Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh A fallen queen bee turns to a social media pyramid scheme in a technological whirlwind of a production, grounded by Emma-Louise Howell’s darkly comic, rhythmic scriptWho wouldn’t be enticed by the idea of getting rich quick? P…
Continue ReadingAnthony Alderson defends the high cost of tickets and says the big venues are sharing the risk with performers, as this year’s festival opensLondon’s West End has nothing like the joint creative impact of the annual Edinburgh arts festivals, argues Ant…
Continue ReadingFrom ruminations on life, love and being Keir Starmer to dance-theatre unpacking toxic masculinity, here’s our pick of 2024’s ‘Burgh necessitiesEdinburgh fringe comics pitch their own Baby ReindeerRose Matafeo: On and On and On
When Rose Matafeo won…
Gulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…
Continue ReadingGulbenkian Arts Centre, CanterburyTheatre company 1927 pull off a high-wire act of graphic novel visuals, song, dance, comedy and psychedelic make-believe in this madcap odysseyThis “twisted little story” could be fiction or not, we are told at the sta…
Continue ReadingFemale comics will confront body dysmorphia by turning the mirror on themselves and then back on societySolo performers on Edinburgh’s fringe are jointly confronting one of the most personally undermining ailments – body dysmorphia. Next weekend a rang…
Continue ReadingLooking for rising stars this summer? Try gossipy standup, an end-of-the-pier homage and a ‘gay witch sex cult’Frankie Monroe, the impish proprietor of a working men’s club who has made a Faustian pact to keep his establishment open, is bound to be a b…
Continue ReadingStage performances have been disrupted this summer by last-minute delays, cancellations and postponements. Is it just a run of bad luck – or a cultural shift?One theatre audience, already seated, is told that the play has been called off because of a t…
Continue ReadingCrowdfunding and finding patrons are among less painful options as cost of performing at the fringe soarsIn the run-up to the Edinburgh festival fringe last year, comedian John Tothill was having “horrific hallucinations of being pulled into hell by th…
Continue ReadingThe comedian’s show Collaborator involves 160 audience members getting speaking parts – and Kitson has anticipated every possible question, anxiety or misstepWhat happens when an audience participation-phobe makes a show all about audience participatio…
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