Friday, December 19

Author: Greg Holstead

So Young – Traverse Theatre
12Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

So Young – Traverse Theatre

World Premier From the celebrated writer of Decky Does a Bronco and I Can Go Anywhere, Douglas Maxwell’s So Young is an often hilarious, but equally pathos-tinged coming-of-middle-age tale. 40-somethings Davie, Liane, Milo and Helen were once inseparable, three of them studied at teacher training together, but that all changed when Helen died from COVID. Set up as a classic sitcom, like a latter-day kilted Abigail’s Party, nicely constructed traditional sets transport us, with the swish of a curtain, from the bedroom of long-time married couple Liane (Luciano McEvoy) and Dave (Andy Clark) to the faux-chic lounge of recently bereaved pal Milo (Nicholas Karimi) and his new, much younger, girlfriend Greta (Yang Harris). The cliché of the older man’s ch...
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VL – Roundabout @ Summerhall
11Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

VL – Roundabout @ Summerhall

Hilariously parochial! VL stands for Virgin Lips, a label that no teenager wants to be saddled with. When Max and Stevie, two wee Scottish F…., oops lads, miss the bus to the end of year 2 school disco at the local ice rink, they are in two minds to just go home to watch telly instead. After all, Robin Hood Prince Of Thievesis on! But no, they have to go, because at least one of them is a VL and this might just be his last chance to pop that cherry. And if your still a VL after tonight, before you go into 3rd year, you just might be a VL forever! Seasoned comedy writers and performers, Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair play it just about perfect as the day-glow-clad youngsters trying to navigate romance in the hormonal pressure cooker of Hammersten High School. Stevie has, tech...
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Edinburgh Liminal – Museum of Edinburgh
11Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

Edinburgh Liminal – Museum of Edinburgh

On a, thankfully, sunny day, the Holstead family are Team 4 and directed by the delightful Carmel Calvin, to go forth and make some sweet music at a specific location, located by solving a puzzle. We have exactly an hour to return. Brains suitably tested, puzzle solved, we set off with Steel tongue drum, thumb piano and maraca into the Edinburgh throng. It’s a hot day, but the kids, plinking on thumb piano and shaking maracas (carnival style) are not complaining, yet. In fact we draw some admiring glances, heads turn and smile. I’m sure if we had a hat we could make some money here! A short walk and ice cream stop later we arrive, the kids miraculously still not complaining. Water tinkles in the background and we decide that this should definitely be part of our soundscape record...
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The Dreamer: Live – Underbelly Circus Hub
11Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

The Dreamer: Live – Underbelly Circus Hub

One of the most heavily (and successfully) promoted shows I’ve ever seen on the Fringe, the ubiquitous posters have foretold of the coming of the boy wonder, James Phelan, long before his arrival. But is it and is he really up to the hype? Well, yes and no. Without wanting to give too much away – no spoilers here – the show is certainly entertaining. In Underbelley’s giant Spiegeltent know as ‘The Beauty’, Phelan holds court from a raised ‘in the round’ centre stage, which suits his style of friendly bonhomie. His quick wit plays on the answers from various audience volunteers and draws easy and relaxed laughs, and never in a nasty way. The biggest surprise and to some extent, disappointment, here, is that this is not really a magic show at all, in the traditional sense, but m...
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Divas of Jazz – theSpace @ Symposium Hall
11Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

Divas of Jazz – theSpace @ Symposium Hall

Singer Hannah Hay exudes youthful appreciation of her genre, swaying barefoot before an excellent five-piece in the comfortable and intimate space that is quite possibly the best appointed live music venue in Edinburgh in August. The great acoustic, leather seats and ample legroom usually make it an easy and clever choice for music lovers. Particularly those of a certain age! Unfortunately, the music of jazz so often borne of toil and pain and heartache, and at home in happy, low-lit backstreet bars or clandestine hotel lounges, struggles to sound authentic or nuanced in this luxurious a setting and between these so directionally well lit walls. There is no atmosphere. Which is a shame, because Hay is an accomplished singer and the musicianship behind her is also excellent. St...
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Failure Project – Summerhall, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
10Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

Failure Project – Summerhall, Anatomy Lecture Theatre

A new play by BAFTA nominee Yolanda Mercy (Quarter Life Crisis), in which Mercy plays Ade Adeyami, a young British-Nigerian playwright and actor who is still riding the wave of her first play, which has become an unexpected Fringe hit. With this success, and the realisation that she might even be able to make a living from her dream, comes an unexpected problem - a hierarchy of editors, agents and publicists who are there to help, nay manipulate, her. Ade’s second play, Day Girl, about a working-class black kid at a private school, has been commissioned, and paid for, and Ade finds she must now dance to her new masters’ tune. Before she knows it a B-list, minor celebrity influencer with no acting experience is cast in the lead instead of Ade, worst still she want to be ‘collabora...
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June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room
10Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room

Performed cabaret style with tables and chairs, it’s well worth arriving a little before the stated ticket start time, with drinks in hand, to snag the best viewpoint. Early birds also get the significant bonus of a personal welcome from writer/performer Charlene Boyd, sashaying between tables humming tunes and chatting in American drawl like a hospitable Texas mam. Boyd has come a long way from the seeds of an idea, germinated during the lockdown-years, recently divorced mum of two, in her very unglamorous Glasgow high-rise! As the hamster wheel stopped for many of us, Boyd showed that it’s amazing what you can achieve when you have time on your hands! But Boyd always knew she was better placed than almost anyone to write the story of June Carter, having sung for the last 14 yea...
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Flesh – Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, Edinburgh
10Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

Flesh – Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, Edinburgh

Performed down a close off the Royal Mile, this is a nicely site specific interpretation of the classic Edinburgh Burke and Hare story, and is sure to appeal to a good section of tourists on the lookout for a historical re-enactment. That this is also set to music comes as a sort of added bonus. This was surely the mindset of those who set off to dig up this absolute monstrosity from the annals of Edinburgh musical theatre history. In the battle royale that is Edinburgh in August there is no place for niceties or pally nepotism. This show may not be the worst I’ve seen but it looks under- rehearsed and amateurish compared to many of the shows out there. That’s not to say that it is all horrible. There are some good turns; Jeremy Fraser’s Burke is particularly well delivered, t...
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Arcade – Summerhall Terrace
9Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

Arcade – Summerhall Terrace

Set within a fully sealed and completely dark and sound-proofed container outside Summerhall, as a half-hour filler I have no problem with this at all. Personally, I might prefer a recumbent half-hour with a yoga track, but as a decompression from the sometimes over-whelming sights and sounds of the Fringe, this works either way. You certainly have more agency than previous container experiences I have had, you have a button to make choices yes or no, you have a token (use it wisely!) and a slot to put it in. Of course, there are multiple ways the storyline can twist and turn and for hardened arcade fans this might need multiple outings. The audible experience is excellent as is the haptic feedback. At one point, when your partner is wasted right beside you, you experience a s...
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I’m Almost There – Summerhall Main Hall
9Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

I’m Almost There – Summerhall Main Hall

This might just be the best day I’ve ever had at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve just come from Every Brilliant Thing, and now this! It is one thing to see the ubiquitous posters of Todd Almond running with his yellow umbrella (which seem burned into my retina!), it is entirely another to see and hear him in the flesh. Like an alabaster statue come to life, this David with his piercing blue eyes (I was lucky enough to sit in the front row!) has the audience transfixed from note one. Almond, the toast of New York, seated at piano for most of the performance, with a lazy laconic boredom reminisces over a modern queer love story. It’s dreamy, probably because I’ve been reviewing and writing my five-a-day for the last five days, but also because it’s just dreamy! Accompanied by Erin Hi...
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