Until Next Year!
The Yellow Wallpaper
This darkly atmospheric dance thriller takes Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 story and turns its interior horror inside out through movement. The unnamed narrator, confined to a room after the birth of her baby and diagnosed with a “hysterical tendency”, becomes a study in claustrophobia. The piece builds a nightmarish atmosphere, switching between exhaustion, delirium and hysterical ecstasy as her grip on reality slips. Hauntingly staged, sharply danced, and quietly furious underneath: highly recommended.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
TWELVE: Going The Distance
New York choreographer Marisa F Ballaro makes a strong Edinburgh debut with TWELVE: Going The Distance, staged inside a boxing gym and following five women through twelve rounds of shifting rivalry and alliance. Confident, character-driven dance-theatre performed with real commitment by its cast - a promising first Fringe outing worth catching if you can.
★ ★ ★ ★
Elba
Following his abdication in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba, where he was made sovereign. This dynamic and engaging two-hander follows the former general and André Pons de l'Hérault, a French revolutionary turned administrator, living on Elba during these months.
Never boring, Elba races through its runtime, taking what could be a dry or uninviting subject matter and making it hugely entertaining while still remaining thoughtful and smart.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ .5
I Made You A Mixtape
I Made You A Mixtape is an absolute joy from start to finish. There are glowsticks, there is beer pong, there is audience participation, and above all there is fantastic, exuberant dancing. There are a few downbeat moments but the overall feeling is one of pure exhilaration and the kind of glorious, effervescent girl-bonding that, if we are lucky, lives on in our own mental mixtapes too.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★