Blogged is a round up my FringeGuru reviews from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A pleasantly unexpected offer to join the Zoo Venues tech crew meant I was able to cover far less performance than I had hoped. Thanks to the great scheduling skills of Richard, FringeGuru Editor, I was able to attend a number of performances on press freebies. In return to the companies, I hope that any observations or criticisms made were helpful. I didn’t hate anything I saw with FringGuru, even that which I awarded a solitary star to had exceptional merits.

I had specified an interest in university work, young companies, new writing and glitter and this was well matched in what I was sent to review. Below are snippets of the original reviews with links to the full text on FringeGuru.com

Roar, ★★★★
Dumbshow
C-venues, C, 3-15, 17-29 Aug

There is a great melding of the contemporary and 17th Century across the whole production. Dumbshow creates a pidgin historicism that feels bizarrely accurate. It creates a great aesthetic: the gin-soaked girls of Moll’s gang look like Bellatrix Lestrange has rolled around in a tin of Quality Street.

Malfi, ★★★★
Offshoots (in association with Lancaster University Theatre Group)
Bedlam Theatre, 22-27 Aug

The mysterious masked chorus are a magnificent touch. They simmering under white fedoras and immaculate trench coats. Violent and terrifying, they’re also exceptionally cool. It is a hugely impressive device, surprising but instantly familiar that lifts the mood of the production from mere mimicry of movie tropes, to inspired expressive design.

The Nose, ★★★★
Fat Git Theatre
theSpaces on North Bridge, 15-20, 22-27 Aug

The live music is a real joy, adding a zippy sense of pace and cartoon-like humour to the action. The instruments were played excellently but it was the resourcefulness of the musicians that really made the score sparkle. A typewriter becomes an orchestra in itself, and rustling papers make a great underscore for the clerical newspaper offices.

The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo, ★★★
Misshapen Theatre
Pleasance Courtyard, 3-16, 18-29 Aug

The focus on character means the atmosphere never gets too uncomfortable, even when talk turns to fetishes, anonymous encounters and sexual deviancy. It’s deftly done and avoids titillation for its own sake. The characters are rounded, believable and extremely likeable despite their personal, hypocritical shortcomings.

The Cagebirds, ★★★
Liverpool University Drama Society
Greenside, 5-13 August

The Cagebirds is an excellent display of the strength of student theatre where the cast work as a tight ensemble. Only an aesthetic that feels halfway there stops this bird from really taking wing.

The Ducks, ★★★
Human Hand / SEArED
Pleasance Courtyard, 3-29 Aug

It appears that the production is banking on the strength of the script to carry the show, but unfortunately falls short. All the same, there are moments of unexpected lyricism, which suggest there may be more to The Ducks than this stripped-back production brings out.

Coal Head, Toadstool Mouth and Other Stories, ★★★
Sussex University Drama Society
theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 9-13, 15-20, 22-27 Aug

The whimsical, episodic tales that make up Coal Head, Toadstool Mouth and Other Stories lose all their magic in this space. Yet they are kept compelling by the excellent storytelling skills of the talented four-strong company. They tell the tales of unfortunate puppets and pupae with skilful narration and character performances.

Sweet Charity, ★
Northern Theatre Company
C venues, C, 14-29 Aug

The company do well to carry on through the constant cat-calls and laughter derived from their endeavours, even when tripping spectacularly across the set. If only they would realise that what they have produced is no grimy piece of social commentary but a rough and ready celebration of camp, they could well attract an appreciative underground audience.