a wonderful show that will entertain you while showcasing a variety of talents at the festival
Lost in Translation returns to the Fringe with a roster of badly translated scripts, some old and some new. The premise is simple: cut a famous film script to an hour, and then push it through various language translator sites until it comes back completely changed.
The night features a variety of guest performers performing alongside the core team of the show. For this show, they provided an absolutely absurd version of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, whose title itself was unfortunately translated. It is an incredibly well made show that provides a hilarious and entertaining script, blending nonsense with some more crafted jokes well. The script they end up with has been through some heavy and inaccurate translations before returning to English, and then is lightly tailored to make some sort of sense to the audience. While the true joy of the writing comes from the nonsense that is spat out by the translator, the hour long script is also cleverly written. It aptly tells the story without overburdening itself in perfect storytelling and features just enough pointed jokes that build throughout.
The cast of the night did an amazing job. They effortlessly jumped into the chaos and embraced every bit of jibberish. The rotating roster of cast members features those who know the script, and some who have never seen it before. This performance featured four performers who were new to the piece, which makes their abilities all the more impressive, as no one let on they were seeing this for the first time. Each performer is tasked with embodying a host of characters, which they all do brilliantly, engaging in varying degrees of physicality and vocality. The stagemanship of the show is entirely left on the shoulders of the cast, and they do a wonderful job in bringing a reading of the script fully to life.
This concept is brilliant, and provides the laughs all the way through. Where it really shines is when absolute nonsense is thrown into the script, or when the translations have gone so sideways that it is almost beyond language. And while it does need, in points, adjustments to allow the script to make some sort of sense, it may be fun to lean harder into the utter madness that comes from some of these translators. In their quest for order in the chaos, they maybe lose a little bit of the fun that the chaos brings.
Nevertheless, this is a wonderful show that will entertain you while showcasing a variety of talents at the festival. Each year promises a new script or two, so it ‘s exciting to think about what scripts they will tackle next.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Auditorium at Gilded Balloon at the Museum
Dates: 5th – 30th August (Not 17th, 24th)
Time: 21.00
Ticket prices: £18.00/ concessions £19.00
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 16+ (Restriction)