Category Archives: Comedy

Review of the Year 2025 – The Fifteenth Annual Chrisparkle Awards

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Greetings again, gentle reader, to the glamorous showbiz highlight of the year, the announcement of the annual Chrisparkle Awards for 2025. Slightly fewer shows seen this year – 230, twenty-four down on last year’s 254 productions; I hope that’s not a sign that I’m slowing down! Eligibility for the awards means a) they were performed in the UK and b) I have to have seen the shows and reviewed them in the period 5th January 2025 to 4th January 2026. Are you all sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin!

 

The first award is for Best Dance Production (Contemporary and Classical)

This includes dance seen at the Edinburgh Fringe, which is just as well, as I only saw two dance productions this year, and they are:

In 2nd place, Matthew Bourne’s charming but undemanding The Midnight Bell, at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton, in July.

In 1st place, Saeed Hani’s challenging and emotional Inlet, performed by Hani Dance at Dance Base, Edinburgh, in August.

 

Classical Music Concert of the Year.

Again we only saw two classical concerts this year, both by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton. The award for the best goes to their Valentine’s Day Gala in February.

 

Best Entertainment Show of the Year.

This means anything that doesn’t fall into any other categories – for example pantos, circuses, revues and anything else hard to classify. Here are the top three:

In 3rd place, our local pantomime, The All New Adventures of Peter Pan at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, in December.

In 2nd place, the spectacular extravaganza that is Sleeping Beauty at the London Palladium in December.

In 1st place, the home of great panto, Aladdin at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, in January 2026.

 

Best Star Standup of the Year.

Only four eligible shows this year, so here are the top three performances by Star Standups in 2025:

In 3rd place, Eshaan Akbar in his I Can’t Get No Satisfakshaan show at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in February.

In 2nd place, Kae Kurd in his What’s O’Kurd show at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in October.

In 1st place, Dara O’Briain in his Re: Creation show at the Corn Exchange, Bedford in April.

 

Best Comedy Crate/Screaming Blue Murder Standup of the Year

It just so happens that all the top five were from Comedy Crate shows!

In 5th place, Jordan Gray (at the Charles Bradlaugh in February)

In 4th place, Charlie Baker (Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

In 3rd place, Hal Cruttenden (at the Charles Bradlaugh in January and at the Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

In 2nd place, Mike Rice (at the Charles Bradlaugh in May)

In 1st place, Thor Stenhaug (Edinburgh Preview Weekender in July)

 

Best Musical

I only saw nine musicals this year, and here’s the top five:

In 5th place, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in May.

In 4th place, The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 3rd place, the post-West End touring production of Dear Evan Hansen at Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton, in January.

In 2nd place, a curiosity-driven revisit to see Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 1st place, Evita, at the London Palladium, in July.

 

Best New Play

Just to clarify, this is my definition of a new play, which is something that’s new to me and to most of its audience – so it might have been around before but on its first UK tour, or a new adaptation of a work originally in another format. We saw seventeen new plays this year, and I awarded five stars to five of them; it therefore follows that they are the top five!

In 5th place, Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About Spies, at the Noel Coward Theatre, London, in May.

In 4th place, Tom Wells’ adaptation for the RSC of Roald Dahl’s The BFG, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 3rd place, Karim Khan’s inventive and insightful Before the Millennium, at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, in December.

In 2nd place, James Ijames’ delightful reworking of Hamlet, Fat Ham for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in August.

In 1st place, James Graham’s outstanding Punch at the Young Vic, London, in April.

 

Best Revival of a Play

I saw twenty-four revivals, with six receiving five stars from me; here are the top five:

In 5th place, the RSC’s two-part production of Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga, adapted by Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 4th place, the RSC’s brave and thrilling production of Marlowe’s Edward II, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in March.

In 3rd place, Ivo van Hove’s riveting production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in December.

In 2nd place, the RSC’s superbly imaginative production of Hamlet, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in February.

In 1st place, James Graham’s extraordinary exploration of England – both the team and the country – in Dear England, for the National Theatre at the Olivier Theatre, London, in April.

 

As always, in the post-Christmas season, it’s time to consider the turkey of the year – and it’s a toss-up between the six productions to whom I only gave two stars; but the one I feel failed to deliver when it had the most potential to succeed was Unicorn at the Garrick Theatre, London, in March.

Now we come on to our four categories specifically for the Edinburgh Fringe. The first is:

 

Best play or musical – Edinburgh

We saw 106 productions of plays and musicals in Edinburgh this year, 18 of them got 5* from me, and here are the top 5:

In 5th place, Louisa Marshall’s savage and innovative exploration of weaponised incompetence, Clean Slate (Summerhall)

In 4th place, Dylan Kaueper and Will Grice’s wickedly inventive examination of childhood friendship, Cody and Beau (The Space on the Mile)

In 3rd place, Tony Norman’s beautiful musical about the Van Gogh brothers, Vagabond Skies (Gilded Balloon at the Museum)

In 2nd place, Priyanka Shetty’s shattering reconstruction of the rise of the Alt Right, #CHARLOTTESVILLE (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 1st place, creating satire where you might think it’s beyond satire, Miss Brexit (Underbelly Bristo Square)

 

Best Individual Performance in a Play or Musical – Edinburgh

As always, an impossible choice, and it’s as close as close can be. Nevertheless, here are the top five (and yes I am cheating for 5th place):

In 5th place, Dylan Kaueper and Will Grice for Cody and Beau (The Space on the Mile)

In 4th place, Priyanka Shetty for #CHARLOTTESVILLE (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 3rd place, Louisa Marshall for Clean Slate (Summerhall)

In 2nd place, Quaz Degraft for In The Black (The Space at Surgeons’ Hall)

In 1st place, Christoffer Hvidberg Ronje for The Insider (Pleasance Dome)

 

Best Comedy Performance – Edinburgh

We saw forty-one comedy shows this year, of which eight received 5* from me, and here are my top five:

In 5th place, Matt Forde: Defying Calamity (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 4th place, Sam Lake: You’re Joking, Not Another One! (Monkey Barrel at the Tron)

In 3rd place, Robin Grainger: People Pleaser (The Stand Comedy Club 4)

In 2nd place, Tom Stade: Naughty by Nature (The Stand Comedy Club 1)

In 1st place, Casey Filips as the impossible Tobias Finlay-Fraser in Virtuoso (Assembly George Square)

 

Best of the rest – Edinburgh

From a shortlist of seven, here are my top five:

In 5th place, mixing a real live date with comedy improvisation, Looking for Laughs (Gilded Balloon Patter House)

In 4th place, the irrepressible Accordion Ryan with his Pop Bangers (Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower)

In 3rd place, Broadway’s Laura Benanti in Nobody Cares (Underbelly Bristo Square)

In 2nd place, Chase Brantley’s truly hilarious Don Toberman: Ping Pong Champ (Pleasance Courtyard)

In 1st place, a star is born: Arthur Hull’s FLOP: The Best Songs from the Worst Musicals Ever Written (Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower)

Three shows received a dreaded One Star review from me: and for me the Edinburgh turkey of the year was The Fiascoholics’ 4’s a Crowd, which contained just too much of everything it didn’t need.

 

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Musical

Time to get personal. Here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Alice Fearn as Heidi in Dear Evan Hansen at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in January.

In 4th place, Lucie Jones as Fantine in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Sharon Rose as Garage Girl and Kate in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in May.

In 2nd place, Frances Mayli McCann as Daisy in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 1st place, Rachel Zegler as Evita in Evita at the London Palladium in July.

 

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical

Here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

In 4th place, Luke Kempner as Thenardier in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Ian McIntosh as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre, London, in February.

In 2nd place, Diego Andres Rodriguez as Che in Evita at the London Palladium, in July.

In 1st place, Jamie Muscato as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, in April.

 

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play

Nineteen in the longlist, and ten in the shortlist, and here’s the top five:

In 5th place, Freema Ageyman as Beatrice in the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in April.

In 4th place, Gina McKee as Annie in The Years, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in April.

In 3rd place, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Kate in All My Sons, at Wyndham’s Theatre, London, in December.

In 2nd place, Beverley Knight as Rosetta in Marie and Rosetta, at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in July.

In 1st place, Tuppence Middleton as Annie in The Years, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in April.

 

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Play

Twenty-three in the longlist and nine in the shortlist, each of whom could easily deserve the award, However, here is the top five:

In 5th place, Daniel Evans as Edward II in the RSC’s Edward II, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in March.

In 4th place, Jonathan Bailey as Richard II in Richard II, at the Bridge Theatre, London, in February.

In 3rd place, Olise Odele as Juicy in the RSC’s Fat Ham, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in August.

In 2nd place, Joseph Millson as Soames in the RSC’s Forsyte Saga, at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in December.

In 1st place, David Shields as Jacob in Punch, at the Young Vic, London, in April.

 

Congratulations to the winners – special mention this year for James Graham whose Punch and Dear England feature so highly – commiserations to the losers and thanks for your company again throughout the year, gentle reader. Here’s to another year full of artistic excellence!

Review – Screaming Blue Murder, Underground at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 25th October 2025

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It’s so great to see Screaming Blue Murder back in rude health in the Underground where it belongs. Sold out too – always rewarding when the start is slightly delayed by staff having to bring in extra chairs. Our genial host Dan Evans was on tippety-top form as he negotiated the slings and arrows of twins Laura and Henry’s joint 40th birthday party outing, with a considerable number of the audience vocally in support of the uninhibited pair. If that wasn’t enough, another lady on the front row said she had a dream about Dan the night before and – let’s just say – he had proved himself to be all man. Well. If that isn’t sexual harassment in the workplace, I don’t know what is. Dan spent most of the show avoiding her gaze or quietly smug about his sexual expertise.

Our first act, new to Northampton but not to us, was Abigoliah Schamaun, someone we’ve seen many times at the Edinburgh Fringe and who always brings a gutsy kick up any proceedings. Ohio’s loss is London’s gain, as Abigoliah gave us her impressions on how an American survives in the UK, including our (apparent) obsession with butter in a sandwich – I mean, it’s what butter was made for, honestly – how sexy an English accent is, and how to deal with fellow Americans on a long train journey. Her comedy is intelligent, relatable, and delightfully teasing. A fantastic start to the evening.

Next up was Toussaint Douglass, who had a great Edinburgh Fringe this year with his Accessible Pigeon Material; successful no doubt because he tried it out at Northampton’s Comedy Crate earlier this summer. No pigeon on Saturday night, just his incredibly funny and recognisable content about being in a relationship for eight years, having an 87-year-old flatmate (his Grandma) and the reasons for his personal ambition to die alone. He has a marvellously disarming style; very engaging and confiding, almost physically cosying up to the audience to get across his comic gems. His beautifully delivered final jokes, about how his bedroom activity can be likened to a football manager, provided the best laughs of the night.

Our headliner was Tony Law, someone who you either “get” or you don’t, and in the past I’ve found that I usually don’t get his surreal and otherworldly humour. But on this occasion, he knocked it out of the park. Brilliant use of props for completely throwaway purposes, and a hilarious use of accents, including a damn fine stab at the bizarre Northampton accent which is like a cross between Cockney and Brummie. His rapport with the audience was exceptional, and we were laughing about his act all the way home.

That was the last Screaming Blue for 2025 but there are already four gigs in 2026 on sale. Can’t wait!

Review/Preview – Christian Dart: Gumshoe! Soho Theatre Dean Street London, 7 – 8 November 2025

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GumshoeChristian Dart brings his smash hit Edinburgh show Gumshoe to the Soho Theatre in Dean Street London for two nights in November. It’s a clever mash-up of a Philip Marlowe/Raymond Chandler 1940s New York private detective hero (for want of a better word) with contemporary improv, as a member of the audience provides Christian with the bare facts of what will be his final case to solve. As a result, no two shows are ever the same, which means you never have to confine yourself to just one performance.

Christian DartHis improv skills are second-to-none – he is a member of the comedy group The Bad Clowns – and he manages to create a proper story that genuinely holds water from just fragments of ideas. No spoilers, but expect a lot of gun shooting and twirling, sassy dames, dead colleagues, a real live jewel theft, and even a bit of song and dance. I can only assume Mr Dart has a very high dry-cleaning bill.

C DartThe show makes excellent use of a complex and technically demanding sequence of sound cues which constantly keep the audience (as well as Christian) on their toes. It’s very high on energy, and if you sit in the front row you may well get involved in some of the plot – but it’s always funny and never humiliating or stressful!

The name's GumshoeUnpredictable, frenetic (but in a good way) and exhilarating, this is the kind of show you have to throw yourself wholeheartedly into – the more you put in, the more you get out. You’ll even find out whodunit in the end – although this is definitely a case of the journey being more important than the conclusion! Madcap, racy and pacy, and incredibly good-humoured, this is an hour of enormous fun and impressive imagination. Highly recommended!

Production photos by Johanna Dart Design & Photography

4-starsFour He’s a Jolly Good Fellow!

You can get tickets to see the show at the Soho Theatre here.

Review – Kae Kurd, What’s O’Kurd, Underground at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 17th October 2025

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It’s always exciting to go to a comedy gig and not have a clue about the comedians you’re going to see. Kae Kurd is a new name to me, so I thought I would give him a try and it turns out a large number of the comedy goers of Northampton felt the same! It was great to be part of a truly diverse audience too; all ages, all ethnicities coming together for an evening of fun. More of this please.

But first – Kae Kurd’s support act, the friendly face of Muhsin Yesilada, again new to me, but a perfect choice to start the evening with a swing. Engaging, building a confident rapport with the crowd, he delivered his material in a relaxed and surefooted style, giving every comic observation the time and space it needed to land. He has some excellent sequences concerning dealing with his horrible nephew, and that delicious pleasure you can take when an irritating child doesn’t get everything their own way. When he gently teased some latecomers, who protested their lateness because outside they’d just met Kae Kurd, his instant response was “Me too!” A very enjoyable opening act.

After the interval we welcomed Kae Kurd, another engaging stage presence with a very effective delivery style. He presents his act in quite a static way and comes across as perhaps surprisingly low energy; but his tone is unpredictable, and his material is precise, hard-hitting and frequently goes where angels fear to tread. In a deft way of getting to know the audience – and us getting to know each other – he asks for a cheer if you’re in your 20s, then your 30s, your 40s and 50s. This allows him to chat to random people in those age brackets, voicing his opinions and observations about what people are like as they get older. I had to stay silent, as I presume he has no idea there were 60+ year olds there!

He unashamedly hates (strong word, but bear with me) people in their 20s, for all their modern hang-ups and idiosyncrasies. Being somewhere in his 30s himself, that makes him fit nicely into a niche comedic role of grumpy young man. His observations are telling and funny and remarkably true. Other comedy gems of the night included an account of his time in Zambia avoiding crocodiles and hippos, an exploration of whether Donald Trump would get on with choices of pronouns and how it’s easier to be right wing than left wing. I also loved his imagining how he’d get on talking about mental health issues to his father who fought against Saddam Hussein.

He is very quick witted on stage, with a great ability to remember facts about the audience members which he uses to excellent callback effect. It’s intelligent, thought-provoking comedy that’s always relatable, and I’ll definitely follow his career with interest!

 

Review – The Comedy Crate presents British Comedian of the Year Northampton Heat, Cheyne Walk Club, Northampton, 18th September 2025

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The British Comedian of the Year contest is always an exciting event and it’s a privilege that one of the heats is held in Northampton, courtesy of those nice people at The Comedy Crate. This year in the hallowed chambers of the Cheyne Walk Club, nine hopefuls girded their loins with the prospect of being one of two acts chosen by the audience to progress to the next round.

Introduced by the upbeat and ebullient Ian Hayes, the nine acts were broken into chunks of three, with an interval between acts three and four, and between six and seven. After the final act had performed there was an online vote (oooh) and everyone could choose their two favourites.

First off was Sam Coade, who hit the ground running with some excellent routines and some quite off-beat and daring material. It’s impressive how he can carry a silence without concern – something many comedians rarely risk trying – and it worked well to build an understanding of his material. I loved the ambulance driver routine, and his throwaway icebreaker with the audience member on stage was audaciously hilarious.

Rob Coleman followed; we’d seen him once before at the Leicester Comedy Festival in 2018, and his material is still very much in the same vein – using his older looks, grumpy disposition and mad professor hair as a vehicle for convincing us he’s a sex symbol. It’s the comedy of irony, and you either like it or you don’t.

Before the first interval came Benny Shakes; and I’m sure that’s not his real surname. An imposing stage presence, he uses the fact that he has cerebral palsy to excellent comic effect, with an effective delivery, strong punchlines and some very nice callbacks. Very likeable and funny, he brought the first section of the night to a very happy conclusion.

Act number four was Dudley’s own Danny Clives, an unassuming, self-effacing stage presence and someone who uses a “one of life’s losers” persona, which is always risky but Danny nails it, with excellent timing and some clever material. He went down very well with the audience.

Next was Ryan Kenny, with probably the most surreal act of the night. Comic, poet and an element of clown thrown in, his set is very well crafted and executed, and very original, where he basically performs his material twice because he wasn’t happy with it the first time. There’s a lot of talent here; in my opinion, he just needs to make it funnier somehow. But it’s very inventive and entertaining, nonetheless.

Sarah Johnson came next, with some delightfully ribald material and some very funny observations about family life. I felt that she never quite hit her stride, but her description of menopausal symptoms and side effects gave rise to probably the best line of the night.

Our final cluster started with Norwegian Henning Nilsen, with some good material on what it’s like to be a Scandi abroad, why Norway is better than Sweden, and what would have happened if the Vikings had won. He has a solid delivery and confident style, and I think in time he will become a force to be reckoned with.

Our penultimate act, and someone we’ve seen a couple of times, was Peter Brush, another exponent of the “life loser” persona, but with expert, controlled delivery, and material that always ends with a powerful and very funny punchline. Perhaps his stories take a little too long to get to those punchlines, but they’re always worth the wait.

And finishing us off, so to speak, was Rik Goodman, who cuts a rather mysterious and aloof figure on stage, and who quietly builds his material up over the course of the act. Very nicely and subtly self-deprecating, and with very confident delivery, his content did seem rather fixated on penis size, which I think is something most of us can only take so far. Rather like with Mr Coleman earlier, this is something that either works for you or doesn’t.

Then came the voting! An easy to operate app simply asked for the audience’s top two acts – you didn’t have to nominate them in first or second place. And the results came through very quickly. In third place was Benny Shakes, and there was a tie for first place between Sam Coade and Danny Clives. Personally, I only voted for one of those three, but I feel it’s a very fair result; and good luck to Sam and Danny when they go on to fight again in the later stages of the competition!

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 – It’s a Wrap!

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And that’s another Fringe done and dusted! We arrived on 29th July and we left on the 26th August. During that time we saw 154 shows, which was four fewer than last year, with just one cancellation due to ill health on the part of the performer, and one sneaky extra booking when a slot became free – which turned out to be a 5 star show!

Here’s a quick reminder of the 4 and 5 star shows we saw, by star rating and in date order of when we saw them:

 

 

5 STARS:

Vagabond Skies

Do You Accept These Charges?

Virtuoso

Dead Air

Robin Grainger: People Pleaser

Don’t Tell Dad About Diana

Odds Are

Max Fulham: Full of Ham

Ah-Ma

Cody and Beau

Miss Brexit

Lady Macbeth Played Wing Defence

Accordion Ryan’s Pop Bangers

Clean Slate

FLUSH

Matt Forde: Defying Calamity

#CHARLOTTESVILLE

Girlz

Mr Jones

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares

Don Toberman: Ping Pong Champ

In The Black

Inlet

Arthur Hull’s FLOP

Sam Lake: You’re Joking, Not Another One!

Tom Stade: Naughty by Nature

Liam Withnail: Big Strong Boy

Refuse

The Insider

Hot Mess

4 STARS:

Lovett

Falling: A Disabled Love Story

Falling in Love with Mr Dellamort

MARIUPOL

Kate Owens: Cooking with Kathryn

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Howling at the Moon

Call Me Crazy

Chloe Petts: Big Naturals

Bloody Influencers

The Naked Neds

How to Win 5 Grand on the Internet

The City for Incurable Women

Courier

Will Owen: Looking Fab at 50

Three Can Keep a Secret

Homo (Sapien)

Brainsluts

Big Little Sister

Sauna Boy

Trust Me, I’m From Essex

Rachel Morton-Young: Dutch Courage

Some Masterchef Sh*t

Nick it for Munich

The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe

LEI – LDN

A Small Town Northern Tale

Alright Sunshine

Supermarket 86

NIUISA

God is Dead and I Killed Him

I Was a German

Motorhome Marilyn

Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America

Going

It’s Gonna Blow!

Ali Woods: Basher

Will You Be Praying the Entire Flight?

Cabin Fever

Windrush Secret

Saaniya Abbas: Hellarious

Ruaridh Miller: It’s Pronounced Ruaridh

Bury The Hatchet

Paul Savage: Hopes Under the Hammer

Help Me!

Stuart McPherson: Crisps and a Lie Down

Derby Day

VOTE: The Musical

Pauline Eyre: Anyone For Tennis

Down to the Felt

Alex Farrow: New Order

An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo

The Leeds Tealights: Never Not Forever

The Essence of Audrey

Aaron Wood: More to Life

Saria Callas

Looking for Laughs

The Truman Capote Talk Show

Managed Approach

Centre of the Universe

Paldem

Our Brothers in Cloth

Seating Plan

Amanda Hursy: Carted

Congratulations to all these great shows. Just as a cheeky comparison, I’ve awarded 4 stars to 17 fewer shows than last year – but there are also 3 more 5 star shows than last year. I did sadly have to award two 1 star shows, which is never something I do lightly, but I have to be honest. And as to working out which of them are the absolute best – you’ll have to wait until the Chrisparkle Awards for 2025 are announced in January!

Remember – reviews are only what one person thinks, they’re purely a personal reaction. And star ratings are even more unreliable!

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 Reviews – Our Brothers in Cloth, Well Behaved Women, Seating Plan and Amanda Hursy: Carted

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Our Brothers in Cloth, Assembly George Square Studios.4-starsWhen their drunken father walked out on the family, Alan saw it as his role to look after his younger brother Chris. In their tight-knit traditional community in Bunderr, County Wexford, the parish priest always plays a predominant role; and weren’t they excited when the new Father Mulvaney joined the parish! But so much can change over just nine years, and when Alan’s friend Mark briefly arrives from London, he tells him about something he once saw – which changes the lives of everyone involved. Poke the Bear’s production of Our Brothers in Cloth reveals the secrets that remain buried and examines how hard it is to believe that a respected member of the community could possibly have done unspeakable things. Smartly written by Ronan Colfer and based on a true story, the play keeps many twists up its sleeve and is constantly engrossing and believable. An excellent ensemble includes strong performances from Jake Douglas as Alan and Rosalind Stockwell as his mother Martina. Unsettling and disturbing, it exposes an uncomfortable truth that should never be forgotten. 4 stars.

Well Behaved Women, Gilded Balloon Patter House.Victorian England wasn’t a place for women to be taken seriously in any walk of life. However, brother and sister Fred and Hattie seem to share the responsibilities in their household, with a lady’s maid, Marianne, and a music teacher, Emma, ever present, making up the unconventional set-up. Hattie has an on-off relationship with another woman, and Marianne is trying to break into the world of journalism and cannot believe her luck when the Sunday Telegraph offer her a byline on article about salacious gossip and scandals. When cousin Chester comes to call, they are required to entertain him, and sensing there might be scandal here, they decide to hold a séance to find out if he killed his wife. However, the medium has the audacity to die at the last minute, so how can they go ahead with the séance? It’s an ambitious and original idea for a play, and writer Amy Yeo and director Hannah Rogerson have chosen to stage it as a very fast and frenetic farce. Unfortunately, despite a few interesting character insights, neither the writing nor the acting matches the plot, with too much shouting, unnecessary pratfalls, and lines delivered so rapidly that they remind you of the speed of the terms and conditions in a radio advert. With some calm and order injected into the production, the play could be developed into something more substantial and successful, but as it stands, this production was not for me. 2 stars.

Seating Plan, Gilded Balloon Patter House. 4-starsDavid and Mavis find themselves sitting next to each other at Will and Em’s 25th birthday party – as far away from the main table as they could have been placed. David seems an amenable type of chap, but Mavis is a proper nightmare, hurling out conversational challenges, spitting out wine across the table, and being a right nuisance. At the next party a year later, they’re still seated together, only this time David is as drunk as a lord and proves to be a total embarrassment. Are they destined to continually meet each other year in year out at their friends’ parties, and will anything develop between them, or will they keep up their sequence of constant lies? Izzy Radford’s Seating Plan benefits from an unpredictable, quirky structure and features two tremendous performances by George Airey as David (including a superb drunk act) and Izzy herself as Mavis. Personally, I found the character of Mavis in the opening scene so awful as to be unbelievable, and I found it hard to warm to her as the play developed. However, there’s a great feeling for humour in both the writing and the exceptional performances, and that’s what drives the play towards its winning conclusion. 4 stars.

Amanda Hursy: Carted, Gilded Balloon Patter House. 4-starsOver the years Amanda Hursy has become big pals with the police. It seems they’re always there whenever the slightest thing goes wrong! In Carted, she tells us of her Glasgow upbringing, her family life, her problematic dad behind bars, her degree in Politics, and her aptitude for getting sacked just at the wrong moment. This is her first solo Edinburgh Fringe show and it’s packed with hilarious original material about all the scrapes she gets into, told with working class Glaswegian good humour. She keeps the pace up perfectly and there’s never a lull in the flow, which is something few comedians can maintain over an hour. A terrific new voice in the comedy circuit! 4 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 Reviews – The Truman Capote Talk Show, Managed Approach, Hot Mess, Ben Pope: The Cut, Centre of the Universe, Paldem, and Why I Sent Dad’s Mate a Dick Pic

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The Truman Capote Talk Show, Pleasance Courtyard.4-starsThe Truman Capote Talk ShowConfession time: I’ve never read anything by Truman Capote; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him interviewed. That’s why I was curious to see The Truman Capote Talk Show, to fill the gap in my knowledge. And what a fascinating character he turns out to be! A loner with a gift and indeed a need for writing, master of the acerbic turn of phrase, hob-nobber with the great and the good, essentially sad, but always making the best of it. Apart from the booze that is. Bob Kingdom presents a riveting, confiding, neatly-written and stylishly presented account of this outrageous man, who worked his socks off to alienate people, even those he wanted to keep close. A true tour de force, and a welcome insight into this legendary figure. 4 stars.

Managed Approach, Gilded Balloon Patter House.4-starsManaged ApproachIn 2014, the Holbeck district of Leeds became the UK’s first legalised red-light district. It was then legal for sex workers to operate under what was called a Managed Approach. The idea was that it would be safer for everyone concerned if sex work could take place under the supervision of the law; and, to an extent, it worked. However, such a step would always have wider consequences, as Open Aire’s production eloquently makes clear. Interspersed with genuine verbatim accounts from sex workers and their friends and family, we see the household of mother and daughter Kate and Abbie, a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who relishes the party lifestyle and often comes close to danger. Kate embarks on a crusade to make her daughter’s life and those other young people in the neighbourhood safer, but does it achieve what it sets out to do? With great work by the entire cast, but a particularly stunning performance by Eanna Ferguson as Kate, this is a very powerful and thought-provoking piece of theatre. 4 stars.

Hot Mess, Pleasance Courtyard.Hot MessHave you ever wondered how life on Earth might have started? Earth was looking for someone she could get along with – those dinosaurs were great but that blasted asteroid killed the lot of them. But then along blunders Humanity, meekly looking for a place to stay and, against her better judgment, Earth falls for him. But after a while, as he starts to get too big for his boots, can they sustain the relationship? Wonder no more, as Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote’s extraordinarily creative Hot Mess explains it all in an hour packed with witty, tuneful songs, and two remarkable performances from Danielle Steers as Earth and Tobias Turley as Humanity. Wonderfully clever, amazing songs and a surprise ending – which is perhaps a little more optimistic than we all deserve! A brilliant new musical that I have no doubt will continue to have a Life After Fringe. 5 stars.

Ben Pope: The Cut, Assembly George Square. 3-starsBen PopeThe Unkindest Cut of All is an overworked phrase, but if you’ve been circumcised as an adult, it only has one meaning. In his show, The Cut, Ben Pope not only describes what led to his decision to have his foreskin swiped away, and the process by which it became detached from the rest of him, but he also introduces us to his parents and home life, and his relationship with his no-nonsense chef girlfriend. Ben is an excellent storyteller, with a superb command of the English language that means he always knows how to select le mot juste, and to find comedy in the most tragic of circumstances. It’s a very entertaining narrative, with plenty of laugh-out-loud sequences, delivered at a measured, intelligent pace. Laconic, but polished, he sets up a solid, trusting rapport with the audience who feel his pain every inch of the way. 3 stars.

Centre of the Universe, Summerhall.4-starsCentre of the Universe15-year-old Mary knows but one thing; that she is destined to be a star. The guest speaker at school virtually told her so. It doesn’t matter that she has no particular talent or aptitude, all she needs is an Internet connection and a willingness to be noticed, and her increasing number of “likes” will do the rest. Starting with a very cunning coup-de-theatre that certainly had me fooled, Gaia Mondadori gives a frenetically excitable performance as the over-the-top Mary, bungling her way through attempts to be successful, desperate for inspirational messages and signs that fame will come her way. Structurally innovative, with the start and the end of the play making an impressive loop, we see fragments of Mary’s life that don’t entirely make sense until we gain an understanding of the play as a whole – and then it all slots into place. Very clever and very well performed. 4 stars.

Paldem, Summerhall.4-starsPaldemIn these days of cost of living crises and young people struggling in the gig economy to make enough cash to make ends meet, thank God for OnlyFans, one of the more modern methods of making some extra cash – and for massaging one’s ego – just by doing what comes naturally. Some of these performing partnerships are exactly that – established couples who film themselves for the lols and the bank balance. But some are just friends, performing sex acts for an appreciative and generous public, on a purely professional basis. David Jonsson’s Paldem asks the question, when does a simple “paldem” sex performance agreement end and a committed relationship begin? And does it matter? This is a well-written and entertainingly performed play, which makes excellent use of stage tech; there is a particularly memorable and hilarious scene where pals Megan and Kevin invite another couple to film with and they realise how totally out of their depth they are. The play does get a little bogged down with additional questions about race towards the end that aren’t entirely clear and feel superfluous to the rest of the content, but otherwise this is a challenging and funny play that makes you laugh, gasp and cringe! 4 stars.

Why I Sent Dad’s Mate a Dick Pic, Hoots @ The Apex. 3-starsWhy I Sent Dad's Mate a Dick PicBoasting one of the best titles of an Edinburgh show this year, Henry Bretz bursts onto the stage full of energy and keen to share three of the most awkward text exchanges of his life. But that’s not until he’s told us about his move from Australia to England (via Edinburgh) because – well, who wouldn’t want to swap the Gold Coast for a Warm Coat? Henry has a terrific presence on stage – welcoming and hugely likeable, and with a confident, fluid delivery of his nicely paced material. We do get to find out why he sent a dick pic to his dad’s mate, but it’s perhaps not for the reason we all might have supposed; context is everything! An ebullient and cheery chap whom we definitely want to see again. 3 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 Reviews – Refuse, Nearlyweds the Musical, Saria Callas, How to Become a Movie Star? Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity, and Looking for Laughs

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Refuse, Assembly George Square Studios.Ordinary people, living ordinary lives, with ordinary jobs, and having ordinary intrigues; ordinary people are the same the world over. Maksim works the refuse round in his Ukrainian town and knows all the clients, from the eccentric elderly sisters, to smart, alluring Yelena who lives at the end of his run. Maxim’s wife Valentyna is going to night school, and it’s really improving both her mind and their marriage. They adore their son Andrej. Life is good. Then start the ominous warnings; this time Putin isn’t messing around. A heart-rending but also heart-warming tale of survival against the odds, smartly written by Lucy McIlgorm, who includes just the right balance of comic scenes to contrast with the horrors of war. It’s given a terrific production and three superb performances by Vasyl Sydorko, Maria Shtofa and Lucy McIlgorm herself. I particularly liked the use of costume to accentuate the different characters and moods of the story. Despite all the tragedy, the play ends on a positive note – cloaked in the sadness of death all around. An astounding production that remains in one’s mind for a long time. 5 stars.

Nearlyweds the Musical, The Space at Surgeon’s Hall.3-starsWelcome to the wedding of Lily and Dan; it’s going to be a beautiful occasion and I expect the tears of happiness will flow. And welcome to the reception rehearsal for the wedding of Sophie and Jake; his brother and best man Brian has researched the jokes for his speech. However, the newlyweds-to-be become nearlyweds, as both weddings are called off. Lily escapes to London to find herself and Jake shacks up with Brian to plan a charm offensive on Sophie to win her back. But life has a knack of never quite going the way we think it’s going to… Jasmine Alice’s Nearlyweds The Musical has a clever and inventive central idea of uniting these two unsuccessful unions at the unlikely workplace of Ruby Rocks, There’s one superb song, Proud, that raises a powerful and valid question of you don’t have the right to be proud of me – and two of the main performances, Sarah Alexandra Brown as Lily and Kate Leyva as Gail, are the main forces that drive the show on. That said, sadly, the script itself is lame, full of rather unfunny jokes, and as a result the show itself limps along instead of soaring. With a sharper script, this show could go places! 3 stars.

Saria Callas, Underbelly Cowgate.4-starsMusic and dance are amongst those precious gifts in life that we can all share and love – whether we are talented enough to perform them or just love to hear and appreciate them. They are an essential part of every human being. So is everyone’s own identity; something equally precious, that to some people never causes complication, but others must spend years working hard to understand. Growing up in an Iranian village, Saria is not allowed to sing or dance as it is not permitted by those in power. Will Saria take such restrictions lying down? And when her son grows up freely expressing his love for music and dance, naturally she encourages him – much to the disapproval of some family members. Where might that lead? Seemia Theatre’s Saria Callas is a strongly acted, creatively staged account of Saria’s journey from Iran to London and Paris, set against a magical musical soundtrack – and some great singing – which resounds with rebellion and positivity. At the heart of the show is a fantastic performance from Sara Amini. 4 stars.

How to Become a Movie Star? The Space @ Surgeons Hall.3-starsSarah Maria Lafferty’s dream has always been to become a movie star. After all, it was obvious from the age of one, when a little bit of toddler physical comedy would gain her loads of approval and she would adore making a scene in response. It’s destiny, pure and simple. She tells the gradual story of how she has reached where she is today, including fortuitous meetings with Gabriel Byrne at an airport and on the street, working in a pub to finance living in a hostel – hi ho the glamorous life – and the tentative steps towards being accepted at a one year drama school course. Sarah has an engaging storytelling style; perhaps her narrative could have had even more laughter moments, and light and shade, but, nevertheless, this is an enjoyable account of the journey on which ambition can lead you. 3 stars.

Dan Leith: Defiling Gravity, Laughing Horse @ West Port Oracle.3-starsWelcome to Icarus Airways; if any airline’s name should make you quake with fear, that’s the one. But host Dan is a very welcoming member of the cabin crew and promises you a flight that’s not only funny, but intelligent and thought-provoking. Mixing storytelling with music, his comedy songs often have an acerbic kick to them that makes you laugh, but with a sharp intake of breath at the same time. He’s had a few rough moments over the past couple of years, but they have inspired the original material that makes up this, his first solo Edinburgh hour. Extremely likeable, and with a fluid, confident delivery; I’m still singing must come down hours after the show finished! Intriguing and entertaining, and I shall certainly be following his future career with interest. 3 stars.

Looking for Laughs, Gilded Balloon Patter House.4-starsNow here’s a bright idea. Well, two, actually! Arrange a blind date on stage between two genuine single strangers, and have the audience watch them get on (or not), ask questions of each other, and see if they are a good match. Then have an improvisation group act out scenes inspired by the daters’ questions! Afterwards, the audience get to suggest questions for the two singles to ask each other, followed by another round of improv and then a final decision – date or no date? If that sounds like two totally unconnected ideas joined together just for the fun of it – that’s exactly what it is, but the big surprise is that it really works! No two shows would ever be alike, because of the different dynamic of the two people and the questions that the audience suggest. The show we saw was a complete hoot from start to finish – and the improv team are brilliant too. I can see how this show could become totally addictive! 4 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe 2025 Reviews – Service Please, The Essence of Audrey, Paul Campbell: The Lost Tapes of Somerfield, Burt Williamson: 104kg of Pure Banter, Aaron Wood: More To Life, 4’s a Crowd, and Alex Kitson: This Is Water

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Service Please, The Space at Surgeons Hall.3-starsOh to be a writer! When that’s your life’s ambition, nothing will stop you from succeeding, even if it takes the rest of your life to get there. Constance’s plan is to write her fantasy novel about Amara and the Dragons whilst she’s making her rent money by working part-time in the local restaurant. Everyone else does it, so why can’t she? Sometimes, however, real life has a habit of not only getting in the way but completely dominating your every waking hour. Constance Peel’s entertaining monologue explores how the world of work became just too onerous for her to manage to do anything else, in a formidable account of hard work, harassment, mismanagement, and bad decisions. A likeable persona on stage, the storytelling occasionally gets a little confused as it is sometimes hard to delineate between the characters she talks about. But there’s plenty to recognise here if you’ve either ever tried to write a novel or have ever worked in the hospitality industry! 3 stars.

The Essence of Audrey, Pleasance Courtyard.4-starsEveryone knows that iconic image of Audrey Hepburn , glamorously affecting a cigarette holder for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but how much do we really know of Audrey Hepburn the woman? I realised I knew very little of her as I watched Helen Anker’s entrancing portrayal of Hepburn, telling her life story to a group of potential purchasers for her costumes being auctioned to raise funds for UNICEF. Hearing her memories of the films and shows, the lucky breaks, the heartaches and her eventual contentment, simply looking after the family, it made me want to revisit her back catalogue and see those films of hers that I’ve never seen. The show does play with timelines somewhat as her clothes were auctioned in 2006 and 2017, but she died in 1993, so this conversation she has with the audience could never have happened. Nevertheless, it’s truly convincing, beautifully performed, totally engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable. 4 stars.

Paul Campbell: The Lost Tapes of Somerfield, Hoots @ Potterow.Do you ever receive those online opinion polls that ask you about your feelings towards certain brands? Do you trust X bank, or do you value Y fizzy drink’s social media? Paul Campbell’s show is an outright love letter to the memory of Somerfield, that modest supermarket chain that went to the big shopping mall in the sky in 2011. We see his most prized Somerfield ephemera, we hear about his friendship with Somerfield Sue, we even get to envisage the delicious Somerfield Gala Pie. These are the stuff that dreams are made on. Despite Paul Campbell’s rambling and ramshackle delivery, there’s no denying his fondness for his material. Sophisticated comedy this is not; but you may find his eccentricity touches a nerve of nostalgia somewhere deep inside. 2 stars.

Burt Williamson: 104kg of Pure Banter, PBH at the Voodoo Rooms.3-starsNormally one would be able to sue one’s employer if one sustained a physical injury at work. However, Burt Williamson’s chronic pain due to a slipped disc resulted from his not sitting properly in the car driving to and from gigs – so there’s no lucrative payout to be exploited there. The poor chap has always suffered with his weight, unlike his girlfriend’s cat, who has had a fantastic time getting as plump as it has. Such are the little insights we gain into his life in 104kg of Pure Banter, a very funny rundown of living in a dull market town, spotting racists in the wild, and discovering his gift for having the perfect MRI scan. Burt has an easy-going relaxed style but there’s often a sting in the tail to his narratives, and his material is fresh and full of surprises. A very enjoyable and indeed enlightening hour of comedy. 3 stars.

Aaron Wood: More To Life, Hoots @ The Apex.4-starsWithin seconds of appearing on stage Aaron Wood is clear about one thing – that’s that he wants us to enjoy our time to the full. His determination that the audience will have fun is so infectious that you’re never in doubt that you’re in for a great time. From hilarious stories about trying to catch a burglar naked (that’s Aaron naked, not the burglar) to shared ideas of therapy, an unexpected communication from his missing dad, and a most inventive and cleverly set up call back, there’s not a moment in this show that isn’t a true delight. He even includes some perfectly chosen audience reviews. Incredible crowd work, and a really warm and welcoming presence. Absolutely loved this, and Aaron Wood is definitely a name to look out for in the future. 4 stars.

4’s a Crowd, The Space at Surgeons Hall.The apocalypse comes to Edinburgh early in the form of the Fiascoholics’ 4’s A Crowd, a frenetic futuristic comedy set in a bunker, with five wannabe bunkerees hiding for safety, but only food enough for four. With a nod to the old parlour game, the hot air balloon game, where you have to decide who is the least worthy candidate to survive, one of them has got to go – to certain death, obvs. It’s a nice idea but the execution is too hysterical, with manic over-the-top performances from some of the cast members that drown out any possibility of deriving any pleasure from the script or story development. Not that we missed much, I suspect, given the running jokes about toilet noises and poo smells; haven’t we matured just a little to move on from that level? It certainly split our audience, with hoots of delight from some quarters, and stony silence from others. You pays your money and you takes your choice. 1 star.

Alex Kitson: This Is Water, Hoots @ Potterow.3-starsAlex Kitson takes a number of themes – the British class system, old people, the lies we tell, and many more – and weaves them loosely into his narrative, This is Water, inspired by his favourite joke of the moment, about how perplexed fish can be with their environment. A naturally funny and likeable guy, he has a slightly “young fogey” vibe to him, with his gently dithery delivery style, which can work both with him and against him in getting his material across. He does have some terrific comic observations; why James Bond is a useless spy, the concept of city types paying £90 for a farm experience day, and the “shame” felt by the Olympic pole vaulter who didn’t clear the height because his d*ck got in the way. There were a few technical glitches in the production which both he, and the audience, managed to sail through relatively unscathed. 3 stars.