Written and performed by: Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas (Bert and Nasi for short) make an endearing double act. They start the evening sitting at a plain, practical, wooden table facing the audience as if they’re about to interview us for a job, and in a riffing, collaborative fashion they tell us about the show we’re about to see. As their scramble to prepare us for what we’re about to witness sprawls out, it becomes clear that what at first appears to be an introductory preamble is in fact the show itself. The inner workings…
Author: The Reviews Hub - Brighton
Written by Joe Henry-Evans Life in 1980s Salford wasn’t easy, but Linda Bramwell (Joe Henry-Evans) and Helen Gasgoine (John Thacker) have each other to help them navigate marriage breakdown, community tension, and homosexuality during the AIDS crisis. Natter, written by Henry-Evans, brings a comedic and light-hearted look at life in the 80s to this year’s Brighton Fringe offering insight into the reality of the lives of two old women, underscored by television theme tunes of the era, navigating difficult conversations while avoiding overly emotional tropes. Henry-Evans’ quick wit and expressive reactions bring Linda to life and energy to the show.…
Written and performed by: In Bed With My Brother The story of revered proto punk outsiders The Shaggs is well known. Their controlling father forced them into becoming a band after having it foretold by a palm reader, despite their lack of aptitude for their instruments and knowledge of the wider world of music. Envelope-pushing theatre company In Bed With My Brother dig under the surface of this story to consider the impact this lifestyle would have had on the three sisters and how the death of their father must have affected them. It’s a self-conscious barrage of a show…
The SpeigelGardens on a Saturday night feel like the last days of Rome, with boozed-up football fans representing the Barbarians at the gates. There is a wild atmosphere of anything being possible, so long as it’s awful. Offering a different sense of possibility is the wonderful C’est Magnifique, taking place in the gorgeously proportioned tent of the WundaBarn – though we all need to squeeze along the benches tonight, as word-of-mouth has made this love letter to classic cabaret a must-see, sold-out smash. For those trying to get into the Gardens for shows, rather than just to get smashed, a…
Imagine this scenario. You’re a clown in early-medieval south of France, and you’re about to make fun of everything and everyone. Before you start, it’s important to draw a circle of chalk around you – as symbolic (and, hopefully, actual) protection from accusations of heresy. The magic of Enrico Touché’s show, one taking in mime, clowning, and joyous slapstick, is that it extends this circle around the entire venue, and welcomes the audience to join him in casting off the shackles of self-consciousness to access one’s inner stupid. In Hot Knees, self-styled “international man of business” Touché cuts a beautifully…
What would you do if something you loved disappeared down the loo? An important and highly serious question, answered by Split Hairs Theatre in the return of their hit show, SQUELCH!. It could be said that there is no better topic for a family-friendly show. With resplendently sloppy wet fart noises, and a monster made entirely from toilet paper, it’s understandable why the children watching are having a rip-roaring time. And they aren’t the only ones. In this storyline, a goldfish is the unfortunate soul flushed down the pan by one of a pair of warring brothers, played by Connor…
Spread over five hours, Fevered Sleep’s experimental theatre piece Time Keeps The Drummer explores the subjectivity and elasticity of time via the unflappable improvisational skills of twelve children and one adult drummer. It’s a bold marathon of a show that puts its money where its mouth is in terms of following through with a concept. To truly explore the concept of time you need to feel it passing and it’s surprising how easily the hours drift by. There’s a relaxed atmosphere to the show. We’re told that we can come and go as we wish over the duration and there…
Caravanserai is back at Brighton Fringe after a few years absent, and in spite of the efforts of the lovely staff, there are some issues. In a tight, fenced-off site to the north of St Peter’s Church, liberally peppered by wacky objects and post-apocalyptic buses, people come here to party and to get wasted – it feels more like a festival site than a fringe venue. There’s an issue with the noise bleed from the DJs into the tent where the artists perform, giving the unfortunate impression that the shows are an afterthought to the important game of getting people…