ED2021 Comedy ED2021 Dance & Physical Theatre ED2021 Theatre ED2021 Three To See

Three To See and Stream 24-30 Aug: Online edfringe, Camden Fringe, London in person stuff, Edinburgh in person stuff

By | Published on Monday 23 August 2021

THREE ONLINE EDFRINGE SHOWS

Till Love Do Us Part | Fringe Player | until 30 Aug
Not much longer to go, really, at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, but still plenty to take in. And even for those of you who aren’t up in the Scottish Capital, because of the plentiful levels of online entertainment available. So let’s start with a few of those things, first up being ‘Till Love Do Us Part’, which tells the story of couple Jen and Simon, and charts their journey through starting a life together: dating, marriage, attempting to start a family and beyond. The question appears to be whether or not they’re able to “play by society’s rules”. Find out more right about here.

Science Adventures – The Power Pickle | Pleasance Online | until 30 Aug (pictured)
Here’s one for kids to watch at home – and goodness knows, this far into the summer holidays, they are probably ready for theatrical stimulation, and this offers some scientific content as well as fun and adventure… “Our team are in a right pickle! Professor McGuffin’s groundbreaking Sub-Nuclear Optical Transmitter (S.N.O.T.) has stopped working and it’s jeopardising the whole mission! Now it’s our job to find a way to power it! Join our intrepid scientists on an adventure like no other… Prepare to travel to the deepest depths and soar to the highest heights!” Click here.

The Dream Train | Summerhall Online | until 29 Aug
And a final online choice from edfringe, hosted by one of the festival’s favourite venues. And this one’s probably of interest to theatre and music lovers alike, a revival of this show by the late Tom McGrath. “‘The Dream Train’ weaves together a quartet of characters with JS Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ in a play that has the clarity and strangeness of a particularly convincing dream. Bach is said to have written the ‘Variations’ to help an insomniac nobleman sleep, and the play uses this story and the structure of his composition, threading the music and text together and slipping between real and dream worlds”. More here.

THREE CAMDEN FRINGE SHOWS

Norris & Parker – Fever Dream | Hen & Chickens Theatre | 23-26 Aug (pictured)
Meanwhile, back in London, the Camden Fringe also enters its final week or so, but again, there’s still plenty to take in, both in person and online. Remember to check out everything happening this week here, but also consider our suggestions, including this work in progress by a duo well loved by the TW team, Norris & Parker, whose shows we have enjoyed at past Edinburgh Fringes. “Step into Piscean comedy duo Norris & Parker’s fever dream for a surreal hour of wild, watery madness. Debauched late night comedy for lovers of the strange, the sordid, the musical and the dark”. Click here.

Hold Me Close | Camden Fringe at Canal Cafe Theatre | 29 Aug
“‘Hold Me Close’ is the farewell tour that Sophie and Jade are throwing for their friendship. Friends throughout their teenage years, they’ve grown together but now apart. Wanting different things from life, feeling differently about their class roots and differently about what home means to them. This is their chance to showcase their favourite parts of their friendship, from the dance they made when they were twelve, to how they blagged their way into the press section of a premiere, to dealing with grief and loss”. Lots of themes there, but generally speaking, it’s always interesting to meditate on what brings people together and what makes them grow apart. See this page here.

Growth Of The Silk | Upstairs At The Gatehouse | 23-26 Aug
This is an intriguing sounding mixture of dance and opera exploring themes of social pressure and conforming to accepted standards of beauty: “’Growth Of The Silk’ is the feted fable of a woman’s misguided wish to escape crushing pressure to fit into the social structure of her world. Succeeding in this, she realises her wish was a mistake, leaving her ultimately crushed under the weight of the unstoppable growth of her new beautiful locks”. Info here.

THREE THEATRE THINGS IN LONDON

Salome | Southwark Playhouse | 25 Aug-11 Sep (pictured)
And on to more in person performances in London, specifically more theatre, and we begin at Southwark Playhouse, where Lazarus Theatre Company are staging their ‘Salome’, a production that got a very positive critical response when it was staged at the Greenwich Theatre back in 2019. It’s an interesting re-working of Oscar Wilde’s play, set in more modern times, in which Salome is played as a male character, which makes me wonder (because I haven’t seen it) how that affects the power dynamics. For more information and to book tickets see the venue website here.

Truth/Reconciliation | Old Red Lion Theatre | 26-29 Aug
A play from producing company Elegy, which I think may have been on at Old Red Lion Theatre previously, but that’s only a vague memory so don’t ask me to back it up. Anyway, it’s a two-hander by Matthew Gouldesbrough, featuring a couple – also played by a real life couple – who are negotiating with the difficulties of their own relationship whilst also examining the vagaries of success in the performance industry, something I suspect might be extra pertinent given the struggles of many creatives over the past year and more. See this page here for more information.

Penny | Pleasance Theatre | 24-28 Aug
“Adelaide wants to make her mom’s life-story mythic. But when she invokes the help of Penelope, the legendary queen from Ancient Greece, it soon unravels as they unpick the systems of storytelling that have trapped women for millennia. A mother’s biography told by her daughter with the help of a live, long-distance phone call to the States. Exploring the value of the myths we inherit, Maude’s devised show stitches together a kitschy, camp patchwork of folksy Americana, old Hollywood cinema, and oral tradition that will make you want to call your mom”. Yeah, I’m sold on this. See the Pleasance Theatre website here.

THREE MORE THEATRE SHOWS IN LONDON

Dancing To Disco | The Space | 24-28 Aug (pictured)
Yes, another section of theatre in London. There were so many good and interesting sounding productions going on this week that I couldn’t narrow it down. This one also works for those of you not able to make it to the venue, as it’s being streamed on 27 Aug. Anyway, what is it? Well, a coming of age tale exploring class and identity: “Flashing lights. Sticky floors. The grooves of Donna Summer. Tommy, a young working-class Mancunian, has been accepted into Oxford. He’s the first in his family to go to uni – the first on his street in fact… Join him on his last big night in Manchester before leaving the city he loves and disappearing south”. See this page here.

Sticky Door | Pleasance Theatre | 30 Aug-1 Sep
And back over to the Pleasance Theatre for a play from the team that brought you ‘Sexy Lamp’, a show we saw and loved in Edinburgh in 2019, and which we’ve tipped a couple of times since when it appeared elsewhere. Like that play, this is by Katie Arnstein, and it originally premiered at Vault Festival 2020, but has of course been stymied by the pandemic until now. “In 2014 Katie was very sexually active. She was also extremely depressed. Join her as she examines whether the two things are connected. A storytelling show with songs about sex, stigma and cystitis”. Click here for more information and to book.

Statements After An Arrest Under The Immorality Act | Orange Tree Theatre | 28 Aug-2 Oct
“Frieda and Errol meet in darkness. Theirs is a love story that can never thrive in the light. A relationship interrupted, by white supremacist law. And then at the end as at the beginning, they will find you again. Guilty. A play about then that speaks to now.” You’re all no doubt more than aware of the work of South African playwright Athol Fugard and his part in the anti-apartheid movement. Here’s a chance to see a rare revival of this play, both in the flesh and at a distance: it will be livestreamed on 23 and 24 Sep, and will be available on demand from 5-8 Oct. More here.

THREE MORE LIVE THINGS IN LONDON

21Soho Comedy Grotto All-Dayer | 21Soho | 28 Aug (pictured)
Okay, we’ve had a lot of theatre so it’s definitely time for some comedy, and what better way to console yourself if you didn’t make it to Edinburgh this year than by heading down to 21 Soho for an entire day of shows from some of your comedy favourites? This all day comedy fest sees seven top quality comedians previewing their shows in advance of upcoming tours. There’s Phil Wang, Bridget Christie, Ahir Shah, Shaparak Khorsandi, Fern Brady, Glenn Moore and Alex Kealy, and every one of those is, frankly, a significant TW fave. Click here to book.

Alcina | Arcola Theatre | 25-29 Aug
“From hot-blooded to heart wrenching, Alcina falls from a self-centred reign of terror to the depths of despair”. So now for some opera, courtesy of Arcola’s fab Grimeborn 2021. Grimeborn regulars Ensemble OrQuesta promise an innovative interpretation of George Friedrich Handel’s opera featuring a cast led by OFFIE nominee Helen May in the title role of the “dangerous seductress”. It’s a production which promises to delve into the very contemporarily relevant themes of sexual harassment, sexual fluidity, addiction and toxic behaviour, and it sounds fab. Read more and book tickets here.

Boys Cry | Omnibus Theatre | 30 Aug-9 Sep
Ok, just sneaking one more bit of theatre into a section you thought wasn’t a theatre section, but I’m not sorry, just glad I have brazenly created a slot for this piece exploring the boundaries and constraints of modern masculinity. “When Mark is mugged on the way to college, his reality is shattered. This life-changing event forces him to confront some of his deepest issues. On his journey towards healing he realises that interrogating his connection to masculinity might be key to finding a way forwards. For Mark being a boy has meant closing up when it comes to processing complex emotion. However, through reassembling himself, Mark starts to get a sharper image of the person he wants to be”. Click here.

THREE IN PERSON COMEDY SHOWS AT EDFRINGE

Boorish Trumpson | Assembly Roxy | 24-29 Aug (pictured)
Okey Doke, time to get back up to the Scottish Capital (all this running around would be frankly exhausting if I weren’t doing it from my desk) for a host of promising shows from the real-life, in-person, in-the-flesh Edinburgh Fringe. And first up is some clownery from fab and funny Claire Parry. “An interactive, music and clowning-filled interrogation of power and those wielding it. You are the orchestra. Boorish Trumpson is your rehearsal conductor, just your rehearsal conductor, no other ambitions. Boorish just wants to Make Music Great Again”. More here.

This Is Your Trial | Monkey Barrel Comedy | until 29 Aug
“Looking for justice? Cos we’ve plenty of it. Our comedy courtroom hears accusations from audience members against their friends. Top lawyer-comedians argue cases. Everyone else does jury service, deciding verdicts”. We’ve tipped this show before and by gum we will tip it again. Not least because of all the TW favourites who get involved. Do not, repeat, do not, be put off by the showing off in the blurb: “Nothing is prepared. It’s our eighth Fringe. We know what we’re doing. Nearly 500 shows done, awards won, critical acclaim received, tours of Australia, Ireland, the UK, and inspiring the hit CBBC show ‘Monster Court’; we’re returning home to where it all began”. Head this way to book, and do make sure you do it well ahead, cos they will sell out.

A Tale Of Two Beards | Scottish Comedy Festival @ The Beehive | until 28 Aug
Yes, yes, I was charmed by the title, as often I am. But that’s not all that’s good about this show from Brian Gallagher. I know this because I have heard a lot of grapeviny whisperings that it’s very much worth seeing. Anyway, here’s the gen: “Turning 33, Brian quit his job, packed his beard and took off on a six month round-the-world adventure. He quickly discovered that there are only two kinds of beard in the world and he wasn’t sure which one offended him more – hipster or terrorist! Drug dealers, Black Power, Peruvian rebels, corrupt police, the IRA, Iraqi refugees, angry Vietnamese tour guides and more!” Click here.

THREE IN PERSON THEATRICAL SHOWS AT EDFRINGE

It All | Assembly Roxy | 25-29 Aug (pictured)
Hurrah for edfringe theatre. Not as much as there usually is, but still lots of shows to choose from, which is great for everyone currently in the Scottish capital, and, well, I don’t know, people who might want to pop up for the last few days…? There’s still time! Especially for an acclaimed show like ‘It All’ – previously seen at Vault Festival and the Soho Theatre – by an acclaimed performer like Cameron Cook. “Join him on an intense, dreamlike ride through vivid characters who stream forth in moments of absurdity, satire, and tenderness”. Head this way for more.

The Bank Job | theSpace @ Symposium Hall | until 28 Aug
Okay we’re now running over to theSpace at Symposium Hall for a bit more theatrical fun, for lo, indeed, we have another comical play for you: “The motive: gold. The target: the Bank Of England. The mission: to pull off the ultimate heist. The show: James Bond meets ‘Oceans Eleven’ gone bankrupt in this farcical comedy that is ‘Mission Imposs- …wait, that’s not right. The farcical comedy that is ‘The Bank Job’…” Head to this page here for more information and to book.

You’re My Jury | theSpace @ Symposium Hall | until 28 Aug
Well, look at that, we’ve picked a court themed show for the edfringe theatre section, as well as having selected a court-themed show for the comedy section. Would telling you I’m a court-room drama addict be enlightening…? Anyway, enough about me and more about this show: “Allison Miller is on trial pleading not guilty to all charges held against her. She is accused of tax evasion, bribery, fraud, murder, smuggling drugs into the US, and selling and transferring nuclear weapons. Allison is desperate to prove to you, her jury, that she is innocent. She claims to have been used by the rich and powerful men around her, that all these crimes were committed by them, she was just their alibi. What will be your verdict?” Click here.

THREE MORE INTERESTING THINGS HAPPENING AT EDFRINGE

Laura Horton – Theatre Stories
This is an interesting one, and it’s not a show, but it is something that theatre-lovers up in Edinburgh ought to hear about. You might recall that earlier in the year Caro spoke to Laura Horton about her ‘Theatre Stories’ digital campaign, which she began during lockdown and the consequent theatre black out. Her aim? To collect and publicise the stories of people from across the UK who are engaged with theatre, but whose perspectives are rarely heard, in the hope of changing public perceptions about who theatre is for. She’s heading up to Edinburgh this week and will be at The Snug Bar at Assembly Roxy every day around lunchtime hours collecting new stories. If you would like to tell her yours, you need to book an appointment – email theatrestoriesproject@gmail.com to do that – and see the ‘Theatre Stories’ website here for more information.

The Golden Fly | Scottish Storytelling Centre | 25-7 Aug
These last two are actual shows, ones from categories other than the two most dominant ones (theatre and comedy, obv) and this first one is from the spoken word programme. It sounds rather good: “‘The Golden Fly’ is an epic wonder tale of a shape-shifting goddess in search of her truth. Transformed by sorcery into a golden fly, the goddess Ethaun is condemned to wander the worlds until her heart changes. Storyteller Alice Fernbank and musician Graham Dickson carry you on this mythic voyage of story and music, as the goddess Ethaun journeys over crashing oceans and into kingdoms unknown”. See this page here for details.

Vest-igios | Assembly Roxy | 24-29 Aug
Our final pick of the week is from the dance, physical theatre and circus programme, and I think it falls fairly squarely into the circus camp. Devised by renowned company Circolombia, it promises a sensory experience combining physical performance and original music. “This is a story about brotherhoods and a journey through a dystopian wasteland, infused with jaw-dropping circus, extravagant visions, terrifying acrobatics and unthinkable magic moments. A circus that changes circus – you’ll not come out unscathed”. Head to this page here for info and to book tickets.

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