Kathleen Mansfield, Author at North West End UK

Kai Humphries: Gallivanting – Just the Tonic Nucleus

15Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Kai Humphries: Gallivanting – Just the Tonic Nucleus

Isn’t it a joy, after a busy day at the Edinburgh Fringe, to be treated to effortless entertainment as a sparkling, inventive mind takes you gallivanting? That’s you, Kai Humphries. And thank you. Kai Humphries writes his own material and once got grilled by border security in a foreign land where writers (i.e. journalists) were not welcome. They didn’t understand the word “joke” and soon decided he wasn’t worth their time. He is definitely worth your time. He’s a funny writer and tells a good story. I loved his opening where he explored different cultural ways of greeting one another and his existential response to “What’s happening?” He had the audience in the palm of his hand right from the moment he introduced himself off-stage. A Geordie, Humphries exploits both his...

13Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Don Quixote – Assembly Rooms

Clowning around, Finnish-style (remember they like naked saunas), includes a tiny bit of acrobatic bum exposure and a splash of front bottom gymnastics. So, if bottoms are off the table for you, give this one a miss. However, I liked it. Not the bum cheeks (or the dangly bits) in particular. I liked the whole thing. There was certainly a lot of energy from the two performers, Timo Ruuskanen as Don Quixote and Tuukka Vasama as his side-kick Sancho Panza. Red Nose Company combines physical comedy, live music and witty gags. They create a warm welcome with their painted faces, red curtains and interactive banter. Their commitment to their audience and their story is clear to see. The duo has been on tour since 2008. They perform in four languages: English, Swedish, Spanish and Finni...

Oedipus Rex – National Museum of Scotland

13Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Oedipus Rex – National Museum of Scotland

Set in the National Museum of Scotland with the full Scottish Opera orchestra, this one-hour Stravinski/Cocteau spectacular soared to fill the great dome of the beautiful Museum Hall. Conductor, Stuart Stratford, must have gone home buzzing along with his musicians. The instrumentalists were fabulous, as were the vocals. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that an opera has been staged in the Museum. It is a great space and allowed the audience to choose whether to watch from above, along with the ornately costumed gods, or mingle with the chorus below and feel part of the production. It is theatre in the round and that brings benefits and difficulties. You feel closer to the action but then again, you might miss bits. I looked down from “the gods” but would want to go again to ...

13Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Coleridge -Taylor of Freetown – C Arts

Taylor Aluko, a former Liverpool architect, is originally from Nigeria. He is an intelligent, politically and socially conscious individual. He also has a good voice. His morning show at The Quaker House, Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown, is a bid to bring to the light the recent history of Sierra Leone’s oppressive regime. He depicts the former cowardly diplomat, George Coleridge-Taylor, whose uncle was the renowned early twentieth century composer who lived in Croydon, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. In so doing, he uses some of the latter’s music, played live by Kristin Wong and he sings powerfully to the room. The pianist is part of the staging and therefore part of the visual landscape which tells the story. Because of the technical requirements of reading music, Wong’s intense concent...

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Laugh – Assembly George Square

A standing ovation at a Fringe show speaks volumes. Paul Hendy's (writer and director) The Last Laugh deserves loud applause and whoops of appreciation. It is funny and touching. The set is perfect, the lighting spot on and the performers are wonderful. Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe has that lovely little bounce perfected; Damien Williams channels the late Tommy Cooper brilliantly and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse looks and sounds just like the man himself, right down to the mahogany tan. The warm-up music is a sound bath of Bernard Cribbins, which my neighbour joyously sang along with. Songs about a man digging a hole or Ernie and his horse and cart … there are few silly comedy songs these days, if any. Aimed at a predominantly baby boomer audience with money to spare and...

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Breathe – Pleasance Dome

The creative ingenuity in this show is outstanding. The staging is slick; the voices beautifully melded and the music is perfectly crafted, demonstrating terrific inventive scope for blending human creativity with clever technology in an open and transparent way. I was enamored of the clicking fingers that translated into rainfall so that the fungi danced to the drum of nature. It was a transition evoking a touch of pixie dust! Louisa Ashton (co-founder of Sparkle and Dark Theatre Company) is an adept puppeteer and, together with Darcey O'Rourke and Peter Morton, they front this accessible, intelligent and astonishing work. Breathe is an intriguing journey with a sleepy acorn seed who has to survive the winter. It is full of imagination, multifunctional models and storytelling...

Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits – Pleasance at EICC

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits – Pleasance at EICC

Seventy minutes with an 83-year-old who’s got all her marbles and oodles of talent besides was one brilliant way to spend a rainy afternoon in Edinburgh. Playing to a full house of 1200 capacity, Miriam Margolyes’ fan-base is younger than her which, of course, didn’t matter a jot to this outspoken and wonderfully entertaining woman. She had the crowd in the palm of her hand right from the get-go. There were Margolyes followers in their twenties upwards, the younger members presumably fans of her outings in the Harry Potter series of films. My favourite Margolyes performance was the fabulous Italian nurse she played in Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet. She was deliciously nuanced and funny in that role, bringing it to life as I’d never seen it before or since. We listened to Sachmo...

Craig Hill: I’ve Been Sitting on This For a While – Just The Tonic Nucleus

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Craig Hill: I’ve Been Sitting on This For a While – Just The Tonic Nucleus

This wis sae, sae funny! Seriously. It wis hilarious. I wasnae sure tae begin wi’. I thought it might be humour at others’ expense, but nah, nah, ye ken, it wis pure dead magic. Unlike my current attempt at a Scottish accent. I cannae dae it, hailing frae Essex, as I do. But Craig Hill can. He can take whatever the audience offers and make a comedic feast from the smallest offering. He can mimic accents and tonality with ease and create a personalised skit based on you alone. For some it is thrilling, for others maybe not so much, but this man knows his stuff and he’s not about to crucify anyone who’s not up for it. He’s got discernment. That’s what happens when you’ve garnered 25 years of Edinburgh Fringe shows under your belt and you’ve been blessed with a quick wit. He’s never...

Sing Along With the Fairy Song – Scottish Storytelling Centre

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Sing Along With the Fairy Song – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Sing Along With the Fairy Song is Edinburgh Fringe for Early Years. An elegant wooden chair, a stool, two pedestals of white roses, a projection of frolicking fairies, bird song and the veteran storyteller for children, Janis Mackay, warmly welcome a select audience. Mackay is experienced with little ones and greets the fairy-winged and magic-wanded little people with charm and encouragement. This is an interactive piece and the young audience repeat the actions and songs with enthusiasm as they join Mackay in an imaginary hunt for fairies in the woods or hiding amid the flowers and maybe secretly living under miniature hillocks. It took a little time to teach the songs and draw out flower and tree names from the youngsters, but once over their shyness, three little girls did not...

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Please Right Back – The Studio

Please Right Back is awesome. Comics, film, animation and music are magically and seamlessly interwoven in this touching, visually addictive family tale. Join Mr E as he explains his absence through vividly imagined tall tales, swallowed whole by his loving offspring. A 1927 and Burgtheatre Vienna joint production, Please Right Back was written by Suzanne Andrade. This creation is based, loosely, on her own experience. The company, 1927, was founded in 2005 by co-artistic directors, Andrade (Writer and Director) and Paul Barritt (Film, Animation and Design). They work out of London and that not-to-be-forgotten seaside town of Margate in Kent with its sunshine, sand, funfair and ice cream cones. Known internationally for their repertoire in theatre and opera, this multi-award winni...