The Pleasance 2019

Interviews, features and content about all the shows at the Pleasance during #EdFringe19

[pleasancetimes]

Comedy Reserve Interview: Josh Jones, Lily Phillips, Mo Omar, and Mamoun Elagab

The Comedy Reserve, a collection of debut comedians who perform fifteen minutes each in an hour-long show, has discovered household names including Jack Whitehall, Joe Lycett, and Roisin Conaty. 

The Comedy Reserve is supported by the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund, with Josh Jones, Lily Phillips, Mamoun Elagab, and Mo Omar making up this year's recipients!

Dominic Johnson sat down to catch up with the quartet, who were photographed by Greta Mitchell.

Catch them at 21:30 each evening in the Pleasance Dome!

Josh Jones:

How would you describe your comedy style?

Gay and northern!

Who’s your comic hero?

Kiri Pritchard-McClean. The comedians on the Northern circuit too - Mick Ferry and Dan Nightingale. 

Best heckle you’ve ever received?

They’re all shit! 

Best comic you’ve seen this year?

Nigel Ng!

Best moment of the Fringe this year?

Meeting the rest of the Reserve as they’re all on a different circuit to me - and not having to flyer for our show!

Why should people come to see the Comedy Reserve?

We’re four up and coming comics, catch us now rather than later!

@JoshuassJones

Lily Phillips:

How would you describe your comic style?

Sarcastic, low-energy and feminist.

Who’s your comic hero?

Amy Schumer: coming from outside comedy, she appealed to me as a straight up and confident woman.

Best moment of the Fringe?

Joe Lycett (ex-Comedy Reserve) following and messaging me on Twitter as I was coming up to Edinburgh!

Worst moment of the Fringe?

When Mamoun didn’t turn up on stage because he was on the loo - we had no idea where he was!

What’s the best thing you’ve seen at the Fringe?

Janine Harouni’s show was a masterclass. 

Why should people come to see the Comedy Reserve?

Our materials and styles are so different, it’s rare to get a compilation show with such different perspectives on life.

@lily_comedy

Mo Omar:

What’s your comic style like?

Conversational, chatty.

Who’s your comic hero?

Maria Banford - especially for the Netflix special she recorded with her parents making up the entire audience.

Worst moment of the Fringe?

Having to eat a really spicy meatball marinara really quickly on my way up here, then needing to wash my hands and face profusely when I arrived.

What show are you really excited to see?

Huge Davies! If only for the fact he has a full-size keyboard around his neck for the entire show. 

Why should people come to see the comedy reserve?

They need to see us before we get big!

@mokultra

Mamoun Elagab:

How would you describe your comic style?

Conversationalist and relaxed.

Who’s your comic hero?

Dave Chappelle.

Best shows you’ve seen?

Michael Odewale (ex-Comedy Reserve) and Kai Samra. 

Best moment at the Fringe? 

Finding a really nice Greek restaurant, but I can’t remember what it was called or where it was.

What’s the best heckle you’ve ever had?

Once, a woman at an open mic night in Oxford told me I was shit, which I actually needed to be told at the time. 

@mamounstandup

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Phoenix interview: 10 Dome, 13:20

We sat down with the writer, Richard Marsh, and performer, Andy Gallo, to talk about their musical show, Phoenix. 

What’s the elevator pitch for the show?

Andy: Phoenix is a one man show with four instruments about a wannabe rockstar who unexpectedly becomes a Dad. There are drums, piano, two guitars, poetry and live looping!

It’s a fantastic piece of storytelling that spans across 14 years, and you’re taken on this journey that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

What made you want to bring this story to the stage?

Richard: Jess Sharman and I worked together on a massive production of Son of Rambow the musical, but we wanted to write something together, something small, flexible and easier to produce. We thought, if we wrote a poetry or storytelling musical it would be a lot more flexible with just one person!

We wanted to write about what it is to be someone who is trying to make art and look after a child. I'm the dad of two and Jess is at the point of thinking of becoming a parent, so we’re two people at either ends of the spectrum in that sense.

How have audiences reacted to the show?

Andy: Even though Edinburgh is this weird little microcosm, every audience has different reactions. Some laugh along and are really loud, while others are a little bit quieter, but in those ones the audience is leaning forward, following the story.

Most of the audience are just shocked at the amount of instruments that are played in the show!

The number of people who have just come up and just said how much they engaged with the story of single parenthood from the male point of view, combined with it being performed through this magical poetry.

Was the play written for a specific audience in mind?

Richard: What I try to do in my work is to be very specific, because if  something is specific enough it becomes universal in its own way. The stories I love are the really specific ones, so we have drawn on things in both our lives.

Is there a takeaway message?

Richard: There is, and it’s very clearly stated in the last four lines of the show - so come to see it! It’s a fiercely hopeful show, and the audience should leave feeling hopeful!

How’s it been performing the show?

Andy: It’s been really fun. I’m fascinated by people using musical instruments in a way they’re not designed to be played, like using an electric guitar as a bass with the loop pedal on the simpler side, then using the drums as part of the poetry!

10 Dome - Pleasance Dome, 1:20pm

Dominic Johnson

@dominiwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

You’re Safe ‘Til 2024 - The Attic, 11:30am: Interview with David Finnigan

We sat down with David Finnigan, writer and performer in You’re Safe Until 2024, to discuss his show in more detail!

How would you sum up your show in a few sentences?

A set of fascinating stories from scientists about the unexpected and awe-inspiring changes in the world today, with a soundtrack also chosen entirely by scientists. What do climate scientists listen to? Expect a lot of Alanis Morissette, Ace of Base and the Harry Potter soundtrack, lol.

What made you want to make You're Safe 'Til 2024 as a piece of theatre?

We're in the middle of this global crisis, and we're all going through our own personal journey in relation to it. We're all having our own emotional responses to it, and our feelings and understanding are evolving day to day. I think there's something pretty vital about the simple fact of a group of people sitting together in a room, and trying to process some of that feeling together. I mean, we probably do enough engaging with the crisis reading terrifying news articles on our phones alone.

What's the significance of 2024? What will happen by this date?

I can’t possibly tell you that - it’s a secret! Come see the show!

What sort of audience should come to see your show?

People who are curious about the world, and who are interested in the incredible changes happening all over the planet, and who maybe don't just want to be guilt-tripped for an hour about how awful things are and how we're all bad people who need to change our ways.

I should be up front about this: I'm a bad environmentalist. I'm fascinated by the crisis but I'm not an activist, I'm not a scientist, and my shows are not good politics.

Why should people come to see it?

This is the first phase of what is growing to be an 8-hour work by the year 2024, and I think you should come to see it in its earliest form.

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Fox interview: Baby Grand, 11:30am

We sat down with Katie Guicciardi, the writer and solo performer of Fox. Inspired by true events, Katie’s Fox is a brutally honest and amusing exploration of new motherhood in an increasingly isolating society. A sharply observed drama, it examines our complex relationship with ‘help’ - our desire to give it and the need to seek it for ourselves.

What’s the show about?

The show is based on the real events of a man turning up to live on the wall outside my house after I had just given birth to my first child. At the time I was at home a lot in my ground floor flat in Clapton, East London, an area that was very much gentrifying at the time. I observed this man for a fair amount of time each day, mainly because I didn’t have much else to do except stay at home and feed my baby!

At the same time, a lot of my friends were suffering from quite serious postnatal depression, something that wasn’t really discussed with me after the birth of my child. I was lucky enough not to suffer from it myself, but through the show I want to bring up a conversation about it through art and therefore onwards into real life.

You say that the show deals with our ‘complex relationship with help’ - what do you mean by this?

It’s about how and when we should put our needs above someone else’s. When you’re pregnant, all the focus is on the woman, but then, as soon as the child is born, the focus is all on the baby. So, as a mother, it’s a question of when it’s okay to say that you need help as well.

The play parallels this with the man living on the wall, when he was either accepting or rejecting people’s attempts to help him.

What’s the message of the show?

The message is that we should talk to each other, and that we should ask for help when we need it. Not talking about things that you or your friends have gone through or are going through - like my friends who suffered from postnatal depression but didn't tell each other until years after the event - is something that hits you really hard.

The title of the show, Fox, relates to a conversation with a policewoman, where she said that as long as people kept feeding the man living on the wall, he would stay - just like a fox. It got me thinking about the potential threat of foxes, how they’re fascinating to watch, in contrast to the fear of a new mother being watched in a ground floor flat by a man who sees her going in and out of the house all day. It’s a complex issue of help, fear and vulnerability.

Who should come to see the show?

That’s an interesting question! I would hope it would be aimed at anyone and everyone, but before doing the Fringe I was concerned it would only appeal to women, or women with children. However, I’m really glad that I’ve been proven wrong on that - we’ve actually had men waiting outside the show for us to talk about it, both older and younger men. We’ve also had young people respond to it by saying they went straight to ring their Mum after the show or question what sort of father they would be.

In addition, older women who perhaps felt these things when they had children but didn’t feel like they had the opportunity to speak about them have also responded to Fox, which is amazing. The variety of audiences who have enjoyed it has been very valuable to me.

Could you tell us more about the babes in arms performances?

My producer, Becky Barber-Sharp, was responsible for this, after she had pioneered the policy as Associate Producer of Emilia in the West End. She had two children and also suffered from postnatal depression, so it’s something that’s really important to her - something that enables Mums to carry on doing things they love to do and not being cut out of theatre.

It also seemed really fitting for this show, as one about new mothers - why shouldn’t babies be able to come!?

On Monday 19th August, parents, carers and their babies will be welcomed to a special performance of Fox. At 10.45am in the Baby Grand, we’ll serve complimentary refreshments will be provided along with grown up conversation before the performance at 11.30am. There will be play mats and soft toys will be provided for babies to play with safely in the space.

Babes in arms under the age of one go free with each full priced ticket. Through the play and initiatives such as this, we hope to open up the conversation about new motherhood and highlight issues around postnatal mental health.

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Dan vs Food, 14th August 13:30, The Grand

The Pleasance sat down with Dan Cardwell and Alexander Bennett to discuss their upcoming epic, Dan vs. Food, which will take place in The Grand starring the likes of Iain Sterling, Phil Wang, and Sophie Duker.

What’s the premise of the show?

It came from the idea of a man on stage eating a meal in front of a large audience, but it’s now become this crazy, unscripted, unedited spectacular with a great cast of comedians treating it like a sporting event. 

What are the roles of comedians such as Phil Wang and Iain Sterling during the event?

It’s similar to a wrestling or boxing match: we’ll have a rival, we’ll have judges, commentators, a host, and pundits - so they’ll all be playing different roles. 

What gave you the idea to stage the show?

Dan: Many years ago we were drunk and hungry while throwing around show ideas. We suddenly thought ‘wouldn’t it be really funny to get a lot of people to come and see one man eat on stage’. It’s grown from there, now we’re treating it like a heavyweight boxing match.

Alex: We’re both big fans of Johnny Vegas. The show where he made a pot on stage, which is obviously very easy form him to do as a potter, but it was amazing the way he’d deliberately made a shit pot but still had the audience clapping and cheering. It’s this idea of the crowd investing in nonsense - a man eating a meal on stage - and having an audience of 750 people in The Grand properly cheering Dan through his last bites. 

What charity is the show in aid of?

It’s for FareShare. It could be said there’s something gauche about watching a man eat food on stage, so it felt right for this event to be charity-based, particularly one that’s based around fighting hunger and tackling food waste. The thing we like about FareShare particularly is that they also put pressure on supermarkets and businesses to reduce their waste.

What food is Dan going to be eating?

It’s going to be a three course meal cooked by George Egg, infamous chef comedian, live on stage. There will be four waiting staff too - well, four comedians posing as waiters. Each course will be judged afterwards for the manner in which it was consumed.

Why should people come to see the show?

It’s the most all star cast of comedians on the Fringe this year! 

The roles of the comedians are all prepped, but it’s a totally unedited, never repeated, one-off performance. It’s the exact sort of event that the Fringe is designed for: crazy and spectacular nothingness. 

It’s an event that just couldn’t take place anywhere else! Watch us make something out of nothing, and please bring change for FareShare donation buckets. 

Dan vs Food, 14th August, The Grand - Pleasance Courtyard 13:30

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Charlie Hartill, the Special Reserve Fund and his legacy at the Fringe: an interview with Christopher Richardson and Anthony Alderson

It is the fifteenth anniversary of the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund, honouring a man who retains a lasting legacy in both the Pleasance and the wider Fringe festival. Charlie Hartill - who sadly passed away in 2004 - worked for the Pleasance from the age of 17, was a former president of the Cambridge Footlights, and played a key part in the modernisation of the Fringe as a whole.

‘About 20 years ago, I remember standing on Princes Street with Charlie and he said that one day we would have these little pieces of glass that we could buy our tickets on - and I thought that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard!’ said director, Anthony Alderson, when he and Pleasance founder Christopher Richardson sat down to discuss Charlie Hartill’s legacy.

Anthony acted and toured across the United States and India with Charlie, while Christopher taught both boys at Uppingham School. After Hartill’s death in 2004, a fund was set up in his name (coupled with his favourite wine, Special Reserve) in order to support emerging performers in taking a show up to the Fringe. Christopher draws particular attention to the returning offshoot companies and comedians who were previous recipients as one of the fund's great legacies on the festival programme.

The fund is divided between the Theatre Reserve recipients and the Comedy Reserve. The Theatre recipients have included Olivier Award winning shows such as Flesh and Bone, while providing a springboard for the likes of David Byrne, the New Diorama’s Artistic and Executive Director. The Comedy Reserve, a collection of debut comedians who perform fifteen minutes each in an hour-long show, has discovered household names including Jack Whitehall, Joe Lycett, and Roisin Conaty.    

Fifteen years later, the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund continues to bring the best up-and-coming acts to the Fringe. ‘Putting on a show for twenty-seven days is a challenge from beginning to end, but each day you learn a bit more about your trade’ explained Anthony, adding that ‘seeing other people’s work makes you far richer in artistic and practical ability’. This year’s Theatre Reserve recipient is Bible John, while the fund is also supporting A Womb of One’s Own, with the Comedy Reserve supporting Josh Jones, Lily Phillips, Mamoun Elagab, and Mo Omar.

According to Christopher, Charlie was an ‘iconoclast’ who ‘took no prisoners’ - never afraid to take everything down to start afresh. Charlie was influential in building the Box Office and the IT system that allowed the Pleasance to become a leading Fringe venue. In addition, the computer system he helped create for the festival became the building blocks behind digital ticketing, which Anthony describes as the ‘single most important element’ in the modernisation of the Fringe.

In the words of Anthony, Charlie didn’t appear to follow many rules - you could never get him on the phone due to his unorthodox working hours. Yet, as someone who stood for and was elected to the Board of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Charlie was a multi-talented individual, described as the ‘Great Gatsby of the Pleasance’ by Christopher on account of his sense of style and tailored suits. At age thirteen, his performance as one of the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which he pretended to be Christopher and jumped up and down on his customary Panama hat, had the Pleasance founder in hysterics.

The Pleasance Patron Scheme was relaunched this weekend. At its core, Pleasance Patrons helps fund and support the work carried out through Pleasance Futures, the Pleasance’s talent and artist development platform, which generates and funds a compelling range of opportunities to nurture ambition and encourage excellence. The Charlie Hartill Special Reserve is at the heart of Pleasance Futures, with new and existing patrons encouraged to donate and support this vital and unique artist development at the Fringe.

In essence, admitted Anthony, Charlie Hartill championed the idea that small acts of rebellion are what the festival is all about. While there are a set of rules, he underlines that Charlie exemplified that it is important to look at challenges and opportunities in a different way, which is how he managed to instill such a lasting legacy on both the Pleasance and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Bible John, Pleasance Above 3:50pm

This year’s recipient of the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund, Bible John, is a play which brings together True Crime Podcasts and three women murdered in 1969 at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow by a killer who has never been caught.

The show follows the journey of four women listening to the same episodic podcast about the Barrowlands murders and their attempt to solve the mystery, while it employs the ethics and reasoning behind our obsession with true crime as an underlying theme. Using video, audio, dance, and physical theatre, this piece is a must see when visiting the Pleasance Courtyard this Fringe.

Sitting down with the cast, the writer, Caitlin McEwan, explains her strong interest in true crime and podcasts and how they helped sow the seeds for Bible John. Also, as the cast emphasise, the majority of victims of serial killers are women, while 80% of the true crime listenership is female. This highlights the necessity of a female-driven show that helps give agency to the victims, rather than providing voyeuristic details of Bible John’s life and actions.

Caitlin also highlights that the story has a huge cultural reach in Scotland, stemming from her grandmother’s generation. This is portrayed on the stage through various interview segments, which also underline people’s preconceptions that one of the alleged-murderers ‘didn’t look like a serial killer’. 

The research and preparation for the show was extensive, with Taylor Glenn from Drunk Women Solving Crime in the voice role of the fictional podcast host. Lauren even met suspect Peter Tobin’s pharmacist, yet the cast admitted that there’s a fine line between respecting the privacy of the victims and ensuring that each character has enough depth and backstory.

It has also been an enjoyable challenge for the team to adapt the content to the stage, and the play encourages the audience to immerse themselves in the case completely at one point as a means to solve the crime in a captivating manner. The fact that the play is serialised into a number of podcast episodes gives the piece an engaging pace, yet Bible John is far more intriguing than a simple ‘whodunnit’ story.

Caitlin, Lauren, Ella, Laurie and Lizzie were high in their praise for the Charlie Hartill Reserve Fund, and Caitlin admits that ‘without it, we wouldn’t have got to Edinburgh at all!’ The accommodation, technical guidance and support from the Special Reserve Fund have ensured that the show could be technically ambitious and didn’t suffer from the ‘contained imagination’ of small stages and even smaller budgets that can plague Fringe theatre companies.

While Bible John is suitable for anyone interested in true crime and the psychology of our obsession with its subject matter, Ella also stresses the importance of men coming to see the show: ‘the constant fear [for women] is something that is hard to conceptualise if you’ve never experienced it’.

Through dance, costume change, surrealism and a variety of mediums, this heartfelt, angry and women-driven play is not to be missed. 

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Drowning, Pleasance Above 2:30pm

Setting the scene In an Austrian hospital where four nurses killed forty nine patients (but were suspected of killing more than two hundred) over the course of six years in the eighties, Jessica Ross’s play ‘Drowning’ takes a different angle on true crime - questioning how far you can empathise with the culprits.

Speaking to Jessica, she believes that since the gladiators, humans have had an appetite to watch violence unfold in front of them, revelling in the fact that others also have a secret dark side to satisfy. However, in the modern day, Jessica emphasises that the gory details are no longer enough - people want to know the ‘why’.

As the ‘Lainz Angels of Death’, these Austrian nurses described their acts as ‘mercy killings’, and have since been released under witness protection. The show’s course charts the descent from euthanising into the drowning of the patients and the varying reactions of the four nurses.

Produced by Matrix star Carrie-Anne Moss, the show has a captivating set with four bathtubs on stage. This women-driven production is a staple of true crime at the Pleasance this year. Be sure to check it out!

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

The Incident Room, Pleasance 2 4:30pm

Sitting down with one of the show’s writers, Olivia Hirst, it’s clear that The Incident Room is by no means just another retelling of the Yorkshire Ripper story. 

The drama unfolds from the perspective of the police in the incredibly tense incident room, over the course of the seventies investigation to catch the person responsible for the murder of thirteen women and the attempted murder of several others. The play takes inspiration from the Michael Bilton book Wicked Beyond Belief, while also analysing the sexism and squandered opportunities in the hunt to catch Peter Sutcliffe.

‘It’s like trying to fit a bouncy castle into a box, there’s a lot of material’ explains Olivia, with the play managing to shed light on those affected by Sutcliffe’s murders, while underlining the police mistakes - in part caused by the integration of different police units into the investigation - that enabled more killings taking place. 

The Incident Room uses an episode that encapsulates the moment which terrified the public consciousness, laying bare the human habit of regressing to tribal instinct in a time of panic. The sexism Megan Winterburn experienced during her work on the case and the curfew imposed on women in the surrounding areas of northern England at the height of Sutcliffe’s attacks are two clear examples of this instinct. Overall, they helped contribute to a highly challenging period of modern history for those women who continued to live their lives in spite of the fear of a newspaper-dubbed 'Yorkshire Ripper’.

Part of the true crime genre, The Incident Room is a must see - if not only for its ability to frame the subject matter without glorifying or over-dramatising the events - demonstrating that in the real world of crime, things aren’t solved magically by omniscient detectives and that the world does not return to how it was for the victims of these crimes. 

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

A look inside The Greenhouse @ Dynamic Earth, a pop-up venue on the edge of Salisbury Crags with Boxed In Theatre

Although the Pleasance may be known mostly for the Courtyard, Dome, and - in more recent years - EICC, there are other important locations in Edinburgh where its shows take place. An impressive example of this is Dynamic Earth, where Boxed In Theatre are putting on several different shows at purpose-built venue The Greenhouse, which is built entirely from found and recycled materials.

As Oli Savage, Artistic Director, explains, the shows are site-specific performances that offer a cultural and financial accessibility, with the Greenhouse a break from the imposing nature of traditional theatre and big curtains. Instead, Dynamic Earth is situated in a custom built site with a stunning view of Salisbury Crags that loom over the city of Edinburgh. 

Dreamt up in Tottenham Court Road’s Vagabond wine bar and inspired in part by Jethro Compton’s site-specific plays, seven different shows are performed each day, with eight appearing in total over the course of Boxed In’s run at The Greenhouse. 

The eight include Symbiosis, a dance show portraying personal interaction with nature, and The Voices We Hear, an all female piece about interaction with nature in the light of an environmental apocalypse. 

The two most family-friendly shows are From the Wind and The Earth Untold. The first addresses the integration of wind power in Scotland from an emotional perspective, while the second is an upbeat show that explores how humans have interacted with the planet in the past and how this interaction can exist as a mutually beneficial relationship. 

Swallows examines eco-terrorism as an inherently contradictory pursuit, while Daphne, or Hellfire is a female take on the ‘Daphne and Apollo’ myth from an ecological angle. Replacing From The Wind rom 14th August, Evaluation sees an alien abduct a person from earth and the value of human endeavour is challenged. 

Oli highlights the holistic nature of Boxed In as a company, emphasising the practical application of their sustainability, which includes zero waste marketing. 

After performances have finished at Dynamic Earth there are also live music and social events in the evening. Audiences should make use of the 3 for 2 ticket offer and could see three shows one day and four the next, attending workshops during the day in the meantime, as well as the evening entertainment afterwards!

While the performances are hard-hitting, the shows are not preaching and in fact promote - above all - the idea of hope and the importance of discussion about environmental action.

‘There’s a future, we just need to work for it’.

Dominic Johnson

@dominicwjohnson

[pleasancetimes]

Four entertaining, creative and environmental Pleasance shows to take your kids to this Fringe

If you’re interested - and you should be - in the shows addressing the environmental crisis or companies who ensure that their performances are eco-friendly, the Pleasance is the venue for you this Fringe!

One Duck Down

Based on a true story featured on Blue Planet II where 7000 rubber ducks were cast adrift and dispersed across the world, this show is a puppet-packed and unmissable song-filled hour. 

One Duck Down won the Family Show of the Year at Vault Festival and is a joyous and silly adventure that energetically - and subtly - teaches children about the longevity of plastic waste in the sea. 

Performer and co-writer Owen explains that the show doesn’t patronise children, instead the cast present their message in a fun way, while also including jokes that will entertain the adults in the audience.

This show offers a great balance of thought provoking and entertaining content for those aged 3 to 11, including a whale having an eye test and visits to the Arctic and the North Atlantic garbage patch. 

Puns and songs aplenty!

Pleasance Courtyard, Above, 10:30am

Superhero Academy: Environmental Adventure!

Kids won’t sit down (but adults can gladly remain seated) for the duration of Superhero Academy, an educational and entertaining adventure through rainforests, the ozone layer and the polar ice caps. 

The Superhero Academy is an active and interactive journey that turns the audience (recommended for 3 to 8 year olds) into superheroes who - over the course of the performance - have to save the planet with the help of puppets, music and games.

Faye, the performer and producer, explains that the show is about training up the next generation to protect their planet. Described as the ‘art of play and storytelling’, the show takes the superhero maxim of saving the planet in an invigorating and environmental sense, opening younger eyes to environmental damage and ensuring they leave the show and continue their mission to reduce human harm to the planet.

Pleasance Courtyard, The Green, 1st August - 18th August, 3pm

Bicycle Boy

Staged outside the Pleasance Dome and running three times a day, Bicycle Boy is a free pedal-powered eco-musical adventure for children aged five to ten, along with their families.

A sustainable and engaging journey that takes place in the open elements, the show follows the story of a grandson following the treasure hunt his granddad left him after he passed away with twists and turns along the way.

Helen, writer and director, emphasises that kids who find it difficult to sit down will love Bicycle Boy, as the necessity to power the show through cycling requires active participation from the audience. 

The show is also very accessible, with Helen having worked with accessibility charities to provide hand and recumbent bikes. An Alex Silverman soundtrack is also recreated using the bikes themselves as instruments, so be sure to join this amazing show that has toured many festivals and help pedal to success on the 16th, 17th or 18th of August! 

Pleasance Dome, Outside, 16th Aug - 18th Aug, 11am, 1pm, and 3pm

How to Save a Rock

It’s 2026, and there are four years left to save the world. The temperatures are rising, and so are the people! A carbon-neutral comedy, powered by bike and solar power, about how to still have hope and the adventures of the last polar bear on earth.

Bea, who performs in the show, explains that the skill of cycling and singing at the same time can be very challenging, with some of the actors cycling non-stop for 15 minutes! The actors have also become the light operators, controlling the lighting for the show, which comprise of the solar lights on the front of each bike!

How to Save a Rock promotes the message that whatever the audience thinks about climate change when they walk in, it aims to ensure that they leave with a sense of encouragement and hope to be part of the solution.

The show is aimed at children aged five and above, but is equally enjoyable for other kids, young people and adults. Be sure to get down to the Pleasance’s pop up venue Dynamic Earth to experience this exciting environmental story, which even creates Blackpool illuminations out of its carbon-neutral, multi-coloured solar lights!

Pleasance Pop-Up: Dynamic Earth, The Biosphere, 10th August - 23rd August, 11:30am

Dominic Johnson

[pleasancetimes]

Acts and audiences alike are already making plans for next year’s fringe. To get a head start on preparations, why not check out Donald Trump’s Top Tips on how to survive the Edinburgh Fringe? Filmed and Edited by Eliott Simpson

[pleasancetimes]

And with that, Pleasance has officially left Edinburgh for 2018, and it's time for the videographer to finally leave the office. See you in 2019.

Filmed & Edited by Eliott Simpson

[pleasancetimes]

Yet another fantastic and successful year at the Fringe for the Pleasance. It may now be almost a month since it all ended, but we'll never forget the memories we've made. Enjoy this showreel of just a sample of the productions and projects Pleasance has achieved this Edinburgh Fringe! See you all next year for Edinburgh 2019!

Filmed & Edited by Eliott Simpson

[pleasancetimes]

This year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been a huge success for the Pleasance, but it wouldn't have been possible without the huge amount of volunteers and staff that made this festival possible. Take a look at just a sample of the friendly faces that made up this year's Pleasance family! See you all in 2019!

Filmed & Edited by Eliott Simpson

[pleasancetimes]

Its the end of #edfringe 2018! Looking back on the month, @thepleasance reflects on the best and worst of the festival in another edition of #pleasance / #unpleasance ! (at Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

[pleasancetimes]

Over and Out: 27 August Fringe Final Round Up

After 270 Pleasance productions staged 5537 performances, another year draws to a close. 

The Guardian gave five stars to Sheeps and Freeman, The Times awarded five stars to Felicity Ward, Natalie Palamides and The Song of Lunch, and The Daily Telegraph gave five to Mark Watson. The Scotsman awarded three of the hallowed five stars to Electrolyte, Brexit and The Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue, with The Herald giving five to Alex Edelman, Sarah Keyworth and Silence. 

Coverage

Natalie Palamides: Nate was featured in The Guardian’s Autumn Arts preview 2018 as “one of most talked-about shows on this year’s Edinburgh fringe”. According to Michael Billington, Palamides is “one of the hottest new acts in world comedy”.

Brian Logan from The Guardian awarded Ciarán Dowd with a 4 star review, remarking on Dowd’s “expert way with the crowd”.

The Edinburgh Evening News recommended Narcissist in the Mirror as part of their ‘What’s on Guide’ and told readers not to miss Adam Hess. The paper also featured a wonderful photo of all the volunteers and staff at Waverley Care, alongside the Pleasance team who raised an incredible £500,000 over the longest running fundraising partnership at the Fringe. Well done to all involved!

The Scotsman awarded 4 stars to Freeman, Mark Watson and Moon.

Rose Matafeo’s photo with her Edinburgh Comedy Best Comedy Show Award featured in the i Newspaper under the title of “utterly original 26-year-old wins best comic award”.

The i Paper also included Mark Watson: The Infinite Show in the Arts agenda round-up, calling Watson a “Fringe hero” and his show a “cultural highlight” you have to see.

The Times featured both achievements of Pleasance winners of the Comedy Awards 2018, Ciarán Dowd and Rose Matafeo.

Broadway World wrote a feature on Pleasance’s landmark year which included increased ticket sales, and a “trophy cabinet of awards”.

Awards

Awards fell upon the Pleasance thick and fast this year: The Archive of Educated Hearts and Power Play: Funeral Flowers both won The Scotsman Fringe First Awards. Elise and A Clown Show About Rain were both nominated for the Mental Health Fringe Award, with the winner being Queen Dome’s very own Electrolyte.White was shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award which was won by Power Play: Funeral Flowers.We had three shows shortlisted for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award; Freeman, Silence, and White. Helen Bauer of The Comedy Reserve was nominated for the BBC New Comedy Award. Electrolyte was nominated for the Holden Street Theatres Award, a highly prestigious award that invites the winner to perform at the Adelaide Fringe. This award was won by Pleasance’s very own Build a Rocket. Sarah Keyworth and Alex Edelman both won Herald Angels as Silence was recognised with the Herald Archangel. Freeman and Power Play: Empty Chair were both nominated for the SIT-UP Award whilst Better Together won SIT-UP’s Audience Engagement Award. Sirens and When We Fall Down won Three Weeks Editors’ Awards. Sparks won Musical Theatre Review’s Best New Musical. Natalie Palamides won a Total Theatre Award for Innovation, Experimentation and Playing with Form for her show Nate. And by far the most impressive achievement was Pleasance’s lion’s share of the nominations for the highly prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Felicity Ward: Busting a Nut, Alex Edelman: Just For Us, and Kieran Hodgson: 75 were nominated for Best Show, which was eventually won by Rose Matafeo: Horndog. Meanwhile in the Best Newcomer category; Olga Koch: Fight, Sarah Keyworth: Dark Horse, Sindhu Vee: Sandhog were all nominated with the award being snapped up by Ciaran Dowd: Don Rodolfo. Well done everyone on another successful year of programming!