I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Category: Edinburgh Fringe

I’ve been going to the Edinburgh Fringe for a long time now. It’s an incredible experience if you love theatre and art.

Edinburgh Fringe 2022

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The last time I was at the fringe was in 2018, before the pandemic. I was looking forward to coming back again as it’s something that I’ve enjoyed for a number of years.

But this year it felt smaller, much smaller. Probably because it was smaller, and that’s likely to be because of the pandemic. It’s a shame, but I take some comfort in the fact that it is still there. Plenty of other festivals and events have fallen by the wayside.

Even so there were some good shows. Some less so, but I won’t focus on those. I enjoyed the good ones and also just the ambience of being back in Edinburgh after a long time.

I’m not sure when I’ll go back to the Edinburgh Fringe, in the current climate it’s hard to know what will happen next, or indeed to plan ahead with any certainty, but I think I’d like to do it again at some point. It’s a good festival and one worth supporting.

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: What Would Spock Do?

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Edinburgh Fringe 2015: What Would Spock Do?
Edinburgh Fringe 2015: What Would Spock Do?

Ok, I love Star Trek. That’s only fair to say, but even so, this was a lovely little show. It was fun, poignant, and very well done. It was a one man show, and the one man was one of the actors who was in the Frontier Trilogy. He was excellent.

I’ve no idea if this show will go anywhere else after Edinburgh, but if it does I can thoroughly recommend it.

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Now Listen to me very carefully

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Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Now Listen to me very carefully
Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Now Listen to me very carefully

An interesting show this one. Not perhaps my favourite of 2015, but still good. It was about a guy who was obsessed with Terminator 2. Which was especially interesting as the guy who performed the show was the guy with the obsession!

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: The Blues Brothers Live

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Ed Fringe 2015: The Blues Brothers Live
Ed Fringe 2015: The Blues Brothers Live

This was a must for me at Edinburgh this year. Of course, with a show like this you never quite know what you’re going to get before you get there. It’s a gamble, like most of the Fringe, but even more so when you’re a big fan of something like The Blues Brothers.

But it was very good. Very good indeed. They did all the major songs and more. The routines were very good, Jake was especially convincing and all in all it was a good gig.

I think I should go to a few more Blues Brothers tribute bands.

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: The Frontier Trilogy – The Rattlesnake’s Kiss

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Ed Fringe 2015: Frontier Trilogy - Rattlesnake's Kiss
Ed Fringe 2015: Frontier Trilogy – Rattlesnake’s Kiss

This was the last in the trilogy and was not only an incredible performance, but also a fantastic story in its own right and a great end to the trilogy itself. If you ever get a chance to see this trilogy I would strongly recommend it.

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: The Elephant in the Room

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Ed Fringe 2015: Elephant in the Room
Ed Fringe 2015: Elephant in the Room

I do like dance although I seldom get the chance to see any, so this show looked like it might be worth seeing, and it was. I’m not sure that I understood it very well, but I did enjoy it.

I expect that I need to spend more time getting to understand modern dance before I can really get my head into it, but I doubt that’ll happen any time soon.

I expect that I’ll just dip my toe in the water every now and again like with this show.

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood (Semi Skimmed)

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Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood
Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood

Under Milk Wood is one of my favourite poems, if not my favourite of all. One of the best live performances of it that I’ve ever seen was by Guy Masterson. I saw it years ago and it was truly brilliant. So I’ve been going to see Guy Masterson every year at Edinburgh to see his shows, and they’ve all been brilliant. But I’ve always wanted to see his Under Milk Wood again.

So when I found that it was on again this year I knew I had to see it, and I did. It was a shortened version, or as he puts it the “Semi Skimmed” version. It was brilliant. Utterly brilliant. A complete joy to watch, and I loved every minute of it.

In fact, I had thought that it couldn’t really get any better than this, until the end when Guy Masterson said that he had CDs of the complete, unabridged performance for sale.

Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood CD
Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood CD

I had to have one, and so I did, but it got even better, because he signed the CD for me, and I got to chat to him, albeit briefly.

Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood signed CD
Ed Fringe 2015: Under Milk Wood signed CD

Edinburgh Fringe 2015: Shakespeare for Breakfast

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Ed Fringe 2015: Shakespeare for Breakfast
Ed Fringe 2015: Shakespeare for Breakfast

I’ve been to see Shakespeare for Breakfast almost every year I’ve been to the Fringe. It’s always amazing. It’s always great fun. This year was no different at all. It was brilliant. It was Hamlet.

Shakespeare for Breakfast is a difficult thing to explain if you’ve never seen it before. It’s Shakespeare, sure, but it isn’t like any kind of Shakespeare you’ve seen before. It’s fun, it’s current, it’s witty and it’s over in an hour. Added to that you get a coffee and a croissant in the bargain. Not bad for the Fringe, not bad at all.

So if you ever go the Fringe you should try out Shakespeare for Breakfast and see if you like it.