Archive for Edinburgh Fringe 2021
A Gay Masseur’s Guide to Happy Endings: Austin Jennings Boykin Takes Centre Stage
A Dark Line Upstairs – Matilde Vigna’s Stark, Moving Monologue on the 1951 Polesine Floods
★★★★ Matilde Vigna gives a stark account of devastating floods of biblical proportions that hit Polesine in north-eastern Italy in 1951. A long summer of droughts ended with unceasing rain in the autumn. Flood waters rose to unprecedented levels. Villages were evacuated. Elderly people were swept away.
Switching characters through her tone and a clever use of lighting, Vigna contrasts this disastrous period with her life seven decades on. In a happier and more bubbly tone, she confides that she’s an expert on packing. She lives out of a suitcase by choice. Her moves from place to place are intentional. But she asks, how do you pack a ‘Goodbye Forever’ suitcase when disaster strikes? What do you keep? What do you abandon? What are your priorities when your survival is at stake?
This compelling monologue forces you to think about the vicissitudes of our lives. Life can be more precarious than we think. In 1951, Vigna says, we all believed that we had a firm grip on things. We believed that we were in control of our own lives. We didn’t see the storm clouds approaching. Would we fair any better if the waters rose to leave a lingering dark line on our walls?
Reviewed by David Kerr
Edinburgh Fringe: Sinatra: Raw
Venue 150
Pleasance at EICC – Cromdale Theatre
20:00
Aug 10, 12-15
1 hour
Suitability: 12+ (Guideline)
Group: Richard Shelton presented by James Seabright by arrangement with MLA
From the opening number “All or Nothing At All” (1939) I knew I was going to enjoy this show. Richard Shelton has a great voice. He doesn’t mimic Sinatra so much as interpret him. The show delivers song after song from an impressive catalogue of hits and some that should have been hits. These include includes “One for my baby” (1947), “I’m a fool to want you” (1954), “Angel eyes” (1958) and “That’s life” (1966). The audience even got to call out and request their favourites.
In between the songs Shelton gives us a lot of information on Sinatra in wisecracking style and in Sinatra’s voice. It’s one hell of a story. It covers a lot from Sinatra’s near-death birth, his relationship with Ava Gardner, the Rat Pack and his campaigning for Civil Rights, Kennedy and the Democrats. Oh, and inevitably, there are the alleged links with the Mafia.
As an audience we were transported back to 1971 in the Purple room, Palm Springs, where Frank performed a retirement concert. If you are a Sinatra fan you will love it and if you aren’t yet you may be after seeing this show.
Reviewed by Patrick Harrington



