Tag: Fringe 2022

It is time for an honest man to step forward and set the record straight … WATSON: The Final Problem

WATSON previewed at Edinburgh Fringe last year, being enthusiastically received and achieving sell out shows. Now, refreshed and revised, Tim Marriott returns as Watson to Edinburgh before touring in the UK and internationally.

The play is a classic Sherlock Holmes tale of long buried secrets, betrayal and death. There is a shadow in the gutters, a spider’s web of poisonous intrigue plagues the city and Watson must face his greatest ever challenge.  

The year is 1894. Watson is alone. Sherlock Holmes and his beloved Mary are both gone. London seethes with false reports and rumour. It is time to set the record straight. So Watson tells his tale and the intrepid detectives must face their nemesis, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty. But as Watson takes us on a journey across Europe to the Reichenbach Falls, is the game really over?

“Impressive! A damn fine play” – Weekend Notes

“Brilliant. A must see” – Edinburgh Review

“A grippingly fine display… outstanding” – Broadway Baby

Watson: The Final Problem is created in collaboration with and directed by Bert Coules, the BBC’s head writer on adaptations of the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, who says “Watson is often overlooked, but is more than Conan Doyle’s alter ego. Deeply affected by the effects of war in Afghanistan and appalled by dishonesty and falsehood, he is a remarkably contemporary character to bring to life on stage.”

90s sitcom star Tim Marriott played ‘Gavin’ in 7 seasons of the BBC sit-com The Brittas Empire. After a second career in education, he returned to the stage in 2018, travelling to festivals around the world with acclaimed productions of his PTSD awareness play Shell Shock and Holocaust themed Mengele.

BOOKING DETAILS

Time:13.10

Venue 20 – The Drawing Room, Assembly Festival, George Street

Dates: Aug 3-15, 17-28

Running Time: 60 mins

Tickets and Info: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/watson-the-final-problem

Fringe 2022: Pauline

Pauline 

Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 2), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ

Wednesday 3 August – Monday 29 August, 12:20pm (not 15th) 

From Breakthrough Memoir award winner Sophie Bentinck comes Pauline, a new dark comedy about finding your nan’s suicide note. Written and performed by Bentinck, directed by Fred Wienand (Twelfth Night, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), with sound design by Anna Short (Folk, Hampstead Theatre), lighting design by Ali Hunter (Orlando, Jermyn Street Theatre), and presented together with producer Emma Blackman (Bobby & Amy, Fringe First Award 2019), this powerful autobiographical piece explores learning to dance with the skeletons in your family closet. 

Pauline is the story of three generations of women in one family – and the story of the writer who went digging in the secrets file in order to bring them all on stage. Witness a brutally honest and joyfully hilarious glimpse into what it has meant to be a woman in the Bentinck family as far back as 1921. 

Runner up at the prestigious Screenshot 2020 competition, the judging panel which included Olivia Colman and Lolly Adefope, said of Pauline “it is important this story gets told” and Phoebe Waller-Bridge praised the play as “captivating.” Sophie was also selected by acclaimed writer Cathy Rentzenbrink as Curtis Brown’s Breakthrough Memoir Scholar for the adaptation she is writing of the play. 

In 1967 Pauline prematurely died from an overdose, and fifty years later Sophie found and read her diaries. This led to a journey of self-discovery, exploring mental health, loneliness and half a century of female voices, with no holds barred.

Actress and writer Sophie Bentinck said: “I’m the thirty-four year old daughter of Anna, who is the seventy-four-year-old daughter of Pauline. Pauline is dead, Anna has Alzheimer’s; I am writing our story.

Sophie continues: “Covid struck the night before I was due to perform my one woman show for the very first time. A show in which I tried to deal with the inherited trauma of losing my eccentric, guinness and champagne-loving grandmother to suicide.

“However, as I tried to keep the memory of Pauline intact during the pandemic, my mum’s memory faded fast, following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. The show has now become, through interwoven conversations with mum and my nan’s diary extracts ranging from 1944-1967, an endeavour to give a sense of the interlapping of memory: my own, my mother’s and my grandmother’s, before she decided she had nothing left to say.”

“Over the pandemic many families were forced to bury their dead without proper funerals or goodbyes. Loss does not always mean physical absence, it can be psychological too. As we begin to take stock of the impacts of Covid, Sophie attempts to combat them and shine a light on some of the darker times.

“From the postponement of this show in 2020, to the ambiguous grief of losing someone to Alzhiemer’s as well as to suicide, Pauline charts Sophie’s journey, against all odds, to get on that stage at the Fringe and tell the story of all of the women whose shoulders she stands on.

Fringe 2022: Waiting For Hamlet

A vain, pompous buffoon who doesn’t know when to go: How Shakespeare’s grudge destroyed the kingdom he once ruled …

A former king with a lust for revenge is about to murder the entire cast of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet – and a new comedy at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe seeks to discover what has driven him to contemplate this brutal tragic killing spree.

Hamlet’s father’s ghostly return from the grave leaves a string of stabbed, drowned, and poisoned corpses of his family and friends – but Shakespeare never tells us why the dead king makes the fatal mistake that leads to the death of his brother, ex-wife, son, and chief advisor, among others.

Fortunately, Waiting for Hamlet, at the Space Triplex throughout August, does. It’s because he’s a vain, pompous buffoon who doesn’t know when it’s time to lie down and die.

Accompanied only by his Fool Yorick, the King plots revenge for his foul and most unnatural murder. Can Yorick stop him making the biggest mistake of his afterlife?

Waiting for Hamlet imposes itself on the public of the Edinburgh between August 6 and August 26.

For One Night Only: Fascinating Aida’s Liza Pulman Brings Her New Solo Show To Edinburgh Fringe

On a rare night off from her four-week Festival run with Fascinating Aida alongside fellow cabaret queens Dillie Keane and Adele Anderson, Liza Pulman will bring songs from her new album The Heart Of It with her brilliant six-piece band led by Musical Director Joseph Atkins.

The show will also feature songs from Liza Pulman Sings Streisand her 2019 show which played to sell out audiences and rave reviews at London’s The Other Palace and The Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue.

The Heart of It sees Liza perform timeless classics and unearth lost gems, rediscovering and reimagining them for new audiences. Her funny, intelligent and emotional connection to a lyric and a melody goes straight to the heart of every song.

The acclaimed singer will take centre stage at the Assembly George Square for one night only on Sunday 14 August at 6pm.

Liza says: “I love performing at Edinburgh. There is nothing quite like the buzz of the festival and we have missed it!! So, it’s particularly exciting to be back this year with Fascinating Aida and also to be able to play my own show, The Heart of It, at the festival.

“It’ll be one, crazy night of great music, laughter, and heartbreak. With a song list including Irving Berlin, Laura Nyro, Fats Waller and Randy Newman and a bag of new arrangements by me and Joe Atkins, this is classic me; eclectic, anarchic and romantic and is a joyous celebration of music that breaks your heart and makes your heart sing.“

Liza Pulman’s varied career has encompassed music, theatre and comedy. The daughter of celebrated screenwriter Jack Pulman (I Claudius, War and Peace) and actress Barbara Young (Last of the Summer Wine, Coronation Street), Liza’s upbringing gave her a huge appreciation of classic theatre and film, as well as a deep affection for music of the 20s, 30s and 40s which so inspires her own music and writing.

As a solo artist, Liza’s impressive connection to her audience is well remarked upon in her myriad five-star reviews; flawless vocals accompanied by her easy wit and natural storytelling make Liza one of the most compelling performers of her day.

In 2004, Liza joined the award-winning comedy trio Fascinating Aida with whom she has toured globally and who continue to sell out theatres throughout the UK and abroad. With their viral YouTube hits Cheap Flights, We’re So Sorry Scotland, and now infamous Christmas Song, they continue to attract new audiences with material that is sharper and funnier than ever.

To find out more visit www.lizapulman.com

Facebook @lizapulmanofficial

Twitter @liza_pulman

Instagram @pulmanliza

REVIEWS – WHAT THE CRITICS SAY ABOUT LIZA PULMAN

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“QUITE SIMPLY SUPERB…LIZA PULMAN IS A FORCE OF NATURE”

British Theatre

★ ★ ★ ★

“A BEGUILING EVENING DELIVERED WITH UNDENIABLE LOVE AND PASSION”

Whats On Stage

★ ★ ★ ★

“A DELIGHTFUL EVENING OF SONGS AND STORYTELLING FROM A VIRTUOSTIC PERFORMER”

London Theatre Reviews

★★★★

“PULMAN MAY LOOK BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL AND DEMURE, BUT SHE KNOWS HOW TO WIELD A FLICK-KNIFE”

The Times

LISTING INFORMATION

LIZA PULMAN: THE HEART OF IT

ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE – GORDON AIKMAN THEATRE

George Square

Edinburgh

EH8 9LK

https://assemblyfestival.com

0131 623 3030

Date: Sunday, 14 August 2022

Time: 6pm

Tickets: £16/Concessions £15