Issue #7 - Wednesday 11th August - FREE

MORE INSIDE...Muder at the PleasanceAn investors’ report from financial guru, CJSadie Frost performs alongside Frances Ruffelle at the Pleasance for one night onlyBarbershopera share their Top 3 favourite songs

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MEMORY CELLSProving that the Pleasance is a

destination for the best in theatre as well as the best in comedy, Louise Welsh’s new play Memory Cells is impressing audiences in its current production. Directed by double Fringe First winner Hannah Eidinow, this chilling play contains stark themes and images, but is, at its heart ,about a human relationship.

Perhaps best known for her fiction including The Cutting Room and the recently-released Naming the Bones, Louise Welsh is a writer living and working in Glasgow. John Stahl, who plays Barry in the play, says that “the initial hook for me was Louise Welsh’s name because I knew her as a novelist. I always liked her gothic style and clear sense of passion.”

“She is an extremely strong writer and although her novels are often narrowly labelled as ‘crime thriller’, she writes with great breadth both in fiction and stage writing.”

Memory Cells is based on the Greek myth of Persephone, in which the daughter of Zeus is kidnapped by and becomes the consort of Hades who rises from the underworld. Emily Taaffe, who plays Cora in the piece, says that “a lot of people assuming it is based on the American and Austrian cases but she wrote it before then as an examination of characters. The relationship between captives and captor are massively interesting, so we’ve always tried to maintain it as a central thread.”

In Welsh’s play Barry has convinced himself that holding Cora as his victim

Chilling, But at heaRt a stoRy oF huMan Relationships

is a legitimate act, an expression of love, a necessary protection. “There are some challenging moments to watch”, admits Emily, “but it’s mostly about a relationship – the darker moments come in pockets. Without giving anything away, what is nice about the play is that you can watch it evolve and be left with a lighter feel.”

“It actually has quite a domestic tone to it” adds John. “It’s not black, tense or angst-ridden, but a story examining the break-up of a love affair.”

The play is being directed by Hannah Eidinow, who has previously been awarded Fringe Firsts with Gone and What I Heard About Iraq. Hannah is also associate director at the Pleasance, supporting theatre though various channels. As producers, The Pleasance Theatre Trust have supported Memory

Cells throughout. “There’s a real family atmosphere which Anthony [Alderson, Director of the Pleasance] does a great job to foster” says Emily.

Memory Cells continues throughout the festival.

Memory CellsPleasance Dome

4-30 Aug (Not 17, 24) 17:20

John Stall and Emily Taaffe perform in Memory Cells, Photo: Gabrielle Motola

Stop the press!Charles T. Dreybourne,

proud owner of The Empire music hall has been found dead!

Charles, often known as ‘Champagne Charlie’ for his hard drinking tendencies was found brutally murdered last night. Police are busy investigating the crime but have admitted it’s going to be a tough job as Charlie was not short of enemies.

In fact he had a strained relationship with nearly all of the acts upon The Empire’s bill and police believe that the killer is most likely to be one of his employees.

Suspects include: the mysterious and masterful magician; The Great Mephisto; Nervy knife-thrower; Ray the Blade; sexy singing Siamese striplets; The Cerberus Sisters; the maginificent mime Gaston Garceu; and Albert frog the schizophrenic ventriloquist

If anyone has any information regarding this crime please contact the police immediately. Alternatively head down to The Empire music hall at The Pleasance Dome on

MuRDeR at the pleasanCe

the evening of the 16th and see if you can help get to the bottom of this most dastardly deed. A special unit ‘Les Enfants Terribles’ has been set up to head the investigation.

Please note ‘The Empire’ employs a strict dress code so dress to impress in as suitable music hall attire as you can, and don’t forget your dancing shoes as it looks like it’s gonna be a long night.

The Vaudevillains - Les Enfants Terribles

Theatre CompanyPleasance Dome

16 Aug 22:45 (Until Late)

Dear Investor,As you know, 2010 has been challenging for many

market participants (hello, Goldman Sachs!), particularly for those of us not involved in oil or graft. At times like these, I try to remind myself that, at the end of the day, I’m rich. And, more importantly, I can sleep at night (hello, Zolpidem!).

Thanks to relatively minimal diversion of funds for administrative expenses (hello, Lagavulin 16 year old!), you can expect your investment in Righteous Money to grow modestly over the current quarter, although I remind you, the real value of your dollars may decline, meaning--in layman’s terms--you’re fucked.

Thank you for investing in Righteous Money. It’s people like you that are worth doing, I mean, that make this job worth doing. I am reminded of that each time the curtain goes up and I see the anticipation and sexual desire on the faces of the audience--the whole thing makes me say, “Fuck. I made this, and you haven’t done shit. Why don’t you take your £5 concession price bitch-about-the-convenience-fee ‘why is there duct tape on my seat’ front row ticket and go see some Hollywood focus-group-approved ADVERTAINMENT and don’t come back until you realize that I am the only thing separating you and your four-door juice-drinking Guardian-reading family from the brainless telly-flickering swamp of your days because THIS IS FUCKING ART YOU EAT-PRAY-LOVE DRONES THIS IS ART AND YOU ARE TALKING ON A CELLPHONE ABOUT YOUR DRAPES.”

Here’s to a great fourth quarter.Sincerely,CJ, Host of Righteous Money

FRoM the DesK oF CJ

Please take careful note of this notice (below). The Pleasance Times will publish any further notices that occur.

Righteous Money, Pleasance Courtyard 4-29 Aug (Not 16, 23), 23:00

@ThePleasance#pleasancetimes

RT @sodasconeI think everybody should go and see @russell_kane at the #Pleasance. I left with a sore throat and belly from hee-hawing! #edfringe

RT @John_FellowsThe guy who played Nick Clegg in the News Review at the Pleasance last night was brilliant! *** #edfringe

RT @thestephmerritt: Lovely funny show The Golden Lizard at Pleasance, then the very young & talented Daniel Sloss. Good start to the day’s work at #EdFest

B a r b e r s h o p e r a : apocalypse no! co-writer and performer Tim Sadler, tells The Pleasance Times about top three songs in the show ad why he likes them:arrival of the horsemen:The theme song from the show, involving us riding around menacingly on hobby horses and wearing hooded cloaks, while singing a sinister madrigal with the words: ‘Horsemen/Men on horses/Horses with a man on them’ over and over again. (you gotta have) apocalypse:The opening number, designed to slap the audience round the face with a tight and tasty, close-harmony, boogie-woogie exhortation to God to wipe

Sadie Frost will join alluring singer Frances Ruffelle for a one-night-only performance today. Ruffelle is performing her new show, Beneath the Dress, throughout August at the Pleasance’s newest venue, Ghillie Dhu. This sexy and sophisticated show has already recieved five star reviews and enjoyed enthusiastic audience responses.

Today, Frances’s best friend Sadie Frost will join her on stage for the performance. The actress

and fasion designer will sing the duet “My Best Friend” with Ruffelle. Frost has enjoyed a successful year on stage already, appearing in Fool for Love at Riverside Studios and recieving a Whatsonstage.com Award nomination for her solo performance in Touched, her West End debut play abut a Madonna fan.

Ruffelle’s show is a unique cabaret journey; classics enlivened like you’ve never heard before and new songs you’ll

want to hear again and again. Frost will certainly be performing alongside a hugely talented singer. Luckily, she says “I did train as a singer when I went to stage school, and I’m doing a film at the moment

where I’m singing. I’m having lessons, but I know my limit.”

Frances Ruffelle: Beneath the Dress

4-30 Aug (Not 17, 24) 20:15& Sadie Frost 11 Aug 20:15

ONE NIGHT ONLY: SADIE FROST JOINS FRANCES RUFFELLE ON STAGE

out the human race. Sung by the show’s bad guys, the Archangel Auditors. It comes complete with a devastatingly intricate Bob Fosse-style dance routine, which I am particularlygood at. i Just Wasn’t Cut out For this:In which the horsemen tell it like it is, giving full vent to the pain of their torment

in being stuck in jobs in which they are required to carry out acts of evil and destruction, when in fact they are all deeply sensitive souls. Sincere boyband faces abound.

Barbershopera: Apocalypse No!

Pleasance Dome4–29 Aug

(Not 11, 16, 18) 22:5516 & 23 Aug 15:50

BaRBeRshopeRa’s top 3 songs

Frances Ruffelle, star of West End and Ghillie Dhu

WEDNESDAY 11TH

BBC COMEDY PRESENTSPleasance Dome 23:00

Chris RamseyImran Yusuf

Broken BiscuitsEd Aczel

Joe Wilkinson

BEST OF EDINBURGH: THE SHOWCASE SHOW

Pleasance Courtyard 13:10HOST – YIANNA

AGISILAUO STUART GOLDSMITH

MIKE WOZNIAKSIMON MUNNARY

DOC BROWN

ITCH: A SCRATCH EVENTPleasance Courtyard 14:00

Jarred ChristmasSimon Munnery

Gordon SouthernClovis van Darkhelm

Hils Barker

MERVYN STUTTER’S PICK OF THE FRINGE

Pleasance Courtyard 12:55Showstoppers

The Roaring BoysHit MeHitch

Paper BirdsGorin Stokes

Supertramp, Sickert & Jack The Ripper

Please note that all line-ups are subject to change. Check the Box Office for the latest information.

NICHOLAS PARSONS: HAPPY HOUR

Pleasance Courtyard 17:10Strassman

Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer

RONNA AND BEVERLYPleasance Courtyard 17:45

Alan CochraneNina Conti

TALES FROM THE CROW’S NEST

Pleasance Courtyard 23:00Kitsch Kats

Andrew CloverSoul Music Sensation

Omar& One more act TBC

VIVE LE CABARETPleasance at

Ghillie Dhu 21:30The Wau Wau Sisters

Lili La ScalaPippa the Ripper

Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer

Kiki KaboomGypsy CharmsThe Kitsch Kats

HOST: Desmond O’Connor