Mothersole are Fringe First award winners, Total Theatre award winners, Arches Brick award winners and Amnesty International award nominees. BABYFACE Katy Dye Summerhall, Fri 3–Sun 26 Aug (not 5, 13, 20), 1.30pm, £9 (£7). Preview Wed 1 & Thu 2 Aug, £5. A daring exploration into the paradox of living in a society that continues to infantilise women. Paedophilia is not OK yet fetishised images of women as prepubescent girls are. In this brave and outlandish performance, a grown woman attempts to be your baby to discover if innocence really is as sexy as we’re told it is. Winner of the Autopsy Award 2018.
ORPHEUS The Flanagan Collective and Gobbledigook Theatre Summerhall, Fri 3–Sun 26 Aug (not 20), 2.50pm, £11 (£8). Preview Thu 2 Aug, £5. A modern telling of an ancient myth, woven from hair raising spoken word and soaring soul music, from the creators of Fable and Beulah. Dave is single, stood with his mates at the bar, and is turning 30 next week. Eurydice is a mythical dryad – a tree nymph. Orpheus is a tale of side streets, dive bars and ancient gods. Winner of the VAULT Festival Summerhall Award and Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre Award.
TROJAN HORSE A LUNG and West Yorkshire Playhouse co- production Summerhall, Thu 2–Sun 26 Aug (not 13), 3.15pm, £12 (£11). Preview Wed 1 Aug, £5. Trojan Horse was a local story that hit the national press, accusing ‘hardline’ Muslim teachers and governors of plotting extremism in Birmingham schools. Adapted from the real-life testimonies of those at the heart of the government inquiry, critically acclaimed theatre company LUNG (E15, The 56 and Chilcot) investigate what really happened.
STATUS Chris Thorpe, Rachel Chavkin, China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz Summerhall, Sat 4–Sun 26 Aug (not 13), 7.55pm, £15 (£10). Preview Wed 1 & Fri 3 Aug, £5–£10 (£5). We all have a nationality. Or almost all of us. Status is a show about someone who doesn’t want his any more. About running away from the national story you’re given. About who is responsible for that story and what might happen to it if you try to give it up. Springing from globe-spanning conversations about nationality, Status is a journey of attempted escape – with songs. A new show from the multiple Fringe First award-winning team that created Coni rmation. TETRA-DECATHLON Showroom Summerhall, Tue 14–Sun 26 Aug (not 20), 11.55am, £12 (£10). The Tetra-Decathlon is a gruelling 14-event athletics competition, requiring a unique combination of skills to complete. Having never before set foot on a running track, Lauren Hendry decided to sign up for the event, joining only a dozen other women in the World Championships. This audacious solo show directed by double Fringe First winner Jenna Watt charts Lauren’s journey as she trains for and competes in this most taxing of sporting events while asking pertinent questions about the psychology of sport and what drives us to compete.
ALL THESE THINGS A Break from the Fringe’s Norm
A ll These Things at ZOO Venues is a mini festival of experimental and transgressive performance featuring more than 20 artists from across the UK and Europe. ‘The focus is to provide a platform for performance work that may struggle to i nd a venue at the Fringe, maybe due to form, length or content,’ says co-director Adam Young. Running at 12 hours, this project from the Live Art Bistro (LAB) crosses two venues under one ticket and is closer to a grass- roots performance happening than the Fringe’s familiar arrangements.
Financial risk – for both artists and audience – has been replaced by aesthetic experimentation. LAB rei ned the format in events across the UK to champion live art – a more l exible and personal variation on traditional theatre. All These Things, as Young explains, ‘gives the room for audiences to stay with the work rather than trying to capture an idea in a black box theatre and push the audience out to the next performances.’ Featured artists include Sara Zaltash and her exploration of the presence of Islam in contemporary performance, Naked Balloon Party and Shit Theatre’s creche for adults who need to be pampered. As Young concludes, this is a unique event which ‘will include experiences you won’t i nd anywhere else’. (Gareth K Vile)
ZOO Venues, Wed 15 Aug, 5pm, £20 (£17).
FESTIVAL 2018 | PLEASANCE | SUMMERHALL | ZOO 71