Oliver Giggins, Author at North West End UK

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War – Traverse Theatre

17Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War – Traverse Theatre

The 549 of the title is the number of Scots who took part in the Spanish Civil War, fighting a losing battle in the name of democracy (and, in some cases, money) against fascism, which was encroaching its way into Spain with Franco in much the same way it was everywhere else with Hitler, Mussolini, Mosley, Petain, etc. The parallels to modern nationalism are difficult to miss (particularly with our own modern European war for which many non-natives have volunteered), and the show goes into them further still with a framing device set in the modern day. We then travel back in time to the true story of the four men from Prestonpans who went to Spain to fight, George Watters, Bill Dickson, Jimmy Kempton and George Gilmour. This is clearly a personal story. The team have spent eight year...

20Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Intelligence – Assembly Roxy

Inside the basement of the US State Department, two young Foreign Officers Paige (Sarah Street) and Lee (Joy Sunday) are reluctantly assisting Special Envoy Sarah MacIntyre (Laura Jordan), recently returned from a top-secret and personal mission to a volatile foreign country. MacIntyre needs to prepare a report to convince the president, or the repercussions could mean death for many… if she’s right. But is she? The exact region the situation is happening in is kept purposefully vague, the reason given being that the junior officials Paige and Lee aren't cleared for the specifics of this operation, which is itself tied into an attempt by their superiors and other departments to ensure MacIntyre's initiative fails. This haziness works, mostly, as it doesn't tie the show down to a specifi...

Things We (Never) Learned in Sex Ed – The Space On North Bridge

19Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Things We (Never) Learned in Sex Ed – The Space On North Bridge

You can probably guess what the show is about from the title, though a slight distinction must be made. As the show itself states, this isn't about covering the biology or, as it were, the ins and outs of the thing, as these things are the closest thing most education systems get to covering well. This show is more about the other stuff, like how puberty affects your (and other people's) relationships with your body, consent, pleasure, and many other non-penetrative aspects of sex. Though of course those, and other sexual acts, are also dealt with. This is done through songs, sketches, stories told directly to the audience and discussions between the creators/performers, Lindsay Spear and Lea Sheldone. It's a mix of the personal and the general, of the comedic and the educa...

Hey, That’s My Wife! – Hill Street Theatre

17Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Hey, That’s My Wife! – Hill Street Theatre

Hey That’s My Wife! is a satire of 1950s Americana starring Joey DeFilippis, Matthew Ferrara, Espi Rivadeneira, Caroline Hanes and Ryan O’Toole, as two advertising executives, their wives and their boss. Together and apart they navigate work issues, a demanding boss, and the challenges of marriage. The play is a comedic spin on the works of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. However, the mix of cigarette smoke, scotch, and conflicts revolving landing The Big Account, the boss coming over for dinner, and cheating partners contain enough general 50s and dramatic tropes to make sure the show can still land with people who might not be able to name 5 works by either of those authors. And on top of that there are the jokes on human nature which, perhaps unfortunately, never age, as we...

Mischief Movie Night – Pleasance at the EICC

14Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Mischief Movie Night – Pleasance at the EICC

Mischief return to the Edinburgh Fringe with Mischief Movie Night, an improvised film night, complete with lively discussion of the genre and title to be chosen. Thankfully your host (Jonathan Sayer) has every film ever made, as well as tenuously related documentaries, bonus features, and over a half-dozen actors Rhyanna Alexander-Davis, Josh Elliott, Sue Harrion, Harry Kershaw, Henry Lewis, Dave Hearn, Charlie Russell and Henry Shields) and musicians (Ed Zanders, Oliver Izod, Christopher Ash, and Dylan Towney) to star in it. Improvisation is tricky genre, and in many cases one wonders if the audience would react half as well to the jokes if they didn't think they were entirely spontaneous and unpredictable and that they had played an important role in them. But this was not the case he...

14Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Work.txt – Summerhall Old Lab

Work.txt is a show about work in which the audience do all (well... most of) the work. Only they tread the boards as there are no actors; following instructions projected on the wall, communicated over headphones or printed out onto a script. They build the set, read lines and act out what needs acting out together (if they are okay with that), alone (if they volunteer) or just as witnesses (if they prefer) to the others, the interplay between audience and screen, and to the light show and music, aided by an atmospheric haze machine. Why? It's a show about the gig economy, financial instability and bad jobs, as seen through a day in a nameless city, and the impact and connections made by a single worker. The format illustrates all that, though I can't imagine anyone finding their part o...

Charlie Russell Aims to Please – Pleasance Courtyard

13Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Charlie Russell Aims to Please – Pleasance Courtyard

Charlie Russell wants to create a show that will please absolutely everyone by trying to hit as many solo Fringe show tropes and styles as possible within an hour, based on what her audience likes the most. Though as a person/character Russell might just be trying to please an audience, as a show concept this is a quite challenge to them. You might know going in a comedy show is supposed to make you laugh, but it's something else for a performer to point out that's what they're trying to do, tell you they've failed if you haven't and give you a second and more controllable way of giving or with-holding approval: it's a gauntlet that more mischievous or combative audience members might take some convincing to just put back on your hand. Or maybe that's just her being a more positive (in ...

S-ex-iety – The French Institute in Scotland

11Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

S-ex-iety – The French Institute in Scotland

Actress Missy has accidentally featured in a professional porn film, much to her disgust. Her flatmates do not understand her reaction, and so her horror sparks a discussion with the relaxed Babe and the recently single Honey, ranging from complete condemnation to wholesale approval and asking questions about the ethics, types and possibilities of porn and its effects on people and society. The show was created by Purple Soup Crew during lockdown when consumption and discussion of online porn was greatly increased. In many ways the characters of S-ex-ciety are really just mouthpieces for the different perspectives on the effects of porn, with some parts being even delivered straight to the audience. The characters are more defined by their perspectives than by any interior life, with re...

For Queen and Country – Army @ the Fringe

11Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

For Queen and Country – Army @ the Fringe

Major Denis Rake (Neil Summerville) was a gay actor parachuted into Occupied France during WW2 to serve as a radio operator. The average life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator there was just six weeks, and he was quickly betrayed and forced into hiding. So, he did the only logical thing a man on the run for his life does and became a drag queen entertaining Nazi officers in a Parisian nightclub. Writer/director Paul Stone discovered Rake's story while making the BBC TV programme Secret Agent Selection and decided to shine a light on the contribution of the LGBT+ community to WW2, assisted by venue Army @ The Fringe. The venue is noteworthy here. For one thing, it's not every fringe venue where the ushers, bar staff and techies are all in military uniform. For another there's...

Almost Adult – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

9Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Almost Adult – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

Actor and creator Anne-Tilley combines comedy and drama as her character Hope tackles both coming-of-age issues as well as the more serious ones that unfortunately confront women in particular. Hope thinks she's escaped the north of England for the bright lights of London, only to find the capital, and adulthood come with their own challenges. Though well-meant, timely and heartfelt, the uncomfortable nature of these issues and Anne-Tilley's natural strengths as a performer make the more dramatic parts of the show much more successful than the comedy ones. Though the two stars given here might suggest there is more that doesn't work than there is, that very much isn't the case, as it's more a question of imbalance. Had comedy been more the icing than the raison d'etre, Anne-Tille...