All stories by Mark Fisher on BroadwayStars

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape review – Chekhovian attempt to capture a political turning point by Mark Fisher

Pitlochry festival theatreAt a dinner party attended by a child ghost and a goading TV pundit warning of apocalypse, a middle-class literati find themselves on the brink of social upheaval P…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:49PM
Thursday, August 24, 2023

Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts and ‘solve-along’ Murder She Wrote: bizarre fringe parodies by Mark Fisher

On Edinburgh fringe stages, pop is eating itself with a series of pastiches and tributes that riff on TV hits and surreal celebrity reimaginings This review goes out in honour of Gerard Slev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:13PM
Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Edinburgh fringe musicals: a bedside view of marriage, Covid diaries and Shamilton! by Mark Fisher

The festival’s musicals this year range from theatrical introspection to a rip-roaring improvisation inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash hit The world’s most popular musicals have o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AM
Thursday, August 17, 2023

Blizzard review – Emily Woof’s delightful storm of ideas and feeling by Mark Fisher

Summerhall, Edinburgh This brainy solo show follows Woof’s intuitive thinker, standing in to deliver a lecture for her hyper-rational neuroscientist husband And she starts off chatting to …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49PM

Miniaturised shows tackle big problems at the Edinburgh festival by Mark Fisher

Two inventive productions, Dimanche and Concerned Others, use puppetry and object-theatre to tackle vast environmental and social subjects Such is the enormity of the problems facing humanit…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:07AM
Wednesday, August 16, 2023

What Happened to Agnes review – beguiling song cycle tells of family’s loss by Mark Fisher

C Aurora, EdinburghThe long-ago disappearance of a great-aunt is explored in Nishla Smith’s captivating performance, enhanced by hand-painted animations For decades, Nishla Smith’s famil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:55PM

Leech or saviour? Edinburgh fringe show spotlights theatre’s vexed relationship with critics by Mark Fisher

Attachment: The Leech Show is a merry romp about an influential reviewer and sums up the industry’s paradoxical attitude to theatre criticism Advice has been circulating among fringe compa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:07AM
Monday, August 14, 2023

The Last of the Soviets review – newsreaders navigate brutal truths and propaganda by Mark Fisher

Zoo Playground, EdinburghInspired by the work of Nobel-winning Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, this is a disturbing but blackly funny piece Every performance of The Last of the So…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:07AM
Saturday, August 12, 2023

As Far as Impossible review – humanitarian aid staff share their extraordinary stories by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghDevastating testimonies from field hospitals, jungles and mountain outposts are performed verbatim-style in Tiago Rodrigues’s disquieting show It feels like an intru…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:13AM

Nova review – female Casanova’s very ordinary escapades by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghObehi Janice’s one-woman show collects her adventures in the dating game but they don’t lead anywhere that interesting Obehi Janice had friends at school who, like…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:04AM

To see or not to see: Edinburgh fringe’s startling plays about perception by Mark Fisher

Two new shows at the festival question senses of hearing and sight in engaging and eccentric ways Seeing is believing, right? That is a phrase used repeatedly by Mamoru Iriguchi and co-star …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:55AM
Friday, August 11, 2023

Edinburgh fringe with the family: five shows for kids by Mark Fisher

Imaginary friends, runaway horses and Roger McGough’s take on the Wind in the Willows are among the treats for younger audiences at the festival Summerhall, 11.30am, until 20 August Contin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:07AM
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Salty Irina review – pacy tale of infiltrating extremism and everyday resistance by Mark Fisher

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghUpset by racist attacks in their town, a young couple attempt to get to know the culprits in Eve Leigh’s new play Anyone running a far-right festival woul…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:07PM

Adults review – sex comedy gets serious about state of the nation by Mark Fisher

Traverse theatre, EdinburghA high-school English teacher and his former star pupil meet in a brothel in Kieran Hurley’s new play With this uneven three-hander, Kieran Hurley has fielded tw…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:49AM

Andronicus Synecdoche review – Shakespeare as gruesome gothic opera by Mark Fisher

Zoo Southside, EdinburghPolish company Song of the Goat strip Titus Andronicus back to tell a brutal tale of postwar violence, betrayal and revenge If you are going to tell Shakespeare’s t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:49AM

Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz review – charming debut play by Mark Fisher

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghReflecting on feelings, dating and brotherly love, Nathan Queeley-Dennis’s first drama is fun and frothy This one-man show by Nathan Queeley-Dennis is wri…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:25AM

Polko review – parked car drama about a trio driven to despair by Mark Fisher

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghThree characters take stock of their low-key lives in Angus Harrison’s cleverly plotted show If Chekhov were writing today, maybe he would be setting his …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:13AM
Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Strategic Love Play review – witty ins and outs of the dating game by Mark Fisher

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghIn Miriam Battye’s comedic tour de force, Her and Him go through the motions of getting to know each other Given the survival of the species depends on it…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:55AM
Monday, August 7, 2023

Sean and Daro Flake It ’Til They Make It review – sharp-talking Glasgow comedy by Mark Fisher

Traverse, EdinburghLaurie Motherwell’s avoidance of cliche is commendable, but it does leave this tale of a get-rich-quick scheme with little sense of jeopardy Playwright Laurie Motherwell…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33PM

Dark Noon review – extraordinary outsider vision of American history by Mark Fisher

Pleasance @ EICC, EdinburghSouth African actors replay the brutal events of the US’s formation as a catalogue of poverty, struggle, violence and pain We know the story. We have heard it to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:55AM

The Grand Old Opera House Hotel review – head-spinning operatic comedy by Mark Fisher

Traverse, EdinburghIsobel McArthur’s gag-filled farce takes place in a bland modern hotel with a previous life as an opera house Early in Isobel McArthur’s head-spinning new comedy, ther…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:49AM
Sunday, August 6, 2023

England & Son review – Mark Thomas’s funny and ferocious telling of a lost childhood by Mark Fisher

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghPlaywright Ed Edwards frames the story of a juvenile offender through the lens of colonialism In his 2018 play The Political History of Smack and Crack, Ed …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AM

No Love Songs review – new parents are torn apart in gig-theatre show by Mark Fisher

Traverse, Edinburgh A mother is overwhelmed by postnatal depression, just as her musician partner gets a big break, in this heartfelt show drawn from life There is a tremendous amount of hea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:25AM
Saturday, August 5, 2023

Heaven review – the bittersweet taste of love by Mark Fisher

Traverse, Edinburgh A couple gradually face up to the emotional life choices they’ve made, in this compellingly acted, exquisitely written play by Eugene O’Brien It is a game we all pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:13PM

Guffy review – twisty tale of flawed motherhood by Mark Fisher

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh The traumatic secret at the heart of Glenna Morrison’s play hits the audience as a shock – but would the drama be greater if we knew all along? Many people…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:37AM
Friday, August 4, 2023

Ramalama Ding Dong review – engaging tales of cultural crossfire in Swansea by Mark Fisher

Summerhall, EdinburghWelsh-Iranian musician Roshi Nasehi spins her heritage into standup that is most impressive when she works the stories into sound pieces Having established herself as a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM

Pleasure Little Treasure review – a jolly take on toxic masculinity by Mark Fisher

Underbelly Cowgate, EdinburghNamed after a song by Elina Alminas’s Estonian father’s favourite band, Depeche Mode, this show takes on the boorish failings of the former Soviet republic P…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:55AM
Thursday, August 3, 2023

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria review – a monarch’s missing morals by Mark Fisher

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghWittily drawn historical drama follows self-effacing leader ill-equipped to deal with the encroaching Nazi menace If you think actor Joseph Cullen is cartoonish at t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AM
Friday, July 28, 2023

Around the World in 80 Days review – Fogg on the Lune by Mark Fisher

Williamson Park, LancasterSam Jones brings innocent charm to the role of Jules Verne’s hero in an outdoor version that roams around the park if not quite the globe Jules Verne’s caper is…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:49AM
Monday, July 17, 2023

Jekyll and Hyde review – Shakespearean style shows another side to Stevenson thriller by Mark Fisher

Glasgow Botanic GardensBard in the Botanics stages Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella as a tense three-way struggle that asks big questions about human nature It is not quite a Dylan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:13AM
Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Chester’s Mystery Plays: good v evil parables at their most elemental by Mark Fisher

Director John Young energises this medieval community-theatre tradition with a dynamic and dreamlike journey from the crucifixion to the last judgment It is an inspired idea to present the M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AM

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