As someone who hasn’t been to the Fringe since I was about 10, I was warned that there is everything from undiscovered genius to absolute shit. So the tricky question becomes, how do you tell the difference?
There are countless reasons which would lead you to wander into a random Fringe show. Perhaps you’ve had a flyer shoved down your throat, been taken hostage and forced into a random room on the Royal Mile. Or maybe you’re so pissed you don’t even realise you’ve stumbled in, to the point where you have no recollection of attending the following morning.
So in no particular order, here are five Fringe experiences this year you don’t want to miss.
1. Loos Loos
Loos Loos is a two-woman show following the conversations, shared between two best friends in the sanctuary of their secondary school bathroom. The seventeen-year-olds Lou (the lovely Bella Ofo) and Freya (my best mate Isobel McNerney) attempt to navigate their adolescence, with challenges intensifying in the confusing aftermath of a party and an assault. Loos Loos is on at four o’clock each day, just up from the Royal Mile – where Dame Maggie Smith and Stephen Fry have been known to perform in the past. If you’re looking to see some upcoming talent before she’s overrun with paparazzi in the future, this is your chance. Isobel’s gift is as clear to see as the moon in a cloudless sky. Am I biased? Yes. But am I right? Also yes. Go see these two wonderful Cambridge students before it’s too late x
#Thisisdefinitelynotanad (image credit: Geraint Lewis)
2. ARCADE (DARKFIELD)
For those who love Black Mirror, this is Bandersnatch in 4D. Sharing the 1980s video game aesthetic, it’s an immersive experience like nothing you’ve ever encountered before. You enter a shipping container, in which you put on some headphones and await the absolute pitch black. It’s a choose-your-own-path experience, guided by an eerie binaural audio so effective that it makes you feel as though actors are whispering in your ear. I won’t give anything away, but I went in with two friends and we all came out with VERY different endings. It’s the kind of experience you’ll want to do over and over again – making different decisions and playing out the consequences. The ARCADE simulation is located in Bristol Square (The Pleasance Dome) but DARKFIELD offers two others, called EULOGY and RADIO at Summerhall, which I’m sure will be equally captivating. It’s 30 minutes of your life you will not regret.
3. 1 Big Oops
This is an interactive experience held at Mash House, where a trio of comedians act out the audience’s most embarrassing confessions live on stage. When you arrive, you’re asked to anonymously write down some of your ‘biggest oops’’. Have you ever partaken in some unseemly entanglements in a public place? Or accidentally engaged in the murder of your friend’s hamster? Whatever you’ve done, they want to hear it. The lucky (or unlucky) nine confessions will then be pulled out of a hat, and the improv begins. When one is read out, the trio ask if anyone in the audience would like to confess, which, if you ask me, you should definitely do. The comedians are lively, quick-witted and unphased by a tough crowd as they run through the scenarios – from the outrageously terrible to the terribly outrageous
A Fringe full of people and you still bump into your ex
4. Trainspotting
One word: unreal. This show is another immersive experience, beginning before you’ve even stepped in the room. Performed at the EICC this year, fellow Edinburgh students might have to confront the trauma they’ve faced there during exam seasons, but I promise it’s well worth it for a show as exceptional as this. I’ve seen the film Trainspotting before and I was flawed. For those who haven’t watched it, I’d recommend seeing it first to enhance your experience. Like all the best bits of theatre, it starts you off with laugh-out-loud comedy and then, whilst you’re too busy cackling to see what’s coming, they hit you where it hurts. It’s hilarious, visceral and relentless. I feel obliged to give you a trigger warning however, you must be prepared to see things you’ll never unsee. It’s a genuinely sensational piece of theatre, worth far more than the £22 the ticket costs. Oh, and a cheeky tip: sit by the toilet if you want a real treat x
5. Sitting in George Square
The transformation of George Square from a barren wasteland with the occasional patch of grass to a thriving social hub is quite astonishing. It’s packed with bars, food vans and strange people in strange costumes interacting with the general public. Even if you don’t want to go to a Fringe show (which in my opinion would be a big mistake) you can at least grab a drink there and soak up the atmosphere. Simply walking around the Fringe is an activity in itself as you fight off people thrusting flyers upon you left, right and centre. I even had a little go for myself – I tell you now, five minutes of this will give you some sympathy to the flyers you previously dedicated time to artfully dodging. That job is bloody brutal. If you’re ever in need of rejection therapy, you know where to find it. The Fringe is truly an unmissable experience. However you choose to spend your time there, just go. It’ll be a memorable day, likely in more ways than one…
Hello there sexy x
