Articles by Joshua Clarke

The Ivor Novello Story (By Arrangement With Samuel French Ltd)

Sometimes a little simplicity can go a long way in the theatre, and in this case, the title of this piece about the life of composer and performer Ivor Novello is very apt, as it r…

Bouncers

John Godber’s fluid exploration of British society, drinking culture and nightlife in the 1980s is a fast-paced romp through fragments of characters’ lives, from upper-class ch…

A Gentleman's Game

In this new musical, a piece which has flashes of The Picture of Dorian Gray crossed with psycho-dramatic elements of an Edgar Allen Poe ballad, a story of clandestine love, beauty…

A Number by Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill’s 2002 play about the ethics of genetic cloning and an extension of the well-worn ‘nature versus nurture’ debate is a challenging text for actors.

Cradle King

In this one-performer play by writer Donald Smith, actor Robin Thomson plays King James – at once James VI of Scotland and James I of England.

The Giant's Loo Roll

Casting one’s mind over the great theatrical titles of our time, there are very few which can compete with the concept suggested by the name of this play by Tale Gate Theatre.

The Company of Wolves

“Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?”Such is the musical refrain setting the playful, yet pervasively sinister, tone which permeates this piece from the outset.

At War With Love

Ambitious in its intentions, At War With Love uses a selection of thirty-two of William Shakespeare’s sonnets to form a narrative set against the backdrop of the First World War.

The Blue Box: Memories of the Children of War

A twelve-year-old girl writes a poem.

The Diary of Anne Frank

It is a story well-known to millions, made all the more poignant and absorbing for its absolute authenticity.

Growth

The stellar reputation of Paines Plough’s championing of new writing for the theatre means that each new offering is welcomed with a great deal of anticipation.

An Evening with CS Lewis

The set-up is simple: an armchair, a side-table, and a teapot, cup, and saucer.

Scorched

The setting is intimate, and encroaching on the personal space of a frail man, in a battered armchair listening to the television (news of the Gulf War is on – the year is 1991) …

Albatross

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Romantic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner already exists as a work of enviable length.

The Trial

An expansive stage space is dominated by assorted wooden furniture, with some pieces decked out in opulent reds and golds.

Trust Me, I'm A Drama Teacher

Seemingly at the end of his tether, a teacher sits, tie loose, marking work, clearly frustrated to say the least.

Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen’s satirical novel, itself a pastiche of recognisable and well-worn tropes of the Gothic literary genre, is here given new life by company Box Tale Soup, consisting of…

Diary of a Madman

The Edinburgh Fringe has recently seen a surge in theatrical adaptations of Nikolai Gogol’s short story Diary of a Madman.

Love for Sale

The title song, by Cole Porter, makes an appearance part way through the second half of this narrativised collection of numbers, and really speaks of the character’s ultimate sta…

Mercury Fur

In a dystopian London, in which the unseen outside world is ravaged by violence, drugs and fear, Mercury Fur focuses upon the relationship between two brothers and depicts, in char…

Bubble Revolution

George Orwell once wrote a fairy tale in order to avoid accusations of criticising reality.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Having previously seen an outstanding Georgian language version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm by the Tumanisvili Film Actors Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014, in…

[Title of Show]

As cryptic as the title of this show may seem to be, its basic premise is established very early on.

Promise and Promiscuity: A New Musical by Jane Austen and Penny Ashton

In the latest theatrical offering of a Jane Austen themed adaptation, this piece, which is billed as a new musical by Penny Ashton, interweaves thirty-three direct passages from Au…

Verge of Strife

Emerging in a Grecian breastplate of gold, to a poetic backdrop of Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est the stage is seemingly set for the presentation of a man whose view of hims…

BOBBY WINNER

How to Win Against History

On every front, this show is a winner.

Für Elise

The female object of Beethoven’s widely known composition for solo piano is unknown, though in this devised production by the York Drama Soc, she is given form and identity as th…

A Man Standing

“You come in like a lion and you leave like a lamb”.

An Account of a Savage

‘What does it mean to be a human?’Voiced explicitly at one moment during this equal parts captivating, inviting and horrifying production, the question of the very nature of hu…

The Mission

Set in 2057, a time not too far away from our own, The Mission charts the selection and preparation for an unprecedented space exploration by an unremarkable and apparently run-of-…

Over There

Mark Ravenhill’s play uses the metaphor of two brothers – twins – to represent the former partitioning of Germany into East and West during the time of the Berlin wall.

DNA

This young company from The Theatre School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent brings an array of engaging, emotional, and believable performances to Dennis Kelly’s gritty play.

Albert Einstein: Relativitively Speaking

For many people today, their impression of Albert Einstein is quite possibly informed by the oft-seen image of his face: tongue sticking out – to all intents and purposes every b…

The Temptation of St Anthony

Welcome to the Edinburgh Spiritual Emergency Support Group.

Iolite the Musical

First things first, a notable mention must be awarded to the sterling efforts of the two-piece band.

Secrets of Us

If ever there were a production which vociferously defends the ability of young people to make theatre with the impact of a professional standard (whatever that actually means) thi…

Naked Knotted Neurons

In this devised piece, the company from the University of Pennsylvania’s Theatre Arts Program set themselves an almighty challenge in terms of the subject matter they deal with (…

Troublesome People by Jill Haas

The challenge for any writer tackling the well-worn topic of WWII is to find a particular niche or angle which has not previously been given adequate treatment.

Poppies

A new musical set at the beginning of the First World War.

The Raven

Edgar Allen Poe’s seminal poem, which charts the gradual descent into madness of a heartbroken lover compounded by the incessant repetitions of a talking bird, gives its name and…

Chopin's Last Tour

Review
★★
Joshua Clarke
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
17th Aug, 2015

Phillip Aughey’s favourite composer is the great pianist Frédéric Chopin and, having been present at a number of recitals of his work last year, he has been motivated to create…

A Sudden Burst of Blinding Light

This piece of new writing from Ben Maier is the latest addition to the succession of plays at this year’s Fringe which in some way seek to deal with issues of mental health.

Touched by Fire

This is immersive theatre.

The Great Downhill Journey of Little Tommy

Is this a music concert? Is it a piece of theatre? Can it be both? Might it be neither? These are the questions that may well fly around your mind after experiencing The Great Down…

Letters to Aberlour

Ostensibly a community play, there can be little doubt that the impact of Letters to Aberlour will be most keenly felt by people from the area in which the play is set, and by thos…

Baggage

As theatrical metaphors go, the equating of psychological ‘baggage’ to physical suitcases is one of the more straight-forward examples, yet that is not to decry the effectivene…

1972: The Future of Sex

Review
★★★★
Joshua Clarke
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
14th Aug, 2015

Following The Wardrobe Ensemble’s previous creations, including the depicted opening of a Swedish furniture store (RIOT) and an account of the Chilean Mining Accident of 2010 (33…

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