Richard Stamp

A bank transfer. On the face of it, a mundane administrative task; but look deeper, and every payment tells a story. Transfers follows the path of £500 as it’s passed from person to person – sometimes electronically, sometimes in a literal brown envelope – across a series of potent two-handed vignettes. As we watch, we slowly build a picture of why this money matters, and the relationships and tensions between the people who give and receive.

In a black-box theatre, three chairs and four music-stands are arranged on a stage. The actors enter in casual dress, introduced by a playwright who’s shamelessly milking our applause. We’re here for a rehearsed reading. It’s definitely a rehearsed reading. Just a rehearsed reading. Most certainly nothing more. If you’ve spent as much time in Fringe shows as I have, it’s pretty obvious that something is going to happen – but I’m pledged to secrecy about what that thing actually is.

The vaudevillian of the title is Christine Ferrera – a Chicago-based comedian whose show combines stand-up, storytelling, and a little dash of mimicry. Ferrera certainly carries off the music-hall look, with a retro-yet-ritzy glittery jacket and the most statement-making leggings to be spotted anywhere on the Fringe.