Hey readers!
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest arts festival and is well-known across the globe. Despite living in the United Kingdom, I had never actually been to Edinburgh Fringe before, so this marked a brand-new experience. I was fortunate enough to catch the tail-end of the festival, seeing four performances in the space of two days. In spite of the limited time, I throughly enjoyed myself and it was great to experience it at long last. I was particularly impressed with the wide range of different experiences available, and there really is something there for everyone. Without further ado, here are the productions that I saw during my time at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe:
1700's Old Town Underground Vaults Experience
"Visit the largest network of 1700s Old Town underground vaults and hear tales of how the poor and unfortunate lived in these former slums. Explore the candlelit vaults – once the haunt of criminals, body snatchers and witches alike! Each vault has stories of crime, disease, death and lots more, and your guide shall enlighten you with all the gory details."
The Old Town Underground Vaults are said to be one of Edinburgh's most haunted locations, and there have been several alleged sightings of ghosts throughout the past few decades. The vaults have been in existence for over 300 years, meaning that they are filled with history dating all the way back to the 18th Century. It was so interesting to unlock Edinburgh's past, exploring all that has occurred underneath the city's bustling streets. I was particularly intrigued to learn how dozens of individuals used the vaults as their place of residence, as well as the different obstacles they would encounter during their stay. Hordes of people were forced to live in these vaults, suffering extreme poverty and the continuous threat against their own safety. The tour guide did an excellent job at delivering the presentation, and was extremely charismatic. She was particularly skilled at improvisation, and conversed well with the tour group.
Robert Temple: The Hypnotist - Live & Outrageous
"Forget goatee beards and swinging watches... Robert Temple is making hypnosis great again - and there isn't a clucking chicken in sight! Whether you want to transform into the star of the show or just get "achey-face" from laughing with the people who do, Robert Temple has the answer."
Hypnosis is an extraordinary feat, and this show proves to be a fascinating display of this rare talent as well as the various ways it can be utilised. I was flabbergasted at numerous points throughout the show, and to say these skills are magical would be an understatement. Beyond the hypnosis element, Robert Temple also incorporates a comedy routine into the show. The seamless combination of hypnosis and comedy is very entertaining, and there were some extremely amusing moments. Temple himself is a skilled performer and did well to keep the audience engaged from beginning to end. He is clearly very talented in his field; he did well to judge the level of consciousness of his participants, carefully observing which participants were more susceptible to the powers of hypnosis. Temple's act is certainly unique, and I haven't seen anything like it for quite some time.
Miss Lindsay's Secret
"Come in. Shut the door. Open the box. What’s inside? Concealed for over a century, this intimate tale of a Scottish seamstress binds the gentle hills of Glenesk to Canada’s heady Klondike gold rush. Using original live music, drama and historical material from Glenesk Museum, a lively and moving local story, woven into Scotland’s national identity, reaches across time and continent. This compelling show grows from a deep respect for material culture, in an age when life stories are lost to the ether."
Miss Lindsay's Secret follows an interesting narrative, based entirely on a true story. It tells the tale of a long-lasting correspondence between two partners, detailing the history of their relationship. The majority of the play is told in an epistolary format and it very much reminded me of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, which was recently revived in London's West End. It's a very touching story, especially when one considers that these were actual people. The tale displays a series of missed opportunities related to lost love, and parts of it are truly heartbreaking. Miss Lindsay's Secret is performed by a family of three, with the parents taking on the acting roles and their daughter providing the play's musical score with her violin. They were all very talented, and I thoroughly enjoyed their performances. It is also worth noting that leading actress Maria MacDonell wrote the play herself, signifying the wide range of her talents.
Sweet F.A.
"1916. Women’s football is fast becoming the most popular game in the land. One Edinburgh factory team fights for their right to play the beautiful game. From the producers of the five-star, sell-out A War of Two Halves – audiences can expect a similar blend of history, humour, passion and poignancy with even more live music and song. Performed in the open air on a specially-built stage within the main stand at Tynecastle Park – the play dramatises the little known truth about what happened to the women's game..."
They always say save the best for last, and that was certainly true for my experience with Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Sweet F.A. proved to be the overall highlight. Not only was the play itself excellent, but I was stunned by the surroundings. There is nothing more fitting than a play about football being set at an actual football stadium, so I commend the producers for having made this possible. It's a very interesting story, and it's extraordinary to think that it's all based on true events. I was not previously familiar with the history of women's football, so it was fascinating to explore its background and the hurdles that female footballers encountered during the early 1900's. In addition to this, the cast were all outstanding and there wasn't a weak link among them. Each and every one of them had excellent comedic timing, though they did well to convey the more serious elements of the play too. The actors had a wide range of talents, and this was the perfect play to showcase these skills. The inclusion of a musical score was also very nice and added to the overall atmosphere of the piece.
Thanks for reading!
-The Basic Theatre Reviewer
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