Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: Fatal Flower | A Brief History of Neurodivergence + more

Fatal Flower

Summerhall (Venue 26)

★★★★☆

As a teenager, Valentina Tóth was a prodigy at the piano, landing a classical music record deal and playing at Carnegie Hall before she turned twenty. She always hated it, though, and soon decided to pour her musical talent – plus her astonishing voice and considerable capacity for clownish comedy – into experimental theatre instead.

Valentina Tóth in Wild Flower | Anne van Zantwijk

Her first show, Fatal Flower, has been a big hit in her native Netherlands, and now makes its English-language premiere at Summerhall. It is bonkers but brilliant – a structurally scrappy 75-minutes of skits, stories and songs, loosely based on the theme ‘hysterical women’ and powered by a manically intense performance from Tóth.

Lots of it is autobiographical, much of it centring on Tóth’s intertwined relationships with her talent and her body. She impersonates her intimidating Russian piano teacher, who demanded she lose weight for a concert. She recounts a strange sexual assault on a nudist beach in Switzerland. She transforms into a Southern Belle to sing an entertainingly grisly country song about killing the woman her partner cheated with.

Plenty of it is not about Tóth’s own life, though. She also invents a Spanish soap opera to illustrate the devastating impact of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, which saw thousands of parents erroneously accused of benefit fraud, and she delivers a remarkable rendition of Mozart’s Queen Of The Night aria from The Magic Flute. Classical references to Medea and Medusa are woven throughout the show, too.

Tóth performs all this and more with unflagging vigour in a variety of over-the-top costumes on an open stage with little more than an upright piano and a few props. Her show could have more of a through-line – it does not really add up to more than the sum of its wildly varied parts – but her infectious enthusiasm papers over the cracks.

FERGUS MORGAN

until 25 August

A Brief History of Neurodivergence

studio at C ARTS | C venues | C alto (Venue 40)

★★★★★

Do not tire yourself out trying to squeeze yourself into a world that was not built for you. This is the crucial message fuelling Fiona Moon’s new play, submitted to the Fringe in the middle of the night as she was awake with racing thoughts caused by her ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). A Brief History of Neurodivergence outlines exactly what it sets out to, and in doing so, does so much more.

The production is led by Fiona’s experience with neurodivergence throughout her life, from wrong diagnoses to learning to adapt to being different. Yet, whilst personal, her performance is not an autobiography, but rather Moon uses her story to inform a wider interpretation of neurodivergence, and its conflict with everyday life.

Equal parts joyous and educational, I learnt so much during this show. From the history of disability in legal practice, where it remains constitutional to deny a disabled person entry to some countries based only on an alleged incapacity to accommodate their needs, to the causes of neurodivergence, where it appears more commonly with children that have experienced trauma, as their underdeveloped brains may ‘rewire’ themselves against danger. Although, Fiona does not encourage her audience to search for the source of their neurodivergence. Instead, she inspires those that identify with the label to accept it as a wonderful part of themselves, a symbol of resilience.

This production is especially accessible; fidget toys are available at the door, and if you struggle to concentrate, the performance is broken up by pleasant audience interaction. I must mention too that Moon performs her entire hour-through lecture whilst bouncing on a trampoline, crawling through tunnels and hula-hooping. Surprisingly, as she maintains incredible rapport with her audience, this never becomes distracting.

A Brief History of Neurodivergence is a performance that everyone should see. If you are neurodivergent, or somebody close to you is neurodivergent, this is a really important piece of theatre. Informative, fun, and ultimately profound, this production stands as an ode to being different. We each have a duty to support others, and to accommodate everybody, and Fiona Moon’s lovely new show might just be the reminder we all need, to be a little bit kinder.

RÓISIN MCMULLAN

until 10 August

READ MORE: Betty Grumble on why radical performance artists are vital to the Fringe

The Naked Neds

theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)

★★★☆☆

In the Fox and Hound pub on a council estate in Glasgow, four guys with not a lot going for them – although narrator Paul (Lucian Burlinghame) is going to be a dad at the tender age of 25 – pass the time by ribbing each other mercilessly, although it’s wily barmaid Bev (Hannah Mary Taylor) who has the measure of all of them. It eventually becomes clear they’re all bluffing through as they try and largely fail to process grief and confusion after the suicide of their friend Cammy.

On top of this, Paul believes he’s discovered a lump on his testicle. Driven to do whatever they can in tribute to Cammy, he, young Harry (Aidan Curley), middle-aged stud Tony (John Stuart) and the physically larger and more self-conscious Jamie (Ingram Noble) alight upon the idea of doing ‘the Full Monty’ (a male stripshow, named after the film of the same name) for charity in his name.

Written and directed by Noble, The Naked Neds essentially is a remake of The Full Monty itself, but with a bitingly amusing Scots backdrop and dialect grafted over the top. The added dimension of awareness-raising about male suicide and testicular health is heartfelt and important, and the final scene where the boys go through with their plan is outrageous fun.

DAVID POLLOCK

until 9 August

Tall Tails

thsSpace @ Surgeons' Hall (Venue 53)

★★★☆☆

Is this show really just a challenge to see how many sea-themed puns can be crammed into 45 minutes? Perhaps. But it works.

With character names including Kalamari, Suenami, Sealine, Mishell and Misty, the script is full of mermaid and sea references, including a nod to the most iconic mermaid of all.

The plot follows five mermaids who, after an invite from one’s crush, find themselves at a wellness retreat for chronic people pleasers. If something smells fishy, it’s not just the guests and what starts off as light-hearted veers into the delightfully unhinged.

There’s a genuine sense of friendship between the cast, and their chemistry keeps things light. While it’s not exactly laugh-out-loud comedy, the show delivers consistent chuckles.

Visually, it’s a treat. The colourful costumes are exactly what you'd hope for: sparkles, shimmery scales, shell necklaces, and, of course, glittering clam bras.

The show touches on themes like identity, not fitting in, self-acceptance and the male gaze, but they are approached in a broad, uncomplicated way which doesn't try to be profound. It's a show that knows what it is – playful and unapologetically fun.

SUZANNE O'BRIEN

until 9 August

The Ode Islands

Pleasance @ EICC (Venue 150b)

★★☆☆☆

The technical ambition of this new multimedia play by mononymous actor and multimedia artist Ornagh is impressive. Her set features a back projection and a transparent downstage screen, and both are illuminated with images as Ornagh performs in the gap between, appearing immersed in a convincing 3D environment. Her character is tossed like Alice in Wonderland through a series of fantastical worlds, sailing across the sea chased by weird flying creatures and having a weird, pounding dance-off with a club full of muscular minotaur creatures, yet her and her team’s commendable creative ambition outweighs the quality of the execution. The animation looks cheap and often AI-generated, and there’s minimal narrative drive to the story.

DAVID POLLOCK

until 16 August

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