Kathleen Mansfield, Author at North West End UK

UPSTART! Shakespeare’s Rebel Daughter Judith – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

6Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

UPSTART! Shakespeare’s Rebel Daughter Judith – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

The talented associate West End director, Alexandra Spencer-Jones (Action to the Word) is known for her physical theatre and musical productions such as Six and Clockwork Orange. So, when the American writer, Mary Jane Schaefer, approached her to direct Upstart! she was both surprised, flattered and a little fearful. It is a gentle play and a perfect play. One of a trilogy Schaefer, has created about the Shakespeare family, Upstart! will delight fans of the Bard. First given a reading at the National Arts Club in New York in 2014, the storyline explores the plight of women, then and now. There is no preaching. But there is a vivid awareness of the modes of suffering and paralysis caused by lack of education and confinement to the domestic domain, where dying children and intransige...

I Was on a Sitcom – The Gilded Balloon, Teviot – Turret

6Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

I Was on a Sitcom – The Gilded Balloon, Teviot – Turret

Eden Sher’s show, I Was on A Sitcom, is situated in The Turret at The Gilded Balloon Teviot. It is not easily accessible. The room is hot and Sher sweats her way through the act. It’s perfect … because the subject matter isn’t easily accessible and could bring on a sweat of embarrassment in less capable hands. But not in Sher’s hands. She is a raconteur who can turn anything to gold. Sher jokes, both verbally and physically, about the excruciating pain of giving birth to premature twins. Carrying her babies was an uphill struggle and the pregnancy culminated in a sweaty urgency. She cleverly links this life episode to her ten-year residency on the American sitcom, The Middle, explaining how she became, over time, half her character, Sue, and half herself, split from one egg, like he...

Gone to the Dogs – Gilded Balloon Teviot – Wine Bar

6Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Gone to the Dogs – Gilded Balloon Teviot – Wine Bar

Conceptually, I was intrigued by this piece. Britannia, written and played by Tsarzi, cut an attractive figure with her cheeky grin and mischievous eyes. The set was messy, stuff all over the place, and Britannia was dozing over her piano as the parody of a Radio 4 broadcast opened the show. The play explores the decay of the British Empire: the intransigence of the establishment and the older generation to let it go. A pertinent idea for the times. It is for this reason that the stage is scattered with remnants of a former glory. Even the sash worn by royalty on formal occasions is put on, taken off, held up instead of worn - it is an afterthought. Tsarzi sings us through a host of representations of our fading cultural heritage, mostly in refrains on repeat, including the church, the ...

Wee Seals and Selkies – Scottish Storytelling Centre

5Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Wee Seals and Selkies – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Wee Seals and Selkies is a magical warm hug from children’s author, Janis Mackay. Her velvet voice and adept physicality captures young imaginations from the outset. As we enter, she sits on the edge of the simple set while her musician companion, Donald Scott, warms the atmosphere with this fiddle. In this delightful family show, storytelling and music combine to create an enchanting performance, evoking the Scottish northern seashores. The Wee Seal is the true tale of a seal born in the storyteller’s garden, while The Selkie Girl is a retelling for children of the much-loved magical selkie myth. Based on two of Janis Mackay’s much-loved books; The Wee Seal, and The Selkie Girl (Floris Books), the sea and the seals are evoked both on stage and by the audience. The lighting, c...

After this Plane has Landed – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

5Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

After this Plane has Landed – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

I had to see this musical out of guilt. John McCarthy was incarcerated in Beirut while I was mourning my mother’s passing. His capture wasn’t even a teardrop amid my grief. Five years later, I gave birth to my first born. A friend sent a message excitedly proclaiming it is the day that John McCarthy is released. Who? Nothing compared to the miracle of ten tiny toes and ten little fingers. A real human being who’d lodged in my womb for nine dark months had finally escaped. Then, just 32 years later, almost to the day, this play appears. I can now pay attention. Exit Productions “After This Plane Has Landed” provides a one-hour precis of The Friends of John McCarthy, Jill Morrell’s quest to free her then boyfriend, and the pressure upon their relationship once they are reunited. ...

5Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

RENT – Paradise in Augustine’s

Theatre joins us together in a shared experience to marvel at talent, commitment, application and teamwork. And to ponder the writer’s message. Edinburgh-based Bare Productions drew a rowdy standing ovation for this 1990s tale of fear and solidarity in AIDS riddled Bohemian Manhattan. My neighbour for the evening, a transgender Dane called Daniel, informed me that RENT is very popular in the queer community. He enjoyed the show, saying he likes slice-of-life style theatre and that, while this particular musical is no longer contemporary, having been created before he was born, it is still very relevant. Appreciating and understanding the social history of the queer community is important. That’s the magic of Edinburgh Fringe: sharing views and exchanging human warmth with someon...

3Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Coffee Kid – Underbelly Cowgate

If you have a free afternoon this Fringe ditch the overpriced coffee and indulge in Coffee Kid. Nominated for Best Performer and the Spirit of Wit award at the Dublin Fringe Festival 2022, Coffee Kid is a one-woman play exploring the absurd character Beanie Clooney (Síomha McQuinn) the love child of George Clooney and a Nespresso machine. The show was unsurprisingly whacky but also relatable: the familiar coming-of-age themes of identity, love and belonging were revitalised by the originality of the protagonist. It also brought together classic Fringe comedy and new ideas in a refreshing way: satirical jokes towards Womanhood, Hollywood and patriarchy were complimented by more niche puns about the unique character and plot. Despite moments of depth the storyline was kept light-hearted ...

5Jun

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Pibroch – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Pibroch is a multimedia theatre production exploring parallels between the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and our current climate crisis. Bolland’s lyrical spoken word show deplores the sanitisation of traumatic events and the tragedy of disabled self-direction as, sheep-like, we follow the rules and meekly meet our death. The Piper Alpha tragedy caused 165 deaths because safety measures on paper did not translate to reality, just as in the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, and the Grenfell Tower in 2017: emergency services were tardy, safety standards were jeopardised and human flesh was sacrificed to balance the books and up the profit margin. Public Inquiries simply create a sanitised record and a statistical translation of guttural human anguish and suffering - wretchedness which impa...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

1Jun

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

The stage adaptation of this popular film is a gentle immersion into a foreign world where a group of retired Brits take a leap of faith and look for a cost-effective and adventurous way to eek out their days. I relaxed so much I forgot I was reviewing! The acting is spot on, and the fun is sprinkled evenly throughout. This cast received whoops and hollers of appreciation at the end from a less than full auditorium, indicating the niche appeal of a drama about oldies. Deborah Moggach’s 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, and the 2011 film version, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, transfers well to the stage where Colin Richmond’s multi-levelled set gives the whole a sense of space and potential for what lies behind. The flip from hotel to call centre is done with effective simplicity. Both...

Quines Cast Podcast Season Two Launch: RIOT – Traverse Theatre

27May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Quines Cast Podcast Season Two Launch: RIOT – Traverse Theatre

Disembodied voices snap-chat earnestly. The cast is meritorious. They posit thoughts and summaries upon a serious issue, in this case, RIOT: why riots happen and the impact of rioting. But the disembodied voices are simply sound bites without flesh: skinny starters for discussion rather than a proper, in-depth discourse. If I were one of those bright, energetic, purposeful women who contributed, I’d have shivered to be reduced to a sound bite. But maybe it was ironic? Maybe I missed the point? The voices felt reminiscent of Loose Women: trite opinions aired for entertainment. Having said that, I was won over by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson. She read a piece specifically written for RIOT which was measured, thoughtful, factual and gripping. She embodied all the things that women are per...