Fringe Reviews
BUXTON FRINGE LAUNCH PARTY - Underground
So here it is! Buxton Festival Fringe has arrived once again!
The official Fringe launch party 2022 at the Underground at the Old Clubhouse venue was an excellent celebration for the 43rd year of the festival. The night gave us all an insight into the real mix of shows and performances we have for this year. It was brilliant to see Fringe enthusiasts new and old, coming together even after the difficult few years we have had, all excited for this year's mix of talent and entertainment.
The evening began with the comedy and music duo, Black Liver, who are the performers behind, 'Support Your Local Library! A Gothic Pub Rock Opera'. The pair played guitars and integrated funny gags and jokes into their music! The duo will be performing their theatre show at Underground at the Old Clubhouse on the 10th July, 7-7:55pm, 12th July 5:30-6:25pm and 17th July 8:30-9:25pm.
Tom Crawshaw introduced the evening by remaking his planned Fringe Launch party speeches for 2020, 2021 and for 2022. After the struggles of the pandemic over the past few years, Tom brought to light how different things were and how much his speeches had to change for that!
There were a range of previews of performances throughout the evening. We were shown a video preview of 'Runny Honey' from 2021 Fringe Theatre Production Award-winners, preforming a hard-hitting drama about three women thrown together in prison. Their show will be on at Underground at the Old Clubhouse on the 6th July 7-7:40pm, 8th July 4pm-4:40pm and 9th July 1-1:40pm.
Next we saw a preview of the show 'Adventures of Sound and Light', from twice Buxton Fringe music award winner, Egriega. He will be performing his 'most ambitious project' at the Rotunda on the 18th and 22nd July 7:30-8:30pm and 23rd July 3-4pm.
Chris Neville Smith performed an extract from his event 'The Rats in the Walls', telling the tale of a man locked away in an asylum, begging the audience to tell the world about the demon rats before they kill again. The performance will be on at Underground at The Old Clubhouse on the 6th Jul 4pm to 4:55pm, 7th & 13th Jul 1pm to 1:55pm and 14th Jul 4pm to 4:55pm.
The fantastic Annie Sup and Angela Bra, behind the drag-infused musical comedy show 'Annie and Angela's Disco Divorce Party', gave us a great preview of their hilarious show that you're unlikely to forget! Their show will be on Green Man Gallery – Workshop Room 15th and 16th July 8-9pm!
Our final performance preview of the evening was the great 'Darren Poyzer's Sunday Service Live!'- performing his popular online show to a live audience for the first time! During his varied performance he played a range of songs on his guitar and harmonica with audience participation, coupled with humour! This Fringe must-see is on at Underground at The Old Clubhouse on the 10th & 17th July 2:30-3:30pm.
Throughout the evening we had a raffle filled with a wide range of excellent prizes sourced from shops and including gift vouchers for restaurants throughout Buxton! We even had a charades game for the names of the different shows throughout Fringe 2022. And to top it all - I won some nougat! A brilliant night to kick-start Buxton Fringe Festival 2022!
Alice Featherstone
