Paines Plough

Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Miss-fit besties Kathy and Stella run a true crime podcast that they hope to turn into a full time job. When their favourite author is brutally murdered after a local event, they think this is the perfect opportunity to raise their profile and get the fame they know they deserve. Though they have no murder-solving skills, they’re determined to get to the bottom of her death. The musical comedy by Jon Brittain and Matthew Floyd Jones, writers of A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad), is a hilarious caper that embraces the genre’s fans, life’s unexpected heroes and the quest to find yourself.

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Caste-ing, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Nouveau Riche, creators of the hit show Queens of Sheba that confronts systemically ingrained misogynoir, now focus on the experience of being a Black woman actor. Using music, beatboxing and spoken word to expose the microaggressions and racism that shape their working lives, the show is a rallying cry for change within theatre and film.

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Manic Street Creature, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

At Ria’s first gig after moving to London to work as a musician, she is captivated by an Irish bartender, Daniel. They soon develop an intensely unhealthy, co-dependent relationship where she wants to fix him and he struggles to survive a debilitating mental illness. Using music to document their relationship, her feelings towards her absent father and living down south, this soulful gig-theatre show conveys her all-consuming experience with gentleness and a big heart.

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A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Elif has come to a picturesque island nation as a child seeking a better life, and finds work as a shepherdess charged with minding a landowner’s flock of sheep. Though the tyrant landowner brazenly uses her power and Elif’s undocumented status to exploit her, she quietly gets on with her job and waits for the King’s administration to process her citizenship application. This simply-written fable by Sami Ibrahim depicts an old-fashioned, magical country with an immigration system that parallels Britain’s, with an aim to critique the hostile environment. Though there are some lovely individual moments, the story is slow and often stagnant, and the political commentary clumsy and heavy-handed.

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Half-Empty Glasses, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Toye is 16 and ready to change the world. But first, he has an audition for a music scholarship at a private school, all his coursework, his friends always want him to hang out, and his dad is ill. He also wants to while away the time reading up on the Black British people and history that’s left out of the inadequate school curriculum. In short, he’s very busy and trapped in a racist and inflexible education system that he wants to change but also exploit to his advantage, and the pressure is starting to get to him.

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May Queen, Paines Plough Roundabout

MAY QUEEN - Paines Plough

by Laura Kressly

Leigh’s doing her GCSEs but all she and the girls at school can talk about is the upcoming May Day event, where Leigh’s playing the May queen. She can’t wait to wear the dress she was allowed to choose herself, and wave from the float whilst the entire city of Coventry comes out to watch. What she doesn’t realise is that at 16 years old, Leigh’s had enough of boys and men consuming her body.

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Feature | Favourite Theatre Moments of 2019

Image result for my favourite things julie andrews

by Laura Kressly

Determining a Top 10 has become increasingly troublesome what with the amount of work reviewed by guest critics and the even larger amount that we get invited to but aren’t able to see. So, rather than a more traditional ‘best-of’ list, here’s a totally subjective list of a few of my favourite things – in no particular order – from theatre and performance in 2019.

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A Rundown of the Roundabout: Six Shows in the Paines Plough Programme, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Image result for paines plough roundabout

by Laura Kressly

The Paines Plough Roundabout is the most reliable, new writing venues at the fringe. With a collection of work that represents the width and breadth of the UK both geographically and thematically, this year’s offerings are universally strong. From a family musical to a one-man show about a stalker, and everything in between, there is a great selection of shows for audiences looking for new work in a great venue that tours around Britain.

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A roundup of the Roundabout, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Image result for paines plough roundabout

Paines Plough’s flatpackable Roundabout theatre is one of the most exciting new writing venues of the fringe. Tucked in the rear courtyard at Summerhall, the intimate, domed space features several plays spotlighting Britain’s working class this year. From Scottish school gates to a Yorkshire village, the best writing here this fringe wrenches theatre’s narratives away from the privileged classes.

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