The Counting House
Until 24 August (13.00)
Tamar Broadbent has brought her ‘Plus One‘ show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and The Counting House venue on West Nicolson Street. Tamar is a musical comedian who has graced our stages for over a decade now. Anchoring her trade in the theatre company ‘Boom Chicago’, in the USA, she has taught herself the art of writing, performing and riding the circuit solo, finding her calling to be especially in comedy musicals.
Returning to the Fringe with her sixth solo show, Tamar makes a performance melange from the key ingredients of her art; songs, comedy, acoustic guitar and keyboards – with the main theme being all about her becoming a mother, acquiring the aforemention’d ‘Plus One.’
The show starts, and a figure resembling Goldilocks emerges from the side of the stage – beautiful rivers of hair and a smile as wide as the Nile. Tamar Broadbent is no chit-chat comedian; straight and direct, she is at you like a lioness in hunting mode. Parenthood! Babies! Childbirth! and the transformational effects of maternity feature highly in this rollercoaster show of do’s and don’ts. No man will truly know the labours of childbirth, but Tamar will make damned sure you do.
Plus One is a lyrical journey through pregnancy, relationships, mums, dads and mind-altering childbirth, with a bit of car jacking sprinkled on top, and makes for a courageous and quirky show. It is an artists’s job to record both their own lives & the times in which we live in – and I would consider Tamar’s Plus One as something of a musical photo album.Alas, it’s all been done before, and it felt like Tamar was doing a show for doing a show’s sake, rather than creating something extra-special for the Fringe.
Raymond Speedie
themumble.uk 