EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2006

2006 - RECENSIE... / 2006 - REVIEW...

Our review will include Gig reviews, info on new bands, Comedy Shows, Film, the incident with Sir Sean and the show in question, info about the City (and why all venues and bars appear to smell of sweat and farts since they all became non-smoking in April 2006!), plus to kick start our new "restaurant" section we will give you our verdict on some of the great (and appalling) bars & restaurants of Edinburgh?! ...







A Dutch language summary (incl. info about the festival) can be found at: http://citygateways.visitscotland.com/nl/edinburgh/top_attractions/fests/

REVIEWS (with more to follow)...

NATALIE HAYNES - "Watching The Detectives" - @ The Pleasance, Edinburgh
Natalie Haynes talks faster than most people can listen and people who talk too slowly are on her list of life's annoyances. In her one hour show she takes us through those American cop shows that can usually be seen on daytime TV (daytime because presumably for the most part they are usually crap and therefore ideal for ridicule?) where the central figure is always able to solve the most difficult problems in under an hour (Quincy, Ironside, Colombo, etc). This also means that there is no room for the award winning series like "NYPD Blue" or "The Shield". She delivers her show in a very comical way, raising some amusing questions, the best one being why it never occurred to the authorities that the one common factor in the 261 murders depicted in the "Murder She Wrote" series was that Jessica Fletcher was always in the building! - 3.5/5




CHANBARA - @ The Pleasance, Edinburgh
This was a show that is a collaboration between Kumui sword masters who were behind the sequences in Tarantino`s "Kill Bill" and the Yamato drummers of Japan. What ends up being a bit lost on a large part of the audience is that in Japanese culture the sword has religious and artistic connotations while sword fighting is considered a prestigious form of art, to which master swordsman Tetsuro Shimaguchi is responsible for the choreography in this show. By the end of the one hour show it has to be said though that although the sword masters were extremely skilful and gave a good show, it was actually the Yamato drummers who impressed me the most - combined though an excellent show of craftsmen and women at work without the need for slow motion sequences to make their point or impact felt. - 4/5





"BLACK WATCH" - @ Venue 109 (Traverse Theatre), Edinburgh
The 5* critically acclaimed stage production "Black Watch" by Scotland's National Theatre is a searing production, which is an "unofficial history" of the famous Highland regiment during its service in Iraq. It is also a celebration and dissection of one of Scotland's oldest and most decorated military regiments. This play is a theatrical investigation based on interviews conducted by Gregory Burke with former soldiers of the Black Watch who served in Iraq. Valued for the clan ties and bravery at its heart, the Black Watch has been in the vanguard of countless British military expeditions from Waterloo and the Somme to being the first British regiment to cross the Rhine in WW2, Korea and after the initial invasion by U.S. and British forces in 2003 where the first units to enter Basra. The play is set around the Black Watch deployment up to Camp Dogwood on Baghdad's southern rim in 2004, where only around 380 of its soldiers had to replace over 4,000 U.S. Marines who were to be moved up to fight Iraqi "insurgents" in Fallujah and evokes the mix of pride, unhappiness, excitement, boredom, commitment and doubt of the soldiers involved who disbelieved the Defence Ministers statement that their deployment to Camp Dogwood was a military necessity - but in fact viewed by many observers as a political move to help U.S. President George W. Bush in his re-election campaign. Adding insult to injury, the Defence Ministry timed the announcement that the Black Watch was to be amalgamated with the other Scottish units into a new super-regiment just as they were sent to Camp Dogwood! - The play also shows the basic fact that the soldiers sent in harm's way were not fighting for the British government, they were fighting for their regiment and platoon, and to support each other. There is one scene in the play as American jets howl overhead to deliver their "shock and awe" bomb loads on an Iraqi village, when a furious Black Watch soldier screams out: "This isn't fighting, this is fucking bullying!" - "BLACK WATCH" has been a smash hit at the Festival, playing to sold out audiences and standing ovations for the 10 actors at the end of each session. It has since won most of the awards at this years festival. - 5/5

The critics summary of this show can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5257408.stm

The full list of 2006 nominees & winners can be found at: http://www.edfringe.com/story.html?id=1658&area_id=53



WATSON & OLIVER - @ The Pleasance, Edinburgh
Lorna Watson & Ingrid Oliver are a new comedy duo that are not too dissimilar in style to French & Saunders and they are also really¬ good actors with a lot of interesting ideas. Their debut at the Edinburgh Fringe was a mixture of sketches with a few amusing twists along the way. As a bonus, Lorna Watson's facial expressions were a delight. It wouldn't surprise me that if in a few years to come we get to see them in their own TV show. A very promising debut. - 3.5/5





The Spaghetti Western Orchestra (aka The Ennio Morricone Experience) - @ The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Also known as The Ennio Morricone Experience (under which name they will be touring Holland during September) this is an Australian quintet who with the use of their keyboards, double bass, percussion instruments, trumpet, mandolin, their voices and a host of adapted appliances including water-filled bottles, a packet of cornflakes, and what looked like a wired up biscuit tin then set about recreating for the most part those really cool sounds of the Spaghetti Westerns from the 60`s by composer Ennio Morricone and director Sergio Leone. They present excerpts of movie scores ranging from the more famous "Once Upon A Time In The West" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" to the equally entertaining although lesser known scores from "A Professional Gun" (aka "The Mercenary") and the 70`s crime thriller "Fear Over The City". And for those who are in the know about Leone`s westerns they even give several mentions to a certain Bob Robertson! I was surprised however that they didn't include any musical excerpts from "Gui La Testa" (aka "Fistful of Dynamite") or perhaps under the circumstances anything from "My Name Is Nobody"? That said, what we do get is still a compelling range of moods from humour to menace along with expertly played music and a brilliant delivery which all combine to ensure a thoroughly entertaining and highly recommended show. - 4/5
The full tour dates for Holland in September can be found HERE




"Ants in the Mouth" (Hormigas en la boca) - @ The Filmhouse, Edinburgh
A crime thriller made in the film-noir style that is set in the late 50`s on the eve of the Cuban revolution, this Spanish language film directed by Mariano Barraso boasts great performances and cinematography as well as an intriguing plot of conspiracies and betrayals not to dissimilar to Polanski`s "Chinatown", which puts it head and shoulders above the majority of new films being made today. It also boasts a superb at times atmospheric soundtrack. Highly recommended. - 4/5






CAPTAIN - @ Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh (concert)
Captain are a new five-piece band from Cambridge who have already released 3 great singles ("Broke", "Frontline" and "Glorious") in the UK and are here to play the last date of their sell out month long UK tour which also coincides this week with the release of their debut album "This Is Hazelville" (see also our ALBUM REVIEWS section - > HERE). Tonight the venue is that full that some people cannot even get to see the stage! What follows is a great gig by a band now full of confidence who in today's music scene have a unique ability to hypnotize their audience with dramatic, at times poetic songs, where the dynamics and harmonies are highlighted by their clever use of space and where the lead guitarist (Mario Athanasiou) is clever enough not to feel the need to play his instrument continuously and where the singers (Rik Flynn & Clare Szembeck) form a perfect duet. Although only formed a year ago, its already apparent that venues of this size are too small for them! By this time next year Captain will already be playing those bigger venues and that in turn will also do their sound much more justice. - 4/5






LUCY PORTER - "The Good Life" - @ The Pleasance, Edinburgh - This show was pretty much sold out within days so I attended one of the extra shows that had been arranged on the Saturday night. Lucy Porter is already one of Britain's established comedians and her stage presence and natural charm are infectious, putting her head and shoulders above the majority out there today. The main theme of her show at this years festival is on how one can lead a moral and responsible life, which includes the danger of lunch dates, corporate sponsorship and how to find Bin Laden. The time flew by and this was a fantastic hour's entertainment. - 4.5/5




HILS BARKER - @ The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
Hils Barker is getting to do a full hour show at the festival, of which the theme behind her show, although never totally clear, is the sense of alienation that Barker feels. At one stage she tells us that she's not as posh as her accent and that her taste in music for a 29-year-old woman is considered odd (although that joke wouldn't work the same in Holland as the majority of young adults here are still stuck in the 80`s!) She is at times very funny but sometimes comes across as a bit too clever for her own good (almost smug) although she remains appealing and maybe a slight change in direction could do the trick? - 3/5




INSOMNIBABBLE - @ The Underbelly, Edinburgh
This show consisting of just two people, where Mark Rutter plays an office worker suffering from insomnia who eventually can't distinguish his dreams from reality, and Tim Lynskey who plays all the other characters (from Mark`s boss, his date, to every member of some insomniac support group) was the surprise hit for us at the festival. The show was full of genuine laughs and great performances by both actors - 4.5/5





"ANGEL-A" - @ The Filmhouse, Edinburgh
It has been a while now since French filmmaker Luc Besson made a new film. Since the turn of the century he appeared to have spent his time producing easy to please action films and not directing. With the supernatural love story "Angel-A" he has made a very welcome return in this French and Spanish language B&W film set in Paris. I could try and tell you about the plot but that would more than likely give the whole essence of the film away so much better to just go along and enjoy the experience. Recommended. - 3.5/5






Forthcoming Reviews ...



THE FESTIVAL: our general experience amongst the festivities...


RESTAURANTS: include Ristorante La Piazza, Hewat`s, Le Sept, Ristorante Gennaro and Negociants just to name a few...

BARS & CAFES: no smoking in public places and their rather bizarre terrace rules after 10pm, the most helpful bars and the few you wished you`d never entered, incl. the best places to get hold of Havana Club & Ginger Ale!

Our new section covering eating & drinking establishments will appear HERE











This annual event takes place during the last 3 weeks of August. It is the biggest arts festival in the world with over a million visitors each year! - There is not one Edinburgh Festival but those using the term are usually referring to the collection of various festivals in August and early September of each year in Edinburgh, Scotland. For full listings then go to: http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/


In 2006 there was:

Edinburgh International Festival - The original and "official" festival consisting of classical and contemporary Theatre, Opera, Music and Dance.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Started life as a small scale "fringe" event but is now the largest of all the festivals and indeed the largest arts festival in the world (Includes Theatre, Comedy, Music, Musicals, Dance and Children's shows.)

Edinburgh International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
Edinburgh International Television Festival
Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival
Edinburgh People's Festival
Edinburgh Art Festival
Edinburgh Contemporary Art Festival
Edinburgh Military Tattoo


The Military Tattoo is staged each night during the festival inside the castle that overlooks the city centre...






The full list of this years award nominees & winners can now be found at: http://www.edfringe.com/story.html?id=1658&area_id=53








PLEASE NOTE THAT REVIEWS CAN BE IN THE ENGLISH OR DUTCH LANGUAGE











THE BOUVIER - photo 1
Didn`t appear in any shows at the festival ... just needed to put them up online as a test!! ;-)




THE BOUVIER - photo 2



THE BOUVIER ...