The Edinburgh Festival Fringe kicked off in earnest last Friday with another jam-packed programme of theatre, comedy, music, family shows and much, much more. Here’s what’s been happening at the Centre so far:
Our children’s shows have been delighting audiences, from the bilingual carrot-tastic The Wonderful World of Lapin, filled with French, furry friends and fun, to the moving and engaging At a Stretch, telling a tale of love amongst many elastic bands.
Andy Cannon’s Is This a Dagger? The Story of Macbeth has been turning heads and making waves, picked up in Scotland on Sunday as the best of children’s theatre to see this week, and garnered a 4-star review from David Pollock at The List, highlighting that “the infectious, easy-going humour that he brings to the famous tragedy papers over the more gruesome events without diminishing them.”
An ancient tale, and the first production to be made in Scotland which features stories inspired by the Nigerian Orishas, Mara Menzies’ The Illusion of Truth was awarded 5 stars by Mumble Theatre and the Edinburgh Reporter, in a review which stated:
“The Illusion of Truth is an hour of fast-paced, mesmerising performance storytelling. The lives of the gods are skilfully woven into the human story, a story powerfully delivered by Menzies, who keeps up the narrative pace while taking on the persona of one character after another.” – Rosemary Kaye
The 5pm slot is being shared between two previous Fringe successes, Mairi Campbell: Pulse and Leaf by Niggle. Pulse was picked up in The Scotsman this weekend – “Campbell is a mesmerising performer with such a gift for accents and physical comedy that it’s easy to forget her main job is folk musician.”
As well as starring in the delightful Leaf by Niggle, Richard Medrington of Puppet State Theatre also found time to launch his debut novel Sky Above, Sea Below along with some sloth friends! Copies are for sale in the Storytelling Centre bookshop, along with editions of Tolkien’s curious short story which provided the inspiration for the show.
The Loud Poets have been tearing up the stage with a plethora of exciting guests from the spoken word scene near and far, pictured here with Bibi June on their first night:
Alan Bissett’s (More) Moira Monologues has been treating audiences to a hilarious dive into the life of Moira Bell, hardest woman in Falkirk who is back to deal with the latest the world throws at her. It’s been collecting enthusiastic reviews on the Fringe website:
And new this week, The Headless Woman and Other Delights from the 8th to the 12th will combine live storytelling, peepboxes and projection to weave tales of selkies, boggarts and mermaids, with storyteller Jacqueline Harris and artist Marjan Wouda.
Finally, Café Voices on Thursday night presents an open floor to any keen storytellers to tell their own tales in the Storytelling Court, expertly hosted by Jacqueline Harris.
