Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghDelivered with self-deprecating joyfulness, this is a big-hitting set exploring life as a trans woman‘Sir, are you aware those are women’s clothes?” Even the most basic interactions can be fraught when you’re transgender, …
Continue ReadingUnderbelly, George Square, EdinburghA locked drawer that never opens, a rug that everyone walks all over … Emily Weitzman’s metaphors for boyfriends are ridiculous and revelatoryIt’s a sight for sore backs. Fringegoers accustomed to fold-out chairs lik…
Continue ReadingBanshee Labyrinth, EdinburghTheodora van der Beek’s inventive and quirky show about a slimy bloke targets the male gazeThe clue is in the fingers. Rubbery, bulbous things, they look as if they would leave a trail of slime if they touched you. And they …
Continue ReadingPleasance Dome, EdinburghCandid family snapshots meet leftist politics and wondrous prehistoric megafauna in Long’s singular take on the state of the world‘The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born.” Many of us will know that bit o…
Continue ReadingLove is in the air on the fringe as romantic partners put their private lives in the spotlight through daft sketches, acrobatics, folk songs – and a real weddingSome people blow their wedding budget in Las Vegas or on Venice’s Grand Canal. But the acto…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghThis mix of acrobatics, feverish monologues, high-altitude accidents and apocalyptic physical comedy doesn’t need to have a rationale – does it?It is probably best not to ask too many questions. I mean, you could imagine Lo…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly, George Square, EdinburghMadeleine Rowe’s physical comedy, deft vocal work and twinkle-eyed charisma takes the relationship between man and steed to extremesAcademic texts have been written about the bond between knights and their steeds in …
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe sometime Mr Swallow sidekick’s hour of interiors improv is a skilful, unshowy treat‘Shall we give ourselves a night off from being funny?” There are unassuming performance styles, then there’s David Elms. At a festival…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThe nonconformist TV writer, film-maker, children’s author and standup is hired to find a new colour in this charismatically surreal hourFans of the former Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres know him to be the current torchbear…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Maintaining a remarkable mood of spontaneity and joy, Tothill sweeps his audience through unexpected history and cruise-ship hellBoth his previous shows having almost killed him, the bar for success is set low for John To…
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