The official first night of the Fringe, with lots of people in costume importuning passers-by to come see their show. Unfortunately a small spot on stage in a noisy and crowded street is not necessarily the best place to showcase one's wears (with certain burlesque acts being the notable and eye-catching exception). In the little time I spent trawling the crowd there was nothing that particularly caught my eye this year. Anyway it was then on to see Corinne Grant (of Glasshouse fame) have her existential mid-life crisis in Out of Order. A passing comment in the introduction to a radio interview, and attempting to explain herself to some Sudanese refugees, led her to thinking about her life and the path she trod in order to do stand-up (in this case in front of a sell-out house). Like most of her stand-up work, it is based on episodes drawn from her life (and this time she brought along the pictures to prove it). Enjoyable, entertaining, and, above all, presented in, at times, a heart-rending honesty. Still, being able to laugh at the bad stuff in your life in not such a bad thing, and if you can get others laughing along with you, all the better. Refreshing. Tomorrow [Fringe +1]: It should have been Sound & Fury's rendition of Cyranose, but I'm putting that off to Tuesday (and giving tomorrow's ticket away [still no takers though]) in order to dance the night away with Spiral Dance. Ahhhh, the things I do for The Love That May Not Be Spoken! But I'm sure Cyrano would have understood, and I suspect Shelby, Richard, and Andrew [?] will also. |