Fest Best: Real Life

An Instinct for Kindness

Last year Chris Larner accompanied his terminally-ill ex-wife on her final journey, to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. An Instinct for Kindness sees the actor, writer and director explore this extraordinary experience, as well as the moral emotional implications of assisted dying. Larner’s one-man show is directed by triple Fringe First-winning writer and director Hannah Eidinow.

Pleasance Dome, 3 to 29 August (not 10,17), 16.10

Whistle

When award-winning poet Martin Figura was just nine-years-old, his father killed his mother. This multi-media storytelling show explores how this tragedy split the family apart. Figura draws not just from his own moving poetry, but also from family photographs and archives to tell a coming-of-age story that promises to uplift and amuse as much as it will shock.

The Zoo, 5 to 29 August (not 15, 25), 13.45

Snap.Catch.Slam

This show, which takes the form of a trio of short plays each based on separate real life events, comes from the pen of Emma Jowett, part of the Fringe First-winning team behind Mile End and Beachy Head. Told mainly through intimate monologues, these naturalistic pieces examine the devastating power of single moments to affect the course of our lives.

Pleasance Courtyard, 3 to 29 August (not 23), 13.50