Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: Monkeys Everywhere | The Tree and Her Tale | Tweedy’s Massive Circus

A five-star show about a monkey with mental health issues and a glorious homecoming for a Scottish clown are among the highlights in our critics’ round-up of Edinburgh Fringe shows for children

Garry Starr in Monkeys Everywhere | Pic: Contributed

Monkeys Everywhere

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

★★★★★

You know you’ve struck gold when the grown-ups at a children’s show are laughing as hard (sometimes harder) than their young charges. It’s also a sign of success when little ones feel comfortable enough to interact, verbally and physically, in moments of clear glee but don’t disrupt a show’s flow. Garry Starr achieves all this and much, much more in his superb new family show, Monkeys Everywhere. 

Yet it could easily not have been the case. A children’s show that attempts to capture and convey the performer’s mental health difficulties is ripe for moments where nobody knows quite what to think or feel. Fear not, because Starr and director Olivia Jacobs (of Tall Stories fame) have constructed an hour of fun that never stops giving. Bounding onto the stage, dressed as an Elizabethan but moving like a monkey, Starr sets his stall out early. He’s not afraid to make a fool of himself and, much to our delight, has a whole range of props and a fabulous set to help make that happen. 

Using monkeys as a metaphor for the intrusive thoughts that infiltrate his mind, Starr spends the entire show trying to write its ending. Each time he attempts to focus, another disruption arrives – each as hilarious as the last and totally unexpected (so no spoilers here). Intermittent, and very funny, phone calls from the ‘Minister of Theatre’ help keep everyone up to speed with what’s happening. They also include the poignant line, “the only thing more exhausting than having monkeys everywhere, is trying to pretend they’re not”, which will resonate with parents of children who mask their feelings to get through the day.

Such is the sensitivity, wit and charm of this show, the mental health message will land with some, fly over the heads of others. Which is absolutely fine, because either way you’ll have a great time. 

Kelly Apter

until 25 August

The Tree and Her Tale

Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30)

★★★☆☆

A boy develops an unlikely friendship with a magical storytelling tree in this intimate show. With warmth and a welcoming presence, Jess Aquilina seamlessly blends storytelling with basic shadow puppetry and atmospheric music, both of which she visibly creates and controls on stage.

Using a projection screen and small paper puppets, the tale unfolds of a boy who receives stories from a tree and shares them with the village. When the tree's ability to tell stories is dramatically blown away by the wind, its life is put in danger, and it is up to the boy to save her.

The makeshift screen used for projection adds a charming, rustic quality to the performance and the simple setup further enhances the show's warmth and accessibility.

This original and heartwarming show highlights the power storytelling has to bring people together. Smaller tales of adventure and friendship are scattered throughout. Although these are highly abridged versions or summaries of tales, they provide a glimpse into the wealth of stories the tree holds within her leaves.

The deterioration of the tree serves as a poignant reminder of life's fragility, the importance of friendship in tough times, and the strength and support friendship can offer.

Suzanne O'Brien

until 13 August

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Tweedy’s Massive Circus

Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows (Venue 360)

★★★★☆

It’s pleasing to see Tweedy return to Scotland, tripping over his feet all the way. As an integral part of the Gloucestershire-based Gifford’s Circus, which blends the trappings of a traditional circus with high-end acts from around the world, Tweedy is a vastly experienced clown and a household name in the south-west of England.

What’s unusual, however, is that neither he nor his real-life alter-ego Alan Digweed could get arrested in Scotland, despite being born and raised in Aberdeen and using his Scottishness as part of his onstage persona. Perhaps that will all change this year, because Tweedy’s taken time off from Gifford’s to bring his own Underbelly-produced show to the Fringe. Directed by John Nicholson of Peepolykus, it’s got toilet humour for the smallest kids and skilful stunts to impress the most long-in-the-tooth circus fan.

In the show, Tweedy has received money from benefactor Lady Loren (Loren O’Dair) to put on his own circus. While we’re waiting for the ‘real’ performers to arrive, he stages demonstrations of a range of traditional circus acts along with sidekick Sam (Sam Goodburn, also a gifted stunt performer) and musician Reuben (Reuben Greeph), each destined to come to an apparently hapless end which actually does a very good job of demonstrating the stuntwork and acrobatics involved in high-level clowning.

The audience witnesses Tweedy attempt to fix a bodged trick by nerve-wrackingly walking a ladder around the stage while perched atop it, and Sam’s walk across a loose gaffer-tape highwire is similarly heart-in-mouth. There are feats of juggling, and Tweedy’s balance board stunt becomes a magic ring trick and a piece of escapology in one. This is also the only place on the Fringe you’ll see a dinosaur climb aerial silks. It’s a show which deserves to see its star hailed as a homecoming hero.

David Pollock

until 21 August