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Cabaret & Variety Reviews

Josephine ««««

VENUE: Gilded Balloon, Teviot

DETAILS Run Ended

Josephine Baker lived an incredible life. In one hour, performer Tymisha Harris brings Josephine to life, sharing her story, her music and fabulous costumes in this blend of musical theatre, cabaret, burlesque and storytelling.

Harris’s performance is stunning. She plays off the audience, those in the front row becoming ex-husbands and both male and female lovers, and uses the rapturous applause of a 2019 audience to contrast the stony silence of American audiences throughout Baker’s life.

It is clear that Harris has spent time studying Baker’s performances. She captures her animated expression as she sings, and adds a deeper tone and richness to her voice as the older Baker, while still making the show her own.

This production is high glamour on the surface, but beneath it runs a fear and oppression subtlety played by Harris. In the play’s beginning, she jumps from all-out performance in front of the microphone to a downtrodden woman, admonished for being somewhere she shouldn’t. Running to a better future is a constant theme. By the end, it seems that Baker found something of this future, though she had to fight every step of the way to shatter stereotypes. “I play the savage on stage so I try to be high class in everything else," Harris observes.

In a lump-in-throat moment, she talks of her fear of becoming another Saartjie Baartman, her remains put on display. Josephine Baker’s story should be told, and this is an exceptional telling.

✏ Emma Ainley-Walker

#Pianodrome Live HHHH

VENUE: Pianodrome at The Pitt

TIME: times vary, 7–25 Aug, not 12, 13, 19, 20

TICKETS: £15 – £20

Could Pianodrome be the friendliest venue in town? Situated in a functional market building on an unassuming side street heading towards Leith, it’s certainly off the beaten track. The name of this unique den of music derives from the central, in-the-round performance area dominated by a tall 100-seater constructed out of upcycled pianos. It’s a real beauty

Vulvarine: A New Musical ««««

VENUE: Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

TIME: 10:30pm – 11:45pm, 31 Jul –26 Aug, not 14

TICKETS: £12 – £13

When a maniacal misogynist’s plot to turn women into mindless breeders backfires, Bryony Buckle (Allie Munro), a meek tax accountant with IBS and anxiety, becomes Vulvarine, saviour of womankind and High Wycombe. Fat Rascal Theatre have brought back their original musical alongside Unfortunate this year, but Vulvarine doesn’t suffer for being their second offering each evening. If anything, the cast seem limbered up, throwing themselves into the opening number with a gusto that never wanes.

The show is shot through with feelgood feminism, from Robyn too, enhanced by an entrancing, multi-surface light installation (by Dutch-born artist Mettje Hunneman) that figures in the gigs happening here.

The house band is S!nk, a small ensemble led by Pianodrome founder Tim Vincent Smith – also a violinist, vocalist and songwriter. He’s aided and abetted by fellow musos Matthew Wright (a horn man), Daniel Dumnov (on keys), percussionist Tim Lane and Dave Tunstall (bass). Freely guided by Nikki Hill, these guys—some of them barefoot or in socks—move around as they play, but how could you not? The handsome, cosy venue is conducive to their kind of relaxed banter and easygoing, embodied playfulness.

Musically, S!nk is likewise unpretentiosuly adventurous.

Whether jazzy, funky or freefloatingly experimental, none of the 10 or so selections they play for the first hour or so of any given evening outstays its welcome. Many are slow-build, layered compositions that reach a level of intensity— predicated on the meshed, sometimes cyclical rhythms of their instrumentation—before subsiding. A highlight is ‘Velo’, dedicated to Smith’s partner and commemorating a bicycle trip in the Pyrenees. Smith actually riding one round the room is an integral part of its atmospheric soundscape. There’s also ‘Theo’, a lilting tribute to his son with a sweetly yearning, lullaby feel. Like Pianodrome itself, S!nk’s music makes me happy. Note that each bill is shared with different guest artists. ✏

Donald Hutera

Grant’s swivel-eyed cross-dressing turn as the Mansplainer to the dick jokes – of which there are just enough to satisfy. Vulvarine swoops in to save women from manspreaders, lame parties and bad sex. While the misogyny of the mansplainer sounds like 4chan come to life, the show never lets it get too heavy.

It’s incredibly silly, but brilliantly slick as well. The set looks deceptively simple and the lighting and sound is as good as you’re likely to see in any temporary space. The cast are upsettingly talented. Bar Munro, all take multiple roles. The scene where

Bryony discovers her powers shows how much thought has gone into the production. There’s no subtlety in how they manage it, but boy is it funny. The balance and pacing are just right, with hints of sweetness in Bryony’s pursuit of the pleasingly useless Orson providing some contrast for the cruder moneyshots.

The songs are well-varied with a couple of true showstoppers. Grant wrote the book, which may explain why two of the absolute belters— including a stonking villain song— are in her capable hands. But there are enough fab solos and one-liners to go around in this exceptional ensemble piece. ✏

Frankie Goodway