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★★★½
Purple Hat Theatre’s ‘A Time Traveller’s Life’ is a play written and performed by Julia Bolden: an actor and longtime advocate of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. From first performing in 1979 to various festival jobs over the years, Julia is back for 2024 with a solo show about her Fringe experiences and is providing audiences with insight into what it is like to perform and work during the world’s largest arts festival.
The lady with the purple hat
Dressed in a purple hat and a coat adorned with images of Fringe programmes, the effort in the costume is second to none. The show has been simplistically staged by director Richard McNally and relies solely on the performer, the writing and the props. There is no set, but this is not needed as the storytelling is the focus. Through a time travelling format, Julia leads the audience through approximately 10 festival experiences, taking time to showcase the programme covers from each year. Surprisingly, it is an educational play, which on a small scale reflects the changes of society over the years, as a result of technological changes.
A whirlwind journey through time
The challenge with covering such a number of years in 50 minutes, is that the audience really only gets a taste of each of the anecdotes. Whilst the early experiences are humorous, specifically the excitement of being a student company at the festival in the late 70s and early 80s, these make up the majority of the script and the latter years are covered very lightly in comparison. The writing would be more engaging if the years and experiences were covered more equally, as even though the recent years have been less eventful, there is still an element of fun to the storytelling.
Personality within the writing
It also feels like the time travelling structure complete with audience interaction slightly limits the amount of personality that can shine through. With theatre inspired by real life, there is a certain amount of charm to just engaging with the audience on a personal level, and being so segmented in its current form makes the structure too rigid. It would be ideal to see a little more fluidity, which in turn would make room for more humour and off-script persona. Interestingly, the opening and finale monologues showcase the most emotion and personal insight, which feels like the real Julia sharing her voice with the audience.
A joyous look behind the scenes of the Fringe
Whilst it would have been wonderful to see more of Julia’s charisma shine through in the performance, ‘A Time Traveller’s Life’ is a nostalgic trip down memory lane that will appeal to anyone who adores the Edinburgh Fringe. Appreciating that this is a niche subject matter and will most likely entice super fans of the festival, you have to admire the writer and performer’s commitment to sharing her journey throughout the years, including the highs and lows. It is no easy challenge, talking to the audience about that time a critic panned your show, but the messaging is key, never give up and always keep trying, as there is no feeling like performing on stage at EdFringe!
Performers could also certainly learn a thing or two from Julia, whose wisdom and experience with the festival knows no bounds. If you have ever been interested in finding out what the Fringe is all about, Purple Hat Theatre’s piece of new writing is your gateway to learning why so many people keep coming back year after year. You can find ‘A Time Traveller’s Life’ at Greenside @ Riddles Court until 24th August (not 18th), with performances starting at 12:50, just off the Royal Mile. Tickets can be purchased via the festival website.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
Love Kat xxxx
*My ticket for ‘A Time Traveller’s Life’ was gifted in exchange for an unbiased review.
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