Leeds-based verbatim company The Paper Birds return to the fringe with their fifth show, an examination of the conditions for and experiences of being ‘Broke’. They describe the production as developing, aptly enough, in straitened circumstances, encouraging their return to a model of making work focussed on the company’s core members: director Jemma MacDonnell, performer […]

In 2006 Big Wow, Liverpool based physical comedy duo Matt Rutter and Tim Lynskey with writer Robert Farquar, burst onto the fringe scene in Edinburgh with their sell out, Total Theatre award nominated show Insomnobabble. Their work combines anarchic and slickly-written comedy with phenomenally skilful and detailed multi-roling that enables the cast of two to […]

On stage a sheep is grazing. It has no eyes but nevertheless from time to time fixes a gleeful audience member with a truculent stare. This characterful living sheepskin is only the first of a wild array of beautifully crafted puppets that animate this tale of Welsh mythology. Emerging company Puppet Soup have concocted a […]

Deconstructed fairytales have long made classic Fringe fare. After Bettelheim and Angela Carter we’re all aware of the latent warnings and desires lurking in their mythic outlines, rich and iconic – perfect for developing theme or subtext in new plays. Shona Reppe though, unpicks her fairy tale according to a material logic in this new […]

Men in the Cities is big play, presenting a ranging cast of men of all backgrounds and ages on the canvas of our largest and most multivalent city. It is also a solo storytelling show. Chris Goode holds the stage from an almost static station at his microphone, allowing his prose full play. There’s only […]