FESTIVAL THEATRE | Day Planner
Leave no hour unfilled: Gareth K Vile and Yasmin Sulaiman pick out theatre highlights, so you can stuff your dramatic calendar from morning to night. 10AM
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show See a selection of ten-minute international plays before anyone else at the festival is even awake. There’ll be free coffee, croissants and strawberries too. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 2–25 Aug (not 12), 10.30am, £12–£12.50 (£11–£11.50). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £7.50. 11AM
The Fair Intellectual Club Stand-up Lucy Porter’s first ever play explores an underground society for the education of women in 1717, when men ruled the world of the mind and women were simply expected to be pretty. Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 1–24 Aug (not 11), 11am, £10 (£9). Preview 31 Jul, £9 (£8). NOON
Early Doors Theatre about pub culture performed in the Jinglin’ Geordie pub in Fleshmarket Close, from socially alert company None Too Tame. Pleasance Pop-Up: The Pub, 2–25 Aug (not 11, 19), 12pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, 12pm, £6. The Pitiless Storm On the eve of Scotland’s referendum, a left-wing trade unionist questions his political and moral beliefs. Starring David Hayman, best known for his role as DCS Mike Walker on ITV’s Trial and Retribution. Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 1–24 Aug (not 11), 12.30pm, £15 (£13). Preview 31 Jul, £12 (£10).
1PM
Running Into Me Written and performed by Vickie Tanner, this is her autobiographical journey as she escapes the mean streets of Compton to reach the bright lights of New York City. Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, 2–24 Aug (not 11), 1.20pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £6. Mock Tudor Working as a Tudor in historical recreations is no protection from the challenges of modern life. New comedy from the writer of Stephen and the Sexy Partridge. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2–25 Aug (not 11), 1.45pm, £8–£10 (£7–£9). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £6. 2PM
My Obsession In her debut 30-minute play, Impro Chum Suki Webster plays a superfan who gets to meet her idol: a comedian played by fellow Impro Chum, Have I Got News For You’s Paul Merton. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2–16 Aug, 2.30pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £5. Baba Brinkman – The Rap Guide to Religion ‘Peer reviewed rapper’ Brinkman gets scientific on matters spiritual. Hip hop meets scepticism meets religious belief. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 2–25 Aug (not 11, 18), 2.30pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £6. Blind Hamlet Nassim Soleimanpour – the writer of global hit White Rabbit, Red Rabbit – confronts his loss of sight and reading Hamlet for the first time. Assembly Roxy, 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 12, 18), 2.50pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £10.
84 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2014
7PM Bond! Gavin Robertson returns with his comic parody of 007, his spying chums and enemies. ZOO, 622 6892, 3–24 Aug (not 12), 7.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews 1 & 2 Aug, £6. 21 Things You Should Know About Toronto’s Crack-Smoking Mayor We hear all about Toronto’s infamous crack-smoking mayor Rob Ford from one of his die-hard fans. New show from Toronto Fringe favourites DeCo. Sweet Grassmarket, 243 3596, 3–24 Aug, 7.50pm, £8.50 (£7.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £5.
8PM
Before Us More surreal comedy from Adelaide Fringe Theatre Award- winner Stuart Bowden, whose past shows include She Was Probably Not a Robot, Doctor Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger and The Lounge Room Confabulators. Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, 2–24 Aug (not 11, 18), 8.10pm, £10.50–£9.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £6. A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts Lyric Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre Company promises a different show every night in a celebration of the human spirit. Northern Stage at King’s Hall, 477 6630, 4–17 Aug (not 7, 14), 8.15pm, £14 (£11). Previews 31 Jul–3 Aug (not 1), £11.
9PM
Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho Margaret Thatcher loses her bearings in Soho and inadvertently becomes a cabaret star. How could you miss it? Assembly George Square, 623 3030, 2–24 Aug (not 11), 9.10pm, £10–£13 (£9–£12). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8 (£7). The Post Show Philadelphia-based trio the Berserker Residents let the audience sit in on their post-show discussion. Part scripted, part improv, part audience contributions. Assembly George Square, 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 11), 9.40pm, £12–£15. Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £7. 10PM
Biding Time (Remix) One woman’s story of what it takes to succeed in the music industry told through a silent disco remix, from musician Louise Quinn and Grid Iron co-artistic director Ben Harrison. Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 7–23 Aug (not 10, 11, 14–16, 18, 22), 10.20pm, £12 (£9). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £6. City of the Blind Downloadable political thriller from award-winning writer and director David Leddy, composed of six 30-minute chapters. A double bill with live show Horizontal Collaboration. Online at davidleddy. com (with Traverse), 228 1404, 1–24 Aug, £8.99.
11PM
Bloody Trams Following its successful run at the Traverse in the spring, the debate over Edinburgh’s controversial trams rages on in this verbatim piece based on testimonies from local people. Traverse, 228 1404, 5–10 Aug, 11pm, £12 (£10). The Generation of Z: Edinburgh Maybe you’ll feel like a zombie by the third week of the Fringe, but this show features real, live zombies. Interactive horror a la New Zealand, where you’ll be fighting to save yourself from the undead. Assembly George Square, 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 11, 19), 9pm & 11.30pm, £12. Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £8.
THE TRIAL OF JANE FONDA Academy Award-nominee Anne Archer (Fatal Attraction, Clear and Present Danger) brings some glitz and glamour to this year’s Fringe. In this new show – written and directed by her husband, Emmy-winning producer and director Terry Jastrow – Archer plays Hollywood star Jane Fonda (Coming Home, On Golden Pond) who courted controversy as a prominent anti-war activist. ■ Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 1–24 Aug (not 11), 4.05pm, £16 (£13). Previews 30 & 31 Jul, £10.
3PM Pomme is French for Apple And pum is West Indian for a woman’s private parts. Comic vignettes that meditate on the eternal feminine, from Jamaica, Toronto and London. Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, 2–24 Aug (not 13), 3.20pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £6.
4PM
Broke Verbatim theatre that shares real- life stories from the frontline of poverty and debt in the UK. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 2–25 Aug (not 12), 4.10pm, £9–£12 (£8–£11). Previews 30 Jul– 1 Aug, £6. Boxman Boxman had a nervous breakdow. Now he seeks true love in ASDA and fights off the bullying of the meat-counter man in this one-man dark comedy. Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 2–25 Aug, 4.15pm, £10 (£8.50). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £5. 5PM
Light Following last year’s hit Ballad of the Burning Star, Theatre Ad Infinitum return with a show inspired
by the surveillance scandals, set entirely in the dark and lit with LED torches. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 2–25 Aug (not 11, 18), 5.15pm, £10–£13 (£8.50–£12). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £7.50. Black Faggot Part of the New Zealand Season, this hit of the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals explores what it’s like to be young, gay and Samoan. Assembly Roxy, 623 3030, 2–25 Aug (not 11), 5.30pm, £11.50–£12.50 (£10.50–£11.50). Previews 31 Jul & 1 Aug, £7. 6PM
ViewMaster Poet Ryan Van Winkle and musician Dan Gorman offer 15 minutes of world travel through a personal, playful journey. A personal show, part of the Made in Scotland showcase. Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 5–24 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), every 15 mins from 2–3.45pm & 6–7.45pm, £5 (£4). Previews 1–4 Aug, £4. Broken Dolls (Razbitye Kuklu) A theatrical, journalistic docu-drama about the traumatic indoctrination suffered by victims of the global sex trafficking industry. C cubed, 0845 260 1234, 31 Jul–25 Aug (not 12), 6.30pm, £8.50–£10.50 (£6.50–£8.50).