Fringe theatre reviews: Broke and Fabulous in the 21st Century | Confessions Of A Mulatto Love Child + more

Rowland Stirling, Dale Robertson and Olive McHugh in Broke and Fabulous in the 21st Century | Beacon and Tide Productions

Broke and Fabulous in the 21st Century ★★★★

Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24) until 31 August

Two men in bed, bohemian artist Alex (‘Lexi’) and businessman Jake, socks still on, are having sex.

They don’t love each other and one “doesn’t normally do this.” Will it develop into something more? Who knows and who cares when whirlwind of black fur and lingerie Petunia (‘Pear’) arrives at the disused theatre where Alex lives, reaching for a bottle of Chablis with the kind of urgency reserved for putting a bid on a house in Scotland.

Only here, we’re in London and despite doing something in events management in Knightsbridge, Petunia isn’t going to be buying a house any time soon because, like the majority of millennials, she’s been priced out of the market by her parents’ generation.

But beneath the big performances that at times risk spilling off the stage, writer Dale Robertson (who also plays Alex) captures the world of fabulous friends through the strikingly sharp voices of louche characters you may well encounter around the Fringe, reminiscing about the Golden Days of Glasto 2019.

The dialogue, at times, is electric – with Robertson a thrilling new voice. But realistic to a point of being relentlessly so, it’s not afraid to let itself run for ten minutes longer than needs to. The cast clearly love speaking these acid dripping lines so much that it’s a relief when Petunia accidentally takes three “high potency weed brownies”.

And you may well find yourself guessing the ending (although not if you’re one of the audience members who let out an audible gasp).

With a story that moves slower than the bants and bravado, a more in-depth exploration of millennial opportunities, as well as their culture, feels like it could emerge from a tighter plot, but, as a cute platonic couple struggling to make their way in the world they’ve staggered into, Petunia and Alex are a fascinating double act and, by the end, more deeply understood. Sally Stott

Enjoying The Scotsman's coverage of the Edinburgh festivals? For just £2 a month you can get unlimited access to scotsman.com plus 2-for-1 Fringe tickets. For details visit www.scotsman.com/subscriptions

Confessions Of A Mulatto Love Child ★★★★

ZOO Southside (Venue 82) until 30 August

What feels like the beginning of US actress Bellina Logan’s autobiographic story, of growing up as a mixed-race young woman with dynamic parents whose differences are more than skin deep, is quickly commandeered by the brightest star in the room: her freewheeling, uber posh British mother, Averil, a socialite and serial reinventor.

Charting the ever-changing but consistently dramatic mother-daughter relationship over the years, Logan also paints vivid picture of New York through the decades.

Playing all of the characters, Logan – who has a CV as stellar as her mother’s starry-eyed tendencies – singlehandedly brings to life not just her immediate family, but a collection of supporting home helps, shop workers, friends and acquaintances who come and go over the years.

Under Maggie Soboil’s detailed direction, we follow Logan from her secret birth in Paris to having her own daughter, Lola, and, eventually, coming back home to an ageing Averil, surrounded by ever-expanding nest of cats, where the relationship must reconfigure in fundamental ways but, despite this, is in others still very much the same.

This is a family who have the means to live a life of eccentricity and excess, and the play relishes what, for the majority of us, is unaffordable. The riches that it shares are in Logan’s characterful, tightly structured storytelling which, along with her performance, is full of warmth and humour.

A one-woman show in which she embodies a whole family and the people that they through time, it’s full of wise words as well as crazy escapades.

“Remember your life,” she says and the play asks us to treasure what we have which, like everything, is transient. By end, many of the small audience are crying or looking shellshocked in the foyer, delighted to have witnessed a beautiful piece of writing and performance that deserves to have a tremendous future and full house. Sally Stott

Best. Dad. NEVER. ★★

Just the Tonic @ The Mash House (Venue 288) until 30 August

Haig “Hike” Chahinian’s solo show mines a life of self-described dualities: Armenian and American, gay and a father, striving to be good while confronting inherited biases – most sharply in his family’s Genocide history, the agonising wait to adopt amid a legal landscape hostile to same-sex parents, and a devastating aside about Hurricane Katrina.

But the staging undercuts the material: no scenic design, dad jokes without punch, and a performer clearly more comfortable writing than performing. Chahinian’s self-awareness runs deep; however, this is offset by flat pacing and slack direction that leave long stretches inert. Josephine Balfour-Oatts

READ MORE: My Festival: Salty Brine

Bachelors of Fine Arts ★★★

theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (Venue 53) until 29 August

Bachelors of Fine Arts is a two-hander musical spanning friendship, ambition and the bruising politics of arts education in America.

Its central characters, played with infectious energy, watch classmates they perceive as more conventionally talented or attractive succeed while they struggle to find their voices: experimenting with gender in performance, challenging lecherous teachers and questioning the rules of their institution.

The show’s premise is rooted in real experiences, with names, places and details redacted to protect anonymity. A stand of photo cards, a phone shaped like a pair of lips and a graduation photograph taken by an audience member create a distinctive visual language, evoking the difficulty of speaking about events that happened behind closed doors.

There is a strong political dimension to its exploration of privilege, exclusion and the pressure to conform. Its central questions – what makes “great” acting, and whether that means obedience, silence or malleability – linger. Musically, it lacks some of the power its subject matter might suggest, but catchy numbers, particularly Viewpoint, keep the hour engaging.

Funny, endearing and thoughtfully constructed, its warmth keeps the material from becoming bleak or didactic. Ultimately, it is a story about power, betrayal and being heard. Josephine Balfour-Oatts

THE LOVE YOU TAKE ★★

Paradise in Augustines (Venue 152) until 29 August

John Lennon once said that without Elvis, there would be no Beatles – a fitting starting point for Cory Dagg’s exploration of music, memory and fate.

The show is at its strongest when Dagg tells his story: as a nine-year-old, he was captivated by Elvis singing Heartbreak Hotel from the stereo of a stolen Cadillac, an experience that intertwined with his dream of becoming an actor. This connection gives the performance warmth.

Less successful is the historical thread linking Elvis, Mae Axton and the Beatles, which, aided by a slideshow, can be unclear, especially as the music competes with the storytelling. Josephine Balfour-Oatts

Secrets Secrets Shhh! ★★

Underbelly, George Square (Venue 300) until 31 August

Síomha McQuinn is an actor with a huge imagination. In her solo show co-created with Jamie Skyes, she plays a cloakroom attendant at her school’s reunion, sifting through jacket pockets to imagine what fantastical lives her former classmates might live.

A promising concept, Secrets Secrets Shhh! is constructed as a series of comedy sketches, performed with capable timing and passion by McQuinn. These are unrelated and often far-fetched, some are wittier than others, yet the idea quickly becomes repetitive and tiresome.

It might translate better to film, where McQuinn’s constructed worlds may bear the resources to become believable enough for an audience to invest in. Roisin McMullan

The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today

Enjoying the Arts & Culture journalism on scotsman.com? Make it easier to find by selecting us as a preferred Google source

Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here