Meet the Author

We went along to see Liberty on the other night. Direct from Shakespeare’s Globe, it was as near as I’m going to get to there this year.

A new play by Glyn Maxwell, based on a novel by Anatole France (no, I’d never heard of him either), it’s the story of a sub-Robespierre revolutionary and his journey from idealist to supporter of the ‘Terror’. As a play, it was very ‘wordy’, but enjoyable, and there were some very strong performances, from Kirsty Besterman as an actress from the National (bet they had fun with that on the South Bank – it fell a bit flat in York!), and John Bett as an ex-Duke.

At the interval, we had a bit of a wager on who was for the chop. It’s a measure of it’s unpredictability in that we got it wrong in some cases. I was very disappointed with the size of the audience, but they did give the cast a warm reception. It’s only on for three days, so I’d expected a better turn out, but then I guess it’s quite a hard sell. I’m sure Flashdance, the Musical is doing much better business down the road at the Opera House.

Afterwards, rather than stay in the theatre bar, we went to the Lion and Lamb, which has recently opened. Corinne and I had tried to get in a few weeks ago, but couldn’t find a seat, but this time we found a separate room overlooking the street. Decorated with lanterns, and old prints, with huge wooden tables and pew like seats, we commented that we could still be in the play.

The next thing we saw was the actors entering the room, and sitting at the next table. From overheard comments, it seemed they felt at home too. We exchanged a few comments with them and returned to our conversation. A few minutes later, we heard the actors going ‘author, author’ when another man entered. No prizes for guessing who he was then (and no prizes for guessing that they wanted this to be noticed)!

He turned to us as asked what we thought of the play. It was one of those moments where you don’t quite know what to say. You can’t rave about it, but it was interesting, and had some good characters. The theatre snob in me paused for a moment. The others were less troubled by this and were complementary.

Turning to me, he asked ‘did you find it dense, and hard to follow?’

‘No, not at all – but then I do know quite a lot about the French Revolution*’

*Thanks to A level History all those years ago – so ‘quite a lot’ is perhaps a bit excessive.

Sensory Overload

Or

A Beginner's Guide to the Fringe

I’m not sure where to start, but this is a long one. Perhaps with the fact that it was all pretty mind blowing. 7 shows, in two days, and still time for a little shopping. After only a few hours I’d both succumbed to the magic and got sensory overload from the sheer bombardment of theatre. And, quite predictably, I didn’t just want to watch it, I wanted to be part of it all.

Advice

Plan ahead, read the reviews – there are plenty out there, but you need to sift through them, to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Book some shows, particularly if there’s something you really want to see. It will save you a lot of queuing. But leave time for the impromptu.

Accept that there’s so much around you that you’ll only see 10% of what you’d like to, and that at the end off your visit you’ll suddenly hear of a show you’d like to have seen. Celebrate what you have seen, rather than what you haven’t.

Buy tickets on the day at the venue, as the queues are shorter, and they will try and get you in even when the Fringe Box Office has sold out

Modify the ‘Theatre Snob’ rules

‘Festival chic’ is the new dressing up. Essential elements are comfy shoes (you will be trekking at speed between venues) and the ubiquitous pashmina. Comfortable clothing is also essential. Linen is good as it’s cool (you will get hot and sweaty) even if it does crease to hell.

Depending on the show, you might encounter food (always good, as you’ll find it difficult to fit in time for a proper meal) and audience participation. Go with the flow.

Play ‘spot the author/director/producer’ – they’re the one looking slightly nervous, and leading the clapping at the end – useful, as with some Fringe shows, it’s not that clear if they’ve ended.

Accept that you’ll probably see at least one crap show, and remember it’s only an hour. Ok, you won’t get it back, but you’re supporting someone else’s passion.

If you can afford it, and can find a room, stay in the Old Town. We didn’t, which meant lots of treks up and down Princes Street.

Always accept flyers from cute guys, you never know, the show might actually be good.

Be wary of ‘it’s a had 4* reviews’ – this can be anything from The Stage, to their best mate’s comments on an internet forum.

Venues

These vary enormously, from the rather fab inflatable purple cow, known as the Udderbelly, to the dank and smelly Underbelly (known to us as the Smellybelly)

Edinburgh bar prices: good, Venue bar prices: bad

You will run out of time between shows – venues are farther apart than you think.

Shows (and star ratings)

Sherlock Holmes and the Three Students***

Promenade theatre around University of Edinburgh sites. Our first show, and a good one to ease us into the process, and also guide us round some of the sites. Added interest of the author P D James in the audience. You needed to be fit for this one, as they moved you along at a pace. Not SH’s greatest mystery, but fun, and we could call it exercise, so it justified eating chips.

Be My Baby***

Our only ‘established’ play, i.e. something I knew before the Festival, but had never seen performed. Also our only ‘late arrival’. As we dashed down Princes Street, I realised that I do not run, even for theatre. Well acted by a young company. Our only BBC radio interview as we came out of the show.

Have a Nice Life****

A new drama/musical about group therapy. Less bizarre than it sounds, but good fun, with some excellent performances.

Breakfast with Shakespeare****

Croissants, coffee, and Shakespeare. Taming of the Shrew, the panto, performed at speed by an all female cast. Fast paced and high energy start to the day, complete with the usual panto audience responses. A packed audience, and great fun.

Shakespeare’s Passions**

A one man show covering Shakespeare’s ‘greatest hits’ both male and female, where he played all the parts he’d ever wanted to play. Self indulgent, occasionally cringeworthy, but also occasionally almost touching. Lots of soliloquies, but it was notable that he’d omitted Hamlet’s advice to the players.

Bloggers – Real Internet Diaries***

Performed in the ‘Smellybelly’ which sort of took the edge off, as the smell of damp pervaded the whole performance space. Our only 4* show as recommended by The Stage. Focussed on blogs that were primarily about people’s sex lives, so it gave my friend a very bizarre impression of people who blog. Yet elements of truth where people discovered that they had unexpected readers. Also on the beginning of blogging, as people dipped a toe in the water, and the end of the blog. The audience profile for this one was interesting, as it was a much younger audience than for other shows.

Painters****

4* + really, as it was the best show we saw. I hesitate to give it the full 5* though, as that’s the equivalent of a standing ovation, and you know what I’m like about them.
Fab show by 3 guys who performed it as a piece of physical theatre mixed with dance and comedy. Again, high energy, audience participation, and a real sense of joy about the performance. A fabulous finish to an exhausting, but brilliant couple of days.

Overall, fabulous, exhausting, exhilarating – and next time, I’m going for longer, and staying up later. With bars open till 5am, who needs sleep!

Let your voices carry

Cat and I went down to London at the weekend to see the last night of ‘Whistle Down the Wind’ at the Palace Theatre. Only the second time we’d seen this show (how restrained of us) and I enjoyed it more this second time through, though I think that was probably because the two leads, Tim Rogers and Claire Marlow turned in storming performances for the last night. The relationship between Swallow (Marlow) and ‘the Man’ (Rogers) she finds in her father’s barn is the heart of the story, and, this time, it moved me in a way it hadn’t before. I think I believed this time that Swallow could believe that ‘the Man’ was Jesus, and I’d struggled with that last time. The rest of the story feels like padding to this central relationship. Themes such as religious fanaticism and racism are touched upon, but then casually cast aside as though, hey, this is a musical, and we can’t get in too deep here.

The Palace Theatre is beautiful, with a wonderfully decadent Victorian look, with elaborate decoration and cherubs. It felt quite intimate on Saturday, as only the stalls and the circle were occupied, but I know from experience that if you sit up in the ‘Gods’ you feel a million miles away from the stage, and that just doesn’t do for me.

On a ‘theatre snob’ note, there was a standing ovation going on in the stalls, but I wasn’t part of it.*

*And anyway, we were in the circle.

What's it all about?

So, having proudly declared myself as a 'Theatre snob', I thought I'd better set out the rules:

The Rules of Theatre Snobbery

• Theatre is an Event, therefore always dress up (exceptions can be made when making a last minute decision to attend and having all your shopping with you)
• Always buy a programme - those biogs have to be read
• A theatrical performance is not a gig, therefore whooping is discouraged, but is allowable in the curtain call, similarly banners are frowned upon
• A standing ovation should be bestowed rarely it - it is a thing to be treasured, unless of course the trade in signs saying 'I'm standing for...'* takes off
• Whilst some theatres now allow this, taking alcoholic drinks into the auditorium should be frowned upon
• Stage dooring is perfectly acceptable, and in some cases almost obligatory - actors like to be told how good they were
• 'Post mortums' on the show should continue for most of the journey home
• No one should need to leave the auditorium for the loo during the performance if they are more than 5 years old
• Use of mobile phones is an absolute no no, as is the taking of photographs during the performance

NB these rules are not exhaustive, and may be added to as and when I think of another.

*I'm indebted to Corinne for this idea**

**Is the standing ovation primarily a musical theatre thing? I think I've stood for shows about 6 times in my life until seeing more muscials over the last couple of years (or maybe that should be, seeing some musicals a lot) when the audience seem to get to their feet as a matter of course.