Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: Thanks For Being Here | Mr. Jones | Lunchbox | Miles

Thanks For Being Here ★★★★☆

Zoo Southside (Venue 82) until 24 August

Their name means “Unbelievably Good”; and for more than a decade now, on the Edinburgh Fringe and across Europe, the Belgian company Ontroerend Goed have been exactly that, creating extraordinary acts of stage poetry that have ranged from a study of the global financial system, through a whole history of humankind performed forward and then backwards, to 2023’s superb show Funeral, about how we live through bereavement and loss.

This year, though, they simply turn their eyes to the audience, acknowledging that without an audience there is no theatre; and that in a world full of polarisation and mistrust, there is some real hope to be found in people’s continued willingness to turn up and sit for an hour or two in a roomful of strangers, experiencing they know not what.

So for an hour, they simply point a gentle roving camera at the audience, celebrating and loving the fact that we are all here, and – through film from yesterday – observing people’s behaviour as they get into their seats for a show. There’s a gauzy curtain that comes and goes across the front of the stage, leaving us to reflect on that great empty space – subtly lit by Scott Jun – when it is pulled back. Sometimes, actors appear before it, reflecting on what they are doing in recorded voices not their own; at one point, an actor emerges from the audience, and heads out into the street to recruit a passer-by to come in and have a look at us all.

In a world so teeming with crises and problems, it’s possible to argue, of course, with Ontroerend Goed’s decision, this year, to make a show that is essentially about theatre itself. Yet given our current obsession with war and conflict – and our growing tendency to normalise it as inevitable – I guess that the study of peace, tolerance and conviviality, and the forces that enable it, has to begin somewhere. Theatre is as good a place as any to start that journey; and as ever, Ontroerend Goed present their thoughts with such professionalism and poetry, and such a beautiful low-key integrity, that their vision becomes irresistible.

Mr. Jones ★★★★☆

Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236) until 23 August

It’s two full generations, now, since the day in October 1966 when a huge mountain of coal waste, drenched by weeks of rain, slid down the mountainside and all but buried the primary school at Aberfan in south Wales, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

Most of the schoolchildren who survived that day will be grandparents now; yet still, the image of the disaster haunts British industrial history, and Liam Holmes’s powerful one-hour play Mr. Jones offers a stark and timely reminder, in a strong and beautiful Welsh voice, of how human-made disasters can devastate lives, leaving emotional scars that perhaps never fade.

The play’s central character, Stephen Jones, is a young man about to leave school, and doing well in the local rugby team. He is also in love with Angharad, a lovely student nurse who is a little older than him, and has been living with Stephen, his dad, and his annoying but much-loved little brother, since the death of Stephen’s mother, a few year earlier.

Their youthful, flirty teenage friendship is devastated, though, on the day of the disaster, in which Stephen’s little brother dies, and Angharad, as a nurse, is deeply traumatised by what she sees; and after that, a terrible silence falls, as Angharad leaves for Cardiff, and Stephen’s father – a traditional man – simply refuses to speak about their loss.

Stephen too is damaged, unable to open up even to Angharad, who loves him; and as they drift apart, the play ends on a heartbreaking note, with his pleas to his silent father at least to let him talk about the happy little brother he loved. Liam Holmes plays Stephen with a brilliant intensity, and is beautifully supported by Mabli Gwynn as Angharad; and Michael Neri’s simple, powerful production leaves our imagination peopled with a much larger cast of characters than that, including all the children who lost their lives on that terrible day.

Lunchbox ★★★☆☆

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 24 August

After Tickbox and Chatterbox, here comes the third play in comedian, actress and writer Lubna Kerr’s trilogy about her life as a Scottish Pakistani woman. In Lunchbox, she looks back to her experience of secondary school in Glasgow, telling to the story of how she begins to find escape and acceptance through her involvement in school drama, but is constantly bullied by a boy called Steven.

As the play unfolds, Steven’s story therefore begins to dominate the narrative, as Lubna tries to understand the pressures that shape him. Steven’s mother is an uncaring alcoholic, and his family constantly pressurise him to give up on school, and join in his uncle’s lucrative criminal activities; and with the help of her wonderful drama teacher, Lubna begins to understand that difficult though life can be for a Pakistani girl in Glasgow, she has advantages and cultural capital – in the shape of a loving family who value education – that Steven sorely lacks.

All of this is told in genial but slightly awkward style in Kerr’s 55-minute show; she is a better storyteller than she is an actress, and her efforts to play Steven, and other characters, are not always successful.

Lubna Kerr’s work in reflecting on the Pakistani experience in Scotland is of real importance, though; and she accomplishes it with a star insight, gentle wit, and sheer generosity of spirit, that makes her shows a pleasure to watch.

READ MORE: Lubna Kerr: Why do you need to know where I am really from?

Miles ★★★☆☆

Summerhall (Venue 26) until 25 August

The jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis was surely one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century; and the popularity of this short play about his life, staged by Delirium and Lauren Reed Productions at Summerhall, speaks volumes for his influence and genius.

READ MORE: Previously unheard recordings of jazz legend Miles Davis to be heard in festival play premiere

Alas the play itself – written and directed by Oliver Kaderbhai – has a slight sense of imbalance about it; not least because Jay Phelps, the brilliant young trumpeter who is the moving spirit behind the show, does not play Davis himself. That role is played by Benjamin Akintuyosi, who makes a brilliant job of playing the older Davis, battered by his history of substance abuse, but still full of creative energy.

The problem is that the live music at the heart of Davis’ life therefore comes not from him, but from Phelps, as the other player on stage; and Phelps also has the almost impossible task of playing every other major character in Davis’ story, from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to Charles Mingus. The rest is a show that is sometimes confusing, but always driven by the sheer genius of Davis’ music, which sang out above all the stresses of his life as a leading black musician in 20th century America, and – like the voice of Billie Holiday, or the music of Charlie Parker – remains with us today.

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