list.co.uk/festival Weird Venues | FESTIVAL FEATURES

A BOXING GYM

A MOBILE PHONE SHOP AN ICE RINK

A CARAVAN

An amateur boxing club in Craigmillar becomes the set for this site-specii c, verbatim theatre piece based on interviews with Muslim female boxers. Featuring a live electronic score, it’s been devised in collaboration with its cast of four 16 to 19-year-olds. No Guts, No Heart, No Glory, Sandy’s Boxing Gym, Craigmillar, 226 0000, 18–25 Aug, times vary, £12 (£6). PhoneShop set a Channel 4 sitcom in a mobile phone store. Now this former branch of Phones 4U, on Princes Street, jumps on the retail space-based bandwagon, hosting a variety of stand-up, theatre, puppetry and more. There’s even a ukulele-inspired musical about Nando’s. Various shows, Phones 4U, Princes Street, 226 0000, freestival.co.uk

Canadian i gure skaters head to this decades-long epicentre of Edinburgh teen romance to perform acrobatic ice routines. After the show, debutants and show-offs alike are invited on to the ice for an all- abilities dance party. This is Contemporary Ice Skating, Murrayi eld Ice Rink, 07532 181 402, 3–4, 9–11,13, 17, 20, 22 & 23 Aug, times vary, £15 (£13; £38 family ticket). What better place to get up close and personal with two ‘John Waters grotesques’ than in a caravan with a maximum capacity of eight? Cuddle up and i nd out more about ‘an exceptionally close mother-daughter relationship’. Barbara and Yogashwara’s Safe Space, theSpace on Niddry St, 510 2383, 6–20 Aug (not 10, 14, 18), 3pm, 5pm & 7pm, £8 (£6.50).

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WEIRD VENUES

From department stores to local bars, strange performance spaces are all part of the Fringe experience. Claire Sawers takes a look at some of this year’s non-traditional show settings

A FORMER BREWERY It’s famously impossible for some people to organise a piss-up in a brewery, but it turns out it is possible to stage a circus there. The gap site where McEwan’s Brewery once stood hosts this dance / music / acrobatics spectacle. Bianco, NoFit State Big Top, Fountainbridge Brewery, 0333 222 9000, 1–25 Aug (not 4,11,18), times vary, £20 (£18). Previews 30 & 31 Jul, 8pm, £15.

A BEDROOM Consider being cornered under a duvet by someone the Met Police have described as ‘a domestic extremist’, and the NHS called ‘highly disturbed’. Twelve audience members will be marched to a bedroom in a secret location for just that. Mental, Pleasance Pop-Up: The Bedroom, 556 6550, 7–24 Aug, (not 11–13, 18–20), 6.30pm, £10 (£8).

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A BEACH Beautiful Porty Beach stages a theatre performance. At sunrise and sunset for three consecutive days, singers and swimmers will assemble on the sand for ‘a poetic and captivating’ hour of soprano song, storytelling and staring wistfully out to sea. Out of Water, Summerhall @ Portobello Beach, 226 0000, 8–10 Aug, 6.30am & 8.30pm, £10 (£8).

A SMALL ANIMAL HOSPITAL Dog vaccinations are swapped for ‘a 360° visceral, enveloping experience’. The Neutrinos use black-outs, music and sensory disorientation to explore extremes of performance in a small space. KlangHaus, Small Animal Hospital, Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 5–24 Aug (not 11, 18), times vary, £12 (£10). Previews 1-3 Aug, £6.

A RICKSHAW A POLICE BOX

Audiences of just two are invited to hop in and sip some jasmine tea in the back of a rickshaw, while learning all about daily life in China, in this intimate piece from Beijing- based grassroots theatre company, Hua Dan. Hand Made in China, The Rickshaw, Summerhall, 0845 874 3001, 11–24 Aug, 15-minute timed slots from 1–3pm & 4–6pm, £3. We can’t tell you exactly what’ll be happening in the police box yet but it’s one of 43 venues used by the Free Fringe to stage their 504 gratis shows this year. They’ll be using other oddities too, including Italian restaurants, nightclubs and metal bars, along with a statue, which serves as the starting point for their ‘non ghost tour’. freefringe.co.uk

31 Jul–7 Aug 2014 THE LIST FESTIVAL 23