Brian Ferguson’s diary
It’s a rare thing to see The Scotsman’s chief theatre critic star-struck – but Joyce Mcmillan certainly seemed to be when she was joined by Jason Donovan to help present the Scotsman Fringe Awards.
The Australian actor and singer, who is appearing at Assembly George Square with his Amazing Midlife Crisis show, was not the only one looking a bit bleary-eyed as the event got under way at 10am.
But unlike most of those in the room, Donovan is only dipping his toes in the Fringe waters for a run of five shows – his first ever experience of Edinburgh in August.
So he had no real excuse for looking completely flustered when he was asked how long he had been in Edinburgh.
“What day are we on now? It’s quite fullon performing here, I have to say. It’s a very vibrant festival, with the young, the old and the middle-aged – it’s everything.”
Donovan spoke of how his one-man show recalls the highs and lows of his life in the limelight and lifts the lid on his “thoughts, hopes, anxieties and passions.”
After helping present awards to the last round of Scotsman Fringe First winners this month, and hearing about the number of current issues they have tackled, he added: “I’m completely touched and inspired. It makes me and my mullet seem quite inappropriate.”
The cast of My Left Right Foot: The Musical have been rightly lauded for their riproaring satire on an amateur drama company’s chaotic efforts to embrace inclusivity and tackle the issue of disability – inspired by Christy Brown and the Oscar-winning film of his story, My Left Foot.
The section in which they attempt to embrace Irishness was performed at the Scotsman Fringe Awards – which was clearly an experience for Fringe Society chief executive Shona Mccarthy sitting on the front row.
Despite the early hour, the cast gave it gusto performing lines like: “Dublin in the 30s, living in a slum, everyone’s got scabies, but still they’re having fun, laughter and joy are heard everywhere, everyone is cold and poor but no-one seems to care, because they’re Irish, they’re Irish, full of fun and wit, they’re Irish and happy, even though their lives are shit.”
Mccarthy, who was born in County Down and was in charge of the Derrylondonderry UK City of Culture programme, took it all well, joking: “As someone from an Irish family of eight, I object to this humiliation!”