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Fringe 2008 Reviews (30)
Ed Byrne: Different Class
Assembly Hall
****
Irish comedian Ed Byrne performs for the whole of the Fringe Festival
at the huge Assembly Hall on the Mound. Now married, he has left behind
his former long-haired, slovenly persona and appears in a suit, shirt
and tie.
After blaming the title of his show on having to dream up a title before
the Fringe brochure deadline when he had no idea what his show would
be about, as many other comedians have done, he does perform some material
about class, and in particular his own class confusion, which is very
funny. He also uses the stage to vent his frustration about the ten
months preparation for his recent wedding, especially with the people
he had to deal with, every one of whom he seems to despise with a passion.
This gives him the opportunity to slip in some gags about the different
attitudes of the sexes to weddings and planning, with quite a few diversions
to subjects as diverse as Michael Jackson's re-release of Thriller
and the piracy warning ad on DVDs and a return to class.
Byrne has a rapid delivery and a good, chatty rapport with the audience
and, at its best, his material is very funny. Occasionally he seems
to talk for quite a long time before getting round to a gag, but his
charm and intelligent observational material about subjects we can all
recognise easily wins over the audience.
David Chadderton
King Lear - The Pantomime
Gresham's
C
***(*)
A talented team of 13 year olds take to the stage to present King
Lear - The Pantomime, with ugly sisters Goneril and Regan, baddy
Edmund, an X-Factor singing contest and King Lear himself (whose
first name turns out to be Roger). While a forlorn Cordelia is helped
by her hell's angels Fairy Godmother, Lear roams the heath and his lunacy
abounds but as the doctors find out, they 'tried to make him go to rehab
- he said no, no, no!'
This is a great family show with some lovely jokes, charming performances
and fast moving set and slick scene changes (one falling piece of set
was even caught smoothly by a cast member in the dark!) Gloucester's
eyes come out with a satisfying pop while he groans 'I'm too old for
this' in the background but thankfully in this version everyone lives
happily ever after. Fun stuff for a morning's entertainment.
Cecily Boys
Just Trust Me…
Fat Toad Theatre Company
Greenside
**
Laurence Bennett is on the edge of ruin - all through the machinations
of his young assistant who is after both his daughter and his money.
With a drunken financial advisor, a mad sister-in-law who thinks she
can talk to spirits, a spoilt brat of a daughter and a wife who goes
marching with the suffragettes, Laurence's lot couldn't get much worse.
This laboured costume comedy is enthusiastically performed but with
a laboured script they have an uninspiring show. Fun if you're in the
area with nothing better to do but not really worth the walk out to
Greenside.
Cecily Boys
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