Are There More of You?

3 Stars

***

Alison Skilbeck’s show is a series of cleverly constructed monologues of four middle-aged women dealing and coping with dashed expectations. All the women share the same London post code but their backgrounds and personalities could not be more different.

There is the ambassador’s wife whose staid husband completely unexpectedly leaves her for a younger woman. She is followed by a café owner of Italian extraction who wants to transform her café to a tratorria but her aging mother is becoming an embarrassment. Next is a rather strange lady who indulges in spirit weaving but who may not be all she seems. Finally, there is hard bitten, single career woman from the north of England who is beginning to realise the emptiness of her life.

At times amusing, at other times touching, Alison Skilbeck’s characters are entirely credible. Each portrayal builds to a climax and there are nice twists when loose linkages are revealed between the four women. She displays great skill moving seamlessly from character to character using simple but subtle changes in her appearance.

Reviewed by Ben

C Aquila: 21

4 to 29 August 2011 (not 15)

17.25 – 18.35

Fringe Programme Page Number: 239

Babbling Comedy 2

4 Stars

****

This was my first experience of Korean comedy theatre and it proved to be a most enjoyable and happy one. Imagine a nursery room with a group of toddlers who are actually men dressed in bright eye-catching costumes. They discover all sorts of items in a toy box, some expected but some most unexpected. These provide the props for the visual humour that uses their highly developed skills of mime, juggling and magic. Combining incredibly fast juggling with beat box is an interesting combination.

They constantly interact with the audience and a rapport builds up very quickly with their clowning and knockabout style of comedy. Throwing in some gentle toilet humour and the odd temper tantrum completes the comedy mix.

This is a show which I have no doubt will keep an audience of all ages chuckling, laughing and clapping from start to finish.

Reviewed by Ben

C+3, Chambers St; 34

3 to 28 August 2011 (not 16)

15.15 – 16.10

Fringe Programme Page Number: 240