During the summer holidays last year, I had the privilege of attending the country’s biggest arts festival: the Edinburgh Fringe, where I was delighted/ horrified by (delete as appropriate) a grand total of 23 shows in just one week. Since I write for a magazine, the next natural step was to review them. Here are my Fringe recommendations. (even though the festival is over now). My mother suggested I include a brief description of the Fringe for those who don’t know. Google it.*
Number One: The Heavens’ Favourite Murderess (5 stars)
Many Shakespeare monologues were written to be spoken to the audience, not at them. There was an element of interaction, of “call and response” – one that’s largely lost today (except in pantomimes). The Heavens’ Favourite Murderess, a retelling of the Greek tragedy of Medea, briefly revives this tradition. This performance was built on monologues and dialogue rather than plot, creating a genuine, real-time connection with the audience. Medea’s direct eye contact with the crowd, Jason’s dramatic rolling off the stage, and the cast running through the audience with each entrance – along with the direct spoken word poetry influences – made this one of the most intimate plays I’ve ever seen. Mariah Jordan’s understanding of her craft is remarkable. The production was as low budget as it gets, with almost zero advertising apart from the cast themselves (some as young as eleven!) – there was no set, no microphones, no music, and no cost (“pay what you want”), and the venue’s thin walls meant we could hear neighbouring shows throughout the performance. This raw, passionate play felt refreshingly different from the high-budget, fast-paced, disposable content we’re used to seeing today.
My family were sceptics, but I think we can all agree (even though I didn’t ask them) that this show deserves 5 stars.
Number Two: Arcade (5 stars)
Arcade is difficult to describe. In fact, aside from this review, go in blind. Literally. Arcade is a show by Darkfield, a group that performs its shows in total darkness, immersing you in a world you experience solely through an 8D soundscape and occasional sensory effects. For Arcade, we filed into a shipping container set up like… an arcade. Guided by headphones, you play a choose-your-own-adventure game as Milk, a character navigating a world full of cultists, murderers and criminals. If I could recommend only one show, Arcade would be a strong contender.
Number Three: Showstopper! (5 stars)
There are plenty of improv comedy groups during the Fringe, but none compare to Showstopper!, the improvised musical. Using a few audience suggestions – location, musical styles, and a title – the cast creates a unique, on-the-spot show. Settings have ranged from Noah’s Ark to an airport waiting room, with musical influences from Sondheim to Les Misérables, and I once unironically saw a show that the audience had named ‘Josh’. The troupe’s chemistry, quick thinking, and comedic timing are impeccable. The humour, though occasionally mature, combined with the music makes Showstopper! unforgettable. It was one of the pricier shows, but worth every penny. We even went to see it again. Five stars, hands down.
Number four: Underwire (4.5 stars)
We were about to head home for the evening when a woman handed us a flyer for her pay-what-you-want show: Underwire – a one-woman comedy cabaret about, put simply, boobs. Put less simply, it’s a show about being ‘well developed’ and the struggles unique to it as well as the struggles that are more universal. It’s a passionate commentary on womanhood and the effect your gender (and how others perceive it) has on the relationship with your body. Both hilarious and heartfelt, Gemma Caruana goes through back pain, reduction surgery, finding a bra that fits, and – most heavily – the objectification she was subjected to, in a range of parody, covers, and original songs and stand-up comedy.
To be clear, this performance is educational and truly important, but contains some heavy themes and can be a little raunchy (as the kids may say) at times and so is best for older audiences – especially at the end, which I’m not sure I’m even allowed to describe in this magazine.
(Also, I think it’s worth mentioning that she gave me a free tote bag. I am effectively being bribed into writing this review. Somebody stop this woman.)
All in all, I’m so glad we decided to stay out a little bit later for this fantastic show. A show that I give 4.5 stars.
Number Five: Kafka’s Metamorphosis (4.5 stars)
Franz Kafka was a troubled man with an untimely death, and this puppet musical (bear with me) focuses on his most well-known work: Metamorphosis, or, more specifically, the themes behind it in Kafka’s own life. He projects his issues onto the character of Gregor Samsa, a story which I don’t feel like recapping (this is a review of the show, not the book. We have priorities here).
Maybe it took a while to get past the premise of a puppet musical about a Franz Kafka novella, but what really caught my metaphorical eye was the symbolism. The actor for Franz/Gregor (he played both, of course) uses a little Kafka puppet when speaking as him, even drawing attention to it in the beginning. Kafka uses the puppet in this play as a buffer, something else to speak the words instead of him – just like he did with Samsa.
The meta goes even deeper than that, though. Not only with the puppet, but with the humour. After the first excerpt of the novella, Franz tries jokes to express himself. Throughout the musical, songs, humour and puppets are used to escape the horrifying reality of his own life (that is, of his father).
Even the title demonstrates this: Kafka’s Metamorphosis. As in, Metamorphosis is a work belonging to Kafka. But also in the sense that Kafka underwent a metamorphosis. Gregor Samsa was what we’d call today a self-insert (sorry Franz), a character to project the author’s issues onto.
This experience of projection is no new phenomenon and there is no writer who isn’t guilty of it, but I have never seen it so well displayed as I have in this play. Kafka’s Metamorphosis deserves a 4.5/5.
But wait!!
You didn’t think that was all, did you? Of course not! Below is my honourable mentions lightning round, because, seriously, there were a lot of good shows. Also because I think some of these are too grown-up to describe in detail without being told I need to change it. (But not too grown-up for this magazine I promise). (You can trust me).
Potty The Plant (4.5 stars)
A fun adult comedy musical parodying your typical toddler show. Think dark Sesame Street, like if that vampire one was kidnapping children instead of counting things.
Ethnically Ambiguous (4 stars)
A comedy show by actor Dave Ahdoot about how companies thirst for his hard-to-tell race in adverts in hopes to cash in as many diversity points as possible. Not for children younger than, like, 12.
Murder She Didn’t Write (4 stars)
An improv murder mystery primarily led by a random audience member who catches a hat.
Shamilton (4 stars)
Another improv musical, this time focusing on a random celebrity in typical Hamilton style. Featuring MC Hammersmith! (Sometimes.)
Tom Crosbie: I Came, I Saw, I Conq-nerd (4 stars)
I have no idea how to describe this. Not quite comedy, not quite variety. Tom Crosbie, self-proclaimed nerd, demonstrates his ‘useless’ skills like memorisation skills, chats with the audience, tells jokes, solves Rubik’s cubes and plays games. There’s even a video game to be passed around amongst the audience while they wait for the show to start.
Flo and Joan: One Man Musical (5 stars)
A satire one-man show about (and making fun of) Andrew Lloyd Webber might not sound the best. Or, at least, only to those who haven’t seen or heard the comedy duo Flo and Joan before. Just trust that it carries the same hilarity and absurdism as any other performance of theirs.
*Or, if you can’t be bothered, it’s a month-long festival where the city of Edinburgh, Scotland becomes a city-wide celebration of the performing arts, with stand-up, plays, music, improv and skits
