Edinburgh Fringe – Day Three

If you’re wondering what to see at the Edinburgh Fringe 2009, this may help, but it may all be sold out. Sorry.

0930 – Gorged myself on another hotel buffet breakfast. This time added waffles into the mix. Scrummy.

1100 – Went for a stroll in Princes’ Gardens and the heavens opened. Making me very very soggy.

1200 – Walked to the Scottish Parliament to look around the press photo exhibition. It was not open on a Sunday. What a fool.

1230 – Instead I stumbled upon a very jolly hour of free comedy. Cool Fun is on at The White Horse pub on the Royal Mile. Four stand ups, with four refreshingly different styles. Ed Gamble was a cracking compere, warming up the crowd nicely and giving the whole room a warm glow. Witty poet Tom Neenan did funny verses delivered in a brilliantly dry style. Clever, but not pretentious. Jez Scharf up next was really likeable, with humour edged with pathos. Completing the foursome was Nish Kumar, who was confident, bubbly and a great conclusion to a very funny gig. And free! I even almost got my Irn Bru from the barman for free because it was just such a nice place…

1410 – To the Pleasance Courtyard once more to see Russell Kane’s Fakespeare: The Tragickal Saveings of King Nigel, down in the cellar. It was an intimate venue and we sat right in the front. It was an unnerving experience as the play unfolded almost in your lap. Very cleverly written, with the style and panache of Shakespeare, but with references to Kerry Katona and Richard and Judy. Great juxtaposition which worked to very funny effect. I was really impressed by Russell Kane, the performance and the script. Last year he took his show to the RSC and this one deserves to go too.

1600 – One farewell look around the shops in Grassmarket and then it was back on a budget plane home. A very fine festival and I wish to return for a second helping next year.

Shakespeare and Me

 

I was lucky enough to get a couple of tickets for one of the most popular slots at this year’s Royal Shakespeare Company’s open day. The company’s current double bill is Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost – with a pretty stellar cast. ‘Shakespeare and Me’ was a chat with the two cast members spearheading Hamlet – David Tennant and Patrick Stewart – and the play’s director Greg Doran.

As we arrived in Stratford-Upon-Avon, there was an obvious buzz about the town with a host of free events going on. We wandered past a stage fighting demonstration and could smell the hog roast starting to get going. However, ‘Shakespeare and Me’ seemed to be causing the most stir, with a few mums trying to get their hands on tickets – which were almost exclusively for those aged 16 to 25. The queue outside the Courtyard Theatre was very definitely a youthful one, and (not surprisingly considering Tennant’s pin-up status) quite a female one too. The three of us were most certainly Doctor Who fans, but the people around us certainly had a whiff of hysteria/obsessive mania about them. I began to worry what we had got ourselves into. I thought there might be a Q&A session with the actors and thought this could open one big can of crazy. (I do consider myself and my companions as likely to go crazy)

The whole RSC day was being compѐred by Hardeep Singh Kohli, who reminded the audience of the title of the talk, obviously sharing my fears that the audience questions might take a sci-fi slant. However, I think everyone was suitably restrained in the circumstances. Tennant was greeted with girlish whooping and flashes of cameras, but there was no predicted craziness.

The chat was held together by a nice chat from the Beeb who led the panel to chat about Hamlet and their theatre experience. Tennant was very similar to how he appears in interviews and chatshows – affable and relaxed, but not giving too much away. He made jokes and quips which tickled the adoring audience, but did not tell us much. The real star was Patrick Stewart, whose rumbling deep voice didn’t need the microphone to project around the Courtyard. His Shakespeare experience is impressive and his anecdotes were superb. In fact I could have listened to him all day.

The audience behaved themselves and there wasn’t one single Doctor Who or Star Trek question. Stewart revealed that he’s currently preparing for Waiting For Godot and Doran described casting David Tennant for Hamlet after seeing him discover his past on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are. It seemed the majority of the audience have already seen the play, and it made me even more excited to see it. The play’s stars have probably made it the success it is, however this chat proved to me that Hamlet isn’t about box office returns. The cast are obviously passionate about the play, and for both Tennant and Stewart it’s providing a challenge and a pleasure to play.

There’s a good picture on flicr here, here and another here. I’ll put one up when I can get my lazy ass sister to upload them from her camera.

Also the RSC’s ‘Stand Up For Shakespeare’ campaign is a good’un so sign the online petition here.