With the Edinburgh festival shelved by Covid, standups have turned a garden shed into a stage for an online extravaganza. Our writer enjoys flashes of brilliance amid a dislocating experienceThere are precedents when it comes to memorable Edinburgh fri…
Continue ReadingShakespeare at a cricket ground, a festival in a bombed-out church and park-bench drama – plus more socially distanced shows to enjoy this monthAugust is over but there’s still time to enjoy open-air theatre season. Presented in York’s Rowntree Park, M…
Continue ReadingJohn Godber’s B&B drama – performed by the playwright, with his family – launches programme that includes one-woman Christmas showA play written by John Godber during lockdown is to be performed by the playwright, his wife and their daughter at the…
Continue ReadingPodcast There are secret recordings, spoof calls and cringing reflections in the performance artist’s attempts to find meaning in life‘I used to be a comedian,” says Kim Noble in part three of his new podcast. Comedy barely describes what he’s up to in…
Continue ReadingThe festival may be cancelled but our writer is determined to recreate the experience at home. So she pours a cider, steps into her bath – and logs on to the fringe’s freakiest showsThe Edinburgh fringe is always a highlight of my year. Where else but …
Continue ReadingThe festival may be cancelled but our writer is determined to recreate the experience at home. So she pours a cider, steps into her bath – and logs on to the fringe’s freakiest showsThe Edinburgh fringe is always a highlight of my year. Where else but …
Continue ReadingThe Observer’s critics recommend the best new arts in galleries, on air and onlineBeckett double billTrevor Nunn’s sell-out productions of Krapp’s Last Tape, starring James Hayes, and The Old Tune, with Niall Buggy and David Threlfall, opened in Januar…
Continue ReadingCreated to provide paid work and connect people of colour with audiences during Covid, a new online arts festival aims to be around for the long-term‘You can’t just keep pulling up chairs,” says a character in Joshua Harmon’s play Admissions. “There is…
Continue ReadingFrom Brighton to Belfast, socially distanced performances are popping up in unexpected spaces, including the beach, a shopping centre and a church‘Dive in!” commanded the cover of Brighton fringe’s 2020 programme, listing more than 5,500 performances a…
Continue ReadingEdinburgh University’s ImprovBot uses data from eight years of past productions to invent tantalising no-showsYou can see how it happens. The company has yet to start devising the show, but the deadline for the Edinburgh fringe programme is tomorrow. O…
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