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Sketch trio The Real MacGuffins had a tricky start to their Fringe show, appearing unexpectedly with the house lights up and struggling to engage with a cold audience. However, their opening rewrite of ‘The Great Escape’ witnessed a race round the room during which they broke the stage, and thus the ice. The show’s first half included some variable skits whose knowingly groan-inducing puns skirted kids’ pantomime, but with extra camp. Happily, the dashing chaps had saved much of their strongest, smartest material for the home straight, leading to a superior run of intelligent, inclusive and irresistible comedy scenarios.

Upstairs At The Three and Ten, 18 May
Rating:
Stuart Huggett

Rain, cold and open air Shakespeare. Sounds fun, right? Well, yes, actually. Relocated to swinging sixties Italy, this production of The Bard’s template for every romantic comedy was a classy, professional effort throughout. Inventive staging in the park, with the action amidst the audience, made for an immersive experience. Likewise, each performance was solid, with the cast convincing if occasionally a little uninspired. Standout performances, though, came from Russel Shaw as reluctant lover Benedick and Padraig Breathnatch, as comic relief Dogberry. Of course, this all would have worked better with a sunny evening accentuating the Dolce Vita vibe, but this entertaining take on Shakespeare proved highly-accomplished.

St Ann’s Well Gardens, 18 May
Rating:
Nick Aldwinckle

We met at St Nicholas’ Church, where our lovely tour guide Jeremy began by telling us some facts about Brighton’s history. We began the tour by walking down towards Churchill Square, continuing on to Western Road and the surrounding local areas. Jeremy was full of knowledge about the history of our city and how it has been built up. It was wonderful to learn interesting facts about buildings I’ve walked by so many times, but have never thought about or realised the history of each. Interesting and informative; what Jeremy doesn’t know about Brighton – it’s not worth knowing.

St Nicholas’ Church, 17 May
Rating:
Laura Hayward

It is a shame that a play that is supposed to be about maintaining your desired identity struggled so much to create, yet alone develop, its own. While it had a promising premise the confusion over genre and period slowly stifled the enjoyment out of a performance that stretched awkwardly to an hour. Sparks of humour did raise a surprised chuckle and Arielle Grieco put in a rating saving performance. However, too many punchlines lacked any sort of originality, or indeed humour, and the inclusion of the news team should have been left on the drawing board. A real shame, I just hope the characters of the play do not take on their fictional roles when they read this…

Brighton Media Centre, 17 May
Rating:
Ben Scott