The Edinburgh Fringe finished yesterday, and for all those there from Nottingham it was an enormous success. Through the Looking Glass, the New Theatre’s official production, received very positive reviews. Three Weeks gave it 4 stars and wrote, ‘it is reassuring to see that the future of theatre is in such good hands’ and that ‘it is a rare thing to see this amount of natural talent.’ This positive response from the critics was matched by audiences of smiling people and giggling, occasionally terrfied children. (Was Humpty Dumpty trying to fiddle with Alice, or was that just me?) All involved with the production did a fantastic job, as Three Weeks noticed, noting that the ‘lively script, reinterpreted characters, dazzling costumes and the addition of live music makes for a most moving atmosphere, while the choreography beautifully complements both the musical background and the faultless acting.’ All in all then, a great success.
The other shows from Nottingham went fantastically well. Dearly Deported, by our Business Manager Charlie Brafman, (Ankle Productions) received glowing reviews in the likes of Three Weeks and The Daily Telegraph. Audience numbers were decent and it was shortlisted for the National Student Drama Festival’s Edinburgh New Writing Competition. Three Weeks called it ‘fresh and witty’ and wrote that it was ‘an intelligent and well-performed piece that, though abstract in its production and philosophy, makes the civil liberties debate quite real.’
shutYOface, a sketch comedy troupe comprised entirely of current or ex-New Theatre members hit the Fringe hard with the sequel to their five star 2006 production, performing The Slippery Soapbox: Spotbanded Skat to sell-out audiences. Their audience reviews were all five stars, an almost-unheard of achievement. The press, too, loved the show with Broadway Baby describing it as ‘well written, well timed and performed with great enthusiasm… a huge hit with the crowd.’ shutYOface were performing at Zoo Venues at the same time as rival sketch group The Absynthe Monologues. In a battle to the death, the two groups performed a ’sketch-off’ in an unofficial free show at Zoo. Slippery Absynthe was eventually won by the Soapbox, much to the surprise of the Absynthe people. Their quick-thinking and witty improvisations earned them the laughter of the crowd and a packet of Sainsbury’s risotto as a prize…
TwinSS, by New Theatre President Ali Blackwell (ttproductions.com), enjoyed a short eleven day run at the beginning of the Festival. It sold-out its seventy-five seats towards the end of the run and generated a lot of controversy by having a big Nazi swastika on all the print and t-shirts. Despite this negative vibe (Ali got a death threat) the show was hilarious and very well received by its audiences. Three Weeks and ScotsGay both awarded it four stars with Three Weeks saying ‘ttproductions are a talented bunch who act with confidence and distinction… packed with some truly laugh-out-loud moments… a fantastic production.’
RibCaged Productions’ play Sex for Shampoo, by Owen Phillips, a recent New Theatre alum, also went very well. During their two week run they got good reviews and good audiences. Three Weeks said that ‘the writing is original – funny and sad.’ This was RibCaged’s second year at the Fringe and they came back and lived up to the high expectations after last year’s success.
Bianca Leggett spent the month reviewing for the prestigious Three Weeks magazine. She spent her time dashing madly from one show to the next, and still managed to write intelligent, honest reviews of everything she saw. Her reviews were very well written and a pleasure to read, although I did find her sentences were often rather too long. (Ha! Take that! The actor criticises the critic! Now you know how it feels…) Bianca didn’t just write reviews. An interview that she conducted with one of the stars of this year’s Fringe was published in a full-page spread in one of the weekly printed publications. You can read most of Bianca’s work on this page of the Three Weeks website.
5/5 (NT)
