15 Reviews for 2021 the Edinburgh Fringe
(In order from most enjoyable to least)
Welcome to the 2021 version
of my Fringe reviews. This year is unlike
any previous year because I have created the bulk of my schedule before I have
even arrived in Edinburgh. You can see
my schedule at 2021 schedule. Because I won’t have to spend as much time
planning my schedule during the Fringe, I hope to have the time to write my
traditional three sentence reviews for all the shows I see. In general, the theater offerings at the
Fringe this year are weaker than other years.
In order to maintain consistency of my ratings across the years, I will
only give rating above three stars for show that are extraordinary in some way
when judged against the shows of the previous years. A three star rating is not a condemnation, and
just indicates that the show had provided normal enjoyment for me. show. Nonetheless, I have no desire to hurt the
feelings of the brave people who made the effort to put on shows this
year. So I will only be posting reviews
of the better shows to edfringe.com.
You
can find out about me,
and my extended thoughts about reviewing
at the bottom of
this page. I think that the most useful
aspect for my readers is the rankings. I
base the rankings on my enjoyment of the show, so they may not reflect the
quality of the script and/or acting. I
prefer plays to comedy acts, but work in a little of the latter for
diversity. I have discovered that I have
a penchant for true stories. The
comments are usually only three sentences long because I have little time
between shows, and, after all, I am here for the shows. You can also see my 171 reviews for 2019 Fringe, 177 reviews for 2018 Fringe, 151 reviews for 2017 Fringe, 171 reviews for 2016 Fringe, 189 reviews for 2015 Fringe, 165 reviews for 2014 Fringe, 152 reviews for 2013 Fringe, 135 reviews for 2012 Fringe, 175 reviews for 2011 Fringe, 200 reviews for 2010 Fringe, 177 reviews for 2009 Fringe, 153 reviews
for 2008 Fringe, 162 reviews for 2006 Fringe,
and 151 reviews for 2005 Fringe. I always enjoy chatting with both audience
members and dramatic artists. If you
wish to contact me, send e-mail to Sean Davis.
You
can change the sorting column of the table below by first clicking anywhere in
its header. Each succeeding click in the
header sorts the table by the column clicked.
Succeeding clicks of a column will reverse the previous sort order. I have now added a Date column on the right
so that returning viewers can sort by it to see my most recent reviews.
Fringe Festival Reviews
Rank |
Review |
Venue |
Begins |
Ends |
Date |
1.
|
A Play, A Pie,
and A Pint - Chic Murray: A Funny Place for a Window (****) The cast of
three portray episodes from the lives of the comedian and his originally more
famous song and dance wife while accompanying the play with a piano and an
occasional accordion. I had never
heard of Chic Murray, but still found his story, and frequent examples of his
1950s humor interesting and funny. But
its been two years since I have had to decipher a Scottish brogue, and I
missed quite a few of his lines. |
Multistory |
12:30 |
13:30 |
24 |
2.
|
When the World Stood Still (****) A keyboardist and a delightful storyteller who plays a fiddle,
recorder, banjo, and accordion, perform her original Celtic melodies and
Scottish airs interspersed with tales from completely renovating their old, cold,
wet house on the Isle of Lewis during lockdown. The source of inspiration for her tunes
range from the sea and the sky to grandchildren and celebrations, and their
tempos vary accordingly. Her tales
resonate with a rough, rural life permeated with a love of nature, family and
friends. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
10:50 |
11:40 |
25 |
3.
|
Carole King and James Taylor Story (***) A pianist and guitarist sign well known songs from the famous
pair, each with a short introduction describing the events of their lives
surrounding the songs. The patter is
well crafted, and they both had fine voices, with his guitar work rivalled
Taylor’s. My problem was that only
once did the timbre of her voice match that of King’s. |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
16:05 |
16:55 |
24 |
4.
|
Miss Lindsay’s Secret (***) |
Scottish Storytelling Centre |
16:00 |
17:00 |
25 |
5.
|
Slings and Arrows (***) A cast of
mentally disabled people tell the tale of one trouble woman’s life. Even though the whole production had the
feel of a elementary school production, with missed lines, and awkward
entrances and exits, I couldn’t help but appreciate the sincerity of their
efforts. I admire their bravery in
challenging themselves to perform in front of an audience, and making an
effort overcome their disabilities. |
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall |
20:05 |
20:50 |
24 |
6.
|
Eight Hundred Dollar Value |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
21:15 |
22:05 |
25 |
7.
|
Somebody Special – The Aca-Betrayal (***) |
theSpace@Surgeons Hall |
14:45 |
15:35 |
25 |
8.
|
You're My Jury (***) |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
17:25 |
18:15 |
25 |
9.
|
Return of Sherlock Holmes (***) Sherlock returns after his “death” at Reichenbach Falls, to solve a murder
and prevent one with the help of Doctor Watson. Both Debbie and I nodded off during this
dark, slow piece. Sherlock made his
requisite keen observations and leaps of reason, but I never felt a sense of
urgency or danger. |
Gilded Balloon Teviot |
14:30 |
15:30 |
24 |
10. |
Fear of Roses (***) A self-centered manager carelessly orders around her former
classmate who is now her assistant.
The flimsy plot had some twists, but the whole play lacked the
necessary realism to have me care about either of them. In particular, a heinous crime seemed
unjustified, and was dismissed with a quick blackout. |
Assembly Roxy |
11:00 |
12:00 |
24 |
11. |
Burnt Out (***) |
Roxy Theater |
19:45 |
20:30 |
25 |
12. |
Bank Job (***) |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
12:15 |
13:05 |
25 |
13. |
Trust Me, I was a BBC Doctor (**) |
theSpace@Surgeons Hall |
18:45 |
19:35 |
25 |
14. |
Tick Tick (**) |
theSpace @ Symposium Hall |
13:45 |
14:35 |
25 |
15. |
Friend (The One With Gunther) (**) The café owner from “Friends” complains about his unrequited
love for Rachel while going through all ten seasons of the TV show. While I was amazed by the energy the actor
put into this manic acid trip of a review, it had little to offer me because
I had not watched the show. On the
other hand, since most of the audience were fans, they seemed to enjoy all
his quick references, and may given him four stars. |
Pleasance at EICC |
18:00 |
19:00 |
24 |
I am a 68-year
old retired Computer Science lecturer from the University of California in
Davis who thinks even a bad play is better than no play at all. I have been to the Fringe fourteen times
before. In 2005, I fulfilled a dream of
seeing an entire Fringe Festival. Since
then, I have been here for the whole Fringe every year except 2007, and
2020. I have learned to devote most days
to only venues that are close to each other to maximize the number of
performances I can see. I expect this
year to be similar to last—many performances, and many new friends.
After
attending more than 1000 performances, I have a much better idea of my biases
and prejudices in the role of a critic.
To limit my analyzing shows during their performances as much as
possible, I have intentionally avoided any training in criticism and the
dramatic arts, both formal and informal.
I find that I prefer fact to fiction, innovation to repetition,
coherence to creativity, the concrete to the symbolic, and cleverness to depth. I realize that many of these are antithetical
to the spirit of the Fringe, but I cannot deny my nature. In particular, I just do not like shows that
push the bounds of creativity beyond my ability to make sense of them. Because I choose to fill time slots with
whatever is available, I still expose myself to such shows, and do not
mind. However, I do feel a little guilty
giving a low rating to a show on which a company has worked so hard, and with
such commitment. Nevertheless, I
envision that that is my role—to accurately report my enjoyment so that others
may better use my ratings. In all but a
very few cases, I admire the effort of each company, and wish them well.