Festival Radio Project 2007 : Week Two Reviews |
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Week One | Week Two Here are a selection of reviews of Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows, written by the participants of Week Two (6th - 10th August 2007) of Media Education's Festival Radio Project. REVIEW: Barnaby Brown : Orphan Extraordinaire'Barnaby Brown : Orphan Extraordinaire'Fringe Programme : Page 174 Venue: Pleasance Dome (Venue 23) Address : Bristo Square Reviewer : Grace and Kate * "Barnaby Brown : Orphan Extraordinaire" was a theatre performance about an orphan who is trying to find a family to live with. We weren't originally going to see this show but because our first choice was booked up we had to go and see this one. In the programme it sounded slightly amusing but I didn't find it so when I got there. I think that Barnaby Brown was meant to be a good play but because the storyline was not well written I found myself bored half way through. It was meant to be funny but it wasn't in my opinion. However the men in the audience laughed out loud. The performance was held in a small room at the Pleasance Dome. The lighting was quite effective. Probably the best thing about the show was the way the cast changed from one character to another in such a short space of time. I would recommend the show to middle aged men who have nothing to do during the day, because there were so many of them in the audience laughing. But I would definitely not go and see it again. Overall I didn't really enjoy it as I found it boring with repetitive jokes. REVIEW: Talking Pants'Talking Pants'Fringe Programme : Page 19 Venue: Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) Address : Bristo Square Reviewer : Amil and Nikhil ** We picked this show because it sounded funny and interesting. The show was meant to be in the 'story comedy' category but wasn't really funny. In the show Ian, the performer, made up stories which were meant to be funny didn't quite hit the mark. The audience was made up of a few people, mainly children. We don't know if the audience enjoyed it because none of them wanted to be interviewed, but we gathered that when Ian told a joke no one laughed. We wouldn't really recommend it and we wouldn't go and see it again. It isn't really for our age group, it's more for 6-8 year olds. REVIEW: Silly Billy Bum Breath Strikes Back'Silly Billy Bum Breath Strikes Back'Fringe Programme : Page 18 Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) Address : Pleasance Courtyard Reviewer : Amil and Nikhil ***** We picked this show because we saw their show last year and really enjoyed it. The show was definitely in the comedy category. The venue was nicely laid out, a good temperature and very comfortable to sit in. In the show the two main characters recapped on what had happened last year in a very funny way. They then got on with the show. It was hilarious! The audience seemed to enjoy the whole show as they were almost laughing through the whole show. Also when we got an interview with an audience member all his comments were positive. We would recommend the show to ages 4 to 14 and to adults who are parents and middle aged adults. We would go and see the show again because it was really funny and never gets boring. REVIEW: ?!?'?!?'Fringe Programme : Page 86 Venue: The Green Room (Venue 274) Address : 37 Guthrie Street Reviewer : Lindsay *** and a half When asked what kind of show '?!?' was, I find myself lost for words. Was it a play? No. Was it comedy? I guess so. What kind of comedy? Well, I guess it was a quiz comedy. If such a genre exists. We arrived at the venue, The Green Room, and after we collected the tickets we were told to wait at the bar. At the Underbelly you wait at the bar before being ushered into the venue so I expected something like this to happen. But no, ten minutes later a man came round, collected our tickets and gave us an answer sheet and a pencil. I was starting to get an idea of what this would be like. There were many different rounds and we were required to answer the questions in as imaginative a way as possible. We decided on how many points the other teams got for their answers and they decided how many we got for ours. The host added a lot more humour to the occasion and we soon became referred to as "The 14 year olds" By the end we had won two cans of Red Bull - which I blame for my hyperactivity later that evening - and a garden gnome. I greatly enjoyed the whole experience and since we got 5 points by saying we would give a good review, then that's what I shall do! REVIEW: Professor Bumm's Story Machine'Professor Bumm's Story Machine'Fringe Programme : Page 18 Venue: Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) Address : George Street Reviewer : Amil and Nikhil ***** We picked this show because of the name - it sounded funny. The show is definitely a comedy. The venue was very nice to sit in because it was well laid out, there was a good temperature and there was a nice atmosphere. In the show the two characters reacted well with the audience. They told six basic stories, made up, depending on which six words the audience chose. The audience seemed to enjoy the show as there was a lot of laughing and chances for everyone to give input. And when everyone went out at the end everyone was happy. We would recommend the show to ages 6-15. But we think children of all ages and adults would enjoy the show. We would go and see the show again because it was really funny, never the same and would never get boring. REVIEW: Anatole and Yerhudi'Anatole and Yerhudi'Fringe Programme : Page 26 Venue: Holyrood Too @ Faith (Venue 38) Address : Cowgate Reviewer : Kit and Matthew **** This is a show about a cat and a horse living in the rafters of a sea-faring particle accelerator. Yes, that's right - it's a surreal comedy which is about as random as it gets. It involves time travel, invisible fortresses, crow psychiatry, Egyptian princes... and that's just the start. This show is hilarious if you can keep up with the frantic flow strangeness. This is the best surreal comedy I have ever seen and it is well worth going to see. After opening with a funny, if a little unclear, musical piece, you are mesmerized by the antics of the cat and horse and are amazed as they somehow make it even stranger than before. You won't regret seeing this show. REVIEW: Monsters'Monsters'Fringe Programme : Page 209 Venue: Underbelly (Venue 61) Address : 56 Cowgate Reviewer : Holly and Helen ** We picked this show as we thought it would be enjoyable. "Monsters" is a confusing theatre act of which an old family member comes back and relationships start to crumble. After a point of confrontation and a family member passes out it becomes too confusing. The venue was damp and dark, it did not have a nice feel to it, unlike some other venues. There were a few adults in the audience but we were the only children. The audience seemed to only have a vague idea of what happened, like us. We wouldn't recommend this, as it was very hard to understand. We would not see it again as it was not very enjoyable. REVIEW: The Terrible Infants'The Terrible Infants'Fringe Programme : Page 229 Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) Address : Pleasance Reviewer : Kate and Grace **** The Terrible Infants was an enjoyable theatre performance at the Pleasance Courtyard. In the Fringe programme it sounded really fun which is why we went to go and see it. The Pleasance Courtyard is a very atmospheric, busy place, and ideal for seeing shows. It was very good for interviewing people as there was a packed audience. In the performance there was a variety of techniques including puppetry, live music, lighting, mime, jokes and much more. The live music was really skilful as there were two different musicians who played many different instruments. The cast played a number of different characters, which was very well done. We were in quite a large hall but you could always hear the actors and you could tell that they had experience of performing before. We would definitely recommend the show to other people of all ages. Everyone was laughing and seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. Because we enjoyed it so much if we got the chance to, we would probably see The Terrible Infants again. We would give the show four stars out of five because it was humorous, the acting was very enjoyable and the live music added a pleasant touch. REVIEW: Disney's High School Musical'Disney's High School Musical'Fringe Programme : Page 162 Venue: Churchill Theatre (Venue 137) Address : Morningside Road Reviewer : Alastair and Michael **** and a half 'Disney's High School Musical' is performed by The York County School of the Arts based in Virginia, USA. We picked the show because we thought it would be entertaining having seen the film and we like the thought of it being done as a musical. The venue was Churchill Theatre in Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The venue was great for a production like that. To summarise the story, it sees Troy who is a keen basketball player, fall in love with a girl called Gabriella, who is very keen on science. It's love at first sight between the two, but not everything goes to plan. Troy has a basketball match and Gabriella has a science competition on the same day. To add to their misery, they want to audition for Romeo and Juliet, which is taking place on the same day as their competitions! The audience seemed to really enjoy the musical as, for instance, they were singing along to the songs. We recommend the show to any other person who likes musical theatre and loves the film High School Musical. If the musical was going to be performed again in Edinburgh we would definitely go again. Go Wildcats! REVIEW: Oxford Imps'Oxford Imps'Fringe Programme : Page 81 Venue: Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14) Address : Bristo Square Reviewer : Muhammed **** First of all, I chose this show because when I read about it I liked the sound of it. I wanted to see it because I like comedy shows. The venue was a converted room at the University, set out like a small theatre to hold 50-100 people. They made up their show on the spot. The audience there were mostly adults and they reacted positively to the show and were keen to suggest ideas for the cast to use. I recommend everyone to see the show, on until the 27th of August. REVIEW: Babble'Babble'Fringe Programme : Page 173 Venue: The Green Room (Venue 274) Address : 37 Guthrie Street Reviewer : Kate and Grace * Babble was a monologue about a man who lived alone and devoted his life to his library until he let one idea take over his life. He was so obsessed with this idea that he ended up losing the woman he loved and lost all contact with almost any other humans. It was in The Green Room, which was a small attic room with a basic set. There was a black and white backdrop showing messy shelves of books. It was very effective. It was an interesting performance and the actor engaged with his audience - although that was the problem. We were the only two members of the audience. It was interesting but it was very uncomfortable being the only people there. We would not want to go and see the show again as we didn't really understand the plot and found it quite boring. REVIEW: Doctor Deepak's Midday Surgery'Doctor Deepak's Midday Surgery'Fringe Programme : Page 43 Venue: Laughing Horse@Linsay's (Venue 56) Address : Brunswick Street Reviewer : Kit and Matthew *** Doctor Deepak was our last Fringe show we went to see. It was about a GP with multiple personality disorder. When he put on his white coat he went from a kind, caring doctor to a crazy, angry, plastic surgeon telling everyone the secrets of the medical world. The show had clever humour, some of which was quite 'adult' but as it was quite difficult for younger ears to understand I think if you took your children you might get asked a few un-easy questions. I would rate this show 3 stars as it was amusing and clever but not the best show I've seen. REVIEW: Anthology07'Anthology 07'Fringe Programme : Page 28 Venue: The Green Room (Venue 274) Address : Guthrie Street Reviewer : Kit ** 'Anthology07' was a stand up comedian show. The show was meant to have 4 guests although there ended up bein only two. The comedians worked around this very well and made sure that people still got their money's worth. The main comedian leading the show was Andrew J. Lederer. He told various stories about his past and his views on things. His improvisation was second to none and he was very talented in audience involvement. For example, he picked up on the fact that I was working for the Festival Radio Project and wove this into his show at various points. He had a very busy schedule and had to rush from another show to this one, and then from this show to another one! I enjoyed the show and thought it was clever although it was far from amazing. I would recommend this show to anyone who enjoys light-hearted stand-up as the jokes weren't too complicated. I would rate it two stars because it wasn't awful but was far from the best I had seen. REVIEW: ?!?'?!?'Fringe Programme : Page 86 Venue: The Green Room (Venue 274) Address : 37 Guthrie Street Reviewer : Courtney *** I chose to go and see '?!?' because I read the summary on the Fringe website and thought it sounded different and interesting. It was a quiz with a twist - you got points for answering correctly but you also got them for providing witty or imaginative answers. Also, cheating was positively encouraged! I find it hard to put a genre to this show. it was funny, therefore a comedy, however it was unscripted so more of a conversation than a show. So, in true Edinburgh fashion I was left ever so slightly bewildered by the whole experience. The venue was the Green Room on Guthrie Street which is a new venue this year so I was also interested to see what it was like. We never saw the main performance rooms as "?!?" was held in the bar area. There were a lot of open debates among us "the 14 year olds" and the other people involved about the answers. This was a good thing as it made the quiz funnier and added yet another dimension to the whole thing. By the time we left we had acquired ourselves 2 cans of Red Bull and a garden gnome! I feel this would be an enjoyable hour for any family therefore I would definitely recommend this show to people of all ages and stages. REVIEW: Breakfast With The Bickersons'Breakfast With The Bickersons'Fringe Programme : Page 34 Venue: C SoCo Urban Garden (Venue 266) Address : 233 Cowgate Reviewer : Alastair and Michael **** 'Breakfast With The Bickersons' is a puppet comedy show which is aimed at all ages. It used to be a radio comedy show in the 1940s, following John and Blanche Bickerson during their marriage, their highs and lows. Now they have managed to create a more up-to-date version, which still has the same concept - following Blanche and John's divorce and seeing them always argue with each other. They have also included a few scenes to make the show informative and funny. We thought that the show was very funny and very cleverly done. They also interacted quite well with the audience and you could clearly understand what was going on. There weren't very many people in the audience, but the people who were there seemed to enjoy it just as much as we did. We would definitely recommend other people to come and see it, as it is a bit of harmless fun first thing in the morning. And the good thing is that you get a free breakfast! The show is suitable for all ages. The show was actually done in a tent, next to the C Theatre in Chambers Street. It is very well set up, and the venue had a nice atmosphere about it, which made for an enjoyable production. The show is on at the SoCo Urban Garden between the 3rd and 27th of August at 10.50am and 12.10pm every day. REVIEW: Shakespeare For Breakfast' Shakespeare For Breakfast'Fringe Programme : Page 223 Venue: C Venue (Venue 34) Address : Chambers Street Reviewer : Kit and Matthew ***** 'Shakespeare For Breakfast' is a hilarious spoof involving some of Shakespeare's greatest characters. Hamlet, Cleopatra, King Lear and more all have a place in this fun comedy. It is about the cast from a film about all of Shakespeare's works but the actors are the characters they portray. They are flying to the premiere of the film when Puck (who's scenes have all been deleted) causes their plane to crash on an island and uses the situation to get his revenge. She then causes all the characters to fall into embarrassing situations and succeeds in creating chaos until she promises to be King Lear's lover if he can defeat Macbeth. She is sure he will prevail but he wins by fighting dirty and she is forced to be his. The comedy is cleverly crafted and engagingly told. With at least a laugh a minute it is well worth getting up early for this five star show. REVIEW: Just So Ever Slightly'Just So Ever Slightly'Fringe Programme : Page 64 Venue: Diverse Attractions (Venue 11) Address : Riddles Court, 322 Lawnmarket Reviewer : Lindsay *** and a half I picked it because it looked good and I knew some people who were doing it. It was a sketch comedy which was written and directed by two talented 6th years. It was in diverse attraction which is a venue which tries to give help to local amateur performers and enable them to perform in a good atmosphere. The play consisted of two young men, who were good comedians, playing many different characters in many different, often weird situation. There was some characters who kept appearing and some who just appeared once. The jokes were rather repetitive but if you have an immature sense of humour it was quite funny. I think this play is mainly suitable for people from the ages of 14 to 21, or with a sense of humour in that age range. Some older members of the audience left by the end as I think they found it repetitive. About half way through the show you were in hysterics but by the end you were getting a bit bored. On the whole it was funny and an hour well spent. REVIEW: The Butler Did It!?'The Butler Did It!?'Fringe Programme : Page 178 Venue: Roman Eagle Lodge (Venue 21) Address : Johnston Terrace Reviewers : Holly and Helen **** The Butler did it?! is a murder mystery theatre production by Afternoon delight theatre company. We picked this show because it did not sound like a usual production. The venue was different; as you had to go upstairs we had to wait a while as well. In the play a story was told of a wealthy man his daughter, sister, brother, nephews, a French woman, American actor and the butler. The wealthy man could not decide who to give his fortunes to. He pretended to die and whoever loved him the most would get his money. As the story began to unravel many secrets came out. With a song at the end it was a brilliant show. The audience seemed to enjoy it. It was a show fit for all the family. Try to get there early as seats fill up fast. The audience had a good reaction to the performance and it was fun for all. We would recommend this to anyone up for a laugh. REVIEW: In Hysterics'In Hysterics'Fringe Programme : Page 198 Venue: Underbelly (Venue 61) Address : 56 Cowgate Reviewer : Lindsay **** and a half I chose to go and see In Hysterics because I thought it sounded like a crazy plot line, how can something about a wandering womb not be interesting? It was a theatre piece which advertised itself as a comedy but though it was funny at points, there were some serious themes explored. It was in the Underbelly, which is a nice location for quite intimate performances. The play consisted of one woman, who was a fantastic actress, acting a woman who didn't really know where her life was going. This woman had lots of weird dreams and soon her womb had run away. She spent the play trying to think of ways of finding it, while giving the audience a fantastic insight into her life. Through stories, and acting many characters (which she got away with because she was slightly crazy) she enabled us to look at life from a completely different point of view, but by the end you started to see that maybe her life wasn’t so different from your own. I think this play would be great for teenagers as it is a coming of age play of sorts. Teenagers worry on a daily basis about many of the issues that the character in this play is dealing with, minus of course the missing womb. There were not that many people in the audience which is a real shame because I think many people would find that this play was an hour well spent. This was a brilliantly acted, weird, but strangly compelling piece of theatre. By mixing real laugh out loud moments and serious issues this directing student has produced a superb piece. REVIEW: Miracles'Miracles'Fringe Programme : Page 208 Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30) Address : The Netherbow, 43-45 High Street Reviewer : Heather ***** This show is a truly fantastic, thought provoking, mind-bending, 'discombobulating' experience. From start to finish the young people delve into our conscience minds exploring our understandings and beliefs (or not) of life, nature, spirituality and happiness. The performance left you with much philosophical conversation to be had. A definite must see!!! REVIEW: Odd & Abandoned'Odd & Abandoned'Fringe Programme : Page 212 Venue: Pleasance Dome (Venue 23) Address : 1 Bristo Square Reviewer : Grace and Kate ***** "Odd & Abandoned" is a fantastic piece of theatre that explores lots of different techniques. The plot is simple but very interesting and unusual. Three women who live in a basement of a house and do not ventures outside are forced to leave when there is an unexpected arrival of a pair of shoes. There is audience participation, puppets, singing, great use of lighting and everything else you could want. It was in the Pleasance Joker Dome, which was perfect; it was dark and quite mysterious. The seating was a variety of different chairs arranged around the theatre space. There was a variety of people in the audience who all seemed to throughly enjoy the show. Near the beginning the actresses came and examined a selection of people's shoes, which added an interesting twist to the performance. Also when the characters were sitting down to tea the asked a member of the audience to pour them some tea and a teapot was found under their seat. REVIEW: Doctor Deepak's Midday Surgery'Doctor Deepak's Midday Surgery'Fringe Programme : Page 43 Venue: Laughing Horse @ Linsays (Venue 56) Address : Brunswick Street Reviewer : Courtney * I didn't choose to go to see this show, but I thought it sounded like it could be funny so went along anyway. "Doctor Deepak" was a comedy sketch show about a guy who apparently had an adverse reaction to putting on a doctor's white coat. It made him take on another personality, a more extrovert and supposedly funny personality. The show was held in an upstairs bar on Brunswick Street, it was quite small and dark with far too many seats put out for the amount of people who actually came. I think I didn't find it that funny because every joke was of an "adult nature" and I feel the theme was overused, this was not mentioned in any summary I read before going to see it. I don't think I was alone in thinking this as the other four people who came only seemed managed a titter at each joke. I would recommend this show to very easily entertained people who don’t have anything better to do. I would only consider going again if I knew "Doctor Deepak" had changed his show quite a lot. All in all I would give this show a 1/5 =] REVIEW: Rose Gets Shot'Rose Gets Shot'Fringe Programme : Page 221 Venue: C SoCo (Venue 348) Address : Cowgate Reviewer : Courtney *** "Rose Gets Shot" is a theatre production that I chose to see because it was on at the time I needed to go really. I didn’t know much about the show before going to see it, I had just read the summary on the fringe website. The venue was Studio 1 of The C SoCo (aka Adam House). Once inside the room was quite small and dark with rows of chairs on three sides. When you entered the room some actors were wandering around to an eerie murder mystery type soundtrack, once all of the small audience had taken their seats the show began. It was set in a brothel and the play revolved around the disappearance of the boss, Rose. She had received a letter with the words "Rose Gets Shot" in different sized letters, Rose phoned the police to inform them that she was being threatened and the advised her to come down to the station. She never arrived. The rest of the play was made up of a long investigation that at some points seemed to drag or be going nowhere though, in the end all things were solved. I found the set and costume design quite interesting as everything was black and white including the characters hair. Also I felt that they utilised the space very well using big black boards on wheels to create the feeling of different scenes. I wouldn't bother going to see the show again as would find it boring to know all the climaxes, but I would recommend all over 14 to go and see it. "Rose Gets Shot" was a lot darker than the summary led me to believe, nevertheless it was a good show that entertained me and held my attention most of the time. REVIEW: The Diary of Anne Frank'The Diary of Anne Frank'Fringe Programme : Page 185 Venue: Venue 27@ MacDonald Hotel, Holyrood (Venue 27) Address : 81 Holyrood Road Reviewers : Holly and Helen **** Holly and I picked this show because it is a real life story and have both read about it. This is a theatre play preformed by a group that has been acting to together for five years and first preformed at their school. The Venue was very nice and welcoming, as soon as we walked in we were told exactly where to go and beside where the usher was a small snack bar. Anne Frank is set in World War II and is basically about a girl who is Jewish along with the rest of her family, Otto her dad, Margo her older sister and Edith her mum. Hitler is taking over which forces them in to hiding with the Van Dans. They have hardly any food but with the help of Meip and Mr Krawler they last for two years in an office attic. Once they were found out and sent to concentration camps Otto was the only survivor went back to the attic and was talking to Meip about leaving when she shows him the dairy that when the lay starts it as you reading it. The Audience seemed to really take it all in how serious it was there was a mixture of all ages.
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