Some reviews from FringeReview 2010:
RashDash Theatre's **** Another Someone:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3660.html
Whitebone Productions' ***** Bane 2:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3488.html
Belt Up's 'Antigone' ***:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3534.html
Belt Up's 'Odyssey' ***:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3533.html
Belt Up's 'The Boy James' ****:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3492.html
Shatterbox's *** Emma Thompson Presents Fair Trade:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3489.html
The Plasticine Men's **** Keepers:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3535.html
High Tide's **** Lidless:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3584.html
Wednesday 25 August 2010
The Festival of Swing @ The Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival
The ThreeWeeks review of the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival's Festival Of Swing:
On brass were Bob Wilber, Joe Temperley, Scott Hamilton, Alan Barnes, Duke Heitger and Howard Alden, and the evening's compère introduced the all-star line-up as the most 'unruly' bunch he's ever come across, but despite the occasional flashes of 'fooling around' it's difficult to see these mostly elderly gentleman causing much trouble. They and their audience grew old with jazz, and the reception the musicians received was as full-blooded as any young band might enjoy as the nine-piece celebrated the era of swinging Jazz centered on Duke Ellington; it was fitting that Joe Temperley, a veteran who actually played alongside Ellington, was there. Highlights included 'Creole Love Song', Heitger's trumpet solos and Alden spicing things up with some Brazilian swing. A gently foot-tapping evening.
Queens Hall, 3 Aug, 8.00pm, £17.50 - £22.50
tw rating: 3/5
The original review is here.
On brass were Bob Wilber, Joe Temperley, Scott Hamilton, Alan Barnes, Duke Heitger and Howard Alden, and the evening's compère introduced the all-star line-up as the most 'unruly' bunch he's ever come across, but despite the occasional flashes of 'fooling around' it's difficult to see these mostly elderly gentleman causing much trouble. They and their audience grew old with jazz, and the reception the musicians received was as full-blooded as any young band might enjoy as the nine-piece celebrated the era of swinging Jazz centered on Duke Ellington; it was fitting that Joe Temperley, a veteran who actually played alongside Ellington, was there. Highlights included 'Creole Love Song', Heitger's trumpet solos and Alden spicing things up with some Brazilian swing. A gently foot-tapping evening.
Queens Hall, 3 Aug, 8.00pm, £17.50 - £22.50
tw rating: 3/5
The original review is here.
The Man Who Was Hamlet @ The Edinburgh Fringe
The ThreeWeeks review of The Man Who Was Hamlet:
Several people have been proposed as the 'real' author of Shakespeare's works (a lowly glover's son couldn't have written such works of genius, surely?) So who was William Shakespeare? George Dillon's masterful one-man show puts forth a strong case that 'Shakespeare' was actually Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Resurrected for an hour's stage time, Oxford's Elizabethan ghost recounts his life story in a biography similar to Shakespeare's own, and Dillon's voice is deliciously versatile, though sometimes his characters need more differentiation. My advice is, make a bingo card with Shakespeare's plays on it, and tick them off as you spot references to them; should you get a full house, after the play has finished, you can run out into the street and shout "I'm Shakespeare!"
Hill Street Theatre, 5 - 30 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 7.10pm , £7.00 - £9.00, fpp 269
tw rating: 4/5
The original review is here.
Several people have been proposed as the 'real' author of Shakespeare's works (a lowly glover's son couldn't have written such works of genius, surely?) So who was William Shakespeare? George Dillon's masterful one-man show puts forth a strong case that 'Shakespeare' was actually Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Resurrected for an hour's stage time, Oxford's Elizabethan ghost recounts his life story in a biography similar to Shakespeare's own, and Dillon's voice is deliciously versatile, though sometimes his characters need more differentiation. My advice is, make a bingo card with Shakespeare's plays on it, and tick them off as you spot references to them; should you get a full house, after the play has finished, you can run out into the street and shout "I'm Shakespeare!"
Hill Street Theatre, 5 - 30 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 7.10pm , £7.00 - £9.00, fpp 269
tw rating: 4/5
The original review is here.
Potato Country @ The Edinburgh Fringe
The ThreeWeeks review of Potato Country:
What do you think about China? What makes you happy? What do you think of women's rights? These are three questions that you will be asked by the dancers of 'Potato Country', so bear them in mind. They probably define you as a person, or at least Gunilla Heilborn would have you think so, as the cast eye you directly, dancing, marching and firing off questions. Their disjointed dance piece aims to explore what makes happiness, perhaps by looking at the Swedish love of melancholy (as they phrase it). They do this by presenting a bunch of hopeless-looking people whose awkwardness at dancing is probably intentional. But ultimately, there's too much of that and not enough of the happiness.
Dance Base - National Centre for Dance, 13 - 20 Aug, times vary, £5.00, fpp 152
What do you think about China? What makes you happy? What do you think of women's rights? These are three questions that you will be asked by the dancers of 'Potato Country', so bear them in mind. They probably define you as a person, or at least Gunilla Heilborn would have you think so, as the cast eye you directly, dancing, marching and firing off questions. Their disjointed dance piece aims to explore what makes happiness, perhaps by looking at the Swedish love of melancholy (as they phrase it). They do this by presenting a bunch of hopeless-looking people whose awkwardness at dancing is probably intentional. But ultimately, there's too much of that and not enough of the happiness.
Dance Base - National Centre for Dance, 13 - 20 Aug, times vary, £5.00, fpp 152
tw rating: 2/5
The original review is here.
The Timothy Bile Show @The Edinburgh Fringe
The ThreeWeeks review of The Timothy Bile Show:
This attempted spoof of Jeremy Kyle et al starts off well, with an accurate portrayal of the sort of stuff that fills such programs; abusive boyfriends, girlfriends sleeping around, unexpected pregnancy and girls getting outrageously drunk. The best actor is the lead, but no one else shines. Too much emphasis is placed on the anger of the guests (telling each other to shut up at frequent intervals) and not enough on the public's need to watch such interactions, nor on the reasons for the host's involvement, It's a shame, because these are more interesting and are also the things the play had intended to explore. It's no satire of popular culture, however much shouting there is.
theSpaces on the Mile@the Radisson, 6 - 21 Aug (not 8, 15), 7.05pm, £6.00 - £7.00, fpp 297
tw rating: 1/5
The original review is here.
This attempted spoof of Jeremy Kyle et al starts off well, with an accurate portrayal of the sort of stuff that fills such programs; abusive boyfriends, girlfriends sleeping around, unexpected pregnancy and girls getting outrageously drunk. The best actor is the lead, but no one else shines. Too much emphasis is placed on the anger of the guests (telling each other to shut up at frequent intervals) and not enough on the public's need to watch such interactions, nor on the reasons for the host's involvement, It's a shame, because these are more interesting and are also the things the play had intended to explore. It's no satire of popular culture, however much shouting there is.
theSpaces on the Mile@the Radisson, 6 - 21 Aug (not 8, 15), 7.05pm, £6.00 - £7.00, fpp 297
tw rating: 1/5
The original review is here.
The Merry Wives of Henry VIII @ The Edinburgh Fringe
There's always a danger that we'll forget the real people in history and will reduce them to easil
y remembered basics. Richard III was a hunchback, Henry VIII was a fickle playboy. That's exactly what happens in this (deliberately?) overblown destruction of real events. The caricatures are cartoonish and basic, the Tudor court's political scheming (familiar now thanks to Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and HBO's "The Tudors") is non-existent; audiences are familiar enough with the period to deserve better than this. However, the production is a pleasing enough jaunt, which makes villains out of pawns, especially for audiences less familiar with the period. However, there's some painfully OTT acting and atrocious lighting choices. Diverting, but ultimately frustrating.
y remembered basics. Richard III was a hunchback, Henry VIII was a fickle playboy. That's exactly what happens in this (deliberately?) overblown destruction of real events. The caricatures are cartoonish and basic, the Tudor court's political scheming (familiar now thanks to Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and HBO's "The Tudors") is non-existent; audiences are familiar enough with the period to deserve better than this. However, the production is a pleasing enough jaunt, which makes villains out of pawns, especially for audiences less familiar with the period. However, there's some painfully OTT acting and atrocious lighting choices. Diverting, but ultimately frustrating.Augustine's, 11 - 26 Aug (not 18, 23), 6.45pm, £7.00 - £9.00, fpp 271
tw rating: 2/5
The original review is here.
Pip Utton is Charles Dickens @ the Edinburgh Fringe
The ThreeWeeks review of Pip Utton Is Charles Dickens:
Few actors seem as fresh and unscripted as Pip Utton, who has a talent for sounding like he's
chatting to a mate: you could almost think he's out of character, were it not for the Dickensian beard. Charles Dickens is the focus of this show, in which he candidly recounts his own death and the previous few months. Utton uses some of the famous readings from Dickens' tours of Britain, and focuses on the author as social reformer, highlighting the social conscience underlining much of his work, and it makes for an absorbing 70 minutes. Utton is an expert at creating an intimate connection with his audience, and as he closes, one gets the sense of being in the hands of a master at work.
Few actors seem as fresh and unscripted as Pip Utton, who has a talent for sounding like he's
chatting to a mate: you could almost think he's out of character, were it not for the Dickensian beard. Charles Dickens is the focus of this show, in which he candidly recounts his own death and the previous few months. Utton uses some of the famous readings from Dickens' tours of Britain, and focuses on the author as social reformer, highlighting the social conscience underlining much of his work, and it makes for an absorbing 70 minutes. Utton is an expert at creating an intimate connection with his audience, and as he closes, one gets the sense of being in the hands of a master at work.New Town Theatre, 5 - 29 Aug (not 17), 6.45pm , £8.00 - £10.00, fpp 279
tw rating: 4/5
The original review is here.
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