The latest Brighton Festival and Fringe reviews from Team ThreeWeeks. Look out for more ThreeWeeks reviews here in the eDaily and every morning in The Argus each day in May. Hurrah.

A Guide To ThreeWeeks Ratings:
1/5 - somewhere around about God-darn awful, though possibly it's so bad it's good.
2/5 - just not any good really, sorry.
3/5 - good for what it is - if you like this genre, probably worth a try
4/5 - now, this is what we are talking about, a fine example of this genre
5/5 - oh Lord, so damn good, whatever the genre, go see this show if you can

CABARET

Delovely
Lights Of London Productions
Worth going for the singing and setting alone, Missy D's powerful voice fills the intimate underground space with classic tunes. Changing characters from chavs to centenarians to provide a good old fashioned cabaret of many acts, but just one versatile performer. The sketches, including Adam and Eve-enders, are fun and slide smoothly into songs, but perhaps a little more could be done to fill the pauses for costume changes. In the end it is the singing that is Missy D's forte, rich and sensual, she warmly embraces the audience with flirty asides between verses. If you get your kick out of Cole Porter this is the place to go to enjoy it, sitting around tables, sipping on champagne.
Joogleberry Playhouse, 5, 9, 10 May, 7:00pm, £8.00 (£6.00), fringe, pp8.
tw rating 3/5
[se]

COMEDY

Lunchtime Life Lessons
Padraig Hyland
By the end of the show, we the audience had our very own therapy regime, especially designed for us. Not that we needed it, as Padraig's lilting voice and quick-witted delivery was enough to put anyone in a good mood for the rest of the day. The therapist/comedian begins with an informal interactive talk on how mind and body affect your mood, the second half, though, depends on audience neuroses. Lulled by the upbeat talk, private emotions surfaced in a surprisingly open way; the audience I was in decided on motivation in the morning, although deeper issues were brought up. And rather than come up with a course of action himself, our own ideas shaped the solution. Feel-good, inspiring and free.
Heist, 3-26 May, 1:00pm, free, fringe, pp18.
tw rating 4/5
[se]

Conjuring Up Comedy
Ian Keable
Ian Keable attempts the tricky business of selling magic to an audience over ten by fusing it with comedy; the results, however aren't altogether spectacular. Keable's comedy is fast paced, as he unravels his life story littered with unrelenting puns and one liners in the style of Jimmy Carr, or perhaps your dad. Audience participation, an necessary evil within magic, is handled well, with a faux-hypnotism sketch in particular providing many laughs. However, since Derren Brown has raised the bar on what is considered 'magic', some of the tricks seem weak, and a strong suspension of disbelief is required throughout. Ian Keable presents an entertaining show, and it is definitely a kind of magic, but maybe it's twenty years too late.
Komedia Studio, 5 May, 9:00pm, £6.00 (£5.00), fringe pp16.
tw rating 3/5
[sb]

EVENTS

An Infinite Line: Brighton
Brighton Festival/Fevered Sleep
How perfect, you think, after the last few days of sunny bliss, to see an exploration of Brighton's unique quality of light. Yet this piece, plunged underground into a basement, is divorced from reality due to its persistent abstraction. Mirror balls, dancers imitating light, strings harmonising squawking gulls, a feast of wistful spectacle - not to mention the extraordinary white horse clopping gracefully into the dimness! Sometimes the chorus' ironic questioning undercuts the pretension: 'What were you doing then, Laura?' And there are spellbinding instances, a walk on upturned wine glasses that concentrate a pinprick of light, and the audience bathed in an orange, diffuse light. Yet largely 'An Infinite Line' exhibits the difficulty of expressing the sounds, colours, and textures of light, while the real light remains outside.
The Basement, days vary, times vary, £15, festival pp4.
tw rating 3/5
[kc]

LITERARY

Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay and the Secret Prisons
Brighton Festival/Clive Stafford Smith
"Guantanamo", according to the man Brighton has to thank for the recent release of Omar Deghayes, "is a diversion". What it is diverting attention from is the chilling fact that there are 27,000 further victims of USA's law-bending policies still held in 'ghost prisons' around the globe – all of whom lack representation. In an interactive debate, Stafford Smith talked with great warmth and humour about his 25 years of representing death row inmates, and the always disturbing and often bizarre experiences of taking on the legality of Guantanamo Bay. As Omar - permanently scarred from years of unlawful imprisonment - joined the panel, one thing became painfully clear: the world needs more people in general – and more lawyers in particular - like Stafford Smith.   
Pavilion Theatre, 6 May, 7:30pm, £7.50, festival pp32.
tw rating 5/5
[jn]

MUSIC

Andrew Cronshaw and Tigran Aleksanyan
Brighton Festival
After surprising the audience by appearing from the back of the auditorium on one of his many pipes multi-instrumentalist Cronshaw takes to the stage and strums sweet Finnish tunes on his intricate 74-string electrified zither. Armenian Aleksanyan accompanies him with the breathy resonance of his double-reeded duduk. The pair jump around the globe with music for Finnish weddings and recounting Irish drownings, with a wry commentary. Cronshaw's demonstration of the Slovakian shepherd's flute creates a ridiculously priapic profile, but the sound is well-worth the struggle with this 6ft-long monster. Both an exhibition of some of the world's most fascinating looking musical instruments and a concert to show that the sound outshines their mere visual eccentricity, with haunting and inspiring beauty.
Pavilion Theatre, 6 May, 01:00pm (2:00pm), £7.50, festival pp28.
tw rating 3/5
[se]

THEATRE & MUSICALS

I Kissed A Frog And...It Gave Me Herpes
Chesterlass Productions
Well, haven't we all? Kissed a frog that is. This is an absolutely fantastic little show, and not to be missed. Anna Victoria's romp through a series of misadventures seeking that elusive soul mate is captivating, jaw-droppingly honest, hysterical and unique.  It was so good that I hardly felt seated when the 30 minute show was already over.  The blurb promises "a play about love, kebabs and Viking reenactment warriors", and asks "Is it worth catching an STD in pursuit of the perfect man?", but don't be put off by that, or the title, as I was, because you'll leave feeling like you have seen an emerging talent before she makes it big, and that's very exciting.
Upstairs at Three and Ten, 5, 10, 11, 18, 25 May, 'times vary', £6.00 (£5.00), Fringe pp41.
tw rating 5/5
[sla]

Hard Chair Stories
Otherplace Productions
Hard Chair Stories offers incredibly strong and moving performances by three actors, each telling a story, and each of which were compelling from the start. As each story unravels we witness the events through their eyes. Victoria Beighton plays Sarah, a vivacious and animated young woman who takes us into her confidence to share the tragic-comic events that led to her present circumstances. Mark Katz plays Rick, a decent, well-meaning chap who describes the chaos caused by his mentally ill brother's annual visit. Finally, Fintan Shevlin plays the brother of a young man who has met with tragic circumstances and tells us of the bleakness and confusion that follows. It's written by Nicholas Burbridge, who has already received many accolades, and should feel confident of his latest success.
Upstairs at Three and Ten, 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 May, 8:30pm, £9.00 (£7.00), Fringe pp41.
tw rating 5/5
[sla]

Hadley's Experiment
Livestock
In this intimate and distressing account of the effects of mental illness, sufferer Warren, accompanied by video, live sound effects and offstage contributions, recounts the schizophrenic episode that follows his nervous breakdown. As Warren's real mission becomes clear, a strong emotional dimension overshadows the complex conspiracy stuff, drawing attention to the very real and human context. Chris Johnston convincingly inhabits a world of delusional paranoia, exuberance, confusion and vulnerability all vying for control of a measured performance. The mixed media aspects can be distracting, but they are tightly organised and create a sense of disorientation that ultimately lends itself to the subject matter. Despite the audience comprising only half the number of the four strong cast, it's a generous and enjoyable performance, offering some genuinely rare insights.
Old Ship Hotel, 4-11 May, 7:45pm (9:05pm), £12.00 (£8.00) fringe pp 41.
tw rating 3/5
[jg]

Mojo
New Venture Theatre
It's the fifties, Johnny Silver's gone missing, everyone at the nightclub is in hiding from Sam Ross... and it's going to take you a little time to work out why. We were half way through the first act before I started to get an idea of what was going on, the story starting at a slow plod as the complexities of the plot were charted. In the meantime, however, the characters became well defined and convincing; in particular, Darren Cockrill's portrayal of the rather psychotic Baby was hauntingly good. It wasn't until the second act that the story began to truly captivate the audience, though, and made the slightly tedious first act very much worth sitting through.
New Venture Theatre, 5 – 10 and 12 – 17 May, times vary, prices vary, fringe pp42.
tw rating 3/5
[rt]

The Heimkehrer – Coming Home
Antje Papenburg
Light entertainment collides with heavy history in this philosophical monologue about national legacies and personal guilt. As a granddaughter returns to Germany, she learns that beneath her dying grandfather's love of escapist, fifties music lies a denial of a dark Nazi past. "Are only evil people capable of doing evil things?" becomes the question at the centre of her search for a fatherland she can accept, and an answer is not easy to come by. Although the play is full of interesting insights and poignantly raises important moral issues of alienation, national identity and collective memory, the delivery leaves a lot to be desired. At times it feels more like an underdeveloped lecture than a play – a shame as this is a good idea.
The Brunswick, 4 – 6 May, times vary, £ 7.00 (£5.50), fringe pp45.
tw rating 2/5
[jn] 

Rider Spoke
Brighton Festival/Blast Theory
If you've ever thought a performer just asking his audience questions was an example of 'interactive theatre', prepare to redefine your definition. Blast Theatre's newest endeavour, 'Rider Spoke', turns its participants into both performers and audience members at the same time - paradox? Not here. A computer mounted on a bicycle asks the participant questions as he or she rides through town, recording answers and 'listening' to the recordings of others. That is, unless there are noisy cars or roadworks going on - this is Brighton, after all. When it is possible to hear, however, a surreal feeling of personal anonymity could be felt - that is, if one could avoid being hit by a car. Credit is owed for innovation, but logistics are another story.
Meeting point: MyHotel, Jubilee Square, 8 - 11 May, times vary, free - ticketed, festival pp25.
tw rating 3/5
[cp]

Reviewed in the ThreeWeeks eDaily on Monday...
The Kitsch Kittens’ Holiday Slide Show, The Black Curtain, Andrew O'Neill, Michael Fabbri, Want Rufus, Power Lunch by Alan Ball, New Music for Two Percussionists, Electric Mouse Comedy Showcase. Some of these reviews will appear first in tomorrow's Argus.

ThreeWeeks Reviewers Guide...
Sarah Agnew [sla], Steve Bromley [sb], Kate Charles [kc], Seth Ewin [se], Sean Farrance-White [sfw], Joel Gunter [jg], Jess Hookway [jh], Jessica Nero [jn], Laura Oliver [lo], Clearhos Papanicolaou [cp], Anna Pearce [ap], Richard Tatnall [rt].

ThreeWeeks is the flagship media at the Edinburgh and Brighton Festivals. Its mission is to provide as comprehensive coverage as is humanly possible of both these festivals, in particular reviewing those shows not getting media coverage elsewhere.

We launched ThreeWeeks in Edinburgh in 1996 because at that time the Edinburgh Festival was growingly hugely each year, but at the same time media coverage was, if anything, decreasing. That meant that many strands at the Festival - and especially the new, alternative and grassroots performers and companies which, as far as we could see, were what made the Edinburgh Festival so exciting in the first place - were not getting the coverage they deserved. From year one ThreeWeeks aimed to cover as many aspects of the Festival as possible, from the big names at the big venues through to the real grass roots shows not covered elsewhere. Over a decade later we continue to operate to that ethos, getting even closer to achieving it by reviewing over 1500 shows each Edinburgh Festival - nearly all of them - and hundreds more than our closest competitors.

Since 2006 we have applied the same ethos in our coverage of the Brighton Festival. This year we will have over 25 student reviewers seeing shows. You can read their reviews via this eDaily, our website and through a daily column in The Argus. We also offer a bucket load of previews and interviews on and with some of our favourite shows and performers, on our website, and via our free ThreeWeeks Guide to the Brighton Festival, available all over Brighton from 6 May.

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