| (N-R) 2 out of 16. |
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Rating Guide.
None = Unmissable.
= Unwatchable.
Page number refers to the Fringe programme.
Pandora's Box. (Page 13).
Drams .
Venue Assembly Rooms, (Venue 3).
Address 54 George Street .
Reviewer Pippa Tennant.
Non-stop excitement. Timeless tales of Icarus and Theseus are told as we wait to see if Dora will open a washed up box from the sea. If she does, will life be the same again?
Although Ben Harrison delivers a flat performance with little enthusiasm
and lack of timing, the play is carried through the energy of Anna Keighley
and Craig Painting. These two perform brilliantly as siblings, Dora and
Eddie, tearing around the stage playing pranks on each other, much to the delight
of the chuckling children in the audience.
Switching from one story to the next Keighley and Painting successfully
embrace a multitude of characters, changing their appearance by selecting bits
of the jumble-sale seaside set. Kids are enthralled as they soar off mountain
tops made of lifeguard lookouts and prance around the stage to the Blues Brothers.
Even Harrison redeems himself in parts through his guitar playing and funny
minotaur/bull-fighting/western scene.
The cast are clearly having a lot of fun and so are we. Fantastically
entertaining with a few scary bits here and there. A definite recommend.
©Pippa Tennant 16 August 2006 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com.
Runs to August 28 at 11:00 every day, not 21.
Company - mac Productions.
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Potted Potter - The Unofficial Harry
Experience. (Page 13).
Drams No soft drinks or other diversions needed.
Venue Zoo Southside . (Venue 82).
Address 117 Nicolson Street.
Reviewer Felicity King-Evans.
Who says kids can't enjoy satire? Potted Potter delivers a fast-paced, enthusiastic pantomime, all with the huge energy needed to keep the young audience interested.
The show is a quirky and irreverent race through the plots of the six books, involving frantic costume changes, charts, song and a Very Frightening Dragon. Dan and Jeff hurl themselves into the farce with all their enthusiasm and it has boys, girls, Mums, Dads and the Japanese tourists in the corner all roaring with laughter.
In the middle of the show, disaster struck and the fire-alarm sounded! The duo rallied by telling jokes and signing autographs for a while but when we were told we couldn't go back in, it really spoiled the magi c (see what I did there?). Dan and Jeff instantly leapt to the challenge and set up on the steps outside. With a noisy road as a backdrop, they still re-created the atmosphere and laughter. As the kids left at the end, screeching 'Die Dumbledore, die!' in a manner calculated to drive the best parent to infanticide, I noticed that nobody took the offered refund and everyone was smiling.
With something for adults and children and performed by two very likable actors, Potted Potter is really worth seeing even if you don't have a child as an excuse.
©Felicity King-Evans 5 August 2006 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com.
Runs to August 19 at 14:00 every day, not Suns etc.
Company - Dan and Jeff.
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| (N-R) 2 out of 16. |
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