Tag Archives: First Class

Looking back at Edinburgh Fringe 2014 – three excellent plays – No 1 – Review – First Class, Aulos Productions and Relief Theatre, at the Pravda Room, Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 9th August 2014

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It’s been a few weeks now since Mrs Chrisparkle and I had our first ever foray into the Great Artistic Thing that is the Edinburgh Fringe, and we’re already planning next year’s jaunt. In the meantime, there were a few plays we saw that we really enjoyed and that I thought merited a little more consideration than the brief mini-reactions that I only had time for during the Festival. So here goes with the first.

First Class by name, first class by nature. James Beagon’s exquisitely crafted little play held me spellbound from the start. Three lives intricately woven over the decades, set against the same backdrop of a train trip to Manchester Piccadilly. Each character reflected the attitudes and problems of their own respective era, and the three performers – Erin Elkin, Joe Walsh and Maddie Haynes – inhabited their roles so completely and conjured up other passengers and the train setting so successfully that I never for a moment noticed that it was just three people perched on three small chairs on a tiny stage.

The minimalist environment really helped the whole experience to work on your imagination. It’s only fifty minutes long but that time flew by. There’s one scene where you think Lydia is going to commit a terrible atrocity, and, I kid you not, my heart was absolutely in my mouth fearing that she was going to do it. When she didn’t, I felt a sense of massive relief. There’s another riveting and sadly hilarious sequence where tennis “almost-star” Rachel is cornered by an insensitive “fan” on the train who unwittingly gives her a good verbal kicking in a scene worthy of Ayckbourn at his best. The text does not shy away from giving us three different insights into mental instability, providing each cast member with a great opportunity to explore how each character deals with intense pressure in a world full of difficult people.

There’s something of a plot twist at the end, which Mrs C predicted but I didn’t, and when that twist became apparent, everything fitted together so perfectly that I could feel my face positively beaming. This won the best new writing award for the 2014 Buxton Fringe, and quite rightly too. I hope it’s not the last we see of this moving, funny, scary one-act play, and I trust producers Aulos Productions and Relief Theatre will be giving us more riveting drama in the near future.

And if you weren’t lucky enough to see the production – you can here!

Our first Edinburgh experience

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I’d spent weeks poring over the Fringe catalogue (it’s massive, if you haven’t seen it) and the Fringe website, trying to pick out the best performances for Mrs Chrisparkle and me to attend – and, on the whole, I think I did pretty well. 20 shows in 3 days was ambitious, but we succeeded in seeing 19 of them. The elusive 20th was just a bit too late on our first night, considering we’d been up since 5:30am, to get three trains to hit Waverley station by 2pm. I’m satisfied with that hit rate.

We stayed at the Carlton on North Bridge, a hotel that has very fond memories for us, as it was the first place we’d stayed at in Edinburgh when we were but green and callow youths in the mid 1980s. It’s a good choice for the Fringe as it’s really central – no more than about 15 minutes walk from 80% or more of the venues. But boy, do they charge like wounded bulls during Festival time. Our three nights cost over £900 for b&b. Stupid price really, but this morning we walked past the central Ibis hotel and even they had room only rates starting at £219 per night. Edinburgh at Festival time is expensive/elitist/rip-off-city (you choose).

By contrast, the shows themselves are really cheap. Many are free (and then you make a donation on the way out, depending in your level of generosity/ how much you enjoyed it/ how guilty the performer made you feel. Those that aren’t free are rarely more than £12 or so, and, if you pay £25 to become a Friend of the Fringe, many of the shows are available at 2 for the price of one. Our 20 shows cost us roughly £290, including Friends membership, which works out at an average of £7.25 each per show. That’s pretty amazing value.

I’d planned our three days meticulously (as is my wont) so the dozens of flyers we accumulated didn’t influence our choices of what to see at all. However, next time (and there definitely will be a next time) we’ll go for longer (a week?) and keep one day completely unbooked, to be filled with the shows that the flyers (and their enthusiastic flyer-givers) convinced us were worth seeing. I’ve got wads of flyers for shows that all look great, and it’s a source of some frustration that we’re headed back doon sooth on the train (from where I am writing, gentle reader) with those shows unseen (by us). I just hope those lucky patrons who will see them enjoy them.

We’ve been to Edinburgh many times before but were completely unprepared for the Festival Vibe. It’s so different at this time of year. Crowds are thronging, of course, but there’s a youthful exuberance everywhere, as all these hopeful young people, freshly arrived in town, are finally getting the chance to show us what they’ve spent months planning. They want to spread pleasure; they want to communicate their message; I’m sure a few at least will hope for great reviews to further their career prospects. The whole place is riddled with positive energy – and it’s completely wonderful.

Social media gets friendlier too. In the time between booking the shows and taking the post-shows train home, I’ve followed (on twitter, not stalked them back to their digs) many of the performers and companies we’ve seen, and many have started following me. We’ve exchanged loads of good natured banter that could (just *could*) develop into longer lasting online friendships. I have too many really good friendships that started online to underestimate the Power of the Tweet. It’s all a source of Good.

But, when all is said and done, it’s all about the shows, darling. And I have to say, with a couple of minor exceptions, the quality has been of a standard much greater than I would have expected. I’ve done some short, running blogs about the shows we’ve seen and for the most part I’d really have liked to have taken more time to write about each individual show in greater detail – but alas there just hasn’t been the time. But if I think back to the brilliant acting we’ve seen (The Curing Room, Trainspotting, Away From Home, Frank Sent Me), the elegantly crafted writing we’ve enjoyed (First Class, Lace Up), the style and panache of the performers we’ve witnessed (Travesti, Salon Mika, Russell Grant), and the sheer fun of the comedy we’ve shared (Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, Spank, Quint Fontana), then it’s clear that the variety and quality of what we’ve seen has been outstanding. Yes, a couple were under par, and one was downright disgraceful (Best of Burlesque should be prosecuted under the Trades Description Act) – but, really, it’s been a joy.

If there was one thing that hit me most, artistically speaking, it was how the many plays that take no more than an hour or so really validate and keep relevant the concept of the one-act play. You don’t often get to see them on the commercial stage – maybe as part of a double bill, but on their own they’re too short to make an evening out last. At the Edinburgh Fringe they’re the perfect length to fit one of your artistic slots, and they’re very rewarding. First Class, Lace Up and Frank Sent Me all came in at under an hour but were all riveting and engrossing stories. When you write a play that length, there’s no time for irrelevances or padding. Nothing unnecessary is included, nothing is wasted. You have to concentrate, you have to work with the cast to savour the real meat of each text. But what a rewarding activity!

The other thing that surprised us about ourselves was our ability to sit in the front row and get picked on. We didn’t do it hoping to be picked on, far from it – but as a repercussion of sitting in the front row so that you got a good view, it became a matter of unimportance. Dancing with Russell Grant and Mika (from Salon Mika), exchanging badinage with the Spank hosts, reciting poetry with Paul Savage, being called a “silver fox” by Paul Ricketts (is that really what I am?) all became part of the fun and not something to be feared. We learned a lot about ourselves as a result.

I made one or two errors in scheduling, not quite allowing sufficient time to get from one venue to the next, because I didn’t factor in performances over-running, or the extreme slowness of progressing through certain streets crammed with idle dawdlers on a Saturday night. I hadn’t realised how the main centres (Assembly, Pleasance, Udderbelly, etc) had within them a number of individual venues that meant you could basically spend an entire day in the same venue seeing ten or more performances. But I’m wiser now, and I know how to tackle the 2015 with even more ruthless precision – and I might even build in a little time to eat and have an afternoon nap too.

Thanks Edinburgh, it’s been real. And thanks to all those casts, technicians, writers and musicians who made our three days into an Edinburgh Disneyland experience. Even lining up to get into a venue reminds you of queuing to get on a ride. Sheer self-indulgent pleasure. I loved it! I’m not normally one for regrets, but I wish we’d discovered the Edinburgh Fringe earlier!

The Edinburgh Fringe 3-Nighter – First Class

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Our Saturday begins with a play – First Class, by James Beagon, at midday at the Laughing Horse @ Espionage. Good news is that the play has won the Buxton Fringe award for New Writing, so that’s an encouraging sign! Here’s the description: Three lives, three choices, three trains. As seemingly unconnected people commute to Manchester Piccadilly for their own reasons, hidden stories of loss, guilt and devotion are firmly exposed and unveiled. Lydia, the destitute mother, Jack, a stress-ridden schoolteacher and Rachel, a struggling sportswoman are all on-board, each dwelling on the choices that led them down these tracks. Yet it soon becomes clear that their journeys are not as innocuous as they first seem.

Sounds intriguing! It’s performed by Relief Theatre’s Joe Walsh, Maddie Haynes, and Erin Elkin. Not quite sure what to expect, but I’m hoping for an intelligent weaving together of separate threads to create one satisfactory whole. I’ll put up our instant reactions around 1pm if I can, but our next show is only fifteen minutes later (but it is in the same venue). If not, it’ll be around 2.15pm. You’ll also be able to read the preview for the second show of the day.

Utterly brilliant piece of writing, merging three stories into one – very moving, at times quite scary, highly emotional – we both loved it. Great performances from all three cast members. Not remotely surprised it won that writing award! Highly recommended.

PS I’ve written a fuller review of First Class here if you’re interested!