The day has arrived. My first day at my first ever fringe. From the creative county of Staffordshire, I got whizzed to Edinburgh by train and arrived not long after 10am. Some of the day was already planned and others weren’t but it all ended up being a jammed packed day with a couple of lessons to be learnt.
After dropping off luggage It wasn’t long until I found myself going through the arches #intotheunknown and confronted with flyers and pigeons galore! From a cocky street performer throwing blades to a few market stalls, the fringe was already set out to be full of things to do. One thing I noted, the people.
After a quick trip down the royal mile, it wasn’t long until I made my way onto my first performance. Comedy on top of Arthur’s Seat. It happens only once a year and so it was a must see for me. I wanted to climb the hill anyway, I mean how hard can it be?
What I didn’t know is that there were many routes to the summit. We followed the crowd up some rocky steps that got bigger and bigger and bigger. At points, I wasn’t sure if I would make it. But I did! It was only then when I realised there was a bleeding easy way the other side of the hill!
Instead of rushing down to the flat piece of land we decided to stay near the top as not only could we hear everything as clear as day but the view was something not to be missed. There were three comedians and one host all of which were fun and varied.
After checking in at the hotel, the first Theatre performance at the fringe was A Very Brexit Musical. This is a very cleverly written, funny musical. Although none of the characters shared names of politicians they were very close. From Joris Bohnson to Figal Narage. Each played with impeccable satire and were clear caricature of the political counterparts they suggested they were.
The core element of the plot wasn’t a recollection of the referendum campaign, but instead the issues that a fresh-faced journalist of the Daily Fail has when he just wants to portray the truth, rather than write stories to lead voters.
Each song was equally funny but the range of voices between the actors could perhaps have been worked on as at points they were at polar opposites of the scales.
Following on from the show the original idea was to catch one of two shows planned. The issue is we didn’t have tickets and neither did the box office. Lesson two of the fringe learnt, if you want to see something, make sure you book it.
Following on from some food and walking down the mile it was time to see the final show of the say. The Tapeface Show. Most people have seen the YouTube videos but I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
What did happen was something marvellous. The show was carefully worked in around the story of Tapeface trying to find things to do to pass the time until the wind picks up to fly a kite. Most scenes used audience participation and luckily all the audience members involved really took their moment to shine. A particularly funny and unexpected moment was Tapeface setting up a paper aeroplane competition and the audience member doing the old trick of throwing it as a ball.
The climax of the show really is something of wonder. It’s overwhelming to see just how some smartphone lights, music and a cardboard kite can create such a moment.
Day one complete and on to the next. Let’s just remember, don’t not book shows you want to see and find the easy way up to Arthur’s Seat.
The Theatre Twittic 
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