Stabby Diary Part 2

A Day at the Fringe with Criticulous

I wake up at half past seven. I stand in front of the mirror and recite my mantra:

I am become death and death is the seed from which I grow.

I swill my mouth with coffee and smoke a cigarette. I leave the house and buy a roll from the Mason's Bakery on the corner. It contains my instructions for the day. I get the bus, read the Metro and notice how little Fringe coverage there is.

It's only the biggest arts festival in the world, eh.

Then I walk down the Royal Mile.

It's pretty damn convenient, getting flyers. I got a handful yesterday that gave me all the candidates for the 'comedian in need of a slap' contest. Let's have a quick look at the hopefuls.

Up first, we have youthful contender Daniel Sloss. Notice how Daniel stands side on, hiding his face and protecting his lower regions - as if he is aware how irritating his larger than life size poster is. It's a poor effort from the cheeky funster, and refuses a good target for the poster slap. 

The next flyer is Craig Hill. I sometimes wonder whether he was invented by an anti-Jim Davidson task-force.

Liam Williams might be a comedian, but he looks okay on his flyer. His show is about fighting capitalism, or something. He's all right by me.

Now I read my emails...

LYSISTRATA

In this very loose, modern adaptation of Aristophanes' classic comedy 'Lysistrata', a fiery young woman takes sex and politics into her own hands. Fed up with austerity - the economic war waged on Greece by the Troika – she drunkenly launches a sex strike and occupies the Acropolis with her friends and the women of Athens.


Fighting hard to maintain their position, armed with dildos and fire extinguishers, she finds it difficult to convince politicians of her arguments and keep her friends together. Performed by an outstanding company of four gender-swapping actors, this epic, sexy tale has tragic consequences.



The world premiere of this exciting adaptation is dynamic and different in a number of ways: it has a unique angle on sex in that the show is about withholding it; it is often sexy and often sexualised but never both at the same time. The show asks interesting questions on what it is to be a woman in modern society and engage in politics with men who don't respect them.


At a stylistic level, the intense cross-casting, with actors gliding between genders, raises substantial questions of what it is to be a man or a woman. One of the driving forces of the plot is a protest against the notion of austerity that is foisted upon populations by politicians without being properly explained. What is austerity really doing to our lives and relationships? As a completely original take on a well known text, this show should attract those interested in Classics and also how it can adapt to a contemporary dramatic setting, as well as those interested in gender politics.


Christopher Adams, adapter and director, has experience adapting, most notably his acclaimed adaptation of Genet’s ‘The Maids’, his production of which was shortlisted for NSDF. He trained at Lecoq and most recently directed a tour of ‘The Comedy of Errors’ to

Japan and the UK for Thelma Holt. DEM Productions is developing a reputation for bringing exciting and varied work to the Fringe, having last year presented an award-nominated new musical and a startling new version of a Sarah Kane play, It is currently producing OFFIE-nominated A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner at Southwark Playhouse.


‧ Venue: C, venue 34, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Dates: 30 Jul-25 Aug (not 12)

‧ Time: 20:30(1h15)

‧ Ticket prices: ￡10.50-￡12.50 / concessions ￡8.50-￡10.50