Articles by Leon Conrad

Borges And I

Their flyer is designed like a book which unfolds into a poster.

The Rap Guide To Evolution

There are big names behind this show which starts with some stunning visual film sequences from the Wellcome Trust.

Brocante Sonore:The Mechanicians

In an abstract space evocative of a garage, mechanics workshop, engine room, and/or horologists studio, the members of Brocante Sonore conjure up music from a range of things, …

Ragamala Dance Presents Yathra (Journey)

The world-class Ragamala Dance Company returns to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with a soul-moving performance of South Indian Classical Bharatanatyam dance.

The Spanish Tragedy

Review
★★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
8th Nov, 2009

Kyds Spanish Tragedy is a product of its time socio-political, full of double-entendre, the themes of revenge and retribution and scenes of killing all the more poignant on st…

Killing Alan

A highly challenging story which draws on the Arthurian story of Gawain and the Green Knight, and references many others.

The Puppet-Show Man

An entertaining hour of fairy tales drawn from Hans Christian Andersens collection.

Boy In Darkness

Titus Groan, heir to the great crumbling kingdom of Gormenghast is fourteen.

Rachel Rose Reid: And They Lived ...

Rachel Rose Reid is a young storyteller who places herself firmly within a long tradition of oral storytelling.

Pages: Promised Land

Review
★★★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
29th Oct, 2009

A fringe show with four writers, three directors, two composers, a cast of fifteen and an even larger production team sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Don Quixote - Theatre of the Blind

Unlike His Ghostly Heart, another play on the Fringe which is played out in the dark, where the stage is darkened and the audience can make out the actors forms, in Don Qui…

Jewish Chronicles

In a musical style reminiscent of Claude-Michel Schönberg ballads, Daniel Cainer sings his big, broad Jewish heart out to entertain, engage, enlighten his audience.

The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection Or The Survival Of (R)evolutionary Theories...

Director Daniel Goldman and Multi-talented musican-actor-storyteller John Hinton join forces again after their collaboration on Crunch! the history of the apple told in an h…

Platform 88

You know what its like when you arrive in a strange place, and have to ask for help in a foreign language? The only person around is someone who looks strange, unfamiliar, differ…

East 10th Street

Life in a rooming house in New Yorks East 10th Street is the subject of this gripping one-man show, which is billed rather pompously as a self portrait with empty house.

Inventing The Sky

Russian dance company Rain People are to dance what Picasso is to art.

The Lamplighter's Lament

Three versatile performers tell the tale of a solitary lamplighter, an endearing character who lives by the sea alone, sleepwalks, enjoys music, food and drink, follows the news in…

Beachy Head

Two film-makers, filming the lighthouse on Beachy Head for a documentary about lighthouses unwittingly come back with video footage of a mans last moments before committing suici…

One Up One Down

In this highly energetic performance, dancer-actor John Macaulay welcomes the audience and ushers them in, attempting to build up a friendly rapport.

Zeitgeist

It starts with a chalk circle traced upon the ground.

Iago

An ambitious one-man show, in which Martin Aukland, as Iago, acts out single-handedly the story of his machinations against The Moor of Venice, outlining how and why he sets up…

The Brothers Lionheart

Lindgrens classic story of bravery and self-sacrifice is retold with cinematic scope and vision in this adaptation by Lionheart Productions and The Pleasance Theatre.

A Pirate's Life For Me!

Review
★★
Leon Conrad
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
12th Aug, 2009

It all started well enough.

Noir

Airealism attempt to mix circus and theatre to tell a tale of love gone wrong.

Twine

Tortoise in a Nutshell tell the story of a little string boy who is left out of things, so he goes off on an adventure of self-discovery and returns.

His Ghostly Heart

Its a conventional play with a difference acted out on stage, with an audience seated front-on in the dark.

The Best Of John Betjeman

Across the time span of two hour-long performances, Lance Pierson performs a selection of Betjemans poetry.

Richard III

Review
★★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
3rd Apr, 2011

There are places which have unquestionable resonance.

Mother/Son

Jeffrey Solomons play is a tour-de-force of skilful writing and performance.

Trapped

Blurring the boundaries between theatrical performance and dance, this artful show mixes different styles of movement with poetry, dialogue and brilliant choreography to produce a …

Faust In The Box

Bridge Markland performs his own version of Goethes Faust in a maverick combination of blank verse and pop song.

Scottish Dance Theatre - Luxuria

Nine members of the Scottish Dance Theatre company take to the stage to dance.

Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi

Review
★★★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
8th Mar, 2010

The name alone conjures up nostalgia, decadence, style and class and this show delivers.

Matthew Sharp In ... Johnny's Midnight Goggles

Hes a velvety-voiced opera singer with a voice to die for.

There Are A Thousand Ways To Kneel And Kiss The Ground

A bed, a body covered in a fire-black veil, a single rose, long-stemmed, green-leaved in a slim vase at the foot.

Crime Of The Century

Dan! Keep safe! the show starts but how? How can a youngster be safe if they can be knifed on their own doorstep? This is the unfortunate reality of contemporary society …

Scottish Dance Theatre - A Visitation

A10-strong cast from the Scottish Dance Theatre start off this performance with a still-life scene, a sculptural montage, in which all the characters appear in the same light.

The Petty Concerns of Luke Wright

Review
★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
14th Jan, 2010

Luke Wright is a talented performer who plays as much on his baby-faced good looks as with the words and styles he uses.

Matthew Sharp In ... Finklestein's Castle

With deliciously ridiculous names, fantastic situations, a plot that would make Ian Fleming grin with delight, and toothpaste taking on a significance you would never credit it wit…

The Wind In The Willows

This is a very clever, wonderfully traditional, old-fashioned theatrical adaptation of the timeless classic tale of life by a riverbank.

Cocorico

From their first entrance, comic duo Patrice Thibaud and Phillipe Leygnac had the audience in hysterics.

Room On The Broom

Tall Stories is a company that has made a name for entertaining children and family shows.

The Three Stigmata of Pacman

Review
★★★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
14th Jan, 2010

In this one-hour show, talented Ross Sutherland brings philosophy, physics and fun together to create a highly entertaining view of contemporary society, which transcends the obvio…

Martin 'The Falsetto' Milnes

Martin Milnes is a unique talent with an exceptional voice and good vocal technique to go with it.

The Timekeepers

Humour is at its most poignant against a background of human tragedy.

Cardenio

Review
★★
Leon Conrad
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
21st Aug, 2009

Its billed as The Tragicomicall Historie of Cardenio, a lost play said to be written by Shakespeare and Fletcher, reconstructed here by Dr Bernard Richards.

Rapunzelstiltskin

Storytelling and theatre meet in a comic theatrical retelling of two classic tales retold with fun and vigour.

the brain

Review
★★★
Leon Conrad
London Fringe
9th Nov, 2009

In a clinically white setting, with full-length white fabric backdrops suspended from rig to floor, among boxes draped with white sheets, lies a lifesize puppet of Albert Einstein.