Articles by Kate Nora

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is a joyful reimagining of the Princess of Wales' life, told with wildly speculative poetic licence.

Hannah Gadsby: Woof!

Hannah Gadsby has been accused of killing comedy, but you’re going to remember this eulogy for a long time.

A Little Night Music

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s MA MUsical Theatre Performance and Musical Directing students have taken the Fringe by storm, as always, with their nearly West End-level produc…

Catherine Cohen: Come For Me

Catherine Cohen’s new Fringe show will have you asking yourself, “Is she flirting with me specifically?” for the full 60 minute duration.

A History of Paper by Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams

Told through paper mementos, A History of Paper is an epic love story.

Cyrano

“Why do we keep telling the old stories?” asks the titular character of Virginia Gay’s adaptation.

Tom Lawrinson: Buried Alive and Loving it

Tom Lawrinson has a manic energy that can barely be contained by an Underbelly stage.

Rob Madge: My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do)

Rob Madge has a seven-step plan to throw the perfect Disney parade, and nobody would DARE to rain on it (unless instructed to do so by the stage directions).

Maggie Winters: Marguerite

Maggie Winters is a very funny woman with a PowerPoint and a dream.

The Scot and the Showgirl

The Scot and the Showgirl is a song cycle celebrating the best of Broadway and Scotland’s impact on the music industry, following the highs and lows of a long-term relationship, …

Two Hearts: Til Death Do Us Hearts

Are you horny for monogamy? Excited to take part in a ménage à deux? A slut for your life partner? Joseph and Laura of Two Hearts feel the same way, and they’re not afraid to s…

Josh Thomas: Let's Tidy Up

When Thomas first tumbles into the stage you'd be forgiven for thinking he's your perpetually late friend who always manages to make up for his tardiness with a series of e…

Christopher Hall: Girl For All Seasons

Christopher Hall may have started out as a social media star, but he has really earned his stand-up credentials in the past few years, and it's wonderful to see his confidence …

Baby Wants Candy

We come up with a title, they turn it into a one-hour musical — this is the promise the cast of Baby Wants Candy makes every time they get on stage and, boy, do they deliver.

Melanie Bracewell: Attack of the Melanie Bracewell

Melanie Bracewell has conquered Australia and now she's set her sights on the UK crying please, let me be humbled.

Dreamgun: Film Reads

Dreamgun: Film Reads is back at the Fringe and serving up the usual night of nostalgia, banter and chaos! Tackling The Silence of the Lambs, they cooked up a script that’s true t…

35MM: A Musical Exhibition

A song cycle inspired by the photographs of Matthew Murphy, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition is a unique concept and the perfect choice for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Edges

The students of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s MA Musical Theatre programme are a staple at the Fringe, and they never let us down!Edges, a song cycle written by Benj Pasek an…

Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story

If you still chuckle at those Twilight memes making fun of Kristen Stewart’s awkward portrayal of Bella Stark, or harbour some nostalgia for the immortal (and problematic) YA ser…

OSCAR at The Crown

There are very few downsides to attending a steampunk musical based on Oscar Wilde’s life, unless you’re a reviewer trying to take discreet notes in the back of the room.

Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen

Fern Brady is here to speak for autistic women who happen to be hot – selflessly giving a voice to the voiceless (or just a very specific group that might not have thought to ide…

Jazz Emu: You Shouldn't Have

Have you ever considered how much easier it would be to stop trying to be a nice person and just be a dick to everyone? You will after watching this show.

X: 1969

Picture this: a musical based on the women of the Manson Family set to the music of Fleetwood Mac.

Little Women

Broadway, here we come! The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s production of Little Women is astonishingly professional, from the high quality costumes and stage setting to the ph…

Buffy: Revamped

Spike has left Sunnydale for Edinburgh to fulfil an ancient prophecy and the ‘stakes’ have never been higher!When you’re part of a fandom like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there…

Chris Hall and Mark Bittlestone: Two Sour Gays

Review
★★★
Kate Nora
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre
18th Aug, 2022

One of the (many) great things about Fringe is that new comics, who don’t yet have an hour’s worth of material, can buddy up to put on a show — Chris Hall and Mark Bittleston…

Police Cops: The Musical

Sometimes you’ve just got to listen to your balls.

BriTANicK

BriTANick is an American sketch comedy duo made up of Brian McElhaney and Nick Koche, and they quickly assure us that their name (a combination of ‘Brian’, ‘Nick’ and ‘Ti…

My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical

Are you a love warrior? Turns out, I am!Hallmark movies might be cheesy and predictable, but they’re the kind of films that help people escape their lives, and during the pandemi…

Two Hearts: We're Pregnant and the Baby is Music

As we all know, COVID was invented to stop people from enjoying live music, but now Two Hearts are here to help us recover from two years of silence.

Dreamgun: Film Reads

Don't you forget about Dreamgun! The comedy script re-writers are back for another year at the Fringe with updated material and even a few new movies thrown in.

Clybourne Park

A play comparing racist undertones in modern society to those in 1950s America runs the risk of stating the obvious — there is still a major inequality problem in the 21st Centur…

The Importance of Being Earnest

Shakespeare: Reloaded have reworked this classic Oscar Wilde play into something almost unrecognisable.

More Myself Than I Am

The Bronte sisters’ tragically short-lived lives are reimagined for the Fringe by Eleventh Hour Theatre.

AcadePitch Presents – Romeo and Juliet: An A Cappella Tragedy

There are quite a few variations on the Romeo & Juliet theme at this year’s Fringe, but few have as many puns as AcadePitch Presents - Romeo and Juliet: An A Capella Tragedy.

Found Footage Festival: Volume 9

In a world where we see some form of video footage every day – on small and big screens, down on our phones, around us on animated billboards – and where we can tumble headfirs…

Rose McGowan: Planet 9

It needs to be said, you must go into this show with an open mind.

Improvengers: Pretendgame

Improvengers: Pretendgame is an ambitious concept without the follow-through.

Suicide Pact

Any piece of art that tackles a complicated subject like mental health is worthwhile.

Rust

It’s very tempting to conclude your musical with a clearcut happy ending, where every loose end is neatly tied and all of your favourite characters ride off into the sunset.

Romeo & Juliet: One-Man Musical

One man, a guitar, and the most venerated love story of all time.

The Last Five Years

If you walk into a production of The Last Five Years without any previous knowledge of the show things can get a little confusing.

Dreamgun: Film Reads

Dreamgun: Film Reads are back at the Fringe and ready to ruin your childhood! At a time when podcasts are very on trend and live recordings are foisted upon an unsuspecting public …

Tom Lenk Is Trash

Rarely is a title so apt.

Harry and Chris: This One's for the Aliens

There are worse ways to start a show than with free sweets, and no better way to end it than with a singalong.

Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical

With millennial nostalgia at its peak, there can be no better time to head to the Edinburgh Fringe and experience Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical.

Pottervision

Review
★★★
Kate Nora
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Laughing Horse @ Espionage / The Stand’s New Town Theatre
17th Aug, 2019

Where better to perform a Harry Potter parody show than Edinburgh?Lukas Kirkby and Tom Lawrinson are back at the Fringe for their fourth year in a row with Pottervision.

Gobby

How did the first person to watch Phoebe Waller-Bridge perform Fleabag feel; confused, enlightened, so profoundly altered they could barely put words to it? Jodie Irvine’s origin…

Two Hearts: The Comeback Tour

What an honour to have New Zealand’s self-proclaimed ‘only popstars’ at our humble festival.

Girl Bully

“Why do you think you’re a bitch?” Warning—the first question you’ll be asked upon arriving at Rock Rising’s Girl Bully might invoke a mini existential crisis.

Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area

Have you ever been to a supermarket and thought, “Hey, I really wish the staff would sing more?" Well, Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society are here to make that wis…

Architecture Tour of New Town

It’s August, and we know what has lured all of you to Edinburgh—the neoclassical architecture!Whether you’re a regular tourist, Fringe-goer or resident, Cobble Tales' Arc…

Flo & Joan: Before the Screaming Starts

Nicola and Rosie Dempsey (aka: Flo & Joan) walk out to polite applause before stumbling through the intro bars of their opening number.

Princess Party

Once upon a time, two princesses decided to leave LA and cross the ocean to visit a fairy tale land where dreams come true ⁠— Scotland.

Goodbear: Dougal

Goodbear put on a pretty spectacular routine considering they never actually show up.

The War of the Worlds

If you saw a live news report of an alien invasion on a network you trusted, would you believe it? Rhum & Clay’s production of The War of the Worlds poses that exact question…

Max & Ivan: Commitment

There ain’t no party like a Max & Ivan party, ‘cause a Max & Ivan party uses equations to guarantee participant enjoyment!The comedy duo are back at the Fringe and read…

Foil Arms and Hog – Swines

The boys are back in town and they still believe in the stag! Irish sketch comedy trio, Sean Finegan, Conor McKenna and Sean Flanagan, return for another Edinburgh Fringe run with …

I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical

When critiquing a musical about the difficulties of being a performer, there’s nothing to do but write a review about the difficulties of being a critic.

Bi-Cycle

Bi-Cycle is the low-cardio, sweat-drenched sexual awakening you never knew you needed.

David O'Doherty: Ultrasound

There’s only one person who could compel people from their homes on a day when the rain is coming down in sheets and thunder crashes less than three Mississippi’s away.

Out of the Blue

“Nothing makes a woman feel more like a girl than a man who sings like a boy.

Science of the Sesh 3.0

If you’re here at the Fringe for a good time, don’t let the word ‘science’ cancel out the word ‘sesh’.

Lucy Porter: Be Prepared

Before even taking the stage, Lucy Porter announces that we’ve won the ‘Sexiest Audience at the Fringe’ award, so you know we’re onside by the time she grabs the mic.

Josephine

As the last notes of La Vie en Rose hang in the air, we jump to our feet to give our enthralling leading lady the standing ovation she so richly deserves.

Tarot

When three people in white nightgowns run frantically into an attic pouring a circle of salt, you know the devil can’t be far behind.

Blind Date

Review
★★★★★
Kate Nora
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall
23rd Aug, 2019

Have you ever been on a Tinder date? Picture that in front of a live audience, where only one of the participants knows what’s going on.

Stand Up with Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated)

When will Joanne Harouni get to do the Ted Talk she deserves?In an unusual standup routine, Harouni devotes her hour-long performance to stories about her multifaceted father and l…

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