Our reviewers have been busy out and about at the Fringe and the International Festival this week. And they have found some four (and five) star gems.
All of our Festival coverage can be read over here.
Ahir Shah: Work in Progress
Ahir Shah has become an established Fringe performer. After a series of nominations, he finally won the main Comedy Award in 2023. On the back of his Fringe successes, he’s become a regular media figure, featuring on BBC Radio 4 (Ahir Shah’s 7 Blunders of the World) and also has had HBO and Netflix specials.
This year Shah is performing a limited series of shows (14 -24), advertised as a work in progress but very much on course to becoming a fully realised show. Read more here.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Despite the richness of the English language, I think there are not enough superlatives to praise the creation of this rendition of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice. From the very opening where we see the superb funambulist as Eurydice descend twisting into the underworld hanging from a harness to the final dénouement, the staging was outstanding, the music perfection, the singing immensely moving, and the acrobatics stunning.
Wellpark Wanderer
It is often said that Scottish performers are hard to find in the Festival and Fringe. Writing in 1976, the historian Owen Dudley Edwards suggested that ‘there is little of Edinburgh, and even less of Scotland in the Festival’.
Many see the Festival and Fringe as something imposed from outside on the people of Edinburgh. Such narratives persist. It’s also widely argued that working class voices are marginalised within the Fringe. Especially, in the sphere of comedy, the Fringe is often seen as London-centric and dominated by middle class voices and perspectives. There are, fortunately, exceptions.
Hingin Oan Fir Googsie
The cast of Hingin’ Oan Fir Googsie – John McColl (Gadge, also writer), Amy Fraser (Plucky), Jimmy Chisholm (Ghillie) and Alan Ireby (Potter), photo credit Liam Rudden Media
Braveheart star Jimmy Chisholm leads cast in hilarious, thought-provoking Scottish comedy.
Given up on Waiting For Godot? Never fear, you’ll have a blast at Hingin’ Oan Fir Googsie.
Running for four more nights only, John McColl’s new play at Braw Venues on George Street opened to much hearty laughter and rapturous applause from a largely local audience, an element of the warm reception no doubt down to the presence of Braveheart and River City legend Jimmy Chisholm, leading the cast as Ghillie.
Flamenco Guitar Odyssey
If you’re a bit worn out by all the noise and crowds of the festival city, why not take a break to visit Alba Flamenca on East Crosscauseway and enjoy some beautiful music?
Philip Adie started life in Aberdeen, perhaps not somewhere we generally associate with flamenco, but for the past 25 years he has lived in mainland Europe, first studying under flamenco master Paco Pena in Rotterdam, then moving to Seville where he works as a flamenco guitarist. Now he’s here in Edinburgh to share some tunes and tell us more about the origins and styles of this wonderful music.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
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