Graffiti Classics

Touring UK and internationally throughout 2009/10 with a new show directed by Chris George

The 'stand-up string quartet' have been enjoying ever-larger audiences at their theatre tours, which have been arranged by us since 2004.

In 2006 and 2007, they played to sell-out audiences across the country, and returned to the Edinburgh festival for their third visit with a new show. Earlier in 2008 they began collaborating with acclaimed theatre director Chris George, launching their newest show at the Edinburgh fringe in August.

Graffiti have entertained audiences of all ages around the world with their virtuosic musical talents, combining brilliant playing with amazing dancing, singing and comedy routines.

Not gypsy, not jazz, not trad, not classical but 16 strings, 8 dancing feet and 4 voices. Graffiti Classics perform a wide variety of music from Hungarian folk to hornpipes and polkas, with a little Mozart, Bach and Strauss added for good measure.

Sell out seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe 2004, 2005 and 2006, and 2008.

The Times

On the Fringe, a dazzling foursome called Graffiti Classics has been packing them in at the Pleasance Dome. They are basically a string quartet, with double bass replacing cello. But that classification doesn't begin to describe their quickfire concoction of dancing, singing and clowning, all done while they also get their virtuosic fingers around a repertoire running from madrigals and Mozart to tango - and even a can-can.

The show would be a wonderful antidote for those who think that classical music is as staid as stained-glass. Instead of signing up yet more third-rate stand-up comics, the legion of TV executives currently cherry-picking on the Fringe ought to give Graffiti Classics a chance.

Daily Mail

Take two pretty girls on viola and violin; add a blisteringly hot fiddle player dressed like a humbug in a striped teddy boy suit with co-respondent shoes; throw in an Irish primate of the lower order, double bass: and you have Graffiti Classics, the most sensational string quartet on the Fringe.

Bertie Anderson, who is actually female, Alice Pratley, Bogdan Vacarescu and Cathal O'Duill combine superb classical music skills with inventive comedy and relentless dance energy.

From Cossack dance to can-can, they caper their way through the popular classics, from Strauss to Bizet into Irish folk and Jewish bar mitzvah music.
With sharp and lethal bows flashing through the air, the choreography has to be spot on - one careless Hava nagila could leave the primate wearing a Moshe Dyan eye-patch. Instead, he jigs wildly around his bass like a leprechaun in a gorilla suit, without ever losing total command of the instrument.

For extra measure, Pratley sings a haunting rendition of Irish folk classic The Parting Glass, while the skirt-swishing, fan-fluttering Anderson doubles as a sultry torch singer, burning up on It Ain't Necessarilly So.

Vacardscu's glissano is so slippery cool it's red hot - with such talent, he can be forgiven the suit. I'd write more, but the primate ran into the audience and confiscated my notebook. I can't rid my mind of the image of him playing the Pizzicato Polka with the bass tucked crosswise under his chin - God knows, I've tried.

• Graffiti Classics site including audio samples