For Henry

Apparently, Henry's mother is coming to the Fringe. He wants some tips, so I think Naked in Alaska, The Illicit Thrill, Best of Burlesque would soon get her to go home. However, it turns out that some people don't have a weird relationship to their family, and he wants appropriate suggestions. 

Where Is She Now, A Solo Celebration Of Shakespeare

This one is wild: an 'award winning eleven year old Shakespearean actress Alexis Rosinsky presents her one person show, Where Is She Now.' It is a mash-up of monologues and sonnets from the Big Bard, from an actor who has been hitting the iambics since the age of six. She's big on the Renaissance Faires circuit  in California, which is where the Reduced Shakespeare company kicked off. 

Either astonishing or kitsch, mums are going to love it. 

Aug 5-9. 11:00 am

theSpace @ Venue 45

This next press release is a right pain. I can't work out what the show is called. Henry, you sub- edit my articles sometimes, so you can handle this, I am sure.

Neither Fish Nor Human Beings, Can they Survive the Chinese Civilisation?

The story of The Lu-Tings will be told by Theatre Horizon of Hong Kong during the first week of Edinburgh Festival Fringe starting from August 1st, 2014. 

Established in 2006, Theatre Horizon was named one of ‘five most watchable Hong Kong theatre companies by CNN website. 

The playwright, Wong Kwok-kui, whose work focuses on social issues has been a long-term collaborator of award-winning director, Chan Chu-hei. Their recent collaboration, The Square, was performed earlier this year to commemorate what happened at a certain public square. The Lu-Tings will be performed by thirteen young actors in English and Chinese with masks and live music.

Based on the legend of Luting, a mermaid tribe said to have lived in pre-historical Hong Kong,  The Lu-Tings explores the universal issue of the conflict between civilization and the survival of the aboriginals. The magical realism of this production engages with this issue from the perspective of “Chinese periphery”. Contrary to the conventional view of Chinese history which centers on the Middle Kingdom, The Lu-Tings invites us to look at China from its periphery, namely from the eyes of the inhabitants on the southern coast who have to come to terms of the encroachment of a superior civilization from the north. Chinese scripts, education, politics, patriotism, et cetera: what do all these mean to a people who have no idea about “motherland”? 

4-9 August 2014 11:30am (£9.00 full, £8.00 concessions)

Greenside @ Nicholson (Venue # 209)
Methodist Church, 25 Nicholson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Keeping the family theme...

“This intense, epic, drama details a parent teacher-conference after the unthinkable happens. What is the line between free expression and appropriate social behaviour? This show will make you think, and want to hold your children a little closer. In reaction to one of the first school shootings in the U.S.A., playwright Johnna Adams explores the potential demise of creativity when self-expression is quashed by the thought police in the form of ill-equipped teachers suddenly made responsible for identifying and singling out dangerous youth while simultaneously spurring on inquisitive minds, self-expression and creative thought. Theater doesn't get more intense than this gripping and powerful meeting of two women well past the bounds of normalcy. Patrons of this all too possible altercation will leave the theater gasping for breath, searching for answers and torn between blaming society, parenting and schooling for the atrocities occurring at American schools. It's theater that makes you think, theater that makes you feel, theater that confronts the soul.” Quest Theaterworks artistic director Scott Ewing.

The Space@Surgeons’ Hall, 17:05-17:55







How about some Circus? This one does the spectacular with a spot of the smarts... like Cirque du Soleil with content...


Set on multiple stages within stages, small red-curtained worlds offer a glimpse into a dreamy and hallucinogenic place. Beyond is a cabaret, a zoo, an asylum and a stage where seven artists gather to express their inner-selves and connect with each other and the audience. Over the course of Beyond we marvel at their skills and enter their personalities.

What happens down Circa’s rabbit hole and ‘beyond’ reminds us of the power of the human body and quite how exciting circus can be.

From Brisbane, Australia comes a bold new vision of contemporary circus. A blending of bodies, light, sound and skills. A place where acrobatics and movement meld into a seamless whole. A celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes. Since 2006 Circa has toured to 24 countries across five continents. Critics have raved about its shows calling the work ‘stunning...exquisite... heart-stopping’ and ‘electrically charged’.

Wednesday 30^th July – Monday 25^th August (except 6^th, 12^th, 20^th), 7pm

Underbelly Bristo Square

And finally...

Sound Affair’s will be bringing their unique theatre piece Michelangelo Drawing Blood which fuses classical music with dance, theatre and film to explore the figure of the ultimate Renaissance master Michelangelo - an artist who achieved huge renown during his own lifetime.  Michelangelo Drawing Blood sees 21st century theatre meeting 16th century culture at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 8-10 to 12-15 August at Paradise in Augustine’s (Venue 152). 

Cardiff based company, Sound Affairs is renowned for producing memorable performances using contemporary music and cross-art forms in diverse and exciting ways. As part of Michelangelo Drawing Blood, Italian model, Stefano Foster will be recreating a range of male models that provided the artist’s subject matter for many of his paintings, murals and sculptures.  On stage, dancer Aaron Jeffrey’s performs as Michelangelo and moves model Stefano around the stage, shaping and forming his model’s body into a series of poses to show it off to best effect, some of which will be performed in the nude. 

To celebrate the beauty of Michelangelo’s muse, model Stefano recreated some of Michelangelo’s most famous statues on top of Edinburgh’s iconic Calton Hill (modestly covered in certain areas with a kilt and sporron) ahead of the opening of Michelangelo Drawing Blood at Paradise in Augustine’s (Venue 152) from 8 August.

INDEPEN-DANCE, Random Accomplice, Scottish Ensemble

It was about half way through Diva's performance at Stereo that I experienced a sense of temporal disorientation. I realised, with real horror, that Diva is an artist who could not have existed in my youth. It isn't just the use of a computer that sets her apart from the bands that filled my youth: it is the eclecticism of her influences. I know music writers do this sort of thing all the time, but a list of influences rarely does justice to the immediacy of a gig. Diva is mash up of  burlesque movement and costume, abstract electronica, hippy folk lyricism and sardonic humour. Or, as someone younger pointed out, like Lady Gaga before she was put through the homogenising machine.

In line with this recognition, I am no longer going to try and give my top tips a theme. I am just going with the flow. There ought to be a prize for anyone who makes a connection between these.

INDEPEN-DANCE have got a double-bill at Tramway: they have been Glasgow's most visible inclusive dance development company for longer than I remember. This time, they have invited choreographers Natasha Gilmour and Lucy Bennett to make new pieces on their dancers.

Gilmore is another powerful presence in Glasgow: if she isn't working with the Maryhill Integration Network, her own Barrowlands Ballet has a record of making community focussed dance that refuses to sacrifice professionalism for inclusion. Now. No. Now!  teams up with composer Quee McArthur,

Goldfish by Lucy Bennett follows the story of a boy who wishes he was a fish. I relate to that already...

Tramway, Glasgow

Fri 5 & Sat 6 April  7:30pm  

Random Accomplice developed their Random Bites programme so that they could get some of their shorter plays out onto the road, without having to wait for a full scale production. Having been described as ‘one of Scotland’s most versatile and energetic companies’  in The Skinny (well, that was probably me...), it isn't surprising that they've come up with an answer to the Fawlty Towers Dining Experience.

Tips is performed by its author, Mary Gapinski. While lunch is served, she is your waitress. She muses on  marriage, serial killers and ice-cream. Take your time to order - she has got far more interesting things on her menu.

Sat6 April : Eastwood ParkTheatre, Giffnock : 7pm £8

Sun7 April : East Kilbride ArtsCentre, East Kilbride : 1pm £9

Fri19 April : Howden ParkCentre, Livingston : 7pm £16

The Scottish Ensemble will cross the United States performing concerts in leading venues across the county, before they will travel to the Far East for concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, and Kaohsiung.   

It has become an important part of the annual schedule for national companies to nip abroad and show the rest of the world how great Scottish art can be. The Scottish Ensemble, who are more than happy to mix up baroque and contemporary composition, are likely to make the USA envious. And they are going to be at that Scottish Government’s Scotland Week celebrations in New York - the one that always gets in the Metro, usually with a picture of a tax exile giving the country respect. 

The press release notes: 

To mark the Ensemble’s return from the US, they will perform a ‘homecoming’ concert at Glasgow City Halls on Wednesday 24 April at 7.30pm. They will be joined by soloist Jane Irwin for Britten’s late, dramatic masterpiece,Phaedra, and sparkling arias from Handel and Purcell. The programme will also be interspersed with classic works from the Baroque string repertoire, many of which feature during their US tour. The concert also marks the end of the Ensemble’s Glasgow season focus celebrating Britten’s centenary.

Concert Programme

Handel       Concerto Grosso op. 6 No. 7 in B flat Major

Purcell       ‘Dido’s Lament’ ; ‘Hark! The Echoing Air’

Handel       ‘Ah Mio Cor’ (from Alcina)

Biber           Battalia

Purcell       Dance of the Furies ; Chacony in G ; Fantasia upon One Note

Britten       Phaedra