Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: Imprints | Ways of Knowing | Chickadee | Jumper Bumps + more

Imprints

Summerhall (Venue 26)

★★★★☆

Memory loss in young people is at the heart of the first production by The Palimpsest Project, led by neurodivergent, genderqueer theatre-maker Beckett Gray, with a group of three Lecoq-trained actors.

For art student Charlie (Gray), memory issues are “one of those brain things”. They piece together fragments of information and record their aide-memoires in beautifully illustrated journals. For someone like Charlie, a party attended by a number of old school friends is a memory minefield. One question in particular keeps surfacing: who is Max?

Charlie needs to put together a memory from a Year 10 Christian summer camp which they seem to have blocked out, but her old friends – played by the other company members, Sam Critchlow, Leela Gaunt and Elmira Oberholzer – are less than forthcoming. If Charlie could only get to the bottom of it, they might understand their past – and themselves – differently.

While the performers take it in turns to play their scenes, the others are working with a live camera feed, creating miniature models and puppets and showing pages from Charlie’s memory journals. Figures are fashioned on the spot by twisting wire, and they have developed an ingenius technique for making it look like a model car is driving past scenery. A fire is conjured with gut-clenching aliveness. Richard Durning’s soundscape helps create an immersive atmosphere which unites the real-world and on-screen elements.

The miniature world is so interesting it’s in danger of distracting viewers from what the actors are doing, and the plot doesn’t seem quite big enough for a production of this sophistication. But this is a promising debut by a group of gifted performers who have already established a unique theatre-making style. We can only wait impatiently to see what they do next.

SUSAN MANSFIELD

until 25 August

READ MORE: Fringe Firsts week one: we reveal the first five winners of the Scotsman's prestigious theatre prizes

Ways of Knowing

Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61)

★★★☆☆

There is much to admire about Ways of Knowing, the most recent production by Emergency Chorus, who are known for their alluring and esoteric performance style. Ear defenders are provided, though not required, as heavy synths underscore sequences of devised movement where Ben Kulvichit and Clara Potter-Sweet turn like needles in a compass, and fragments of found text, such as the User’s Manual for FitzRoy’s Storm Glass and Merryweather’s Tempest Prognosticator, map advances in technology, specifically of barometers.

After a fix-to-six-minute intermission – accompanied by an invitation to close one’s eyes to “preserve the integrity of the theatrical illusion” – a captivating section where the pair recreate Plato’s Cave using light, stalactites and stalagmites appears to culminate in an exploration of the relationship between mysticism and statistics.

Resources detailing the key research themes underpinning the action, and the company’s creative process, could be useful – particularly in a fringe theatre context where one’s attention is subject to competing, compelling demands. As it is, the obscurity of the narrative is not necessarily a negative, but it is incredibly niche, appealing to a specific and specialised subgroup who can tolerate the unknown, and the prospect of leaving none the wiser.

JOSEPHINE BALFOUR-OATTS

until 24 August

Chickadee

ZOO Southside (Venue 82)

★★★☆☆

In the world of clowning, things are not as they seem. “A gun could be a bubble machine,” says Chickadee (played by Feride Morçay). The beauty and relief that her work as a street clown provides is part of the appeal – it so apart from her every day, where she is tormented by the expectations and limitations of her image-focussed and self-interested mother.

While endearing, the piece’s unrelenting whimsy frustrates as Chickadee is singled out by a TV producer, who she calls Mr Nice. After agreeing to a discomforting TV guest appearance performing Marilyn Monroe’s Happy Birthday Mr. President, she goes viral overnight, newly christened by the masses as Chickadee the Sexy Clown.

For a time, she revels in the glory of it, enjoying the fame and attention, the feeling that her mother might finally be proud of her now that she is worthy of it. Here, Chickadee begins to understand what matters to her and what she stands for. Slowly, the play’s whimsy – specifically, Chickadee’s attention to nature – endears again. She holds the moon in high regard and stands outside in the pouring rain with her arms wide and mouth open, and we celebrate her exactly as she is.

JOSEPHINE BALFOUR-OATTS

until 24 August

Jumper Bumps

Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower (Venue 140)

★★★☆☆

Set entirely in a living room, with a single sofa defining the space, this production follows the lives of two young women navigating friendship and finding their way with brutal honesty. It is an intimate portrayal that unpacks the expectations, contradictions and raw emotions tied to motherhood.

Flatmates Eris and Atlanta’s relationship is filled with disagreements, yet their connection is grounded in openness and emotional vulnerability – the kind of frankness and trust you'd expect between true best friends.

Amelia Rodger brings a childlike and naive energy to Eris, who first fakes pregnancy by stuffing a jumper down her top, only for it to become real. Katrina Allen’s Atlanta appears much more self-assured, and isn't afraid to call out the emotionally abusive relationship Eris finds herself in. Allen's performance is especially affecting in the moments when Atlanta’s steady exterior cracks and she discusses her feelings towards motherhood. These quieter moments reveal the depth and nuance of both the character and Allen’s portrayal.

As conversations between the pair take more serious turns, the piece underscores the need for education and honest discussions around safe sex practices, the menstrual cycle, and societal pressures.

Ultimately, this is a story not just about two individuals, but about the shared experiences and enduring bonds between women.

SUZANNE O’BRIEN

until 24 August

Pigs Fly Easy Ryan

Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61)

★★★☆☆

If one had to describe the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Pigs Fly Easy Ryan would be the dictionary definition. It has everything one might want from a Fringe bingo card (including, but not limited to, nonsense, drag, nudity, sex, inflatables, baby oil, stream-of-consciousness, humans dressed as animals, and audience interaction), so if you are looking to raze your gamut to the ground in one go, look no further.

The clue is in the company name. Nonstop creates a flighty narrative on a collision course with common sense – Lou Doyle and Trevor White masquerade as micro pigs who are masquerading as flight attendants, however their presence is a threat to the sanctity of the plane, as well as the representative airline, Easy Ryan (a teasing amalgam of EasyJet and Ryanair). Except there is no plane, they remind us. It’s a play.

A backdrop reveals in stages a series of locations – a farmyard, an airport, a plane cabin – and when the plane takes to the skies, the audience are handed their mid-flight meal (somehow, the space even smells like airplane food upon entering). This provides a brief moment of much-needed grounding, before the play takes off again at pace.

JOSEPHINE BALFOUR-OATTS

until 24 August

Brainsluts

Pleasance Dome (Venue 23)

★★☆☆☆

Brainsluts is, apparently, medical slang for participants in clinical trials for drugs with a psychoactive element – like the four protagonists of comedian Dan Bishop’s new play.

It follows Duggan, Mitch, Yaz and Bathsheba through five sessions, during which they pop unknown pills and await side effects. Along the way, they chat, argue, hallucinate, and gradually bond, all under the not-so-watchful eye of the trial’s scatty supervisor.

Bishop squeezes some humour from the uncomfortable atmosphere – there is a particularly funny group meditation session – but his play also veers wildly between socio-economic satire, awkward rom-com and absurd comment on modern loneliness. A set of mannered performances and a clunky, cramped staging do not help.

FERGUS MORGAN

until 25 August

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