list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL THEATRE
FRIEDA LOVES YA One for the sweeter tooth ●●●●● HOW TO BE AMAZINGLY HAPPY! A one-woman show seeking happiness ●●●●●
Frieda Loves Ya is as cake-centric a burlesque show as you’re likely to see at the Fringe, or anywhere else. Like the sentient French Fondant Fancy which plays a central role in what plot there is, this show exudes sweetness. Written and performed by Victoria Firth, How To Be Amazingly Happy! follows fortysomething Firth as she is forced to face the fact her life isn't turning out the way she always wanted, and to seek happiness any way she can.
Frieda (alter-ego of performer Rebecca Kenny) has The show relies on shared experiences, with a
sad eyes and a petted lip. They combine with her ukulele songs about heartbreak to provide a double jab of intense twee. This is still a burlesque show and so there are ample jokes involving the exchange of bodily fluids and whipped cream. Unsettlingly, Kenny still manages to infuse these gags with her trademark dose of sugar. The show is a thinly veiled vehicle to showcase
Kenny’s various talents, which are undeniable. Her voice is pleasant, her jokes are amusing and her physicality impressive. The problem is that they don’t gel together in any sort of organic way. By forcing all her skills to the fore of her performance, none of them are given the time or space they need to flourish. Frieda Loves Ya attempts to propagate a warm fuzzy feeling, much like eating freshly spun candyfloss. But, like eating that treat you’re likely to be left with an intense desire to brush your teeth. (Liam Hainey) ■ Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 13), 10.25pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
somber voiceover informing the audience that Victoria is grieving her inability to have children. Instead of acknowledging the failed IVFs and relationships, she looks for distraction. In bouts of physical theatre, she humorously recalls the times she tried to take up running or looked for spiritual guidance. Firth’s retelling of her misadventures are entertaining
and easily relatable, in a similar vein to the TV series Miranda, but rarely get beyond easy comedy. Her moments of open desperation are human and emotional, but get drowned among comedy routines and other songs about dogs that delay the focus of the show.
How To Be Amazingly Happy! still remains enjoyable
however, mostly thanks to Firth’s warm personality and ease of interaction with her audience. Her acting skills make for an hour of playful and amusing entertainment. (Adeline Amar) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 13, 14), 11.35am, £9–£10 (£8–£9).
ENTROPY Overheated writing weighs down an otherwise intriguing concept ●●●●●
The set-up of Jennifer Roslyn Wingate’s two-hander is simple: Sam arrives unannounced on Barbara’s doorstep and demands to be let in. As they hash out the details of their fraught history, Sam and Barbara engage in a rapid-fire exchange of recriminations, threats, word play, innuendo and tenderness. The pacing of their descent into the black corners
of their memories is precise, and its depiction of childhood trauma – especially when victims grapple with feelings of love and hate towards those complicit in their pain – is moving. Lewis Bruniges is compelling as Sam, veering erratically between childish indignation and true menace. Unfortunately, Katharine Drury is given much less to work with as Barbara, and her silent, taut figure is lost amid Bruniges’ rages. This leaves the play unbalanced; by the second half, there is the sense of things spinning in circles. The dialogue is also clunky at times, with characters lapsing into legal jargon and obscure terminology, that only serves to take the audience out of the moment. Though Entropy convincingly explores the very worst of what humans can do to one another, it ultimately fails to fulfil its ambitions. (Deborah Chu) ■ Underbelly, Bristo Square, until 27 Aug (not 13), £11 (£10).
A GHOST’S TALE Creepy and busy trip into the past ●●●●●
Edinburgh’s awash with creepy ghost tours at the best of times: but with its ambitious, innovative approach to the genre, this atmospheric audio drama creation from sound designer Tomaž Pritekelj and writer François Olivo stands out. It’s a rare show within the Fringe that dares to take on the site-specific encounter with such gusto, and such immediate engagement with Edinburgh’s environment.
From the shadow of the castle, the journey winds through the Old Town, with a surround-sound binaural audio soundtrack conveyed through state-of-the-art headphones relating tales from Edinburgh’s grisly past, of spooks and apparitions, executions, murders and plague victims.
What brings the show alive is Pritekelj’s magical sound design, which creates a thoroughly convincing 3D aural environment for Olivo’s dark tales. Most impressive is its uncanny blurring of reality and recording in fleeting moments between tales – the snort of an unseen horse, the jangle of keys from an unknown figure who suddenly materialises. Olivo’s wordy script could never be accused of shortchanging
with a paucity of sinister stories, but requires more attention than Edinburgh’s teeming evening streets permit. His cast of Scottish voice actors give vivid performances, but the show’s breathless pace sometimes detracts from the atmospheric impact of its spooky stories. Nevertheless, it’s a gently unsettling melding of cutting-edge technology and ancient tales that provides a disquieting glimpse into Edinburgh’s dark past: and a tribute to the potential of a type of theatre that pays more than lip-service to local history, and grapples with the excitement of theatre that escapes from the auditorium. (David Kettle) ■ Outside Johnston Terrace Nature Reserve (by the red telephone boxes), until 2 Sep (not 8, 16, 22, 30 Aug), 9.30pm, £12 (£9).
8–15 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 87