Category Archives: Festivals

Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review : Crazy Cat Lad-y, Dave Bibby, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

We are crammed into a hot corner of a pub, close and snuggly, but the next hour proves why.

Dave Bibby is a Crazy Cat Lad-y – dressed in a onesie with a giant cat face, his comedy is evidently popular but also completely wacky.

The name is however a misdemeanour – admitting he needed a name for the show before writing it, his love for cats was what he thought of; however, in between his show, we get to see cute cat pictures, videos and GIFs to help us calm from the intensity – intensity of laughter.

Bibby talks to us about how he wishes he was Peter Pan – he unveils a costume under his onesie to reveal he is really Peter Pan. He then cleverly changes the characters in the original story to be accompanied by modern day themed songs e.g. The Lost Boys, are actually Lads from love island and so a song featuring full body waxing and ghosting girls begins.

The intelligence and thought into turning these characters into more relatable people and modern scenarios is abundant and so is completely hilarious in execution but also with how clever they are and how much it makes sense.

Bibby is completely engaging, and while we are all sitting almost on each other’s laps to see him, he makes us feel like close friends, engaging with us, confidently making eye contact and effortlessly interacting and ad libbing.

There’s at no point that we wonder what time it is or how long is left, because we are completely engaged and consistently laughing. The show is chocked full and Biddy even struggles to have a sip of cola as he is on an energetic roll.

Dave Bibby may be a crazy Cat Lad-y but he is also a talented, very funny comedian. Get there early to grab a seat, and don’t be surprised by how busy it is, because he truly brings a hilarious comedy show to the fringe. I look forward to seeing what his next show may contain.

Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: Do Our Best, Remy Beasley, Francesca Moody Productions, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

For you Welsh readers, you would recognise Remy Beasley. But
it may take a while. I spent a huge amount of Do Our Best wondering where I had
seen her before, and it is a testament to her acting talent that I still did
not know till googling after. Known for her role in the Welsh show, Stella, her
character of Sephie could not be more far removed from her character opposite
Ruth Jones.

Written by Beasely, we are introduced to Sephie who has
decided to go back to girl guides to get her final badge. Dealing with the
death of her mother, her feeling of insecurity and failure, and her
relationship with her guide leader, we go through her motions of sadness, of
loss to reliving her past and realising how much of a star she is.

Beasley is full of beans and never seems to stop on stage. I
love this approach to the character, giving her a sense of still being
childlike and finding her way in the World. She finds her way on the floor, on
top of chairs, hugging the audience – she is as impatient as a child and we get
the sense she has not grown up since the guides.

Sephie is a confident character – her want to be a star and
her memory of being the centre of the world is evident, and she brings this to
us in the present, ordering us around, stating memories as facts, and all in
all being absolutely hilarious. Beasley shows through this her own confidence
and own get go – at times slipping her own giggle at an audience interaction
in, a little ad lib, and obviously enjoying her own performance, as much as we
are!

And these comical and loveable moments make the hard
moments, the sadness and the euphoric moments all the more poignant – when silence
comes after chaos, it is beautiful, and she relishes these moments, leaving us
feeling nicely energised and contemplative.

Do Our Best is a brilliant example of women running theatre – Beasley is a performer to be reckoned with, and it is guaranteed you will come out sore from laughter, from heart ache but with a new friend in Sephie.

Dance, Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: The Bible 2 (Plus a Cure for Shame, Violence, Betrayal and Athlete’s Foot), Crystal Rasmussen / Tom Glitter, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

This is a drag show unlike any other.

A combination of comedy, quintessential camp fierceness,
honesty, raw truth and pure love, Crystal Rasmussen (out of drag, lovely Tom
Glitter) brings us the story of violence, shame and betrayal he felt growing up
as a homosexual man in a less accepting world, and how his drag alternative
personality helped him to accept himself and ignore the haters.

Crystal is beautiful, glamorous and hilarious. She bares all
to us not only emotionally but physically, spinning on the stage in all her
glitter for us to cheer, whoop and love.

When she opens up to us about Tom’s past, the physical,
emotional and mental abuse he suffered for just being him, it is brought to us
in a really sensitive way and anyone with a brain on their shoulders and a
heart in their chest feels for him, feels the anger, betrayal and sadness that
there are people who could treat someone else like this.

The narrative is nicely and equally split – while there is
some hard hitting stuff, there’s as much joy and comedy and utter glamour to
help us along.

Crystal also makes us feel included – saying hello to all of
us, somehow making us feel as if she knows us one by one (and she is so
brilliant, you just WISH you were her friend!) and makes us feel welcome. It
feels like a safe sanctuary, where we are all joined together to celebrate
Crystal and Tom’s love.

Not to mention, some well-known tunes, that we boogie to, but that she sings – and what a voice! I would happily listen to her sing any song and love it more than the original. Crystal Rasmussen/Tom Glitter, Bible 2, is great fun, a wonderful night out, but a hard hitting realisation of the world for LGBTQ+ people. It is not a shy performance, the jokes are NSFW and we come away even more in love with her than before.

Utter perfection!

Circus, Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: YUCK Circus, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

The only way to start this review is to announce that this
was one of the best and most inventive things I have seen for a long time.

The word ‘circus’ could however be a loose term for the
performance; there are some small stunts, a little aerial and flexibility, but
this is not the main focus, and that does not make me mad.

This all female group openly spit in the face of the
patriarchy, but with a sense of humour and no fear. The YUCK ladies take
elements of female life, from menstruation, to talking about messy nights out,
pubic hair to ‘dick pics’ and ultimately doing this with a hint of satire on
how women are perceived in Circus shows.

The YUCK performers are dressed in basic black shorts and
tops, modest and purely to help with the stunts. But at one point, they point
out that there has been little circus; to fuel our need, they do a balancing
act, but not before pulling their shorts up, exposing their bottoms and facing
the audience. This is not only hilarious but is addressing the importance that
we are used to seeing scantily clad circus performers, and at times we question
if this is really for function or for the ‘male gaze’.

They are unapologetic in parts of life that are not feminine
– beer drinking, burping – who cares! They certainly don’t and through this
humour and inventive acts, they poke fun and make a stand at the same time.

They interact fully with us, making eye contact, coming into
the audience and so this is not a show for the shy by any means.

There is also music; and again, these range from satirical
live music, poking fun at what the aerialist is doing, as well as some quintessential
feminist songs, some disco – all the tunes you cannot stop yourself dancing to.

YUCK Circus is what every feminist woman should go to to feel another push in what we are striving for in society; for every woman who is still in the dark; and for every man who is stuck in the patriarchy. It is for everyone who wants to laugh, has a slight dark and unbarred humour and to feel really empowered by these unapologetic and fierce women.

 

Festivals, Uncategorized

Review: Just Me…?, Gareth Waugh, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

If you are Edinburgh you need some pure Scottish-ness. There’s
an abundance of shows that have travelled to this City, making it
multi-cultural and vast in nationalities, but sometimes you come to Scotland
and you want Scotland.

Enter Gareth Waugh – a pure Scottish comedian, his sing-song
tones and confident stage presence is a lovely sight to behold.

Waugh is comfortable on stage, and comfortable speaking to
us. He talks about everyday life and interacts with us as friends, engaging yet
playfully taking the mick at times. He also is proudly Scottish and explains
part of Scottish culture that may not be known by those not local. This is not
patronising and informative, yet very funny.

With an almost full house, it is not a surprise that Waugh
is a very good comedian. His almost self-titled show ‘Just Me?’ is about him
but without being pretentious and certainly with much humour about himself.

Gareth Waugh is truly a talented comedian, full of Scottish pride and including us as new friends. Just Me? Is definitely a nice break from the hustle of fringe, laid back yet very humorous.

Festivals, Uncategorized

Review: Famtastic, Lucy Frederick, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

I am a bad feminist. I really struggle to find a lot of
women funny, and so as a huge comedy fan, it pains me to say that an awful lot
of my favourites are male. And I think this is due to content – I struggle to
resonate with men bashing, with talk of kids and marriage and generally ‘being
a hard done by woman’ that seems to be an approach by a lot of female
comedians. I want us to be championed, not to justify stereotypes of moaning
females.

And so enter Lucy Frederick. Yes she talks about being a
woman. Yes she talks about men and relationships. And the twist of this and
something that I have never seen before is how she talks about becoming a step
parent. And she approaches all of these in a refreshing, funny and relatable
way.

Now I am not a mother nor a step mother, but somehow being
an outsider hearing her experiences and approaches to the new way of life is
really informative, and anyone who has worked with children can resonate a
little more with this – there’s a similarity in it.

Frederick is a hilarious and loveable woman. She does not
care what others think and is confident about her performance and herself on
stage. She is very likeable, she interacts with us as if we are friends and
really does engage us with the jokes, the content and with her personality.

Frederick is a breath of fresh air, a genuinely funny person and really needs to be given the chance to shine to larger audiences.

Circus, Festivals, Uncategorized

Review: Super Sunday, Race Horse Company, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

In the last few years, there seems to have been a break out
of traditional circus. The tricks and skills are generally the same, but the
themes, the approach and ultimately the execution are all so different and
unusual.

Race Horse Company bring their carnival, grown up kid-like
circus to us, full of crazy stunts and belly laughing comedy.

This male group, a cross of hipsters meets a lad group who
have been friends since childhood, they quite obviously explicitly trust one another
(a must in circus) but also really enjoy what they do, while parading around in
close to matching outlandish shirts and beach shorts.  

As any circus, we have a mixture of low level tricks to
dangerous stunts – one minute the group are juggling or creating a comical
dance routine wearing large horse puppets, and the next they are throwing one
another up into the ceiling and performing in circular tubes that spin on their
own at the same time on their own axis. Yet no matter what the performance, it
seems effortless, smooth and there’s always an element of comedy to what they
are doing.

A giant teddy bear being flung into the air, brightly
coloured balls bouncing everywhere, this show is completely geared for children
and you can hear the innocent giggles amongst the audience, along with gasps of
all ages. Of course, any good show throws little jokes for the adults that go
over the children’s heads and so we enjoy is just as much as the children are –
giggling in our own corners and gasping in awe.

Super Sunday is extremely exciting, shocking in their courage and stunts but ultimately a brilliant Circus show.

Festivals, Musical, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: Tokyo Rose, Burnt Lemon Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (2 / 5)

A wonderful way of bringing more unknown stories to light is
through theatre. Burnt Lemon Theatre have done this with the story of Tokyo
Rose.

An American woman, of Japanese heritage finds herself under
the fire for treason in a case of mistaken identity, tricks and conspiracies.
Burnt Lemon Theatre, through musical storytelling, bring us the story of this
woman, from early life to the trial.

Not the biggest of musical fans, I have in the past be pleasantly
surprised and converted. Unfortunately, Tokyo Rose does not do this for me.
With musicals, some involve moments of script to break up the music, and some
are back to back songs. With Tokyo Rose, this is more of the latter and it
feels a little as if we need a break to take in the information. It feels quite
full on.

What cannot be argued in how much the performers put into
their series of characters, the choreography and singing itself. It is
pristine, well formulated and executed with 110%. There are times that the
singing is slightly off – throwing in quite often what I would call a ‘Mariah
Carey’ flare; this over the top harmony that does not quite hit the right notes
and could really be done without.

Unfortunately, Tokyo Rose was just not my cup of tea. Bringing such an important and not well known story to the forefront in this way is entirely commendable, and the performers are obviously very talented and bringing their all to the production. I really wanted to like it more – an all-female production bringing the injustice of a woman in the 1930’s/40s in a story missed slightly by time – it just missed the mark and did not seem to gel well with a musical approach.

Celebrations, Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: A Wake in Progress, Fine Mess Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Adding to the ‘Death at the Fringe’ sector this year, Fine
Mess Theatre bring us a death celebration.

When a young woman finds herself dying, all she wants to do
is celebrate her life and go out with a bang. Not so much an unusual tale in
today’s modern age, funeral parties before the death of someone is becoming
increasingly popular – However, Fine Mess Theatre take this subject on with
great intent and a refreshing approach.

The combination of scripted performance and audience interaction
is equally measured. We are invited as guests; we are not made to feel like the
audience but part of a really exclusive group of friends – given party hats and
sweets, asked for our suggestions and addressed by names, (on a name tag we
write at the beginning, but somehow the performers never make it seem as if
they are reading them) we feel a part of this woman’s life. We feel the
emotions and we feel the love.

The script is perfectly natural. Perfectly rehearsed, it
does not feel scripted and if we were not at the fringe, it would be hard to
guess that this is indeed a play; the performers interact and project their
lines as if it was real life. The only theatrical break is when we are involved
in the party and so there is a dramatic turn to the in depth and naturalistic
scenes on stage.

And while partly heart breaking, partly realistic, there is
some comedy to it. And these parts are not dramatised. Again, this is part of
the script, naturally approached and so beautifully humorous, as one would find
in a normal conversation among friends.

A Wake in Progress is true to life, deeply thought out and well executed. While a funeral is not something to find joyous, this celebration is worth the attendance.

Art, Festivals, Theatre, Uncategorized

Review: Art Heist, Poltergeist, Edinburgh Fringe Festival By Hannah Goslin

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

What happens when three thieves break into a gallery, the
same night, to steal the same painting? A hilarious series of events full of
comedy, gasps of close calls and complete chaos.

Art Heist by the company Poltergeist, in partnership with
Underbelly and New Diorama Theatre, bring us a high energised and full of
calamity production featuring three thieves and a gallery guard. All have
different motives, different personalities and bring their own humour and likeability.
At some point the characters are all bound to bump into each other, but there
is a sense of a tense atmosphere while waiting for this, along with near
misses. Once they do, the interaction is surprising, well thought out and full
of comedy.

There’s hardly a break in this production for anyone – reminiscent
of Monty Python, come Mischief Theatre’s ‘Comedy about a Bank Robbery’ with a
hint of alternative reality/game culture, the narrative and actions are both
fast paced and with quick thinking, yet perfectly accomplished with every
comical intent hit.

Each character narrates their actions, sometimes with
interaction from the guard who throws spanners in the works. This reminds me of
watching a video game, with planned out thoughts that not always come to
fruition.

The staging and lighting is simple – characters are always
on stage but always engaged. We get different levels away from the main action,
without a single person breaking character. 
Multimedia is used with cameras, sound effects, lights e.t.c. to give
the emphasis of a gallery but also to layer the action.

The performers themselves are hysterical – fully involved in
their characters, there is freedom to ad lib and go with the chaos, especially
when the audience are encouraged to interact. The simple ‘guard training’ that
the audience undertake is hilarious in itself; again, it is simple but well put
together.

Art Heist will steal your heart and rob your laughter – coming away, there is admiration of the energy of these performers and great smiles at how much fun we have in just an hour.