A herd of Zoo shows, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Over the last few years, Zoo has been quietly building its reputation as a venue, breaking the stranglehold that the Big Four and Summerhall have on high-quality work. With a loose focus on physical theatre and performance, they boast a programme varied in style, but also in quality.

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The Ballad of the Apathetic Son and the Narcisisstic Mother, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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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.

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Power Ballad, Battersea Arts Centre

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By guest critic Amy Toledano

Writing a review for this abstract piece of feminist theatre feels almost unnatural, as Julia Croft’s Power Ballad is one that is completely subjective. And while the piece is not exactly to my own person taste, it is plain to see that this is almost the point. It’s certainly understandable how Croft has taken the Fringe world by storm.

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YAYAYA AYAYAY, Southbank Centre

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By Laura Kressly

The infant Earth was a place of chaos and noise. High winds, rivers of lava and churning layers of rock glowed and cracked. It’s from this hot, toxic sea that arose the perfect conditions for life as the surface of the planet divided into sea and land, and gravity’s pull invited the formation of an atmosphere.

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Mexico: A Love Story, VAULT Festival

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by Laura Kressly

Critics don’t enjoy writing pans. We don’t review because we want theatre to be bad. Quite the opposite – every time we take a seat, whether it be plush and commercial or a bench on the fringe, we hope the show we’re about to watch is the best thing we’ve ever seen. But we’re duty-bound to be honest.

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Notorious, Barbican Centre

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by guest critic Nastazja Somers

It wasn’t by accident that I ended up seeing The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein’s new work The Notorious at The Barbican Centre. Give me feminism, plenty of liquids and general messiness on stage and I’m there, screaming my head off, like when Lucy McCormick performed her Triple Threat two years ago at Edinburgh Fringe.

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(I Could Go on Singing) Over the Rainbow, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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When I was little, around three or four years old, I went through a phase where I watched The Wizard of Oz everyday. I adored everything about that film. I wanted to grow up to be that brave, stubborn girl who loves animals, with a group of devoted friends making sure she was always safe whilst embarking on her next wonderful adventure in a foreign land.

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Eggs Collective Get a Round, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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Eggs Collective are after the #bestnighteva with this joyful show modelled on the great British night out. Gold sequinned dresses, blue eyeshadow, and WKD by the bucketload are vital ingredients of this playful tribute to one of this country’s most venerated institutions.

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