Review: Piaf – The Songsm The Edinburgh Academy (Venue 70)/Piaf, The Famous Spiegeltent (Venue 87)

Piaf - The Songs (* * *) stars Eve Loiseau as both narrator and Piaf, looking and sounding like the “Little Sparrow”. The evocative accompaniment of violinist Fiona Barrow and accordionist Edward Jay is a big plus for this show, which never quite has the emotional impact one might have expected.

During several songs that should have packed a greater emotional punch, images appear on a screen behind Loiseau and distract attention from her and her performance; Sous le Ciel de Paris, in particular, was marred by a fast-moving series of images which were maddeningly literal, Les Feuilles Mortes was difficult to concentrate on because the pictures being flashed on the screen were so fascinating.

When Loiseau had to carry the load herself – notably in La Foule and Lovers For a Day – she did it in style, vividly telling the stories of doomed love.

Over at The Famous Spiegeltent, Glaswegian singer Christine Bovill’s show, Piaf (* * * *), a big hit last year, has no visual stimuli, but there are distractions nonetheless in the form of the loud music outside the venue which was very intrusive during Bovill’s amiable and insightful chat between numbers, and which seemed sometimes to throw her off her stride.

What the Spiegeltent lacks in soundproofing (and comfort, and unobscured views), it makes up for in atmosphere. All the husky-voiced Bovill had was a starry backdrop and a pianist; her show has no gimmicks, nor does she try to sound like her heroine; she sings as herself but captures the spirit of Piaf beautifully, commandingly and movingly.

She has hit upon a winning formula by weaving her own story – of how she became obsessed with Piaf and all things French – into that of her idol.

Piaf – The Songs until tomorrow; today 5pm. Piaf until today, 8pm.