With less than three days to go before Sharron Matthews Superstar World Domination Tour 2010 comes to an end I was lucky to get the chance to see her cabaret show. Nothing at all really prepares you for this show and Matthews stuns and impressive from the frist moment you walk into the room. Standing by the door she welcomes everyone to her show and the energy in the room is already pretty high and at this stage of the fringe she has still managed to get a good crowd in.

From the offset Sharron had the audience eating out of her hand and her bedside manner was gracious and a few of these other performers could learn a few things of how to bring class to a cabaret show. At times the quite sentimental and others ridiculously funny this show could have run for 2 hours rather than the 50 minutes we got and still wold have kept the fire Matthews brings to her show. The compilations she created are inspired and are unexpected gems!

Of all the songs she tweaked and altered for her show non comes close to what she did with Hotel California. This was spooky, creepy, and original. If she had copies of this song for sale at the end of her show I would have bought it. You have to hear it to understand how good she is and she does more with this songs that make her music standout. Her ability at altering these songs is like a fine artists who sees a masterpiece and is able to enhance it to the point of it gaining a new identity. She does this masterfully and her voice is a gentle and sweet as you could imagine.

‘Without question a truly magnificent performer with a great deal of heart and a voice so controlled, sweet and powerful you will leave her show on a high. If your question is whether Sarron Matthews is a superstar, quite frankly yes!’

Few plays match the magic and scope of The Master and Margarita by OUDS. A very skillful and respectful adaptation of Bulgakov’s masterpiece the company has proven once and for all they are powerful players at the fringe and are fast on their way to setting the bar for student theatrical productions. It’s not easy to bring a masterpiece, or one of the 20th Centuries most important books to the stage, the expectation here will be that any production would fall short of being able to fully appreciate the scope of this book and in adapting it they could do more damage than good.

As the audience arrives the stage is already alive, a wonderfully lite stage beams an orange glow where  an old woman, who’s back is so arched she is unable to stand up right, looks over the audience we take our seats, a chess game is midway and at the rear two gentlemen can be seen talking, in a make shift wooden cage a cate can be seen,and a beautiful woman is sitting on a bench holding a bouquet of flowers.

The two gentlemen would be introduced as Berlioz and Ivan who are about to meet the Devil in the form of the mercurial Woland (played by the director). The woman on the bench turns out to be Margarita who is grief stricken of the loss of her beloved “Master”.

The inclusion of live music played by the cast was a further touch that made this production enjoyable. Most of the cast play several characters and their costume changes would take place behind the us, at times the actors would playfully interact with the audience which brought a lighthearted touch to the evening. The venue was the best they could have asked for, the burnt down open space of C soco gave a wonderful romantic nod to 1930s Soviet Union.

This was a remarkable adaptation and a wonderful production from OUDS, their attention to detail and ability at keeping you engaged with the piece was a great achievement. The script had been well adapted by Raymond Blankenhorn and Max Hoehn, and directed with true vigour. Unlike other productions you can be forgiven sometimes in not mentioning the other talents behind the scenes but this production almost demands recognition to these other players.

The lighting, costumes, music, and sound all added greatly to this production which really lifted it from you average Fringe offerings. A large amount of care and thought has gone it to this to the point of Rosie Hore choreographing the dances Raymond Blackenhorn would do through the play. Although there are some comic elements in this production (there are some scenes in which three guys in the front row found hysterical and the cast to some extent played to them) they still managed to keep this on track.

The cast are skilled actors who bring genuine performances to the play, you connect with them fully and throughout they are engaging. There is a lot they get through in this production and they have been careful not to try and pack too much in. By the end you feel exhausted for them and then take a moment to appreciate fully what you have witnessed.

‘There have been some great student productions at the Fringe and OUDS adaptation of The Master and Margarita is an exceptional achievement and one of the finest examples of student theatre in 2010. This is a awe inspiring play…slimply beautiful and stunning to watch.’

C soco (studio 2a) 6-30 Aug at 22:30 (1hr10)
Tickets £8.50-£10.50 / concessions £7.50-£9.50
Recommended age 12+ To book tickets call 0845 260 1234.

This is nothing easy about this play and by the end of it about 5 people that I could see where moved to tears afterwards. This was a play, that had gained the support of double Oscar winner Emma Thompson, which explored the realities of sex trafficking. The story is based on actual testimonies of two women caught up in this dark underbelly of society, “Samai” from Sudan and “Elena” from eastern Europe.

Their stories are hard to listen to and all to quickly both women find themselves powerless and in dangerous situations they are unable to change. Both back stories are very different; Samai’s is one of war, refuge survival, and loss, and Elena’s is a dream chaser, someone who becomes drawn into the ideas of London and the big city. This makes both stories clash at times as you get the sense that Samai has been given no other choice and could very easily have fallen into this world. When she meets Michael a final choice is offered to her, either stay here or I can get you out? The actress who play’s Samai does so with power and a a sense of foreboding. When Michael starts to say goodbye to her as she stands in Heathrow and she panics since she knows nobody at all in the UK you can see how her choices to stay with Michael are ones any of us would make.

Elena story is more common in that too many people end up in this dark world when they are chasing a dream and not willing to ask how much that dream is going to cost them. Elena has the choice and chance to leave but she remains and it becomes obvious early on what Carmen has in store for Elena, this notion that she was getting all this for nothing and never really questioned how she was going to pay for it. Elena uses bad judgement and even right up to the end maintains this lifestyle for a time after being freed – this part of the play hard as it seemed to undo the work and understanding of the sex trade. And this could be part of the reason why many authorities have such a blank face to it…for them it can become difficult to find figure out who is there against their will and how, like Elena becomes, is there on their own free will.

This is not an excuse but proves something of a problem. The difference in the stories would not matter much is the treatment that both women get from the authorities wasn’t the same. Both women have different stories, with Samai becoming HIV positive due to Michael, and she also becomes pregnant.  For me Samai becomes a further victim of the authorities policy due in part to some women who are part of the sex trade but not victims.

‘Fair Trade is a powerful and thought provoking play that is beautifully acted. This needs to be more discussed, the venue was poor in what it offered as no one could get a good enough view of the stage and this was a sold out event, in part due to Emma Thompson being associated with it.’

John is manic but with that gentle look in his eye that makes him come across so lovely and sweet you find yourself wanting to hug him. His show this year looked at his adolescence and the awkwardness of him growing up, his school life, and being 28. But before the show kicked off he told us the other day that he only had 8 people in and they all sat close to the stage when one of them let one loose.

There is something almost instantly likeable with John his comedy is gentle and he finds himself in situations that don’t do him any favours. I guess the best way to sum him up is the story he told about before he came up to Edinburgh for the fringe. He had a new flatmate who he bonded with like he never believed it, pretty ace guy from all accounts, and he said he fluffed the goodbye and rather than telling him what he thought and how happy he was that they are now friends, he just manned up and did the double pat on the back. But it wasn’t until he got to Edinburgh when he was unpacking he found a note from this housemate…not going to ruin what he says.

Yet you have to be a certain type of person to be able to have new friends read you so well and that’s John, an incredibly warm and gentle guy. Some of the highlights of his show was dring his time in school, 6th form, his Queen obsession and his DT folder, and being bullied. But the best part of his show was his first experience with a cock ring and the noisy neighbours and the house party from hell.

He paints a picture of a guy put in the most unlikely positions and still managers to come out of it pretty much unscathed. His show as great to be part of, over time you start to feel like he’s the type of best friend you would want, fun to be around, always has a story to tell, and honest. There where two girls in the audience who couldn’t stop laughing and he asked them to come to all his shows.

‘John Robins is a natural and his show came across like it was the easiest thing in the world, a flick back into his past opens up a whole wealth of material from a guy you want to get to know. Kast year Matt Kershen had a show that was as successful, what makes them stand out is they are genuine, their is every now and then a slight hint of bitterness that thinking retrospectively can bring. John is amazing!’