Wendy McEwan, Author at North West End UK

Sleeping With The Yemeni: Mike Eshaq – Just The Tonic Legends

10Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Sleeping With The Yemeni: Mike Eshaq – Just The Tonic Legends

Mike Eshaq is an American Muslim on Yemeni descent, who has served in the US marines and loves bacon. In other words, he has plenty to talk about. He comes from Detroit, which used to be America’s murder capital. But the city has been colonised by hipsters and now, even Eshaq’s old friends use words like “delectable”. It is Eshaq’s first time in Scotland, and apparently we are hard to understand. In particular, Eshaq’s GPS does not like the Old Town. “Have you ever found a show.. and then found that you were above the show?” That’s my pet peeve about Edinburgh (my home city) too! Eshaq travels extensively, doing shows in all sorts of exotic locations - but the weirdest is Oklahoma. He is keen to learn about Scotland and what makes us tick. One joke falls flat due to the cultural ...

LIFE: Maria MacDonell – Scottish Storytelling Centre

9Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

LIFE: Maria MacDonell – Scottish Storytelling Centre

I am afraid of drawing. I don’t know why. This play is set in a drawing class, and the audience is invited to sketch and doodle throughout. Now is the time to embrace my phobia. I am welcomed by The Artist (Leo MacNeill), a reassuring presence. “We are all artists”, he says. I am given paper and pencils, but no eraser. Every mark we make remains on the page. Estelle (Maria MacDonell, who also wrote the piece) cuts through The Artist’s whimsy with a shard of cynicism, at least to begin with. She thinks he’s pretentious. The Artist helps Estelle open up, and she tells us about her life, her hopes and regrets, her love of graveyards and her career as an artist’s model. Estelle tells her story through the medium of folk tales. Afterwards, MacDonnell tells me that Estelle is so damage...

Ne’er The Twain – Mayfield Salisbury Church

8Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Ne’er The Twain – Mayfield Salisbury Church

Edinburgh People’s Theatre (EPT) has been at the Fringe since the very beginning. The members speak with pride of their heritage, of which Ne’er The Twain is a fine example. The play was written by EPT stalwart Alan Cochrane and premiered by the company in 1971. Some of today’s cast also performed in its 2012 revival, and this play is dear to their hearts. It is 1919, and the neighbouring towns of Leith and Edinburgh each have their own culture and identity. But Leith is about to become part of the City of Edinburgh, much to the indignation of its populace. The McIvors are Leithers, proudly working class, although their lavvy is across the border in Edinburgh. Their neighbours, the Burns family, are Edinburgh people and afflicted with an unfortunate dose of snobbery. However, the ...

22Jul

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Red – Scottish Opera Young Company

In this outstanding new adaptation of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Scottish Opera’s Young Company take us on an epic journey through the archetypal stages of a woman’s life. As Red, the wonderful Maria Wotherspoon embodies four incarnations of one woman, with references to her splendid red hair throughout. In Act One, she is Little Red Riding Hood, the ingenue. The vengeful wolf is played with a wicked pantomime grin by Luke Francis. There is no sturdy woodcutter to rescue our damsel in distress; from within the wolf’s digestive system, Red discovers that there is magic in her hair, and saves herself and her delightfully surly grandmother (Findlay Peters), beginning to own her power. In Act Two, as Red Rapunzel, our heroine becomes a mother. She gives birth in a burning tower, flames red lik...

19Jun

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Ballet Black: Heroes – Festival Theatre

The theatre is packed, and full of anticipation. These artists have something new to say. I have enjoyed many ballet performances in my time, but I have never seen anything like this. Nevertheless, this double bill from Ballet Black is rooted in tradition. It is also technically excellent. This feels brand new, always ballet but with influences from other dance styles, and a dynamic soundtrack that recognises the modern and the classical. Throughout the double bill, the intention of the performers is expressed with a powerful intensity. I am always inspired by the ability of dance, and dancers, to cut through the busyness of words, and get to the guts of a story. If At First, choreographed by Sophie Laplane, is a meditation on power, which is represented by a crown. Initially one dan...

Country Roads: One Night of Country Classics – Festival Theatre

31May

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Country Roads: One Night of Country Classics – Festival Theatre

“I’m Johnny Cash” says a performer, and we believe him, with his soothing, authoritative voice and stage presence. The line-up also includes dead ringers for Patsy Kline, Kenny Rogers, and the one-and-only Dolly Parton. They aren’t the real superstars, of course, but they put on a hell of a show. Songs include “Ring of Fire” (apparently inspired by a Wetherspoons curry), “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Jolene”, as well as the title song. The performers want us to join in, and gradually, the audience gains confidence and starts singing along. The front-of-house staff were bemused by the number of audience members who went up to the front of the stage, and they spent the second half of the show trying to get people to get people to go back to their seats. There was a party atmosphere in the pack...

3May

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

The Drifters Girl – Edinburgh Playhouse

Faye Treadwell was the manager, and driving force, behind the iconic American vocal group, The Drifters. Formed in 1959, the group’s hits included Hello Happiness, Saturday Night at the Movies, Under the Boardwalk, and so many more familiar numbers. Between the soundtrack, and the trailblazing lead character, the story seems to be made for musical theatre success. The line-up of the Drifters changed frequently during their history. We see members being drafted into the military, or fired by Treadwell and her husband George, or undergoing other personal tragedies. Sometimes – like Ben E. King (Ethan Davis), they move on to greater success elsewhere. In total, The Drifters featured 60 different vocalists during their history. This means a lot of multi-roling. Matthew Dawkins, Davis, Tarik...

29Apr

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Futuristic Folktales – Tramway

Futuristic Folktales is an experimental dance theatre production which tells the story of the first womb. Along with movement and music, spoken words are also used to tell the story. The storytelling feels both abstract and visceral. At one point, a performer mentions “a colour that cannot even be described” and the other immediately demonstrates said colour through movement. However, for this article I must use words, and I am especially aware of the subjectivity with which I write. Other people may have experienced the show differently from me. The concept originated from director Charlotte McLean’s personal contemplation of whether to reproduce. The scope is wide – birth and death, identity and injustice, the personal and the universe. The piece is highly ambitious. A cohort...

29Feb

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Cyprus Avenue – Glasgow Pavilion

Eric’s greatest fear is losing his identity as an Ulster Unionist. The world has changed since his youth during the Troubles, but he can’t move on. When Eric (David Hayman) suffers a mental health crisis, this fear affects his whole family. Eric is convinced that his newborn granddaughter is, in fact, the former Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams. No, she doesn’t have a beard, but apart from that, she looks just like him. However, nobody else can see the resemblance. Eric holds some unpalatable views. His sectarian statements and language are shocking, bringing gasps of horror from the audience. Glaswegians are familiar with sectarianism. The play is also very funny. Every performance in this play was superb, and Hayman is extraordinary. This character says and does awful things, b...

6Feb

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Last Rites – Festival Theatre Studio

This is a story about a man who travels back to his family home in India to conduct a funeral ritual for his late, estranged father, who was a devout Hindu. As he conducts the ritual, he relives experiences from their difficult relationship. This solo piece, performed by Ranesh Meyyapan uses movement, BSL, subtitles and projected images. There is no spoken language. Sometimes the words onscreen are replaced with emoji-like images – for example, the father is represented by a pair of glasses. This nicely reflects the visual nature of gesture-based language. The sound design, by Tayo Akinbode, was a triumph. Music alternates with sound effects. The ambiguous sound of burning flames, or running water, as Meyyapan conducts the ritual, was particularly evocative and brought home the final...