What I saw in Edinburgh 2011…
A bit of a late post, but I recently came across my collection of tickets for this year’s Edinburgh fringe, the world’s largest arts festivel. Now, due to not being well and one thing or the other, I didn’t see nearly as much as I would like to; we must fix that next year.
I’ve also forgotten what else I’ve seen; if anybody who was there can remind me, I was probably drunk at the time!
In no particular order with marks out of 5*.:
The Axis of Awesome These guys are cool; seriously, very cool, they deconstruct modern music in a very funny way. However, most of their material, even their fake ad libs, was precisely the same as I saw last year down to the geeky pauses. I did enjoy hearing the songs, but to be honest, I got nothing new from seeing them again. If you haven’t heard the four chord song, this is worth five minutes of your time. http://youtu.be/5pidokakU4I. ***
Thirty Two Teeth, Jam Jar Productions. I took a risk on this as a last minute freebie. Thirty Two Teeth was a script based on the, admittedly novel, idea that by capturing the tooth fairy, you could do whatever you wanted, as long as you gave her enough teeth. It is, as far as I know, the only play to touch on dentistry, and fairy bondage, using the conveniently located chain on stage. The acting was very school-play intense, and I think the actors were thoroughly bored with what was a good idea for a ten minute piece of writing, but did not captivate me for more than about 15, leaving the other 45 to wonder whether I would have preferred a trip to the dentist. *
A tribute to the Blues Brothers- Live, Hartshorn and Hook. I have seen this company do some amazing things; unfortunately this wasn’t one of them. The band were phenomenal, particularly the hot trumpeter, but, oh dear, the singing was karaoke tastic. I think if you were in the mood (i.e. a little tipsy) then this would have been a great 11pm show; unfortunately I wasn’t, and it was actually annoying to have one third of the audience dancing in the aisles while the other two thirds looked slightly uncomfortable. The frequent trips of the choorus through the audience made me feel it was a bit like Blues Brothers: The Panto, which is an awesome idea, but not what was sold. **1/2
Armageddapocalypse: The Explosioning, Exploding First Productions. I enojoyed this show; there were some great puns, one liners, and performances, with some great acting from the overworked cast. The shoestring production nature made a lot of it funnier; the script could have done with a bit more of a polish, the best lines were very good, the rest unremarkable, but overall enjoyable and fresh. ****
Sunday in the Park With George, One Academy Productions. Wow. I have been to the fringe 10 times, and I think this is the best thing I have ever seen. Admittedly, I do like Sonddheim, so I had high hopes, but the singing was beautiful, the musicians perfect, staging immaculate, artistic design exquisite, and what’s more it wasn’t jsut a collection of songs; these kids can act. For no reason particularly, I cried through most of the second half, and loved every minute of it.. *****
Showstoppers, The Improvised Musical . I normally hate impro shows; I mean I love them, but I’d rather do them than watch, because once you’e done a bit, it becomes technical appreciation rather than usually genuinely funny. But once again, these guys seem to have all the impro skills, the musical skills, and are also genuinely funny and talented, the last being what a lot of impro misses. The format is superb as well: having a director able to intervene, give fourth-wall breaking penalties, and move the story along helps in those times where, inevitably, things go down the wrong road. I regret only seeing this once, but it could never be the same again. ****
Originally published at Ben Parker's Blog. You can comment here or there.