The rain gods are stepping up their game. Wednesday saw the heaviest deluge, flashfloods aplenty, so many people were caught out by it. Me? I was in a Fringe show at the Assembly Rooms, it was tailing off when I stepped out on to George Street, I soon recalled having my brolly earlier!? Aha, a quick sprint to the Auld Hundred, phew, it was still there hanging on the end of the radiator; ah yes, see, Mr Marah had been playing there (there’s extra live music on weekday afternoons during the Fringe) which tied in nicely with one of the shows I fancied seeing.

The show was Clive one man and his cactus. One of two shows I’d bought Half Price Hut tickets to see that day. Clive should come with a warning, some may find it (much as I hate the word) triggering. Oh, the toxic office culture, bad, nay, terrible managers; for every good manager there’s sooo many bad ones, too many. Managers with their favourites, most likely the sycophants who say all the right stuff but never actually do any of the bloody work, or at least not to any decent standard, but they still get praised!?! And why do people get promoted to manager? Oh, they’ve been there the longest, and that makes them suitable to manage other people how?? Or again, they’re a sycophant that everyone other than the high-ups can see would be a terrible choice. Basically, a managee, like a politician, should rarely be the person who wants to be one (I say rarely, there’s always the odd exception). I say this as who’s worked under a wide scope of managers in my time, from plain nasty to apathetically useless to clueless to the best, most solid, had everyone’s backs, gave us their time and in return we worked hard. And breathe.

Like I said Clive may be triggering, it’s also very good. Thomas (the human in this, Clive is the cactus) works for home, from once being full-time in the office he isn’t required to go in anymore, yeah, not always the best way. Things start to become difficult, at first imperceptibly but slowly the true situation comes to light, certainly to us the audience, Thomas tries to stay hopeful, trusting, talking everything out with Clive (a somewhat one-sided conversation!) It’s not all harrowing, there’s plenty of wry humour in the dialogue; an excellent performance by Paul Keating had the audience rooting for Thomas. Does he get a good ending? Not gonna tell you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My other Half Price Hut ticket was for Madam(e) Lou in one of my favourite venues Paradise In The Vault. This hadn’t been on my radar at all, but flicking through the list of HPH shows on my phone, the fan and font caught my eye. I’m not afraid of a history lecture dressed up fancy as a Fringe show, especially when it’s a this is what really happened, thing, and it is a most interesting tale of the founding of Seattle, shock horror, about a woman, a madame! Kate Danley really had to dig deep to find the truth about Madam Lou, funny that, like people were happy to forget that bit about a successful woman. History can be revealing, you know ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

One more mention then I really should grab myself a late lunch (very late!), mind, whilst briefly out earlier I popped into the Holyrood Coffee Shop for coffee and a slice (raspberry and coconut), it’s kept me going! A great wee place for some good food and a break before heading off for more Fringing, and if it’s too busy (well, it is small) there’s it’s sister cafe across the junction, the Cowgate Coffee House, both have good window seating for watching the world going by outside.

So, back over on George Street in the New Town, one of my favoured possibilities appeared on the HPH listing, Lear’s Fool on at Greenside at George Street, yay (I had a very good feeling about this one). Be aware, there are three larger venues on George Street, this is the one at the east end, closest to St Andrews Square. I give this warning, as a friend who wasn’t paying attention just went, oh, my next show’s on George Street and it’s not at the Assembly Rooms, must be the other one, and headed to Greenside instead of the Grand Lodge nearer the Westend, oops, he missed his show.

Anyhoo, Lear’s Fool, a triumph! Another great play that takes a character from Shakespeare and asks but happened to them? (last year there was the brilliant Iago Speaks) Okay, so I’m not overly knowledgeable on King Lear but it was fine, I should think anyone could get the gist quite quickly. The Fool is female in this production, and how it works! The Fool has the wisdom of the innocent and speaks the truth, it just comes out as funny to the listeners, but her jailers are not laughing, they’re demanding information that the Fool doesn’t know, oh dear. Though the plot is sad and feels inevitable, the action and performances are strong, often hilarious, and very enjoyable. If you want some Shakespeare without the actual Shakespeare! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½