Latest Fringe sensation... the British Army
Echoes of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum as soldiers’ stories return to stage
IT is an announcement that would have Battery Sergeant Major Williams barking out orders at his ’orrible lot – news that the show must go on.
But unlike classic comedy It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, the stage for this show is far from fictional: the British Army has announced it is to revive its own Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue.
Historic drill hall Hepburn House will be transformed into a temporary performance space next month, with military personnel taking on front-of-house roles.
The building now housing the Army Reserve Centre, on East Claremont Street in Edinburgh, was completed in 1912 and used to gather recruits during the First World War and Second World War.
It was not until 2017, however, that the venue was turned into an events space, with the launch of Army at the Fringe, to help showcase ‘stories of life in and out of uniform’.
Events were forced to move online last year due to the pandemic but Army chiefs have now announced the drill hall will be used for shows again at the Fringe in August.
They said events at the venue will ensure that there is a military presence during the city’s cultural festival after the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was called off in May.
Events will include a show honouring a magician who tricked the Nazis, and a former burglar who used his safecracking skills as a commando.
A one-man show by magician Kevin Quantum will pay tribute to Jasper Maskelyne, who worked with illusionists known as The Magic Gang during the Second World War. And a play about two cousins attempting to tunnel their way to freedom at the height of the Cold War in East Germany will be based on real-life accounts of escape stories.
Another performance will centre on safecracker Johnny Ramensky, who repeatedly escaped from Peterhead Prison before using his skills as a commando in the Second World War.
Brigadier Ben Wrench, operational commander of the Army in Scotland, said: ‘The Army has had a busy year protecting people through our support to government Covid testing and vaccination programmes, while continuing to train and deploy soldiers around the world.
‘But we believe it’s important to also maintain our contribution to this great Scottish festival at a time when it is under pressure, and to support the prosperity and cultural life of the city in which our headquarters is based.
‘It’s a mark of the agility of our people that we are able to turn on a pin from delivering operational and public safety missions to supporting the nation’s cultural life, especially in a year in which the Tattoo has had to be cancelled.’