For the first time, I went up to see the Fringe at Edinburgh. As regular readers will know, I worked on the website and photographs for a play which was being performed at the event so it was a particularly exciting opportunity for me.

I stayed with some old friends and managed to mix some general tourism with watching plays and other events.

Fringe Performances

We saw a selection of performances whilst we were there, the only event where we got implied permission to shoot was Axis of Awesome, Australian comedy band, somewhat in the vein of Tenacious D. They were enormous fun.

We also saw Six Foot Silly, a pair of tall comedians, who had some good moments, but didn't have enough of a consistent voice to really carry it through. Dork Knight Triumphant was excellent, but you definitely need to be geeky to appreciate it. Late comers have to name fives varieties of Kryptonite and their effect on Superman. (I did disagree with him on the canonicity of Smallville)

We saw two performances by Backhand Theatre with South Hill Park Arts Centre, the first was Icarus: a Story of Flight, which, whilst bearing no actual resemblance to the geek myth featured some remarkable wirework, especially in the scene between Icarus and his Star. Elements borrowed from both the Tempest and Stardust were clearly evident. Their second performance, Tales from Edgar Allan Poe, was stronger, weaving three recites of Edgar Allan Poe's works into the stories of a Mental Hospital in a remote location outside Paris. Again there was fantastic wirework, but it was more subdued than seen in Icarus.

The final piece we saw was More Light, written by Bryony Lavery, directed by Laura Vorwerg and performed by Half Remembered Dreams. It was the most cerebral of the performances we saw, and the most smoothly performed. It is the dark and dramatic tale of an Emperor's ladies, who have born him no sons, who were buried alive with his body in his magnificent tomb ("Such Art!"). They slowly come to terms with their terrible freedom.Done in a small venue and in the round, the audience feels the confinement of the tomb as they come face to face with the cast. You can book tickets via their website Half Remembered Dreams

Tourist travels

I took a few photos of the crowds and life of the fringe whilst walking round, but I also got the chance to see a small forgotten chapel, Craigmillar Castle and Edinburgh castle. The weather was excellent the whole weekend and I got some great landscape shots and a couple of candids.