3

	Marlborough Theatre (venue website) Theatre 21-24 May, 7:30pm-8:30pm Reviewed by Ben Aitken
Warning: Contains strong language.  Warning: Contains flashing lights.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

Mark Kydd’s one-man, semi-autobiographical show is a taut and lucid piece of storytelling that concerns the trials and traumas of two pairs of gay brothers: one from either side of the Atlantic, one from either side of fiction.

2

	The Nightingale (venue website) Theatre 21-22 May, 9:00pm-10:00pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder
World Premiere.  Parental Guidance. Under-17's must be accompanied by an adult.

To be honest, I have no idea what to say about The Life & Adventures of Billy the Kid. It’s a bit like trying to review Airplane! after watching heavy versions of Hamlet for a month. Was it good? I’m not really sure if good or bad, or even relevant. Some of it was awful. Some of it was really funny. Some of it was a complete mess. Did I laugh throughout? Yes, but that might say more about me than the show.

3

	The Old Courtroom (venue website) Theatre 17, 19 May, 1-2 Jun, 7:00pm-7:45pm; 18 May, 7:00pm-7:45pm, 7:30pm-8:20pm; 30-31 May, 7:30pm-8:20pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder
Suitable for age 16+ only.

In Extremis by Neil Bartlett is about Oscar Wilde’s visit to a palm reader, a few days before the start of his libel trail. At times it left me feeling like a non-Trekkie at a Star Trek convention, though admittedly, on the spectrum of Wilde obsessives I’m somewhat on the low end. I recently visited his grave in Paris – which was a lot grander than I was expecting – but otherwise, my knowledge begins and ends with the Stephen Fry film.

4

	The Nightingale (venue website) Theatre 17-19 May, 9:00pm-10:00pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder

You and Me starts with a bang, or rather, a fart. It might be my inner twelve-year-old coming out – but if you can’t laugh at a good fart joke, then something must be wrong with you. At its heart this is a deeply human show, and after all, you can’t get any more human than flatulence.

3

	Upstairs at Three and Ten (venue website) Theatre 17-19 May, 1:00pm-1:45pm Reviewed by Mathilda Gregory
Warning: Contains strong language and nudity.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

This is an interesting one-woman show, performed by the versatile and confident Caroline Curran. The simple premise is to present a glimpse into the lives of some notorious women, who illustrate the Marilyn Monroe quote which gives the show its title. The first of these is Marilyn herself, the second Mo Mowlam, and the third is murderer Aileen Wuornos.

4

	The Old Market (venue website) Theatre 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31 May, 2 Jun, 5:30pm-6:30pm, 7:00pm-8:00pm, 8:30pm-9:30pm Reviewed by Richard Stamp
Warning: Contains strong language.  World Premiere.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

Here’s a creative, funny, upbeat gem of a show – a show which you, the audience, very much help to put on. The setup’s simple enough: present yourself to the box office at The Old Market and wait to be collected by a slightly officious “tour guide”, who kits you out with an MP3 player and despatches you on a guided walk round Hove. But that’s just the jumping-off point for a wacky, wonderful hour of tomfoolery, which sees you play a pivotal role in a comedic tale of mystery.

1

	Marlborough Theatre (venue website) Theatre 18-19, 25-27 May, 4:00pm-5:20pm Reviewed by Alice de Cent
Parental Guidance. Under-17's must be accompanied by an adult.

An aging Albert Einstein is troubled by his distant relationship with his son, and an all-too-present guilt about creating the atom bomb. Add in a missing cat, and it’s no wonder he’s having trouble explaining everything in the universe. When his friend Peter arrives to stay, newly returned from the Korean War, Albert’s pacifism is put to the test by the highly-visible effects of a prolonged conflict.

4

	Varndean School Car Park (venue website) Theatre 11, 18 May, 12:00pm-1:00pm, 1:30pm-2:30pm, 3:00pm-4:00pm, 4:30pm-5:30pm, 6:00pm-7:00pm Reviewed by Richard Stamp
World Premiere.  Suitable for age 18+ only.

Another year, another assignation in the back of a stranger’s Citroen. This Time Next Year is the third of Random Acts Theatre Company’s unconventional annual forays to the Brighton Fringe – which see four short plays staged in the front seats of four parked cars, performed to audiences of just two people in the rear. It was, as ever, an enjoyable and refreshing experience, which proved once again that small-scale close-up theatre can be as effective as a grand spectacle on a distant stage.