Reviews

In Anna Thomson’s one woman show, a devilish shapeshifter Beatrice transforms into her alter ego, the ‘beautiful’ and silent but anarchic Madame Nightshade. Physical comedy, with clowning and grotesque exaggeration keeps the audience engrossed and occasionally grossed out, for the best part of an hour.

Anna Thomson is a competent, confident and very talented performer with an enigmatic manner and she stars in a complex and clever piece of theatre that is perhaps the most prop-heavy show at Fringe World.

There is an old saying in theatre that says ‘less is more’. That is certainly the case with The Naked Magicians -less clothes and even more talent.

I didn’t really know what to expect, apart from the obvious magic and nudity, so I wasn’t quite prepared for what awaited me. On arriving, the audience is immersed in the experience, music blaring at full volume with bright blue and pink lights illuminating a stage, a hanging box, a table and a chair with an inflatable naked lady sitting astride.

A Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickeryis a gorgeously told story about an accidental super hero, the side kick who makes her famous and a narrator called Michelle - who as the creator of this show, is a bit of a super hero herself.

Euripides’ Alcestis was first performed in Athens in 438 BCE and is arguably the first ‘tragicomedy’ in world drama. It has always been regarded as a ‘problem play’ because of its combination of tragic and comic elements; it doesn’t easily fit into any clearly defined category in that its complexity raises as many questions as it addresses.