WHILE much of the Fringe has become commercialised these days, the PBH Free Fringe makes great performances accessible for both performers and audiences. A History Of Scotland In 6 Bad Ideas (★★★★★) was an enjoyable and educational hour of history. From the particularly Scottish “commemoration of defeat” to the lessons of failed colonialism and a treatise on why he hates tartan, this isn’t a potted history but a reflective one that opens up new ways of looking at the trials of the land of Alba.

Presenter Mark Meiklejohn balances historical expertise with a light and often humorous tone, while also offering powerful lessons, noting the shift in attitude towards individualism during the Highland clearances still persists to this day and “when we talk about damage to the culture, what we’re really talking about is damage to people.”

From writer/performer Jules Chan, English Ako (★★★★★) is a semi-autobiographical tale of a boy from the Philippines growing up in England, and his search for an identity. This was a stunning and emotionally ranging solo performance. It was also intelligently scripted, moving past the cliches to explore issues of dual-heritage from a perspective that shines a light on the intersections of class and ethnicity.

Image

Jules is a working class “lad” at school but also the victim of racism. He’s a young man about town but also a fetish object for those who see Asian men as “loyal, non-aggressive and clean... like Uniqlo.” Reflecting the artist’s passions, the play was also interspersed with snippets of Shakespeare cleverly adapted to the narrative.

The question of whether Englishness is an identity worth claiming is a regular topic of discussion these days, but this play demonstrates that for many, being and becoming English is not an abstract academic exercise but an aspiration to everyday belonging: “I’ve begun to think in English,” says Jules, “and that makes me normal.” This stripped down performance was a true acting tour-de-force and the epitome of what a fringe show should be: passionate and thought provoking.

Also in search for identity in modern Britain and with a phenomenal solo performance, LEI-LDN (★★★★★) is a the story of Chardaye, a mixed race 17-year-old from Leicester, who becomes the “Fresh Princess of Peckham Rye” as she is sent to live with her auntie after a fight sparked by racist bullying.

Like any teenager, Chardaye is brash, carefree and opinionated about everything, from what peas to use in rice and peas, to the best clothes for making her mark in London and, of course, which boys she fancies. With comedy and self-assured humour, writer/actor Na-Keisha Pebody had the audience hanging on her every word, but there’s a subtle and serious undercurrent on race and family that eventually surfaces in a stunning emotional climax.

A brilliant Fringe debut from Pebody and director Mya Onwugbonu.

Next, I ventured to Bedlam, the oldest student-run theatre in Britain. Perhaps the most minimal play I’ve seen this year, the stage for What We Carry (★★★★) is merely a square of tape, and it’s a testament to the skill of the five actors that during the course of this play, I could very clearly visualise the elevator the entirety of this play is set in. It’s not giving too much away to say that this is a play about purgatory, and the title reflects the life choices the passengers have made up until this point.

Superbly acted with a nice twist at the end, this is a great debut fringe show for writers Alice Seaborne and Katy Lotherington, and another good showing in Edinburgh for  Nottingham New Theatre, who also put on The Last Rites (★★★★) earlier in the month, a stark but brilliantly acted morality tale starring writer-director Ben Adeniji and actor Tristan Ncube.

Did the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou dream of a butterfly or was the butterfly dreaming of him? Zhuangzi’s Dream (★★★★) is a Chinese production that takes the legend and reworks it into a stage performance featuring beautiful costumes and puppets. A memorable line was “the dao and daily bread rarely coexist,” highlighting the message that thinkers should step down from their ivory towers and engage with the real world of relationships too.

A History of Scotland in 6 Bad Ideas. Runs until August 24 Brewdog, Lothian Road. Tickets: freefringe.org 
English Ako 1-23st August, The Space. Tickets: thespaceuk.com 
LEI-LDN. Runs until August 25, Pleasance Theatre. Tickets: pleasance.co.uk  
What We Carry. Runs until August 10, Bedlam Theatre. Tickets: bedlamfringe.co.uk 
The Last Rites. Run ended.
Zhuangzi’s Dream, until August 11, C Arts. Tickets: res.cthearts.com