Julian Hall's Festival Diary: Guy Masterson wants his wig back

Ubiquitous Fringe actor/producer/director Guy Masterson is desperate to find a wig that was once worn on stage by Pete Postlethwaite. The reddish brown hairpiece is being used in his production of Scaramouche Jones and was taken from the dressing room at Assembly@George St. Given the colour of the wig, Masterson suspects some clowning around has taken place: "We think some Bozo has stolen it, and if we ever find him I'll be challenging him to a custard-pie fight at dawn."

Charlie Victor Romeo, the play adapted from transcripts of black box recordings, caused a stir even before it landed in Edinburgh. The producer, Jennifer Sutherland, greeted the cast at Heathrow with a poster of the show, prompting every pilot who walked past to do a double take. Meanwhile, it transpires that the cockpit seats used in the play were bought on eBay from a man who was also selling a nose-cone from a Jumbo jet, all of which he kept in his shed.

Producers of comedy show The Arab, the Jew & the Chicken, thought it would be a great idea to hire a live chicken to use in the grand finale, but during the dress rehearsal, the chicken (named Brian) attacked the actors. The cast members blamed the lighting sequence in one of the sketches as a possible trigger for Brian's outburst. British actress Rebecca Gross, who suffered a scratch on her left arm, said: "I thought that working with Israelis and Palestinians would be a challenge, but the chicken proved to be the major source of conflict!"

juleshall@hotmail.com