Articles by Fiona Russell

The Mikado

Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado is a work that is in many ways very problematic, due to its fetishising and cultural stereotyping of the Japanese, written at the height of the …

The HandleBards: Richard III

The Handlebards are a unique group, reinventing the concept of the company of travelling players.

Shakespeare Tonight

In Shakespeare Tonight, the famous playwright gives his first ever television performance on a talk show with host Martina, only to be confronted by his so-called ‘enemy’, huma…

Solo Shakespeare, Macbeth: Hecate's Poison

Hecate’s Poison is a one-woman version of Macbeth, performed by Players Tokyo’s T.

Lady Shakespeare

This one-woman show by playwright Lois Blanco involves Spanish actress Paula Blanco alternately playing William Shakespeare, a range of Shakespeare’s individual female characters…

Vivaldi, Handel and Bach

Presented by The Bach Ensemble of Edinburgh, the programme for this concert comprised of lesser-known and hugely underappreciated works by the three baroque greats: Antonio Vivaldi…

Into the Shadows of Shakespeare – Free

The Tempest, retold by children whose first language isn’t even English.

Piaf and Brel: The Impossible Concert

Classically-trained Canadian singer Melanie Gall presents this one hour recital of the music of legendary Francophone singers Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, with songs presented them…

Daniela Nardi's Espresso Manifesto

Tucked away in the intimate and comfortable setting of the Scottish Arts Club, Canadian singer Daniela Nardi and her group Espresso Manifesto, comprising Ron Davis (piano), Chris J…

Music of Dowland, Purcell and the Stuarts

Review
★★★★★
Fiona Russell
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
St Andrew’s and St George’s West, George St
12th Aug, 2016

Countertenor James Laing, theorbo player James Akers and bass violist Susanna Pell’s hour long feast of Dowland was one of the most spectacular concerts I have attended in a whil…

Men With Coconuts: Improvised Bond

Edinburgh-based improv group Men with Coconuts present an entirely improvised Bond film, based on suggestions from the audience and using many familiar tropes and improvisation gam…

Kieran Hodgson: Maestro

Simultaneously one of the funniest and most heart-warming acts at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Kieran Hodgson is not to be missed.

A Fool’s Paradise: 30 Shakespeare Scenes in 60 Minutes

For a fast-paced, fun show filled with audience interaction, A Fool’s Paradise might be for you.

Shakespeare on Love

Shakespeare on Love offers a heartwarming performance given by a group of Milwaukee high school students: the brainchild of their two English teachers.

The Shakespeare Club

In the programme, The Shakespeare Club promises to be a somewhat cheesy, yet harmless play about finding oneself through Shakespeare’s characters.

Rebustours: Hidden Edinburgh

You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a generic literary tour, because of the way it had been marketed in the Fringe programme.

Ladies in Waiting: The Judgement of Henry VIII

Ladies in Waiting, written by and starring James Cougar Canfield as the lascivious and misogynistic King Henry VIII, is a steamy, feminist critique of the most notorious of England…

Book Lovers' Tour

Allan Foster, a writer whose name is practically synonymous with Edinburgh literary tourism, is our guide on the Book Lovers’ Tour, which specialises in introducing tourists to t…

Vivaldi for Breakfast!

Vivaldi for Breakfast is an interesting attempt to dramatise the enigmatic life of notorious Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi, as he worked in the famous Pietà orphanage for youn…

Bad Shakespeare

Something of a misnomer, Bad Shakespeare does not reflect the quality of the acting or of the performance.

Shakespeare Syndrome

In Shakespeare Syndrome, brought to Edinburgh by the talented Mermaidsgroup from the University of St.

Shakespeare Shorts – Hamlet

Shakespeare Shorts: Hamlet - Shakespeare’s Hamlet condensed into an hour by kids, for kids.

My Ain Countrie: 17th-19th Century Songs of Scottish and Northern Emigration

This informal hour long recital, starring singer Elspeth McVeigh and fiddle player Gabi Maas, features a variety of folk songs, or ‘Broadside Ballads’, from 17th to 19th centur…

Nicholas Parsons' Happy Hour

It was immediately evident upon walking into the jam-packed Cabaret Bar that I was significantly changing the demographic awaiting the arrival of radio and television legend and na…

Mavericks: A Sketch Show (Of Sorts)

Mavericks: A Sketch Show (of Sorts) is the product of talented comedy duo and Cambridge Footlights members Ruby Keane and Luisa Callander.

Vladimir McTavish: Scotland In Sixty Minutes

Scottish comedian and Fringe veteran McTavish has celebrated his 60th birthday this year, and has therefore adopted a more ponderous and docile approach in his set, instead of dedi…

Mixed Doubles: Fundraiser

Quartet, Mixed Doubles, have brought a comedy sketch show to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, framed with four peculiar characters from the peaceful UKIP-voting Middle England villa…

Paul Foot: 'Tis a Pity She's a Piglet

For a comedian with such a cult following, renowned for surrealist originality, I was very excited about my first encounter with Paul Foot’s comedy.

Giacinto Palmieri: Nietzsche, Women and I

Italian comic Giacinto Palmieri, in this hour of comedy, tries to draw comparisons between himself and renowned misogynist and philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche in their approach to…

Jane Eyre: An Autobiography

Jane Eyre – An Autobiography has to be one of the most moving pieces of theatrical storytelling ever created; quite simply, it’s astounding.

Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother in the Case of a Study in Blood

Sherlock Holmes, true to its original with all the same characters and tropes that keep fans hooked, but with a twist.

Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes

Based on audience suggestions, the hour’s traffic of the stage is an improvised case which promises to be ‘the greatest Sherlock Holmes story ever’, The Case of the Lemon Pos…

Impromptu Shakespeare

Every single audience member is given a ping pong ball with Shakespearean tropes written on them upon entry.

The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare

Fun for parents and children alike, The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare is a brilliant introduction to Shakespeare: the man and his plays.

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets Do Shakespeare

Possibly the most ridiculous show at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets are in their ninth year and were greeted with a sell-out audience.

Rhapsodes

Improvised comedy at its most virtuosic, Sean McCann and Adam Meggido (of Showstoppers! The Improvised Musical and School of Night fame) are two masters of their artform, with an a…

Notflix

Waiting for the Call: The Improvised Musical’s Notflix has to be one of the best improv shows I have seen at the Edinburgh Fringe this year.

Shakin' Shakespeare

Shakin’ Shakespeare does an incredible job at presenting the playwright’s work in an accessible and side-splittingly funny way.

Shit-Faced Shakespeare

The Edinburgh Fringe ‘smashed’-hit Shit-Faced Shakespeare returns in its seventh year to perform Measure for Measure in its unorthodox and unique inebriated manner.

William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged)

In a festival saturated with comedy shows about Shakespeare, the Reduced Shakespeare Company continue to reign supreme as the undisputed masters at reimagining the Bard into hilari…

Frankenstein

As one of the most commonly adapted works in the English canon, Frankenstein often leaves one unmoved when he or she leaves the auditorium.

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

Showstoppers! have a strong reputation preceding them, made evident by the number of people in the packed auditorium murmuring excitedly before the lights go down.

Randy Writes a Novel

Randy is a bald, bright purple Australian stand-up puppet with a really quick wit and a sharp tongue.

Teatro Delusio

Possibly the most beautiful show you will watch at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, Teatro Delusio is a marvel: original, stunningly choreographed, very funny and incredibly moving.

The Cambridge Footlights International Tour Show 2016: Lagoon

The Cambridge Footlights have such a reputation that their name is practically synonymous with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Oxford Imps: Hyperdrive

The Oxford Imps’ technologically-heavy Fringe show, Hyperdrive, perform a mixture of long and short form improvisation, using technology as stimulus.

Shakespeare for Breakfast

What Edinburgh Fringe would be complete without a trip to Shakespeare for Breakfast? Now in its 25th year at the festival, the group have not lost their touch.

Californians Dreamin’

Californias Dreamin’, performed by California Poly SLO’s company Smile and Nod, comprises a mixture of short and long form improvisation, based on audience suggestions.

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