Edinburgh Fringe 2019: 5 of the Best Shows Finishing This Week
The Fringe's second weekend is on its way, the two-third mark fast approaching. By Monday, 66.6% of your time to get your fill of its weird and wonderful shows will have been used up. But you're not worried . You've always been a leave it late sort of gal. And, besides, you'll still have another full week to catch everything you wanted to see. Loads of time. Easy.
OR SHOULD YOU IN FACT BE VERY WORRIED IN DEED??!!
Well no, of course not. That won't help. But it might be worth remembering that not every show sticks around until the party's over – more than a few make a discreet exit at the end of the second week. They're just cool that way.
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Hide AdTo help you out, below is a list of some excellent shows, as selected by Scotsman critics, which you can still see this weekend.
Theatre review: Tricky Second Album, Pleasance Dome, Until 18 August
“Don’t expect to have fun, be uplifted or sit comfortably. Don’t expect to learn anything, particularly about art/pop group the KLF, upon whose 1994 burning of one million pounds on the Scottish island of Jura the concept rests. Instead, this is an hour of angry, abrasive and seethingly full-of-energy pushing at the boundaries.
It feels like a millennial scream of rage at a society where even raising a child or making art demands that you prove your own monetary value – and an exquisitely performed one, if we accept that good performance doesn’t mean your audience have to warm to you.”
Subject Mater, Paradise in the Vault, Until 17 August (Fringe First Award winner)
“A theatrical ode to a vivacious, egocentric Frenchwoman and mother, who fills a kitchen with romance, this semi-autobiographical show, written and co-performed by Nadia Cavelle, is as delicious as the peaches being chopped in its chic on-stage kitchen”
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Hide AdLipSync, Summerhall, Until 17 August (Fringe First Award winner)
“They are dressed identically in white overall suits, they often speak in unison, they both seem to be playing the same character; and at first it seems we may be looking at a play set in the near future, perhaps about the kind of artificial intelligence that imitates a human presence.
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Hide AdIn fact, though, LipSync - created by Cumbernauld Theatre as part of its Invited Guest programme, telling unique stories from the community around the theatre - is using these tropes and techniques for another reason entirely, which only becomes apparent as we learn that the show’s only character, Kirsty Young, is telling us about her experience of living with cystic fibrosis, a disease which gradually robs sufferers of lung capacity and therefore of the ability to breathe, leaving them with a life expectancy of around 36 years, and often less.”
Read our full review hereScottish Jazz and Beyond (Parts 1-3), Queen's Hall, Until 17 August
“Throwing a spotlight on just a few of the collaborations current in Scottish contemporary jazz, this opening night was a creatively sparky and often exciting showcase.”
Fox-tot!, Edinburgh Academy, Until 16 August
“The show itself is simple yet fun. The beautiful voices of mezzo-soprano Katie Grosset and counter-tenor Daniel Keating-Roberts deliver composer Lliam Paterson’s basic lines (“Blue sky”, “Little leaves”, “plip, plop, rain won’t stop”) as an inquisitive fox puppet sets out to discover what it feels like to be another animal: a cat, a frog, a butterfly.
Each new character comes as a surprise, re-engaging the young audience’s interest. Meanwhile, designers Giuseppe Belli and Emma Belli have gifted the toddlers a bright, tactile set, with huge fluffy balls representing the sun and moon rolled out, just ripe for the touching.”