Festival Radio Project 2006 : Week One Reviews |
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Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four Here are a selection of reviews of Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows, written by the participants of Week One (31st July - 4th August 2006) of Media Education's Festival Radio Project. REVIEW: David Benson - Why Pay More?'David Benson - Why Pay More?'Fringe Programme : Page 29 Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) Address : The Pleasance Reviewers : Patrick * David Benson's new show "Why Pay More?" is about his early years and why he came up to live in Edinburgh and how he got into performing at the Fringe. There's songs, there's dancing, but most of all it's mainly about his life, so if you know little or nothing about him and would like to know more, come to the baby grand. It's a small portacabin with some seats, so if you like people talking about themselves with some jazzy songs and some, but not many, weak gags this is perfect for you! This would appeal most to an older ag group. But we suggest - why not pay less? REVIEW: The Improvability Drive'The Improvability Drive'Fringe Programme : Page 42 Venue: Roman Eagle Lodge (Venue 21) Address : Johnston Terrace Reviewers : Paul ***** The Improvability Drive is an entirely improvised show which takes suggestions from the audience and turns them into hilarious scenes while using games to make them eve n sillier. It's family friendly with lots of audience participation. I would recommend this show to all ages and is well worth the £5 fee It deserves all of these five stars REVIEW: WASP'WASP'Fringe Programme : Page 42 Venue: C Central (Venue 54) Address : Carlton Hotel, North Bridge Reviewers : Fay and Cally * We picked this show because it sounded funny and original. Having described itself as a satire, it didn’t live up to expectations which was rather disappointing. Wasp is a theatrical piece about an American family of Christians who are slightly dysfunctional though still very religious. The venue was C Central – Studio 2, which was small but clean and comfortable and provided a good view of the action – though whether this was a good thing or not is debatable. Throughout the show, cardboard props were used to try and portray everyday family life, with a host of slightly crazy and nonsensical characters. There was an audience of eleven people, many of whom looked liked they may have known the cast. There were different reactions amongst the crowd, ranging from stony silence to contained laughter. We would not personally recommend this show to others, as we couldn’t make any sense out of it, though if it had been funny or clever we maybe wouldn’t have minded as much. This show was obviously trying to make a point, but it didn’t succeed in making it. Also, the script over-complicated itself with no explanation of the goings on. You can catch a glimpse of this… interesting production from the 5th – 28th of August (not 13th) although there are better ways to spend your time and money in the Fringe. REVIEW: Brick Walls'Brick Walls'Fringe Guide : Page 152 Venue: Smirnoff Underbelly (Venue 61) Address : 56 Cowgate Reviewer : Rachel **** Brick Walls is an innovitive and imaginative play which takes the idea of imaginary games/friends to the extreme. The play starts with the two characters, Dan and Thomas being bricked in, they have been building a house and Dan rather stupidly has managed to build four walls and no doors! The house is in a very isolated area and nobody knows they are there because they have been building the house as a surprise. To beat boredom Thomas and Dan make up numerous games and imaginary friends and ideas. They start by imagining that there’s a window in the four walls that they’re stuck in, making up all kinds of weird and wonderful ideas about what is going on outside. They then play games and invent a new character, an imaginary friend. The imagainary friend is an excellent character, he’s a grandfather figure and in his short time with Thomas and Dan he manages to cause a lot of trouble between the two friends! Brick Walls is a funny,playful but yet thoughtful play about friendship and the imagination. The acting is very good and the two actors manage to fill the stage quite easily. The play never really stops and is very lively and bouncing with energy! Brick Walls shows that you’re never too old to imagine! There was very little audience at the play, just us and one other person which was a real shame because this play was excllent and showed a lot of potential. I would reccommend the play to anyone who enjoys a laugh and I would also say that the play is suitable for children. Our rating: 4 stars REVIEW: Iphegenia'Iphegenia'Fringe Programme : Page 139 Venue: The Zoo (Venue 124) Address : 150 The Pleasance Reviewers : Jenna and Joshua *** We went to see Iphegenia at the zoo that is an opera based on Greek mythology. This show is on from the 4th to the 28th of August (not 10th, 17th or 24th) at 11 o'clock. I would have probably enjoyed Iphigenia a bit more if I had been older and understood the story a bit better, but overall it was very good and Lisa Turner has a very good voice. We would give this show 3 stars out of 5. REVIEW: Greyfriars Bobby'Greyfriars Bobby'Fringe Guide : Page 9 Venue: C at Greyfriars Kirkyard (Venue 99) Address : Reviewers : Natasha and Vanessa ***** Natasha and I went to see Greyfriars Bobby today at the graveyard where Bobby died. We walked about the graveyard getting told the story about bobby. Our favourite part was when the Mayor came to save Bobby the dog from getting put down. The funniest part was when the man who was touring us round banged into the trees and thought it was a ghost. He screamed and gave us all a fright. It was really funny. The worst part was probably when we had to go because we were really enjoying it and it ended so quickly. We would suggest that you go and see this show. If you are into history and like to know what happened in the olden days and want to know what happened to Greyfriar’s bobby then I would recommend this show to you. I would rate it out of 5.... probably 5. REVIEW: Voices In The Dark'Voices In The Dark'Fringe Programme : Page 212 Venue: C Cubed (Venue 50) Address : Brodie's Close, Lawnmarket, Royal Mile Reviewer : Reuben *** Voices In The Dark is a black tale about two very similar couples. In the first scene we see the first couple Jim and Nancy running away to the city together to get married because of Nancy’s protesting father. Then the story darkens when the second couple Ted and Barbara enter with murder in mind. Not recommended for young children because of some very graphic goriness - the blood looked real! A final word of advice: the sound effects are LOUD, don’t sit next to the speakers. On the whole we thought this was a good performance, though we preferred the exemplary acting to the sometimes lacking story line. We’ll give it a reserved three stars. REVIEW: Hansel and Gretel'Hansel and Gretel'Fringe Guide : Page 10 Venue: C Venue (Venue 34) Address : Chambers Street Reviewers : Vanessa and Natasha Vanessa and me went to see Hansel and Gretel yesterday at the C venue on Chambers Street. It was for children over 4 and quite interesting. Our favourite character was the Witch because she was quite scary and a fascinating character. Our favourite part was when the Witch’s Friend arrived at the Ginger Bread house because she was really funny. The worst part was when they characters kept having to turn of the lights in the performance and change the settings. REVIEW: Muttnik – The First Dog In Space'Muttnik - The First Dog In Space'Fringe Guide : Page 12 Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) Address : The Pleasance Reviewers : Jenna and Josh *** We went to see "Muttnik – the first dog in space" at the pleasance courtyard. This is a children’s show about the first dog in space. This show is fun and gets all the family involved. Nikki McCretton is a “one man band” and acts five characters- a dog, a news reporter, an old woman, a scientist and a Russian soldier all interested in the launch of the first dog that goes into space. There are no spoken words in Muttnik, all communication is done by huge gestures and massive lip movements. This show is recommended for ages three to eleven but we think it should be for children between 2-8. The venue is a nice small theatre but you’re on the stage when you sit in the front row. In the show a stray dog in captured by a scientist and is sent into space. There was a bit of audience participation and 2 people got up on stage. There were quite a few people in the audience but it was mainly children and parents. The audience was very lively and participated greatly. We would recommend this show to younger children especially boys. If you want to see Muttnik the first dog in space it is on at the pleasance courtyard at 11.25am. We would give this show 3 out of 5 stars REVIEW: Ed Weeks Variety Show'Ed Weeks Variety Show'Fringe Guide : Page 32 Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) Address : The Pleasance Reviewers : Fay and Cally **** The Ed Weeks Variety Show was not only hilarious but original, clever and a joy to watch. When choosing a show to review honestly we were looking for any comedy on at the right time on the right day, which was surprisingly hard to find! It’s just lucky for us that the show we ended up seeing was as good as this one. It was a series of comedy sketches, with certain stories and jokes carrying on throughout the show, mostly focusing on the main character and writer, Ed Weeks and the tribulations he faced in trying to get a date. There was only a small cast of three people (including Ed Weeks himself) however they were all obviously dedicated to the show, doing everything from dressing in drag to doing an entire scene in Spanish to make the production a success. The audience was mostly young adults; some of whom were moved to tears of laughter (us included!) once the show had really taken off. This is essential fringe viewing for anyone over the age of 14 and a fantastic way to spend an hour of your life. The Ed Weeks Variety can be seen at the Pleasance Courtyard at 2:10pm from the 2nd to the 28th of august and it receives the Fay and Cally stamp of approval with a massive 4 out of 5. REVIEW: Alice Through The Looking Glass'Alice Through The Looking Glass'Fringe Guide : Page 8 Venue: Pleasance Dome (Venue 23) Address : 1 Bristo Square, EH8 9AL Reviewer : Vanessa Katrina and Me went to see Alice through the looking glass today 2/8/06. I really enjoyed it. I got to interview one of the show characters who was playing the part of the queen. I asked her if making the show was hard work and did she enjoy working for the festival. She said that she definitely enjoyed working in the festival and it was her second time she had worked with the festival. She also said that it was hard work and IS hard work working for the festival but she really enjoyed herself and that she would do it again. Some parts of the show were really funny. I picked this show because I enjoy fantasy and cartoons and I had never seen Alice and wonderland the movie so i chose to go and see the show of it instead and i really liked it. The audience didn’t really react in any sort of way. I think it was because we were all really enjoying it and watching it so intensely, waiting to see what was going to happen next. I would actually recommend this show to the adults more than the children because it seemed the adults were enjoying it more that the kids to be honest. Yes i would go and see the show again because I enjoyed it so much. If you want to go and watch this show then I’ll give you the details. August 2,3,4,5,6,8,,9,10,11,12,13,15,16,17,18,29,20,22,23,24,25,26,37,28. There you go, if you want to go and see the show there is the information above thank you. By Vanessa.
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