Hugh Simpson
The Skarsgård Effect
★★★☆☆ Daft
The Skarsgård Effect, from Ellen Eklund at theSpace @ Niddry Street for six performances only, is unashamedly silly and often unfocused, but appealing nevertheless.
Hang Time (EIF)
★★★★☆ Shattering
Zora Howard’s Hang Time is an overwhelming juxtaposition of racialised violence and interior possibility. The Flea Theater of New York’s production, written, directed and produced by Howard, is having its European premiere at the Lyceum as part of the International Festival.
Mayflies
★★★★☆ Sparkling
Grid Iron’s site-specific Mayflies is in part a massively spirited hymn to the youth culture of the 1980s. But you don’t have to have lived through that decade to appreciate such a melancholy yet defiantly bright production.
Hame. Teeth. CLUB.
★★★★☆ Vital
Hame. Teeth. CLUB. by Kari Hall from Iona Bremner Productions and Sláinte! Theatre at the Underbelly is a hugely impressive display of writing, performing and directing.
The Ostrich Principle
★★★☆☆ Powerful message
David Hughes and Kirsten Milliken’s The Ostrich Principle at the Scottish Storytelling Centre combines time-honoured storytelling techniques with urgent political issues, in a way that does not always knit together but has considerable effect.
This Little Thing of Ours
★★★☆☆ Rumbustious
This Little Thing of Ours, from MB Musicals at theSpace @ Venue 45, is a slice of late-night entertainment whose scattergun approach largely pays off.
Daughter of Sweden
★★★★☆ Accomplished
Daughter of Sweden, from Stockholm’s Teater Kaleido, is an entertaining and informative slice of history, beautifully performed.
Room 1219
★★★★☆ Sympathetic
Room 1219, from Keystone Theatricals at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall for the middle week of the Fringe, is a reclamation of a Hollywood icon, carefully presented and gracefully acted.
Bull/Fight
★★★★☆ Intense
Bull/Fight at Summerhall throughout the Fringe is an elliptical piece of physical theatre that has real power.
Build a Fort
★★★★☆ Creative
Build a Fort from Not Cricket Productions at The Speakeasy at the Royal Scots Club is a refreshing and fulfilling start to a day at the Fringe, or any other day if it comes to that.
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