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It’s not often a gig can be dubbed original at the fringe but with this innovative, compelling act it was that with a capital O.
Six seriously interesting pieces of dance theatre were presented using film, dance (natch), trapeze, red noses (!) and moving music to emphasise all that dance theatre can actually be.
Interspersed with a tea and biccie break, the night was a festival fave. Engaging, entertaining and exciting: don’t miss this next year.
City Gate Centre, 22 May
5/5
Monica Perdoni

Shakespeare should definitely be watched al fresco, no question about it. Birdsong, afternoon sun and dappled leaves created the perfect set for an afternoon of puns and couplets from one of his earliest works The Comedy of Errors.
The slapstick tale of sorcery and social mores, centring around two sets of identical twins’ mistaken identities (Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, of Syracuse and Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, of Ephesus), made for an entertaining tale.
Performed by a stellar group aka Shakespeare’s Globe, yay, the Bard would have been proud.
Dyke Road Gardens, 23 May
4/5
Monica Perdoni

Bankable laughter, Josie Long is always delightful to see with her joyful comedy and engaging persona. Trying out new material and ideas that got an exclusive outing for this occasion, this was an intimate treat – like homemade chocolate birthday cake with enough for everybody. It was interesting to see her try out some character-play. The abrasive ‘lady from Kent’ was very funny with her closed mind answering the audience’s dilemmas, yet somehow didn’t detract from Josie’s own likeability as she skatted through an improvised middle England. In fact, Josie’s request for audience dilemmas and – halfway through – topics we’d like covered that she hadn’t touched on yet turned the night into a tailormade feast.
Upstairs At Three And Ten, 22 May
4/5
Victoria Nangle

Philosophy, maths, art and spirituality should have made this discussion about ‘nothing’ an enlightening and exciting debate. However a less than flowing session with stilted/monosyllabic answers from artist Michael Landy, who infamously destroyed all his possessions in an Oxford St window, and over-compensating interruptions from author Isabel Losada made for a slightly awkward time.
Regardless, the subject was an interesting topic and whether it was how many items Landy owned, a zen-joke from Losada or the patient explanations from Iranian mathematician Dr Ali Taheri of sequences, the audience took away, it was more than a zero sum game.
Corn Exchange, 24 May
3/5
Monica Perdoni