Review
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‘Frogs in Bogs’ ― inventive puppetry and energetic performances
Needing a break from comedy for adults, I ventured into Frogs in Bogs, a kids theatre show from Welsh company Familia Theatre. It felt odd to be in a queue with so many people who didn’t reach my waist, but the energy was viscerally enthusiastic in a way that adults mostly try to hide (or are struggling to maintain halfway through the Fringe.)
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‘Monks’ ― brilliant charm and charisma
Monks is the work of Canadian clowns and actors Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela, who welcome us – their first visitors in five years – to their Spanish monastery in the year 1157. Both are resplendent in full monk costumes, down to tonsure wigs (the traditional monk haircut.) There’s limited character background provided, with one monk being the ignored youngest son of a nobleman and the other ‘born in that field,’ and both suffering from their vows of celibacy.
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‘Roger Prick: Sexopolis’ ― vivid, slimy silliness
Roger Prick is the brainchild of Han Whyte, Leicester Square Sketch Off! 2025 finalist, and has gone from sketch to full solo show – Roger Prick: Sexopolis. The eponymous Roger is an erotic novelist and businessman, and we join him on his book tour, where he is promoting both his freshly-modernised works and his newest release.
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‘Ruby Carr: Bite Me’ ― sparky and bright energy
Ruby Carr’s second Edinburgh Fringe show, Bite Me, details the twin difficulties of fixing both her teeth (she has Invisalign) and her mental illness (she has OCD). As an OCD sufferer who’s just spent hundreds of pounds on fillings, I was very much the target demographic for the show and was intrigued to see it.
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‘I’m Not Being Funny’ review – ‘the performers nail the intimacy and claustrophobia’
It’s a baking day in Bristol, but it’s lovely and cool in the Weston Studio at the Bristol Old Vic as we sit down to watch I’m Not Being Funny by Papatango prize- shortlisted writer Piers Black, fresh from an extended run at the Bush Theatre in London. Black has commented that the play ‘is about what fires this need to laugh and also how we can find humour in the big and the small, the light and the dark.
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‘Malory Towers’ review – ‘vibrant and lively with a strong moral core’
Malory Towers is a series of books written by still-omnimpresent children’s writer Enid Blyton, most well-known for The Famous Five series. As the programme for this show says, in 2017 she was still the 12th most popular children’s author, with her books being the most translated works for children in the world (UNESCO). Active from the late 1930s to the early 1960s, her books mainly centre around groups of children having wholesome adventures, shot through with a moral, good-intentioned spirit that prizes bravery and treating others with kindness.
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‘Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x)’ review – ‘effortlessly vivid and fun’
It’s a beautifully sunny day in Bristol and I’m heading over to the Bristol Old Vic to see ‘Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x),’ by Jade Franks. The show, currently being developed by Netflix as a TV series, began life as stand-up sets before Franks worked it into a full play. A Herculean struggle to the Fringe was rewarded by rave reviews and a Fringe First award in 2025. Franks strides onto the stage with a poise and charisma that is immediately endearing, wearing a short running outfit and thick fake eyelashes.
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‘Hooray for Hollywood’ at the Ustinov Studio review – ‘a testament to genuine passion for the form’
The last show I saw in the Ustinov was ‘The Last Five Years,’ by Jason Robert Brown, and it seems only right to return for a wider celebration of movie musicals – ‘Hooray for Hollywood,’ as performed by Liza Pulman and Joe Stilgoe, with the latter also playing the piano. The stage is set with appropriately Hollywood accessories – director’s chairs, big lights, and a double bass on its side.
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Review: ‘Is This Thing On?’ – ‘meanders unsuccessfully – despite the talent involved’
One night in the early 2000s Manchester, John Bishop was performing stand-up. He’d begun some months previously on a whim, after taking a spot to avoid paying the venue’s entry fee. In the final stages of a divorce, he was telling a joke about his soon-to-be ex-wife when he unmistakeably heard her laugh in the crowd.
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‘The Last Five Years’ at the Ustinov Studio review – ‘transcendent and beautiful’
The Last Five Years is the Ustinov Studio’s Christmas show for 2025. I was very excited to see it as a long-time fan of the 2015 film adaptation soundtrack, starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. By Jason Robert Brown, it is the semi-autobiographical story of the relationship between Jamie, a newly successful writer, and Cathy, an aspiring actress, and won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics.