At the weekend myself and The Shows In My Listings had an extremely FRINGEY experience. This was partly due to going to see a show at The Camden Fringe, but also because a) it was in a room above a pub b) we were meeting some pals beforehand and we ended up in different pubs to each other c) one of those pubs had a big courtyard and d) most importantly, it was raining. We could have BEEN in Edinburgh!
However, where we actually were was The Hen And Chickens, there to meet the Mylands and see a show called Pearls Aloud which (SPOILERS) was GRATE. All I knew before going in was that it was about three things - Feminism, a chip shop, and Girls Aloud. Two of those are ALREADY among my favourite things and I was prepared to learn about Girls Aloud, so in we went.
I thought it was going to be a One Woman Show about Experiences In A Chip Shop, but the fact that four people came onstage right at the start disabused me of that notion. It was actually a MUSICAL using the songs of Girls Aloud to tell the story of four young women working in a chip shop, and it was ACE. There were MANY jokes, there was SINGING, there was DANCING, there were Entirely Plausible Character Arcs For Every Character, and there was a general air throughout of CARE and QUALITY. I love it when you go to see a show and feel like you are in SAFE HANDS, with people who have actually put some LOVE into the production, and that's what it was like throughout. It was ACE!
I think my only complaint was that the FLYER didn't tell me who had WRITTEN it. It didn't FEEL like a Devised Piece because of the aforesaid ARCS and STORY and all round SENSE, but then maybe it was? I do not know and would like to! Otherwise it was all GRATE, and we left the pub full of JOY, and with a feeling that we should maybe go and see 15 other shows one after the other, drink loads of BEER and then go to SNAX. Instead we went home and watched Girls Aloud At The BBC on the iPlayer, which wasn't, to be honest, quite as much fun as the show itself had been. Which was a LOT of fun!
"I love it when you go to see a show and feel like you are in SAFE HANDS, with people who have actually put some LOVE into the production" -- so, not at all like Edinburgh, then? posted 27/8/2024 by This may be a Fringe viewpoint.
