CAMDEN FRINGE

I Pie With My Little Lie, Something Beginning With Murder | Hen & Chickens Theatre | 15-16 Aug (pictured)
I am super busy this week (blame edfringe) which means that I might tell you a little bit less about each of these fine London shows, maybe? The good thing is that you’ll be able to read them quicker? Anyway, back to the excellent Camden Fringe for us, comedy picks, first one Mark Lyminster, who’s got a whole lotta pie puns, and I am here for them. Click here. 

Impromptu Shakespeare | The Cockpit | 12-14 Aug
Pretty sure I have tipped these guys before, because I love improv, I love Shakespeare and I love Shakespeare-themed improv, and I know they’ve been at the Edinburgh Fringe. And yes, I remember their name, tbh. Anyway, you know this will be fun, so I don’t know why you’re still reading and not already clicking here to book tickets. 

I’m A Philosopher! Why The Fuck Am I Here? | The Cockpit | 13-15 Aug
Bit rude, that title, but I suppose it’s a word I am very much used to seeing, hearing, typing and saying, so I won’t rule this show out for tip consideration on that basis. Now, I am always going to be massively intrigued and hopeful about a show that promises to populate a musical comedy with a range of historical philosophers, with good reason. You too, right? Yeah, click here. 

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MORE CAMDEN FRINGE 

Mates | The Courtyard Theatre | until 23 Aug
Yay, more Camden Fringe because three tips are far from enough, and yes, as ever, I urge you to check out all the listings yourself. But also consider these three shows from the programme tagged ‘theatre’. First up, a show about “four mates trying to make a play about four mates”, which sounds a bit meta. And good. It’s about aging, masculinity and more. Info here. 

Bincels | Camden People’s Theatre | 16-17 Aug (pictured)
I mean, I was charmed by the title, if I am honest, but I reckon this is definitely a show worth seeing, not just reading about. It’s brought to you by queer and feminist drag theatre troupe Tommyrot Productions, and it’s about Alexander, Sickandar and Vince, “three wannabe Alphas who are plotmaxxing a way to defeat the ‘Femoid’ Takeover”. More here.  

Off And On | Bridewell Theatre | 16-18 Aug
I was piqued by this one because it’s set on a sleeper train, and I kind of like trains, especially sleeper trains, and their place in the plot of many a drama since sleeper trains were invented. Written by Ben Cawood, it’s a fast paced farce focused on a hapless junior minister, mistaken identities and faked deaths. So I am very much sold. Head to this page here for info. 

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THEATRICAL TREATS 

Karl’s Head | Bread & Roses Theatre | 14-16 Aug (pictured)
And another comedy now, but one of the absurdist kind, with a very interesting premise: “Will wakes up with the hangover from hell and a singular problem: the skull of Karl Marx is sitting on his coffee table. He doesn’t remember taking it and he certainly doesn’t want to keep it”. Find out what happens next by going to see this show, find the listing on the venue website here. 

White Nights | The Space | 13-16 Aug
An adaptation of the novella of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which tells the story of a young man’s chance encounter with a woman that changes his world forever. The play explores themes of love, loneliness, hope and human connection to life, and what it means to be seen and understood by another person. Details here. 

The Man From Earth | White Bear Theatre | 18-22 Aug
I think this one is also doing a run at the Camden Fringe, actually, so you could also catch it then, but that almost kinda means I got to squeeze in an extra Camden Fringe show, so we are all winners. Anyway, this is a theatre adaptation of the cult sci fi film about a university professor who claims to be thousands of years old, which is cool. Click here. 

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MORE GREAT STUFF 

Lowest Of The Low | Arcola Theatre | 12-15 Aug (pictured)
Final section, which might almost be called the opera section were it not for the fine solo show that we will finish with. This, of course, is our latest pick from the lovely Grimeborn opera festival, a documentary opera based on the undercover experiences of German investigative journalist Günter Wallraff, and it sounds fascinating. Book here. 

The Rake’s Progress | Battersea Arts Centre | 18-21 Aug
“For Tom Rakewell it’s an easy yes. And he starts a new life in the seediest corners of London where there’s only one rule – endless pleasure with zero consequences. But as his debts, and the fiancé he left behind, catch up with him he realises that life is never that simple”. Stravinsky’s dark comic opera, staged by British Youth Opera. More here. 

Ashes By Convoy | Soho Theatre | 17-18 Aug
And so, we proceed to the excellent solo performance I promised you but two tips ago, which looks like a whole lotta fun, and sees its protagonist, Radhika Elizabeth Kapoor, uprooted from London and back in Delhi, finding herself “chased by gorgeous gangsters drenched in Drakkar Noir”. Find out more about it here.