Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Adam / Eve / Nassim

EDINBURGH FRINGE: ADAM / EVE / NASSIM Three compelling shows on identity - gender and otherwise - at the Traverse Theatre

Three compelling shows on identity - gender and otherwise - at the Traverse Theatre

Eve ★★★★

Transgender issues are high on the agenda at this year’s Fringe, with the energetic Testosterone at the Pleasance and the breezy You’ve Changed from Northern Stage at Summerhall among the stand-outs. In addition, the National Theatre of Scotland brings two trans-themed shows to the Traverse Theatre.

Edinburgh Festival 2017 reviews: Rhinoceros / Flight

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL: RHINOCEROS / FLIGHT Zinnie Harris's new version of Ionesco, and Vox Motus take on the subject of migration

Zinnie Harris's new version of Ionesco, and Vox Motus take on the subject of migration

 

Rhinoceros ★★★★★

Scott Gibson, Soho Theatre

SCOTT GIBSON, SOHO THEATRE How funny is a near-fatal brain haemorrhage? This funny

Award-winning show about a medical calamity

Scott Gibson won best newcomer at last year's Edinburgh Comedy Awards for Life After Death, about the near-fatal brain haemorrhage he had as a 24-year-old in 2009. It happened after the Glaswegian had been to Blackpool for a stag weekend with 11 mates, including the groom “Junkie Steve”. Some rich material for an hour of comedy in there...

James Acaster, Touring

JAMES ACASTER, TOURING Beautifully crafted show of offbeat observations

Beautifully crafted show of offbeat observations

Five nominations for the Edinburgh Comedy Award are surely a recommendation for James Acaster – and with his intelligent, offbeat humour and a wry delivery, he has rightly built up an impressive following at the Fringe (where I saw this show), having improved his craft year on year. Now he embarks on his biggest tour yet and is certain to add to his rapidly growing fanbase.

Edinburgh 2016: Angel by Henry Naylor/ Horse in Careful/ Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat

EDINBURGH 2016 Angel by Henry Naylor / Horse in Careful / Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat

Theatre highlights from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Angel by Henry Naylor, Gilded Balloon ★★★★

Rehana tells us what her hometown Kobane, in Syria, is like – “A small border town where nothing happens … like Berwick-on-Tweed” – a typically wry and smart line in Henry Naylor's final instalment of his “Arabian Nightmares” triptych (following The Collector and Echoes).

Edinburgh Fringe 2016: Zoë Coombs Marr/ Randy/ Sarah Callaghan

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2016: ZOË COOMBS MARR/ RANDY/ SARAH CALLAGHAN Latest instalment of comedy from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Latest instalment of comedy from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Zoë Coombs Marr, Underbelly Cowgate ★★★

Zoë Coombs Marr's debut show last year, Dave, gained a lot of attention, and rightly so. Dave is an old-school male comic whose line in misogyny doesn't sit well in modern comedy – even if his material might find an audience in the wider world.

Edinburgh Fringe 2016: Richard Gadd/ Kieran Hodgson/ Nazeem Hussain

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2016: RICHARD GADD/ KIERAN HODGSON/ NAZEEM HUSSAIN Comedy highlights from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Another batch of comedy highlights from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Richard Gadd, The Banshee Labyrinth ★★★★★

Richard Gadd wryly tells us at the end of Monkey See Monkey Do that he thought it was a good idea to put this thought-provoking show, with its deep seam of theatricality and emotion, in the comedy section of the Fringe brochure. And in truth it could sit easily as a theatre show, albeit one with frequent laughs. But at its heart is a deeply personal and highly revelatory story about an incident in Gadd's life that caused him to re-evaluate who he is both as a person and as a man.

Edinburgh Fringe 2016: Bridget Christie/ Adam Kay/ Rachel Parris

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2016 Bridget Christie / Adam Kay / Rachel Parris

Comedy highlights from the world's biggest and best arts festival

Bridget Christie, The Stand ★★★★★

When Bridget Christie planned this show, it was to be a work in progress about mortality for a tour starting later this year. But then the EU referendum happened, and everything changed. Within the space of a few weeks, she had written this heartfelt polemic about Brexit, and it's an astonishingly accomplished and moving work.

Edinburgh Fringe 2016: Alix in Wundergarten/4D Cinema/Bucket List

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2016 Alix in Wundergarten, 4D Cinema, Bucket List

Theatre highlights and lowlights from week one of the world's biggest arts festival

Alix in Wundergarten ★★★★

Think Alan Ayckbourn on acid: a commonplace (well, almost) set-up, exaggerated further and further beyond what we’d ever anticipate.

Ed Byrne, Theatre Royal, Winchester

ED BYRNE, THEATRE ROYAL, WINCHESTER Observational comic with a cutting edge

Observational comic with a cutting edge

The show's title, Outside, Looking In, might suggest we're in for some philosophising from Ed Byrne – but then, after 22 years in the business, the Irish observational comic has earned the right. And indeed, he covers subjects such as feminism, slut-shaming and gender imbalance, but in the mix there is also some material about the perils of dating and a graphic description of food poisoning. Even the cleverest comics – and Byrne is assuredly one of those – can't resist the occasional lavatorial gag.