The festival feels like it is getting into full swing now: shows are previewing left right and centre, the streets are caked in fliers and posters and we’ve starting bumping into friends and colleagues all over the city.
Paul had a very full day of shows yesterday and spent a lot of it rather uncomfortable. Uncomfortable work rather than seats, although one of the stools he sat on was rather small! Not that the work was bad, quite the opposite, just a day of thinking about things that we often find it easier to ignore. Highlights would include LIDLESS at the Underbelly Pasture, in which an audience of 40 sit in a small white box and watch the action. Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s award winning debut is a complex and intelligent play about Guantanamo and the proximity to the action allows for some intricate performances from a strong cast. SPEECHLESS at The Traverse is also worth a look. This is a moving story about about twin sisters who stop talking and disappear into their own imaginary world. Good performances and all the more poignant for being a true story.
In the evening we saw FLESH AND BLOOD AND FISH AND FOUL at St Stephens – the old Aurora Nova venue this year run by the Traverse. We aren’t going to tell you anything about this show, the producers cannily reveal nothing on the publicity material – except that we guarantee that you won’t see anything else quite like it at the festival. Love it or hate it, it’s the kind of work that you only really see in Edinburgh and both Lyn Gardner and Ian Shuttleworth were at last nights preview so we look forward to seeing what they made of it.
This morning we also saw STATIONARY EXCESS at The Underbelly, another show that we might spoil if we tell you too much, although we can say that it is excellent and that you will never have seen a woman do so many things on an exercise bike! It’s 30 minutes of bittersweet love lost and a terrific performer.
Other news is that Caroline Horton got a lovely 4 star review in this mornings Metro for YOU’RE NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS CHRISSY – well done and nice to get off to such a good start. And finally, DEAN’S DAD’S DUCKS opens this afternoon at The Zoo Southside – so good luck to Deano P.
Cheerio for now…
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