by Laura Kressly
James Rowland’s trilogy about his best mates Tom and Sarah began with Team Viking two years ago on the free fringe. A Hundred Different Words for Love followed, and the story now comes to a close with the funny and tragic process of growing up that begins with donating sperm to Sarah and her partner Emma.
by Laura Kressly
Lucy and her son Raedie have grown apart in recent years. Lucy is worried that her son lacks empathy, and Raedie thinks his mum is full of herself. Both of them love Aussie pop star Sia though, so they use her music, dance and physical theatre to explore their relationship and reconnect with each other in this real-life mother and son show.
By Laura Kressly
Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler was the wife of three famous artists and the lover of a fourth. A composer herself, her achievements are overshadowed by the men she loved. It’s the typical tragic narrative of talented women from the past, and this show unfortunately perpetuates it.
By Laura Kressly
There are guns everywhere in America. Real ones, and pictures of them, hidden and overtly displayed. This constant threat of violence gives the unnamed uni lecturer and mum in this monologue nightmares and anxiety attacks. She awaits the day when a male student takes issue with his grades, or the course content, or anything else that threatens his masculinity and barges into her office or classroom and guns her down.
by Laura Kressly
If you were anything other than one of the popular kids, you probably hated school. Matthew’s in the process of coming out as nonbinary so they’re obviously having a bad time of it. Luckily, their best friend Binkie and his fairy godmother RuPaul have their back in this messy, glittery musical ode to being different.
by Laura Kressly
Last year at the fringe, my nearly eight-year relationship fell apart. In order to survive the final stretch of the festival, I put on a brave face and told no one. Already tired and drained but with a week or so still to go, I continued to see shows and write about them, refusing to acknowledge my personal emotional landscape.
By Laura Kressly
Circus is a a marvellous showcase of physical skill and the possibilities of the human body, but with this often comes a sexualised view of women and men dominating the form with their strength. Tabarnak certainly focuses on the latter, with the women serving more as support to the acts. Fortunately there’s feminist circus in the form of Casting Off that challenges women’s role in society and the circus.
By Laura Kressly
Shakespeare’s audiences were likely to be much more engaged with theatre performances than they are today. Emily Carding far surpasses any Elizabethan or Jacobean audience participation, however. This pared down version of Hamlet by the solo artist requires about half a dozen willing audience members to take on some of the key characters in Shakespeare’s play. The rest of the audience don’t just sit and watch, either – this is a collaborate effort.
by Laura Kressly
Changez and an American tourist sit in a cafe having a cup of tea at the best cafe in Lahore. As they wait for their drinks, Changez narrates the story of his life in America as an Economics student at Princeton University and an analyst at one of the top consultancies in New York City. As a young man, he had the world at his feet. His world is very different now.
by Laura Kressly
Carl and Jason, like many millennials, are special. Or rather, they’ve been told they are in their formative years. The two have grown up clinging to that knowledge as the world has bombarded them with rubbish. When they each receive a mysterious leaflet telling them they’re the chosen one, they both buy it without question.
The Play's The Thing UK 