Mochinosha Puppet Company

A few more I’ve see…

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Late last night I put up couple of pics on my Instagram story, I suppose I should say something to support them. Okay, there were three pics but I’ve already told you how great The Gummy Bears” Great War is (4½ stars, in case you missed it).

Ah, looking again I didn’t put any stars on the Shadow Necropolis pic. Another excellent production by the Mochinosha Puppet Company, revisiting some of the characters from last year’s Shadow Kingdom. This time our young heroine Minerva goes to Necropolis to rescue a new friend from the clutches of Oizys (new fact for the day, Oizys is the Greek goddess of anxiety, distress and misery).

If you’ve never seen Japanese shadow puppetry before (yeah, there’s a good chance of that), it’s not just dark shadows – there’s plenty of colours! The story is told using hundreds of colourful shadow puppets projected on to a big screen. The artistry is breathtaking and will sweep you up into the story, which fair cracks along from the off with the two puppeteers supplying distinct voices to each character.

There’s plenty of humour, intrigue and storyline to enjoy, but I did feel that some of the references to coping with anxiety were too heavy-handed and bogged the story down; a show like this is a great way to highlight anxiety issues and I applaud the company for doing this, just a lighter touch would have worked better for me. Apart from that, a top show for me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

The third pic is the flyer for Hughie Shepherd-Cross’s latest play Gang Bang about a mafia gang, not an orgy as some may wonder by the name! Okay, so I did titter when the call was made for the queue to start. I may have to enquire why the author chose the name, if I do I shall let you know.

Gang Bang is an awful lot of fun, the three actors morph perfectly between the multiple characters, delivering the laughs that just kept piling up. Well, Lancashire is just a funny place anyway, stick a sicilian mafia guy Don Lambrini in there (he thought he was on a boat sailing to America), next thing it’s nearly thirty years on, time to name his successor….

Okay, so I may be a bit partisan for things set in the North of England; Blackpool is the particular setting here. The accents were delivered with gusto, like I said, there’s an awful lot to enjoy with this production. Shepherd-Cross’s writing just gets better and better, he’s definitely one to watch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Just one more mention for the night, Napoleon’s 100 Days written and performed by Andy D in one of my favourite venues Paradise In The Vault. Last year he successfully transplanted Mark Twain’s The Stolen White Elephant to England, plenty fun there, but a show about Napoleon?! Surely a tad on the dry side? Never fear, this is the story of Napoleon’s escape from exile on Elba and return to Paris and power with a just small army, his friend Stanley from Lancashire (see why I included this here?!) and a dog called Fido – some elements may be more fictional than others, but it’s all delivered with a dry but fuzzily warm northern humour.

Annoyingly, just like back in my schooldays, the historical dates, names, places refuse to nestle in my brain, but I enjoyed being along for the ride. You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy this show, just an enquiring mind and love of a semi-factual tale ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodnight, sweet dreams

Three morsels of Fringey goodness

bruceonthefringe 2023, Badges, Comedy, Comic theatre, Edinburgh Fringe 2023, Puppets Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Three days in, twelve shows seen. It’s tricky balancing wanting to be Fringey, writing about the Fringeyness and getting enough sustenance and sleep. It’s late just now, I had intended to be already in the Land of Nod but a few quick mentions before I lay my head.

Second day of previews I started with Ringer at Underbelly Bristo Square, picked as it’s by the same chap who wrote the very last show I saw last year, Out To Lunch (I was rather cajoled into seeing it as one of the few punters in Bristo Square, but it was very good). Another sharp, dark comedy; maybe a tad confusing to follow at the start but the storyline got underway, great fun and great performances by both actors. Same as last year’s, I’ll give it 4 stars.

I bumped into Grubby Little Mitts when they were flyering before the show, so lovely to see Sullivan Brown again, he said the new show is even better than last years – a bold claim! He was right though. The two of them (Rosie Nicholls is the other mitt) have a great chemistry, the sketches come fast and furious, there’s darkness and light and all sorts of bonkers in between. So that’s five stars plus another little star for Grubby Little Mitts: Hello Hi.

I want my bed so just one more, Shadow Kingdom by Mochinosha Puppet Company; that’s puppets as in Japanese shadow puppets, over four hundred are used! Another big epic story, last year’s was sci-fi, this year it’s fantasy (but again with a message in there) with plenty of adventure, hey, they paraphrase that line from Princess Bride! As last year, the flyer is actually a short comic book, and they have badges, yay (for a small donation), that’s 4½ stars from me. You might think shadow puppetry isn’t for you, maybe not, I wondered the same last year and am glad I gave it a chance.

G’night, sweet dreams!

Only two weeks to go!

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Hurrah! At the weekend Assembly announced their Locals offer was back again. Good news for me as Laser Kiwi are back with a new show Rise of the Olive at Assembly Roxy. They were last at the Fringe in 2019, brilliantly bizarre, amazing acrobatics and soooo bendy! Also back are Mochinosha Puppet Company, last year they did an epic sci-fi adventure Space Hippo, this year it’s a fantasy adventure Shadow Kingdom. Needless to say I’ve bought tickets for both (along with three more Assembly shows).

Back for more puns and frolics are Shakespeare For Breakfast, well, of course they are! I see they’ve moved venue yet again, this year to Lauriston Halls in Lauriston Street (I’ve been to a few ceilidhs there in Fringes past). It’s back to just one performance a day (last year it was two back-to-back every morning!) at the original time, ten o’clock, the earliest show on the Fringe! Okay, there may be earlier ones, but not for me, ten is quite early enough, thank you.

Also back with a new show are the Voloz Collective. Last year’s The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much was a total joy – great physical theatre, a great story, all very stylishly delivered. I’m almost a little nervous whether The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose can match it. I’ll let you know, and I won’t have to rely on my memory to recall The Man Who… as they’ve brought that back and, well, I couldn’t resist another watch. Yes, it’s that good; I do believe they Sold Out a lot last year – you have been warned!

Two more shows that I really enjoyed last year Manbo and Yippee Ki Yay are back – if you don’t get what they’re referencing then they’re probably not for you! Both were well conceived and highly entertaining. More sombre returns are Watson:The Final Problem and …And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel, again the clues are in the titles, fans will enjoy them.

My calendar is nicely busy from 2nd ’til 8th, after that, well, the Fringe is my oyster. Stramash have been busy posting on Facebook who’s playing when in August – I’ve added particular ones to my Fringe calendar in green. You know the ones, Nicole, the Rats, the Buccaneers, and, oh joys, Ol’Times will be back in town! Oh, and for folk who’d like to give ceilidh dancing a whirl during the Fringe, Stramash has the Daily Ceilidh every afternoon.

Next time, interesting things noticed in the Fringe programme and more happy returns. Toodle pip!

Puppets, hippos and an accordionist

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It’s really warm out there and really busy, so many people everywhere! So many people who have totally forgotten everything they were ever taught as kids about crossing the road. The human gene pool could do really without them. They’re quite often the same people who walk two or three abreast across the pavement and expect you, the oncomer, to step into the road to avoid them; I used to, every time, now I check myself and carry on my own path, let them moved aside instead – so many times they completely, like a refusal to give way, keep coming on, then are astonished/annoyed that I expected from them what they expected from me (it is in fact less, I just expect the courtesy of being able to walk on the pavement, they expect me to walk into the traffic). And breath, rant over, humans, huh?!

Space Hippo is a case in point of how dumb humans can be; why is a hippo sent into space? – because all life on earth will be wiped out in five years and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Yes, you’re right, there is absolutely no follow-on logic there, this is the bizarre premise of Space Hippo but considering some the world leaders around today, hmmm. This is like an epic sci-fi movie, but told using shadow puppets projected on to a large screen. A poor female hippo is captured and sent into space, this is her story, meeting aliens, being used, lied to, befriended, getting caught up in an intergalactic war and ultimately discovering the power within herself. I told you it was epic!

The two puppeteers are amazing using over two hundred shadow puppets whilst also performing all the characters’ voices. The story whips along with laugh out loud bits along with wry and poignant moments; it is quite out there but if you see it, I’m sure it will charm you too ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A very different puppet show is Famous Puppet Death Scenes, this is dark, very dark, unsettling, grotesquely funny. Oh, it’s very funny if you have a macabre sense of humour; lots of puppets die, one poor thing dies over and over. The puppet show stage set is impressive and there’s quite an Edward Gorey feel to the whole thing. Mind, the first death will make most think of Monty Python as the big foot comes down. Catching strange and wonderful shows like this and Space Hippo is what the Fringe is all about ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Famous Puppet Death Scenes has an air similar a Tiger Lillies performance, their music would be the perfect accompaniment to it. Speaking of the Tiger Lillies, they’ve finally returned to the Fringe with a new show One Penny Opera, I have a ticket for next week, yay.

And now, something completely different Accordion Ryan’s Pop Bangers playing at the Counting House as part of the Free Fringe and popping up in various places during the day. He is the sweetest guy, a gentle, laidback soul, who (you may have worked it out) plays the accordion, rather well. The show is mainly his twist on popular pop songs but he sneaks in a few of his own compositions (I do like the Holister song). He arrived in Edinburgh a few weeks ago now, I first saw him performing at Whistlebinkies’ Open Mic Night and made a mental note. At 22:15 in an evening it’s a good time when folk will be up for taking a chance on a free show. He is highly entertaining with his mix of music and comedy, not for the prudish though! I’ll probably go see him again before the end of the Fringe ⭐⭐⭐⭐

That’s your lot for today, I’ll leave you with a pic of my latest Fringe mementos. The programme from Famous Puppet Death Scenes with a selection of cut-outs on the back to make my very own puppet death scene; and the Mochinosha Puppet Company’s comic book/flyer for Space Hippo (what a great idea!)