Past experience has made me wary of any show that purports to encapsulate the Fringe but Beeswax Theatre’s overview of Fringe virginity has changed my tune.
Presented as a sort of surrealist-come-cult experience, A Beginner’s Guide… aims to help the Edinburgh newbie to get the most of their experience by directing them away from the dross and serving up tips on how to deal with the large variety of obnoxious flyerers one will encounter during the month. As a concept, this may sound a little cumbersome but the talented duo of Alpha and Beta have pared down the concept to a manageable size.
Instead of giving us a whistle-stop tour off the whole programme, they have managed to single out everything that is eminently slappable about the Fringe – including experimental, overplayed student Shakespeare, patronising kiddie shows, ‘off-the-wall’ poetry jams and inscrutable folk music – and basically given us the tools to avoid such dross. Their dedication to fleshing out these genres is admirable, as each scene really inspires the sought of hate you feel when you find yourself in such a show with the knowledge that your eight quid would have been better spent elsewhere.
The only criticism is that this show should really be on at about lunchtime, so that Alpha and Beta can redirect as many unsuspecting punters as possible. Other than that, Beginner’s Guide is an extremely well though out, original and amazingly funny piece of theatre.
4/5
Richard Biggs
