The Queen is Mad

I'll be honest and say before coming to see "The Queen is Mad", playing at Zoo Southside, I had never even heard of Joanna of Castille.

The show opens with a tour guide presenting a statue of Joanna, having to explain to a befuddled tourist who she was, the tourist only making a connection upon learning that she was Catherine of Aragon's sister.

We are led through a tragic tale of misogyny, deceit, and ambition. None of this brought on by Joanna but rather the men that surround her. The songs are all beautifully sung by the stong cast of three. Maria Coyne, Robert Finlayson, and Brian Raftery. Harmonies flowing better than any musical I've seen so far at fringe!

I feel a little guilty in saying so, given that the show is about a woman who is pushed aside and forgotten about, even as she bravely made a stance for change, but the two male leads absolutely steal the show! Their comedic timing and harmonies are a perfect combination for success, and their chemistry is so natural that you can tell they truly trust each other on the stage.

On that note, it does lead me on to a small critique: in a show that is supposed to showcase the truth about Joanna of Castille, I did find her scenes to be a little surface level. I wanted to know about her a little more, and I feel perhaps the fringe time constraints may have hindered this.

I would love to see the run time increased to get a little more scenes with Joanna so that we can learn more about her.

I really hope the show gets more runs outside of fringe because it is fabulous, and I really hope it can develop into a slightly longer runtime so that we can really dig into this all-important story about a woman sadly forgotten to history, and when remembered, is remembered incorrectly as Joanna the Mad.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Are there any fringe shows you would like to see outside the festival? Let us all know before they go so that we can all have a fantastic fringe!

Love,

Tony x

Knightclub

I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna break the first rule, and I'm gonna talk about "KnightClub". 

When I found this show in my initial search of fringe shows, it sounded so ridiculous that I knew I had to see it. A story about two monks that get kicked out of a monastery and decide to become knights instead? Count me in!

Playing at theSpace at Surgeons Hall, I entered a theatre that was playing medieval bard versions of modern day hits over the speakers. The show starts off quite strong, epic lighting cuts, stellar music, and monks fighting each other with swords.

The rest of the show is honestly a mixed bag. It has very good bones, but the cast struggle to maintain momentum. I really feel like the script needs heavy edits to help the flow, and honestly, it felt like a little more rehearsal was needed as the cast came across as a unsure as to what the next move was.

That's not to say that there are no strong moments. The show is filled with strong and silly gags, outrageous mustaches, and some fun and satirical social/political commentary! It's just not a polished show yet.

⭐️⭐️1/2

If this show comes back, I really would like to see it again. Performances followed by rewrites and rehearsals can improve a show drastically, and I really feel like Spruce Moose are onto something here.

Hoping you are all having a fantastic fringe!😁

Love,

Tony x

Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England

Growing up, everyone at my school loved playing soccer. It wasn't until I moved to England though that I realised I was committing a mortal sin by not calling it football or taking any interest in it.

In Ireland, there were defintely fans of the sport, but in England it is almost like a religion.

When I lived in England, my Saturdays were filled with my neighbour screaming at his television to games that weren't even for the team he supported, and my workdays were filled with an almost daily reminder that football jerseys were not to be worn in the office due to incidents in the past.

Although it was not a world I knew, when you see a play with the title: "Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England", you can't help but be a little curious as to what the heck it could be about. 

Running at Underbelly Cowbarn Theare for its third and final run, the songs you'd expect to hear at a football stadium are blaring as you enter the theatre.

Alex Hill storms the stage as Billy Kinley. There's an electric energy just radiating from Hill. You immediately want to be his best pal and hang on to every word that comes out of his mouth.

We are brought on a tale of friendship, love, and football!

We see how Billy goes down a path of destruction that starts with going to matches with his best mate and spirals into cocaine, booze, and fist fights.

What I really appreciated about this story is how it represents men's mental health. It doesn't have the lead character come from a rough and broken home, finding kinship with people who took advantage of his brokenness, a tale of poverty porn that is so often associated with football hooliganism. Billy comes from a family where his parents were theatrical, artistic types. His dad's a hairdresser, his best mate works in a bank, and he has a steady girlfriend. It shows that even when we have things society deems as a steady foundation, we can still feel lost, lonely, and low.

Being part of a football team fanbase makes Billy feel part of something important. School never made him feel that way, and he works for his dad, which doesn't give him fulfilment, and he most defintely won't become a football player. Having a best friend often isn't enough to make you happy if you don't have a purpose in life.

There were a couple of technical difficulties in the performance, but Hill handled it completely in character, so much so that it just became a part of the show.

It's a tragedy that this is the last time this show is coming to the fringe. The only thing I can hope is that someone at The National Theatre sees this show or gets a hand on a copy of the script quite recently published by Metheun and puts it on there.

This is a show that needs to be seen on a national stage, and wouldn't it be lovely to see tickets sold at a discount price to football fans in the clubs of the United Kingdom.

There's not much time left in its run, so please grab some tickets if you can! As you can probably guess already, I'm awarding this show a Fantastic Fringe Award!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Are there any shows you've seen at fringe that you feel need to be given a bigger stage? I hope you've found at least one and I hope you have a fantastic fringe! 😁

Love,

Tony x

Don't Tell Dad About Diana

It's been 28 years since Princess Diana tragically passed away. However, she has remained a steadfast part of pop culture even to this day. This is obvious at the fringe, where there are multiple shows that deal with topics surrounding Princess Diana.

"Don't Tell Dad About Diana" follows two Dublin teens, Connor and Hannah, trying to navigate their journey from secondary school to adulthood in 1990's Ireland.

Connor is in the closet due to his Catholic and close-minded upbringing. (A fun little juxtaposition being that the pearls he uses for his Princess Diana drag persona is actually his rosary beads worn back to front.) Hannah is his best friend who desperately wants to escape Dublin with Connor to live in London where she will design and create all his dresses for his drag career.

The show follows them as they work to enter Connor into the Alternative Miss Ireland competition. Its going to be their final triumph before London, but secrets are about to be ripped open and tragedies will happen that turn their worlds upside down.

For a show that has a gay teen in 90's Ireland, I wished we had more of a story to do with gay life and culture at that time period. Perhaps it's more to do with the time limit at fringe, but I felt the show revolved a little too much around the fear of letting Hannah down. Perhaps if there was a little bit more run time, we could have had more to say on gay irish society in the 90's.

The show was a fun time, though, and I would love to see how it grows from its fringe run. I would definitely love to come see it again if it returns next year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Are there any shows that you are excited to see come back? Let us know in the comments so that we can all have a fantastic fringe!

Love,

Tony x

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First

I bought my ticket to "A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" before fringe had even started. When I told people that I bought tickets to all three of Xhloe and Natasha's shows, I was told that I was crazy for getting all three and that I could just as easily get a ticket on the day if I liked their other shows.

Well, with their entire run selling out before the fringe was even halfway done, I think we all know who made the right decision!

You all already know that I have loved their two previous shows, so the bar was set even higher because I had two great shows to compare it to.

This show is a triumph!

I have seen 34 shows at the fringe; I still have a lot more to see, and I already know that this show is the best show I've seen at fringe this season.

The opening scene of the dynamic duo playing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" on their harmonicas whilst performing their signature physical movement style was enough for me to know that this was a masterpiece. The fact that I got an extra 45 minutes was my lucky day.

"A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" perfectly captures the innocence of boyhood trying to come to terms with a world that expects masculinity to be brutal, violent, and toxic.

I was instantly blasted back 25 years ago, fighting with my brother and my cousins about who was the strongest, the bravest, and the toughest. Desperately needing to be the man of the group, none of us knowing what the hell it meant but fearing what would happen if we didn't meet those expectations.

We see Ace and Grasshopper at a boyscout camp. They are obsessed with being tough and making Lyndon B. Johnson proud. We learn about their homelife and the expectations/lack of expectations to be a man. Ace comes from an army family, whilst Grasshopper comes from a family with no father in the picture. Both boys have this need to be a man in spite of their different backgrounds.

With the lone set piece of a tyre, we are hurled through stories of violence, of fear, and of trying to come to terms with right and wrong. We see the parallel of boy scouts and soldiers. Practically the same, except for the weapons. Both just boys trying to win badges and medals to show how manly they are. Both just as scared when faced with a danger they have never felt before. And like immature boys, soldiers can be just as cruel, because "All's fair when you're the good guys."

My mind is left with one unanswered question: Why is this show not on Broadway or the West End?

In a theatre world filled with commercial shows and overly artistic renditions of classics, we need to start filling our theatres with pieces that mean something and that are crafted with skill and brilliance, not alienenating, academic nonsense.

"A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" will have you so immersed, you will forget you are in a theatre.

Seriously, on the off chance that any big theatre producers stumble across this review, what on earth are you waiting for, get this show to bigger spaces NOW!!!

If you can't tell already, this show is absolutely getting a Fantastic Fringe Award!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you do manage to secure a ticket, "A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" is playing at theSpace on Niddry Street.

What show has been your favourite at fringe so far? I hope you have all been having the best time, and I hope you have a fantastic fringe! 😁

Love,

Tony x

Mothers

I haven't been to a lot of verbatim theatre pieces, so I was looking forward to seeing "Mothers" at the fringe this year to see something different. 

Running at the Space Annexe at theSpace at Symposium Hall, Mothers tells a story of what it means to be a mother from both a mother and daughter's perspective.

We hear voiceovers from interviews with actual mothers who are known to the cast and crew, each spurning on different scenes that cover everything from a first period to an unexpected death.

I appreciated the fact that the show doesn't paint mothers as completely without fault. It digs down deep into the complex relationships daughters can have with their mothers, how mothers can sometimes fail to see their child as anything other than their child. Sometimes, they refuse to acknowledge the fact that their child is their own individual person with their own thoughts and belief systems.

The show, however, is overall very sweet and warm. Showing love and connection in this bond that will have its strong and weak moments but, more often than not, will always be there.

I cried heavily (I'm talking deep sobbing as opposed to some delicate few tears and sniffling) during this show, but it's worth the tears at 10:35 in the morning.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Has there been any show that really moved you? Let us know in the comments so that we can all have a fantastic fringe!

Love,

Tony x

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First

I bought my ticket to "A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" before fringe had even started. When I told people that I bought tickets to all three of Xhloe and Natasha's shows, I was told that I was crazy for getting all three and that I could just as easily get a ticket on the day if I liked their other shows.

Well, with their entire run selling out before the fringe was even halfway done, I think we all know who made the right decision!

You all already know that I have loved their two previous shows, so the bar was set even higher because I had two great shows to compare it to.

This show is a triumph!

I have seen 34 shows at the fringe; I still have a lot more to see, and I already know that this show is the best show I've seen at fringe this season.

The opening scene of the dynamic duo playing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" on their harmonicas whilst performing their signature physical movement style was enough for me to know that this was a masterpiece. The fact that I got an extra 45 minutes was my lucky day.

"A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" perfectly captures the innocence of boyhood trying to come to terms with a world that expects masculinity to be brutal, violent, and toxic.

I was instantly blasted back 25 years ago, fighting with my brother and my cousins about who was the strongest, the bravest, and the toughest. Desperately needing to be the man of the group, none of us knowing what the hell it meant but fearing what would happen if we didn't meet those expectations.

We see Ace and Grasshopper at a boyscout camp. They are obsessed with being tough and making Lyndon B. Johnson proud. We learn about their homelife and the expectations/lack of expectations to be a man. Ace comes from an army family, whilst Grasshopper comes from a family with no father in the picture. Both boys have this need to be a man in spite of their different backgrounds.

With the lone set piece of a tyre, we are hurled through stories of violence, of fear, and of trying to come to terms with right and wrong. We see the parallel of boy scouts and soldiers. Practically the same, except for the weapons. Both just boys trying to win badges and medals to show how manly they are. Both just as scared when faced with a danger they have never felt before. And like immature boys, soldiers can be just as cruel, because "All's fair when you're the good guys."

My mind is left with one unanswered question: Why is this show not on Broadway or the West End?

In a theatre world filled with commercial shows and overly artistic renditions of classics, we need to start filling our theatres with pieces that mean something and that are crafted with skill and brilliance, not alienenating, academic nonsense.

"A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" will have you so immersed, you will forget you are in a theatre.

Seriously, on the off chance that any big theatre producers stumble across this review, what on earth are you waiting for, get this show to bigger spaces NOW!!!

If you can't tell already, this show is absolutely getting a Fantastic Fringe Award!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you do manage to secure a ticket, "A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First" is playing at theSpace on Niddry Street.

What show has been your favourite at fringe so far? I hope you have all been having the best time, and I hope you have a fantastic fringe! 😁

Love,

Tony x