East 15 shows win five-star reviews at Edinburgh Fringe

A staggering number of shows developed by East 15 Acting School students and graduates have gathered rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe.

You couldn’t visit the world’s most famous fringe festival without bumping into a five-star show with links to East 15 performers and directors.

Many had received support through the University of Essex’s Click crowdfunding platform plus University of Essex and East 15 Acting School's New Theatre Company Start-up Awards for emerging theatre makers.

At the same time Essex’s Students’ Union stepped up to provide extra help with teams of SU exec members, officers and staff involved in transporting casts, crews and kit up to Edinburgh plus supporting the student theatre companies during rehearsals and at the Fringe.

Lee Pugh from Essex SU said: “East 15 students have a ‘different’ route to gaining the kind of employment they seek after their studies and to help them achieve their goals Essex SU needs to take a bespoke approach. Supporting them as they showcase their work at Edinburgh is just one of the unique ways we engage with East 15 students and back them.”

East 15 hits at the Fringe

There are too many East 15 to cover so here are some highlights:

• A Cockroach and Furry Blurry Fluffy Things was 'recommended' in the Fringe Review and gathered a five-star review from The Wee Review which said it was “a truly exceptional children’s show”.
• Vulvarine: A New Musical won plaudits and multiple five-star reviews from leading theatre guides with Theatre Weekly’s reviewer saying “Fat Rascal Theatre are very quickly establishing themselves as a champion of British Comedy Musicals”.
• Ed Fringe Review said Testament from Chalk Line Theatre Company was “an intricately crafted triumph of creativity” as it handed the show a five-star review.
• The Dip from Milk and Blood Theatre was called “sheer madness” by The Stage with Binge Fringe saying it was “an unstoppable laughter machine”.
• Deadline News said Blowfish Theatre Company were "making satire great again in a truly tremendous fashion” with Trump: The Musical.
• The Half Moon Shania from Burnt Lemon Theatre picked up a five-star review from Musical Theatre Review with The Stage handing it four-stars and said East 15 graduates Cara Baldwin and Hannah Benson “have crafted a raucous, rowdy 45 minutes of gig-theatre that’s enormous fun”.