18 FRINGE PREVIEWS
The Edinburgh Reporter looks ahead to
some of the shows coming to this year’s Fringe...
THREE INFLUENTIAL, intelligent and
fascinating women – very different from each
other but united in the fact that their stories have
been side-lined or silenced.
Jazz icon Zelda Fitzgerald, US First Lady Mary
Lincoln, and trade union leader of the London
East End Singing Strikers Sara Wesker are given
their own voices at this year’s Fringe.
Award-winning actress Catherine D. DuBord
and director Lydia Mackay premiere their version
of The Last Flapper (at Greenside @ Riddles
Court) where we meet Zelda, locked in a mental
hospital with hours to live.
A wild socialite, painter and writer she, and
husband F Scott Fitzgerald, were loved as
celebrities and damned as enfants terribles.
Here at last Zelda speaks for herself, rather than
have others twist her tale.
· Did her husband steal her words?
· Did he claim she was insane to gain
his freedom?
· Can women decide their own fate?
In a similar era but another world, Jewish
Ukranian refugee Sara Wesker was a tradeunionist and radical who battled to improve
conditions for 1920s female garment workers.
Chopped Liver & Unions (at The Space on the
Mile) is a highly praised study of a woman who
helped lead a 12-week strike by women so poor
they had to sing to earn coins from passers-by
(Highly Recommended “Lottie Walker didn’t just
play Sara Wesker, she became her,” Fringe Review).
Sara deserves to be a feminist icon.
Lastly Mary Lincoln; tormented by her
children’s deaths and cruel accusations,
zgrief stricken after witnessing her husband’s
assassination. Yet she became a hate figure.
John Ransom Phillips’ Mrs President
(at C Arts) re-examines her life. Mary
(LeeAnne Hutchison) enlists celebrity
photographer Mathew Brady (Christopher
Kelly) – whose images helped Abraham
win the Presidency – to recast her image
and silence Washington.
Under his focus she’s forced to explore her
true identity.
It’s a powerful production where tensions
rise as subject and artist clash over creative control.Reviled, rejected
and ignored
History’s inspiring women are finding their voices
Kev’s great
balls of fire!
KEVIN QUANTUM, Edinburgh’s very
own international magician is back,
this time with flaming cannonballs.
The physicist-turned-master-
magician is a Fringe favourite
with shows jam-packed with
“wow” moments and Kevin’s
personal charm.
Now he presents MOMENTUM,
which rocks audiences with epic
stunts and belly laughs.
Ideal family entertainment, it’s a
chance to see new tricks and some
of the breathtaking magic he’s
performed on TV worldwide, and
which won him rave reviews during
his recent tour of Australia.
Trained by the great Penn and
Teller and described by David
Walliams as a “sexy Doctor Who”
the grand finale will have you on
the edge of your seat!
Assembly Rooms - Music HallTWO CLOWN FRIENDS plan to put on a
show but Dede goes off the idea – can
Tibeh change his mind?
Canadian “masters of slapstick” (The
Scotsman) Les Foutoukours make a welcome
return with the multi international award-
winning Brotipo ( Mix Up Theatre).
There’s comedy, fabulous tricks and
superb acrobatics – plus singing, dancingand bright costumes. Non-stop entertainment
for children and families in a colourful show
about friendship and working together.
Follow the clowns through the ups
and downs of their relationship – and the
even bigger ups and downs of their
acrobatics, diabolo displays and incredible
balancing acts.
Assembly George Square Gardens PiccoloSlapstick with Canadian clowns
Jordan Fraker