Dreamgirl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Darkchat spreadsheet of Fringe shows has been in place for a few weeks and by the time we have arrived and start dashing from one venue to another, I can forget why we have selected a particular show, especially when the title gives little clue to the subject matter. So, when we were greeted by Karen Houge, the writer and performer of this solo show, wearing high heels, a sparkly dress and feathers, I started to wonder what the show would be about and why we had chosen it.

I am so pleased we did. Karen explains to the audience that she is a Norwegian documentary filmmaker and also has trained as a clown. Her ability to draw an audience into her world is evident from the start, with gentle interaction and humour.

She talks about growing up in Norway and attending an international summer camp as a teenager, designed to promote understanding between different cultures. She adds that curiosity and stubbornness are two of her main characteristics and this eventually led her to become a documentary filmmaker.

In her mid twenties, this courageous woman joined a group of refugees trying to make their way into mainland Europe and Karen tells us about the experience, using her film footage from the journey and clever pieces of audience participation to help us look at all too familiar news stories from a different perspective.

Discussing the show afterwards, we concluded that it is the opportunity to find shows of this quality that brings us back to the Edinburgh Fringe every year.