Fringe reviews I - King Arthur (Kid's play)

I gave in, after four days of listening to my kids coming back from shows and talking about them, I decided it is time to embrace the Fringe and go out there and see some shows as well.

So over the next couple of weeks, I will try to review all the shows I've seen during the Fringe Festival here in Edinburgh.

First I went to see a kids' play called King Arthur at venue 34. A hostel guest had a free ticket, otherwise I would not have gone, but gift horse and mouth and all that... so why not.

You get the most important classical characters of the original tale like Arthur himself, Morganne, Lancelot and Genevieve. I have to admit that I am not sure how true they stay to the original story since I have never read it and only vaguely remember the cartoon series from my childhood days. In their version Genevieve tries to make Arthur pay attention to her by being just as tough and as a good a fighter as he is, but to do so she has to dress up as a man and Morgan tries to take over the kingdom because she thinks she has as much right to rule the kingdom as Arthur has but he doesn't include her in the state's affairs at all.

So in order to save the kingdom Arthur seeks Merlin's advice and goes off with his knights (one of them being Genevieve in disguise) to get the magic sword from the Lady of the Lake and fight Morganne. 

And it really is a kid's play and told in a way that should be really easily to understand for children although the actors sometimes speak a bit fast and it was hard to understand what they were saying at times.

What I also liked was the fact, that although the play doesn't use any fancy stage decoration and only very basic props and hand made costumes you get a feel for the era it takes place in and the story is presented in a way that keeps you following the plot.

The use of music is times and placed well and makes the play even more fun, even though it was a bit out of tune here and there. Unfortunately not all the actors had a singing voice laud enough to be heard all the way to the back.

But what made the play really enjoyable was the fact that although it deals with dark and dramatic issues the writers managed to put some jokes in that even had the adults in stitches. Cross dressing Lady of the Lake is all I am going to say!

All in all I do recommend this play although I think, it is a little on the expensive side for what they offer, at least for adults. Go on one of the cheaper days and it should be worth it.