Morning:
14°c
Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
My MySpace Baby: Dan March faces up to fatherhood
The Plan: Death chalks up another victim
EDINBURGH THEATRE
My Myspace Baby
****
The Plan
***
Actor Dan March asks if anyone has had a one-night stand with a stranger and found out he is a dad when she contacts them two years later through MySpace. No? Well, in a beguiling show, March explains how that happened to him.
On a bare stage, March wittily describes his lazy, hedonistic lifestyle before fatherhood was thrust upon him at the age of 33, but many of the funniest moments of his monologue come as he details the smugness and self-obsession of actors in a life governed by the next casting call, his ridiculous joy at getting a bit part in EastEnders and his desperation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company.
March made his Fringe debut in a play I produced in 1999 and I can confirm he really was the callow partying and girl-obsessed youth he describes here. But his readiness to accept responsibility for accidental parenthood marks the man and this heart-warming (but never icky) hour restores one's faith in humanity.
The Plan dumps us at the other end of human existence, as Death sits in her office, chalking up each fatality in car accidents as they are announced on the radio.
Lynn Ferguson flits between characters - cancer patient, accountant, vengeful wife - with just a change of expression or demeanour but it's the script (co-written with Elly Brewer) that stays in the mind. "With one foot in the future and one in the past, you can't help but shit on the present," the Grim Reaper says, justifying taking another life too soon.
Running at 50 minutes, The Plan feels too short: a longer version soon, please.
Both until 25 August (www.gildedballoon.co.uk; 0131 668 1633).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
