Dir. Kate Dolan Language: English / Country: Ireland / Genre: Horror / Runtime: 93 min "An eerie Irish folk horror wherein a teenage girl’s mother goes missing only to return with an increasingly uncanny change in personality." (synopsis by TIFF) As the credits rolled to less than half-hearted applause (uncharacteristic of a Midnight Madness crowd) I turned to my friend, Will, who had finally emerged from underneath his coat. He told me, “listen man, I don’t know about you, but that was a great podcast.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t even agree with him on that. And over the course of our post-fi ..read more

Dir. Julia Ducournau Language: French / Country: France / Genre: Body Horror . Runtime: 108 min "An automobile accident leaves disturbing consequences in this unflinching foray into human extremity from Julia Ducournau." (synopsis by TIFF) My burning question going into my first Midnight Madness screening of the festival was; how does a film described as “body-horror” go on to win the Palme D’Or at Cannes, placing it in the same league as last year’s formidable Parasite? The answer is best discovered through your own viewing of the film, preferably cold, and mandatorily in a cinema with fello ..read more

The Edinburgh Fringe: a world-renowned celebration of the arts, pedalling everything from stand-up comedy to burlesque and cabaret. It is a place where big names in the comedy scene workshop fresh material; where professional theatre-makers explore new writing; where up-and-coming artists try to make a name for themselves; where innovative forms of theatre, performance art, music, comedy, drag are at their prime. The city becomes a space for exploration, for devising, and, most importantly, entertainment – of which there is an abundance. It is exceeded only by the Olympics and the FIFA World C ..read more

The Space Triplex - Jenner Theatre RJ In this extremely competent and complex piece of writing, our characters take us through the highs and lows of love and how we cope with moving on, loss and that familiar feeling of temptation and regression. I was so marvellously invested in the way the plot twists and turns unexpectedly and I was drawn even closer into the narrative as this choice in writing was so perfectly matched to the themes of the play. "I was so marvellously invested in the way the plot twists and turns." The story follows two actors who are still coming out the other side of wha ..read more

Nottingham New Theatre The Space - Surgeons Hall - 13.30 Madhouse is a fun, energetic, and spirited fringe play about the trials and tribulations of living in a student house, complete with parties, plot twists, and nerf wars. The opening scene was enough to get us hooked, exploring a sitcom feel with ‘to-camera' moments. This introduced us to the endearing characters in a charming and simple manner (perhaps a little too like a Fresh-Meat knock-off though!). "Madhouse is a fun, energetic, and spirited fringe play about the trials and tribulations of living in a student house, complete with pa ..read more

Piccolo Theatre and The Pleasance Pleasance at EICC At the midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado in 2012, a gunman opened fire into the audience of a crowded cinema, killing 12 and wounding 70 innocent Batman fans. Screen 9 is a raw piece of verbatim theatre following the stories of four survivors as they attempt to come to terms with the horrendous event. "Screen 9 is a raw piece of verbatim theatre following the stories of four survivors as they attempt to come to terms with the horrendous event." Walking into the space, which is disconcertingly set up as a cinema, the au ..read more

Black Bat Productions Pleasance Courtyard - Cabaret Bar Press follows the story of two movie producers in their real-time panic to cover up a huge mistake portrayed in the latest film they released. It turns out that the biopic’s main character, who was portrayed by a white actor, was in reality black. As twitter turns on them, David and Kate frantically call, text, and email their way out of being nominated for awards, hoping to brush the film under the carpet, along with the horrendous error. It is a wonderful set-up and it delivers in every manner. "It is a wonderful set-up and it delivers ..read more

Canons’ Gait Bar – Cellar Bar Know Before You Go: Be prepared to volunteer (I did and it was great fun) David Alnwick’s Exceptional Magic on the PBH’s Free Fringe is magic done right. This show was everything that a free magic show should have been. I found myself with a spare hour and wandered in to be greeted with perplexing, wonderful, and disconcerting mind games and tricks that had my brow furrowed for the rest of the evening. Dave Alnwick The audience was completely engaged and, at times, it felt like a stand-up performance and magic rolled into one. This wasn’t big and bold magic but ..read more

New Celts Productions and Red Rabbit Theatre The Space - Jenner Theatre Know Before You Go: Be prepared to contemplate mortality, murder and euthanasia When a young Elliott Hubble, fresh from the city, travels up to Scotland to take over his late grandfather’s funeral business he discovers more than he wanted to know about why they have quite so many clients. Hubble must now decide whether he will expose the wrongdoings of his business or continue the escapades, getting more and more wound up in questionable activities as he does so. Corpsing is an entertaining dark comedy with an intriguing ..read more

The Space - Symposium Hall - Main Theatre. 5:25pm Theatre Paradok Catching Up is a thought-provoking study of trauma and its year-spanning, rippling effects. We follow the story of three friends, Lemon, Sean and Lily, in their teenage years, sneaking out to drink in parks in all the blissful excitement of early adulthood. A parallel timeline takes place on the other side of the stage, that of Lemon and Sean later on in life, estranged but attempting to reignite the flame of friendship through writing a screenplay together at a countryside retreat. Despite the chronological difference, the plo ..read more