We arrived on 1st August and we left on the 29th. During that time we saw 145 shows, which was just six less than I had planned but was thirteen more than last year – so I’m very pleased with that number. According to the step count on the phone, we racked up about 184 miles of walking during the month – no wonder I didn’t put any weight on!
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:
Jesus Jane Mother and Me
In Loyal Company
Glenn Moore
Manbo
Ben Target – Lorenzo
Diana the Untold and Untrue Story
Birthmarked
An Interrogation
Public the Musical
Lovefool
Gertrude Lawrence: A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening
Sophie’s Surprise 29th
Yoga with Jillian
Nuclear Children
The Trials of Galileo
Nobody’s Talking About Jamie
The Quality of Mercy: Life and Times of Harold Shipman
Tarot (Work in Progress)
The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose
I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical
Paved With Gold and Ashes
Why I Stuck a Flare up my Arse for England
Adam Flood Remoulded
Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes
The Rite of Spring/Common Ground[s] (EIF)
The Court
A Chorus Line
The Good Dad (A Love Story)
Lena
Sooz Kempner: Y2K Woman
Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt
Alvin Ailey Company (EIF)
Bacon
Chopped Liver and Unions
Robin Grainger: An Audient with Robin Grainger
Ahir Shah: Ends
Groomed
4 STARS:
Spin Cycles
Jon Culshaw: Impostor Syndrome
One Way Out
17 Minutes
Showgirls and Spies
Bill’s 44th
Alan Turing – A Musical Biography
Alison Skilbeck’s Uncommon Ground
Pear but Braver
Ay Up Hitler!
The Academy Trust
Bitter Lemons
Stuntman
Raising Kane
The Way Way Deep
Andrew Frank: Ecstatic Blasphemy
Wiesenthal
Giving the Gift of Offence with Martin Rowson
In Conversation with Jack Monroe
Olaf Falafel: Look What Fell out of my Head
Letter to Boddah
The Last Flapper
Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe (Ben Clover)
Perfect Pairing: A Wine Tasting Dancegustation
The Stall
Frank Sanazi’s Comedy Blitzkrieg
Long Long Long Live
Kevin Precious – The Reluctant Teacher
Joe Wells: King of the Autistics
Darren Walsh: 3rd Rock from the Pun
Mary Bourke – 200% Irish
Rob Auton: The Rob Auton Show
Marlon Solomon: How to be an Antisemite
Shenanigan’s Cabaret
Burning Down the Horse
Locusts
Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns?
OTMA
Pressure Cooker
Being Sophie Scholl
Dane Baptiste: Bapsquire
Appraisal
Congratulations to all these great shows. As to working out which of them are the absolute best – you’ll have to wait until the Chrisparkle Awards for 2023 are announced in January!
And thank you, gentle reader, for sticking with me throughout this busy month! My viewing/reading statistics have gone through the roof and are over twice the numbers who checked out my reviews at the 2022 Fringe – so thank you very much for that. Remember – reviews are only what one person thinks, they’re purely a personal reaction. And star ratings are even more unreliable!
Now it’s back to “ordinary” theatre reviewing – although theatre should never be “ordinary”!