Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Arrived in Edinburgh this morning as the 70th anniversary Fringe gets underway.

One of the highlights from the first day has been Glitter Punch by Some Riot Theatre at Assembly George Square Studios - a love story from a teenage girl's perspective, really strong characterisation from the lead actress, and a dark twist to the story.

Equally impressive were the consistently excellent Patch of Blue Theatre with their new show When We Ran at Pleasance Courtyard. A folk-driven tale with soaring vocals of two sisters fleeing a commune. Patch of Blue's most ambitious work to date.

I also caught Napier University Drama Society's Disney homage, Frigid: A Musical Worth Melting For (at Greenside on Infirmary Street). This manages to make being rough around the edges a virtue by sending it up so much, while packing the script with meta theatre jokes and plays on words galore. Great fun.

Happily Never After by The Maydays, an improvised musical inspired by Tim Burton, took nursing as the theme for today's performance. The story was reasonably impressively devised and a song about Scrabble pretty catchy but the vocals, dear oh dear, maybe an improvised play might have been a better idea.

I'm finishing the day at Summerhall to see Middle Child's latest gig theatre offering at Summerhall, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything.

Brilliant atmosphere as always on the Royal Mile despite the inevitable Scottish weather!

Hey cptjack, do you still have the ticket available?

Day 2.

They say you haven't experienced the Fringe until you've seen a truly terrible show and Medea, part of Fourth Monkey's Women of Greece season at The Space on Niddry Street, is unfortunately a contender for that crown. While the other parts of the trilogy, Pandora and Persephone, are well-crafted, contemporary physical theatre retellings of familiar stories, Medea was just far too abstract and bizarre for my liking.

Earlier in the day, I started at The Space on North Bridge, watching University of East Anglia students in Minotaur Theatre's Threadbare. What begins as a straight play about revenge porn quickly transforms into a frequently hilarious comedy. It all falls apart a bit in the final five minutes, with a key plot thread left hanging and a jarring shift in tone but overall this was really enjoyable.

Next up after a quick dash along Cowgate to Underbelly was sketch comedy with The Durham Revue, Laugh Actually. Starting off with an impromptu Christmas celebration, the funniest sketches involved a send-up of improvised shows, specifically the pitfalls of relying on audience suggestions, as well as a male perspective on how girls talk to each other.

Always among the most reliable visitors to the Fringe, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland are back this year with Into The Woods, in addition to two related musicals as part of a collaboration with the Northwestern University in Chicago. I saw one of these, Atlantic: A Scottish Story, yesterday and thought it was superb. Looking at a woman's place in a remote community, it turned into a surprisingly moving tale, interspersed with beautiful folk melodies, performed by a talented cast of MA Musical Theatre graduates. Considering its running time is a little over an hour, it did a terrific job of bringing a close knit island community vibrantly to life.

The remaining show in my itinerary for Day 2 was Four Go Off On One by The Amorous Prawn. Originally advertised as Five Go Off On One, an affectionate send-up of The Famous Five, the intervention of Enid Blyton's estate, frequently referred to in the play, meant that for legal reasons the show is now Four Go Off On One and and similarities to existing work are vigorously denied! Although some of the names have been changed, the basic premise remains the same, with references to The Railway Children and briefly Narnia also thrown in for good measure. Expect an hour of spiffing adventures and ripping picnics! The mock earnestness of the cast was spot on but while the characterisations were strong and the general arc of the story pretty good, the script was inconsistent and often descended into feeble jokes. There's great potential here but despite the likeable cast's best efforts, it's not quite the finished article yet (though at least they've avoided a lawsuit!).

Another busy day at the Fringe yesterday.

It started bright and early at Pleasance Dome watching Ingo's War by Ditto Theatre Company; a really charming, creative ensemble production with puppetry about a dog's adventures in war torn France and his search for courage and bravery. Lovely, heartwarming stuff.

For the second show of the day, it was a dose of celebrity culture with a company called Poor Michelle. While a show titled Harry, with a picture of Harry Styles as its main marketing image, and One Direction's Beautiful blasting out as the audience took their seats, it may sound like a worst nightmare, however this was a lighthearted exploration of obsession through the eyes of two best friends (and One Direction fans) at university. I loved the early scenes with the girls' indignation that their favourites didn't win the X Factor and then their denials of stalking as they revealed how they were tracking Harry's location and shared photos of his childhood. Although the story takes a fairly predictable arc, as the girls' drift apart, become consumed by jealousy and their friendship collapses, it's well told, the two actresses are engaging and every audience member gets a free biscuit! What's not to like!

I'd heard great things about Silent Uproars Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad), a unique exploration of depression, playing at Pleasance Courtyard. A blend of storytelling and live music, the ridiculously catchy, upbeat songs, as well as comic turns from the supporting cast members, sharply contrast with the heartwrenching struggles of the main protagonist. The writing and delivery really brought home the sense of isolation and detachment and a sense of not wanting to carry on. Really powerful theatre that wears its heart on its sleeve, has an important message to share and does so in the most inspired way. The Fringe at it's best.

Forget About The Dog's 100 Ways To Tie A Shoelace at Greenside in Nicolson Square explored a different aspect of mental health, specifically muscle memory and a girl's psychological struggles following an accident. The show had an interesting premise, but while it was engaging in parts, it struggled to find anything insightful to say. The sweltering venue didn't help much either. Not a bad production by any means but rather forgettable.

Oil by the Superhero Club, performing at Paradise at Augustines, is your classic student production. Devised by the cast of five, with the action centering on a dinner gathering on the eve of graduation, all the stereotypes are there but while the characters may all be caricatures, and while too much effort has perhaps been made to make every line a winner, there's actually something quite endearing about it all. The cast are certainly likeable, they adlibbed well, and after initial reservations I ended up really enjoying it.

My first taste of circus at this year's festival came from Flip Fabrique and their new show Transit. It's a loving homage to travel, not the popular Ford van! The cast of six give a pretty breathless hour of acrobatics and juggling, with the solitary female member of the company stealing the limelight and the audience's hearts with two flawless hooping routines. The cast received a well deserved standing ovation at the finale.

The end to my day came with Edges, a song cycle performed by Durham University Light Opera Group, featuring early work from the lyricists for La La Land. With a cast of four, it's a series of coming of age songs, the highlights including a tongue-in-cheek look at soliciting friend requests on Facebook and expressing your hatred for someone in tune form! There's nothing to hate about this show though, a really strong cast and an impressive score, it's definitely worth seeing if you can.

I've seen Colin Cloud: Dare (mind reading act) and "5 Guys Chillin'". Although Colin Cloud is a brilliant performer, I'm not going to talk about his show.

As for "5 Guys Chillin'" that was a bit of a shock. 5 gorgeous men on stage, barely dressed, having a 'chill'. The play is about chemsex and sex parties in gay communities. It's a verbatim play based on conversation with people from Grindr. It talk mostly about sex, use of drugs, relying on drugs to perform, knowing you HIV status and coping with things imposed on you by your culture. This was my first experience with the subject of chemsex and I must admit, I felt like a prude. A lot of drug references, slang, etc. went right over my head. Overall, the play is well acted and definitely makes you think.

I'll be there from the end of next week and scouring reviews at the moment to see what is breaking through (a real benefit of having so many reviewers is that you get a collective opinion). I tend to book about half of my shows before it starts, ones that look like selling well and are things that am sure of, then try and plug the gaps.

Also a circus fan, I've heard good things about Fauna, which I've added to my list.

Wow stevej678... It's so difficult to write something after you I'm really happy you're enjoying Fringe.

Last night I saw "Ordinary Days" and really enjoyed it. 4 people, 1 pianist, beautiful and funny songs. Previously I have only heard "I will be here" sang by Audra, but Kirby Hughes, playing Claire was absolutely amazing.

After that I ran like an idiot to get to another venue to see Rachel Tucker. She was brilliant. She's my first ever Elphaba, when I saw Wicked for the first time 6 years ago (almost to the day). She'll always have a special place in my heart

Thank you for your reviews – they’re really interesting and I’ve changed my schedule to see “A Super Happy Story (about being really sad)” based on your recommendation. I may try to squeeze in ‘Education Education Education’ now too.

I’d already booked to see Colin Dare. I’m intrigued now about whether you declined to talk about his show because of not wanting to give spoilers, or another reason!

Just too many things I want to see! Excited!

Tucked away round the back of Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Forth looks to be an unassuming space from the outside but there's something quite remarkable taking place there at 12pm each day. Theatre Re's The Nature of Forgetting begins with a father and daughter on the stage, the daughter reminding her father that they have visitors coming round later to celebrate his birthday. She advising him where to find the jacket that matches his trousers, with a red tie to be found in the pocket. The girl departs and we then observe the father struggling to retain her instructions in his mind as he searches through long rails of clothing.

We return to the present day intermittently throughout the play but much of the action is staged as a series of flashbacks to earlier, key moments in the father's life. At school, falling in love, getting married, becoming a dad. All juxtaposed with the present and the onset of dementia.

It's a story about the fragility of life and what happens to us when our memory is gone, told through physical theatre and mime with just a few words of dialogue, set to the most gorgeous, evocative score which is performed live. The subtlety of expression, the natural chemistry between the performers, the stunning choreography and sweeping changes of pace all help to make this a truly remarkable, overwhelming piece of theatre. The poignancy of the ending, observing the father's birthday gathering when he finally addresses his daughter by her correct name and she smiles in recognition as the lights fade to black, is a beautiful, poignant moment. I think most of the audience were fighting back tears at the end as we rose to our feet to applaud. Who could have guessed that a play about forgetting would turn out to be the most memorable, breathtaking production I've ever seen at the Edinburgh Fringe. With five five-star reviews to its name already at the festival, I can't recommend The Nature of Forgetting enough.

Such was the impact of the first show of the day, Peer Gynt at Zoo Venues had an almost impossible act to follow. It's a charming, enchanting and well-acted ensemble retelling of Ibsen's classic story, featuring nice musical touches and distinctive puppetry from Gruff Dog Theatre.

Young Pleasance, one of the staples of the festival, also do a good job with The Curse of Cranholme Abbey. The set looks suitably creepy but while there's one or two scares, the sense of danger is articulated with greater intensity in Peer Gynt than it is here. With a group of young people stranded in a remote haunted castle overnight it's a path well trodden by ghost and horror movies but if rather formulaic and predictable it's still a fun hour as the group try to unravel the mystery of who the boy is following them around and discover the significance of a wedding dress hanging in a dusty wardrobe.

Next up was The Starship Osiris at the Underbelly on Cowgate, a spoof romp travelling through the galaxy with Captain Harrison, his three glamorous space crew and a hapless engineer. What starts off as a send up of early sci-fi B movies, comparable to Mischief Theatre's homage to amateur theatre groups in The Play That Goes Wrong, cleverly morphs into a piece of meta theatre as we realise that the actor, writer and director playing Captain Harrison is despised by his fellow performers. The situation has obvious comic potential and as the resentment of the trio of girls and the spacecraft's engineer simmer to the surface, we witness the plot being derailed and the situation eventually erupting into all out warfare between the cast, with the show within a show breaking down along the lines of the third act in Noises Off.

Although clearly taking its inspiration from elsewhere, this show adds its own fresh ideas to the mix and for the final 30 minutes in particular is a joyful riot. Avoid the front row if you want to reduce the chances of being whisked up onto the stage yourself - once cast members start walking out (with one of the girls hilariously returning, only to sit in the audience making snide remarks about the show) they need replacing, right? The self deprecating humour of the whole thing is superb, the props and set pieces frequently hilarious, and the costumes suitably ridiculous. Anarchic comedy, disguising ingeniously clever writing, at its best.

Another dose of comedy was to follow and an attempt to try a bit of everything at the festival. I'll be seeing Tim Vine later in the festival but got my first dose of stand-up yesterday from young Australian Becky Lucas who's appearing at Assembly in George Square. Although the show is titled Little Bitch, Becky turns out to be a genial and amiable host, saving her scorn for herself and her ex-boyfriends. The hour flew by and although I don't plan to see much more stand-up at the Fringe this was a great choice. The abomination theory, backpacks, pregnant women, unfortunate auto-corrects and inflatable dolls just some of the topics that were covered!

The last show of the day was Ordinary Days at C Royale. This is a sung-through chamber musical although I'd hesitate to describe it as a song cycle since many of the songs merge into one, with little or no pause between them. What made this show for me was the performances of the cast, particularly Neil Cameron as Warren and Nora Perone as Den. Neil Cameron in particular has a beautiful tone to his voice and there's a gentle sincerity to his performance that really rings true. This is a show where in terms of the score, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, merging into something rather beautiful as we spend an hour listening to the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of four New Yorkers going about their lives. The message of appreciating the ordinary things in everyday life resonated all the more for me after the reminder about making memories and enjoying our lives while we can from The Nature of Forgetting earlier in the day.

Off to Edinburgh tomorrow, next 5 days. 37 shows scheduled in, seeing lots of comedy for work but looking forward to seeing some plays too!

I can finally join in this thread as I've just booked my first ever during-festival visit to Edinburgh. Admittedly it's only for 24 hours, 4pm Sunday 20th-4pm Monday 21st. The time slot was deliberately chosen so I can see Showstopper twice Sunday evening then Rhapsodes Monday afternoon. I'm now trying to wade through the vast number of other shows to see if there's anything else that looks promising & can be fitted around those shows. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know. (Nothing about politics or any other "issues" please, I like my theatregoing to be pleasurable, escapist & usually comedic.)

I'm there from the end of the week and have tickets for your top two, Steve, so looking good. 'Six' sounds great but I'm pretty much out of free time and booked up now....