Articles by Alex Bailey Dillon

Nomad

It’s hard to know how much to say about the content of Nomad, a physical theatre piece by Gözde Atalay, because disorientation was such a strong part of my experience.

Habitat

The thing on the floor as you walk into Dance Base’s Studio One – this year under the Assembly umbrella – is not paper.

A Shark Ate My Penis: A History of Boys Like Me

It’s hard to imagine that any show called, in full, A Shark Ate My Penis: A History of Boys Like Me could be weirder or more fun than it sounds.

Brave Space

Seeing the stars spangling Chicago based company Aloft Circus Arts’ posters for Brave Space, last year’s hit, you might wonder – is it as good as all that? The answer is yes,…

Lucky Pigeons

The true judges of any show aimed at children are the children in the audience, and the kids at Lucky Pigeons at Underbelly’s Circus Hub seemed to have a good time.

Aloft Presents Sanctuary

Aloft Circus Arts of Chicago (USA) burst onto the Fringe scene with their hit Brave Space last year.

Thunderstruck

It was a long and winding road, but by the time I left David Colvin’s Thunderstruck, I was – well.

Maureen

By the time the lipstick went on, I was hooked.

Common Dissonance

Not all circus is dance, but Na Djinang Circus’ Common Dissonance certainly is.

I Hope Your Flowers Bloom

I Hope Your Flowers Bloom, written and performed by Raymond Wilson and produced by All Those Figs, is an expert fringe show.

A Fairie Tale

You might reasonably assume a fairy tale to be set long ago and far away, but master storyteller Niall Moorjiani returns to the genre’s roots.

The Rest of Our Lives

Human physicality is utterly captivating – it’s why we go to the circus or the cabaret, where narrative and plot take a backseat to simple bodies, and the complex and incredibl…

Runners

“You can disappear into the timelessness of motion.

KIN

One of the beautiful things about acrobatics is the way human bodies can collaborate in difficult-to-imagine ways.

Railed

Railed is the newest offering from fringe-circuit regulars, the Head First Acrobats hailing from Australia.

Half-Empty Glasses

The Paines Plough Roundabout has become a symbol of the Fringe, developing its own signature style in the process.

Staged

Circus is inherently exciting to watch – the whole point of it is to see human bodies interact with the world in a way you didn’t think was possible.

Le Coup

Le Coup, in the Underbelly Circus Hub’s ‘The Beauty’ tent, is perfectly programmed.

For Only an Hour

I can guarantee that you aren’t ready for For Only An Hour, the brain- and body- and life- and love- child of dancer Phil Sanger.

Progress

There is something deeply human and inherently charming about imperfect dance.

Too Pretty to Punch

There are 36 shows at the Fringe by trans performers, according to the TransFringe hashtag on Twitter, and Edalia Day’s Too Pretty to Punch might be the only one that’s both ce…

La Galerie

If you’ve ever looked at a field of unbroken snow and wanted to run across it, or a blank piece of paper and wanted to color it, La Galerie is absolutely the circus show for you.

Fires Our Shoes Have Made

We are living through a renaissance of plays in verse, and if you need proof I can furnish few better than Fires Our Shoes Have Made by Fringe newcomers Pound of Flesh Theatre.

Forest

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Forest in question refers to the cast – a fourteen strong group of graduates from the Moscow Art Theatre School.

xoxo moongirl

What’s better than a one-woman show? A one-woman show with a trapeze hanging from the ceiling, like Chekov’s gun over the mantelpiece.

Lauren Booth: Accidentally Muslim

Journalist Lauren Booth’s first solo show, Accidentally Muslim, promises a journey from ‘Soho hedonism’ to a shocking revelation in a mosque.

Backbone

Seeing circus never gets old – there’s always something magical about watching human beings doing things you can barely imagine with their bodies.

Raven

A raven mother, in German, is a neglectful one.

Atomic 3001

At least three times over the course of Atomic 3001 I found myself contemplating whether choreographer and performer Leslie Mannès was somehow creating the techno beat that her bo…

Paradiso

Our Theatre’s Paradiso is ostensibly a puppetry show about three men of different nationalities, reflecting on the last days of their lives before moving onto paradise.

WHITE

If you’ve ever felt stuck between two groups, both suspicious of you and neither accepting of the other, you may have the slightest indication of what Koko Brown is trying to com…

As We Like It

Side by Side Theatre Company, serving learning disabled performers from the West Midlands, returns to Paradise in Augustines this year with their adaptation of As You Like It, the …

How to Spot an Alien

How to Spot an Alien might seem like an obscure skillset for 21st century children, but for Jelly and Jonjo, the two protagonists of Paines Plough’s annual offering for young aud…

Stick by Me

We all remember the feeling of temptation to open the box that we’re not supposed to open as a small child.

Circolombia

Circolumbia returns to the Underbelly Circus Hub, bringing its high-octane cast of singing, dancing circus artists with it.

Attrape Moi

There is nothing so delightful as watching something you assume to be impossible done before your eyes.

Backup

Backup, a mix of puppetry and gestural object theatre, is a half hour of pure delight.

Mairi Campbell: Auld Lang Syne

If you’re wandering around Edinburgh this August looking for a glimpse into year-round Scottish culture, it might be worth popping into the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Ro…

BaseCamp

Fever Dream Theatre’s BaseCamp promises an immersive experience in the rivalry between two world-class mountain climbers preparing for a joint ascent of a Himalayan mountain.

Island Town

The Paines Plough Roundabout is an incredibly versatile venue.

Notorious Strumpet & Dangerous Girl

Make sure you arrive at Notorious Strumpet & Dangerous Girl a few minutes early; performer Jess Love is thrilled to offer you a coffee, a tea, or a biscuit in the queue.