I am in Edinburgh. There is a festival on. A Festival. Poor Edinburgh residents. I am finding myself just as fascinated by watching the tourists and off duty performers as I am watching the planned work on stage.
I haven't been to the Edinburgh Festival since I was a student, over ten years ago and my memories are patchy (forced out through embarrassment I think) but the sense that the streets are rich with characters (I don't mean the ones on unicycles) is ever present. The world of live performance is notoriously congested, for each actor, there are hundreds more competing for each part and for each new company, there's a carbon copy with a touch more energy ready to pull the stage weights from beneath you. This congestion is made tangible every year on the streets of Edinburgh, where the courts of the Pleasance fill with young companies huddled round tables sharing notes over communally made sandwiches and the puppy dog graduates toting flyers outnumber potential audience (largely elderly Americans) by 4:1. The whole feeling is rich, intoxicating, intense and occasionally nauseating. I get this feeling when looking at the programme, I have designed a show on at the pleasance (Dumbshow Theatre - The Pearl - Go see! It's really really good!) which gives me access to all the shows there so I have been choosing some at random to see. Normally I am quite picky about shows and won't see a show if it is not to my taste (I know stand up comedy/sketch shows/fantasy are highly skilled but they leave me feeling unsatisfied) I won't go. However I have begun in scatterbomb fashion and drifted in to a few shows in their early days to get the lay of the land. So, my reviews will become more strategic as I go on...
P.S. Incidently, the best thing I have seen so far was the mud kitchen part of Playday 2013 on the Royal Mile. I am hoping next year for an adult version.
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