Melissa Jones, Author at North West End UK

The Play That Goes Wrong – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

3Nov

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

The Play That Goes Wrong – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

If I had to be absolutely honest, Cornley’s Poytechnic Drama Society’s performance of ‘Murder at Havisham Manor’ was about one-star at best, based purely on set design alone, but seeing as even that slowly disintegrated throughout the performance, this rating is dubious at best. You’ll therefore be glad to realise, reader, I was in attendance of Mischief Theatre’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, a carefully crafted physical theatre farce, where, unnervingly, everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did go wrong. ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ does what it says on the tin. The production framed through the narrative device of Cornley’s Polytechinic Drama Society’s latest production, which, thanks to inept planning and a lack of talent, goes very wrong indeed. It’s ram packed with every ki...

21Oct

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

The Enemy – King’s Theatre Edinburgh

If you live in Scotland, you’ll know that we’re fiercely proud of many things, but few things can compare to the pride we have for our tap water. In our opinion, our humble council juice makes our hearts sing. That’s why The Enemy, Kieran Hurley’s brilliant reimaging of the classic Henrik Ibsen play, ‘An Enemy of the People’ is simply perfect. Not just because it resonates with a post-truth world but it’s perfect for Scottish National Theatre, a perfect for 2021 and perfect as a play performed in Scotland for Scottish people returning to our theatres. Scientist Kirsten Stockman (Hannah Donaldson) has discovered a life threatening bacteria in the tap water of a Scottish town that’s about to open a luxurious water park and become of the UK’s next hot tourist spots. Naturally this di...

17Oct

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Starstruck – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Think of postmodernism and you won’t think of actor and dancer Gene Kelly, though his life and his work exists simultaneously to the peak years of the movement. In 1960, during the movement’s height, Kelly was lured to Paris to bring his trademark moves of the Hollywood movie scene to the world of ballet. The result was his pioneering work, ‘Pas Die Dieux.’ 61 years later, Scottish Ballet and Kelly’s widow Patricia Ward Kelly have brought this stellar piece of work back to the stage for it’s UK debut with a beguiling new twist. It’s simultaneously lavish, entrancing, and as the kids would say, ‘pretty meta’. Kelly’s original ballet, ‘Pas Die Dieux’ focused on the classical tale of Aphrodite and Zeus and the trials and tribulations that they face on Mount Olympus. In the ballet’s n...

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

31Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

When your Fringe comedy show partner in crime goes AWOL in extenuating circumstances, there’s only one thing for it, keep that show on the road come hell or high water. Poor Paddy Young delivers that blow with comic flourish and the audience isn’t to upset when he promises not one but two stand-in stand-ups. Keeping to the theme of Northern comics, Tom Little is the perfect tonic. With only about 15 minutes to keep us entertained, he dives straight into some cracking observational humour, remarking ‘there’s no time to connect it’ as he dives from his fear of a watermelon-based diet to the absolute audacity of dolphins. The humour is clever and strikes an amusing surrealist approach thanks to the time constrictions. Little is brilliantly witty, and it’s a shame that the audience me...

Friend (The One With Gunther) – Edinburgh Fringe

23Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Friend (The One With Gunther) – Edinburgh Fringe

70 minutes to recap Friends? Starting with Rachel’s wedding day catastrophe and then ending with the one where they all leave? Everyone’s favourite coffee shop manager, Gunther (Brendan Murphy) gives it his best shot. There’s absolutely no stone unturned, from Janice to Joey (yes, *that* spin off). Murphy is a tour de force, leaping back and forth over the famous sofa, changing from Richard Burke to Janice quicker than you can say ‘we were on a break’, and spitting quote after quote with hilarious impressions at lightning speed. The stamina and versatility on show from Murphy is remarkable. Supported by impressive lights and sound cues, it’s only the setting of the venue that leaves it feeling slightly amateurish. Is it a homage, a critique, a satire, a celebration? We’re not sur...

AngloViking Invasion Before Naptime – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

20Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

AngloViking Invasion Before Naptime – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Thor and Joshua were right. No one saw an invasion quite like this one. As Joshua Mason Wood waited on a boat with his bohemian parents, Thor Stenhaug stopped by the job centre and stumbled into comedy. The result? For the cost of nothing, you can see them for free. Yes, the Edinburgh Fringe is notorious for being hit and miss with it’s coming and goings of rising stars, especially amongst the free arm of the festival. But these guys stand out amongst what can be tawdry offerings of festival’s past and find themselves somewhere on the journey to paid tickets. While this may not be the gem of the Fringe (yet), they are the gem of the Free Fringe. Appreciating Stand Up is based on taste, and while I thought Stenhaug at times a little safe and Mason-Wood a little too crude, it’s undenia...