Half-Empty Glasses - Paines Plough Roundabout - Edinburgh Fringe Review! ****

I had the pleasure of being invited to review Half-Empty Glasses at Paines Plough’s Roundabout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe yesterday afternoon.

This was my first time visiting the roundabout as a venue and I immediately fell in love with its intimate space and feel.

‘Half-Empty Glasses’ written beautifully by Dipo Baruwa-Etti is one of the most thought provoking pieces of theatre I have seen!

The story follows Toye who is preparing for his piano exam to get into a prestigious music school but then he notices a huge lack in the Black British History taught in his school. Toye and his friends begin to offer their own lessons on Black Cultural Icons but not everybody agrees with this…

Baruwa-Etti is a fabulous writer and their talent is superb!

Toye was played magnificently by Samuel Tracy. Tracy brought a unique and developed character to the show, acting through some strong emotions and never failing to hold the audiences attention. He is truly a master of his craft.

Princess Khumalo took on the role of Remi. Khumalo brought an exciting energy along with a large amount of character and emotion.

Sara Hazemi completes the cast and brings contrasting opinions as well as great elements of comedy and fantastic characterisation!

Another thing within the show that really got me excited was the Lighting Design by Rory Beaton. From the very opening of the show the lighting design was exciting, at times simplistic but always bringing out the most of the action onstage and adding to the immersion of the performance. This added to the simplistic set design which did not take away from the action onstage.

9th August 2022

Robbie Davies | Robbie's Backstage Bants