5

	Old Police Cells Museum (venue website) Events 7-8, 13-15 May, 8:00pm-9:45pm Reviewed by Richard Stamp
Suitable for age 18+ only.

In a bunker-like basement below Brighton’s Town Hall, musician Sarah Angliss and actor Colin Uttley invite us to share their curiously retro apocalypse. It’s hard to comprehend now, but for a whole generation – their generation – the constant threat of nuclear war hung over a tense and fractured planet. And if the four-minute warning had gone off, the future of humanity might have depended on people like us: cowering in shelters, isolated, and underground.

4

	The Warren (venue website) Theatre 6 May, 2:00pm-3:00pm; 8 May, 7:30pm-8:30pm; 10 May, 6:00pm-7:00pm Reviewed by Mathilda Gregory
Warning: Contains strong language.  Parental Guidance. Under-17's must be accompanied by an adult.

This play by Moira Buffini, performed by young company Thrust, is quite a satisfying – if sinister – feast. Paige, a brittle, upper-middle-class woman is holding a dinner party to celebrate the success of her husband Lars’s book. The book itself is a terrible-sounding self-help tome, full of Randian Objectivism and similar nonsense.

4

	Bom-Bane's Music Cafe (venue website) Events 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, 31 May, 1-2 Jun, 1:00pm-2:00pm, 2:00pm-3:00pm, 3:00pm-4:00pm, 4:00pm-5:00pm, 5:00pm-6:00pm Reviewed by Mathilda Gregory
World Premiere.  Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

Bom-Banes café is a special place. In a city that’s full of distinctive arty spaces, Bom-Banes still manages to be in a little world of its own. A regular Fringe fixture, this year Bom-Banes hosts another site-specific piece that lets audience members explore the whole building, poking around in the bustling kitchen and sneaking around the owner’s flat upstairs.

3

	The Nightingale (venue website) Theatre 6 May, 3:00pm-4:00pm, 6:00pm-7:00pm, 8:00pm-9:00pm; 7 May, 9:00pm-10:00pm Reviewed by Richard Stamp
Warning: Contains strong language.  Parental Guidance. Under-17's must be accompanied by an adult.

Here’s an unusual, sweetly innocent little show, about two travellers who set off in search of a fable. Back in 2011, Ella Good and Nicki Kent took a road trip across northern California – reputedly home to Bigfoot, the American equivalent of our Loch Ness Monster. With their audience crowded into a tent they’ve erected on the stage, sitting round a spread-out map and munching campsite food, they tell the story of their journey and share some of the insights they gathered along the way.

5

	Marlborough Theatre (venue website) Theatre 4-6, 25-27 May, 7:30pm-8:30pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder
Warning: Contains strong language.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

I’m not a big boxing fan; whether the competitors are male or female, the sport just leaves me cold. After seeing Bitch Boxer, though, I wanted to strap on gloves and get straight into the ring. This was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen – and I don’t mean just at the Fringe; I mean that as an hour-long piece of theatre, it was close to being flawless.

4

	Brighton & Hove Wood Recycling Project (venue website) Theatre 7-11 May, 7:00pm-8:00pm Reviewed by Richard Stamp
Warning: Contains strong language.  World Premiere.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

A torrent of industrial language erupts from somewhere around the corner, and a burly carpenter hauls a window-frame onto the stage. With a hammer in his hand and the f-word never far from his lips, actor-playwright Tom Dussek gets straight down to work – straight into his monologue, straight into his anecdotes, and straight into a fine impersonation of Brian Blessed. What follows is a well-constructed hour of humour and poignancy, and an able riposte to anyone who’s ever caught themselves looking down on the humble working man.

3

	Brighton Rep Theatre at The Globe (venue website) Theatre 4-5, 14, 18, 23, 30 May, 2 Jun, 7:00pm-8:30pm; 10 May, 7:00pm-8:30pm, 8:30pm-10:00pm; 25 May, 1 Jun, 3:00pm-4:30pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder
Warning: Contains strong language.  Suitable for age 18+ only.

This is a tough one. I really like the idea of the Brighton Rep Theatre, and I especially love their inaugural festival mix of shows – a serious one, a lighter one and a children’s one. I think this is a great start for what I hope becomes not just a Fringe fixture, but also a fixture of our town. However, I have to review my full experience, and there was one big problem with that: the show was in the basement of a pub, which was very loud throughout the play. Not only was there a lot of noise coming from above us, but there wasn’t even a door on the theatre and the room was just across from the toilets.

4

	The Warren (venue website) Comedy 4 May, 7:30pm-8:30pm; 5-10 May, 9:00pm-10:00pm Reviewed by Darren Taffinder
Warning: Contains strong language.  Suitable for age 16+ only.

This review contains language and themes which some readers may find offensive.

I’m writing this review with a slight hang-over after a few drinks last night. But I won’t be as hung-over as Louise Lee, who was the lucky (or unlucky?) cast member of Shit-Faced Shakespeare selected to get completely shit-faced. I’m sure that at drama school, all actors are taught about the complete dedication required to act in a Shakespeare play; I don’t think that getting utterly wasted is quite what the lecturers had in mind.