Martin Auckland – Mastering a Motiveless Malignity

Arguably Shakespeare’s most heinous villain, the role of Iago is one not to be taken on lightly. Especially when that character and all others, encompassing both genders, are performed by one actor. Martin Auckland has been highly praised for his masterful depiction of this complex character, who is referred to by scholars as the motiveless malignity. Entering the final straight of his run in Iago, the actor is now alone, with his background crew and production cast having fulfilled their roles and departed some time ago. Martin’s Fringe experience, which started with the first rehearsals ten weeks ago, couldn’t be more solitary. “It’s been very short and intense. That’s the kind of actor I am though. And although it’s just me now, it has been very much an ensemble. And of course the audience play a vital role.” This seasoned Shakespearian actor says he relies very much on the audience reactions during his performance. “We deliberately chose to make the character very honest and smiley at the start to make the audience feel they could smile and relax so they can interact a bit before it gets too serious. The audience have to bring something too. They need to bring energy to the show so there’s a lot of audience contact. If you don’t feed off the audience you’re doing something wrong” A cough during the interview from me, elicits an immediate response from Martin. “Lemon, honey and hot water, that’ll help a lot.” Making sure you are fighting fit for a solo performance like this must be imperative, hence the quick detection of flu-like symptoms. “With a one man show you can’t have a night off. In that respect you can’t afford to get ill.” Yoga, tai-chi and very healthy eating all contribute to Martin’s extremely calm and measured presence – something that along with a healthy body must be absolutely essential. He’s so amiable that the character of Iago must be unnatural for him. “There is awareness when you come off stage that you need space to re adjust. You need to get used to the world off stage again. There is a temptation to be egotistical but you’ve got to be aware of it and it wont happen.” Martin Auckland performs his last show of ‘Iago, tonight. For a ticket click here.

Mikelangelo – Dancing in a Sea of Flesh

Mikelangelo is to women of the Fringe, what Camille O Sullivan is to the men; devilishly charming, talented and dark. As he strips to his stripy boxers, straddles an unsuspecting audience member and then lunges in the face of another, his confidence is unshakable. Does he have a ritual or require a stiff drink before assuming his outrageous onstage persona? “I don’t need a stimulant to achieve performance perfection” he purs with a suggestive smirk. Perhaps this whirlwind of passion and lust is no onstage persona. “No, I’m not the same person off stage” the Australian concedes. “It’s linked but it’s an amplification. It’s a very schizophrenic process. I mean what you’re seeing when you look at the band on stage is us, but it’s an exaggeration of our personalities.” The Black Sea Gentlemen are just as eccentric as their leading man and provide the perfect supporting cast for the group’s unique brand of Kabaret Noir which, while covering topics such as love, death, sex, ghosts, the devil and mortality, manages to be morbidly black and funny at the same time. Case in point: “sodomy is not just for animals, human flesh is not just for cannibals, I’ll feast on your body if you’ll feast on mine. Blood is thicker and redder than wine.” The inspiration behind the lyrics is something of a philosophy for life. “There’s not enough dialogue about death and it’s a very lively subject. I guess with us there’s a lot of talk about breaking taboos and really, a lot of it’s mundane. But the mundane and the profane are inextricably linked so it’s like pulling something down off it’s pedestal.” This goes for one scene from the group’s current show where one band member is visitied by a spectre in the grand location of the toilet. “We plumb the metaphysical depths” explains Mikelangelo “and there we find the little gems and bring them back up to the surface to make them a thing of beauty. So in one respect it’s a band and in one respect it’s story telling”. The ultimate message seems to be to not take life too seriously, a mantra Mikelangelo extolls. “We’re all mortal – just skeletons dancing in a sea of organs – and remembering that mortality is so important in life. It’s really important to be open to possibilities.” The Fringe regulars are gearing up for a stint in London next but have relished their latest trip to Edinburgh. “Everytime I come here I meet amazing people. I’ve realised that you have to stay up till 4 or 5 to get the best bits. But whether you’re here making money, losing money, you always have a good time because you’re surrounded by great people.” Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen perform their last gig at the Queens Hall tonight. To buy a ticket click here.

Brigitte Aphrodite – the First Lady of Fairytale Standup aint no Wanker.

If the tutu, bright colours and contagious cockney laughter don’t make it obvious who Brigitte Aphrodite is, the glitter will. So immersed in the stuff is Brigitte that she literally leaves a trail of it wherever she goes. And so do most of the audience after seeing her show. ‘My favourite bit of the show is glitter-raping the boys, especially the reluctant ones.’ The glitter obsession comes from a childhood past time that went on to underpin the show Brigitte has brought to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. ‘My mum used to work in Harrods when I was a little girl. I used to crawl around the ball gown department and shake the dresses and then collect my treasure afterwards. I’ve still got it all in a little box at home.’ She may be all grown up now but has lost none of the little girl charm. Brigitte’s enthusiasm is infectious and her descriptions fantastical. When she talks she paints massive pictures with her hands and uses every inch of her face to reflect the fabulous highs and tragic lows of her stories. It’s impossible not to want to join in on what seems like a big, fun adventure. But up until about two years ago it wasn’t always so. After following the ‘normal’ career routes like a lot of other Bromley girls, promotions and such, she decided to teach herself to play the guitar. “It was like falling in love. It completely changed my life. I wanted to be creative and sparkly. I realised that for people to take me seriously I had to be the most stupid and silly person – which luckily is what I’m like anyway – and just say the crazy things that were in my head out loud. I started writing about what I was going to do and the songs just kept coming.” She sings a little bit like Kate Nash, who incidentally was spotted in her audience at Zoo recently, but says ‘I’m like a shot of sambuca to Kate’s delicious cup cakes’. “My show is musical, comical, fantastical, autobiographical, poetic, storytelling… oh it’s just so many things! It’s impossible to describe. It’s fairytale stand-up. And I know what that sounds like but I promise you, I aint a wanker.” Brigitte performs ‘Brigitte Aphrodite in Suburban Hell’ until 31st August. For tickets click here.

Robyn Peterson – A Catwalk Queen Living the Boho Dream

The boho bars and arty bouffants of the Fringe arena are a world away from the slick lipstick and champagne laden parties Robyn Peterson enjoyed in her heyday as a supermodel. But the model turned actress who is bringing her first one woman show to the Fringe this year is perfectly comfortable in her new surroundings. “I just love it here” she says in her soft American drawl. “I’ve never been anywhere where there are so many people and it’s  stunningly beautiful. All the energy from the arts world must be in Edinburgh in August. I was sitting having a cocktail the other night watching the gorgeous sunset and I just thought ‘wow’.” So enamoured with Scotland’s capital city was Robyn, that she boldly indulged in some of our most famous local fare despite some serious misconceptions. “I thought higgies and nippies was foreskins and nipples! I was terrified but it was good. It was my first taste but it wont be my last”. The actress is clearly coping well with the pressures of doing a one-woman show – something that many of her counterparts would find daunting. “This is the first one by myself. It’s the Mount Everest of acting – you are alone there to crawl and fall.” “But this is a great place to do my first one by myself. The people here really love their theatre so it’s a really nurturing place. I find that the people here don’t just come to see an easy play. They are theatre patrons. They want to be challenged and to think about it afterwards.” On the surface the subject of Catwalk Confidential may not seem the most heavyweight of topics – insider secrets of the modelling industry – but scratch a little deeper and according to Robyn you have a tale of memories, coming of age and moving on. “It’s a coming of age from both sides of the spectrum. My older self meets my younger self and this is how it happens in the modelling industry. People get usurped by age and it’s a constant cycle. There’s a lot of humour in there too though. It’s part memoir, part expose. Not all the stories happened to me but they all happened.” From Catwalk to Center Stage: this lady has done it all with fabulous aplomb. Robyn Peterson performs in Catwalk Confidential until August 30. Click here to book tickets.

Susan Stein – Etching Etty

In her Fringe debut, Susan Stein presents an adaptation of the hand-written diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum who was killed in Auschwitz in 1943.  We meet Etty in 1942 as she is about to be deported from Holland. In moving from Amsterdam to the Westerbork concentration camp, where she continues to work for the Jewish Council, she remains committed to nourishing her interior life. Stein began adapting the letters and diaries 3 years ago. The Holocaust is a backdrop to Etty’s life. “I think this is about a woman who is determined to live her life as she wants until the end. Half an hour before she is deported she sees that she can either be caught up in fear or choose to live her life.” This has clearly been a deeply personal project for Stein who first read the diaries 17 years ago. “I have three reasons for doing it: to keep her alive, give something back to her, and make her diaries more accessible to people who might not be aware of her diary.” With help from her colleagues at the Princeton Day School and her friends she first performed in front of a dozen friends. “The Edinburgh Fringe has been a big undertaking for me, but it has been terrifically rewarding. I have spoken to numerous people who have said the play has meant something to them, to people who have connections to Etty in real-life. “Etty is really a love story between a woman with God and with life.  I really wanted to make her real and give her voice, not just be mythical symbol. “This is just a glimpse of Etty’s life. Her story is not well known as Anne Frank’s as she was so far ahead of her time; in terms of her attitude to her lovers and her ability to be defiant in the face of the horrors of the persecution of Jews, the letters and diaries did prove controversial. The Holocaust is a very delicate subject and this is only one person’s story.” “I can see how the play can be taken out context of the Holocaust and applied to just about any situation where a person’s spirit has to triumph over the most horrific conditions with dignity and fortitude. Etty was a truly inspiring and extraordinary human being.” Etty, written and performed by Susan Stein, is on at the Vault until 31st August. Click here to buy tickets.

Matt Harvey – Excersizing a Bit of Poetic Licence

Matt Harvey feels like a bit of an impostor. Bringing poetry to the stage when you are billed as a comedy act is a bit of a risk, he concedes. But his quietly hilarious Wondermentalist show has gained marvelling audiences and four-star reviews. “I am the vegetarian option for comedy at the Fringe,” explains Harvey, “I read some poems about love – some are about love of potatoes and tea, but there are some for the love of people too. “I am just a man standing up reading poetry but I am nice to my audiences, and some people like that. I think I am very relaxed and laid back compared to a lot of comedians but it seems to work. It’s not a case of laugh, laugh, laugh – more of the odd chuckle.” Although Harvey makes selected readings from his poetry book ‘The Hole in the Sum of My Parts’ he peppers sections of verse with his own gentle stand-up that ekes wonderful humour from the everyday and mundane. “There is a whole part of my act about going to buy curtain material,” says Harvey. “I really enjoy doing that part – most of the audience laughs, others lean towards me with this kind of puzzled expression.” His Radio 4 featured character, Empath man has proved such a hit he is now turning him into a comic strip with the help of graphic artist Simon Cauty. The unlikely superhero sympathises his foes into infuriated submission. “I often claim onstage I made him up to wean my sons away from superman and spiderman – away from all these thoughtless, muscular superheroes,” Harvey explains. “He doesn’t just know how everyone’s feeling but turns people into these grotesquely self expressive beings – he can turn people into performance poets, actors or living sculptures “Some people see the act and claim that Empath man is me – but I find that quite distressing because I find him totally insufferable.” Anecdotes from his hometown of Totnes also feature – the town now sports a welcome sign celebrating it’s twinship with Narnia thanks to suggestions made in Harvey’s local stand-up shows. The gentle comedian is already planning two concerts with Scottish schoolchildren in November, and hopes to make a return Fringe trip next year. For now, he will be returning from his Assembly Rooms run, to entertain the staff of a South Devon primary school. “Everyone from the head teacher to the cleaners will be there,” he smiles. “I think it is going to be lovely.” Matt Harvey performs in ‘Wondermentalist’ until 31st August. To book tickets click here.

The Tiger Lillies – Never Judge a Band By Their Name

‘Life is a cabaret old son’ said one rather famous advocate of musical theatre back in the early seventies. The Tiger Lillies weren’t around quite that long ago but after 20 years they can certainly be described as veterans of the industry. And as far as the quote goes, they never seem to be out of character. They are (mostly) darkly sarcastic and deliciously droll throughout the interview reflecting their particular brand of alternative cabaret and making their on stage personas seem all the more realistic. ‘Death Oompah’ is the genre they reluctantly agree on but skirt over words such as satanic, cabaret, burlesque and dark. Nothing flowery about that. ‘We don’t know what we are but we like it. And some other people like it so we are whatever the audience thinks we are’ explains Martyn Jacques, founder and main singer for the Tiger Lillies. In any case, they are being billed as the Godfathers of alternative cabaret, and judging by their quips and sarcastic responses this fits them perfectly. They gig hard, and aren’t afraid to visit the obscure places, resulting in a small but dedicated international fanbase. When I meet them they are suited and booted and presented on time for what must be yet another press engagement in a long career so I am shocked to discover they have very recently stepped off a flight from Australia. That’s a small amount of space and a seriously long time for three fully-grown men to be in each other’s company. Although with almost 30 albums they are probably used to it. ‘We actually hate each other. Absolutely cannot stand one another and that’s completely true’ nods Adrian Huge, Tiger Lillies’ percussion man and one of the band’s two Adrians. Adrian Stout and Martyn Jacques solemnly nod in agreement. ‘Those two are tossers’ says Martyn ‘and I should know’. The trio are funny and rarely serious which is a great giggle but beneath their self-deprecating exterior there is some seriously good music. The Fringe regulars are performing tunes from their double Olivier award winning musical ‘Shock-headed Peter’ and their Grammy nominated album ‘The Gorey End’ as well as other tunes from their extensive career. Audience members judging this band by their name should prepare to be shocked and leave children, the faint hearted and morally righteous at home. They will not tone down the obscenities or vie for your approval but toe-tapping and shameful laughter can be expected. The Tiger Lillies perform their show ‘The Songs of Shockheaded Peter and Other Gory Verses’ in the Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August. To book tickets click here.