CHILDREN'S SHOWS
AnimAlphabet: The Musical (Hit The Mark Theatre)
Right, so reggae frog, jazz giraffe, waltzing elephant, rapping donkey and showtunes cockatoo, among others, hang out on a tropical island, reliant on a metronome to help them keep time for their special song. One day they annoy it and it vanishes, releasing the dastardly duck whose mission is to eliminate all sound. So the cockatoo has to go round fetching musical notes from the animals so they can restore the scale and put the duck back behind, er, bars. Oh look, never mind. The plot is simultaneously needlessly complex yet gossamer thin, but this is visually entertaining, eventful, child-friendly stuff exploring a range of musical styles through various catchy numbers - I was only occasionally willing the duck to succeed.
Pleasance Dome, until 27 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Bruce Blacklaw]
COMEDY
Alex Edelman: Just For Us (Phil McIntyre Entertainments presents)
Alex Edelman may claim to like "dumb jokes" - and rest assured, there are plenty in this show - but this is a typically smart hour from him, about trying to fit in with a group that you might not want to fit in with. Along the way there's love, politics and religious intolerance. He also shares eyebrow-raising exposés about the comedy industry; insights into his mental health and his encounter with the royal family. His style is conversational but he's evidently he is not afraid of silence - the pauses between sentences maximising their impact. By the end, the different pieces of this jigsaw fit together beautifully, and 'Just For Us' is as good as stand-up gets.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Andy Murray]
Athena Kugblenu: Follow The Leader (So Comedy and Broken Robot Productions by arrangement with Troika)
Who are the great leaders? Now, it's a vanilla Fringe audience being addressed by a pregnant black woman here and so we - of course - end up with a rhetorical Mandela. But none of them are perfect, are they? Even him. And so Athena Kugblenu fancies pitching for the role. The show is in large part all about why she won't actually be our leader, whether due to personal misadventure or societal reasons of race and gender-based shitness. Some bits are very good indeed, but there is also some frustratingly stale comedic fare. Nevertheless, she's good at this, and there are the kernels of a much better, funnier show in here. Considering the alternatives, you could do far worse than voting Kugblenu.
Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Bruce Blacklaw]
Joey Page: Perhaps Under Stars That Would Stretch Forever (An Idiot Explains The Universe In Under An Hour)
Joey Page's stand-up show takes us on a gently sardonic canter through life, the universe and everything. His brand of comedy has a surreal turn with a visual twist, and there are some inventive flights of fancy with a cosmic theme - the woman of his (night time) dreams, for example, who has a packet of crisps for a head, or an alternative universe where a couple of pizzas chat to each other over a joint. There was some pleasing but fleeting banter with the audience, and the show seemed like it was about to take off on a couple of occasions, but it never quite reached the stratospheric promise of its title.
Just The Tonic at The Tron, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Geoff Mills]
Sarah Keyworth: Dark Horse (Fight In The Dog in association with United Agents)
This is an important show with a powerful message about gender identity and social norms. Never has a performer needed a microphone more - her soft-spoken delivery draws us in, but underestimate her at your peril. It feels as though she has been building up to this moment all her life - the point where she speaks out about her personal struggles, and the people who have made her life difficult. After addressing everything that has led to her being who she is today, she takes on modern society - considering the world through the eyes of the next generation - and is appalled by what she sees. More poignant than hilarious, but compelling stuff nevertheless from this self-styled dark horse.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Andy Murray]
The Story Beast: This Is Bardcore (Katie Storey Productions)
The end of the world is nigh - the apocalypse is upon us. And what a strange way to spend our final moments on earth! Wide-eyed and louder-than-life, John Henry Falle (aka The Story Beast) is like a cross between Brian Blessed and Matt Berry, while the way he growls through his songs calls to mind a more surreal Nick Helm. It's a real variety pack here, as he veers wildly from lip-syncing one minute, to performing an incredible Shakespearean ode to 'Die Hard' the next. There's even time for a game of pass the parcel and a repetitive singalong song about jam - taken from his children's show. Already a cult hit, this show could convert even more to his cause.
Underbelly Cowgate, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Andy Murray]
DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE
Infinita (Familie Flöz)
Portrayed vividly with their trademark larger-than-life masks and some expert physical theatre, Familie Floz draw parallels between the chaotic interactions of babies and the hijinks of the elderly in a care home. Whilst there are moments of humour, such as a skit involving a radio, it feels rather thin for a 90 minute production. It is also disturbing to see how females are represented: a girl-child flashes her underwear to a group of boy-babies who reach out to touch her; a stressed and under-resourced nurse is the victim of pranks by an all-male group of patients, while the only other female character is a wife. Though this is a visually impressive production, the content feels poorly thought through.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug.
tw rating 2/5 | [Marni Appleton]
MUSICALS
The Mould That Changed The World (Charades Musicals)
Antimicrobial resistance is a hot topic, and this production had the budget, the strong cast, and the sold-out audiences to turn it into something special. It's just a shame that it was let down by bad writing, composition and direction - it was, in a word, unoriginal. The libretto and score reminded me of so many other forgettable musicals, and there was no sense of insight into anything the audience wouldn't already know about Alexander Fleming or MRSA. The chorus felt dispensable, just standing in the same place each time they came on stage, and there was no attempt at character development or any hint of a human relationship. I was disappointed to see such a badly-written attempt at an interesting concept.
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, until 25 Aug.
tw rating 1/5 | [Ela Portnoy]
THEATRE
The Egg Is A Lonely Hunter (Lisa Richards)
Hannah Mamils has a quietly commanding presence and a beguiling, charming tone that draws us into her strange world, where dreams and reality blur and the two become slowly indistinguishable. The absurd tone is set when, after an unfortunate egg and spoon race, her irrational fear of eggs becomes public knowledge. And, more unfortunately for her, one of the local boys uses this knowledge to taunt her. Blending the mundane and the otherworldly, she speaks of talking horses, beached wales and a very precarious black hole that's inexplicably emerged near the local primary school, making for some wry moments of humour. At times, the piece feels too static, never fully building to all that it could amount to, but her surreal storytelling still manages to engage.
Summerhall, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Amy Bonar]
Narcissist In The Mirror (Rosie Fleeshman)
'Narcissist In The Mirror' gives us a dark glimpse into the life of a love addict, lost soul and delusional actor. This witty one-woman show mingles monologue with spoken word, and makes several tone shifts as it peels away the character's layers to expose a quivering heart. Rosie Fleeshman's performance is robust, and some of the dexterous word play is a delight. This convincing portrayal of a shallow, callow narcissist is, however, a double-edged sword: so relentlessly self-obsessed and self-referential is this starlet wannabe, this mawkish millennial par excellence, that I yearned for the occasional reprieve. Nevertheless, the confessional resolves with a satisfying twist and ends on a suitably maudlin note.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Geoff Mills]
One Life Stand (Middle Child)
This play sets out to prove that it's possible to conduct an even less nuanced examination of online life than "what if phones, but too much?" For the music, a procession of four-chord songs, mixed so that at least one of the voices is usually inaudible. For the script, the most cack-handed exploration imaginable of the ways the internet impacts on our relationships. There's no bar low enough for 'One Life Stand' not to tumble into it: its treatment of the sexual abuse of a vulnerable teenager comes close to suggesting that she was asking for it because she published her own sex tape online. This production is a complete dud, a dull squandering of its many resources.
Summerhall, until 26 Aug.
tw rating 1/5 | [Alexander Hartley]
Polaris (Holly And Ted)
What connects a dinosaur to a teenage girl and a space captain? Holly Norrington and Teddy Lamb look across time and space to understand the nature of intolerance in their bright and sparkly storytelling show. The three storylines are engaging enough but not exactly revelatory; and though the dinosaur thread is fun, it doesn't really work as part of the puzzle. However, there is much to enjoy here: teenage drinking is cleverly depicted with a flurry of pink plastic cups, Lamb delivers a spot-on portrayal of a year ten girl and there is a magical Foley-style soundscape created live on stage. This is a charming show from a young company with admirable intentions, and I look forward to seeing what they do next.
Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Marni Appleton]
Vessel (Laura Wyatt O'Keeffe)
Laura Wyatt O'Keeffe's two hander explores the roles that women and fertility play in pre-8th amendment Ireland. In a show that discusses grief, shame, and standing up for what you believe in, O'Keeffe plays a woman seeking an abortion, with Edward De Gaetano as the journalist trying to tell her story. She technically could have the baby, but she chooses not to. It's brilliantly written, the combination of dialogue and narration giving a sense of realness to the show, while the actors convincingly portray two ordinary people caught up in an extraordinarily important story. This is a contemporary play, but the almost post-apocalyptic undertones make it a thought-provoking piece of social commentary on Catholic Ireland and abortion laws.
Underbelly Bristo Square, until 27 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Lucy Caradog] |