Issue 584

Closing Time

23 Aug 2007

The present conflict in Iraq may dominate both news and Fringe agendas but, lest we forget, away from the cameras and newspaper columns, hundreds of conflicts continue to rage on all four corners of the globe. Alongside death, it is human dispersion…

Colin McRae: Dirt

Codemasters

23 Aug 2007

Surely the most attractive thing about rally sport is its white knuckle, mud-spraying, knife-edge excitement? Which is where most rally titles seem to go astray, preferring to follow the F1 or Touring Car route of exactitude, anal technical precision…

Corpus Christi

23 Aug 2007

Terrence McNally’s controversial retelling of the New Testament places Jesus in 50s Texas and involves the son of God in a sexual relationship with Judas, whose consequent jealously results in the betrayal. Despite slick direction and clever ensemble…

Craig Davidson

23 Aug 2007

Craig Davidson doesn’t pull any punches. We might as well get the terrible boxing pun out the way at the start, because his debut novel, The Fighter, is a brutally violent but brilliantly written tale set in the world of underground bare-knuckle…

Dan Atkinson

23 Aug 2007

With shambolic hair and stately intonations, Atkinson looks and sounds like an endearingly mad university professor. He uses his amiable and rambling persona to enlighten the audience with talk of Greek philosophy and nicely worked illogical theories.

Dan Willis

23 Aug 2007

Very few things that are this good are offered for nothing. Willis turns a potentially difficult venue to his advantage, ad-libbing off his audience and displaying obvious ease behind the microphone as people from the pub downstairs wander in and out.

David Kendall

(Robinson)

23 Aug 2007

This really is a weighty tome with over 500 pages of war comics culled from across the world and through the ages (from 1965–2006). Keiji Nakazawa sets the mood with his personal account of the bombing of Hiroshima in I Saw It, a poignant tale that…

David O'Doherty

23 Aug 2007

Due to his distinctive, idiosyncratic style (plus, possibly, last year’s Eddies nomination) David O’Doherty has a strong following and has nothing to prove. Yet, for the sixth year, he serves up the goods. In sharp contrast to O’Doherty’s endearingly…

David Ward

23 Aug 2007

David Ward has certainly had a busy old life, mainly revolving around the gambling addictions which led to him doing time. With a title such as The Whole Truth and Nothing But, all we can do is follow him down his own personal lane of memories as his…

Death Sentence

(18) 105min

23 Aug 2007

Mild-mannered businessman Nick (Kevin Bacon) turns into a gang-hunting vigilante when his eldest son is murdered. Good old-fashioned vigilante drama based on the book sequel of Brian Garfield’s Death Wish. Directed with a maturity and intelligence by…

Debbie Does Dallas - The Musical

23 Aug 2007

There’s a very fine line between a send-up of a ropey cultural item and something that’s just plain ropey. Almost from its shrill opening bars it becomes crystal clear that Debbie Does Dallas – The Musical has crossed the line. The fundamental…

Dogfight

23 Aug 2007

Serial streaker, Mark Roberts, narrowly avoided an Asbo for his ‘performance’ at the Ryder cup. Thankfully, a judge with a sense of humour and an ounce of brain power dismissed the case but it’s this legislating against the insignificant things while…

DT Max

23 Aug 2007

Three things compelled DT Max to set about writing The Family that Couldn’t Sleep. Firstly, as a science writer for the New Yorker and New York Times, he had an interest in prions, the rogue proteins behind mad cow disease. The second was personal: he…

Edinburgh Mela

23 Aug 2007

Post-Festival blues? Mosey on over to Pilrig Park, which is preparing to twitch again to an insistent, persistent bhangra beat. This year the massive, weekend-long inter-cultural festival has pulled performers from Tibet, Iran, Nepal, China, Brazil…

Ensemble 415

23 Aug 2007

It’s not unheard of for groups of musicians to give themselves identities that have something to do with numbers. The Sixteen, for instance, take their name from the regular quota of their singers. Or there’s New York’s Ensemble 21, whose contemporary…

Escaping Hamlet

23 Aug 2007

Is life predetermined, or do we have an input into our own destiny? This is the primary question asked by this fantastical reworking of Hamlet. Keeping the basic plot of the prince who discovers that his uncle killed his father and seeks revenge, this…

Ewan Morrison

23 Aug 2007

For any writer who spends most of their time away all on their own in a darkened corner, it’s essential to have a release and to get some thoughts on their work from people they know and trust. For an author such as Ewan Morrison, dubbed notoriously as…

Ex Drummer

23 Aug 2007

Based on the degenerate novel of the same name by the hugely popular Flemish novelist and poet Herman Brusselmans, Ex Drummer is like a checklist of the Belgian writer’s obsessions, noticeably alcohol, sex, disability, boredom, violence, punk rock and…

Fall Out Boy

23 Aug 2007

Famed for their highly polished, energetic stage show, the kings of emo-pop, Fall Out Boy, fill their down time from the Reading and Leeds festivals with a quick jaunt up to Scotland. The band broke through to the mainstream with hits like ‘Sugar We’re…

Fatboy

David Laing

23 Aug 2007

With our current culture of consumerism and our seemingly endless desire to rid the planet of its natural resources, there is unlikely to be a more fitting or biting satire at this year’s Fringe than John Clancy’s Fatboy. An updated version of Alfred…

Flamenco con Fusion

23 Aug 2007

Ricardo Garcia’s Familia Flamenca exemplifies the drama that can be created from a simple fusion of virtuoso musicianship and strong, deft footwork. Even stripped down to acoustic instruments, voices and movement, the show is no less uplifting. Whether…

Flavour of the month

23 Aug 2007

Food at festivals is too often hit and miss. At best you may find some culinary treat that shocks and delights the pallette, while others are there to fill a hole as you rush from stage to stage between bands. But the organisers of Connect are…

Footlights

23 Aug 2007

Judging by the comedy graduation success of the Cambridge sect, the next Mark Watson or Stephen Fry may well be among the folk on stage, but they’re as difficult to spot as a funny sketch. Still, the cast’s occasional efforts to swallow their own…

Four Wenches and a Free For All

23 Aug 2007

An entertaining hour is spent in the company of these talented actors. The laughs aren’t massive, with some jokes a little obvious, but the more creative ones include the ‘Vodafriend’ shop where you can exchange your old mate for a newer model with more…

Frances Richardson: Internus

23 Aug 2007

Richardson’s sculptural works present a vision of the emotional dereliction that lies beneath the surface of contemporary consumerist culture. Internus, draws on elements from a 15th century Italian painting Archangel Raphael Saving an Attempted Suicide…