I spent 3.5 days at the Edinburgh festivals last week, seeing 20 shows and one exhibition. Here’s what I thought.
My rubric for these, and all, reviews is as follows:
5* = masterpiece
4.5* = near perfect
4* = great
3.5* = very good
3* = good
2.5* = fine
2* = not good
1.5* = bad
1* = very bad
0.5* = awful
0* = ought not exist
Tom at the Farm — 4.5*
If you trimmed 15 minutes from the penultimate act, this would be perfect. An impeccably performed and directed piece of theatre, sickeningly intense and very powerful. It’s innovative and experimental, but not for the sake of it — everything about it works to form this blistering Brazilian drama about sexuality, repression, and guilt. Unmissable.
A Gambler’s Guide to Dying — 4.5*
This was properly good – a stunning performance from Gary McNair, who has written a gripping story about family, addiction, death, and perseverance that perfectly balances humour and sentimentality. A true edge-of-your-seat show — highly recommended.
Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years — 4.5*
One of the best exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time, from an artist I’ve been shamefully ignorant of. Goldworthy’s large-scale installations are stunning and deeply moving, and the way he uses natural materials is truly magical. Some of the works in this exhibition will stick with me forever, I think; I feel quite lucky to have seen it.
Cat Cohen: Broad Strokes — 4*
A return to form for Cohen, after the slightly disappointing Come For Me. Clever and incisive comedy that’s about her having a stroke, but is somehow also very relatable. And it’s all carried by Cohen’s exceptional stage presence.
Garry Starr: Classic Penguins — 4*
This show is obviously not for everyone: it features a completely naked man humorously acting out various Penguin novels. But if you can get past that, it’s a wonderfully silly show, with some very clever gags and a lot of unforgettable moments.
Kanpur: 1857 — 4*
A very bleak show about one of the darkest periods in British India, with depressing relevance to Israel/Gaza today. Great performances, a surprisingly nuanced script, and gorgeous tabla playing made for an all-round solid show.
Daniel Kitson- Please Note: This is not a Bargain — 4*
It’s Kitson rambling and doing crowdwork for 90 minutes. What’s not to love?
Urooj Ashfaq — 3.5*
Very funny, and quite educational — I learnt a lot about Indian attitudes to things! I think to be exceptional it needs a bit more of an overarching structure, but still a very fun hour.
Undersigned — 3.5*
I’d heard exceptional things about this 1:1 show, so was a little disappointed by the reality — but it was still a very good and very memorable experience, which I’ll be thinking about for some time. Impossible to describe without spoilers — and it’s sold out anyway, so I’ll leave this here.
Jacqueline Novak — 3.5*
An extremely chaotic show; hard to tell if that’s intentional or it was just very work-in-progress. Has some truly excellent moments, and I broadly enjoyed the chaotic energy, but it didn’t quite work — it needed tightening, I think.
Wild Thing — 3*
Starts off as a comedy about silly animal names, ends up as a devastating critique of how we treat nature. Not sure this was quite as good as Vigil — the VR bit needs a bit of work, I think — but definitely going to stay with me.
Kirsty Mann: Corpse (WIP) — 3*
A well-told ghost story interspersed with plenty of jokes. Mann’s a good and engaging storyteller, and you’ll certainly have a good time; it just didn’t leave much of a mark on me.
Stamptown — 3*
Still a raucous, fun time, but it didn’t hit in the same fever-dream way that last year’s did — I think we were slightly unlucky with the acts on the night we went, but the show as a whole might also be suffering from the smaller venue. Not nearly enough Jack Tucker this year, either.
The Ceremony — 3*
I knew nothing about this going in, which I recommend — the whole experience was a delightful surprise. It didn’t blow me away, but there were some moments that really did connect with me, and it’s hard to think of a show that more expertly captures the magic of an audience.
Eulogy — 3*
A rewatch for me, having last seen it at the Fringe in 2021. I liked it less this time round, but I did enjoy just how disorienting it was — it felt like being in a nightmare, which is no bad thing.
Journey to the West — 3*
A short and sweet immersive show, nominally about immigration. In reality, the narrative didn’t come through particularly well, but it’s all very well-executed technically — very clever movement, paired with sound design that rivals Darkfield.
Make It Happen — 2.5*
Oh how far James Graham has fallen. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s just so mundane. Extremely predictable in its narrative structure, script, and direction; trying way too hard to be ‘experimental’ but not actually doing anything interesting; and oh-so-preachy and heavy-handed. A shame, because there are good stories to be told about the financial crisis, and Brian Cox is obviously excellent (though a little underutilised). The crowd lapped this up, but I was bored.
(Technically an EIF show, not Fringe.)
Taiwan Season: Dazed and Confused — 2.5*
I wanted more from this. Lin Lu-Chieh’s clearly a talented magician, but the tricks in this are almost too understated — and there’s too much time spent on his charming, but ultimately less exciting, life story. It’s a sincere and heartwarming piece, but wasn’t quite what I wanted.
My Name is Rachel Corrie — 2.5*
The subject matter of this play is what gives it all its power. A young American woman went to Palestine and was killed by the IDF; this play is a monologue based on her diaries and emails. Unfortunately, the play itself is baggy, and the performance in this particular production isn’t strong enough to carry the material. Infuriating, on multiple levels.
Enjoy Your Meal — 2.5*
An immersive show set in a kitchen, this is a comedy show where you are occasionally served not-very-good food. It’s very funny, at points, but lacks structure — it needs to escalate a lot more than it does. It’s novel, and I’d bet on Cory Cavin doing some great stuff in future, but this didn’t quite work.
Hamlet: Wakefulness — 1*
Even just thinking about this makes me angry. Completely fails to live up to its description of “an exploration into the origins of Hamlet” or “pagan ritual”. Instead, it’s an incoherent choral adaptation of Hamlet, with a cast that can sing beautifully but can’t act at all, and a baffling incest subplot jammed in for good measure. It’s impossible to follow, and certainly not worth staying up till midnight for. Skip, at all costs.
Essayant 