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MickeyJoTheatre
Edinburgh Fringe 2025 Day 5 REVIEWS (Hole!, Jackie!!!, Lost Lear, Ordinary Decent Criminal and more)
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Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com so today, with very neat timing, I have arrived at my fifth day of seeing shows here at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 and show number 30, which was lost Lear at the Traverse Theatre, written by director Dan Colley alongside the company and adapting much of William Shakespeare's King Lear. This is one of those plays that doesn't reveal itself to you straight away, but you can increasingly tell that something in the presentation of the narrative is awry until the moment that they actually let you in on it. And what we're doing here is utilising the plot of King Lear in which this aged K looks to his three daughters for care and compassion in order to tell the story about an already fraught relationship between a child and a parent made all the more complex by dementia, but a relationship which is facilitated by the bespoke semi theatrical care that is being implemented. I promise this will make more sense if you Go and see the play, but I don't want to spoil it for you any more than is necessary. I thought this was fantastic, particularly in the way that it was performed, particularly in the way that it was staged. So many innovative and inventive elements. There was brilliant use of projections. The backdrop was livestreamed from someone assembling small props together to create composite images countering the idea of something other than reality, but also this composite idea of memory piecing things together steadily. There was also, and this is the most enduringly memorable part of the show, staggering use of puppetry. Just absolutely incredible. All of the parallels between King Lear and the story unfolding here are brilliant. It's such a clever concept. And the central performance by Venetia Bowe is remarkable. Now, if you've been paying any attention to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year, you may have heard that one of the most anticipated and well sold shows is Ordinary Decent Criminal by Ed Edwards, starring political comedian Mark Thomas at Summerhall. And perhaps you've been wondering what it's about and what the title refers to. Well, it's set within the prison system, think Orange is the new Black. But in Britain in the 1990s and with men. Former addict Frankie is incarcerated with a drug conviction and through vivid solo storytelling, introduces us to the many characters and personalities that he meets there. And his activities as an inmate encompass everything from trying to say the right thing so he isn't beaten to within an inch of his life, to trying to win a chess tournament so that he gets a free Mars bar. And we're introduced to a handful of other characters, which is essential because what this story does so well is to convey a sense of their humanity. Ordinary decent criminal refers to the scale of the crime committed and the difference between the run of the mill criminals and the ones who are in for doing much more serious stuff, or stuff which is considered shameful even within their own community. There is also a persistent political undercurrent. This is set during a time when troubles are still rife in Ireland. And it's only when he goes into prison that Frankie, who was once very politically engaged, becomes once again a soldier for the revolution. This is a bloody good solo show. Masterfully performed, brilliantly directed, fantastic lighting design. Oh, my goodness. Honestly, the Edinburgh Fringe at its very best. Go and check it out at Summerhall. As Beth Pattison tells us in this solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, my grandma Nuzia was a Holocaust survivor and I remember her as a bitch. And it's this complicated notion which has inspired the Creation of this show named for her grandmother, Beth guides us through recollections from her own childhood, visits to her grandmother when she would sing for her and observe her cruel behavior towards her mother, recorded interview segments from her mother in which she would talk about her own childhood years before Beth would be born, as well as other anecdotes from her grandmother's remarkable and difficult life. Some of the themes and complexities, as well as the triple generational footing of the whole thing, reminded me a little bit of the Joshua Harmon play We Had a World. Only this one has a slightly more unique and interesting lens because Beth is a young Jewish woman who is utterly disconnected from her cultural identity. And it's through learning more about her grandmother that she also learns more about Auschwitz, where her grandmother was imprisoned in a concentration camp, about Mengele, for whom she worked as a medical assistant against her will. I love the way that it staged, with possessions, mostly books boxed up and Beth tearing through them and trying to unearth memories of her grandmother's life, which is exactly what the show itself is doing. And perhaps it's a little graceless in some of its structural transitions, but it makes up for that hugely in emotions, emotional impact. It was perhaps one of the most emotionally hard hitting shows that I have seen in the few days that I have been here, and I think it has the capacity to speak meaningfully to people either completely disconnected from this story or powerfully connected to it already. Check it out for yourself here at Summerhall. So the title of my 33rd show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, was a thriller immediately begging the question, how do you begin to stage something as complex as a thriller in an intimate and largely threadbare space at the Edinburgh Fringe, specifically at Summerhall? The answer, it transpires, is to focus on the storytelling within the text from playwright Ellie Keel, and as the Woman in Black has taught us before, have the whole thing arise from a conversation between two individuals? Only in this context, the witness to a supposed ghost encounter which took place many years before is being interviewed on camera by a producer of some sort of spooky documentary and finally sharing the true account of what really happened. And like most theatrical thrillers, this isn't really a story about the supernatural at all. It's actually a story of about the individuals and the relationships involved. This particular story concerning four children on holiday together in the Isle of Skye. They are largely being neglected by their alcoholic mother, who had also told them that their father had died shortly after the two had divorced some years before, leaving three bickering teenage children on the cusp of becoming young adults to care for their younger brother. So when they see a man on the beach who looks exactly like their supposedly dead father, they're understandably confused. Sky uses verbal storytelling and a little bit of camera work, switching gears between chilling interview and and warm recollection to talk about the difficult responsibilities of young people who become surrogate parents to their own siblings. And while it doesn't necessarily amount to anything revelatory and at times feels as though it might be better suited for a TV adaptation, it does offer audiences an engaging account of one ultimately dark chapter. Go and check it out for yourselves at Summerhall. So this week I have seen a show featuring militarized gummy bears, and yet this one remains the most surreal thing I have seen so far at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Unstoppable Rise of Ben Manager playing at Pleasant's Courtyard is a sort of a surreal satire of capitalism and office politics. We follow the character of Ben Weaver who mistakenly picks up and dons a lanyard bearing the name Ben Manager. Following this, he is bizarrely promoted through various different positions, becoming incredibly important to this generic and non specific company in spite of the fact that he has yet to do any kind of legitimate work. But his position there, much like the script itself, is.
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Laden with buzzwords talking about authenticity and confidence and well being. And for the most part he just makes really great PowerPoint presentations which for the purposes of this show are accompanied by musical moments. I wouldn't call this a musical. I wouldn't even call these songs. For the most part they are musicalized repetitions of the same few short phrases and what they lack in nuance they make up for with ear splitting volume. But the way that this music is realised on stage is also one of its greatest strengths. There are two company members on stage using voice changing sound effects and musical instruments in order to help tell the story. There is also interesting use of puppetry. The whole thing is surreal and bizarre with a slightly overstretched concept and perhaps too few laughs, but admittedly something interesting to say. You can find it at the Pleasants Courtyard. As far as this show is concerned, it is less Jackie. Oh, and more Jackie. Oh, no. I'm here at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025. And earlier today at Gilded Balloon Patter House, I saw a musical called Jackie, all about the life and times of the former first lady of the United States, Jackie Kennedy, Jackie Onassis, now Jackie, the star of a musical about her own life, not entirely unlike previous musicals like Evita and Diana, both of which get fleetingly nodded to in a playful way in this show, which, for what it's worth, I don't feel has enough fun references. This is an out and out comedy musical, but I don't think it does enough to parody and poke fun at the history of it all. And if you're not having a fun time, if you're not being silly with it, then we do sort of start to question is this all in really horrible taste, especially when you open with gunshots, which once again, for what it's worth, feels dramaturgically redundant when you already have a coffin on stage with an American flag over it? At least drape the flag after the gunshots. That's all I ask. This show, I feel, has something of an identity crisis, because Jackie is presented as a fairly earnest and sincere character, admittedly with clown character personalities around her, but other than a vague sense of ambition, we have no reason whatsoever to root for her during the more challenging years of her marriage. And it makes you question whether or not she's really an icon whose history begets a full musical about her, especially alongside characters like Marilyn Monroe, who of course make an appearance. Which is not to say that there aren't fun and funny moments, but they are far too few and far between. All of this performed, perhaps against its better judgment, by a witty and talented car at Gilded Balloon Patter House. If you want to go and check it out for yourself. Honestly, they had me at whole okay, so every year when I cover shows at the Fringe, people want to know what is the best new musical? What is the funniest show? What is the smartest, best written show? What is that hidden gem that's going to take them by surprise? And this year, although I have plenty of shows left to see, I dare say all of those accolades could go to one single show, and that is a musical called Hole. This show is playing at Underbelly Cowgate. It is a two person performed original musical, utterly original, and it's an outrageous and slightly bizarre comedy about a small religion community in Utah who are convinced by their pastor who has a vision from God they must wear butt plugs at all times in order to plug up the sin inside of themselves. And so after he orders 8,000 wooden butt plugs from Amazon, they do just that. And it's at this point when I tell you that this is a structurally sound and brilliantly written, hilarious new musical that you are just going to have to trust me. It reminds me an awful lot of the musical Gutenberg. The lyrics are ingenious, some of the best that I've heard all week. Several of these songs were absolute bops. I love the bizarre and quirky design. They were making Foley sounds live on stage as well as accompanying themselves against all odds, it metamorphosizes into a queer love story. There are several moments that speak profoundly about religious indoctrination and even more moments that offer you just so many butt jokes. And if you're looking for another show to compare it to, I would say Book of Mormon walked so that hole could uncomfortably shuffle. Get ready for this to be the surprise musical hit of the Fringe. Go and check it out before it sells out at Underbelly cowgate. So my 37th show of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 was a new musical, Midnight at the palace at Gilded Balloon Patter House. And it is to a certain extent false advertising because it's only performing at 9:30 at night rather than rather than midnight. You get the idea. This is about the Coquettes, a real life San Francisco based hippie theatre troupe, and there's something of a narrative about them having a moment of cultural phenomenon and awareness for their avant garde drag performances, having the opportunity to head to New York. It's something of a rise and fall story punctuated by tensions between the group's unsurprisingly large personalities. But for the most part the piece plays more like musicals. Like Hair. I would call it the Queer Hair if that wasn't queer already. This is the gayer Hair and although it's light on narrative, the vibes are great. The music has an undeniable groove. I really enjoy all of the aesthetic. It's crafty and cobbled together and eclectic. The cast are phenomenally talented with the standout performance from the brilliant Bailey Carson, and the whole thing has an awful lot of heart. And it's telling a story about true historic queer artistry, which is much of what I come to Theoden Fringe to celebrate. This is not the most consequential story that you could see here, but it remains an important one, that is Midnight at the palace at Gilded Balloon Paterhuss so I started this nine show day at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a play about dementia and I ended it with a musical about dementia. This was sense at the Space Triplex. It is showing surprisingly late in the evening, but it's one of the few narrative musicals that you can go and see around 11pm it is, I believe, Dutch written, but it is performed entirely in English and it is about a family, the Smith family, who are having a Christmas family meal together, the delight of which is somewhat pierced by the realization that their grandfather's dementia has begun to advance. We eventually come to find out there are more emotional fractures and family issues at play, things that they've been trying to keep from their grandfather, and it does a good job in acquainting us with the challenges and the cruelty of Alzheimer's. And relative to all of the new musicals here at the End of A Fringe, I will say that this one is very water. It doesn't have gaping issues as far as the story or the structure go, it has performed very well. Considering that all of the vocals are acoustic, I would characterize the compositions as feeling a little bit off brand. Dear Evan Hansen, the lyrics are slightly more of an issue. They are admittedly generic and they lean too heavily on metaphor in that way that contemporary musical theatre tends to these days. We're always singing about Crossroads and what my life looks like and all of this stuff. However, they do land the emotional impact of this moving story, thanks in large part to the very committed performances, especially by the young male lead who is brilliantly expressive. If you want to check this out for yourself, you can find it at TheSpace Triplex.
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