Articles by William Heraghty

Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns or Can They Not See Them Like How We Can't See Our Noses

Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns or Can They Not See Them Like How We Can't See Our Noses may be in the running for the Fringe’s wackiest title and the show itself is an equally pl…

La codista / The queuer

La codista / The queuer is a deceptively simple show about a woman who waits in line for other people.

Soldiers of Tomorrow

Soldiers of Tomorrow tells the story of Itai Erdal’s conflicted relationship with Israel, specifically his time as a soldier and the prospect of his nephew’s future as a soldie…

CONSPIRACY

You are watching three actors sat at a table.

America Is Hard to See

The Edinburgh Fringe is awash with shows designed to shock and push our buttons.

Bible John

In the late 1960s three women were murdered by an Old Testament quoting serial killer by the name of Bible John.

Cock, Cock... Who's There?

Cock, cock… Who’s there? is a multimedia, autobiographical documentary-cum-social experiment all about writer-performer Samira Elagoz’s relationship with men after being rape…

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I’ve got a lot of love for YESYESNONO.

User Not Found

Amid the hubbub of cafe chatter and the hiss of milk steaming a mobile phone vibrates with messages of condolences.

It's True, It's True, It's True

Review
★★★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
Underbelly, Bristo Square / Underbelly, Cowgate
13th Aug, 2018

What does the transcript of a 17th century Italian rape trial reveal about the state of the world nowadays? That, despite 400 years of supposed social progress, the impulse to blam…

Alice Fraser: Ethos

What does it mean to be human? Can a machine learn to be human? Or failing that can it at least learn how to be funny? That’s Alice Fraser’s main objective and constitutes the …

Everything Not Saved

What can you remember from five years ago? Or five days ago? Five minutes ago, even? What can you be absolutely sure, beyond all doubt that you remember? MALAPROP Theatre’s new s…

Signals

There are shades of Beckett but without the plodding pretentiousness in Signals, Footprint Theatre’s new show all about human connection and the search for life beyond Earth.

Square Go

What’s a ‘square go’? Noun: A rammy.

Lights Over Tesco Car Park

Robert says he saw strange lights over Tesco car park.

One Life Stand

After their five star runaway success with All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Middle Child were always going to suffer from difficult second album syndrome and it’s a real shame …

Buried: A New Musical

Buried certainly made a splash at the Fringe last year, winning awards left, right, and centre, and deservedly so – Tom Williams and Cordelia O’Driscoll’s new musical is quir…

Daughter

Review
★★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall
17th Aug, 2018

I hated Daughter.

UNCONDITIONAL

There’s a lot going on in the world at the moment, isn’t there? So many stories needing to be told, so many national myths being rewritten, so much is constantly changing that …

Chase Scenes

Review
★★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall
16th Aug, 2018

Chase Scenes is exactly what it says it is: 60 scenes in which performers create a variety of famous and original chase scenes, filmed lived onstage and projected onto screens at t…

Give Me Your Love

A dirty, disused room, empty except for a box with lots of holes in it.

Celebration

Review
★★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
20th Aug, 2017

The central aim of Celebration is “to give anyone who can’t quite believe the world they live in something to believe in” which is a brilliant intention and starting point but …

Anyone's Guess How We Got Here

Barrel Organ’s new show Anyone’s Guess How We Got Here feels like a natural development of the company’s practice and philosophy whilst also managing to delve into a very dif…

Is Your Online Reputation Hurting You?

The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas is an initiative set up to ‘take the academics out of their ivory towers and engage with the public’.

MINEFIELD

It’s hard to tell what kind of show MINEFIELD is trying to be.

The Believers Are But Brothers

The stage is awash with cold, blue LED light.

£¥€$ (LIES) – Ontroerend Goed

What is money? For Belgian theatre group Ontroerend Goed, money isn’t actually metal coins or pieces of paper with numbers printed on them, no, money is so much more than a physi…

This Is Not Culturally Significant

This is Not Culturally Significant is an incredibly rare thing indeed.

John Robertson: The Dark Room

There are many different kinds of video games: roleplaying, shoot-em-up, strategy, the list is endless.

How to Win Against History

When viewing a show as celebrated and adored as How to Win Against History there is always the risk that it’ll never be able to live up to the hype.

Pixel Dust

Pixel Dust is a rare thing: a piece of theatre about the internet that isn’t utterly technophobic.

Nerdf*cker: a solo play with bad boundaries

Cameryn Moore has made a name for herself as one of the Fringe’s great taboo busters, especially on the subject of sex.

Prom Kween

From the producers of bold, subversive and wonderfully camp comedy musicals: Margaret Thatcher: Queen of Soho and How to Win Against History, Prom Kween certainly has a lot going f…

Mies Julie

Yael Farber’s critically acclaimed Mies Julie has returned to the Edinburgh Fringe and it’s easy to see why, with its incisive portrayal of colonialism, gender politics, and wh…

Enterprise

Americana Ad Absurdum Productions certainly lives up to its name by combining America’s most-loved export, free-market capitalism, with some surreal and absurdist humour.

Amy Conway's Super Awesome World

Amy Conway’s Super Awesome World is a hidden gem of the Fringe that starts off all fun and games (literally) before delving into an account of living with depression that is so h…

Foreign Radical

Review
★★★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
CanadaHub @ King’s Hall in association with Summerhall
16th Aug, 2017

Theatre Conspiracy’s interactive show, Foreign Radical, is more than likely to mess with your moral compass.

Testosterone

Testosterone is a touching, funny and incredibly brave piece of theatre from Rhum and Clay Company and Kit Redstone.

Blow Off

Blow Off is part concert, part theatre and deals with one woman’s journey to committing an act of terrorism.

If I Googled You, What Would I Find?

It’s a troubling question and most of us probably don’t know the answer.

The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes is one of those shows that doesn’t fit into simple categories.

Stories to Tell in the Middle of the Night

Stories to Tell in the Middle of the Night is both exactly what it says it whilst also proving to something rather different altogether.

Panti: High Heels in Low Places

Panti Bliss has had a whirlwind of a few years and, naturally, she has more than a few fabulous stories to share.

Tank

Breach Theatre blew everyone away with The Beanfield last year, and their new show, Tank, is no disappointment, retaining their distinctive brand of semi-devised/semi-verbatim thea…

Lines

Lines is a touching spoken word show surrounding the diverse lives of people travelling along the London underground.

Blank

Nassim Soleimanpour is known for his intelligent plays that have no need for a director, designer or even rehearsals.

On the Conditions and Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover

On the Conditions and Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover definitely wins the title of most intriguing show title at the Fringe, and it’s definitely wor…

Back of the Bus

Java Dance Theatre have somewhat sworn myself and the rest of the audience to silence after the triumph that is Back of the Bus so as not to ruin the wonderful surprises in store f…

Deal with the Dragon

It’s a familiar scene to many a Fringe-goer: a black-box stage, a chair and an actor with his story.

Machina

Review
★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
22nd Aug, 2016

In the prologue to Malcostume Compagnia Teatrale’s show Machina, the company explains that the word ‘machina’ roughly translates to machine or structure and the company’s n…

Diary of a Madman

Little remains of Gogol’s original short story, Diary of a Madman, with Al Smith taking much artistic licence in updating it to post-Brexit Britain and turning it into a story of…

Outside the Box – A Live Show About Death

Death is a funny thing when you think about it: it’s the only certain thing in this world yet the majority of us deny its existence, but as performer Liz Rothschild points out, i…

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows

Ding dong, the witch isn’t dead! And this time it’s definitely cause for celebration! After her previous success as an ‘international cabaret superstar’ Maggie is back in b…

Jonas Müller Regrets Writing This F*cking Masterpiece

Have you ever met someone so beautiful that you didn’t know what to say? And then have you ever found yourself just saying ‘Yeah’ to everything that they say because you’re…

A Simple Space

Gravity and Other Myths are the future of contemporary circus and their show A Simple Space is utterly unmissable.

In Fidelity

Rob Drummond is known for being one of Scotland’s most experimental and accessible theatre makers and his new show In Fidelity is no exception.

Glasgow Girls

2005.

Blush

Nowadays, stories of celebrity nudes abound, attracting much unwanted media attention and accusations of who’s to blame flying in every direction.

Leaf by Niggle

Leaf by Niggle is a little-known allegory by J.

F*cking Men

What to expect from a show called F*cking Men? Yes, it is ostensibly about sex, specifically gay sex, and as you’d expect it’s ripe for memorable one-liners like “I’m not g…

Attrape Moi

Quebecois circus group Flip Fabrique fill the massive Assembly Hall with awe and joy at their contemporary circus skills.

Dolly Wants to Die

To say Dolly Wants to Die is a dark comedy is like saying water is wet: the irreverent jokes come left, right and centre, but only a few of them properly hit their target.

Counting Sheep

Counting Sheep is a theatrical triumph that throws the audience into the centre of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

In Tents and Purposes

First things first.

Abandoman: Life + Rhymes

A totally unique and mind-blowing musical comedy experience, if you’ve never seen or heard of Abandoman before then here is your chance to rectify that.

Karen Hobbs: Tumour Has It

There’s a specific challenge involved when reviewing autobiographical shows surrounding horrendous personal suffering, in this case performer Karen Hobbs’ diagnosis and treatme…

Dusty Horne's Sound and Fury

Do you know what a foley artist does? No? Well here’s your chance to find out from Hollywood’s unsung hero, Dusty Horne.

Playing Maggie... The Iron Lady

Fringe favourite Pip Utton returns for his superlative performance of Margaret Thatcher in his enlightening and intimate show Playing Maggie…The Iron Lady.

Helen Duff: Come With Me

Helen Duff has gone from strength to strength, after her hilarious yet heart-breaking Vanity Bites Back show last year.

Faslane

On the surface Jenna Watt’s new show Faslane sounds like it should be a simple comparison of the reasons for and against renewing the Trident nuclear base; it turns out to be jus…

Being Norwegian

Being Norwegian is a play that follows Sean and Lisa as they talk throughout the night, gradually getting to know each other and growing as confidants.

From the Mouths of the Gods

The ever experimental Flanagan Collective is back with their new show, From the Mouths of the Gods, all about maths, free will, and determinism, with a little bit of kissing thrown…

Nel

Nel is a charming little love letter to cinema that follows foley artist, Nel, on her misadventures with her insufferable aunt, demanding boss and a hopeful screenwriter.

A Boy Named Sue

A Boy Named Sue written by Bertie Darrell provides an interesting insight into the experiences of members of the LGBT+ community, played with great energy by the cast of three.

Loyiso Gola: Dude, Where's My Lion?

Loyiso Gola is a rare kind of stand-up comic.

Infinity Pool: A Modern Retelling of Madame Bovary

What to expect from Bea Roberts’ modern day update of Flaubert’s classic novel Madame Bovary? Instead of surrounding herself with romantic literature to distract her from the b…

Labels

Joe Sellman-Leava has lived with labels his entire life and he also has to live with the consequences of them.

World Without Us

Ontroerend Goed’s World Without Us imagines a future in which humanity has simply ceased to exist, and it’s surprisingly soothing.

Dust Never Settles in Torchlight

NakedFeet Theatre’s Dust Never Settles in Torchlight is a short and sweet reimagining of a selection of Greek myths.

Owen Jones: The Politics of Hope

In Owen Jones: The Politics of Hope, Jones proves himself to be an engaging and eloquent speaker without any airs of pretension.

Vanity Bites Back

Vanity Bites Back is a clown show about anorexia.

Not So Native Now

Not So Native Now is a talk about multilingualism as part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, engaging and inviting the audience to consider our preconceptions about bilingualism an…

Transit Cabaret

Transit Cabaret by Six Faux Nez is described as ‘A silent show, like a silent movie, a clever, poetic and festive mix of music, gesture and underground cabaret-theatre.

FEAST

Review
★★
William Heraghty
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
25th Aug, 2015

Clout Theatre prove themselves to be and provocative theatre makers in their new piece FEAST by challenging theatrical conventions as well as ignoring the age old advice not to pla…

The Hogwallops

The Hogwallops is a joyful show for all the family that combines astounding acrobatics, physical humour and a heartfelt story meaning there is something for everyone.

Lungs

Lungs is a) a remarkable piece of writing by Duncan Macmillan and b) a remarkable show brought to life by director, George Perrin, and actors, Sian Reese-Williams and Abdul Salis.

64 Squares

‘Welcome to my mind.

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing is definitely not an easy watch, though ‘listen’ might be a better description, as Aoife Duffin delivers a highly unsettling stream-of-consciousne…

Not the End of the World

Not the End of the World is based on the novel by Geraldine McCaughrean which reimagines the story of Noah’s Ark from the point of view of Noah’s daughter, Timna, as she grappl…

Man to Man

Manfred Karge’s Man to Man is described as a modern fairy tale that follows the life of Ella, a woman who disguises herself as her dead husband in order to survive under Nazi …

Fashion

St Andrews Revue’s new sketch show Fashion is a fun and enjoyable way to spend 50 minutes, but it’s not going to split your sides or radically change your point of view.

Some People Talk About Violence

With the title Some People Talk About Violence one would be forgiven for thinking Barrel Organ’s new show is serious and depressing.

Bobby Winners All We Ever Wanted Was Everything on Reinventing the Musical

Feature
Liam Rees
Edinburgh Fringe
28th Aug, 2017

Ever since their debut in 2015 with Weekend Rockstars Middle Child Theatre have been rewriting what musical theatre can be with their distinctive gig-theatre genre.

‘Edinburgh is kind of like tapas’ – New Diorama Theatre’s David Byrne

Feature
Liam Rees
Edinburgh Fringe
28th Aug, 2017

Having received rave reviews for The Secret Life of Humans as well as supporting dozens of other theatre companies at the Fringe and beyond, the New Diorama Theatre has made a name...

Queerness and Colonialism in Lilith: The Jungle Girl at the Traverse

Feature
Liam Rees
Edinburgh Fringe
25th Aug, 2017

In nineteenth-century Holland, a leading neuroscientist tries to ‘civilise’ a wild girl who was raised by lions in the heart of Borneo.

The Royal Court’s Elyse Dodgson on the Joy of Directors who Support Writers

As part of the Edinburgh International Festival the Royal Court was invited to present a series of rehearsed readings by playwrights from Chile, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Palestine and...

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