Author: obladada john

Spring Awakening

| obladada john

This wonderful musical is set in late 19th century Germany and it is a coming of age, rock musical about teenagers discovering their inner and outer sexuality. A huge hit show when it made its Broadway debut in 2006 it has lost none of its power or story telling ability over time.

Winner of many Tony awards and industry titles, the musical explores sexual and emotional themes from the 1890’s that are still relevant to the present day. HBO has recently released a Spring Awakening documentary chronicling the 15 year reunion of the original broadway production team with the cast telling how even now, it has still affected their lives. 

With classic tracks and a hard, sometimes challenging story line this is a Fringe show to savour.

SHOW DETAILS

VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431) Wolfson Stage
DATES: 5th to 28th August
TIME: 17:30
SHOW DURATION:
TICKET PRICES: £15 and £12

Sport at the Fringe

| obladada john

A brand new concept for the Fringe as we bring a chat show with sporting legends from across the sporting world to our Fringe venue. Stars from football, rugby, darts, boxing, cycling and many other sports will be joining us to discuss their careers and lives. Go to our website to see who our guests will be and grab a ticket and come along to hear some great tales and get the inside story of some remarkable careers and events. ELT are delighted to be working on this event with Headline Events and look forward to bringing this new Fringe experience to life. 2 shows per day at 2 different times. This is a must see show for the sports enthusiasts.

SHOW DETAILS

VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431), Welcome East
DATES: 5th to 28th August
TIME: 14.40 and 17.00
TICKET PRICES: £15 

Check to here see the daily guest list and to book tickets

The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee

| obladada john

A group of eclectic preteens (played by just as eclectic adults) learn that winning (and losing) isn’t everything at their local spelling bee.

Shy Olive brings her best friend – a dictionary; hyperallergic William has his trusty “magic foot”; former spelling champion Chip is struggling with the complications of puberty; easily distracted Leaf is just happy to be included; overachiever Marcy is disappointed by her consistent effortless success; and politically aware Logainne only wants to impress her dads.

The ‘kids’ are accompanied through the bee by Rona – child-spelling-champion turned star real-estate agent with a love for drama, Panch – the begrudged, short-tempered word pronouncer with a crush on Rona, and Mitch – the resident bad-boy serving his community service as a ’comfort counsellor’ at the bee.

With a vibrant score by William Finn (Falsettos) and a wildly funny, Tony Award winning book by Rachel Sheinkin, this bee is one unforgettable experience.

Spelling Bee requires three audience participants per show to take part in the bee – if you feel like trying your hand at spelling a series of (potentially made-up words) sign up in front of house on the day or email happysadpro@gmail.com with your performance date and full name!

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431)
DATES: 11th – 28th August
TIME: 20.00
SHOW DURATION: 1 hour 55 minutes
TICKET PRICES: £15 and £12 conc.

Spanking The Monkey: The Etymology of Onanistic Euphemisms

| obladada john

The Distinguished Benny Hill Symposia at the prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh is proud to present this informative, “hands-on” lecture by the renowned Oxford Professor of English Literature Richard (‘Dick’) Handler (“Hamlet and the Birth of Cancel Culture,” “Twits and Twats: a Case Study in Alliterative Vulgarities” and “The Secret Hip-hop References in Peter Rabbit”, to name but a few) on the word origins of the innumerable euphemisms for self-pleasure (self-abuse if you’re a glass half-empty type).  

Or, put another way, where on earth did all these slang words for wanking come from. Take a look around, and there are monkeys being spanked, dolphins being flogged and chickens being choked. Turn on the telly and carrots are being cuffed, bananas are being buffed, and gherkins are being jerked. Even at Sunday Roast, all Gran wants to talk about are the willies that are being whipped, the puds being pounded and the candles being bashed. 

Whether one is chugging it in Scotland, slapping the sergeant in Turkey, marinating the salmon in Norway, or flying a kite in Thailand, Professor Handler’s scholarly study of the foundations of onanistic euphemisms is guaranteed to have universal appeal because, let’s face it, we’re all wankers.

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431) Welcome West
DATES: 12th – 28th August
TIME: 18.20
SHOW DURATION: 1 hour
TICKET PRICES: £10 and £8 conc.

REBELS WITHOUT APPLAUSE

| obladada john

Coming off a sell-out tour of Edinburgh in 2021, up-and-coming stars Luke Terry, Katie Kamola and Ed Thorne (with appearances from Jonnie Smith on select performances) return to the greatest arts festival in the world to split an hour of brand new stand-up. With each comedian bringing solid gold jokes and their unique perspective, it’s bound to be a night as varied as it is hilarious. Observational, sensational, relatable, unduplicatable: it’s live comedy, the way it’s supposed to be.

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41) Dunedin stage
DATES: 5th to 28th August
TIME: 22.00
SHOW DURATION: 1 hour
TICKET PRICES: £5 and £3 conc.

OCD ME

| obladada john

A one-woman comedy about what it’s really like living with OCD (for Sarah anyway)

Written and directed by Aisling Smith

Sarah was diagnosed with OCD a decade ago. She’s been managing it pretty well, but it’s hard living in a world that tells you to follow your gut when your gut wants you to touch the door handle 64 times. She wants to tell you her story and let you know that there’s much more to it than the stereotypes we see on TV, like obsessive hand- washing (though in Sarah’s case that’s definitely part of it). 

Performed by Laura Whelan and written and directed by Aisling Smith, OCD Me is a semi-autobiographical piece about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Aisling and Laura are both Irish artists working in theatre and film. Laura trained at Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting in Dublin and Aisling holds an MA from RADA and a PhD from NUI Galway. This is their Edinburgh Fringe debut!

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41)
DATES: 5th – 15th and 17th – 28th August
TIME: 15.10
TICKET PRICES: £13 and £10.50

JIVE ACES

| obladada john

The Jive Aces swing back into action at the Edinburgh Fringe for three shows full of energy with their trademark yellow suits! Covering songs by such greats as Louis Prima, Cab Calloway, Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and more, the show is a mixture of classic swing, hot jazz, honking rhythm & blues and boogie-woogie. 

The Jive Aces recently returned from a highly successful month-long USA tour demonstrating exactly why they are the UK’s No 1 jive and swing band! 

The only swing band to reach the final rounds of “Britain’s Got Talent”, they put a smile on usually grumpy Simon Cowell’s face and their audition video has been seen by millions worldwide.

Their highly entertaining mix of musicianship and showmanship has led to performances in over 40 countries from Thailand to Turkey and venues from Glastonbury to Buckingham Palace. 

‘Simply sensational’
Stage

‘Absolutely brilliant’
Simon Cowell

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431)
DATES: 8th – 10th August
TIME: 20:30
SHOW DURATION: 1 hour
TICKET PRICES: £15 and £12.50

INDEPENDENCE

| obladada john

This new production follows the Fraser family as they delve into the passionate world of the 2014 independence referendum and bring it up to date. The tensions that developed and sometimes exploded in many homes are visited here as we see the debate from both sides.

Has anyone changed their minds? Are there new and different reasons for changing how you would vote? And what will the outcome be after the next referendum vote? 2 years in writing hopefully this play will expose the reasons why people make choices and decisions, from the very complicated ones to the straightforward ones. Come along and listen to this family debate and you may even get a chance to vote on the night?

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41)
DATES: 5th to 28th August
TIME: 18.30
TICKET PRICES: £15 and £12

HIDING ANNE FRANK

| obladada john

Miep Gies was a 32-year-old secretary in Otto Frank’s office when he asked her to help him and his family hide from the Nazis. She immediately said yes. At great risk to her own life, she brought food and other supplies to the Franks on a daily basis for over two years. After the Franks were arrested, she saved Anne’s diary and later went to Gestapo Headquarters to try to buy the Franks’ freedom. Miep was knighted by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and later attended the Academy Awards in 2010, where she won an Oscar for the film based on her book, Remembering Anne Frank. She was 100 years old.

Prudence Wright Holmes’ mesmerising solo show tells the story of this extraordinary woman who refused to stand by in the face of one of the worst crimes in human history.

Wright Holmes is a US actor and writer. She has featured roles in the films Sister Act I and II with Whoopi Goldberg, The Exorcist II with Richard Burton, Kingpin with Woody Harrelson, My Own Love Song with Renee Zellweger, After.Life with Liam Neeson, Boardwalk Empire with Steve Buscemi directed by Martin Scorcese, and God’s Pocket with Philip Seymour Hoffman.

SHOW DETAILS
VENUE: RSE Theatre (Venue 431) Wolfson Stage
DATES: 5th – 28th August
TIME: 16.00
SHOW DURATION: 1 hour
TICKET PRICES: £15 and £12 conc. Family tickets £11.50