Tiger Paws Junior

Review: The Titanic Orchestra ****

The Titanic Orchestra Pleasance 17.15

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories **** 4 Stars

Edinburgh Fringe Festival is weird. It’s just a weird place. Some shows have massive budgets and massive audiences, others are performed by 16 year old broke students who spend every last cent that they have to bring their creativity to the world. One can’t compare both extremes of the spectrum.

I will happily give a new play 5 Stars if they work hard and have a stick on stage as their set. I will also happily give The Titanic Orchestra 3 Stars.

They had a great set, great actors and a great budget but I left disappointed. My expectations were high as ever. I thought it would be in my top five picks of the Fringe. Sadly it wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, Hannah is amazing. A terribly nice guy, who I met speaking at Pleasance Bytes. I don’t think he’ll mind me saying that the show isn’t perfect yet. It’s trying to be…but sometimes that’s the problem. A golfer who tries too hard will inevitably buckle under the pressure. The golfer who gets drunk and enjoys going out and playing hungover, usually relaxes into his rhythm and eases to victory.

The ensemble cast are very good too, each have been chosen meticulously through a casting process but I’m sure feel the pressure of the packed out audiences over judgmental eyes bearing down on their beads of sweat also. They all just need to let the nice script do what is does and chill.

It’s a grand show, I’m glad I saw it but I wouldn’t recommend it in it’s present state. That’s just my humble opinion if it means anything…(I’m pretty sure it doesn’t)

They weren’t available last night for a group shot like every other show I’ve seen so I had to pull out an old photo taken at Pleasance Bytes.

I wish them well and I hope they have a nice rest of their run…it’s a four star from us

Review 10x10x10 ****

10 x 10 x 10 Pleasance 16.30

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories 4 Stars

This is such an ambitious project. 10 Monologues of 10 minutes each written and directed by 10 different people alteratively showing on every other day. You get five on a Monday and five different pieces on the Tuesday.

It starts with a beautiful piece performed majestically by an elderly American lady who describes herself as a fading polaroid photograph getting more and more invisible with each new wrinkle. It’s full of black humour and touching feelings as she describes ordering a 300 pack of condoms and having them delivered to the hospital just to see the look on the nurses’ faces.

The second was a nice piece on kissing boys. I liked it and she performed her memories well.

The third was a hilarious characterisation by Jack Baldwin, photographed below of an upclass toffee-nosed English gent who used to bring his own waiter around to each restaurant in order to get the service he required. Funny stuff man.

The fourth was a great piece performed by Keith in which an Irish cage fighter describes his opinions towards the sport and how they affected his personal life and vice versa. He describes meeting his daughter for the first time after a spell in prison. It’s a great piece performed well.

The fifth was the Albanian Stripper played nicely by Jo Romero. She did great for the four minutes she was on and uses her charactisation skills well to make a memorable performance.

The sixth was my favourite I think. Tiffany came out and acted so naturally, her level of talent was flawless. One can instantly connect with the character and the actress as she tells the story of a wife who loves her drink and food and how her husband is becoming more distant. She is asking his mother for guidance…

All in all, this is a great show. I’m looking forward to seeing the other five.

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories 4 Stars

Review: Splitfoot *****

Splitfoot C Nova 18.15

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories ***** 5 Stars

This is the best show I’ve seen at the Fringe thus far.

If you like physical acting, a hint of musicality and beautiful direction, go to see this show. A definite contender for the biggest awards at the Fringe Festival.

I loved the show and the cast are really lovely people with a creative ensemble vision and goal. Direction is immense, Writing is great and the performances are beautiful.

Easiest 5 Stars so far from me.

Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot *****

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Underbelly

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories ***** 5 Stars

This is an amazing show. I really enjoyed it.

It is centred around Rebecca Crookshank, who plays herself, as she remembers her entering the Royal Air Force and her journey through the process to becoming a high ranking official.

She begins and takes us through her training, her friendships, her progression up the ranks, her downfall and meltdown and finally her departure from the force after the Falklands.

I sat down with Rebecca last night and asked her all sorts of questions. The bubbly lady described her research as already completed before writing this new, exciting play, as all she had to do was bring the memory forward but what interested me the most was her progression from a highly ranked officer to the artistic creative industry.

The actress herself has appeared in films such as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland so her career is definitely not stalling, but to bring a one-woman show is ballsy.

I think that’s what impressed me most about the show. It is completely sexist and doesn’t deny it. It is a girl struggling through her journey and dealing with males who treat her completely misogynistic based on her gender.

And she fights back…and wins…like a good Disney Princess.

I saw this show with a female friend, who was terrifically moved by it after. It is an empowering show, especially for women. I enjoyed the story-line immensely and the level of talent of Rebecca to be able to switch characters in a moment, but I didn’t leave feeling empowered lol.

Oh and PS the members of the story line that she mentioned were all in the audience when we attended. How coincidental. Here they are photographed below with a lovely penguin.

Catch the show if you can.

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories 5 Stars

Review: Hotel Paradiso *****

Hotel Paradiso – 23.15 Pleasance Courtyard

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories ***** 5 Stars

Have you ever gone to a play and been expecting a lot? You hear the other reviews, word of mouth tells you via grapevine that you have to see this show, the newly granted stars on their posters shine like a beam of moonlight at you every time you walk passed them…that’s how I entered Hotel Paradiso last night.

In other words, I was hoping that my expectations wouldn’t be destroyed.

And they weren’t…And I was happy about that.

Hotel Paradiso is a mesmerising hour and a half of mimed sstory-telling at it’s best. And what’s more impressive is the cast don’t even have the luxury of facial expressions to communicate their feelings. They wear masks to show one the power of the body and music as a completely separate language.

If you’ve ever done a day’s silence for whatever reason, you will understand the complete unnecessary nature of words to communicate. People almost listen more when you are not speaking as they have to consider your thought process without you telling them.

The German/Belgian cast are flawless in their timing, commitment and skill in telling the story of the goings-on in one particular hotel. Each character brings something unique and contributes heavily to the very strong narrative. It involves love, death and butchery respectively and they utilise a very talented physical level which is cherographed to the minutest of details.

I’m delighted I saw this show and would recommend it highly. Apart from Splitfoot in C Nova it has been my easiest 5 star so far.

Tiger Paws Junior’s Stories 5 Stars

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