The Queens of Cups have recently shown their three nights of New Moon Monologues (a festival of new writing running round the cycle of the moon) at The Space.
The third night was livestreamed to an online audience, but my grateful thanks go to Grace O’Keefe for access to the first and second night’s recordings as well, allowing me to look at all the new acts and Camden/Edinburgh previews.
So, on to night 1, which was Thu 15 Jun, and publicised as “For Words”.
The new pieces on this night were:
Oh Calm Down (written by Charlotte Anne Tilley, performed by Tilley and Maddy Banks), currently a work in progress about issues including mental instabiity and self-harm.
An intriguing taster of scenes from this play shows the potential to inform, entertain and move audiences, with a strong sense of wordplay between the characters of mother and daughter.
Tilley’s show Almost Adult will be seen at Edinburgh Fringe at the Gilded Balloon on various dates from 2 Aug, with tickets here.
The Really Useless Comedy (musical comedy), showcases The Really Useless Group (with any similarity to any Usual group purely coincidental) in a showcase of queerness, current comment and women’s voices. against melodies we might recognise.
Their show The Really Useless Cabaret was seen at the Vault Festival in Feb 2023. The three performers are Sinead Hegarty, Rebeka Dio, and Leoni Amandin.
They will be performing their show Algo-Rhythm at Camden Fringe – showing at The Bill Murray on 22 Aug. Tickets here
Aalex Mandel-Dallal (comedy) showcases a nervy, snarky, and observational performer in an Edinburgh Fringe preview – her show Break It Down can be seen at Just The Tonic on 15-27 Aug, with tickets here.
Described as “Aalex believes her basic bitch mentality gets her far in life … she’s now gone next level as she plays out, overshares and guides you through her lockdown breakdown, shedding light on the shit she’s learnt so we can assess the “situation” together.”
Cal Deficit is the drag alter ego of Charlotte Everest, Deficit provides an amusing physical performance of the bizarrest form of interpretive dance.
In another of her creative spheres, Everest is the artistic director of Mrs C’s Collective, but here, she gives a powerful performance touching on body positivity. Find out more about all her work at https://www.charlotteeverest.com/.
Let’s have a look at night 2, Fri 16 June, which was billed as “For Music”:
The first new piece on this night was For The First Last Time, by Charlie Dinkin and Fraser Perry. Dinkin tells stories for adults and precocious teens, while Perry provides the music.
Catch them at Camden Fringe at 2Northdown on 9-10 Aug, described as “silly, surreal and kind of sexy.” This show looks to be fun and funny, and Dinkin has a definite flair with an audience. Get tickets here.
Also, look out for The Spectacular, comedy in a mask, and social media posts – not so easy to follow in a digital capture. Seán Butler’s theatre piece looks as if it might be worth a watch in real life. Friday’s show also featured string quartet Viva La Vino.
Edinburgh Fringe comedy show Clrmentine gets a preview with Rosalie Minnitt. See it at Underbelly, Cowgate on 6-13, 15-27 Aug, with tickets here.
This musical character comedy sees Lady Clementine having until her 27th birthday to find “the One” in this frenetic Bridgerton-Gen Z hybrid.
Saturday’s show was a riot of drag and burlesque, with Katie Burke as Calamity Pain, Jordana Belaiche as Little Lord Fondleroy, and Lucía Plà Sánchez’s transformative “tangerine tassels”
Also on the bill each night were lively stand-up Christina Gutierrez; Erin Holland (in fetching sparkly pants) in a segment from her returning fringe show Bad Teacher (showing at Underbelly, Bristo Square on 6-13 Aug, with tickets here).
The Queen of Cups performed the comic songs “Girls Don’t Poop” (a step on from “horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies glow”) and “Uranus is in Retrograde” (as naughty as it sounds, so have a laff); while Grace O’Keefe sang the song “Break Up Number Four” (which sounds vaguely Sondheimic, if that is even a word).
The New Moon Monologues have gone from strength to strength since their pandemic roots, and as a new writing/emerging performance showcase, they certainly tick the diverse and variety boxes.
.***.5