Greg Holstead, Author at North West End UK

Rebus: A Game Called Malice – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

12Sep

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Rebus: A Game Called Malice – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Rebus, the mega-popular paperback sleuth created by Ian Rankin in an Edinburgh bedsit back in 1985, is back, but not in print. No, this time he is a walking, talking, breathing creation, brought to vital life by actor Gray O’Brien. Given that this is only the second incarnation of Rebus on stage, following Long Shadows in 2018, which Ranking co-wrote with Rona Munro, A Game Called Mallice is bound to appeal constant readers of the taciturn detective, who all inevitably have their own ideas of how he sounds, looks and moves. As a constant reader myself, I was more than a little intrigued to see if Rankin could pull this off and if O’Brien could fill the very sizeable shoes of Edinburgh’s finest DCI. The setting is an opulent and art filled Heriot Row townhouse Drawing Room, Paul and H...

Heartbreak Hotel – Summerhall, Edinburgh

28Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Heartbreak Hotel – Summerhall, Edinburgh

Feeling more like a work in progress than a completed show, but with oodles of charm, this mixes a lecturing approach to the biochemistry of heartbreak with sketches of interactions between female and male of the species, together with elements of singing and grade one synth (oops that’s the wrong chord!). Throw in a spectacular lighting rig transported all the way from NZ no less, and you end up with something that is really entertaining, and educational!, and with a bit more polish could be really good. It’s pretty kooky though! With something of the Degree Show art installation about it, albeit on a grand scale, a bank of multi-coloured wrap-round LED lights enfolds the performance area, the floor of which is a pink deep pile carpet, like the inside of a living cell, which adds ...

28Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Surrender – Summerhall, Edinburgh

A much anticipated, new play by Sophie Swithinbank, who had such Fringe success last year with Bacon, transferring to London, via Australia before ending up at New York’s Soho Playhouse. Not bad at all for a talented young playwright A single chair awaits actress, Phoebe Ladenburg as she steps on to the sparse Tech Cube performance space, looking nervous and uncertain, like a twitchy actor at an audition. But this might be the most important performance of her life, she is about to meet her daughter. So, she sits and practices different faces and words of greeting, twisting her face in anger and frustration as the exact phrasing and expression is never quite right. When her daughter does arrive she is almost speechless, her face crumples, it is the first time she has seen her no...

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Verdi’s Requiem – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

The Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by the youthful and energetic Santa-Matias Rouvali, accompanied by the massed ranks of the brilliant Edinburgh Festival Chorus, lit up the Usher Hall tonight with a powerful rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem. The argument continues whether this is more of an an opera than an ecclesiastical work, but one thing all can agree on is that it is packed full of drama. The trumpet shall sound, through the places of the dead, and across the land The multiple drum-heralded Dies Irae (one of Verdi’s most recognisable ‘Bangers’) never fails to send a shiver down my spine, and it was a joy to hear it rebounding around the great space that is the Usher Hall, surely the finest classical music venue in Edinburgh. You will rarely see the string section...

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

300 Paintings – Summerhall

This is a unique show on so many levels. Perhaps most extraordinary in that it is a true story, told with clarity and humour, but with some big messages about mental health, creativity and redemption. Truly inspirational! Three years ago Australian, Sam Kissajukian’s ten-year love affair with stand-up comedy ended and his shiny new relationship with abstract expressionist painting began. Sam had always had a compulsive, obsessive streak and painting seemed to play right into that sweet spot of being able to release expressive thoughts that telling jokes to drunk strangers at 1am simply didn’t. In June 2021, his first painting, a monochrome self-portrait was created on a large piece of cardboard. During the next six months Sam worked on discarded cardboard, or left over bits of MDF, i...

L’Addition: Here & Now Showcase – Summerhall

26Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

L’Addition: Here & Now Showcase – Summerhall

Two performers Bert and Nasi, dressed smartly in white shirts and grey trousers, one a customer the other a waiter, the roles interchangeable. Who is serving and who is being served, and how do the roles become assigned when seemingly no one is in charge? Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas are no strangers to the Fringe, often covering serious real-world topics like Brexit in 2016 (Eurohouse) or the Syrian conflict in 2017 (Palmyra). This year is a more absurd but no less existential proposition. The pair spend a good ten minutes explaining to the audience what they are about to witness; the waiter is going to pour a glass of wine but is not going to stop, in fact the wine is going to pour everywhere to the point where tablecloth, glass and utensils require to bundled up and thrown sta...

DIVA: Live From Hell – Underbelly, Cowgate

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

DIVA: Live From Hell – Underbelly, Cowgate

Luke Bayer. Remember the name. If you combine the tongue-flicking rubber faced brilliance of a young Jim Carey, the bottom-burp comedic appeal of Rick Mayall, and the sharpness of super-smart baby Stewie of Family Guy, well…. You might just about have the voice, but nowhere near the energy of the nuclear-powered, AI-chipped, water-slurping machine that is Luke Bayer. Probably best known for his work in the original West End cast of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, or for appearing on X Factor in 2007, making it through to Dannie Minogue’s judges houses, but at 15 too young to go any further. Now is his time. And this IS the show. What a voice. Or should I say four voices to be exact. Here’s your character list; Desmond Channing (voice see above) The DIVA himself. Writ...

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Fifth Step – The Lyceum, Edinburgh

World Premier The fifth step of the AA 12 step recovery program states, Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. This exercise begins to provide emotional, mental and spiritual relief. By sharing wrong with a trusted confidant, guilt and shame start to melt away. At least, that’s the theory. The Fifth Step, a play by David Ireland, received its World premier tonight. A dark comedy, directed by Finn den Hertog, stars a brilliantly watchable Jack Lowden as Luka, a recovering alcoholic searching for a sponsor in the Alcoholics Anonymous program. He meets James, a recovered alcoholic, played with assurance and sensitivity by Sean Gilder, an older man who, initially at least, seems ideal to guide him through the twelve steps. ...

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Sunshine On Leith – Assembly Rooms

A firm Edinburgh favourite, for locals and tourists alike, musical, Sunshine on Leith, set to the original songs of The Proclaimers, always does very well at Fringe time. Last years’ production by the same company, Captivate Theatre, was one of my Fringe highlights. So, I was looking forward to this one, accompanied this time by my musical loving daughter. Following a pair of discharged soldiers, Ally and Davy, as they return home, across Pilrig Street and via Central bar to their beloved Leith, it is a simple romantic tale which initially at least, leans more towards comedy than drama and lets the music do most of the talking. Early highlights, I’m On My way, it's over and done with, and Let’s get Married set the tone, and have the packed crowd chanting along to these uplifting son...

An Evening Without Kate Bush – Assembly Checkpoint

23Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

An Evening Without Kate Bush – Assembly Checkpoint

Set within an L-Shaped church hall, with a cloistered balcony high above, this is a quirky performance space for an equally eccentric performer. My second Bush forage of the Fringe, looking for the authentic, here I find Sarah-Louise Young, someone who is getting closer. Youngs voice is good, the mimicry is close. But it is not the voice that takes you places no other voice ever did, climbing really high then sweeping down really low. The show starts well. Young enters unseen in a blackout, dressed in black with big black hair and draped in a black muslin shroud like a funeral attendee. When she turns on a mini red torch on her shoulder, it creates a nice ghostly lighting effect, which is also emphasised with some clever back lighting. She mimes trying to escape from below the bl...