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

COMEDY

All Dolled Up
Super Who & thisispopbaby
This is a gag-fest; jokes feature, but Panti's bondage years in Dublin's GAG club were the most eye-opening part of the evening. Slides that are kinky and just plain wrong are flicked through with a droll commentary. Songs are kept to a minimum, to the disappointment of some of the queens in the audience, but the three Panti does are lip-synched with a passion and that highly trained mouth looked kind of inviting. She lovingly recounts meeting her goddess Dolly Parton and bitches about tranny-chasers, though she admits they have their uses, especially the hot ones. Panti's full of surprises and the final video clip of her make-over on a US chat show is the greatest gag of all.
Udder Place, 20-26 May, 10:00pm, prices vary, fringe pp15.
tw rating 4/5
[se]

DANCE & PHYSICAL THEATRE

Trinity
Higher State Circus
My local community hall obtained an air of adventure this evening, as Higher State Circus impressed the audience with their mind-boggling acrobatics. With inventive flair the triple-act created beautiful silhouette shapes and the kind of complex entwined body formations that make you gasp with amazement. As bodies flew through the room from big red sheets suspended from the ceiling, and wall projections expanded your sense of place, you could not fail to be engaged. The use of some unusual props, such as a bouncy wheelbarrow and a skilfully handled glass ball, added some gentle humour to the performance and, to top it off, each number was accompanied by suitably excellent music. This show was a treat for eyes and ears alike.  
City Gate Centre, 16, 18, 30 May, 8:00pm, £7.50 (£5.00), fringe pp26.
tw rating 4/5
[jn]

LITERARY

Susan Greenfield
Brighton Festival
What makes you, you? A fascinating question but one that is, of course, by no means easy to answer. Explaining the complexities of neuroscience in relation to human identity is no easy task, even for Professor Susan Greenfield. Proceedings began with Laurie Taylor, the chair, talking to Greenfield about general aspects of her work. When asked to provide an overview of neuroscience, Greenfield launched into a well rehearsed patter which would have left the non-scientists in the audience a little bewildered. It was left to Taylor to put this, as well as her other high speed responses, into some kind of context more accessible to the laymen in the audience. Audience questions rounded off a routine performance from Greenfield, whilst Taylor's hippocampus gag ended the talk on a high.
Corn Exchange, 18 May, 3:00pm, £7.50, festival pp35.
tw rating 2/5
[rt]

Hanif Kureishi
Brighton Festival/
Hanif Kureishi's deadpan humour livened up this talk, centring on his new novel 'Something to Tell You'. In what mainly became a discussion about the craft of writing, Hanif both admitted that he rarely reads fiction any more, and that the job of a writer is sometimes "half art–half business transaction", but the deeply engaged way in which he spoke of his work made that statement seem overly cynical. Comparing the creation of new characters to the process of psychoanalysis - both involve an attempt at getting thoroughly into the head of another person - he gave inspiring insights into the background to both his novels and film scripts. An interesting evening with one of Britain's most treasured artists.
Corn Exchange, 20 May, 7:30pm, £7.50, festival pp35.
tw rating 4/5
[jn]

MUSIC

Messiaen Anniversary Concert: Ian Wilson's The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World & Messiaen's Quartet For The End of Time
Brighton Festival
Ratings become irrelevant after listening to a performance executed with such subtlety. The performance began with a dip into magical realism; Gavin Friday lulled us with the tale of 'The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World' - based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez' short story - in lilting Irish tones. Blending harmoniously with the quartet, his voice became just another instrument that was being played and lured us in to the second half, where the musical mastery of Messiaen took centre stage. Challenging conventional form, Messiaen enchanted the audience with spellbinding solos. The clarinet ranged from its depths to musical highs followed by melancholic notes of the cello before the finale of the violin that began as melancholic and then rose to angelic cries that ended with one single note that just disappeared. Messiaen, it turns out, had composed the piece while interned in a German prison camp.   
Corn Exchange, 19 May, 7:30 pm, £18.00, festival pp19.
tw rating 5/5
[sla]

Spiro
Brighton Festival
What is it about good, traditional English music that seems to repel people who are not collecting their pension from the post office every week? Maybe I am not a typical 'young' person but the prospect of watching music being performed that was originally written over 500 years ago filled me with uncontrollable anticipation and 'Spiro' failed to disappoint. Using complex yet wistful melodies they used their instruments like master weavers, each carefully threading their individual layer to produce a truly wholesome sound. Some might say folk music is dying, but someone clearly hasn't told these delightfully talented Bristol based musicians.
Pavilion Theatre, 20 May, 1:00pm, £7.50, festival pp30
tw rating 4/5
[sfw]

John Tavener Concert
Brighton Festival/City Of London Sinfonia
It had all the components for a spectacular evening – with a highly acclaimed, knighted English composer, a chorus of over one hundred, and the City Of London Sinfonia, success seemed assured. Somehow, however, it failed to impress. I found the string section in unison during 'The Protecting Veil' reminded me of windscreen wipers of cars in a traffic jam during heavy rain. The chorus arrived for 'Sollemnitas In Conceptione Immaculate Beatae Maria Virginis' after the interval, a piece which appeared to me to be attempting to provoke an all encompassing veneration for the Virgin Mary, but never achieved it. Instead of creating a sense of spirituality, the composition felt arduous and was a disappointing introduction to Tavener. 
Concert Hall Brighton Dome, 20 May, 7:30 pm, prices vary, festival pp20.
tw rating 3/5
[sla]

Songs and Arias: Tenor, Mezzo-Soprano
Marcel Scerri, Charlotte Shorthouse, Yuri Paterson-Olenich
This is opera with a distinct Brighton twist - where else could music from across the continent be performed by local talent, with such amazing range and presentation? The combination of Italian, French and Spanish influences, amplified by the vocalist's diverse range, gave the audience an impression of magnitude far greater than the sum of its parts, carrying the audience through classics and a select few obscure choices. This is no surprise to Brightonians, Shorthouse being a prominent local singer, and pianist Paterson-Olenich being a regular performer of classical piano. It takes a lot of skill to wield such a diverse range of material well, but they pull it off naturally, and provide a continental experience unique to Brighton.
St George's Church, 18 May, 7:00pm, £12.00 (£6.00), fringe pp14.
tw rating 4/5
[sb]

Fat Cat Night with the Great Escape (17 May)
Brighton Festival/Fat Cat Records
Kicking off Brighton based Fat Cat Records' second night of music in conjunction with the Great Escape was the enchanting Norwegian singer songwriter Silje Nes, whose fusion of soft, delicate and melodic harmonies with subtle chord structures massaged the crowd into a hazy musical wilderness.  However, we were rudely awakened by Scottish indie rock band 'Frightened Rabbit', whose Kings of Leon-esque sound, and insistence on constantly insulting the audience, made a refreshing change from the usual industry worship that typifies the Great Escape. Following these were fellow Scots, The Twilight Sad, who achieved the impossible feat of sounding like Snow Patrol but being more boring! Headlining the evening was another singer songwriter; New York based Nina Nastasia, producing a minimalist sound and poetic verses that were frankly brilliant. Fat Cat Records did Brighton proud.
Theatre Royal Brighton, 17 May, 8:00pm, £15.00 (£6.00)
tw rating 3/5
[sfw]

Bon Iver
The Great Escape
Against my better judgement I'm going to declare this the best show I've seen, not only at The Great Escape, but in the whole of the Brighton Festival. In the Speigeltent you couldn't ask for a more appropriate venue for Bon Iver's beautiful, heartrending folk. Debut 'For Emma, Forever Ago' will have trouble avoiding the story of its ascetic conception but live, the musicianship with which it is re-enacted conveys the record's rich array of emotion on its own terms. Justin Vernon's haunting falsetto, and music ranging from the very simple to the overpoweringly cinematic in scope, bring with them the remoteness of the Wisconsin forests but engage the audience with it. Never more so than when all are singing along, on demand, at the tops of their voices. Spellbinding.
The Parlure Spiegeltent, 17 May, 8:00pm
tw rating 5/5
[jg]

Iron and Wine
The Great Escape
The sound of Iron And Wine was impeccable last Thursday at the Old Market. Excitement had filled the hall as the audience waited, some even on the floor, claiming their territory, in order to be as close as possible. This excited anticipation was certainly justified, as the bearded Samuel Beam, leading a seasoned band, played a flawless set. Featuring material from his new album, the sound of Iron And Wine was that of rejuvenation – a ceremony of musical catharsis. The friendly and humble Beam even came back for an encore, as the audience clearly wanted more. Perhaps, however, it was some of his acoustic material they wanted, which was the only thing missing in the performance.
The Old Market, 15 May, 10:00pm
tw rating 4/5
[cp]

THEATRE & MUSICALS

Follow Me
Komedia 19-21 May. 8:45pm, £12.50 (£10.50)
Set in 1955, 'Follow Me' tells the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to hang in Britain, and Albert Pierrepoint, her notorious hangman. In reality the hangman will not meet his charge until the final moments, and so Ellis and Pierrepoint recount their stories separately in ever shortening monologues. In the absence of sparring partners, questions and demands are volleyed out from the stage at imagined warders, lawyers, and friends. Beth Fitzgerald plays the unrepentant Ellis with an abrasive and morbid humour, but carefully lets her stoicism falter throughout. Ross Gurney-Randall is excellent as the composed, workmanlike executioner, steeled to his task. This tremendous play carefully juxtaposes the strange intricacies of capital punishment with its great controversy, boasting wonderfully taut direction and captivating performances.
Komedia 19-21 May. 8:45pm, £12.50 (£10.50), fringe pp44
tw rating 5/5
[jg]

The Last Resort
Strangeface Theatre Company
Faces that look disturbingly inbred stare out at the audience; these are the marvellous masks of Strangeface. The chorus, war-torn setting and discussions of morality give this piece, about a soldier's pact with a devil, a very Brechtian feel. Strangeface are not only masters of the mask, grotesque puppets also appear from windows in the versatile, skilfully constructed set, like a rustic version of Avenue Q. The four actors switch seamlessly between roles, with the help of the stunning masks, playing evil town elders, devils, decent townsfolk and the ever comical chorus clumsily sorting out the set and joking with the audience. A lovingly created story with live music and an artistic appearance that remains etched on your memory.
Udder Place, 17-18 May, 1:15pm, £10.00 (£7.00), fringe pp45.
tw rating 4/5
[se]

WLTM = Bait & Switch
das théatre
A man and a young woman, with more baggage than a Heathrow handler can lose, attempt a date, blind to the heavy past burdens they both bear. As the date unfolds it is mostly the internal voices that are heard, with the man recounting his risky wife-swapping, this being the 'switch' of the title, while the girl has the darker tale of 'bait'. Though it is a little slow in places, the piece really hits you when the pair reach the shocking finales of their separate narratives. In the end, the innocent looking college girl turns out to be an unhinged sadist while the middle-aged city slicker ends up a victim. The actors effectively create the awkward date, while at the same time performing twisted talking heads.
tw rating 3/5
Upstairs At Three And Ten, 16-18 May, 5:30pm, £8.00 (£6.00), fringe pp47.
[se]

An Evening Of Playback Theatre
Random Acts Theatre Company
Watching the lives of those around you can be unexpectedly entertaining and with playback theatre those lives are brought to the stage. The audience are encouraged to tell stories ranging from big events in their lives to what they did that morning, and the three actors then 'playback' that moment in an improvised performance. This unique idea uncovers some excellent stories from audience members which were perhaps more entertaining than the playback itself, and the interactive nature of the performance creates a warm congenial atmosphere in this intimate venue. While the concept of playback theatre is intriguing, the real strength of the performance was the audience's contribution - had it not been for the surprisingly talented storytellers amongst them this evening, this show could have been a bit unremarkable.
The Brunswick, 18 May, 7:30pm (8:45pm), £8.00 (£7.00), fringe pp40.
tw rating 3/5
[rt]

Let Justice Be Done
Mixed Blessings Theatre Group
With last year's 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave-trade still fresh in people's minds, this script certainly brings up topical issues. Thoroughly researched, it tells the tale of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy Captain and a slave. She gets taken in by her progressive Great Uncle but despite his passionate arguments for racial equality, he fails to fully practice what he preaches. While the play's heart is in the right place – even emphasising the modern-day slave trade of people trafficking - there is a sense of the characters getting buried under the arguments, and the forced, too speedy dialogue highlights the lack in dramatic tension. The end result feels more like a first draft than the finished product. 
Friends' Meeting House, 19-25 (not 22, 23, 24) May, 8:00pm, £3.00 (£2.00), fringe pp42.
tw rating 2/5
[jn]

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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