Articles by Jodie McVicar

Within

Within is one man’s quest to find the meaning of life.

Museum Late: Fringe Fridays

Fringe Fridays at the museum are a magical experience! There’s a plethora of acts which span the genres available at the festival, each act performing a 15 minute taster on a mai…

Little Death Club

The air of the Speigeltent circus hub is thick with dark debauchery, smoke and gin soaked Weimer punk jazz, setting the atmosphere for a celebration of the extraordinary.

Laurie Black: Space Cadette

Laurie Black is back and she’s green, keen and featuring a plethora of originally written electro synth space cabaret songs.

Full Consent to Speak on My Behalf

Full Consent To Speak On My Behalf refers to a statutory line used by professionals, enabling foster carers to speak on behalf of children in the care system.

Fawlty Towers Live Themed Dinner Show

Review
★★★★★
Jodie McVicar
Edinburgh Fringe
The Fawlty Towers Dining Room at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton Hotel
23rd Aug, 2019

The Fawlty Towers Live Themed Dinner Show is one of two similar events happening at this year's Edinburgh Fringe; both themed dinners based on the legendary iconic 1970s sitcom…

Ladies Who Lunch

Four work colleagues reunite after 30 years, in this delightful intergenerational analysis of motherhood.

Dead Equal

Review
★★★★
Jodie McVicar
Edinburgh Fringe
Army @ The Fringe in Association with Summerhall
25th Aug, 2019

Dead Equal is a resplendent feminist perspective on female involvement in combat.

Romeo & Juliet

A classic retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy, this piece is brought to us by Guy Masterson, TTI in association with Maverick Theatre Co.

Jehovah's First Witness

An interesting insight into the man who stole Christmas, leader of the ‘doomsday cult that controls eight million lives’.

Self-Check

Self Check is a play about identity, tracking the stories of four teens in group therapy at a psychiatric hospital.

Devil of Choice

Framed around the personification of Goethe’s Faust, a sinister figure adorned in black strides purposefully on stage to proclaim that to strive is divine, because movement is li…

Risk Assessment

A clever, conversational creation which examines differing experiences and attitudes to feminism, misogyny and the patriarchal structures which limit women in society.

Shadows

This thought provoking production by Want the Moon Theatre is a compelling exploration of connectedness – to ourselves, to those around us, and to reality.

Cherie – My Struggle

Cherie Blair has been somewhat of an enigma.

Sex Shells

Sex Shells is a rampant and rambunctious hour of reverie, a camp cabaret that’s exceptionally remarkable in style.

Friendsical: A Parody Musical About Friends

Friendsical is billed as a ‘musical parody’ of Friends and unfortunately it fails to hit the mark on both counts.

Jessica Fostekew: Hench

Hench is an engaging exploration of female strength in its many forms.

Tales from the Garden

The performance opens to a figure eerily adorned in a rose-embellished mask, a luscious pink rose plugged into her mouth like a pacifier.

A Man’s a Man

Following the overwhelming success of this performance last year, it’s back – and this time with a full cast of professional actors.

Jen Brister – Under Privilege

Brister presents an hour’s whistle stop tour on the nature of privilege, and how we can stop it creating ‘total bell ends’.

My Darling Clemmie

This elegantly enchanting piece is a one woman play, telling the story of Clementine Hozier’s life.

Reuben Kaye

Kaye dazzles, a heady combination of eyelashes and rhinestones, a force to be reckoned with as he greets each of his guests on the way in and on the way out of his show.

Such Filthy F*cks

We enter stage to a flash of porn images, a seductive voiceover beckoning ‘come all over my face’, and ‘dominate me’.

Vikki Stone: Song Bird

A tambourine aficionado from the Midlands, Vikki Stone delights us with this hour of joyful mirth as she delves into modern life as a millennial.

Brandi Alexander

Brandi Alexander has reinvented herself; a self confessed D-list night-time personality back in the saddle after a five year hiatus.

Mandy Muden: Is Not the Invisible Woman

As Mandy Muden inexplicably emerges from a tiny suitcase on stage, clad in a leopard print ensemble, she is anything but invisible.

Jew...ish

Saul Boyer explodes on stage, a blast of energy and vigorous vocals, as he delights us with a punchy song about being a Jew.

Rosie Jones: Backward

We first encounter the witty Yorkshire whirlwind that is Rosie Jones, as she bops along to what we assume is a silent disco, as she is adorned with massive red headphones.

Grace Campbell: Why I'm Never Going Into Politics

Everyone is at the Gilded Balloon to catch a glimpse of Alistair Campbell’s daughter, and Grace by name - but not by nature - gives us everything we want and so much more.

Endless Second

This innovative piece by Cut The Chord Theatre is a fresh perspective on sexual violence, consent and how to open conversations that empower both men and women.

Orlando

Rocking a minimalist set of a stool and a book, Lucy Roslyn performs this one person play drawing parallels between Virginia Woolf’s classic novel, and her own tumultuous foray i…

Laura Lexx: Knee Jerk

Laura Lexx is back with twice the energy and three times the sparkle, courting controversy with her own brand of comicality.

Daddy Drag

Review
★★
Jodie McVicar
Edinburgh Fringe
Summerhall
18th Aug, 2019

Leyla Josephine presents us with 'Daddy', a seeming parody of Rab C Nesbitt, oozing toxic masculinity.

Helen Bauer: Little Miss Baby Angel Face

Helen Bauer hits the Fringe hard with this compelling comedy debut which is slick, sassy and super satisfying.

Getting to Know Katie

We enter stage and Jonathan Ashby-Rock delicately tends to his flowers, encased in boxes across the stage.

Pops

Pops is a complex contemplation of intergenerational addiction, featuring a father and daughter trapped in co-dependence.

Boar

Stage mist and ethereal warfare sounds are the backdrop to this wonderful hour of bloodthirsty battle and adventure, with a cast of thousands resonating through the medium of Lewis…

Jay Lafferty: Jammy

Jay Lafferty is a seasoned comic, and her offering of Jammy for this year’s Fringe is nothing short of a masterclass in her craft.

Everything I See I Swallow

Something special is about to happen - we know this deeply and cerebrally as we enter stage to the mesmerising image of Maisy Taylor intricately entwined in shibari ropes, barely v…

Heroin(e) for Breakfast

A high energy, jovial start introduces us to a young couple getting down to some sexy time.

My Mum's a Twat

What happens when your mum abandons you at the age of 12 to join a cult and move to Canada? That’s exactly the predicament Anoushka Warden found herself in, subsequent to her par…

Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous

There’s a delightful pantomime-esque quality to Alfie Ordinary, who welcomes us into his world for this hour of song, dance, puppetry and even a spot of gymnastics.

Traumgirl

Traumgirl explores the myths and stereotypes around sex work, laying bare the women behind the industry in a bold narrative which will change the preconceptions of anyone who didn�…

Sofie Hagen: The Bumswing

Sofie Hagen enters the stage, seemingly nervous despite her extensive experience on the comedy circuit.

Gone Full Havisham

Catapulting Dickens into the 21st century, this masterstroke genius of spin-offs introduces Emily Halloran, live streaming to us from her penthouse honeymoon suite.

Tiff Stevenson: Mother

Mother is Tiff Stevenson’s observation of the many and varied forms that motherhood can take, her material existing in the venn diagram where motherhood and feminism interconnect…

Mark Nelson: Brexit Wounds

Mark Nelson struts on stage to banging Rammstein industrial metal, plunging headfirst into a heady rhetoric on Brexit.

Susie McCabe: Domestic Disaster

Susie McCabe strolls on stage, observing that she’s never felt more like a sex worker since being crushed inside the shipping container that is Assembly’s Blue Room.

Agatha Is Missing!

At the outset, we are introduced to Miss Clarissa Marbles – a witty play on Christie’s Miss Jane Marple, a legend adored by a generation.

Appropriate by Sarah-Jane Scott

This one person play, written and performed by Sarah-Jane Scott, introduces us to Sorcha who is fresh from fleeing her wedding.

Sarah Keyworth: Pacific

Keyworth has become something of an internet sensation in the last year, and her performance showcases a very confident and comfortable performer, owning her space and her audience…

Harriet Dyer: The Dinosaur Show

An hour with Harriet Dyer is an hour of absurdism where literally anything can happen.

Passengers

We’re told that ‘Max needs a firm hand’, as the performance launches with three actors clad in balaclavas.

Madame Ovary

We are introduced to Rosa as she jogs on the spot, planning her new years resolutions which include working hard, calling her grandma more and taking better care of her body.

Shattered

This one woman show featuring Diana Varco sees her shape shift effortlessly into 35 different characters, as she narrates the journey of her self discovery through trauma.

Ejaculation – Discussions About Female Sexuality

Ejaculation - Discussions of Female Sexuality is a raw, visceral exploration of female pleasure, boldly confronting the many themes which act as barriers to this rarely discussed t…

A Very British Lesbian

Fiona Goodwin has written and performed this piece as the ultimate coming out story.

Bad Luck

Billed as part cabaret, part wannabe warehouse rave, my expectations were prepared.

Nowt as Queer as Folk

Set in rural England, this pale ale drenched parable explores village life juxtaposed with urban sprawl.

Mark Thomas – Check Up: Our NHS at 70

Mark Thomas regales us with a peppy portrayal of his health-check on the NHS, in commemoration of 70 years since its inception.

Sex Waitress

Sex Waitress catapults us forward to the year 2020, in which a dystopian London has emerged from female empowerment and consent campaigns, to a society in which misogynists and sex…

Arthur Smith: Syd

Arthur Smith presents this heartwarming tribute to his dead father, Syd.

Little Death Club

An atmosphere of fun and weimar cabaret beats envelop us as we enter Beauty at the Circus Hub.

Brain Rinse

Entering the room for Brain Rinse, the audience are engulfed by eerie music and the lurking of an arabianesque ninja creeping about the studio.

Year Without Summer

Cast Iron Theatre have rocked a minimalist set – an intimate three chairs and floor space surrounded by a ring of audience members – and have stretched it expertly to the peak …

Brenda's Got a Baby

Brenda’s Got a Baby was birthed from a concept created by Molly Rumford, financed via Crowdfunder and the culmination of interviews and news stories from real people.

Jo Caulfield: Killing Time

Jo Caulfield strides on stage with all the self-assuredness of the seasoned performer that she is.

Hot Brown Honey

Hot Brown Honey is a high-energy, ‘fuck the patriarchy’ exploration of everyday racism and sexism which promises to ‘tease and interrogate all your views’.

Glasgow '14

Glasgow ’14 is a one man show, inhabiting the minds of four very different men and their experiences of mental illness.

One Woman Alien

Heather-Rose Andrews skilfully acts out this minimalist stage version of cult classic Alien.

Michelle McManus: Reloaded

Michelle McManus has become a household name around these parts, and what she delivers is neither groundbreaking nor surprising – but it is still an hour deserving high acclaim.

Other People’s Teeth

Other Peoples Teeth is a unique, visceral and violent vignette, exploring the emotional depths of brutality.

Frau Welt

An outstanding singular performance by Peter Clements, that draws upon - yet uniquely embraces - the fine traditions of drag queen finesse, dark humour, sexual allure and celebrati…

Best of Burlesque

In the resplendent surroundings of the Assembly Speigeltent, a pumping rendition of Cherry Bomb blasts out the promise of an hour of alternative grandeur.

Angry Alan by Penelope Skinner

Walking into the dark depths of the Big Belly at Underbelly, my expectations are low as I take my seat and note there’s a leak in the roof above my chair.

Gypsy Queen

Hope Theatre Company bring us this brutal and beautiful production exploring sexuality through the lens of two boxers.

The Approach

This simple and significant piece of theatre commences with three women each sat forebodingly on chairs at various points of the stage, as an ear-scratching soundtrack creates a ba…

Nine Foot Nine

Nine Foot Nine is a clever piece of dystopian theatre highlighting gender imbalance, produced by the Sleepless Theatre Company.

After Hours Cabaret Club

Entering the Underbelly Fresian, we were enticed by the melodious notes of a live band playing.

Harpy

Harpy is an intricate portrayal of a nuisance neighbour, with more nuances than one would expect to squeeze into a one hour show.

Juliet Meyers: Year of the Dog

Juliet Myers and Homer, the rescue podenco, deliver their second Fringe comedy run in which we are regaled with tales of life with an anxious dog.

Pickle Jar

Pickle Jar takes us on the journey of an egocentrically flawed central character as she struggles to find her place in the world.

Rahul Kohli: All My Heroes Are Dead, in Jail or Touched Up Your Gran

Rahul Kohli was unperturbed by the small audience on the evening this reviewer attended, likening it to ‘a Theresa May cabinet meeting’.

Hardeep Singh Kohli: You-topia

As the lights go down, the audience are met with a film playing on a screen, with a voiceover asking various people of diverse identities what utopia means to them.

Juliette Burton: Butterfly Effect

Juliette Burton’s show, as brought to us in 2017, is framed by the chaos theory and concept that a small action can have major consequences at a later point.

Shakespeare for Breakfast

For the 27th run of this Edinburgh Fringe staple, C Theatre have utilised a cast of four to present this contemporary pidgin adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew.

Colin Cloud: Psycho(Logical)

Colin Cloud conjures a cryptic presence as the audience enter to him trapped motionless in a large perspex box.

Chris Henry: Around the World in 80 Dates

Fresh from a year of touring around Australia and the East, Henry is back and has something to say.

Holly Morgan: Madonna or Whore?

Morgan bursts on stage dressed in a costume which is a parody of both an angel and madonna - a white bedsheet with foil halo and neon traffic cone boobs.

Pete Firman: Marvels

Pete Firman enters the stage in his trademark three-piece suit, warming the audience up with a cascade of comedy nuggets which sets the scene for what is to come.

The Vanishing Man

Knowledge = Belief and Truth.

Bubble Show for Adults Only

This is one of two offerings at the Fringe this year from Iulia Benze and Kurt Murray, featuring high energy physical movement, bubble art and audience interaction.

Fronting

A bold and convention-bashing introspection on the impact of HIV, through the medium of two young gay men.

Adulting

Hot from winning Adelaide Fringe Best Cabaret Weekly Award 2018, Tash York tempts us with this scintillating hour of song and expertly woven vignettes based on the concept of Adult…

Anya Anastasia: The Executioners

Anya Anastasia explodes into the theatre to the ominous sounds of thunderstorms, as she live streams her ascension to the stage.

Laura Lexx: Trying

Laura Lexx takes us on an emotional exploration thick with poignancy, and layered with humour.

A Man's a Man

I was unsure what to expect from this performance, but "a musical about Robert Burns" already had my interest piqued.

Ivy Paige: Seduction

Ivy Paige opens her show gliding on stage in full sequins and crystals, elegantly poised as the heady beats of It’s Raining Men blasts in the background.