In Part Ten of our Guide to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Series we focus this time on Theatre and Dance, links to parts 1-9 can be found below.
Pintozer Productions: Guide to Masculinist Territory
Venue: Starting at Summerhall Courtyard, 3rd Aug–28th Aug 2022
Times: 20:30, Weekends (Fri-Sun) 20:00/21:30
Exploring incel culture through an interactive narrative of a young woman making her way across a city at night, alone, Guide To Surviving Masculinist Territory invites audiences on an audio walking tour of Edinburgh. Developed by feminist collective Pintozor Productions, the piece explores a woman’s fascination with a masculinist splinter community of ‘involuntary celibates’ and their highly violent hatred of women. Audiences will put on headphones for the walk, and can choose how far they wish to delve into the depths of the unsavoury world that the young woman describes.
Dutch Kills Theatre Company: Intelligence
Venue: Assembly Roxy ,5–29 Aug 2022
Time: 12.40 (14.00)
In a taut political play, New York theatre company Dutch Kills pick apart how women are perceived in the higher echelons of American diplomacy. Two young Foreign Officers are forced to rethink their secret views on American diplomacy, working on a back-channel negotiation with Sarah MacIntyre, a charismatic but controversial special envoy. As events on the ground push them deeper into role-play to try to understand the leader they are contemplating, the question of when we make bargains with violent men becomes ever more personal and a future of war or peace hangs in the balance. Set in a claustrophobic Washington D.C basement, Intelligence asks how we code and decode others and ourselves. The play was produced in 2019 as part of the New York Theatre Workshop’s Next Door Series.
Trunk Theatre Project: Mary, Chris, Mars
Venue: Summerhall, Red Lecture Theatre, 3–28 Aug 2022
Time: 13.30 (14.30)
Blending physical theatre, miniature set design and puppetry, along with a melancholic live score, Trunk Theatre Project’s family-friendly adventure takes place entirely in outer space. Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the Korean showcase 2022, the charming show leans on the tradition of absurdism to tell the tale of two lonely astronauts who end up spending Christmas Day together. Suitable for all the family, it asks us to reflect on what it means to be able to spend time with a loved one in person.
From Start to Finnish: Raging Mother
Venue: Zoo Southside, Studio, 5–20 Aug 2022
Time: 19.05 (20.20)
This unswervingly honest look at modern motherhood by Finnish artist Hanna Vahtikari sinks a fist into the ever-present myth of the ‘perfect mother’ by asking how many flaws can you have before you’re disqualified from the ‘good mother’ category. Presented as part of the acclaimed annual showcase of Finnish performing arts, From Start to Finnish, this relatable shows examines the stories we perpetuate about what a mother should look like, and how she should behave. Performed as a monologue with occasional interjections from her real-life husband Marzi Nyman, who also performs live music, Raging Mother is based on Hanna’s experience of raising two children.
SDJ Productions, with Pontio, Bangor and Theatre, Royal Plymouth Still Floating
Venue: Summerhall, Old Lab, 3 – 28 Aug
Time: 19.15 (20.15)
A brand-new piece of warm-hearted comic storytelling by BBC award-winning writer/performer and Fringe favourite Shôn Dale-Jones. A story about love, resilience and laughing at the things that should make us cry. When someone suggests that Shôn should remount his 2006 Total Theatre award-winning hit show Floating (Barbican, Sydney Opera House) about the Isle of Anglesey floating away from mainland Britain, he is sure it isn’t what the world needs right now. 2006 is not 2022. As Shôn explains why he shouldn’t present the show we find out that sometimes going backwards helps us move forward.
Workdottext: work.txt
Venue: Summerhall, Old Lab, 5 – 28 Aug 2022
Time: 13.15 (14.15)
Following a successful run at Soho Theatre earlier this year and a critically acclaimed digital version work.txt online, audiences will take centre stage as work.txt returns for the Edinburgh Fringe. work.txt is a play about a person in a city who has stopped working, and the audience must work together to attempt to figure out why through various means. The audience read a projected text together out loud, with lines assigned by categories (“people with brown hair”, “people who earn more than thirty thousand pounds a year”), follow instructions onstage and are fed lines by headphones as part of a collective, interactive experience. Nominated for an Innovation Award at VAULT Festival 2020, work.txt is written by Nathan Ellis who was previously a member of the Royal Court Invitation Writers’ Supergroup 2018-19 and in 2020 was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award.
Collins Cohen Productions and Guy Masterson – Theatre Tours International Ltd: 9 Circles
Venue: Assembly George Square Studios, 3 – 29 Aug 2022
Time: 13.30 (14.35)
From House of Cards writer Bill Cain and The Shark is Broken director Guy Masterson, the European premiere of 9 Circles is based on a true story of a repatriated US Army Private accused of war crimes. In a psychological thriller told through the eyes of the accused, 9 Circles asks how a soldier can be trained as a cold-blooded killing machine while clinging on to the threads of his humanity. Private Daniel Reeves, based on the real life Steven Dale Green, has committed appalling acts, but does the blame entirely rest with him, or the army that put weapons into the hands of a clinically disturbed 19-year-old? Can we truly apply civilian moral standards to a soldier in the throes of mortal combat? The play is a Dantesque descent into the conundrums, contradictions and hypocrisies of war.
The Place presents Extended Play’s: DONUTS
Venue: Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo Tent, 3 – 14 Aug 2022
Time: 16.25 (17.25)
A soul-lifting contemporary dance show with a funk-inspired beat, Donuts reaches for the reference book of classic 90s and 00s sitcoms to explore the beauty and playfulness of friendship. Created by lively new company Extended Play and presented by London’s acclaimed home of contemporary dance creation, touring and performance The Place, this is an unpretentious, fun-filled piece of contemporary dance drawing on our shared need to get up and move to an infectious song. The show pays homage to much-loved television series including Malcolm in the Middle, Scrubs and The Office.
Kallo Collective in association with From Start to Finnish: Receptionists
Venue: Summerhall, Old Lab, 2–28 Aug 2022
Time: 16.15 (17.15)
The universal hilarity of the hospitality industry and its quirks are revealed in this tightly performed physical theatre work. Co-produced by Kallo Collective as part of the annual From Start to Finnish showcase, Receptionists sees two highly trained professionals attempt to deliver the flawless customer service promised by a five-star establishment. The turbo-charged pair are fluent in multiple languages – none of which the audience can decipher – and, despite their customer-facing roles, possess a deep-rooted fear of anyone who comes into the building. It all makes for a ridiculous, yet highly recognisable, encounter with the two smiling faces behind the hotel front desk. A digital version of the show was available for Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021.
Variety IS_A: Yeonhee Concert
Venue: @Triplex Big, The Space, 12 – 20 Aug 2022
Time: 12 – 14 11:20 (12.10), 15 – 20 11.30 (12.20)
Variety IS_A are a young company taking the Korean traditional performing arts in a new direction: this concert takes the form of three pieces of yeonhee music and dance, with rhythmic, powerful and ritual interpretations of ancient traditions.
Expect shamanistic rituals, beautiful costumes, vibrant and exciting movements, as they perform three movements based on traditional music forms Mungut and Gilnori, and nongak (farmer’s music) with participation from the audience!
You can find tickets to all Edinburgh Fringe events here and the rest of out festival guides here
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