Fringe Guide

Ian and I are beginning to sort out which shows we're going to see, which involves trawling through the rather large guide to see what's on when we're there, and which of these interest us enough to give up the time and the money. No Spy Monkey in evidence, sadly. Their Cooped in 2001 was one of the highlights. If you've ever taken on the festival before you'll know it's a mammoth task to decide what to see from the hundreds of possibilities. In order to make it easier for myself, I employed the following filter:

• no animal whimsy
• nothing that describes itself as surreal (what's that? A play about a squirrel obstetrician? And it's surreal you say?)
• nothing that describes itself as Pythonesque (it's not for you to say!)
• nothing that describes itself as dark (Oooo! Daaaaaark! Look! A dead baby! One of its eyes is gone! Ew!)
• nothing that offers free food (why? Will critics say, "well the dialogue was ropey, but the cakes were moist"?)

One of the other issues with the festival is the fact that you will have your choice of two or three productions of the same play. This is usually okay, because the plays in question will be given a unique twist - Hamlet's a car, Romeo and Julian, etc. etc. So our hearts go out to the two productions of The Odd Couple playing this year, both employing the unique (eek!) twist of being female versions.

There haven't been any really easy sells this year, but that will hopefully mean we will have a more experimental take on what we do go along to. I've a hankering for gore and nudity for no readily apparent reason. Oh, and sadly we won't be there for Mark Watson's twenty-four hour show, which is rumoured to be his last. Poo and, very much, bum. Ought to be checking out his shorter set though, along with the usual - Lee, Herring, Kitson, Long, Dembina, etc etc. Spreadsheet depending, of course.