Articles by Oliver Simmonds

One for the Road

Harold Pinter’s short play, One for the Road, concerns torture, and you can assume it’s talking about state-sanctioned torture, given Rising Phoenix Repertory’s decision to t…

All In

Here’s what happens in order: A parody of bourgeois conversation by actors in black morphsuits; a light show to the gaiety of the Ode To Joy; unembellished description of said pi…

Single Varietal

Review
★
Oliver Simmonds
Edinburgh Fringe
Spotlites
18th Aug, 2016

Bob Stourton has an orchard.

Ears on a Beatle

Billed as “not simply a docu-drama”, Ears on a Beatle promises perspective on the post-Summer-of-Love, post-Fab-Four decade in which the two protagonist agents find themselves.

Spaced: Whisky Theatre

Review
★★
Oliver Simmonds
Edinburgh Fringe
Valvona & Crolla Scottish Foodhall@Jenners
14th Aug, 2016

Imagine you’re fifteen.

Under Ice

Lithuanian director Arturas Areima mounts an adaptation of Falk Richter’s play of the same name, Under Ice.

Bend in the River

Deep Water Theatre Collective mount Bend in the River: a tender, Thornton Wilder-esque look at the modest living of lepers.

Fourth Monkey's Genesis and Revelation: Ascension Part 2

Here we go again.

Sins Borne

Absolutely implausible and performed implausibly too: there are moments where Sins Borne’s premise works but they are too sparse.

Isabel(le)

Isabel(le) concerns Isabel Brade, a freewheeling brothel owner with a penchant for dance, and Emma, her great-granddaughter and narrator of the show.

Fourth Monkey's Genesis and Revelation: Ascension Part 1

The Genesis + Revelation cycle by Fourth Monkey promises “traditional Bible stories with a contemporary twist”.

The Rose of Jericho

Kevin Hely stares, bares his teeth and darts along the stage.

Dreaming Under the Southern Bough

stage@leedscompany mount an original adaptation of Tang Xianzu’s A Dream Under the Southern Bough.

The Road to Huntsville

Stephanie Ridings does a lecture on state homicide with drama.

House and Amongst the Reeds

London-based Clean Break fit two plays into one show: House, a tight family drama set in a British-Nigerian household, and Amongst the Reeds, a nondescript tale of homelessness, fr…

Wilde Without the Boy

It’s indefatigably Wilde.

Taiwan Season: Solo Date

Looking like a cyberpunk priest, Tsai Pao-Chang’s hero is swamped in technology — AI, encrypted files and dating sites.

The Unknown Soldier

Centenary productions saturate the Fringe, yet the conceit at the heart of The Unknown Soldier puts it slightly above the masses.

Inferno

Inferno is the first and, arguably, best part of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Nzinga Warrior Queen

When the polyrhythm is heard in Nzinga Warrior Queen’s opening, you know this isn’t a comedy of manners.

This Evil Thing

Many appreciate conscientious objectors because they seem on the right side of history.

Tent

A man and his unseen companion in a tent.

Captured

Forsaken love.

Mrs Roosevelt Flies to London

Five-star performance in a three-star play.

Mule

Drug-smuggling.

Travesty

It’s a bowl of sugar mixed with grit.

BOBBY WINNER

Ten Storey Love Song

Ten Storey Love Song may be the greatest Fringe show I’ve ever encountered.

Last Call

Angst.

Camille

Most Fringe shows think they can squeeze two hours into fifty minutes.

Happy Dave

Bloody Happy Dave.

Brexit and Nazi Art: Interview with Ten Storey Love Song’s Paul Smith

Feature
Oliver Simmonds
Edinburgh Fringe
30th Aug, 2016

Bobby Winner Ten Storey Love Song (adapted by Luke Barnes from the Richard Milward novel) is a play cum techno gig about five wretched tower-block inhabitants who deserve better fr...

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