Amy Hanson - Page 2

In the ultimate manifestation of playing devil's advocate, Chris Betts vs the Audience pits the Canadian comic against his own punters, having him take up a contrary position on whatever idea they put forward, be it serious or silly. 

Inspired by the famous Orson Welles radio production of the classic novel depicting Martian tripods invading Earth, this production from physical theatre company Rhum and Clay takes a wider scope than simply retelling the seminal sci-fi story. 

Climate change is a hot topic at the moment, and potential future water shortages provide rich material for Urinetown, a metatheatrical dark comedy musical.

Celebrating 50 years from Armstrong and Aldrin's small steps on to our lunar neighbour, Apollo 11 is a new play focusing on the responses to the moon landing of ordinary people.

In Jericho, an Irish online journalist struggles to focus on her assigned article on professional wrestling.  As she disappears down a digital rabbithole of research and procrastination, the show branches off into an examination of social media, fake news, and debate in the digital age.

It's Mike and Billy's first day on their new job - working as henchmen to supervillain Rapture.   Flying in the face of all henchmen tropes, Mike manages to accidentally kill caped do-gooder Captain Hero, and finds himself inducted into the ranks of the supervillains.  Meanwhile, his old boss Rapture seeks revenge by teaming up with a new superhero, being changed forever by the power of friendship along the way.

The Oregon Trail is a famous, or perhaps notorious, computer game from the 1970s, originally intended as a piece of educational software to teach US school pupils about 19th century western migration.  The fiendish video game was reimagined as a comedy musical in 2014 by Team Starkid, and Gone Rogue Productions have brought the show to the Fringe this year as a European Premiere.

After television appearances on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and America's Got Talent, plus a Las Vegas residency, Piff the Magic Dragon returns to the Fringe in style.

Gigglemug Theatre have created a musical about the origins of the nationwide chain, with sponsorship from Timpson Ltd even adding a stamp of authenticity. In this new musical, two warring families of would-be inventors, the Montashoes and the Keypulets, compete for business and fame at the annual Invention Convention.

Thanks to Playlight Robbery, by Hivemind Productions, we have finally found a better use for all of those flyers than papier-mache craft projects or lining a budgie cage.  In an admirable bit of recycling, the cast of this improv show will take a flyer that you bring along, and with only the information on it, recreate the show live on stage.

Terry's partner Luka left him six months ago.  As he sits in his usual cafe, sipping on a cup of tea, a series of unexpected condolence messages ping into his phone.  Luka has died, but has appointed Terry as his digital executor, the person with the power to decide what happens to his online presence after death.  

In Loop, three generations of the same family are all united by their love of the music of their own time, but often struggle to relate to one another. Music is the the way a generation defines itself, but the hits of one decade are so often dismissed as incomprehensible rubbish by those still obsessed by the music of their own heyday, drawing this theatrical compilation album into a metaphor for an inter-generational failure to connect.

Rik Carranza is a devoted Trekkie, but it wasn't always a badge he wore with pride. In Still A Fan, a work that's more storytelling with jokes than a conventional stand-up show, Carranza takes us through his life so far, from growing up mixed-raced in Scotland, through bullying, depression, a suicide attempt and attempts to be 'normal', before finding happiness in being able to be his nerdy self.

The Drowsy Chaperone will speak to any musical theatre fan who finds escapism in showtunes. A charming, heart-warming and frequently hilarious show, it features an ageing, reclusive theatre aficionado, who is dealing with feeling blue by listening to his favourite musical, a typical 1920s romantic comedy, all the while keeping up a wry running commentary to the audience.

Famed British sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke once coined the adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.  It is at this intersection that The Extinction Event resides, one of two Fringe shows from The Sorcerers For The Extinction of Death And Associates, with this show something of a sequel to The Vanishing Man, also at the Pleasance Courtyard.

A rowdy piece of popular theatre written by Morna Pearson and accompanied by an exceptionally catchy original pop-punk score by Jonny Hardie, Let's Inherit The Earth flits between scenes on the theme of climate change, how it is driven by capitalism and how it is further exploited by that very same capitalism.

Adapted from Karel Capek's 1930s sci-fi satire, War With The Newts is set on an oyster trawler, en route to a colony of human survivors after the titular conflict.  Along the way, the show takes in issues of race, refugees, nationalism and animal experimentation.

Max is hiding in the school toilets.  There's only an hour left before he has to face a huge rite of passage in the form of a school gates fight with terrifying teenage tough guy Danny Guthrie.  With best pal Stevie there to pump him up, or, more realistically, warn that he's in for a pounding, the two 13-year-olds explore what it means to be a man.

A monologue by Hannah Mamalis, The Egg Is A Lonely Hunter is a wry, absurd piece that finds humour in both the mundane and the extraordinary, from talking horses to being overly conscious of one's body.

Adapted from the comedy of Aristophanes, The Frogs features the god Dionysus, aghast at the state of theatre, descending into the Underworld on a mission to bring back the greatest playwright of all time in a bid to save civilisation through the arts.