Gilded Balloon

July 31st-Aug 25th (not 11th)

£8-£10

12.30

And so it begins…

I got a free ticket for this show from a pretty frauline in Bristo Square, & so left it to Karma to commence this year’s fringe-a-thon. The play I was given took place in the Gilded Balloon in the University buildings at Bristo Square, a thought-proving hour which told the story of a young American bombadier in the Second World War – Howard Zinn. Through songs & tapped-out rhythms, Zinn’s musings on the end of the war & his own needless bombing of an innocuous French town form the core of this series of vigenettes which flows together quite seamlessly.

 A reading of some of the play

The company are based in LA, & bring that city’s sharpness & bombast to the stage with a wry aplomb, although with it being the first show of the run, & could feel that the players hadn’t quite gelled completely. They look good, though, five young actors & actresses clad in dining attire, with an equally black & white backdrop including a game of PONG – that mad tennis-game arcade game from the seventies.

So, I left the theatre satisfied, though not enthralled, & feel the show has laid down a great marker for future reviews this month – therefore I can only give it TWO STARS

Reviewer : Damo Bullen