#Review by Lou of Austentatious – An Improvised Jane Austen Novel #Austentatious @FollowTheCow #EdFringe #EdFringe25

Austentatious – An Improvised Jane Austen Novel

Review by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

When I first saw Austentatious a number of years ago, I could see they were onto a good thing. Back then, they were playing to small audiences in small spaces. Now, they’ve moved up in the world and played to a packed McEwan Hall, a significantly larger venue. In Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, I thought it most fitting to return to this improv comedy group.

The premise is clever, taking part of a familiar title and adding something that gives a location, like a garden and a character like a gardener in this instance and say its a lost novel of Jane Austen’s before the improvisation begins…

Dressed in morning regency dresses and suits and double-entendres throughout created the main backbone of the piece, that this time was set in a garden with some familiar Pride and Predjudice characters and a nod to Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh, which, although are contemporary people, fit into the piece, after a while, only momentarily pulling you out before pulling you quickly back into the supposed lost classic. What ensues is laugh-out-loud parody that links the world of Jane Austen with the comedy genre, respectfully keeping to the themes you would expect from any Jane Austen novel. They show and understanding of Jane Austen’s works, the time period very well throughout the play and add in a type of comedy that you would see in sitcoms in times gone by. The cast bounce off each other and rarely was there a pause between scenes. A couple of times you could tell someone couldn’t quite think of something to say that wasn’t similar to what had already been said, but the clever thing was, the actors went with it and made it work and didn’t lose the flow.

Austentatious is a comedy group I highly recommend for an original take on Jane Austen’s writing. I highly recommend the entertaining and joyful, An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, where the novelty of such a concept of Jane Austen meets Improv grows.

#Review By Lou of An Ode To The Casting Director #AnOdeToTheCastingDirector #Stage #Theatre #Play #EdFringe #EdFringe25 @Gildedballoon

An Ode To The Casting Director
Written and Performed By Sophie Fisher

review written by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

Sophie Fisher’s highly expressive performance pulls you into the world of a struggling actress who is also working as a waitress and is unappreciated, especially by her dad and later, her boyfriend. As she goes, especially through the lows, you can really connect with her and travel through the pain of auditioning coupled with the pain from what’s happening in her homelife. Surprisingly, the timing and tone that Sophie Fisher uses, brings some comedy to these, otherwise, tense moments, which carries the drama along rather well and avoids some of the “poor me” complex it could easily have had. She deftly shows that even when things aren’t going well, there’s still humour that lightens it a bit, especially in the auditions when the truth comes out about her actual abilities. In some cases, it’s a bitter-sweet humour she brings that fits the character rather well.

Interestingly, and perhaps totally necessary for the audience to see all that’s going on in the venue when she sits down on a chaise-longue, is how she uses the parts of being filmed to great effect, almost like the close-up is not a necessity for anyone sitting further back, to see her, but to create a deeper impact of how she’s feeling.

The script itself is succinct and believable as the audience travels through the lows and highs of trying to keep a dream alive and survive through daily life too.
Sophie Fisher brings in quite a bit of emotion to the scenes and mixes it with hope.

You can catch An Ode To The Casting Director at the Gilded Balloon Patter House.
See more details here: edfringe.com

#Review by Lou of Alan Davies – Think Ahead – Stand-up @GildedBalloon #EdFringe #EdFringe2025 #WhatsonEdinburgh #AlanDavies

Review of Alan Davies – Think Ahead

written by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

Alan Davies, most famous for playing Jonathan Creek and for being in every series of QI. He also does stand-up. Think Again is his latest compelling, humorous act. Discover the synopsis and my full review below…

Synopsis

Alan is delighted to announce his return to the Edinburgh Fringe with his brand new show. He thinks he’s Marty McFly but he’s older than Doc Brown. He spends more time in the pharmacy than the gym. He needs to get his blood pressure down and somehow his manhood up. Subject to relentless eye rolls from his kids. What is he? A late middle-aged comedian.

Review

Alan Davies is on great form and Think Ahead is a show is one to watch out for!

As soon as he entered the stage, the laughs began as he addressed the audience in sections in a witty, satirical manner. He quickly engaged the audience and warmed everyone up to what came next in the show. It was a masterful stroke of entertaining genius!

The structure of the show is masterfully done as it weaves the fun with the reality of ageing in a succinct way as highly engaging humorous anecdotes and poignant stories are told. It’s been 10 years since he last appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and that’s 10 years too long. Luckily there are many dates you can pick from to go and see this magnificent show.

Alan Davies has many things that will make you “Think Ahead”. He even addresses his own age in an original, very humorous way, reflecting on his age and comparing it to the age -of familiar, well-known actors who were in films and TV shows. The more this went on, the funnier it was.

There was emotion, bravery as he addressed his heart-breaking childhood and his parents and the effects that linger on. He carried it off very well and even though the tone changed, it, for me, absolutely worked. He doesn’t linger too long, just the right amount of time for the audience to understand what happened and get at least a sense of how he feels now and then moves onto making you laugh again.

More laugh-out-loud humour ensued in his men of a certain age medical stories and also being a father trying to get a child to be ready for school.

Alan Davies new stand-up show has a lot of relevance for people who are already in their late 50’s and encourages those who aren’t there yet, to Think Ahead in a laugh-out-loud manner, but also with an edge of emotion and poignancy.

Think Ahead is highly worthy of anyone’s must see comedy schedule and leaves you wanting more… edfringe.com

#Review of Shantify By Lou, where pop songs and sea shanties ride the wave – 5 stars #EdFringe #EdFringe25 #PalaisduVariété @ARedinburgh #GeorgeSquareGardens

Shantify

Review by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

Shantify – where pop songs are “shantified” as you ride on the wave of coastal storytelling and music for an hour of glorious fun in Palais du Variete, a beautifully ornate Spiegel Tent at George Square Gardens. Check out my review below and how you can also get your seafaring hands on a ticket.

Shantify burst onto the scene with gusto and toe-tapping well-known songs sang as you’ve never heard them before, in their beautiful home of a Spiegel tent.

Through pop songs like 9 to 5, 500 Miles, Never Walk Alone, Texas Holdem and more, sang in the style of sea shanties, we see the fishermen contemplating life and negotiating storms on the sea.

The voices of the performers are rich in vocal talents and great range. The low notes are extremely low and they hit the high notes and everything in-between as they harmonise and sing together. Their timing and rhythm was perfect!
The energising choreography and songs carry well into the auditorium and you can’t help but be swept away by what’s happening on the stage.

They have jobs in a cafe, on the boat, in a bank. They are also volunteers on the lifeboats. This is quite a touching scene and nicely done. It’s a lovely nod to all the lifeboat volunteers who rescue those in danger.

They have dreams and aspirations and perhaps a romance on the horizon.

Shantify is an uplifting, heartfelt, fully energised musical full of possibilities of changing how life goes for some and keeping traditions alive for others.

Shantify is a show you won’t want to miss off your Fringe schedule.

You can book your ticket to ride the waves of joyful entertainment here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/shantify

#EdFringe #Interview By Lou with Julie Lake and Annie MacLeod about their show #ForgetMeNot #wildflowershow @julie__lake @anniemacleod @GreensideVenue

Interview By Lou with Julie Lake and Annie MacLeod
of Forget Me Not

Welcome to Bookmarks and Stages to talk about your fascinating show, Forget Me Not, which you’re performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

If you’ve ever watched Orange Is The New Black, then Julie Lake would be a familiar name. Since then she’s been more a creator of work on-screen and in music.
Annie MacLeod is and award-winning music and songwriter.
Together, they talk about their show Forget Me Not, motherhood, being in their 40’s and re-inventing themselves and more…
Here’s the synopsis of Forget Me Not. You can find the Edinburgh Fringe link to their show at the end of the interview.

Synopsis

Orange is the New Black’s Julie Lake and songwriter Annie Macleod join forces in Forget-Me-Not, a true story of motherhood, lost love and hauntings set to original music and heart-exploding harmonies. Two estranged childhood best friends reconnect in midlife – both mothers, stifled by traditional roles and longing for more creative freedom, adventure, sexual liberation and a deeper sense of self. Through storytelling and song, they rediscover the power of their bond, finding the healing and freedom they’ve been searching for all along. A moving, magical celebration of motherhood, creativity, resilience and the transformative power of female friendship.

Now, let’s check out he interesting answers they gave about their show and more…

Julie Lake: Who or what inspired you to act and how have you seen your career progress from being in the successful, Orange is the New Black?

I caught the acting bug at five—I wanted to be wild and expressive, but also connect with people in a way I couldn’t offstage. I was shy, secretive, and terrified of revealing too much. Writing used to scare me—I thought it might expose me as crazy or stupid. But since Orange is the New Black, I’ve shifted into creating my own work: pilots, screenplays, music—and now a live play. Turns out, sharing my inner world isn’t fatal. Just… occasionally awkward.

Annie MacLeod: You’re an award-winning music and songwriter. What or whom inspired you to take this career path?

I’ve loved music and theater since high school – Julie and I performed together as teenagers, and I always dreamed of being on Broadway or performing as a musician. But I took a different path, became a nurse practitioner, and poured myself into caregiving and motherhood. For years, I made music in the cracks of my life, stealing moments when I could. But once my kids were out of the baby phase, I had this wake-up call—like, what happened to my dreams? I knew I needed to reclaim them. Our play tells the story of that transformation.

Julie Lake: The play explores motherhood and the complex privilege and joy surrounding this. How would you describe the complications and what is it about this that makes it important to highlight?

When I became a mom, I slipped into a role that didn’t feel like me. I’d been a lifelong artist—filming a pilot at eight months pregnant that got into SXSW. But after my son was born (and then Covid hit), I disappeared into nonstop caregiving. I cried if I left him for an hour. I was secretly writing music, but had lost the courage to share it. I thought it was all over. Annie helped me find myself again. She saw me when I couldn’t. My song “Oldest Friend” says it best: “Be my witness when the fog becomes too thick, when I can’t see beyond these lines. Tell me something, that you see in these dry bones, when my worn heart has lost its shine.”

Annie MacLeod: How did you come up with lyrics and music to convey the complexities of motherhood, so the story really penetrates into you audiences? There’s a song in the show called The Sacrifice that poured out of me during a time I was reckoning with how my own mother’s pain shaped my experience of motherhood. My dad left when I was a baby, and my mom—who struggled with depression—sacrificed everything to raise me. But in the process, she gave up her own desires, her light. I grew up thinking I had to shine bright enough for the both of us. That sadness, that ghost of unfulfilled womanhood, made its way into how I mothered. Writing Sacrifice was the only way I could process it—through poetry and music. The song helped me turn something generational and heavy into something healing.
“I am your lifeline, but I’m not drowning too. You say, I come from you. Oh, I come from you.”
That’s what I want to offer my kids—and maybe the audience too.

Julie Lake: What is your acting process to convey the theme of grief of futures so the audience can feel something of what you feel and get the point across about this?

Honestly, I just hope I can get through the show without crying too much. I want the audience to really hear the story and feel their own feelings—not mine. So while I’m performing, I’m often trying to hold back. The truth is, there’s no way to fully explain in words or tears the depth or duration of what Annie and I went through. All we can do is tell the truth of what happened and trust the audience to connect it to their own experiences. And the songs do a lot of the emotional work for us, too – they’re really the emotional landscape of this show.

6 . Julie and Annie Re-invention is a big and fully loaded theme running through the musical. How complicated do you think it is to re-invent yourself in your 40’s, what are the positives and the challenges?

Both of us made big shifts in midlife—Annie left her career as a nurse practitioner to pursue music full-time, and Julie leaned into song-writing and performing her own music for the first time at 40. Doing this as mothers was especially hard. Our culture treats anything outside caretaking or earning money as selfish—but it’s not. Reclaiming your wholeness, your voice, your creativity, is one of the best gifts you can give your kids. It’s modelling. We want our children to see what it looks like to live in alignment, not abandon yourself. That’s not selfish—it’s brave, and it’s deeply loving.

Julie and Annie: What do you hope the audience will gain from watching your show?

We hope audiences—especially mothers—leave our show feeling seen, inspired, and reminded of their creative spark. Forget-Me-Not is a love letter to the parts of ourselves that get buried in caregiving, shame, and self-doubt. We want women to feel less alone in their struggles and more empowered to reclaim their voices and dreams.

We’re also launching workshops and women’s circles specifically for Artist Mothers—to keep this conversation going beyond the stage. It’s about building a community where creativity and motherhood can coexist.

Are you an Artist Mother too? Start here to join the tribe: https://annie-wtb3mkl5.scoreapp.com/

Julie and Annie: What inspired you to take your musical to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and what are you excited most about?

Julie: I’d always wanted to go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but I thought that ship had sailed, that I was too old. But when we started to conceive of this show, it just came to me again, that we could apply at least? And then when we got in I flipped out, I’d have to leave my babies to do it, face so many fears, play my music for people for the first time, but I knew in my gut it was the right next step for us. And I know we would have never made this show without the looming deadline of the fringe. It was too hard, too much work, too emotionally taxing, I mean we did 30 drafts, composed 6 songs, staged the play in NYC with our magnificent director, Peter Cook (Never Sleep Alone). I’m so proud of this show that we’ve created, and whatever else happens at the Fringe is just gravy at this point.

Forget-Me-Not runs August 1–9 at Greenside @ George Street 11:40AM.

Tickets to the show: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/forget-me-not

Where can people follow you on social

Artist Mother Quiz/ Join the tribe!: https://annie-wtb3mkl5.scoreapp.com/

Wildflowers Website: https://wildflowersshow.com/

Julie Lake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julie__lake?igsh=ZTVocWF1NHpzZDVm&utm_source=qr

Annie Macleod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anniemacleod?igsh=MWp2ZmpwN29zOTZrMw%3D%3D

Wildflowers Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/thewildflowershow/?igsh=bWo0MXlzZXJmazB5&utm_source=qr#

Julie Lake TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@julie__lake?_t=ZT-8yNvJCdWAiD&_r=1

#Extract and #Interview for An Imposter in Shetland by Marsali Taylor #MarsaliTaylor @between_pr

An Imposter In Shetland
By Marsali Taylor

Today I am on the Reading Between the Lines blog tour with a little extract, given by the author/publisher’s permission about the new crime fiction book by Edinburgh writer, Marsali Taylor, An Imposter In Shetland. Check out the blurb, the extract and a couple of questions posed to the author below…

Ann Cleeves says “This series is a must read for anyone who loves the sea, or islands or joyous intricate storylines”.

Blurb

When an internet lifestyle influencer arrives on Shetland to document her ‘perfect’ holiday, the locals are somewhat sceptical.

Joining a boat trip to the remote islands of St Kilda with sailing sleuth Cass Lynch and her partner DI Gavin Macrae, the young woman seems more concerned with her phone than the scenery.

But when it’s time to leave, there’s no sign of her. Despite mounting a desperate search, she’s seemingly vanished without trace – from a small island in the middle of the sea.

As a puzzling investigation gathers pace, there are more questions than answers – and uncovering the truth will reveal dark and long-hidden secrets…

Extract – The investigation begins:

‘Cass Lynch, the mate,’ Gavin said. ‘Cass, DS Macdonald, from Lochmaddy.’ He smiled and added, ‘Cass is my partner, so we can speak in front of her, to save her cross-questioning me later.’

He motioned DS Macdonald to the table, and I passed round tea and biscuits, then finished stirring my mince and went on to potato peeling, listening hard.

‘Well,’ DS Macdonald said. She had the same soft accent as Gavin. ‘I talked to the warden on Hirta, and there’s still no sign of your missing passenger. The helicopter found nothing, you found nothing.’

Gavin nodded.

‘So the most likely scenario is that she went too close to the cliff, overbalanced and fell.’ She looked up at Gavin. ‘She’d have gone under in seconds, particularly if she had a heavy backpack.’

Magnie shook his head. ‘She had a backpack, fairly bulky, but there was no weight in it. I handed it down to her in the dinghy. At a guess, her jumper and her jacket, maybe, and her phone and, what do they call those things, selfie stick? Something like that. I couldn’t see inside o’ it, but the top of a stick was poking up into the corner.’

‘You didn’t find it?’

Magnie shook his head. ‘It must have gone with her.’ He frowned. ‘More likely to act as a float for the body, but I suppose it’d have had time to fill with water.’

‘Besides,’ Gavin said, ‘we’re pretty certain she didn’t climb the hill. She was seen on the shore at half past one, and walking along towards the headland, Ruival, not long after two. Nobody saw her after that. Those bare hills, you’d have seen her moving on them.’

‘I went about half-way up the hill,’ Magnie said, ‘That would have been a bit after two. I met Sophie coming down, on the road, and went on up past her, and sat for a bit, looking around. There was no sign of Tiede on the beach then, and I’m fairly sure I’d have seen her on the hill, if she’d climbed it.’

‘Also,’ Gavin said, ‘I went along the headland myself. Ruival. It was soft turf all along the far side, and there were no scrape marks in it, as if she had felt herself going and had struggled for a grip. If she went over there, she went straight over from the edge. Perhaps she fell giddy of a sudden, or lost her balance.’

She’d been unexpectedly sure-footed on the Ullapool pier but accidents happened,

‘You’ve not mentioned suicide as a possibility,’ DS Macdonald said. We all three shook our heads together.

‘You can never tell, of course,’ Gavin said, ‘but there were no signs of that.’

‘No,’ Magnie agreed. ‘But she spent the first o’ the morning wi’ the London couple. You could ask them.’

DS Macdonald nodded, and made a note of it. We were silent for a moment.

‘I phoned Lerwick from the Warden’s house,’ Gavin said, ‘and got an update once we got a signal. The secretary, Elise, lives at home with her parents. Shona, that’s one of my officers, went round to call but she wasn’t there. They have a caravan, and she’s taken it off for the weekend – her mother wasn’t sure where, and her phone went straight to voicemail. The mother didn’t think she knew much about Tiede, “or nothing that she’s telt us,” and she didn’t know where Tiedecame from, or what her real name was, if it wasn’t TiedeBarton.’

What made you initially decide to write the first Shetland Sailing Mystery, Death on a Shetland Longship, and did you see it becoming a series?

I’d always expected it to be a series, with Cass and Gavin’s relationship slowly growing. I’m not sure I expected so many books! – Imposter is number 13. Write about what you know is the usual advice, and the older I get, the more sure I am that it’s true. I’m not from Shetland, I grew up near Edinburgh, but I came here as a very new, very green teacher in 1981, and I’ve lived here ever since. I’m not sure I know anywhere else well enough to write about it … as for sailing, well, I grew up with boats, as our childhood summers were spent in the remote West Highlands, in a cottage you could only get to by boat. I discovered sailing in my teens. There were no crewing positions for a girl, so I used my gap-year earnings to buy a sailing dinghy and learned to sail by capsizing all round the Forth. When I came to Shetland, I kept sailing my beloved Lady Blue for several years, then moved up to a small keelboat: the original of Cass’s Khalida. I’ve done all of Cass’s sailing journeys except the epic trip down to Gavin’s loch in Death of a Shetland Sailor. She’s young, fit and very experienced … but I researched it as thoroughly as if I was going to sail it, and when I did that same passage on the tall ship Sørlandet (described in Death in Shetland Waters) I felt like I’d already been there.

What has been your favourite book so far to write in the series and why?

I enjoy writing every book, because each has different challenges, like dovetailing the investigation and the 1981 diary in Death at a Shetland Festival, or working out the Hnafatafl moves that structure Death on a Shetland Isle, but I think my very favourite is A Shetland Winter Mystery, which I was writing during Covid. We had a particularly snowy winter, so I had fun describing how gorgeous Shetland is when the hills are all white, and it’s set around the old Norse Christmas, so I could talk about the old customs at Yule. Those include the trows, Shetland’s little people, who are let loose to create mischief during the darkest days. I was missing my grandchildren, who live south, so I let the teenagers take over the book with their trowie antics… until the fun turns serious when one of them goes missing, leaving only a trail of footprints which end in the middle of a snow-covered field.