Aug 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30
ZOO VENUES, Venue 124, EDINBURGH FRINGE, 2.20PM
http://www.zoofestival.co.uk/whats-on/theatre?zid=413
Mata Hari was shot by the French in 1917 as a German spy. The press at the time claimed that she had been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers. This riveting performance by Katherine Hurst is based on the actual words of the Dutch exotic dancer Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod herself.
Using humour, pathos and a minimum of props: some flimsy veils, a couple of fans and a battered suitcase, Hurst confides in the audience. She recounts in moving detail how Margaretha became the first femme fatale – Mata Hari.
She didn’t have an easy life to start with but she made good. She was wilful. She was promiscuous. She enjoyed the company of officers and she scandalised many by enjoying life too much. That sealed her fate.
Was there enough evidence to convict her in a fair trial? No. Was she guilty? That’s another story. You won’t know the real truth from this powerful one-woman show but you will be drawn in by its narrative.
**** Four Stars
http://www.gavinrobertson.com/mata-hari-female-spy/
A contemporary eye-witness report of the execution of Mata Hari: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/matahari.htm
Reviewed by David Kerr
Counter Culture 
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