Culture
International Festival Reviews: Bruce Liu Plays Ravel, Hanni Liang: Dreams & Volosi
Bruce Liu Plays Ravel with the NCPA Orchestra After esteemed conductor Myung-Whun Chung walked on stage with the hearty applause of the audience, The NCPA Orchestra opened the evening with Qigang Chen’s Wu Xing (the Five Elements). This ten-minute immersive fusion of Chinese and Western instrument and tradition soaked the audience in atmosphere and was a…
Read MoreFringe Reviews: Dan Tiernan, Vittorio Angelone & Terence Hartnett
Dan Tiernan’s abrasive comedy style is at once hilarious and disconcerting, says Frankie Reason. ★★★★ Dan opens his set with a scream, immediately turns to talk of ketamine, and then proceeds to riff on his divisive style. ‘Not for everyone this, is it’ he reflects, before accusing the hot-chocolate-drinking Café Nero patrons of stumbling into…
Read MoreFive star reviews from the Edinburgh Fringe: Glenn Moore & Boiler Room Six
No introductions, no preamble, Glenn Moore is off and running at a hundred miles an hour before he’s even on the stage, says Alister Tenneb. And strap yourself in because he doesn’t slow down for the next hour. ★★★★★ As well as being a regular on radio, Glenn will be recognisable to many from his…
Read MoreFringe Reviews: FLOP, Art of Andalucia & Cambridge Footlights
Arthur Hull’s FLOP has charisma by the bucket-loads, Frankie Reason says. ★★★★ Edinburgh-born Australian artist Arthur Hull delivers a musically impressive, engaging, and witty exploration of musical theatre’s greatest flops. Both exposé and love letter, Hull muses on the dubious opening choreography to Carrie, the pitfalls of theatre to screen, the consistently faulty formula that…
Read MoreLife With Julia Brown: ‘Shetland is such a beautiful place and I feel lucky to have experienced working there’
Rising Scottish actress Julia Brown on working on Shetland, falling in love with acting as a child, and the latest season of Karen Pirie on ITV. I grew up in Edinburgh but I live in London now. I was a chatterbox at school – and still am today – so that could get me…
Read MoreFringe Reviews: Baxter v The Bookies, Aideen McQueen & Flamencodanza
Baxter v The Bookies’ script is fast moving and very amusing, says Jeremy Welch. ★★★★ The spot light turns on and there sits Baxter looking exactly as you would expect from a small-time compulsive horse racing gambler, slightly down on his luck but, like all gamblers, believing the wheel of fortune is about to turn…
Read MoreEdinburgh Fringe Review: Zhuangzi’s Dream
A masterclass in transitional storytelling, Zhuangzi’s Dream is a performance you don’t want to miss, says Megan Amato. ★★★★★ Before suspicious spouses were testing their loved ones’ loyalty with catfishing fake profiles, there was Zhuang Zhou, a 4th-century Daoist philosopher who tested his wife’s vows by faking his death and magically becoming his rival to…
Read MoreFringe Reviews: Monstering the Rocketman, Find Me, Bitter Baby
The award-winning writer, Henry Naylor, is back at the fringe with Monstering the Rocketman and it’s a must see, Jeremy Welch says. ★★★★★ This production comes after his two award winning plays at previous fringes, Afghanistan is not Funny and Let the Bodies Pile. He doesn’t disappoint with this production. In this play we see…
Read MoreFringe Reviews: Jo Caulfield, Bad Mood Rising & Dan Rath, Tropical Depression
Jo Caulfield’s Bad Mood Rising is one of the best comics at the Fringe. A must-watch, says Frankie Reason. ★★★★★ Jo Caulfield is scathing of shows with themes, and people in new relationships, and men’s fashion and just about everything else. The title of her show, Bad Mood Rising, is apt. She wears a bright…
Read MoreEdinburgh Fringe Reviews: Ten Thousand Hours, Cirque Kalabanté & Playing Love
Ten Thousand Hours, performed by the Australian acrobatic troupe, Gravity and Other Myths, is the most extraordinary thing I’ve seen at the Fringe this year, says Frankie Reason. ★★★★★ It’s not just the apparent ease of the feats (and somehow these performers do make it look easy), but also the choreographed falls, faults, stumbles. A…
Read More