So how was it for you? Were you subjected to the same orgy of death and seriousness as me, or was your journey through the Fringe a cheerier affair? I'd like to say the sombre mood lifted as the weeks went on, but since the international festival kicked off, we've had one suicide, one near-fatal heart attack, the Warsaw ghetto, social breakdown in Bosnia and the legacy of the SS to contend with. How long before critics qualify for post-traumatic counselling?
Maybe I should have stuck with my initial resolve and gone to Office Party, but it didn't seem quite right without an office party to go with. It does sound like there was a bit of a buzz about it, though, something that seemed in short supply in a year without a big play done by comedians or shows such as last year's Fuerzabruta or Eurobeat, which combined accessibility and novelty value with substantial commercial backing.
When it came to this year's high-profile names, I managed to resist the lure of Joan Rivers (was I right to?) and was underwhelmed by Surviving Spike, less because of the performance of Michael Barrymore, which was harmless enough, more because of the workmanlike script. It meant the closest I came to a feelgood knees-up was in some of the shows at The World at St George's West, notably Hemingway's Havana and Capoeira Knights. Not strictly theatre, but some yet-to-be-named fusion of dance, music and speech - and a welcome rest from all the angst and intensity.
Daniel Kitson, of course, provided many a good laugh in 66a Church Road, written and performed with a feel for language and rhythm that surpasses many of those who've taken a more conventional route to the theatre. And my favourite show of the Fringe, Once and for All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen managed to shift our view of adolescence in a way that was exuberant, funny and theatrically innovative. Ten years late, I caught up with Lyn Ferguson's Heart and Sole, relishing her ability to take a funny idea - woman falls in love with a fish - and make it poignant.
I should have made more effort to seek out physical theatre in the absence of Aurora Nova and I'd be interested to hear if people discovered any foreign-language treats, which also seemed thin on the ground. But in the end it was the serious plays that defined my Fringe and I hold fond memories of Deep Cut, The Tailor of Inverness, New Electric Ballroom, Terminus, Fall, Pornography, Itsoseng and The Caravan.
