Babur and Humayan are guards at the site where the Taj Mahal is being built. On the day it’s finished, they are charged with cutting off the hands of the 20,000 artists and artisans who have made it beautiful; the emperor doesn’t want them to contribute their skills...

In a clever detail, the preshow music is an endless loop of “White Christmas”. The characters are in an loop of their own. One of them (played by Jon Paterson) has dragged a little homemade device out of a closet in his friend’s house. That pal is played by playwright...

Well, that’s … opaque. I admire the musical skills of writer and solo performer Willi Carlisle, but I have very little idea what he’s trying to say. In There Ain’t No More, Carlisle plays an old folksinger who’s giving what may be his last concert: he’s dying of...

Because it’s humble and autobiographical, some people might ignore Destiny, USA, but that would be a huge mistake: it’s one of the most skilful and moving shows I’ve ever seen at the Fringe. Laura Anne Harris is the sole live performer in this production of her...

I cried three times watching Josephine. The first was because I’m so grateful when I get to see the real thing: Tymisha Harris is a star. Harris plays Josephine Baker in this solo show, which the company describes as “a burlesque cabaret dream play”. Baker was the...

Yes! This is how you tell a story. It starts with a wedding and a fainting bride. In her swoon — with the help of a chorus called the Grimm Sisters — the bride has the courage to confront her repressed memories. In that backstory, the bride is sixteen and a poor...

I’m a fan of eccentricity but a show in which virtually all the performer offers is his own zaniness is kind of like a meal in which the sole ingredient is … I don’t know … marshmallows. In Sam Kruger’s monologue, he plays a space alien who comes to Earth because he’s...

Tim Motley isn’t reinventing magic with Crazy for Dick Tricks, but he is practising it with a lot of charm. Some of the formats are familiar: a series of “failed” attempts at mindreading come together in a big finish, for instance. There are too many magic scarves and...

Solo performer Carlyn Rhamey has charm to burn: she engages easily and confidently with her audience, inviting everybody in and capitalising on the liveness of the event. But, in Scaredy Cat, most of the stories that she tells about her own fearfulness aren’t as...