Fun Times at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

It is a rainy August day in Edinburgh, and the Fringe is on.  If you should happen to find yourself in the UK during summer - and if you can brave the Scottish weather, the crowds and the pamphleteers- then saunter down the Royal Mile and witness the assorted strangeness, wit and charm of the world’s largest arts festival.

This is no understatement; with over three thousand shows, a good number of them free, and the population of the city doubling during the month of August, this festival is a monster. It hosts comedians, musicians, actors, dancers, writers, street performers and whoever else decides to come.  The Edinburgh Fringe, the bastard child of the more respectable and far smaller Edinburgh Festival, has been going since 1947. Alumni of it form a “Who’s Who?” of the British comedic and arts scene; figures such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Tom Stoppard had their first big breaks here.  Every summer the streets fill with performers wanting to follow in their footsteps, and audiences eager to see the next big thing. Some shows are good, some are great, some are downright awful but seeing all that is on offer is truly in the spirit of the Fringe. Every theatre, church, pub, town hall or flat seems to be hosting some performer, and you never quite know what to expect.

This year for instance I have seen some truly excellent improvised comedy, courtesy of the Oxford Imps the only paid show I have seen this year, stand-up from myriad comedians; some veterans, some first-timers, all free. There have been stories from a policeman turned comedian followed by a drama about a women’s intellectual society in 18^th century Edinburgh. A man in a tight animal-themed onesie dancing energetically to Michael Jackson songs on the busiest street in the city, next to him was a BBC talk-show discussing Ukraine. The streets of the city become filled with people in assorted strange costumes promoting their shows. One can stumble accidently upon a South African choir giving an impromptu performance of spell-binding beauty. Posters adorn every wall and reviews mark every page of the newspapers.

Fringe fatigue easily sets in, too many shows in too short a time. While some have managed ten hours of shows every day for twenty seven days, lesser mortals such as myself will probably find themselves needing a rest after their third or fourth.  Regular attendees develop a special talent for avoiding the promoters and pamphleteers, while newcomers are easily distinguished by the wad of promotional material they’ve accumulated. The worst faux pas is to actually take the Fringe guide with you around the city, at over four hundred pages its only practical use outside is to savagely beat slow walkers and mime artists or to use as a shelter from the changeable weather.

Despite the weather and questionable quality of some of the shows the Fringe is an experience which is not to be missed. Half the enjoyment of it exists merely in the sheer variety of it. To my mind there are few places in the world where you can enjoy such a vast buffet of live entertainment. Edinburgh in August presents an opportunity not only to see a wonderful city during a brief period of decent weather, but to sample as much as possible from the entertainment world.

Graham Bush

Prague So Far

Moving to a strange country is always filled with trepidation and anxiety, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel them as I packed my bags. One always has the fear of being stuck in a strange land with strange people and becoming a recluse unable to connect. Naturally this was balanced with excitement, I’m one of those people who gets restless if stuck in one place for too long; new people, new country, new food, new (better) beer.

It’s been good. You might have guessed that I have not become a Boo Radley-esque recluse (yet, I’ve still got 5 months left) and I’ve been keeping busy. There’ve been things that I’ve liked, things that I’ve disliked. Much like with any other place. The city itself has to be one of the great pleasures of mine; walking through the streets in the sunlight, taking in the wonderful views at Petřín, finding a café or hospoda and sitting drinking with friends. After a year studying in central London, where a pint of beer is usually around £4.50 (150 Kč… ouch) and usually worse than what you’ll get here. If there’s one thing I miss about London though it’s the sheer variety of it; there’re people from everywhere, food from everywhere, you can find anything and can do anything. Sadly this usually comes with a hefty price-tag but my nostalgia sometimes forgets that and tea… I miss tea.

I would say though that of all the cities I could have chosen (Moscow, Krakow, Tartu, Helsinki, Belgrade, Budapest) Prague probably has the most going on culturally. In my time here I’ve visited both small and grand events; from poetry readings in small cafes to seeing Dvořak’s “New World Symphony” performed by the Czech Philharmonic (and that was sublime). I’ve also started to love Ice-Hockey with a passion rarely seen, the fact that the arena sells beer is much appreciated.

Photo credits: Dita Havránková

Music’s ubiquitous as well; from the pianos placed around the city, the video of the police playing one is glorious, to the mezzo-soprano who busks near Náměstí Republiky, wandering into a church and unexpectedly hearing the most-lovely choral music. If there’s one thing I wish I’d done more of during the summer its traveling. I managed to visit a few of the national parks, Pilsen and had a trip down to Brno but I do feel that when the weather improves I should take the opportunity to see some more of the Czech Republic, then potter around Hungary and Poland for a time.

I’ll take a minute here to talk about bread. Unless you’ve visited the UK you can’t quite realize how much better it is here. By comparison bread in the UK seems to be made with the same rat poison they use to make cocaine go further, only without the cocaine. Whereas here; (mouth waters) the strong aroma, that wonderful crunch as you bite in, the softness and chewiness of the inside. For that matter, this pretty much extends to all bakery products here. I need a pastry now.

I’ve found the country to be charming, quirky, unusual and full of unexpected surprises. I’ve liked my time here and am even considering staying on after I graduate. Perhaps nothing can sum up the charm of the Czech Republic more than this. I asked a waiter in my rather bad Czech about why a larger beer was cheaper than a smaller one, his response? “Sir, this is the Czech Republic.”

-         Graham Bush (MP’s Native-speaker co-editor; Central European Studies at UCL in London and Charles University in Prague)

50 Years of Nicely-Accented Weirdness

For the last few weeks whenever I’ve talked to someone from home the inevitable question raises its head: “Did you see Doctor Who?”  The program recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary with a special episode which has received near unanimous acclaim. It premiered on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, that’s how old it is. More people watched it in the UK than watched the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Doctor Who is a national obsession. The question remains though, why?

It’s a reasonable question, whenever I’ve tried to explain it to someone who hasn’t watched it a conversation similar to this unfolds:

Graham: So it’s about this guy called The Doctor who travels in time and space, in what’s essentially a blue telephone box.

Friend: Must be cramped.

Graham: No you see because it’s bigger on the inside. His main enemies are the Daleks who look like pepper-pots with plungers and egg-whisks attached.

Friend: Egg-whisks?

Graham: They’re really frightening egg-whisks!

As you see I’m placed in the position of justifying why not only myself but my entire country enjoys watching killer-egg-whisk-monsters and why a show which relies on them as well as other camp or bizarre features could have possibly lasted for fifty years. There is also the question of how such a thing could become such a cherished part of modern British culture.

Its very strangeness perhaps, is the reason for its success. There is no show I am aware of which is quite as unusual as Doctor Who; its hero is a strange-looking skinny man in a bow-tie, its monsters include statues that move when you aren’t looking at them and in one memorable episode evil water, the main character never uses a gun, abhors violence, and is clueless about sex. (insert joke about the audience here)  This is a show which no-one in their right minds would produce, and so naturally the British invented it.

This is of course selling it short. The central conceit is an appealing mythological one; a weary, lonely traveller righting wrongs and helping the innocent. Bringing others along on the journey but knowing that he must continue alone. The very strangeness of it allows it to stay fresh and enjoyable. The show has consistently been able to reinvent itself with a handy plot device which allows for a new actor every few years. (The next will take the role this Christmas.) A bold yet worthwhile move as Time Magazine explains:

“We expect the show to recreate itself with each new incarnation of the main character, and that in-built drive towards novelty helps it remain sharp, even as other shows trend towards repetition and boredom.”

It has pioneered interesting and original concepts, inhabiting a variety of genres; comedy, drama, science-fiction, horror to name but a few. While I may mock the statue monsters or the episode where they had evil water, what I neglect to mention are that these were genuinely scary. Seeing the mundane and everyday become terrifying was the key part of what made these things frightening. Invoking the same fear you get as a child lying in bed in the dark, when every object becomes a new fear and every sound is a new horror.  It appeals to the more positive aspects of ourselves; the myriad worlds feed our imaginations, the villains are defined by a lack of empathy and common decency invariably prevails, problems are solved with wit, bluffing and knowledge rather than sheer strength. In the words of the comedian Craig Ferguson: “It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.” Isn’t that what television should be? Something which exalts the simple act of caring for one another? Encourages you to think your way out of difficulty? And to do that and be not only watchable but entertaining? Truly remarkable.

In closing, I hope I have at least somewhat explained the appeal of this unusual show and if any of you get the chance, do watch it. You may like it, you may hate it but give it a shot. At least it might give you an insight into the strange creatures which the British are. If starting out though, watch an episode from 2005 or later. Many of the older ones haven’t exactly aged well, many are hilarious for all the wrong reasons now.

- Graham Bush