Category: Reviews

This morning I decided to try out one of the Free Fringe shows, where performers are totally reliant on the kindness of strangers to pay for their venue and accommodation. Azalea Slade’s audience members weren’t strangers for very long, however, as she cajoled them into…

When Antonio Forcione first came to the UK from Italy he used to busk in London. Now he’s an award-winning guitarist and composer who has played with Paul McCartney and is performing elsewhere in the Fringe with Willem Dafoe’s wife. He hasn’t been around for…

So I am wondering just how this production manages to bring in its set and dismantle it in 10 minutes! The miniscule stage is chockablock with the equipment you’d find on a spacecraft, and when that spacecraft begins to fail the two astronauts stick duct…

With well over 3,000 productions to choose from, seeing two shows by the same actor is a bit of an indulgence. But indulge myself I did after seeing Sam Blythe’s stand-out performance in Method in My Madness. As I left the auditorium I was already…

Navigating the Fringe is always a matter of trial and error, so when you find something really special you want to shout it from the rooftops. Unfortunately, I only happened on this show a couple of days before it ends. But its message will stay…

If this site was called ukmusicnetwork.com this would be a music review. But it’s not and, besides, there is so much more to Queendoms Unplugged than just music. It’s a theatrical event, with singer, songwriter and composer Agadez, often bathed in purple light, weaving a…

Wild dancing and hillbilly music sets the scene for this powerful piece by a young company from North Carolina. Or does it? The American West has been ravaged by drought for the last six years and writer, director and founder of Center Heart Theater Company,…

Michelle Collins knows how to do resentful and vindictive. She’s been wreaking havoc as Cindy Beale in BBC’s EastEnders off and on for more than 30 years so she’s well practised.. But in this dark comedy we see different sides to her – as a…

We all know that theatre isn’t just about entertaining. Nor is it just about transporting us into a magical world. It’s a platform for addressing the issues of the day, and for getting people to think differently. In this year’s Fringe there is the usual…

Everyone must be a bit batty to put on their own show at the Fringe! To take the chance of attracting enough of an audience to pay for your venue and your accommodation among 3,000+ other shows is a crazy idea.  Victoria Firth has even…