I have a backlog of shows to review. I am sure that the companies are desperately waiting to hear from me. Welcome to the beginning of the final week of the fringe. Here are a few of my greatest hits.
Bangers
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Even though the show is on in the afternoon, it has a late-night atmosphere. It has a DJ and is a story about how music lifts the soul beyond the mundane. Two different young people approach a crisis moment in their lives. A music teacher connects them as one is struggling with abuse and betrayed trust, the other struggles in the shadow of a departed parent and competing ambitions. Existing in the world of clubbing and garage music, it follows the structure of an album. It has a predictable resolution, is performed with passion and verve, gives voice to lives not seen on the stage. The use of a DJ is a kind of narrator lends Bangers urgency and originality and the characters have depth. The appeal is in the fusion of music and theatre.
Slash
Red Lecture Theatre, , Summerhall
A series of sketches that riff on fan fiction and feminist theory, this two-hander is funny cabaret meets academic treatise. Illustrated with the erotic adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the women from Archie comics, Byron and Shelley, and various other favourites of this underground genre, the production takes a sideways glance at female desire. Simultaneously intelligent and playful, it goes beyond its promise to investigate contradictory and complex expressions of longing.
And then the Rodeo burnt down
The Space@Niddry Street
A triumphant return to the fringe for two clowns dressed up cowboys. It begins with the story of a rodeo clown who wants to make his way up to become a star performer, throws in a mysterious shadow who challenges their assumptions and an arrogant cowboy who abuses his authority. The scenes are played with consummate physical skill, suggesting the Rodeo is a metaphor for… Something else. A sudden twist, and the play comes meta- theatrical. The beauty of such an abstract production that is willing to be cheeky and humorous makes this a particular fringe treat.
Electra
Riddles Court
A poetic script reconsiders a myth which was the subject of works by all three of the classic Athenian playwrights. The ensemble use dance to illustrate the emotional themes of the work and discover that naturalistic acting rings out the familiar conflict that sits at the heart of this important fragment of the mythic cycle. A fine example of the work at the fringe allows: minimal scenery, a cast working hard together and a straightforward approach to the tragic tradition.
Fishbowl
Summerhall
The performers move between multiple roles to consider how dementia changes personality. Based on work with emissions and patients, it cannot help but be moving as the degeneration of consciousness leads its victims towards death. With insights from doctors, nurses and activists, the production is content to reveal the symptoms and hints at ways of coping, but it is the idiosyncrasy of the patients that lend Fishbowl an eccentric charm.
Society for a New Cuisine
Underbelly
Representing the classic fringe tradition, the monologue, this society is strangely recognisable and satisfyingly strange. Reflections on relationships give way to the protagonist’s involvement with the titular organisation: the oddness of their interest and policies gradually reveals something more horrific and sinister. Well written, suitably mysterious and performed with precision, Society has a cold heart that chills through an attention to detail.