encyclopaedia in his head. Luca has one on her phone. Most of us forget most things, most of the time. What if we forget something important? Something that might make the world a better place? Searching opens a can of worms. Luca asks, can we become memory champions? LIKE ANIMALS SUPERFAN in association with Tron Theatre Summerhall – Old Lab, Sat 3–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 2.15pm, £12 (£10). Previews Wed 31 Jul & Fri 2 Aug, £5. A funny and poignant investigation into love and communication in human (and not-so-human) relationships. Inspired by true stories of animal language experiments and performed by a real couple, it blends surreal comedy with moments of tenderness and vulnerability to explore the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone else.
ZOO
THE SENSEMAKER Woman’s Move ZOO Playground, Mon 5–Mon 26 Aug (not 7, 14, 21), 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews Fri 2–Sun 4 Aug, £7. Hilarious yet uncomfortable, The Sensemaker shows a woman battling with an answering machine. Critical of new technologies and of bureaucracy, it mixes theatre, dance and even lip- syncing, and addresses, with irony, the fears and frustrations of our interconnected world. NIGHTS AT THE CIRCUS Spare Tyre ZOO Playground, Tue 13–Sat 24 Aug (not 18), 3,15pm, £10. In a circus after the lights have been turned off, four characters emerge in the darkness slowly revealing their desires, hunger and inner confl icts. Part mythical, part real, they defi ne their own sense of sexuality and identity. Nights at the Circus is a provocative performance created by award-winning learning disabled and non-disabled artists.
PROGRESS Trip Hazards ZOO Playground, Mon 5–Sat 17 Aug, 4.30pm, £10 (£8). Previews Fri 3–Sun 4 Aug, £7. As far back as they can remember, Jasmine and Nikhil have been in a room with a dance mat, trying to win the iconic arcade game Dance Dance Revolution. It hasn’t been going as well as they had hoped. Recently named one of the Guardian’s Best Emerging Theatre Companies, Trip Hazards presents a playful and painful exploration of how friendship survives when we win and when we lose. LANDSCAPE (1989) Emergency Chorus ZOO Playground, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 12.45pm, £10 (£9). As of 2018, the Doomsday Clock is the closest it’s ever been to midnight. Combining text, choreography and music, Landscape (1989) is a slow zoom in on an Oregon National Park and the people passing through. Emergency Chorus present a meditation on forgotten histories and lost futures, asking what we do when there’s nowhere left to go.
31 Aug–7 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 67
The Network, take on the cliques in a homage to classic coming-of-age movies, with a soundtrack that will take you right back to the tears and triumphs of fi nding your place in the world.
SUMMERHALL
NIGHTCLUBBING Rachael Young Summerhall – Old Lab, Fri 2–Sun 11 Aug, 3.45pm, £12 (£8). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8. Rachael Young and her badass band of superhumans embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in Nightclubbing; an explosive performance bringing visceral live music and intergalactic visions to start a revolution. Supported by The Eclipse Award.
DADDY DRAG Leyla Josephine Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre, Sat 3– Sun 25 Aug, 5.45pm, £10 (£8). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8. Daddy Drag asks us to consider how the relationships with our fathers affect us for the rest of our lives. Leyla Josephine attempts to understand what it means to be a father through her witty performance style, drag costumes and complex but unconditional love for her dad. Winner of the Autopsy Award. ALL OF ME China Plate, Cambridge Junction and The Yard Theatre Summerhall – Main Hall, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 12, 19), 3.10pm, £15 (£10). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8 (£5). An intimate and absurd exploration of wanting
Daddy Drag
to live, wanting to die and what can happen if we sit together with the dark. Caroline Horton reunites with director Alex Swift to bring you the show that happens after the curtain call, when the lights have gone down but the mess remains. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION Temple Independent Theatre Company (Egypt) Summerhall – Main Hall, Wed 14–Sun 25 Aug (not 19), 9.50pm, £10 (£8). Preview Tue 13 Aug, £8. The Egyptian revolution was not just about the desire to change the political system. It was the expression of the accumulation of decades of oppression, deception, insecurity, violence, ineffi ciency and depression. Mixing fi ction and non-fi ction, Before The Revolution transports its audience to the moment of stagnation before an inevitable eruption.
COTTON FINGERS National Theatre Wales Summerhall – Main Hall, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 12.15pm, £14 (£12). Previews Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Thu 1 Aug, £8. As social and political upheaval grips her country, what hope does Aoife have to regain control? A timely, politically charged show written by award- winning writer Rachel Trezise at the time of the historic referendum of the eighth amendment in Ireland, Cotton Fingers takes us on a journey from Belfast to Cardiff.
HOLD ON LET GO Unfolding Theatre Summerhall – TechCube, Fri 2–Sun 25 Aug (not 7, 12, 20), 8.40pm, £10 (£8). Preview Wed 31 Jul, £5 & Fri 2 Aug, £8. Alex is 56. Luca is half his age. Alex has an