenneth Dundas used with permission

"Alcatraz" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Aireborne Theatre's "Alcatraz" poses significant difficulties for anyone wishing to review it. Some shows by their very nature are best experienced by an audience that has little advance knowledge of the piece - something we achieved by accident rather than design as the show was a late replacement in our schedule for the day. But it then leaves me wanting to give a flavour or sense of tone for it without giving too many pointers. Please bear in mind that reviews elsewhere may be less circumspect.

So let's try and work out if this is 'your kind of show'...

You should give this a try if:
You like theatre that is, in the best sense of the word, 'artistic'.
You enjoy clever, wordy theatre that makes you smile rather than laugh
You don't mind being halfway through a show and not being at all sure what's going on (as long as it makes sense by the end).
You have a bit of free time afterwards to have a think about it before your next show.

You might want to think twice before booking if:
You want to turn your brain off for a bit and just be entertained.
You are already seeing a lot of 'complex' shows today.
You want plenty of laugh out loud moments.
You have been to San Francisco/Alcatraz and found the title intriguing.

I really enjoyed it and despite not being entirely convinced by the central conceit, it kept my attention throughout and showcased some strong performances. Waldorf on the other hand wasn't quite in the right frame of mind for this one and it struggled to really pull her in.

Alcatraz runs at Underbelly at 13:25 on the 10th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th.

Image used with permission

"In Memory" - Edinburgh Fringe 2010

On reflection, starting our visit to this year's Edinburgh Fringe with a piece of theatre about the loss of a parent to a brain tumour was perhaps unlikely to provide much of a feelgood factor. And yes, Waldorf predictably left the venue a little 'damper' than she entered and was heard muttering "I need chocolate". But despite the emotional toll the show takes on the audience it has plenty of heart - and enough lighter moments to ensure it won't cast a cloud over the rest of your day.

With this being a show from Gresham's school, I'll reiterate our long standing policy on reviewing youth/student/amateur/community shows: we consider these on exactly the same terms as any professional production - anything else would be patronising to those involved.

The cast of twelve perform scenes showing the impact the illness has on the family - at times utilising multiple cast members to simultaneously represent the father, mother and daughter. When combined with a lack of volume from the cast, it's a method that risks confusing the audience, and given the initial school setting it was was some way through before we appreciated the daughter was not a pupil but, in fact, a teacher. In fairness, I'm now considering the possibility this was an intentional ploy by writer/director Victoria Harvey-Seldon, but at the time it certainly felt more like something we 'hadn't got' than an intended moment of revelation. I would also mention that the performance we saw today was the first of the run, so I would expect the volume issue to be swiftly remedied. (We suspect the noise of the fan may have added an unforeseen element for the cast to contend with.)

And although we had to struggle to hear some lines, our effort was rewarded. Victoria Harvey-Seldon has written some acutely observed moments and her ensemble cast succeed in evoking a true-to-life sense of confusion, frustration and anger at their situation. But there are also some wonderfully stylised set pieces including an inspired corruption of an aircraft safety announcement. And impressively, while packing a formidable emotional punch, it avoids cheap audience manipulation - the power here lies in the small and human details.

Even for those like me who tend to recoil from what could be 'another tearfest' there is, instead, much to appreciate.

"In Memory" runs at C at 11am daily until 13th August.
Image used with permission

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

And so it begins...

Today is the official start date of the Edinburgh Fringe - although many shows have been previewing for some days. Our first visit will be Sunday, when we plan to see "In Memory", "That Moment", "Spring Awakening" and then either "Imperial Fizz" or "Honest" depending on timings. Our plans for later in the week are still sketchy but we will be seeing "Sub Rosa", Alan Cumming's cabaret show "I Bought A Blue Car Today" and "The Apprentice" out at Rosslyn Chapel between now and next Saturday (details and links on our Fringe Preview).

We'll have our first Fringe reviews posted on Sunday night or Monday morning but we've already posted our thoughts on Grid Iron's "Decky Does A Bronco" which has been touring for a while before its appearance in Edinburgh. In the meantime here are a few links that may be of interest...

Our Fringe 2010 Preview

Our tips for Fringe goers

Theatre Ninjas is a new website/iphone app that has been created to allow performers to distribute free tickets. It's early days yet, but it looks as if it may have a good number of shows participating. The exact method of securing the tickets varies from show to show (and some sound like they have the potential to be problematic) but it's certainly worth a look. We'll give it a go on one of our trips and report back on how well it works.

We'd also point you in the direction of other sites that will be providing Fringe coverage. Do let us know if we've missed any..
Three Weeks
One4Review
Broadway Baby
FringeReview
Edinburgh Festivals
Onstage Scotland
Edinburgh Festival Punter
A Local's Guide to the Fringe
Fringe Guru
TVBomb

"Valhalla!" - July 2010

Tron Theatre Company's Valhalla! is undoubtedly the most ridiculous, nonsensical, foul mouthed, drug fuelled piece of theatre we have ever come across. Did we mention that we loved it?

Completely insane, breathtakingly funny, and lip-bitingly outrageous. I honestly think it has to be seen to be believed. The entire cast of Johnny McKnight, Mark Prendergast, Joyce Falconer, Sally Reid, James Anthony Pearson, Grant Smeaton and Mairi Phillips are phenomenal. Paul Rudnick's writing is razor sharp and Andy Arnold's direction manages to bring a cohesive shape to scenes and storylines that cross all sorts of boundaries. And despite assaulting the audience with a two hour onslaught of verbal, visual and theatrical gags they somehow succeed in delivering a genuinely emotional last ten minutes.

This show really shouldn't work. But it does. Brilliantly.

We received our tickets for the show through our membership of the Tron's Patrons scheme which we thoroughly recommend for anyone who is a regular attendee at the Tron.

Valhalla! runs at the Tron until Saturday 24th July
Image by Richard Campbell used with permission.

"Nine" - July 2010

Before we get to our thoughts on this one, there are a few bits of 'housekeeping' I need to cover. This is the first amateur production we've seen for a while so I think it's worth restating our policy that applies to all amateur, community and youth theatre. We make no concessions or allowances and all performances will be considered in the same manner as professional ones - anything else would be patronising to those involved. Secondly, musicals aren't really my thing - with a few exceptions I tolerate them at best, so please keep that in mind. And lastly, in the interest of full disclosure, while we generally keep ourselves fairly isolated from the theatrical community in order to preserve our objectivity, on this occasion one of the cast is a friend of mine (in what passes for our 'day jobs').

Despite winning the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1982, both Waldorf and I were firmly of the view that this is a bad, bad musical - verging at times on 'Springtime for Hitler' bad. Of all the songs featured, only two - "My Husband Makes Movies" and "Unusual Way" linger in my memory a couple of hours after the show.

So it's very much to the credit of the cast that this was an enjoyable evening. Richard Magowan plays film director Guido Contini as he faces mounting crises in both his personal and professional lives, and makes the most of what are rather weak songs for the central role. He also succeeds in bringing a depth to the character's emotional moments while handling the comedic elements to good effect.

Jennie Wilkie as his wife Luisa receives some of the show's stronger numbers and gives an impressive performance both vocally and in bringing the character to life. There are also particularly strong performances from Chriss Mills as Claudia, Emma Craig as Carla and Kerry Burley as Sarraghina, while the whole cast provide excellent vocals for the ensemble numbers and Adam Stewart does well as the nine year old Guido.

Director Walter Paul has created a well drilled production that features a large cast with extensive choreography on a relatively small stage, but we do have to note that the prompt was required for a couple of lines. Musically and technically this was a very adept production - I've lost track of the number of musicals I've seen with significant problems with the sound levels, but here they were perfectly balanced.

There was certainly enough quality displayed here that I'd be interested to see what the cast and creative team could achieve with some better material to work with; however I do have to comment on the ticket price. £17 for a Wednesday night is pretty horrific in comparison to main stage, large scale professional shows at the Citizens or the Tron and without the factor of having friends/family in the cast it's difficult to envisage us paying similar prices in the future.

Nine, produced by Walter Paul Productions, runs at Gilmorehill G12 until Saturday 10th July
Image by Colin Wilkinson used with permission

"Decky Does A Bronco" - July 2010

Having enjoyed several shows from Grid Iron in recent years, I'd always been curious about their "Decky Does A Bronco" that featured in many actors' programme notes. So I was delighted to see that they had revived Douglas Maxwell's play ten years after their first production of it. Staged in purpose built swing parks and told in flashback it tells the story of a group of children and the summer their lives changed.

Any play that portrays young children with an adult cast is on potentially difficult ground and here the risks are amplified by having other (and only slightly older) actors portray the adult versions of the characters. Fortunately the 'young' cast perform brilliantly and bring out the childish elements without forcing them into caricature. The 'older' cast have considerably less stage time, but their quiet and subdued presence speaks volumes in itself and the considered direction from Ben Harrison ensures there is little chance of confusion. Bridging the two 'casts' is Martin McCormick, who as David acts as our narrator and slips between his older and younger selves with a very assured performance in what must be a very tricky role.

And if the roles weren't challenging enough, Maxwell and Harrison task their cast with some impressive acrobatic manoeuvres on the swings - including the 'Bronco' of the title which involves standing on the swing and working it up to a height before jumping off while 'kicking' the swing over the top bar. This is not without risk to the performers (and I speak as a former ten year old with a head gash to prove it) but their swing play was executed perfectly - to the point of being balletic.

Despite the excellent performances, the play itself has left me a little unsatisfied and wishing it had focused more on the aftermath and long term impact of the events rather than over-relying on a sucker punch. With the wind gusting and the physicality of the performances causing occasional sound drop-outs I was left at times grasping to hear lines and found myself joining dots of plot points that perhaps weren't intended to be joined - but the fact I was looking to join them suggests to me that there was something missing. Indeed, for me the most profound aspects of the evening came not from the play but from Ben Harrison's programme notes.

But perhaps I'm guilty of expecting too much and should just appreciate what is undeniably a perfectly captured picture of childhood that will have particular cultural resonances for those of a certain age.

Decky Does A Bronco has completed its run at Cumbernauld and continues on an extensive tour of Scotland before taking up residency as part of the Edinburgh Fringe and then completing its run with various dates in England.
Image by Douglas Jones used with permission.

Edinburgh Fringe 2010 - First Picks

We spent Sunday night working our way through this year's programme for the Edinburgh Fringe which launched at the end of last week. Surprisingly (and disappointingly) it didn't take us anywhere near as long as it has in previous years and if truth be told we found it pretty slim pickings. Usually we end up with a huge list that gets narrowed down to forty or so shows we plan to see but this year we found it a struggle to reach thirty. There's no guarantee we will see all of them once we have taken into account time/location and then scheduled them across a few day trips through to Edinburgh, but here are the shows that have caught our eye so far...

NonsenseRoom return to their home at Rosslyn Chapel and we're looking forward to finally seeing their show based on the Chapel's "Apprentice Pillar". In addition to 'normal' performances of "The Apprentice" there will also be 'special evenings' on the 7th and 14th of August which include a light buffet and tour of the Chapel and are well worth paying the extra ticket price for. NonsenseRoom have a second show at the Fringe - "Hairy Maclary & friends" based on a series of popular children's books - we won't be seeing this one ourselves but have no hesitation in reccommending it based on all their previous shows.

Next up is boxing based "Beautiful Burnout" from the National Theatre of Scotland and Frantic Assembly which comes with a cast that includes the usually impressive Ryan Fletcher.

"Blackout" from ThickSkin is inspired by the story of a Glasgow young offender waking up in a jail cell, and its description as "a 45 minute smack in the face" gained our attention.

David Leddy's "Sub Rosa" established itself as one of the greatest pieces of theatre we've ever seen when we saw it at the Citizens last year. With its site-specific nature we're not completely sure it will translate quite so well to its new location - but what is certain is that we're looking forward to finding out!

The Citz has its own presence at the Fringe with "The Girl in the Yellow Dress" as part of the programme at the Traverse but we might wait and catch that one when it reaches the Citz in September.

Those of you who have followed our Fringe tips in previous years will know that anything described as "darkly comic" is likely to catch our interest, and "Honest" from the Royal & Derngate Theatre duly did so. The fact its tale of a man in the pub determined to tell the truth, no matter what, is staged in a local bar also adds the novelty factor often required to stand out from the crowd.

"Imperial Fizz" could easily have got lost amongst the thousands of shows in the programme and defining itself as a "surreal, intoxicating comedy" risked it ending up on our blacklist. But the involvement of performer David Calvitto who impressed us so much in "The Event" was enough to convince us to give it a go.

I'm a little worried that Waldorf's selection of "In Memory" may turn out to be a total tearfest but it sounds like it has the potential to be a powerful piece of theatre - and on a more shallow note I'm a sucker for an interesting publicity photo.

Another of Waldorf's picks is "The Interpersonality Workout" which appears to be an amusing take on corporate training but I tend to think the reality of these events often takes them beyond parody. But hey, it has the advantage of being free, so why not?

Despite how it might appear at times we don't spend our time sticking pins in the Fringe programme to choose shows, and quite often we'll place a lot of trust on the basis of what we've seen a company do previously. Dogstar Theatre's "Jacobite Country" was an easy pick on that basis - despite its somewhat bizarre blurb. We really enjoyed their award winning "Tailor of Inverness" and are also pleased to see it getting another outing at this year's Fringe.

"Jacob's Ladder" from Pocketful Productions promises to be "a twisted comedy about religious politics, social position and sexual immorality" - more than enough to get itself added to our list.

An office romance doesn't sound particularly promising for a comedy, but then, writer DC Jackson is responsible for some of the funniest shows I've seen in recent years so "My Romantic History" at the Traverse is a must see for me.

This next pick is an interesting one as I saw a production of Louise Welsh's play last year that proved intriguing and frustrating in equal measures. Our review prompted some intriguing revelations about the play/production that makes me want to have a look at this new production of it. Warning - trust me that "Memory Cells" is a show worth seeing, but I'd really suggest going into it cold. Don't go looking for any reviews of it and whatever you do don't go searching out our one.

Sex trafficking appears to be quite a popular topic this year and while Emma Thompson's Executive Producing role on "Fair Trade" seems to have generated a fair amount of publicity, we don't think we can face two shows on the matter in a single Fringe and have opted for Cora Bissett's "Roadkill" based on the fact that pretty much everything we've ever seen her involved in as actor/director has been nothing short of brilliant.

Yes, we know that the Fringe tends to throw up a lot of self reverential and self indulgent shows full of theatrical in-jokes that are totally unfunny to 90% of the audience, but for people who see as much theatre as we do it's hard to ignore a show that doesn't take theatre too seriously. And we hope we don't fatally damage any credibility we may have established over the last four years when we book up for "A Slacker's Guide to Western Theatre".

Simon Callow has built a reputation as a real draw in Edinburgh with his Dickens based show and this year his performance in "Shakespeare:The Man from Stratford" is bound to attract an audience. But given our long-standing year round policy of declining press tickets it's a bit of a stretch for us to justify ticket prices of £20 plus for a single show when we could be seeing three others instead. Maybe if we can sort our schedule and time off to take advantage of the 2 for 1 offer on 10th August...

Euthanasia is always an issue that I'm interested in seeing being dealt with by theatre and "6766" sounds like it's going to rush in where others fear to tread. This is quite possibly the show I'm most looking forward to this year.

Few words divide our opinion on a show's blurb more than 'moving' - it seems to be a magnet for Waldorf and sends me scurrying for some comic relief instead. So I think she'll be on her own for "Speechless" despite the involvement of Sherman Cymru who brought us "Deep Cut" last year.

I'll also be ducking out of seeing "Stationary Excess" for different reasons - it lost me at "Imprisoned on an exercise bicycle..." but Waldorf's still keen.

Of course there are just as many shows that I'll be left to see on my own - including "Stitched Up" which claims to be a "bitterly comic take" on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Its timeslot might be tricky for us to schedule but it sounds like it might work as a funny conclusion to a day of more serious shows.

Another show likely to cause us scheduling problems is the EGTG's version of "The Tempest" as it takes place on a barge down in Leith. But it's not just the venue that piqued our interest - we enjoyed their version of "Tiny Dynamite" a couple of years ago and director Claire Wood's blog provides an interesting insight into the production process.

I had nearly marked "That Moment" in my copy of the programme and then didn't as it wasn't quite enough for me to make the effort to see on my own and I knew it would be too hard a sell to get Waldorf to come along. So I was pleasantly surprised when we compared our picks to find that it had made it onto her list. Perhaps it's another show that's benefitted from the whole 'theatre eats itself' vibe.

But she's back on her own again for what sounds like a 'choose your own adventure' type performance in "Threshold" from 19;29. I'm a little cautious about this kind of stuff (terrified I'll miss a turn and wander off and get lost!) and the note that 'price includes a bus ticket' doesn't help matters.

We certainly wouldn't be rushing to see another "Hamlet" at the Fringe but SEDOS' "The Tragedy of the Prince of Denmark" might be an intriguing look at the play's events from a different viewpoint.

Waldorf's hoping to see "Tunde" but a 'powerful drama' about modern day child trafficking sounds a little too close to 'moving' for me...

How workers in a call centre cope when faced with a natural disaster isn't really an obvious choice for me - especially as the blurb says it's "funny, poignant and moving" but somehow I still want to see "20:20 Vision". Maybe it's my mother's 'end of the world' fixation coming through...

"The Typhoid Marys" true-life tale of 43 women confined in a psychiatric hospital for being carrier's of typhoid seems unlikely to provide a comfortable afternoon but sometimes those are the shows most worth seeing.

The Fringe often features shows that deal with a personal journey or triumph over adversity and Waldorf has picked out "Unshakeable" from the programme. Paul Betney's performance based around his diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease sounds a little too 'personal' for me - I prefer my shows more 'at arms length' but it sounds very much Waldorf's cup of tea.

We have very few hard rules about things that we won't see at the Fringe but "Ups and Downs" has managed to persuade us to break one of them. We've learned that shows in hotels are considerably riskier than those in other venues and in fact we can't think of a show we've seen in one that would gain anything like pass marks. But KDC Theatre's show about a group of the newly dead as they await judgement is the kind of thing we like to see at the Fringe so we're taking a deep breath and giving it a chance.

"Two couples explore the threat of honesty and our perverse need for it" sounds like typical Fringe stuff and wouldn't normally warrant our attention but "While You Lie" is written by Sam Holcroft whose "Cockroach" has the distinction of being one of only half a dozen or so shows that have genuinely changed my opinion about something important. And the fact it's on at the Traverse is generally a measure of quality... and provides a nice excuse to eat at the nearby "Spirit of Thai" restaurant.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the "slick, dark and very funny" that got "Wild Allegations" onto our list, but rather a hint at the play's format/structure. In any medium I tend to enjoy things that provide alternative views of the same events or any kind of 'he said'/'she said' situation so it was the mention of "parallel but conflicting tales" that grabbed me.

"a site-specific, interactive shopping experience" was enough to send me running in the opposite direction but I wasn't surprised to see "Your Dream Wedding" from Anything Bloody Goes on Waldorf's list.

That's all we have from the 'Theatre' section of the Fringe programme but we like to dabble in the 'Music' and 'Musical' sections too. As soon as we heard Alan Cumming was bringing his musical show, "I Bought a Blue Car Today", to the Fringe it was top of our 'hot ticket' list. And we'd enjoyed his performance in "The Bacchae" so much a few years back that we don't even grudge paying £20 a ticket. We're amazed there are still tickets available for his 3 night run but don't wait too long to book up.

We're also hoping to see "Spring Awakening" and I'll see "Fresher" if it can be slotted around a day's schedule.

And that just about concludes our tips for now, although we may add shows to our list once we get more details about shows such as cast etc. It's also unlikely we'll be able to see all these shows as past experience suggests there will be time clashes and distances between venues that will prove insurmountable given the relatively short amount of time we can spend in Edinburgh.

We are always open to suggestions for other shows to see, but if you're planning on e-mailing us about your own show, please do so as early as possible. We always get a few e-mails each year in the middle of the Fringe asking us along to see shows that sound fantastic but we simply can't rearrange our plans at short notice. And with that in mind I had made a mental promise that I would go along to see the first show that sent us a press release after the programme launched - so although it wouldn't have normally been on our list, is technically in the 'Comedy' section (which we haven't quite got round to yet), and is in a hotel venue, I will be going along to see "Dildon't".

Open.Stage & CATS winners announced

The Tron's Open.Stage competition to find a play for their Autumn season recently reached its conclusion, and after the public vote, Abigail Docherty's "Sea and Land and Sky" was declared the winner. We're looking forward to seeing it later in the year and also hope to catch the rehearsed readings of the two runners up. Full details at the Tron website.

And yesterday saw the award ceremony for the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) - full details of all this year's winners are now available on the CATS website. As we mentioned before we somehow seem to have contrived to avoid seeing most of the winning productions, but congratulations to all involved.

"One Million Tiny Plays About Britain" - June 2010

Okay, let's be clear about this for the benefit of anyone worried about committing the next few years of their life to watching this show from the Citizens Theatre Company. You only get to see about thirty of Craig Taylor's 'tiny plays', adapted here by Ros Philips and performed by Sushil Chudasama, Mark McDonnell and Pauline Turner over the course of around 90 minutes. But actually, that's a pity as I'd quite happily sit through another 999,970 tiny plays like these ones - although perhaps not all in one session.

We've grown accustomed to seeing cast members playing multiple characters over a short time frame but I can't ever recall seeing it done on anything like this scale, or quite so impressively as it is here. Age and sex prove no obstacle to playing roles here and the accents vary perfectly to match locations the length and breadth of Britain. When we discussed the show on the way home we realised we had no idea what the 'natural' accents of the three cast members might be. The individual plays are too short and sketchlike to allow any real depth to the characters, but I expect it will be a long time before I see performances displaying such range again.

Despite their brevity, each playlet is absolutely absorbing and perfectly captures a vignette of everyday life in modern Britain and is crafted with such care that they seem to come to a natural conclusion - never feeling too long or too short. In her role as Director, Philips ensures the plays transition seamlessly at breakneck pace separated only by snippets of audio and a digital text scroll to help to set the location. Jason Southgate's design for the Citizens Circle Studio is as creative as I've ever seen in there - with a kebab shop, a train carriage and an immigration inspector's booth located on three of the four walls, and a fantastic multipurpose central set.

A hugely entertaining and memorable evening of theatre and we hope the Citz will be looking to give us Volume II before too long.

One Million Tiny Plays About Britain runs at the Citizens Theatre until Saturday 5th June.
Image by Richard Campbell used with permission

"Blue Hen" - May 2010

Des Dillon's new comedy set in a Coatbridge housing scheme, follows two men who, finding themselves on the scrapheap of unemployment, attempt to secure a better future through breeding hens. And if that brings to mind echoes of "The Full Monty", tonewise you're not far off the mark.

Charles Lawson and Scott Kyle make an entertaining pair as John and Paddy, and there are some very funny moments. But there's also a heavy reliance on using expletives to buy cheap laughs, and that's a pity, as it overwhelms the more sombre moments of the piece. It also suffers from a lack of clarity at times - in discussing the show afterwards, Waldorf and I had very different understandings of a significant plot element.

But I'm prepared to put that down to the distraction of what I could charitably call the 'lively' audience at Cumbernauld Theatre. Less charitably I could detail the three ringing mobile phones (that rang and rang and rang), the talkers in the second row, the attempted heckle and the numerous toilet-goers (5 minutes after the interval for heaven's sake). I really can't face writing another 'badly behaved audience post', however, I do have to note that I felt the 8pm start time and the full 20 minute interval were contributing factors. We appreciate bar takings are an important element for theatres, but I'm afraid it's something that will be a factor when considering to see a show at Cumbernauld in future.

Waldorf suspects that we're being theatre snobs and that anything that gets an audience through the door is a good thing, but I really don't care. My enjoyment of the show was significantly impacted by my fellow audience members and I think I'm entitled to be annoyed by it.

I do however apologise to NLP Theatre and the cast for not providing a fuller response to the show. I've sat on this piece for a week, but in the end I've concluded that I simply can't attribute how much of my disappointment last Saturday night was due to the play and how much was due to the external factors. I think the fairest I can do is simply to note that many in the audience were clearly enjoying themselves.

Blue Hen tours Scotland until 12 June.
Image by Daniel Goganian Ania Winiarska used with permission

"The Grapes of Wrath" - May 2010

Staging a production based on John Steinbeck's classic novel of America's dispossessed in the Great Depression is ambitious for any theatre company. For the Citizens Community Company to take it on in the form of this adaptation by Tim Baker is beyond ambitious. Particularly so, when their sole professional performer, Citizens Actor Intern Mairi Phillips, is age/gender bound to play a relatively small but crucial role - leaving community cast members to carry the production squarely on their own shoulders.

A great deal of that responsibility falls on Patricia Preston as the matriarch of the Joad family and she proves to be entirely convincing as a strong, driven woman, but one who knows her existence is hanging by a thread. Equally impressive is Chris McCann as her son Tom, with a well pitched balance between naive optimism and a determination to fight those contributing to their hardship. John McNeil provides strong support as emasculated Pa Joad while John Speirs makes former preacher Casy three dimensional instead of the plot device he could easily have become. Full time performer Phillips gives the Joad's pregnant daughter a beautifully light touch in her early scenes which makes her devastating final moments all the more effective.

With an extended Joad family and an abundance of characters to encounter on the long journey from Oklahoma to California, there's plenty of opportunity for the ensemble making up a cast of almost forty to each have their moments to shine. But the acting is only half the story here, as the production makes fantastic use of song and on-stage musical accompaniment, managing to avoid scenes of vastly differing tones feeling in any way disjointed.

In keeping with our approach of considering all performances we see to a professional standard, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that there were a few lines that we struggled to hear. However, the overall impression is one of an immensely slick and well drilled production. Co-Directors Neil Packham and Elly Goodman move the show along at pace and it rarely feels anything like its two and a half hour run time - with only an extended barn dance overstaying its welcome.

Baker's adaptation makes the Joad's situation clearly relevant for both the current financial climate and the tensions that can arise from (im)migration. I did find it a little heavy handed at times in repeatedly hammering home its economics lesson but Waldorf happily accepted this as simply illustrating that the Joads just 'wouldn't be told' that California wasn't the land of milk and honey they had been cruelly lead to expect.

Once again, the Citizens Community Company has delivered a high quality and relevant piece of theatre - we look forward to seeing what they have in store for us next.

The Grapes of Wrath has now completed its run at the Citizens
Image by Tim Morozzo used with permission