Greg Holstead, Author at North West End UK

<strong>The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</strong>

4Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Nearing the end of a one-month tour, Feminist Theatre group Jordan and Skinner bring their own take on the H.G. Wells classic tale to Edinburgh’s Traverse No. 1 Stage. On a well-attended opening night, the first priority is to find a seat amongst the predominantly young and female audience. Not easy - squeezing past tightly drawn calves whilst trying not to fall down the cliff of heavily raked seating ultimately, happily, pays dividends. Note to self – come early next time or bring rope! At the start of the play one of the cast asks the audience, ‘if you had a time machine where would you go?’. An interesting question. ‘You would go to visit your favourite painter, or ancient Greece or Rome maybe, you wouldn’t go to the future, it’s going to be sh*t!’. Yes…. well, set against rising ...

Doing Shakespeare – Assembly Roxy Theatre, Edinburgh

24Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Doing Shakespeare – Assembly Roxy Theatre, Edinburgh

Doing Shakespeare at the Roxy for one night only sees Northern Comedy Theatre on the road for a whistlestop tour of Scotland and Northern England bringing David Spicer's laddish take on the canon of the Bard. Part of a series of six plays for six actors, written during lockdown and designed for broadcast over zoom, this is an adventurous, playful and to some extent experimental project piece. However, sitting alongside other titles like Doing the Pub Quiz, Doing Whodunnit, Doing the Bookclub, and Doing the business, you have to wonder about the logic of targeting the world’s most revered scribe. Set in the village of Felching, the local am-dram society meet together again after lockdown to put on a Shakespeare play. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication each of the six members has p...

Don’t. Make. Tea. – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

6Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Don’t. Make. Tea. – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

It is a rainy night in Edinburgh. I expect to find a car parking place easily, but to my horror find the streets jammed, there is a rock concert on next door. I park three streets away and jog towards the venue. 3 minutes to spare. If I was disabled, I would be in a right pickle. Appropriate, given that the show tonight is from BOP, a leading force of disability led theatre in Scotland. Established in Glasgow in 1993, Birds of Paradise (BOP) Theatre Company became Scotland’s first touring theatre company employing disabled and non-disabled actors. The remit of the company has always been to produce accessible theatre and to highlight the challenges faced by the disabled community. I am delighted to see that the 250-seater theatre is near capacity and the demographic is refresh...

The Book of Mormon – Edinburgh Playhouse

15Sep

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Book of Mormon – Edinburgh Playhouse

As Edinburgh comes down off its narcotic high of hosting the largest arts Festival in the world, and just as it starts to hunker down for the onset of Autumn and Winter, here comes a wake-up of epic proportions as ‘Mormon’ marches unashamedly into town. One of the world’s highest grossing musicals, this multi award-winning show is not to be missed, from the creators of South Park, Avenue Q and Frozen, Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone. This is a show of high pedigree and high quality that does not disappoint and is probably one of the funniest musicals you are ever likely to see. Halfway through a UK tour the cast are drilled, the music is tight, and the laughs are guaranteed! Stripped down this is a buddy road-trip musical, think Abbott and Costello meets the Lion King, that...

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Changing The Sheets – Assembly Rooms

A long thin room with raked seating to both sides cascades to a bare stage with two floor-mounted LED multi-coloured strip lights. These are the sheets (of light) between which the two actors, Adam and Eve, if you will, play out the age-old mating ritual. In this retelling it is Adam who bites the apple and Eve who kicks him out of Eden (her dad’s flat). For those of us of a certain age, think When Harry Meets Sally meets Groundhog Day. Or, if you have never heard of these classics (Oh dear!) maybe think Normal People meets Lena Dunham’s Girls. Let’s just say there is a lot of ooing and ahhing on stage. This is intimacy without the mess (thank god!) In a show which is light on production, not a Par Cam or Birdie in sight, my hope is that the script and acting are on point. Happily, I am...

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

OCD Me – Hill Street Theatre

A fine collaborative effort between writer and director, Aisling Smith and actress Laura Whelan, and with the timely help of an award from the Irish Arts Council – all come together here to create a beautifully constructed and at times scary insight into the debilitating fear of fear itself. Set within the very appropriate claustrophobic airless confines of a tight 60-seater black box theatre, a small but rapt audience are treated to a thankfully short view into the world of OCD, a condition that perhaps 2% of us suffer from. The other 98% should be damn grateful they don’t! We are told OCD does NOT stand for Obsessive, Christmas, Cleaning or Chocolate Disorder, as some comedians might have us believe. Nor is saying, I’m a little bit OCD acceptable, it’s not. This is no laughing matter....

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

9 Circles – Assembly George Square

To a comfortable lecture theatre of Edinburgh University, comes the uncomfortable truths of war, and war crimes, orchestrated under the very capable hands of Director, Guy Masterton. The 9 circles, refers to the nine rings of Dantes inferno. The interesting set and lighting design features a five metre wide light ring on the floor and a similar large light ring behind the stage. Rings that the central character can never escape, perhaps representing the truth of the past and the punishment of the future. The play is based on the true story of Texan Stephen Dale Green, a US army private who went on a rampage in Iraq, murdering an Iraqi family and raping then burning the 14 year old daughter. Playwright, Bill Cain, explores the justifications for Green’s actions through the nine ci...

12Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Johnny Got His Gun – ZOO Southside

This timely monologue highlights the brutality of war through the story of one soldier. It exposes the dissonance between ideals like freedom and democracy, and the means we use to enforce them. The first world war is raging. Joe Bonham (Johannes Holopainen) lies on a hospital bed, his face covered with bandages, his body hidden by a bedsheet. He taps his head on a guitar. Gradually, we understand that he is communicating in Morse code. Joe has a story to tell. Joe pulls up his bandages to create a bandana, and suddenly is animated and moves freely and fiercely within the black box space, which represents his vibrant imagination. He uses his guitar as well as his voice and movement to express himself and interacts directly with members of the audience. In contrast, the set is star...

Something About George – Assembly Rooms Spiegeltent

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Something About George – Assembly Rooms Spiegeltent

The songs of George Harrison are something of an enigma to many. More known as a member of The Beatles, the ‘greatest band in the history of the world’, than a solo artist. This show aims to set the record straight, and does a pretty good job of that, although it falls short on other fronts. Through songs like, All Things Must Change, Something and My Sweet Lord, Daniel Taylor, tightly accompanied by Jon Fellowes on Guitar and backing vocals and Jon Thorn on Keyboards takes us at a swift pace through Harrison’s extensive solo repertoire. Along the way Taylor also fills in many of the blanks that few of us were aware of – his difficult marriages, his legal battles, his part in the creation of the worlds first super group, The Travelling Willburys his work in film production, and hi...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Something About Simon – Assembly Rooms

The songs of Paul Simon are embedded in all of us - The Sound of Silence, Homeward Bound, The Boxer, and of course Bridge Over Troubled Water. Gary Edward Jones turn musical shaman as he draws Paul Simon classics from our very souls, in the almost mystical surroundings of the Assembly Rooms George Street Spiegeltent. Perhaps the only things missing are giant beanbags and joss sticks to make this a truly heavenly experience. There is no doubt that Jones has an innate talent for relaxing his audience – his measured, almost whispered, hypnotic delivery and his great stillness anchor him in front of a rapt audience. You could see this retelling working equally well – perhaps even better - in a church. There is a reverence here, and it is not lost. Having spent twenty years as a singer...