Edinburgh festival Day 16: Word of Mouth

SIMON FANSHAWE swears by his old pal Nick Revell at the Assembly Rooms - 'the show is so warm, so generous and so intelligent' - but he also hotly tips Lea de Laria's Muff Diva, also at Assembly. 'I want to marry her,' he says. 'That way we can have British citizenship, American citizenship and absolutely no sex.' Anna Emberton from Wareham felt she made a discovery at Storm in a Teacup, a one-woman bathroom drama at the Pleasance starring Harley Loudon, predicting: 'She will be a star.' Drew Reith, up from Penarth, recognises an 'experience' when he has one. Penny Arcade's Bitch, Dyke, Faghag, Whore is 'very unexpected', he says. 'It was challenging in a way I didn't expect to be challenged.' Pascale Konyn from Newcastle sampled Lepage's Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung at the Playhouse. 'I don't know anything about opera, but the use of space was stunning. The music was stomach-churning.'

(Photograph omitted)