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RJG Productions, Bristol Old Vic, Pleasance present writer Lucy Hayes’ “Bitter Lemons” -a play for two actors (Shannon Hayes and Chanel Waddock). It’s a dual-monologue style show where the monologues told in the second person are interwoven. Two stories unfold in parallel. One is from a biracial woman making her way in the finance sector, determined to do well so she can give herself an “easy life” and take care of her mother’s mortgage. The other is a white woman who will finally get her shot at being the number one goalie on her football team. Women doing well in male-dominated cultures. They both have absent fathers but pretty good mother-daughter relationships, humorously portrayed. As the play moves forward and greater success beckons, they also have a common decision to make. Should they or should they not have an abortion? We never learn these woman’s names and the anonymity gives them both an “every-woman” quality as women world-wide face denial of healthcare and agency (Hayes wrote the play following the overturning of Roe v Wade.) The actors are engaging, Chanel Waddock as the footballer is fierce as she kicks against stereotypes. She idealises her father and when that bubble bursts Waddock conveys the characters complex emotions with skill. Shannon Hayes delivers a slick performance of a young corporate hustler on the rise. Both characters are let down by the men in their lives and the consequences are well navigated by the cast. Although, let’s face it, it’s a shame that the writer centralised offstage male characters to explore these young women’s futures. The setting is a very simple open space. The actors use microphones when presenting the voices of characters other than the young women they portray. That’s a neat convention. Costuming is appropriate if suffering from the lean resources of an indie show. Someone working in the up-market financial field would dress smartly. The writing does lean into sentimentality at times, and this is particularly true of the plotting that creates an unacknowledged bond between the young women. Lucy Hayes also directs. Its pacy and a bit one-note. She misses some opportunities to finesse overlapping text which not only dramatises the connection between the two characters but supports the “everywoman” focus of the play. The feminism is all very digestible and like a 101 intro. Certainly, the young women in the audience found the work powerful and the age-appropriate text is bound to turn up in auditions everywhere. I didn’t find it as gripping as others have but there’s no doubt it is packing a punch. All power to those who produce new writing! Kate Gaul

Award winning Fishamble’s “King”, by writer and actor Pat Kinevane, tells the story of middle-aged Luther, a man from Cork named in honour of his Granny Bee Baw’s hero - Martin Luther King. Luther only leaves his spare apartment for essential journeys, and to perform as an Elvis impersonator. He doesn’t like people but is Ok if he is in disguise. The play explores prejudice, privilege, and resilience, as Luther struggles to live a full life. Pat Kinevane is one of Ireland’s theatrical sons and for lovers of Irish drama, “King” is a charmer. Director, Jim Culleton, assists in bringing this man living on the fringes of society who is falling through its cracks. A lonely man, a complicated family history, overwhelming personal and political oppression, death ever present, and the desire to keep talking to stave off the loneliness – all rich ingredients of a usual Irish play! Although the chatting is about incidents from the past the stakes are high as Luther prepares for a wedding gig where he will impersonate Elvis as a warmup to the karaoke, thanks to bride Indira, his local pharmacist. He’s hoping for a date with Flossy. A small inconsistency for someone who doesn’t like being around people. There are stories of his grandmother Bee Baw, the teacher Savage, his dead mother, and his father Pawdy who is easing towards death in a care home, and who Luther visits daily. On the almost bare stage small tasks are completed as the stories flow. Clothes are ironed, a floor is washed. There is a tango element to the action as Luther has a love of dance as did his parents. It represents his passion and his isolation. There are mysterious voiceovers giving a dark edge to the action telling Luther of Irish race-memory trauma and some instructions on tango. The movement sequences are a bit of an ask and the monologue is not improved by the impact of the solo dancing. But the text is gorgeous and carries the weight of the production with real humour and pathos. Indira leaves messages on the unanswered land line so we have a sense of an outside world to compliment Luther’s descriptions. She’s foul mouthed and very human. This is where “King” excels. Kinevane is a likeable presence and astute performer. This is an enjoyable piece and definitely one for the lovers of Irish theatre. Kate Gaul

Korea’s Theatre Haddangse presents “Wait!”, an exhilarating children's play about Bada, a young girl, creating an adventure of her own while she yearns for her fisherman dad to return home. The entire production is championing the use of imagination and a thousand ways to use cardboard. Once we enter the space all the audience is invited onstage to participate in around 15 minutes of hands-on creative work. We are asked to draw either a fish or a star and to outline it with some glow-in-the-dark sticky tape. The cast then Velcro the drawings onto sticks for use later in the production. Back in our seats, the cast bring out some cardboard coils and demonstrate how they can be made to look like boats or buildings or anything really. The entire production is non-verbal or rather, it’s a gibberish. It’s very accessible. We are introduced to Bada and her love of a baseball glove, catching and throwing. The cast perform a sequence and provide the foley sound effects from offstage. I gather this is a company signature as it was used to great effect in another production of theirs “At That Time, Byeon” – currently playing at Greenside as part of Edinburgh Fringe. It is extremely effective. Then something amazing happens – a large white screen falls to the ground at the back of the theatre and the cast literally sprawl on stage working flat on their backs. The action is streamed to the screen from a camera overhead. We can see both the cast working unnaturally on the ground and what looks the right way around on the screen. It becomes fun when the company use a combination of an actor lying on the ground and one standing upright. There are many comic and charming sequences. It becomes magical as Bada, our hero, enters an underwater environment. Like most theatre once we head into the “unreal” things get interesting. Blacklight is used to create a glow-in-the-dark scene inside a whale’s stomach. Dancing skeletons, stars in the night sky also glow. Occasionally a video animation is added to the scene – for example when Bada crawls though and underground tunnel the tunnel space is evident, and the rest of the screen is black. It's quite hard to describe the feeling of seeing how an effect is being created and the actual effect. The demystification of the process actually adds a layer of sophistication. This is 45 minutes of sheer genius from a highly energised, creative, and positive company. I am glad to have caught it. Oh, and we got to take our art works home. Kate Gaul

“Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!” currently playing a second year at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’m an Agatha Christie lover and an occasional obsessive when it comes to true crime. I’ve been a curious fan of the musical based on the first number the team released on You Tube and finally seeing the show did not disappoint. It is beyond fabulous; it’s high camp fun, fun, fun! The incredible cast have singing, acting, and dancing chops to burn. Kathy (Bronte Barbé) and Stella (Rebekah Hinds) play two true crime podcasters who find themselves attempting to solve a whodunnit unfolding around them. A misfit and a non-conformist make for an odd couple but outside of the podcast their prospects are bleak. They are going nowhere fast, their families are bugging them out of concern and their favourite author, Felicia Taylor, has just been killed. Can they solve the crime? The cast includes Jodie Jacobs as Felicia Taylor and all her family. TJ Lloyd as morgue attendant Justin and he is an absolute delight. Imelda Warren-Green as crazed fan Erica. Onstage are also Jacob Kohli (ensemble, cover Justin), and Sarah Pearson (ensemble, swing). A guitarist, two keyboards and a drummer make up the band. Its tight, loud, and outrageous! “Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!” is written and directed by Jon Brittain. Accompanied by punchy music and lyrics from Matthew Floyd Jones, who plays keyboard on stage, it has plenty of goose-bump moments, high notes, hilarious lyrics, and great vocal blends. The musical has little in the way of scenery – it’s the band and the cast, a small staircase, and a cork board backdrop, a couple of roller chairs and of course the all-important podcast microphone. I was impressed by the use of mobile and computer props – after all al lot happens on the internet nowadays. Costuming is spot on in terms of supporting character (set and costume design Cecila Carey) So, where is the substance – well it’s about some serious stuff: murders and miscarriages of justice; personal failure; appearances, and a welcome gentle recognition that anxiety and depression exist in many lives. It explores what drives the intense interest in true crime podcasts and who the audiences are all sharing both in the true crime community and the existential dread that accompanies these obsessions. The questionable ethics of some presenters gets a serve too. The centre of this musical is a terrific story about great friends and what friendship means. This musical isn’t breaking new ground. Its small and could be played in an intimate cabaret style space. The very GP, down-to-earth vibe is part of its growing popularity. Sometimes people just want a great night out and feel that what they are engaging in is about them too. “Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!” kills it! Kate Gaul

Raw Material & Traverse Theatre Company in association with Regular Music present a return season of “What Girls Are Made Of” – Cora Bissett was a teenager when her Glenrothes-based band “Darlingheart” secured one of the biggest record deals in Scottish music history and shot to fame. And this brilliant gig musical is a record of those years and what happened next. This is – believe it or not – is a totally relatable story. As Cora says, “dreams are fragile” and we all have them. We all know betrayal and disappointment as well as the highs of success. The dreams and naivety of youth are captured and reflects on by the now mature voice of experience – in disbelief of how little she knew at the time. “It’s the early 90s. In a small town in Fife, a girl is desperate to get out into the world. An ad in the local paper declares: Band Seeks Singer.” Based on her meticulously detailed teenage diaries, this is the true story of Cora Bissett’s rollercoaster journey from the girl she was to the woman she wanted to be. Directed by Orla O’Loughlin it flies by. The cast of four have a lot of fun making music and telling this story. Joining Cora Bisset are Harry Ward and Simon Donaldson – both guitarists who take on multiple roles: Cora’s mum, Thom York, smelly schoolgirl, bad band manager – are all memorable. Cathryn Archer plays the drums, keyboard, and guitar with great flair. Collectively, they create the soundscape of the 90s, from Darlingheart’s own songs to Radiohead. They cast occasionally use very heavy Scottish accents and its quite fun working out exactly what is being said. It does sound incredible. This is all plays on a geomatic stage design of levels by Ana Ines Labares-Pita which lights up colourfully and is basically a really slick space for the band. There are even colour co-ordinated drink bottles! Insights into teenage success where the band were still sitting exams, playing in school concerts, discovering little bottles of wine on the flight to London and the exploitation grip our attention. Then once the band breaks up and Cora struggles to find her way stories from the other side of life emerge. Her father’s dementia, her mother’s MS, and a long-held desire to find someone who wants the same things as her – a child. The brutally honest longing, the stories of miscarriages, inevitable death of parents is a reminder that we are always out of our depth as we navigate life’s big events. Bissett is a fabulous performer and as a musician her rendition of Patti Smith’s “Horses” sounds like an original. She dedicates the final song to her daughter, telling her “What Girls Are Made Of”. This is a huge inter-generational success: the young women in the audience were cheering for more as the show ended. The older women were dabbing eyes dry. Kate Gaul

Gunter Summerhall – Anatomy Lecture Theatre Edinburgh Fringe 2023 1605. Two boys have been murdered. Their mum wants justice. Brian Gunter is the richest in the village in the south of England and, with that, come intimidation and favours. A tense feud starts between the Gunters and the Gregorys, and when Brian’s daughter Anne falls ill, there’s only one thing that could have happened - she must have been bewitched. Dirty Hare (UK) present “Gunter”: a chaotic reimagining of the most notorious bewitchment case you've never heard of. This retelling has blood, honey, water, animal masks, squashed fruit and a banging soundtrack. As enter the space a video projection of contemporary football violence plays. Very male. Very ugly. This mirrors the ancient village in south of England’s hysteria over the possible bewitchment. It signals that this show is about the effects of violence and the patriarchy. Historian Lydia Higman - who wrote the show and plays electric guitar and drums side of stage - introduces a harrowing tale of misogyny and fear. Higman continues to narrate the story as required alongside projected titles to set each scene. The action is played out by three women Julia Grogan, Norah Lopez-Holden, and Hannah Jarrett-Scott. All great actors playing multiple characters with impressive three-part harmony singing which infuses the piece with a charged atmosphere. It’s a multi-talented and astute company of women in the feminist fringe work. That we are an old Anatomy Lecture Theatre adds to the ambience of witchy incantation and discovery. The character of Anne writhes, disappears, and reappears nails, is opening brazen – everything you’d expect from the damned. Anne is put on trial. Gunter is put on trial. It’s an edge of the seat ride with possibly predictable outcomes and it does feel a bit worthy by the end. But that doesn’t make the production any less enjoyable. This is drama, physical theatre, music, and history fused into a haunting story telling form by this all-female company. The real-life case drew the attention of academics, doctors, and even King James I, but most documents (as well as the result of the trial) have been lost in the chaos that ensued when the Gunpowder Plot failed (more ye olde English history!). “Gunter” is energetic, genuinely amusing, and quite original in its reclaiming of Anne’s voice. Kate Gaul

(Hong) Kong Girls Summerhall – Demonstration Lab Edinburgh Fringe 2023 From China “(Hong) Kong Girls” is a triple bill of three Hong Kong female choreographer-dancers: PK Wong, Alice Ma and Justyne Li. "Kong Girl" was once a negative label for non-normative women in Hong Kong. As time has passed with different political and social changes the title has been reclaimed and, "Kong Girl" has turned from a negative label to a positive one. Three female choreographers use totally different approaches to tell their own stories and to show their identity of being a "Kong Girl" with multi-perspectives. These perspectives are diverse and all grapple with the idea of bodily control and agency. PK Wong’s “Bird- watching” explores the freedom of the body and desire. Wong uses faceless nudity to arrest us with the presence of the body and at times the movements are terrifying. The length of the piece is challenging in a good way and has the audience move from connecting with any eroticism to considering the power and presence of the female body. Justyne Li’s “Bleed-through” is inspired by the way in a body is “programmed” by external instructions and therefore, movement is dictated from elsewhere. Her movements are jagged and puppet-like. It acknowledges that individually we can see and feel the body, and yet we are not aware of it. It is an oppositional idea and through this “Bleed-through” cuts to the core of structural violence on women’s bodies. Alice Ma’s “Wu” sees the jagged disintegration of a life-sized music box dancer – a Black Swan-esque fracturing of body and psyche that builds to a genuinely unsettling final image. The work is inspired by Wu’s feelings of ugliness and the need to deal with those thoughts. This work is perhaps the most conventional from a visual point-of-view but that does not diminish in any way it’s plea for change. Each piece is stylistically very different. The hour-long contemplation on bodies, ownership and acceptance is powerful. There is not attempt to make this more palatable and we cannot look away. “(Hong) Kong Girls” is very much a call to arms to smash stereotypes, a focus on resistance and a chance to recalibrate thoughts on objectification and the body. “(Hong) Kong Girls” is at the pointy-end of contemporary dance at Edinburgh Fringe and I am pleased to have encountered it. Kate Gaul

Laura Murphy, Contra and Carré Magique present the stunning “A Spectacle of Herself” at Summerhall. Directed with assurance by the great Ursula Martinez and performed by savvy Laura Murphy herself this is an audacious sequence of scenes exploring the frontiers of mental health, queerness, rage and the 21st Century space race. All of which off an alternate vision of being a woman in the world and on stage. Laura Murphy is a genre-defying queer performance maker from Bristol, who makes text-driven and dynamic physical performance about things that she thinks needs to be talked about. Challenging, intimate and spectacular, her work is a cross-disciplinary fusion of theatre, live art, circus, and verbal explosion. Technology is both form and content and Murphy’s video project work throughout the show is both innovative, accessible, and artful. When it starts it does feel like we are in for some critical theory and that the show “may be good for us”. But fear not, autobiography collides with creative practice to create a gym for the mind and a feast for the eyes. The aerial work is stunning and the resonant images and journey from the opening images of a fully clothed body to that of the closing images of the naked body are potent. Lived experience of autism, everyday sexism, violence, and abuse pepper the content. The lone male genius gets a poke. Using direct address, lip synch and karaoke, the work navigates the personal and political, to seek out new worlds and ways to be seen. It’s reminding us to question the status quo and maintain the rage! To be honest, the karaoke scene didn’t work for me – I just didn’t get it but I do love Whitney Houston. The final message is “Fuck the Patriarchy.” This is not the kind of show you take mum and dad to on a Saturday night (maybe you should) but it goes a long way to filling the void between easily digestible mainstream feminist fare and powerful, empowering, and provocative work. It’s the kind of thing that stays with you. Mesmerising! It's a super short premiere season in Edinburgh. I predict you will catch it on the festival circuit around the world. Kate Gaul

“Insomniac's Fable” communicates its story through strong visuals and two highly skilled performers over 45 minutes. It is performed by circus artist Sakari Männistö and Scottish dancer Erin O’Toole for Agit Cirk – a multidisciplinary company based in Finland. “Insomniac’s Fable” is an intimate contemporary circus and dance piece about the realities- or unrealities - of love. Creative Sakari Männistö has said “The genesis of this project was our interest in making a narrative piece combining dance, circus, and visual art, specifically the art of print making, and the techniques involved in woodcuts. We saw the relationship between a carved wooden block and the paper upon which it impresses a mirror image as a metaphor for two people’s perception of one event. Around these ideas, we constructed a story that is somewhere between the films “Vertigo” and “Inception”, sources that toy with layers of reality and the theme of love versus obsession.” Choreographer Emma Lister adds, “I’m very interested in dreams, in the literal sense of the journeys we take when asleep and the more conscious daydream: a future, a wish, a revenge or an idealised person. Here the dream is of the ‘perfect girl’. One who will fulfil all your desires, after them life will come together.” That’s what the blurbs tells us. For me it is charmingly non-narrative immersion blending dance, superb woodcut video animations (Angela Annesley), resonant music, graphic costumes, and juggling. The stage is set with a wafting white curtain. It takes projections, creates some visual niceties when artists are on the other side of it – but the best thing about the curtain is that is moves up and down stage and doesn’t always sit parallel to the audience. This little piece of theatrical trickery warmed my heart – so simple and all manipulated by the onstage cast, and yet wholly whimsical. Especially as the wafts are sometimes aided but an eclectic fan. Magic! There is an evocative eclectic soundtrack which works its own magic on the listener in the cocoon of the theatre. The dreamlike world is one of images and emotion. A beautiful sequence with a red ribbon and the moments when the performers are working inside the animation is beyond fabulous. Striking tableau also feature. The dancer atop a stepladder was breath-taking. Each moment is created and then disappears with the logic of a dream. Bookended as the piece is with the setting and striking of a ghost light begins and ends our journey. The work is elegant, redolent with space to write our own story and meaning, and a surreal early morning show that may just convince you that you are still inside your dreams. Kate Gaul

Written and performed but the incredible Will Pickvance “First Piano on the Moon” is an all-ages show centered around his passion for piano playing and his joy at breaking the mould and inspiring – nay, insisting - others to do the same. The stage is set with a piano, some pale coloured screens which take projected pencil line drawings, and his backpack. It seems there is nothing Will cannot do with a piano – he really can play Maple Leaf Rag while upside down. He shows us how if you only have one hand you can play the piano with a roll of gaffa tape; And of course, he can play a tune when the sheet music is the wrong way around. “First Piano on the Moon” is a narrative about a young Will who doesn’t really concentrate at school but can perform marvellous tricks (his words) on the piano. He receives an invitation to play piano in Salzburg to honour Mozart’s birthday. This is such a brilliant story that moves through time and space and about how “real genius always welcomes the new” (The Scotsman). Incredibly, the young pianists are all staying in Mozart’s Gerbutzhaus and Will teaches us this German word for birthplace. Will explains how Mozart was hearing music all the time and how his era was different to ours. He beautifully captures the wonder he feels at seeing the instruments Mozart played where sounds came from Mozart’s brain into his fingers and back into his ears again. He cannot sleep and that night, as he explores the halls and salons of this special place, he meets the ghost of Mozart. This cultural clash par excellence results in a sharing of musical styles – most of which are completely new to Mozart! What is jazz, blues or swing to a man of the 1700s? Audaciously Will thinks he can teach Mozart a thing or two. And into the wee hours the two – one trickster, one genius – share tricks and skills, introducing and reworking some classic tunes as well as theme tunes from “Bluey” and “Super Mario”. Pickvance has an onstage assistant to play Mozart and any of the other important characters in the story. There’s a telling admission on Will’s website – “When I was at school, I noticed that pianos were often locked, or stowed away under some dust cover, out of bounds. Why would you lock up a piano? Why would you prevent people from making them sing (or scream). The forbidden piano I recall best was one in Salzburg. In fairness, it was Mozart’s actual piano. But to stop people playing it full stop. What? Banned so that future generations may also be banned from playing it? Forget that. I needed to connect with the great composer. I was thrown out the museum by security after a few bars of Rondo alla Turca. Growing up, piano was my thing. I just loved it. But even at a young age I felt suppressed by attitudes, snobbery, expectation. These felt like just other ways in which the piano was locked up.” This light-hearted work has such integrity. It is made with care for its young audiences and is incredibly entertaining. Will Pickvance and team share the power of music in a tangible and artful way. It will leave you breathless with excitement and I guarantee you will never hear the tune “Happy Birthday” in the same way again. Kate Gaul

“Oh I do love to be beside the Sea Side!” especially the imaginary sea side of virtuosic clown Olly Gully who is writer and performer of this comic one-act gem! The Story - Chris and Christine are a seasoned seaside mother-son double-act. But when Christine mysteriously refuses to perform, Chris' chaotic solo-effort takes both dangerously out of their depth. Directed by Sophie Mercell this camp and irreverent 60-minute romp takes a darkly-comic dive into the unfathonable deep. Olly Gully borrows from old fashioned sea-side entertainment and some of the jokes and tropes are deliberately recognisable. The former women’s locker room at Summerhall is set with a red, white, and gold trimmed curtain behind which is the “backstage” where quite a bit is going to happen. There is a blow-up child’s pool full of colourful props, a microphone, and a music stand with several laminated title slides to announce each scene. Gully stands before us in a gorgeous off-white baggy pants suit, blue shirt and red bowtie and cummerbund. From his pockets flow endless silk hankies on occasion. Olly Gully creates consciously theatrical work with a particular focus on exploring LGBTQIA+ themes and mental health. The happy face of the clown hides its opposite. In “Sea Words” our beleaguered entertainer and his relationship with Christine point to modern day mental health challenges in the modern family. How do we navigate the treatment of mental health across generations when one person needs help but doesn't know what, and the other wants to help but doesn't know how? Other socially conscious themes include the effect of plastics in the sea and sponsorship deals, in this case with a water refinery. Don’t worry – we are on the colourful high seas and character Chris never lets us become becalmed. Bouncing on the surface of the choppy seas is a three-dimensional character with energy that burns as might as magnesium. Olly Gully keeps us laughing, interacting, and joining him in the occasional blue joke. His beaming smile, elastic physicality, and excellent design choices all make this show a winner. The desert island routine with the last chocolate is so daggy and so delightful. Pure gold clowning. What a privilege to be in the room. Go see this show!! Kate Gaul

The Insider Zoo Venue – Edinburgh Fringe 2023 Denmark’s Teater Katapult’s present “The Insider”- a work that successfully turns complex accounting law into a mesmerising theatrical event. This is a play by writer Anna Skov Jensen about the Cum-Ex strategy: an illicit and intricate scheme that saw over billions robbed from European treasuries and illegally paid out to a complex network of lawyers and bankers, taking advantage of the labyrinthine bureaucracy surrounding share dividend rebates. Mmm- it took me a while to get into it. A young unnamed lawyer, played by Christoffer Hvidberg Rønje, is in a Perspex box which becomes the places in which he operates and his prison. Through projection and lighting effects, we learn how he is drawn into the scheme, helps recruit others, and how the complex crime actually takes place. From interrogation room to business meetings, nightclubs to his home and even in the shower, we eavesdrop as his life unravels. It’s an emotional, physical, and technically astute performance. Through binaural headsets for the audience, we are fed distorted versions of his voice and other voices, arguing, or conversing with him. We hear every breath, every scrape of pen on paper, every thrilling movement within the cube, and the lines of the characters he connects with. “The Insider” is like a radio-play and makes for an intensely voyeuristic immersive and nightmarish experience. The young lawyer and father draws cartoon figures and piles of cash on the walls as he is seduced into embezzling millions as he beings to believe he’s not part of society, he’s above it: an apex predator, feeding on invisible victims. Christoffer Hvidberg Rønje is compelling to watch as he tumbles into cocaine binges, rages at his children, and tries to justify himself to incredulous prosecutors. In one scene he uses golden glitter to suggest a drug binge and the incredible wealth he is attracting. It sticks to his sweat glistened skin, and he looks like a god who is falling from grace as he crawls, jumps, and dives around his prison. It is hard going to stick to all the facts and figures and it’s tricky to empathise with the guy who you know is in the wrong – this isn’t an easy work. We know these dudes didn’t get away with it – but they could have. The imagery and technical wizardry certainly dress up a Faustian pact. Anna Skov Jensen’s play is a unique reflection on greed and the cost of succumbing to temptation. Kate Gaul