Caroline Worswick

15Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Vermin – Gilded Balloon Teviot

Rats in your home - instantly this subject creates a feeling of uneasiness, uncleanliness, thoughts of scratching noises, thoughts of them nibbling your food in your store cupboards. This play uses this uneasiness and builds upon it. I will explain… Bill (Benny Ainsworth) and Rachel (Sally Paffett) met on a train journey, in which they both witnessed a dramatic event. From this initial acquaintance grew a relationship which ended in wedding bells, but there ends any form of normality. After moving into their new home, the couple found out that Rachel was pregnant, but also realised that their new home was infested with rats. They heard them scratching, the smell was awful, and Bill began the process of attempting to exterminate them. Rats are cleve...

Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood – Assembly Rooms

14Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood – Assembly Rooms

Victoria Wood is one of those northern comedians whose expressions find a way into your life, without you really even knowing it. ‘Seventy-two baps Connie, you slice, I’ll spread,’ her joke on how the British deal with the funeral of a loved one. She had a way of looking at life and finding the humour in people’s day-to-day existence. Even though it is six years since she died, she still has a loyal following, and her sense of humour runs through people like the message in a stick of Blackpool rock. As a northern lass and fan of the late Victoria Wood, I went along to spend an hour in the company of other fans who appreciated her and to enjoy reminiscing about her very funny material, but also the amazing skill she had in creating these amusing tunes. Paulus is a fe...

Fiji – Pleasance Upstairs at the Pleasance Courtyard

14Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Fiji – Pleasance Upstairs at the Pleasance Courtyard

After reading the press release, this is one of those plays that you walk-in to the theatre, not knowing what to expect. Co-written by Eddie Loodmer-Elliott, Pedro Leandro and Evan Lordan, the inspiration of the play (scarily), came from real-life events. Omnibus Theatre have joined forces with Clay Party and Conflicted Theatre to produce an alarming, disturbing play that revolves around the theme of cannibalism. For most of us, (hopefully), this will be a subject that does not feature in your daily life, and one wonders what inspired this delving into the culinary skills of a cannibal. The play begins with Sam (Sam Henderson) arriving at Nick’s place (Eddie Loodmer-Elliott) with his suitcase. Sam is nervous and it becomes clear that Sam and Nick have never met before but have chatte...

13Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Assisted – The Space at Surgeons’ Hall

Technology in our home has become the norm and we barely bat an eyelid at requesting information from our reliable Alexa. But how much information should we allow Alexa to have? At a time when our lives are stored on our smart phone’s – banking apps, apps for booking restaurants, exercise monitors, to name but a few functions that they perform, how nosey should these AI devices be? Our couple, Jordan (Matt Vickery) and Connie (Emma Wilkinson Wright), live what appears to be a happy life together, they have been dating for some time and have finally decided to take their relationship to the next level, to move in together. To help to make Connie feel at home, Jordan sets up a profile for her with his Alivia (Jessica Munna), his all singing and dancing AI voice assistant. Initially Connie...

13Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Blood Harmony – Traverse Theatre

Commissioned and produced by ThickSkin and Lawrence Batley Theatre, the Traverse has brought Blood Harmony to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Writer Matthew Bulgo has created a musical focused upon the grief of three sisters, Chloe (Eve de Leon Allen), Maia (Keshini Misha) and Anna (Philippa Hogg), who are coming to terms with the death of their mother. Reunited after time apart, the sisters reacquaint themselves and find that they are living vastly different lives, and they struggle to understand each other’s way of thinking. Anna lives overseas, is arrogant and career minded, and it becomes clear that she had not visited her mother for some years. Maia is unconventional, lurching from one disaster to another, she struggles to support herself and uses drink and drugs as her escape. C...

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – The Grand, Pleasance Courtyard

12Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – The Grand, Pleasance Courtyard

Based upon the award-winning book by Kate Pankhurst descendant of the great suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst, this musical tells the story of inspirational women from the past, who act as a guiding light for any girl or young woman of today. Beginning with an upbeat number, which is sure to strike a chord with children and parents alike, this group of very cool teachers share their everyday frustrations in this slick, witty opening song. Set in a museum, schoolgirl Jade (Kudzai Mangombe) has been separated from her school party and is lost. Frustrated that she feels that she has not be missed by anyone, she opens up about her parents impending divorce, and that she always tries hard at school, but she that in spite of this, she still feels invisible. Hearing her plea, the ...

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

11Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

You don’t have to love sci-fi to come along to this show, if you love comedy, you are in for a treat. Tony and Olivier Award winning companies, Mischief Theatre, Showstopper! and Austentatious are the cream of the crop when it comes to improvising, so to have their combined skills on one stage is a must-see opportunity. To set the scene, Celestia 7 was a long-running sci-fi TV series, and years later the stars have been invited to a fans convention where they reminisce about their series memories. In this episode the improvisers were Adam Meggido (Showstopper!), Ruth Bratt (Showstopper!), Henry Shields (Mischief), Nell Mooney (Showstopper!), Dave Hearn (Mischief), and Charlotte Gittins (Austentatious), with Ed Zanders providing the musical accompaniment (musical direct...

11Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Heroin to Hero – Army @ the Fringe

In the fitting surroundings of the army barracks, we are introduced to Paul Boggie, who has a very disturbing tale to tell. Played by actor and playwright Tony McGeever this is the story of Paul Boggie, reformed heroin addict who fought his addiction, to turn his life around to later join the army and to guard the Queen. Interested? From the book of the same name penned by Boggie, the writer has now brought the story to the stage. This dark true tale opens our eyes to the reality of the impact that drugs have on Scottish communities, and acts as a warning to anyone thinking that drugs are a harmless bit of fun. Boggie begins with his childhood, born in 1979, he was one of four children, and his dad enjoyed nothing more than kicking a football around with his kids, but foo...

Les Dawson: Flying High – Assembly George Square

10Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Les Dawson: Flying High – Assembly George Square

Before I begin the review, I must comment on the handling of the audience at the venue on my visit. This is one of the larger venues at the festival, and the show began almost 30 minutes late. Many people attending the Fringe Festival book shows quite close together, and this delay could have been the cause of people leaving the show part way through. Not good for the artist and disturbing for the remaining audience. Assembly, this must be improved! Les Dawson was a favourite of mine, and I have childhood memories of watching his numerous shows on TV. This play follows Dawson’s life, beginning with his childhood and moving through his career’s ups and downs. Dawson is played by Jon Culshaw who needs no introduction, as his mimicry is legendary.&nbs...

Two Ukrainian Plays at The Finborough Theatre in connection with Worldwide Play Readings: Belarus and Ukraine

7Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Two Ukrainian Plays at The Finborough Theatre in connection with Worldwide Play Readings: Belarus and Ukraine

In September 2020, the Belarus Worldwide Readings Project organised hundreds of international theatre companies, groups, schools, and individuals, to present readings, videos, and discussions of Andrei Kureichik’s new play Insulted. Belarus(sia), in solidarity with the people and theatre companies of Belarus. In late February 2022, the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings Project, was formed by John Freedman (a writer and translator, who first translated Insulted.Belarus(sia) into English), and Maksym Kurochkin, a Ukrainian playwright and leader of the new Theatre of Playwrights in Kyiv. Supported and funded by CITD (The Centre for International Theatre Development), they commissioned 23 Ukrainian playwrights to create new historical plays to be performed around the world to raise money fo...