Edinburgh Festival 2013
I just spent a week in bonny Scotland, which I can confirm is very bonny indeed. We had a really nice time, visiting beaches like the one above in Anstruther, and the one below in Crail.
We drove through the Highlands, marvelling at the mountains of Glencoe.
We stopped at Loch Ness and went out onto the waters to find the mythical beast Nessie (though mostly to catch some sun and enjoy the lush view).
We went to St. Andrews to see where Kate and Wills fell for one another and explore this gorgeous old city by the sea.
But mostly, we stayed in Edinburgh to soak up the festival spirit (drink a lot of beer), and see what felt like a thousand and one fringe shows. It would take me about ten posts to go into detail about everything I saw in the past week, so I will briefly summarise my favourites. Hopefully I can give you some recommendations if you are heading to Edinburgh this year, or if you happen to see these shows on tour near you.
The best stand-ups I saw were Alex Horne's show Lies (so inventive and funny!), and James Acaster, which made me view Yoko Ono and biscuits in a whole new light. I was dragged along to see Sandi Toksvig's show My Valentine, and wasn't sure what to expect. Only because I didn't think of Sandi as a stand-up per se, just someone is always brilliantly funny on panel shows, and who starred in No. 73 when I was a child. Of course she was amazing (and in front of a bloody huge audience!), and she reminisced about No.73! Good times. My Son's Not Rainman by John Williams is stand-up with a difference. It contains highly personal anecdotes about his autistic son that are surprisingly funny, and he makes you feel quite at ease with laughing about this difficult subject. There were also a few tears shed during this show, not my own you understand.
For serious theatre I loved Missing by Gecko, this was a physical theatre and dance masterpiece with a huge visual impact. I have been telling everyone to see this! I also really liked On The One Hand by The Paperbirds Theatre Company which is a clever and comic play from this feminist theatre group, which also had a great set design. Choose Your Own Documentary by Nathan Penlington is a brilliant show based on the Choose Your Own Adventure books, it is both touching and humorous, and the audience get electronic devices to vote on which direction each show takes. Long Live The Little Knife by David Leddy is a powerful and often funny play. I loved his play Sub Rosa a few years ago at the festival, so I was really looking forward to this. It has had really good reviews, and it was just fantastic. I also went to see two days of Bite Size Plays which showcases both new writing and slightly older short plays. They are mostly duologues, and are all really well acted. Worth a look.
I love sketch comedy and see everything that The Beta Males do in Edinburgh. Their show this year didn't disappoint, and was hilarious. They even have a mysterious new fifth member....where did he spring from and why?... I saw Irish trio Foil, Arms and Hog for the first time, which had some sketches that managed to be both clever and very silly at the same time. Max and Ivan are always fantastic, and their show The Reunion was hilarious! This isn't really sketch comedy, but I highly recommend Knightmare Live if you loved the TV show when you were a kid. It's so funny, and I even got the same illogical panic when evil things/people entered the rooms that I did as a child. I was also keen to see Birthday Girls (pictured below with Rose getting a real birthday cake) as they seem to be the only all-female sketch comedy group in Edinburgh. Correct me if I'm wrong. They used to be part of Lady Garden whose previous shows I have enjoyed, but they have lost two of them along the way. What happened to them? Why are my favourite sketch groups losing and gaining members willy nilly? Who knows, but it has been another excellent Edinburgh Festival! Well done all you funny/serious theatre people!
