Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Writer: Lesley Wilson Director: Jordan Blackwood Reviewer: Tom Ralph Plays about PTSD are hardly a rarity, even if the chances of finding one at an army run venue might seem low. However, it’s not just the choice of venue that makes Wired stand out, it’s the  approach it takes and the compelling central character that lift it above other plays ...

Writer: Elinor Cook Director: James Grieve Reviewer: John Kennedy Elinor Cook’s life-affirming, celebratory love-letter to childhood innocence, inseparable friendship, parental break-ups, adolescent angst and amazement, not least, teenage clumsy fag and bike-shed fumbling are the stepping-stones of Lorna and Grace’s lives. The play’s title has teasing ambiguities. Out of their love, any later nuance of gay affection, seems almost trivial, ...

Writer: Monsay Whitney Director: Stef O’Driscoll Reviewer: John Kennedy Writer/protagonist, Monsay Whitney, is Marnie. In tandem with Avi Simmons as multi-flexible-role, foil punch-bag facilitator, she catalogues her descent in to the, “Chaos that follows us everywhere”. Her catastrophic narrative is a monologue of mayhem punctuated with eviscerating emotional shrapnel. It’s a given that the toxic fallout of her appalling choice ...

Writer: The Company Director: Sam Hardie and Lucas Button Reviewer: Tom Ralphs Madness’ Our House plays in the background, while two people create a Happy 70th Birthday banner, and another two decorate the house and anticipate the arrival of birthday boy Alan. It’s a light, entertaining opening to a play that then takes a darker turn and continues down that ...

Reviewer: David Doyle For many years Antler Theatre have been one of the most interesting companies producing work at the Edinburgh Fringe. Their unique style has won them critical praise and is wonderfully exemplified in Lands, which may just be their most engaging work to date. Two friends together in a room, one making jigsaws, the other bouncing on a trampoline, is ...

Reviewer: David Doyle Set in 2045, at the end of a period of conflict, Second Copy: 2045 is a look at art in the wake of conflict and the death of artists. Given the current world climate, it is a premise that has real potential but unfortunately none of that is realised in this disappointing production. Much of the piece ...

Reviewer: David Doyle 2Magpies have never been afraid to create work that challenges its audience. In 2015 in the café at Summerhall they performed The Litvinenko Project, a striking look at the death of Alexander Litvinenko, and this year they’ve returned to Summerhall with a new show exploring Guantanamo Bay. In the basement of the building, we’re invited on holiday ...

Writer: Devised by the company Reviewer: Chloe St George Though this might be your first mute-man-in-a-corset-with-a-compact-umbrella of the Fringe so far, his awkward fumblings, trying to please and wondering how to hold himself, are instantly familiar. This is where Whalebone excels: presenting recognisable situations in an original format. As far as originality goes, the words ‘narrated by a talking vagina’ ...