REVIEWS Archives - Page 271 of 418

11Aug

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Rita – Charing Cross Theatre

“Marriage is bliss…” An entertaining opera about marital strife, Rita tells the story of a married couple, Rita (Laura Lolita Perešivana) and Beppe (Brenton Spiteri) who appear to be in marital bliss while running a hotel together. Unfortunately for Rita, a spanner in the works is thrown at her when her believed-to-be-dead husband, Gasparo (Phil Wilcox) finds himself in the couple’s hotel. For both Rita’s and Gasparo, this causes overwhelming denial and confusion and makes for a comedic operatic interaction. Needless to say, a love triangle ensues, but not the most typical to be seen on stage! Both Beppe and Gasparo are present when the audience arrive. The set is minimal but intriguing; displaying three doors which become a key element of the show, a single table and two chairs. The...

11Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Eglantyne – Gilded Balloon Teviot

Eglantyne is a one woman play written and performed by actress Anne Chamberlain which follows the life and story of Eglantyne Jebb. This 75-minute documentary play delves deep into Chamberlain’s love and respect for the woman who fronted and fought for the charity campaign ‘Save The Children’ exploring what made Jebb the woman she was. You can feel the love and admiration Chamberlain has for Jebb, it radiates from her, giving her a glow that shines through her eyes rather than just the stage lights. She uses a range of storytelling tactics jumping from first person into third and even taking time to explain her own emotional connection to the historical figure and a few costume changes. Eglantyne’s story is one of triumph and failure and unfortunately this production is too. Whil...

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

11Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Starship Improvise – Pleasance Courtyard

You don’t have to love sci-fi to come along to this show, if you love comedy, you are in for a treat. Tony and Olivier Award winning companies, Mischief Theatre, Showstopper! and Austentatious are the cream of the crop when it comes to improvising, so to have their combined skills on one stage is a must-see opportunity. To set the scene, Celestia 7 was a long-running sci-fi TV series, and years later the stars have been invited to a fans convention where they reminisce about their series memories. In this episode the improvisers were Adam Meggido (Showstopper!), Ruth Bratt (Showstopper!), Henry Shields (Mischief), Nell Mooney (Showstopper!), Dave Hearn (Mischief), and Charlotte Gittins (Austentatious), with Ed Zanders providing the musical accompaniment (musical direct...

Crossing The Void – theSpace on the Mile

11Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Crossing The Void – theSpace on the Mile

Ghost stories are never what they seem, or at least they should not be. As Henry James taught us with his The Turn of the Screw, any self-respecting ghost story should know how to play with the appearance of things, with the ambiguity underlying reality itself, with the perception of the reader or, in our case, of the spectator, and create, through allusions and linguistic traps, a labyrinthine reality, phantasmagorical in fact, a game of reflexes where everything can be the opposite of everything. This is what Crossing the Void succeeds in achieving, to the viewer's great satisfaction, as a result of young scriptwriter Sally MacAlister's collaboration with queer actresses’ koi collective in their debut as a theatre company. A student of Drama Writing at the University of Manchester, Ma...

11Aug

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

Boy – Summerhall, Main Hall

“Boy” tells the true story of David Reimer, a Canadian boy born in the 1960s and raised as a girl. Named Bruce at birth, David was an identical twin to Brian, his name later being changed to Brenda. When they were six months old, both boys were referred for circumcision at hospital. A comparatively new method was used on Bruce, the first twin to have the surgery, and resulted in catastrophic and irreversible mutilation to his penis. The procedure was not carried out on Brian. His parents sought advice from Johns Hopkins psychologist, John Money, on how best to help their son in the coming years learning to live with his situation. The advice from Money was that, since in his opinion gender identity stems from social learning, it would be better to have t...

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...

11Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Heroin to Hero – Army @ the Fringe

In the fitting surroundings of the army barracks, we are introduced to Paul Boggie, who has a very disturbing tale to tell. Played by actor and playwright Tony McGeever this is the story of Paul Boggie, reformed heroin addict who fought his addiction, to turn his life around to later join the army and to guard the Queen. Interested? From the book of the same name penned by Boggie, the writer has now brought the story to the stage. This dark true tale opens our eyes to the reality of the impact that drugs have on Scottish communities, and acts as a warning to anyone thinking that drugs are a harmless bit of fun. Boggie begins with his childhood, born in 1979, he was one of four children, and his dad enjoyed nothing more than kicking a football around with his kids, but foo...

Hens and Heroines – theSpace on North Bridge

10Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Hens and Heroines – theSpace on North Bridge

It should be inspired by Ovid's Heroides, Hens and Heroines, and mark the debut of the Bristol Badminton School at the Fringe 2022. It should interrogate the audience with atavistic dilemmas concerning life and death, fate and free will, desire and duty. Yet the only dilemmas it is able to raise seem to be those about the why of its own production, about the ultimate meaning of what it wants to convey, arousing a general perplexity about what the audience is watching. In spite of the limited half-hour on stage, the play strikes with force for its lack of coherence and credibility, for a poor script and for forced and awkward acting. As much as one can appreciate the effort of the seven girls involved in the production, some of them very young, the play appears as a badly cut plot, w...

Les Dawson: Flying High – Assembly George Square

10Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Les Dawson: Flying High – Assembly George Square

Before I begin the review, I must comment on the handling of the audience at the venue on my visit. This is one of the larger venues at the festival, and the show began almost 30 minutes late. Many people attending the Fringe Festival book shows quite close together, and this delay could have been the cause of people leaving the show part way through. Not good for the artist and disturbing for the remaining audience. Assembly, this must be improved! Les Dawson was a favourite of mine, and I have childhood memories of watching his numerous shows on TV. This play follows Dawson’s life, beginning with his childhood and moving through his career’s ups and downs. Dawson is played by Jon Culshaw who needs no introduction, as his mimicry is legendary.&nbs...

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Palace Theatre

10Aug

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Palace Theatre

The Osmonds were without doubt one of the biggest musical phenomenon of the 1970s; the family which become famous around the world. ‘The Osmonds: A New Musical’ tells the story of how it all started and gives us an insight into what happened during their rise to fame and what it was like to be that famous family including hardships like the impending bankruptcy ; with an albeit slightly rose-tinted viewpoint at times written by Jay Osmond - it’s a heart-warming whizz through their careers and their relationships, with a soundtrack of Osmond hits which are sure to delight fans. Directed by Shaun Kerrison; this production moves quite smoothly although can feel a bit long in places as what feels like full songs are performed back to back and some sections overrun somewhat; but it does d...