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★★★★

“a bold and exciting work that holds an important message of self-acceptance”

‘Algorithms’, both written and performed by Sadie Clark and directed by Madelaine Moore, is a one woman show following Brooke, a newly single, bisexual woman as she approaches her thirtieth birthday.

The play covers a variety of events during the weeks nearing Brooke’s birthday. It becomes clear that things are not going the way she wants them to when her girlfriend doesn’t return home from drinks at the local pub. When she does return, Brooke is brutally told that the relationship simply does not work, and she is brokenhearted. As the story goes on, she signs up for the dating website that she works for to meet new people so as to distract both from the breakup and the dreaded party her mother is throwing for her birthday.

There’s an impressive change in Brooke from the beginning of the play to the end, as she comes to terms with herself and begins to accept that she isn’t always the problem in relationships and work environments. An important moment shared between Brooke and her mother at the end of the play sets alight a new aspiration in the young woman – ‘you be you’. Sadie Clark portrays her beautifully, with her emotions being so sincere when Brooke is at her lowest points, giving a realistic view on how many women deal with such events. She has the audience roaring with laughter as she prances and screams, but also has them drawn in and emotional as she dressed herself in a ball gown.

The stage design is perfect for the performance, and every little detail is superb. There was golden boxes that matched the golden shoes Brooke wears throughout the play, and there were balloons in purple, pink and blue, which describe her sexuality to a very fine detail. At the back of the stage is a clothes hanger with a dress bag hanging on it, which hides a beautiful gown until it was time for Brooke to wear it. However, there was very little use of these objects throughout the play, which allowed all attention to be on the actress.

Music was used for comic purposes as Brooke danced across the stage to songs that had lyrics explaining her situation perfectly. Sadie had the audience participating and clapping along with the music as they exited the venue.

‘Algorithms’ is a bold and exciting work that holds an important message of self-acceptance, especially for older women who believe they are not achieving what they should be at their age and emphasises the importance of accepting yourself and others around you in your daily lives.

Reviewed by Sara McPhail

The First Hippo on the Moon

Pleasance Courtyard – Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Reviewed – 8th August 2017

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Fun, dynamic and well-paced, the show also had a take home message, to ‘dream big’”

Les Petits Theatre Company’s stage adaptation of David Walliams’ The First Hippo on the Moon was not aimed at me (a twenty-one-year-old single graduate who isn’t generally inclined towards being amused by scatological humour), but that didn’t stop me taking pleasure in its well-executed silliness and imaginative realisation.

The plot is simple and engaging; a big for his boots hippo, Napoleon Heracles Waldorf Franklin the Third, has a dream – to be the first hippo on the moon. He is puffed up by his own sense of self-importance and presumption that he will succeed. Then we meet Sheila, a hippo from more humble, earthly beginnings, who reveals to her lively crew of jungle creature friends that Napoleon ‘stole her dream’ from when they were at school together, and teased her for ever daring to dream so big in the first place. And so Sheila’s quest begins to beat him to the moon, with a lot of help from her friends.

Combining puppetry and catchy songs (I’ll overlook Silver Bob the monkey’s Jungle Book rip off as positive derivation), the cast electrically and convincingly inhabit their animal roles, transporting and manipulating their puppets with nimbleness and ease. Their skill was delightful to witness, particularly in the space scenes, when they whizzed about with star and rocket paper puppets, accompanied by much ‘whooshing’.

Special commendation must go to the actress playing Sheila, who was so convincing in her giant hippo costume that my disbelief was wittingly suspended. The set was creative and agile, and the moveable palm trees were whisked out of the way to make room for a huge, cratered moon, lit by a background of glimmering fairy light stars. Truly magical.

Lighting was creative and exciting, and the packed auditorium of children were captivated. The script had plenty of plays on words, good for slightly older children as well as for adults – a particular favourite was the mention of a giant orange elephant, called ‘Donald Trunk’. And, of course, I cannot forget the abundance of poo jokes, which involved some audience participation – ‘excrement work’. It literally fuelled the production …

Fun, dynamic and well-paced, the show also had a take home message, to ‘dream big’, no matter what your background. That friendship is what is important, and that it’s ‘not where you come from or where going to, but who you are going with’. If you’ve got kids, go and see it. And if you’re twenty-one and at a loose end, take all your friends along.

Tag Archives: Pleasance Courtyard

Algorithms

★★★★

Pleasance Courtyard