I am a bit wired and tired, so my apologies if my blogging is slowly degenerating into a sub-standard use of the English language.

Day 7 was now two days ago, so I though I'd get down my highlights first, and then fill in anything else later.

Fleurs de cimetiere/ Age Freckles and other tall stories

A brief mention here. A physical theatre piece about age using older performers, Fleurs aimed to challenge the Western perception of ageing in part. I would definitely recommend it, as it does cause you to think reconsider some conceptions of age, and there are some nice moments which pick up the same anxieties of any age, but it does lack a certain something. The physical sequences are a little similar in places, there is perhaps not enough depth in a piece that is an exploration of the ageing body. 

Yet, the piece is a good start to a day at the Fringe, and offers a very different physicality to many of the other pieces at the Fringe.

Fleurs de cimetiere/ Age Freckles and other tall stories is at Summerhall at 14:15 until the 15th August.

Long Distance Affair

PopUp Theatric's Long Distance Affair used Skype to connect a single audience member to actors around the world in three separate phone calls. The idea is one that has been around for a while now, and although PopUP Theatrics use the medium well, it could be pushed further.

The idea of having a one and one performance is obviously a bit daunting for some, no doubt motivated by the fear that some "participation" may be involved. But the connection over a screen is actually a very personal one in this show, and relatively safe; the analog of the screen as a barrier that is often used in a negative sense can also be seen in a positive light for a performance aspect: the audience member is always able to maintain the appropriate distance they desire. 

However, although the monologues were well-scripted, with good pace and tone, they may as well have been performed on a stage. At the end of the day, the performance was simply a series of monologues, but done directly at you. What it felt the format needed was the opportunity for the audience to engage in a dialogue with the performer, and for the performer to then draw us in, whereas the monologues made it feel a bit one-sided: it would have been nice for the audience to do a bit of the work, as the concept itself is very steeped in being immersive theatre. On the same note, whilst the script was good it was very theatrical in its language at times, which pushed it away from the everyday reality expected in a Skype phone call, and perhaps the concept should have been more grounded in the everyday.

That being said, the performance offered something different from the norm, and I left my last phone call with Angel in New Mexico (I think its was New Mexico) with a real sense of connection. 

Long Distance Affair is at Summerhall until the 25th August, playing at 40 minute intervals from 13:00 with a last showing at 15:40.

Lauder!

Inspired by Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, as well as the motifs in Shakespeare's Hamlet and The Tempest, Teatr Hotel Malabar's production is absurd mix of puppetry, projection with a very clownish attitude. 

Focusing on the story of a boy who looses his father in the World Trade Centre tragedy, it feels appropriate that the show is rather absurd, as the world changed dramatically in many was after that day. The use of puppetry and projection never felt forced, but had clearly been chosen in each case as the only way to create the particular section they had wanted. 

This is a production that you will more than likely find yourself lost in at points, but whereas sometimes when this is generally said to be a part of the aesthetic of the production in a - we'll give you the benefit of the doubt way - this is certainly the case for Lauder!. 

Another performance that is a bit out there, but if you arrive in the right move Lauder! provides great possibilities of how to push storytelling somewhere new.

Lauder! plays at the Summerhall until the 16th August, at 16:30.

Benjamin Partridge: An Audience with Jeff Goldblum

A great piece. Having become a little saturated with comedy, I found myself starting to get used to the usual set ups, and far more expectant of what was coming up. With a piece centred on a well known actor (to some) there is an expectation for Partridge to come on in a cheap wig and outfit, and at least make an attempt to look like Jeff Goldblum. But no. Partridge does the exact opposite. He walks calmly on, goes into his act and interrupts with something along the lines off 'I can see you're a bit disappointed. They say celebrities look very different in real life' and with that concept carries on. 

Partridge pulls his conceits to quite some lengths, and the pay-off with his main one (not spoiling any surprises, but all of the audience get one to take with them. Mine is call Michael) is worth it, ending with a rather beautifully shot video that closes the set. You can see that Partridge is developing his own style, and not trying to mimic anybody else. It is a pleasure to watch his perform, and a relief to be surprised along the way. 

Benjamin Partridge: An Audience with Jeff Goldblum plays at Banshee Labyrinth in the Cinema room at 20:30 until the 24th August, as part of PBH's Free Fringe festival.

As always, here's a video of me speaking about my day: