No Love Songs
Traverse
The rise of gig theatre over the last few years has produced some of the most visceral Fringe hits, with the musician/actor line blurred in welcome ways. Arguably, this is just a trendy name for a musical but there is no doubt that the presence of instruments centre stage enhances the buzz of a performance.
The View frontman Kyle Falconer is a fan of a conventional musical but his boutique musical theatre debut, written with his partner Laura Wilde, produced by Dundee Rep and running at the Traverse, eschews those conventions, using songs from his debut solo album. No Love Songs *** is the semi-autobiographical tale of Lana and Jesse, a new couple thrust together by pregnancy following a one-night stand.
Lana is a student, Jesse a musician, pursuing his big break in America as Lana struggles with new motherhood. As Lana, Dawn Sievwright captures the rollercoaster of new infatuation, maternal anxiety, debilitating exhaustion and plummeting self-esteem while she and John McLarnon as Jesse have the requisite amount of harmonic chemistry to convince as new parents with no manual. Musicals can be about anything but the focus of this show – Lana’s post-natal depression – can’t help but knock the momentum out of the delivery.
Klanghaus: Inhaus
Summerhall
KlangHaus are all about shifting dynamics. This collective of artists and musicians are no strangers to gig theatre – or theatrical gigs to be more accurate – having guided audiences through Summerhall’s Small Animal Hospital in a previous Fringe appearance. For their latest promenade performance, InHaus, they have taken over the venue’s bijou basement, Lower Church, to create a cluttered living room feel, with blinking TVs, standard lamps, art around the walls and a doll house.
Their casa is your casa, as the audience are encouraged to walk around the space while the band strike up a loud electro punk soundtrack, or join them for an (even more) intimate powwow in the snug area involving gentle vocal harmonies, a singing saw and communal humming. Next, they host an alternative dance party before playing back those recorded hums in the soothing comedown.
Club Life
Summerhall
Fred Deakin, DJ, digital artist and one half of Lemon Jelly, returns to his 80s/90s Edinburgh stomping ground with the glorious Club Life ****, an autobiographical show told in seven clubs which is like nothing else on the Fringe. Over two-and-a-half hours, he recreates his diverse, witty club nights with the help of five fabulous young actors/dancers who lead the dancefloor charge – the audience are invited to join them, should they wish, and you’d be missing a trick not to shake it out with them to the diverse strains of ska, soul, house and Rick Astley. Could this be the birth of club theatre?
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/no-love-songs
