Four, Gilded Balloon Teviot.
Let’s start with the positives! It’s a terrific premise for a show. Leonard, the lead violin of a string quartet, has died and the three remaining members had made a pact not to carry on after he’d gone, but to quit the quartet. But Hassim, their spivy, untrustworthy manager has recruited a new member, Kiki, to replace Leonard without telling the others. They decide, eventually, to allow a four-month trial, to see if they get on together and want to carry on. And the result? You’ll have to watch the play to find out! The play takes a variety of themes – grief, loyalty, the value of the arts, the need to move forward and change with the times, trust, and more – and deals with them pretty well. However, if you do decide to watch the play, there are five performers on stage and I regret to say that only one is a good actor. One is – and I hesitate to say this – very wooden indeed. The others give performances that are just about adequate. One of those tricky judgments – an intriguing play that’s not very well executed. Given the range of terrific shows on offer at the Fringe, I cannot recommend this show because of the acting. But it’s your choice!
Rob Auton: The Rob Auton Show, Assembly Roxy.
Having performed shows built on various subjects over the years, Rob Auton’s newest show is about the topic he knows best – Rob Auton. He takes us through personal moments over his formative childhood years, like the simple pleasure of watching a lava lamp with his sister, or his excellence on the cricket field, through his first experiences with the opposite sex and finding his feet as The Crab Cake Kid. Rob Auton is nothing if not engagingly honest; his flights of both fancy and fantasy take wing as he taps into his natural philosophical poetry and brings out many of the more ludicrous of his observations. His humour is not for everyone; few people have that kind of universal appeal. But personally I love wallowing in his mental somersaults; and, like all his shows, there is a journey to be followed and both the route to get there and the final end point are thoroughly enjoyable.
Marlon Solomon: How to Be an Antisemite, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose.
Marlon Solomon delivers a well-researched and entertainingly illustrated talk about the history of antisemitism which goes right back to the Bible and the earliest art, and is more engrained in human brains than I could ever have imagined. It’s a very informative show – for example, I’d never encountered the word “jew” as a verb before – and it’s never used as a complimentary term. And isn’t that David Icke a horrendous stain on humanity? I’m glad to know nothing about him. Entertaining and educational, this is a fascinating and enlightening hour that never gets over-serious despite the seriousness of its topic.
Shenanigans Cabaret, The Space on the Mile.
A brash, funny and talented burlesque show included circus stunts (I think that’s the right phrase), boylesque and some terrific routines. The cast change from tomorrow, so I can’t say how it will be next week, but tonight’s show was very enjoyable! Classic burlesque and cabaret at its best.
Rosie Holt: That’s Politainment! Pleasance Courtyard.
I love Rosie Holt’s social media videos where she pretends to be a feckless and condescending Tory MP – they’re priceless. But how well does the character transfer to live theatre? We saw her show last year and it worked really well – not too much reliance on her pre-recorded material and plenty to laugh at. This year, however, it isn’t so successful. I commend her for using no pre-recorded material at all, so all the material was fresh and new; and the structure of the show is clever, with a right-wing shock jock TV and radio presenter warming up the audience for Rosie’s appearance as a bigoted MP and then reappearance as a stand-up comic. Unfortunately, the show never goes far enough in any one direction to be truly funny – the TV presenter holds back from being truly foul, the MP doesn’t quite make the social and political gaffes we might expect, and the “stand-up” sequence is full of padding and repetition and just doesn’t hit the jackpot. There’s still a lot to amuse and the characterisations are frighteningly believable; I just wanted more.
