Big day here at Edinburgh – our first day at the festival, and we've been to 6 shows already. We'd have been to 8, except that the traffic coming up from London sucked majorly and we didn't quite get in with enough time to get to the Tripod gig. Of all the things we had to miss, too… The other thing we didn't make it to was a double-booking we made because we weren't paying attention the night we booked everything.
Anyway, here's the stuff we have seen so far (and this'll be the short, short version):
Woyczek – dance piece put on by a Korean group, possibly a bit on the inexplicable side. The dancers used wooden chairs as a medium, and though a little mystifying the experience was quite captivating and innovative.
Truth In Translation – 2 hour play following the lives of a group of translators in South Africa during the Truth & Reconciliation Commission hearings. Quite intense and moving, however I possibly would have benefited more from the experience had I done some research into the subject matter ahead of time.
A Porthole into the Minds of the Vanquished – incredibly surreal comedic performance by a pair of (very sweaty) Australians and their keyboardist. Bordering on disturbing at times, but exceptionally executed and carefully trod on the right side of the line between quirky and forced randomness.
One Man Star Wars Trilogy – does what it says on the tin; one guy recreates the entire (original) Star Wars Trilogy in an hour. I desperately wanted to enjoy this more, and to his credit he applied selective editing to get it all in there, as well as inserting a few of his own jokes, however it was a little tricky to fully get into given the amount of time that Marty, Eldo, Big Dave, Kev, and the rest of us spent quoting Star Wars at each other.
Fuerzabruta – absolutely stunning dance performance of Cirque de Soleil stature. Visually the most stunning production I've ever seen; it had everything – amazing performers, incredibly innovative ideas, infectious music, and crowd participation.
Best of the Fest – showcase of 4 comics, which we mainly booked on the strength of Tripod being there. Yes, we finally got to see them. Thank god. We also got Shappi Khorsandi, Marcus Brigstoke, and We Are Klang. Tripod by far were the favourites here.
And now that I've written not much of any tangible use to tell you what's going on up here, I'm off to bed.