(4 / 5)

[To note: this is rated at a 3.5 but rounded up to 4 for wordpress]

Unless you have lived under a rock, you would have heard of the famous novel, Don Quixote. You may not know the story or read the book, but you’ll at least know the name.

I’m sadly one in the latter – I have no idea about the tale, I only know the names and that it’s a huge novel. But there’s nothing to fear with this: Don Quixote (is a very big book) is a one man show where Dik Downey tries to condense this huge tale in just 1 hour. Along the way, we learn that this is Downey’s first fringe, at the age of 63 and the comparison between him and the character of the delusional old knight is meant to be one of the same.

Through elaborate costuming, a circle of sand and multiple puppets and great prop concepts, we rush through this tale but with all the emphasis and gusto of a fully fledged production. Even if this is a whistle stop tour, Downey pours his heart and soul into it, engaging the audience, going off piste with funny anecdotes or diversions from the story to make it more relatable.

Puppets are used throughout, with, a moment of 3 puppets at once! I’m a huge puppet fan and the constructions of these in themselves are fantastic, ranging from life-size donkey heads to tiny Punch and Judy style hand puppets. The range of these give real levels to the production, alongside a clever magnetic costuming. Add in some slapstick noises, some traditional comedy moments and a dash of audience interaction and the comedy meets stylised art is complete.

What brought it down slightly were that there were just some moments that didn’t quite hit with the audience. Moments that were intended to provoke laughter sometimes didn’t hit the mark and lead with a little silence. Sometimes it felt that the balance of seriousness on talking about his trajectory in the industry and the comedy just didn’t quite fit together and may have been lost to some on its intention.

Don Quixote (is a very big book) has all the promise of something both wonderfully funny and artistic. The investment in the costuming, props and approach to the narrative are all brilliant, it just needed a slight bit of honing to really reach the audience on all levels.

Elf Lyons has got to be one of my favourite artists. She’s one of those artists that you want to see everything they do and scramble to be able to. When I knew she was doing another show, I had to run to get on the press list for this.

Previously, Elf has produced shows, mostly with an animal inspiration to them: think horses, birds, and yet all with something underlying and personal about them. Whether it be on her favourite films or something a little deeper. However, The Women On The Edge is the most personal and vulnerable to date. Based on her failed engagement, Elf using old Hollywood movies, inspiration of one of her favourite films and tales, Apollo 13 and the impact of toxic males while dating in your 30’s to bring this production about picking oneself up and getting through the hardest times.

Elf in herself is a tour de force. She is unlike any performer you have seen, combining clowning, comedy and something quite meta about being an artist. She isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade, particularly when it comes to calling out men or the closed minded people in press and this confidence in itself is inspirational. She has this amazing ability to move from character to character, sometimes even with the simplest of comedy but also with something sometimes darker and sometimes controversial. She cleverly manages to seamlessly flit between these and therefore the comedy is constant, with impeccible timing to let yoy digest before the next laugh.

It makes it all the more surprising when we get to the real intense, vulnerable parts. She bares her soul, supported with verbatim recordings by loved ones, where we get the sense of the real impact this life changing event had on her. Of course, we begin this, knowing she is a comedian, and thinking that this is likely to be a very funny and unserious view on this event. But she doesn’t let us get too settled in this. And by the end, she delivers a rousing speech of self love, of getting through the hard times, and speaking to child Elf to let them know they are loved and wanted. For anyone who has really struggled with anything touching upon feeling worthless, this hits really hard and you unexpectedly end in tears and in a place you really weren’t expecting from a trained clown.

Elf Lyons Is The Woman On The Edge is a fantastic performance, where her soul is bared for all of us to see, to give you that support that you weren’t expecting if you’ve ever hit rock bottom and along the way, somehow, making you constantly laugh.

(3 / 5)

Sadly, the world seems to be progressing further and further backwards. With most people addicted to being online and seeing an increase in misogyny, the women are becoming more and more at the peril of “Andrew Tate” style opinions.

Two Little Pigs, written and performed in part by Cailtlin McEwan, the story shows the impact of toxic masculinity in an absurdist, Utopian world. When Mark and his long time girlfriend break up over his partial descent into misogyny, he begins to hate all women. In ensuring he is meeting his “protein goals” and, for some companionship, he buys a highly intelligent pig who was raised with farm hands who were hot on feminism, with the goal to feast on her from cells collected and incubated to make “cruelty free” meat. Pig tries to teach him the error of his ways, but lines blur and it becomes all too much.

The concept has an essence of Animal Farm about it. A hyper aware animal who is learning the ways of humans is beginning to infiltrate somewhat and point out what’s wrong with them. But they are still “new” enough to not really understand a lot of things. Cleverly, this allows Mark to rethink and reevaluate things and there’s a mutual learning between the two on life and what has gone wrong.

By using the same performer for both the ex-girlfriend and the pig is an interesting concept. It blurs the lines and triggers these moments of introspective thought for Mark and makes this all uncomfortable. This is a clever approach but at times wasn’t always clear – there’s a difference in physicality to try and determine this strange cross between the pig and the ex but sometimes it took a bit of time to suddenly realise this change.

The production is mainly from Mark’s perspective. The ex disappears quite soon into the show, only being around to ultimately set the scene. And while this is meant to be a learning curve for him as a male, the feminist part of me didn’t want to give him air-time. Maybe this approach and uncomfortable-ness is a clever ploy to teach us something, and maybe the male audience members and , sure, we don’t like him. But I couldn’t get on board with him being the centre of things. I guess it would have had more impact if he maybe learned a lesson by the end but he doesn’t. Again, perhaps this is intentional and we are meant to see that there is likely no redemption in truth but really, I wanted some character arch moment after all we had witnessed.

Two Little Pigs at the root of the concept is really interesting and its attempts to make you feel uncomfortable and question everything is certainly successful. Unfortunately, without a real turn around in the story, it felt slightly flat and wanting.

(3 / 5)

Bi-curious George the drag king, is back again with more theatre based on nature. This time, moving on from an array of animals, George has decided to focus on the humble Snail and I for one came away well informed!

Bi-Curious George: Snail Trail in a comedic drag king act meets reflective piece on transitioning. We firstly expect this to be a full-blown cabaret/drag king act, with the snail as the main focus, as they come on the stage, sllloowwllyy and with a giant snail shell on their back. They interact with us throughout, telling the story of the snail but also themselves, in the most endearing and friendly fashion that we soon feel like close friends. 

George does well to change the tempo and play with our feelings from comedy, to camp cabaret and then personal and very vulnerable moments. We learn intimately about the formation and life of the snail, which I never thought I would be so fascinated by. Thrown in are some exaggerated and humanised elements to bring humour and relatability. But soon there are moments when the shell comes off and they unveil themselves and their journey through transitioning. George is entirely loveable and these moments connect us, whether we can resonate or not. Soon, the comparison to the snail, the “coming out of your shell” phrasing, all makes sense and we soon see why George loves this little creature so much, especially through their personal journey. 

This is a relatively new show and some honing is still needed. Moments which could have been cut down or sharpened slightly but this is all part of theatre and creating art. We already know that with a bit more time, George will have this as sheer perfection like their last show. 

Bi-Curious George: Snail Trail is a raw and honest production, with moments of comedy and one hell of a giant handmade shell.