• Review For Us
    • In London or across the UK
    • at Edinburgh Fringe
  • List Your Show
  • Advertising
  • Musicals
  • Plays
  • Ballet & Dance
  • Previews
  • First Look
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2025
    • Edinburgh Fringe News
    • Edinburgh Fringe Previews
    • Edinburgh Fringe Interviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
  • Home
  • News
    • West End
    • Off-West End
    • Regional & Tours
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Digital Theatre
  • Tickets
    • Discounts
    • Musicals
    • Plays
    • Opera
    • Dance
    • Concerts
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2025
    • Edinburgh Fringe News
    • Edinburgh Fringe Previews
    • Edinburgh Fringe Interviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer
No Result
View All Result
Theatre Weekly
No Result
View All Result
Home Edinburgh Fringe 2023

Edinburgh Review: iCON at Summerhall

“meanders from self-contained melodramatic movie scenes to comedic sketches”

by Anna Chiari
August 23, 2023
Reading Time: 2 mins read
icon credit Murdo MacLeod

icon credit Murdo MacLeod

Two Star Review from Theatre WeeklyFollowing the resounding success of The Sian Clarke’s Experience, Sian Clarke returns at the Edinburgh Fringe, once again directed by Ursula Martinez, with iCON, a one-woman show delving into the vacuity of the contemporary world. The performance harnesses Clarke’s trademark irreverence and aggression to narrate an existential crisis—a society teetering on the brink of collapse, governed solely by utter nonsense and devoid of genuine significance.

This thematic thread persists throughout the show: if nothing holds meaning anymore, we might as well have a “nice time” together, the artist seems to insist. Lacking a central core, iCON meanders from self-contained melodramatic movie scenes to comedic sketches, where the artist breaks the fourth wall and directly addresses the audience.

While adhering to a prewritten script, the performer invites volunteers on stage, involving them in the final rendition of a show for which we are supposed to take responsibility, yet one that we are fundamentally unable to comprehend, neither in its unfolding nor in retrospect.

       

By breaking the fourth wall, even offering tea and sitting among the audience, Sian Clarke attempts to be more than irreverent; she seeks to prompt reflection and engage us in something rather indistinct within a narrative-free and loosely structured format. The few stage props, like a suitcase in which the artist curls up before enclosing herself, are used without rhyme or reason. There are screams, sudden noises, whistles, and smoke, yet a lack of thought-provoking elements which would trigger the audience into deeper contemplation.

The threats from which we’re supposed to find some relief during our time together remain nebulous concepts offstage, never directly addressed. The audience’s discomfort doesn’t appear to stem from the societal senselessness the artist wants us to ponder but rather from a lack of provocation that devolves into gratuitous absurdity.

You mightalso like

'Beth Paterson' Headshot by Sarah Walker

Edinburgh Fringe Interview: Beth Paterson on NIUSIA at Summerhall

Dawn Steele credit Harry Livingstone and James Robinson

Dawn Steele to Star in SKYE: A Thriller at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

iCON seems to arise more from a dearth of ideas than artistic necessity—a sentiment even Clarke is reluctant to disown throughout the show, as she reiterates that if things go awry, the responsibility lies with us as much as with her.

Anna Chiari

Anna Chiari

Anna Chiari is a freelance writer, journalist, and documentarist. She has written and directed her first documentary and has co-written and collaborated on different long-feature scripts. After specializing in Comparative Literature at UCL, she is pursuing an academic career as a Ph.D. student at the University of Edinburgh. As a journalist and critic, she collaborates with online magazines and blogs.

Related Articles

'Beth Paterson' Headshot by Sarah Walker
Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Edinburgh Fringe Interview: Beth Paterson on NIUSIA at Summerhall

Dawn Steele credit Harry Livingstone and James Robinson
News

Dawn Steele to Star in SKYE: A Thriller at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

Troubled credit Rich Lakos
Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Edinburgh Fringe Preview: Troubled at Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre)

Pickled Republic Ruxy Cantir Credit Andy Catlin
Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Edinburgh Fringe Preview: Pickled Republic at Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre)

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Twitter Facebook Youtube Instagram

At Theatre Weekly we give theatre a new audience. You'll find our theatre news, theatre reviews and theatre interviews are written from an audience point of view. Our great value London theatre tickets will get you the best deal for your theatre tickets.
Theatre Weekly, 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
  • Join Our Community
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising

Recent News

Clive Rowe in rehearsals for THE ADDAMS FAMILY credit Pamela Raith

Interview: Clive Rowe on The Addams Family on Tour

Sinead Matthews and Cast in Til The Stars Come Down credit Manuel Harlan

First Look: Till the Stars Come Down Opens at Theatre Royal Haymarket

© 2022 Theatre Weekly

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tickets
  • Digital Theatre
  • News
    • News
    • West End
    • Off West End
    • Regional & Tours
    • Digital
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2025
    • Edinburgh Fringe News
    • Edinburgh Fringe Previews
    • Edinburgh Fringe Interviews
  • Contact Us
    • Join us as a Reviewer

© 2022 Theatre Weekly