Oliver Giggins, Author at North West End UK

An Unexpected Hiccup – The Studio, Edinburgh

28Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

An Unexpected Hiccup – The Studio, Edinburgh

“An Unexpected Hiccup” was directed by Ian Cameron and Maria Oller and produced by touring theatre company Plutôt La Vie and Lung Ha Theatre Company, an Edinburgh-based theatre company for people with a learning disability. It tells the story of Murdo, a musician who, caught in a storm, is forced to take refuge in an isolated house whose inhabitants he may or may not have mutual friends with. They also seem to have quite a lot going on, including an apparently dying father in the next room and a fair few conflicting stories about what's going on... The play is based on a story by co-director Ian Cameron, itself apparently inspired by something that happened to him years ago. The script was subsequently developed by Michael Duke and the cast, Emma Clark, Ryan Duncan, Tim Licata, Emma ...

The Woman in Black – Edinburgh King’s Theatre

13Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Woman in Black – Edinburgh King’s Theatre

To put it simply, Susan Hill's 1983 novel The Woman in Black is both a masterpiece and a classic, and we are not only fortunate to have it but also the masterpiece and classic it has inspired... No, not the underrated 1989 TV film starring Harry Potter's dad. No, not the 2012 cliché starring Harry Potter. No, definitely not the execrable 2014 sequel Angel of Death. Why don't you stop saying these stupid things and just let me finish? I am of course referring to Stephen Mallatratt's 1987 stage version, now the second longest-running non-musical play in West End history (after The Mousetrap). In it, and in every other version of the story, a lawyer named Arthur Kipps finds himself in deep marsh-water when he is sent off to foggy Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral and sort the papers...

Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted – Gash Theatre

18Apr

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

REVIEWS

Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted – Gash Theatre

Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted works not only as a title but also a production credit. The show is produced by Gash Theatre, the brainchild of Maddie Flint and Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn, two theatre makers with a shared interest in form, femininities, pop culture, and the ridiculous. The “Ghosted” part reflects the show's horror/haunted side but also its discussion of romantic and physical relationships, from the film, TV and music samples played or spoken by pieces of furniture, vinyl records and a television to the recorded conversations about porn and ghosting dates which punctuate the main action and yes, are also spoken by furniture and household appliances. Early on the show seems a mix of the Evil Dead (possessed furniture) and Aardman's Creature Comforts (real-life conversations perform...

16Apr

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

REVIEWS

A Splinter of Ice – Original Theatre

This is story of two friends, Kim Philby and Graham Greene, two ex-spies, one turned traitor and one turned author. If you're interested in the story of these two men and their friendship but don't know many details, don't worry: this three-hander tells pretty much the entire story of Kim Philby's part in one of the biggest spy scandals of the 20th Century through one conversation between them. Written by Ben Brown and directed by Alastair Whatley with Alan Strachan, the team behind the play which inspired the Oscar-winning film Darkest Hour, the play imagines the final reunion between them just a year before Philby's death, their only meeting since the latter was revealed as a member of the Cambridge Spy Ring and fled to the USSR. I say “imagines” because, though the circumstances behi...