Theatre
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‘Dinosaurs’ ― genuine and charismatic performances
Dinosaurs was my final show of the Fringe, and in the appropriately green Riddles Court, just off the Mile. Claire (Hailey Hudson), a grad student, comes home to find Norma the dinosaur (Mandy Rubeli) in her flat. Baffled and blaming her SSRIs, she enlists the help of her childhood friend Hayden (a steadily reassuring Devin Stone) to deal with her new, equally confused companion who is absorbing the future (‘Why is nothing chrome like they said it would be?’)
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‘The Bob Ross Effect’ ― earnest and genuine
The Bob Ross Effect stars Sarah-Louise Young as the titular character who, as she explains, is still inescapable on US television over thirty years since his death. His PBS show, ‘The Joy of Painting,’ ran for 11 years and was characterised by his catchphrase ‘we don’t make mistakes, we make happy accidents.’ Young starts in a similarly wholesome vein, chatting to audience members and getting one to pass out biscuits.
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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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‘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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‘Second Summer of Love,’ by Emmy Happisburgh review: ‘anchored by vitality and charisma’
Second Summer of Love is the debut play from actor and teacher Emmy Happisburgh, about a former raver and now parent reminiscing about her time on the 1980s rave scene. Happisburgh arrives onstage in a neon and black bodysuit. She is almost immediately confronted by her aggrieved teenage daughter Molly (Rosa Strudwick, her real-life daughter) who is attempting to revise drug side effects for her exams and finds her mother’s distraction frustrating.
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Interview with ‘Second Summer of Love’ writer and performer Emmy Habbisburgh
Emmy Happisburgh trained at the Poor School and Guildford School of Acting. Her debut play Second of Summer of Love, about 90s rave culture, parenthood and coming of age, is following on from a successful Edinburgh Fringe run with a UK tour, stoppping at the Alma Tavern on the 12th and 13th September. Tickets here.
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Chris Grace: Sardines at The Wardrobe Theatre review – ‘beautifully profound and touching’
I was exclusively attracted to seeing Chris Grace’s show ‘Sardines,’ by two important factors – 1) my deep affection for his long-suffering character Jerry on the criminally-underloved NBC sitcom ‘Superstore,’ and 2) a general intrigue of a US comedian coming to Bristol, given that they tend to mostly stay in London (occasionally braving Manchester.) But I’m so, so glad that I did, even if the initial reasons were very superficial.
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‘The Arms’ at the Alma Tavern review – ‘an intriguing and inventive show’
The Arms, an original work by South Korean theatre maker Moon Kim, comes with a compelling hook – one of the two characters has been making herself extra arms in order to provide more help to the struggling people of the world. We start with Domi (Rosalind Jackson Roe) – as she introduces us to her story, commanding the stage with purpose.