Victorian-inspired magic show heads to Edinburgh Fringe

A magician known across Shropshire for her beyond-belief tricks is set to wow audiences this summer at the world’s biggest arts festival.

Sylvia Sceptre will be appearing at Edinburgh Fringe with her Phantasmagorical show – combining ‘psychological artifice and impossible mind-reading with the eerie world of the Victorian seance’.

The show will run from August 2nd to 26th (inclusive) at 12.15pm in the Long Room at  Cabaret Voltaire, a Laughing Horse venue.

Sylvia’s character and the Phantasmagorical show were devised by Careena Fenton, one of the few female members of the Magic Circle, inspired by Gothic art, films and literature.

Careena was based in Bridgnorth for many years and is known for performing magic at private corporate events and weddings when not in character as Ms Sceptre.

Audiences will be treated to 60 minutes of storytelling, drama and magic inspired by the roles of female magicians and mediums from the turn of the 20th century.

A scene from the show won first place at an American magic competition focused on mind reading and bizarre magical presentations, while Reece Shearsmith, League of Gentlemen writer and actor, described it as: “Timeless, elegant and beautifully Victorian. Brilliant!”

Derbyshire audiences will also have the chance to see the show at the Buxton Fringe in July, with performances at Underground at the Old Clubhouse on Monday 9th at 5.30pm, Tuesday 10th at 4.15pm, Wednesday 11th at 10pm and Thursday 19th at 10pm.

Careena trained with Philippe Gaulier in Paris and Desmond Jones in London, having begun her magic studies in 2006 and was accepted unanimously into the circle two years later.

She said: “The show is aimed at those who enjoy their entertainment with a hint of the supernatural and emulates the uncanny thrills of the Golden Age of Spiritualism.

“It has been very well received wherever I’ve performed it around the world so I’m really looking forward to sharing it with audiences at both the Buxton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.”

For more information, visit https://www.sylviasceptre.com/. Or for more on the fringe festivals, click on https://www.edfringe.com/ or https://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/index.php.