REVIEW: UNICORNS, ALMOST ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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UNICORNS, ALMOST    

Army@ The Fringe in association with Summerhall  (V210)

August 2nd to 25th (not 5,12,19)    13.15

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)

Here is a play about the WW11 poet Keith Douglas, written by Owen Sheers, well known for presenting television programmes about literary and military matters.
The room is which the play is presented in most distinctive; it is as though we are at the front, in the men’s quarters. There are beige sofas for us to sit on. We are a small audience, and a very privileged one.
Dan Krikler becomes Keith Douglas for us. His impersonation is deep, thorough and very impressive. As Douglas, he tells us about his experiences in the war in the Middle East, and about the beautiful women of Alexandria, and about one in particular, and gives us a moving account of that relationship. There is leave, there is preparation for the invasion, there are birthdays, there is correspondence with mother and the absence of father. There are other love affairs, including going back into his teen years. All this is presented in a way that fully engages us and we are swept up in a life that is very full and vibrant, maybe more so because of the imminence of death, the possibility of a sudden end. There is talk of trying to get a collection published, of correspondence with T S Eliot and others, and of if he will get published before he is killed, or if his first collection of poems will be his only one.
Before we go, Krikler as Douglas recites to us his perhaps best known poem,  Simplify me When I’m Dead. We are given a booklet containing that poem, and there is an exhibition about Douglas and his work along the approach to the performance room. This play has been recommended by no less  a person than Margaret Atwood, who described it as “Wonderful”. It is produced by, ” The Story of Books”  based in Hay on Wye.
This is an excellent performance of a very engaging play, which moves very effectively between the different times and aspects of a life that was so clearly full of great potential, but was cruelly snuffed out, as were so many at that time. Douglas was only twenty four when he died in 1945, but he had already achieved enough to be later considered the most significant and promising of the poets of that war.
Seeing this show, you not only learn about that life, but are expertly swept up into experiences we can be thankful not to have shared.
TONY CHALLIS

REVIEW: COLLAPSIBLE ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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COLLAPSIBLE

Assembly Roxy  (V139)

July 31st to August 25th (not 14, 21)     13.20 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)

This is a stunning, funny, disturbing, exhilarating show. It is a monologue about holding on when everything seems to be crumbling. The image behind the title is that of a person as a collapsible chair – strong, sturdy, fit for purpose, useful, worth looking at – but capable of collapsing flat in a moment.
Performer Breffni Holahan is on a dusty plinth above the stage, a plinth she owns like a throne around which she can throw herself. She tells us about the circumstances of her life, her break up with her girlfriend, her loss of her job – did they let her go?, her relationship with her father, and much of the feelings that go with a breakdown. This brilliant show was written by Irish writer Margaret Perry, who has worked with the Abbey Theatre , Dublin, and it won the Origins Award for Outstanding New Work, VAULT festival 2019.
The character show us how she is seen by others, how some think she sees herself as superior, when she is struggling to keep things together, how she sees her body, and how she felt with her lover.
The words and images simply pour out of the performer, at a rate that seems amazing to maintain for the whole hour. Towards the end, we encounter some inarticulacy which serves to greatly highlight the perceptiveness and level of insight that we have been listening to.
I recommend this show very highly if you want a show that leaves you feeling alive to your fingertips on leaving, that takes you inside the mind and experiences of another person, that shows you what language is capable of offering, and gives you a taste of the dramatic skills that are on offer at the Fringe at its best.
Have the experience!
TONY CHALLIS

REVIEW: A PARTNERSHIP  ⭐⭐⭐

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A PARTNERSHIP    

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose     (V24)

July 31st to August 26th (not 12th)  14.45

⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

This is a finely acted two-hander which does, however, raise some questions. The action occurs in real time, leading up to the time, midnight, when one of the two becomes thirty. Ally, played by Ben Hadfield with a nervous energy and vulnerability which one can only warm to, is treating his birthday as something very significant. With Rory Thomas-Howes as his partner of some years, Zach, we see a person who is putting on some show of strength, to the extent of having struck  a man whom Zach feels insulted Ally just before the action starts. This is perhaps the more vulnerable person, someone still feeling his way to finding out who he really is, and buttressing himself with firm opinions meanwhile.
At such a time, events may move thick and fast, and people may say and do things they regret, and the depth of connection between the partners may make for rapid forgiveness, but the swings and roundabouts here were difficult to believe. A large number of serious issues were raised, but there was not time for the characters to give them much consideration. We moved on. As the play develops, it becomes ever more clear how unaccepting of his true nature Zach is.
The performers give us a real impression of the emotional confusion caused by doubting the basis of the central relationship of their lives. The question which the publicity said was raised here was, can two men maintain a monogamous relationship in today’s London? I am not sure that the London is relevant. It was perhaps more, can two men maintain a deep and lasting relationship when, as so often, they optimistically enter into it with little insight into each other or indeed into themselves?
The cast here do genuinely involve us in the turmoil of the hour in which the play happens, and show us the degree of confusion experienced by each man. Maybe the play could be expanded to give more consideration to the many issues raised. The ending is very appropriate.
TONY CHALLIS 

REVIEW:THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST  ⭐⭐⭐

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST 

theSpace @ Venue 45     10.10 am

August 19th to 22nd.

⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

This is a play that many will be familiar with, but you will not have seen it done quite like this. Shakespeare Reloaded are an international theatre collective based in Berlin. They are committed to re-imagining classic plays with a bold and contemporary edge. Members of the company come from all over the world, from Brazil to Bulgaria, and the ensemble taken together speaks more than ten languages. They perform in English.
A very physical approach is taken to the action. Characters may be lifted and carried about almost as in a physical theatre show, and this adds to a sense of joyful abandon. I was told beforehand that the show boasted a short, fierce Hungarian Lady Bracknell, and she is indeed fiercely effective. There is some cross-gender casting, which adds to the almost carnival spirit. The strong accents of the players do have some effect on the catching of humorous implications in some lines, but the use of large and broad physical actions serves to underline meaning.
The company take great evident joy in the performance, and throw themselves into it lustily. Much fun is had with the language of bunburrying, and the play proceeds at a helter-skelter pace, though there are times when things seem rather rushed – maybe Fringe timetables were making the company feel a need for speed.
The company have come from a sell-out run in Berlin, and they had a large audience the time I saw them, which they deserved, and this was a very fresh, ebullient and joyful seventy minutes.
TONY CHALLIS

REVIEW: I LOST MY VIRGINITY TO CHOPIN’S NOCTURNE IN B-FLAT MINOR ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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I LOST MY VIRGINITY TO CHOPIN’S NOCTURNE IN B-FLAT MINOR   

Pleasance Courtyard  (V33)

July 31st to August 26th 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)

This show fizzes from the first seconds. The set is strewn with clothes, there is only a box to sit on, and the home owner’s life has clearly not gone as he might have wished for this to be the setting. The couple rush in, carrying within them the argument and heated feelings that have brewed during an evening out with her parents.
There is no point in this show during which you might be tempted to wander off in thoughts to your own life – you are riveted to the situation unfolding in front of your eyes. He is Ollie, played by Sebastian Gardner, who also wrote the play. He is privately educated, but that has not resulted in opportunities. He shuns certain forms of advancement and is a teaching assistant. He is defensive and needy, but also quick to flare up and is not lacking pride.
The parents had been eating at a Wetherspoons, and they are definitely working class, something of which their daughter Laura (played by Lily Sinko,) is anything but ashamed, and she has a solid professional job.  She gives a very spirited performance and eruptions of argument and moments of peace making flow speedily between the two characters. They seem perhaps to flourish in this hothouse atmosphere; will there come a point where they go over the edge?
The play is cleverly structured and never flags. We hope these two will have patience and understanding towards each other, but soon they are off again, in what is a richly comic and acutely observed piece of theatre. Get along and laugh and be drawn into a finely delineated storm of a relationship. And we do get to see a point to the title.
TONY CHALLIS

REVIEW: PREFER NOT TO SAY ⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

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PREFER NOT TO SAY       

Paradise in the Vault  V29

August  3rd to 25th (not 11. 18)

⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

This is a verbatim play that uses real-life testimonies to the inequality and prejudice that still surround LGBT lives. The Riot Road company canvassed opinions across the UK over a period of eighteen months.
The performance opens with a dominatrix drag queen singing to us, backed up by three eager cheerleaders. This was a striking and encouraging beginning. However, it was maybe unwise for them to begin with their biggest number – the remainder of the show took the form of recounted evidence gathered in their survey, which was disturbing and pointedly delivered, but seemed lacking in colour after the opening. The final section was very moving, and many issues and situations were covered, which included religious intolerance, coming out to parents, the extensive debate on trans rights, all of which are key issues.
It is sad to think that such prejudices still affect so many lives more than fifty years since the first partial legalising of homosexuality in England and Wales, but there are centuries of prejudice to be erased.
This is a play where you can buy an advance ticket or pay what you can on the day. What is said here has been said many times, but it does need still to be emphasised, and every effort to reduce and erase negative attitudes to sexual minorities is very much to be welcomed.
TONY CHALLIS

Review: Darius Davies: Persian of Interest ⭐⭐

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Comedy

Darius Davies: Persian of Interest

Just the Tonic

⭐⭐ (2 stars)

Davies, the millennial, presents us with a kaleidoscopic view of modern living. Indeed, we live in uncertain times, with fake news, the corruption of technology, the ‘me-too’ movement, AI, internet dating and dick pics penetrating modern life. But it is nice to be reminded (yet again) of the overt dishonesty surrounding us, albeit through subaltern eyes and through the medium of comedy – way to soften the blow of depressing modernity, Davies!

Slight flippancy aside, it is true that Davies truly has a lot to say. There is nothing quite like exposing the conspiracies of life that characterise these uncertain times than to pose as a female on Tinder for laughs and divulge details of your conversation with an unknowing stranger (Tez). The man only wants to ‘suck your [imaginary] bobs’, Davies (or should I say,

Daria – your Tinder alter ego). Tez is clearly as displaced and misguided by these times as you are – as are we all.

Indeed, we are all subjected to this fine pricking that life gives to all seven billion of us – but I came out of this comedy show half-bored, half-depressed. Sure, Davies offers some social commentary, but at this point, he’s beating a dead horse. Nothing uplifting emerges at the end of this show. Later, I retreat home in solemnity, to return to the isolation and unsympathetic recoil offered in this technological apocalypse.

By Joshua Kaye

Review: Phil Nichol: Too Much  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Phil Nichol: Too Much 

Monkey Barrel Comedy 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)

Despite the docile (yet, mellow) audience, Nichol’s exceptional ability as a storyteller bestows the atmosphere with a pleasing humility that appeals to old and young; new and returning fans.

This intimate setting, at the Monkey Barrel, was the perfect location for his comedic repertoire. Picture this: You enter to see a cheerful Phil swaggering around the stage, with his guitar in hand and a greeting. You are in a safe place. The music is warm and fulfilling, and the discreet lighting allows you to drink in said music: a melodic osmosis.

But this osmosis extends beyond that of melody. Indeed, this give-and-take relationship between Nichol and his audience naturally develops during the show. Between his larger-than-life interactive anecdotes about strict religious upbringing, drugs, marathon running, taking the piss out of Scottish people, and prison, there is sage-old wisdom in this man. A humbling quality delivered between his highly-animated performance through his commentary about ageing and his obvious reverence for his elders.

The real meaning of his performance is realised at those moments of self-effacement. The fact is, growing older is a mixed bag of complexity. Complexity upon complexity, of growing insight, amid constant learning, and growing vulnerability. Too Much is happening with-in and with-out us, while we go through the motions of life. If for an hour, you can devote your time to learning from this man through laughter and tears, you will be rewarded. Phil Nichol has a heart of gold.

By Joshua Kaye

REVIEW: SECTION 28: THE LEGACY OF A HOMOPHOBIC LAW ⭐⭐⭐

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SECTION 28: THE LEGACY OF A HOMOPHOBIC LAW     

theSpace on the Mile   (V39)

August 19th to 24th      20.20

⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)

This is a show brought to us by Ray Stafford and Andrew Lake. They take on an issue about which they are right to feel indignant and angry, a piece of government legislation that did much harm to teachers and local government workers, and to young people growing up in Britain, the very people those in power said they were wanting to protect.
Stafford and Lake bravely take on a large number of parts, from media interviewer and government representative to father, vicar and teacher. David is a schoolboy struggling to hide his sexuality. Comments are made about him at school, and there is a problem with things written on the school toilet walls. Also, David’s English teacher has had boys reading girls’ parts in class, including having David read the part of Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Questions are asked, and all this in the atmosphere created by the new legislation prohibiting local authorities from promoting homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. David and his teacher are unlucky in that their school seems to be one that is enthusiastic in its response to the new legislation, and eager to interpret it as damagingly as possible. No-one was ever convicted under section 28, but it created a climate of fear which undermined, amongst other things, the ability of gay teachers and pupils to freely exchange ideas and advice.
We see David trying to find advice and support. His vicar clearly has his own angle, and through him the issue of conversion therapy is raised – a very vicious method still widely used in the States. His teacher becomes almost hostile out of fear. It is very difficult for him to express himself to his father. In this situation it is possible to imagine David going downhill disastrously.
Ray Stafford and Andrew Lake present this situation clearly and in a way that is easy to grasp. Their presentation of a dehumanising environment where the support and flourishing of the student should be the first concern is admirable. The intervention of certain voices of today may jar, but this serves to remind us that prejudice is by no means dead and buried.
This show is worth catching to learn about a villainy of the past, or to be reminded of how easily things can be put into reverse.
TONY CHALLIS

David McIver: Teleport⭐⭐⭐⭐

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David McIver: Teleport

PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth – Cinema Room

12:20 (ends 25th August)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)

An important note – this wasn’t really stand-up. It was a solo show that contained comedy throughout. In ‘Teleport’, David McIver was trying to re-create a roleplay, online game whilst simultaneously tackling what’s it’s like to be a teenager and coping with illness in the family. It’s very funny but suddenly takes a serious, making you realise that the moments that you had originally laughed at are perhaps the most heart-breaking.

David McIver’s show is interactive; he takes you on a quest and shows you the different parts of a roleplaying game so that even if you are not familiar with the concept, you will be by the end of the show. The audience becomes part of the show and if you like audience participation, this show is full of it. He’s charming, incredibly approachable and generally really friendly which is why you want to be part of the show, you want him to tell you a Death Story or reveal your future. He had to change quickly between the different characters that you meet along the way and brought them all to life, as each of them were distinct and unique in their own way.

It is essentially a sarcastic and snarky commentary that makes fun of all of the tropes that exist in role playing games. He intersperses these comments with unasked remarks that you would think a teenager would say. This is partly to remind us of his age but also as a way to hide what the show is really about, something that is told gradually and permeates throughout the show and is hinted at but you aren’t aware of where it is going or how important it is until the very end. You don’t expect it a show about online role-playing games like World of Warcraft to have a deeper meaning, but this one does and that’s what makes it so interesting to watch,

His use of sound is very clever since the cues have to be very precise in order for it all to work. The best part of his audio was the use of Siri – or something along the lines of a computer reader – in order to act as a stand in for his mother. At first you accept his explanation for why it sounds so robotic and you think it’s all part of the joke, or just a clever way for him to have a conversation with an unseen character.

It’s hard for me to write this review mainly because it’s a very difficult show to sum up or describe it in such a way that does it justice without completely giving everything away. I enjoyed it very much, but I can’t imagine how much time, effort, energy and emotion it took in order to perfect this play and to reveal so much about such a hard time in a way that is light – hearted and that will attract audiences. You can’t help but being moved by his story whilst simultaneously being entertained, which is a very odd feeling. We all have our coping mechanisms – some healthier than others – and it was incredibly brave of David McIver to share his. It’s a hard sell but definitely worth going to see. Bring tissues – you will need them for all of the laughter.

Katerina Partolina Schwartz (Twitter: @katpschwartz)