With the cost of living crisis a reality dominating the headlines and that many are confronted with, we’re in a time, post pandemic, where we’re examining societal structures and how communities have been impacted – previous conditions only exaggerated and brought to the fore within the past 2 years. Inspired by real life stories and very rightly highlighting working class voices of London in his work Block’dOff, Kieton Saunders-Browne presents a timely portrait of survival in increasingly tough times.

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Caught up between cultures is a tough phenomena to figure out, parents who have migrated from a part of the world to the other clutching on to their cultural roots, whilst their children inherit said customs whilst adopting new ones from their home of origin. For TV presenter Rinkoo Barpagathis has been the case, born to Indian/Kenyan parents of Punjabi descent in Birmingham in the early 70s, he’s felt a cultural pull towards his Indian roots, whilst paving a path for himself in the UK. Performed in British Sign Language, presenting his journey so far from childhood until now, Barpaga presents Made in I̶n̶d̶i̶a̶ Britain.

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Social issues have become the main focal points of discussions had within wider society, we’re now living in an era whereby certain topics can no longer be ignored. The rate of homelessness in November 2018 has risen 4% to 320,000 people in Britain, a figure that has risen by 13,000. Our awareness of mental health has deepened, with 1 in 4 people in the UK experiencing mental health problems and 1 in 6 in England experiencing a common health mental health problem such as anxiety or depression (CALM). Exploring the isolation felt from the perspectives of the materially advantaged and disadvatanged experiencing postpartum depression in the early stages of motherhood and homelessness, writer and performer Katie Guicciardi presents  ‘Fox’, questioning our complex relationship of asking for help. ‘Fox’ will be performed from late July at the Pleasance Courtyard at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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In 2018, we find ourselves shaped by our political past. Significant events historically changing the course of how our lives are governed. Nichola McAuliffe‘s Revenants comments on this as she weaves narratives set in between the 25 year aftermath of the Romanov family in 1918 – the ruling royal family of Russia and 25 years prior to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in the US – prolific for his leadership within the Civil Rights Movement.

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Gender is a topic that has really gripped the West in recent years. A societal construct, gender has been placed under the microscope and analysed, with ideas being challenged and redifined. Gender forms a part of our identities, who we identify as most definitely shapes how we are seen and treated by others.

Courtesy of 201 Dance Company.

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Memory is a powerful thing. To have the ability to replay a situation, particularly a treasured memory is powerful. Memories can be the only thing, and perhaps the most powerful thing a loved one can leave behind to maintain their legacy. I her debut one woman show, Nicola Wren explores the power of memory.

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The year is 2014 and the world is alerted to one of the most disturbing stories of recent times. In Chibok Town, Borno State, 200 girls were kidnapped and held hostage by an Islamic militant group by the name of Boko Haram. Years have passed, with some of the girls having been returned to their families, however the whereabouts of many still unknown.

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Recipient of this year’s Les Enfants Terrible Greenwich Partnership Award with their latest venture Goody, BoonDog Theatre is set to take the production, an exploration of the relationship between a performing ape and a human being to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ahead of BoonDog Theatre’s month long run, writer and actress Lucy Roslyn talks more about the production here.

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The queue begins forming for the Pleasance Upstairs nearly 40 minutes before Showstoppers is due to start, with an exciting buzz of theatregoers old and young, tall and short, quirky and… normal.  We enter to a tuneful entourage of a three piece band, musically directed by the more-than-capable hands of Duncan Walsh Atkins, whilst our soon-to-be narrator Sean McCann meanders around the modernistic red framed scenery, taking in his surroundings, commanding both the stage and the auditorium from the minute we enters.

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Garden, is an enlightening amalgamation of new writing, ravishing characterisation and simplicity to please the masses. Strikingly presented for The Pleasance, Lucy Grace evokes, explores and evaluates the monotonous life of one Londoner, in a unique, life fulling, self-defined prophecy kind of way.

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