festivals
Edinburgh Fringe: Kieran and the Joes/ Conor O'Toole/ Tom Allen/ Kate SmurthwaiteSunday, 21 August 2011
Kieran and the Joes are a three-man sketch group (Kieran Hodgson, Joe Markham and Joe Parham, working with co-writer Tom Meltzer) who are young, personable and very neatly dressed in shirts and ties - but while they may appear clean... Read more... |
Estonia celebrates 20 years of independence in songSunday, 21 August 2011
The former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev was a ubiquitous presence in the British news last week, wheeled out for the 20th anniversary of the dismantling of the USSR. The anniversary, though, is not just about what went on within what is... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Tiffany Stevenson/ Carl Donnelly/ The Two WrongiesFriday, 19 August 2011
Tiffany Stevenson ★★★★The comic is currently appearing on Show Me the Funny on ITV, where her smily disposition is a welcome antidote to some of the sneery critics they have mustered. There’s boyfriend stuff in Cavewoman but Stevenson also delivers... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Glenn Wool/ Jerry Sadowitz/ Ford and AkramSunday, 14 August 2011
The Canadian is making a welcome return to the Fringe after a few years away and the break has served him well, as he's been doing a bit of travelling, and it was an incident when he flew to Indonesia that provides the starting point - and... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Jackie Leven/ Jen Brister/ Doris Day Can F**k OffSaturday, 13 August 2011
Physically reduced he may have been, but his talents were as expansive as ever, and more than capable of holding a small room captivated with just voice and guitar. Whereas in recent years Leven has released a somewhat bewildering range of music... Read more... |
Caractacus, Worcester Cathedral, Three Choirs FestivalThursday, 11 August 2011
“The text of Britain’s teaching, the message of the free…”. No, not the Last Night of the Proms or the Olympic Games ahead of time. This is the final chorus of Elgar’s concert-length cantata Caractacus, which was given a vigorous work-out in this... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Lounge Room Confabulators/ Andi Osho/ Matthew CrosbyWednesday, 10 August 2011
Imagine that Tim Burton, or some other great modern-day storyteller of your choice, knocks at your door and asks if he can come into your living room for an hour to tell some fantastical stories. You would get some beers in and friends around... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: The Monster in the Hall/ Joel Dommett/ Katherine RyanMonday, 08 August 2011
The Monster in the Hall, Traverse **** David Greig's indie comedy musical, first performed at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre at the end of last year, is a bright and inventive four-hander about a 16-year-old girl struggling to keep everything together.... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Locarno: Swiss rules, Swiss rainSunday, 07 August 2011
Think what you will about Switzerland and the Swiss – calm, ordered country, treasured environment, cautious, democratically precise people – but look behind the scenes and things can seem quite scary. Vol spécial (Special Flight), by Swiss-French-... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Great British Beer FestivalThursday, 04 August 2011
Held each year at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, the Great British Beer Festival is the top-drawer event in any British beer enthusiast's diary. Organised by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale), it’s a mind-boggling, discombobulating overload of... Read more... |
WOMAD III, Charlton ParkTuesday, 02 August 2011
WOMAD is in its 29th year, and ticket sales have gone up 29 per cent, we are told, with over 35,000 sold. World music, always rather beyond fashion, is thriving, at least in this live festival incarnation in Wiltshire. One criticism, according to... Read more... |
WOMAD II: Baaba MaalTuesday, 02 August 2011
Ten o'clock at night and the WOMAD air felt as hot as Dakar preparing for Baaba Maal. Sadly, given this year's hugely expanded audience, it was hard to see the stage unless you know how to glide to the front like a snake (which years of festival... Read more... |
