REVIEWS Archives - Page 276 of 548

The Disney Delusion – Underbelly Bristo Square

22Aug

By Amy HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Disney Delusion – Underbelly Bristo Square

Award-winning Canadian comedian Leif Oleson-Cormack presented his stand-up show ‘The Disney Delusion’ at the Edinburgh Fringe after a sold-out run at the Edmonton Fringe. Oleson-Cormack wore his heart on his sleeve throughout his intimate monologue about unrequited-love. Despite moments of deep-hearted tenderness this was primarily a light-hearted show that was easy to laugh along to. Attending this show felt like going for a drink with that one friend who tells you the most ridiculously scandalous stories. The show began by giving a brief overview of Oleson-Cormack’s love life (touching on themes such as virginity and sexuality) before developing into a more linear storyline with a play-like feel. Within this story the dramatization of eccentric characters such as The Doctor, The Frank...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Shooglenifty – Rose Theatre, Edinburgh

I vaguely recall the Shoogles, it must have been more than 25 years ago in some dank Edinburgh cellar. But I still remember being moved, shocked even, by the discovery that Scottish traditional music could be funky, edgy, dance-worthy! I cannot remember what I was expecting then (Jimmy Shand perhaps?!), but the band that termed the phrase Acid Croft were a musical revelation. And here tonight, at The Rose Theatre, nothing has changed, yet everything has changed. No longer led by their charismatically big-bearded frontman, fiddler, Angus Grant, who used to bound around the stage like some BFG and always whipped the crowd up a storm, lost way too early to throat cancer in 2016. But somehow, they have survived, regrouped, with new fiddler Eilidh Shaw, fitting in beautifully to the w...

22Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Bacon – Summerhall

Bacon, written by Sophie Swithinbank, and brought to the Edinburgh Fringe by HFH Productions, is a masterclass in storytelling. Focusing on the lives of fifteen-year-old’s Mark, Corey Montague-Sholay, and Darren, William Robinson, it explores masculinity, sexuality, and the dangers of toxicity in youthful relationships. Mark has just joined a new school and is struggling to make friends until he meets the hot-tempered Darren. The two could not be more different, and as such seem drawn to one another. Swithinbank’s script is electric. Despite repeatedly switching between narration and dialogue, it feels incredibly real. The characters may address the audience, but they never stop feeling like actual human beings. Perhaps this is because they are both so relatable, albeit in very differen...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Heaven – Traverse Theatre

This play is a compelling duel monologue between a wife and her husband during the weekend of a spirited wedding celebration in a small town in the Irish Midlands. The dialogue alternates between Janet Moran’s Mairead, a 50-something social worker with a fiery temper, and Mal, her mild-mannered teacher husband who has somehow managed to suppress his homosexual leanings for the last thirty years, but suddenly, with the littlest of pushes, finds a calling to action them. Meanwhile, Mairead finds her own passions reignited in an old flame who she hasn’t seen since she was 20. Beautifully written by Eugene O’Brien, and sensitively delivered with a light Irish brogue, direct to the audience, has everyone leaning in and laughing or smiling knowingly. The set and lighting design are exquis...

Amanda Tovalin: Música Verde (Green Music) – Edinburgh Fringe Online

21Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Amanda Tovalin: Música Verde (Green Music) – Edinburgh Fringe Online

Amanda Tovalin: Música Verde (Green Music) is a short concert in which musician, Amanda Tovalin explores her relationship with all things green and natural through song. The concert is performed with Spanish and English narration, with all song lyrics in Spanish, and is available to watch with Spanish, English and Portuguese subtitles. The concert opens with a philosophical narration over a background of haunting flute, played by Gastón Artigas. The narration immediately brings the theme of the concert to the fore, with the inextricable link between humans and the natural world being outlined and what the deterioration of that relationship means for our lives. The concert is performed in a low-lit studio with projections of the natural world shown behind the three musicians as a rem...

21Aug

By Euan HuthNo Comments

Scotland

1984 – Assembly Roxy

One of the main advantages of theatre is that the actors are physically there in front of you acting. There is a certain rawness to theatre that gives it this powerfulness, which can be used to convey strong messages and themes and emotion to audiences. 1984 is a story that could greatly benefit from that rawness, but it does not deliver. It is a piece that is very relevant in this day and age, Big Brother and The Party oppressing the masses with the Thought Police, no-one is allowed independent thought, and Winston Smith finds himself in the Department of Love after falling for Julia, a rebellious woman he meets in a world that is devoid of any real emotion. The shows biggest failing is the fact that all the interactions between these two pivotal characters is all done through p...

After The Act (A Section 28 Musical) – Traverse Theatre

21Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

After The Act (A Section 28 Musical) – Traverse Theatre

A law existed until very recently which refused to acknowledge that gay and lesbian existence was normal. Between 1988 and 2003 a local government act was introduced which decreed that councils and schools throughout the United Kingdom be silent on homosexuality and not spend time in lessons discussing or acknowledging let alone normalising its existence. This production by Breach Theatre, written by Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett, with an original score by Frew, After The Act takes as it’s starting point the Danish children’s book Jenny Lives With Eric and Martin, which caused such an uproar when it was launched into schools in the early 1980’s. Set against the suddenly rising AIDS epidemic, people panicked, burned the books, protests against teaching same-sex relationships in school...

Absurdocles: An Improvised Greek Tragedy – Camden Comedy Club

20Aug

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Absurdocles: An Improvised Greek Tragedy – Camden Comedy Club

Hilarious, impromptu and very Greek! Absurdocles has a group of improvisers weave a unique tale for one night only! Expect a Greek chorus, many fun characters, classic tongas and countless chortles. Without wasting too much time, the troupe picks on suggestions from the audience like names, their dream profession as a child and their favourite thing and strides forward to set up the premise of the story they paint for us over the next hour. In the show that night, we watched Lora, Anis, Miriam, Chris, and Nadir in white Greek togas camouflaging their modern wear. Time flies when you are having fun! The hour passed by sooner than we expected! Team Absurdacles have you gaping at how quickly they can pull out these characters, word associations and deeper relationships. The stage at the...

20Aug

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Wife Material – Camden People’s Theatre

Sophia and Heleana Blackwell are a married stand-up comedy and poetry duo. Two lesbians tell us about the trials, tribulations and satisfactions of marriage. There is poetry, improvised songs and duets. Sophia and Heleana share a vibrant chemistry of opposites attracting. They intersperse one another’s stories recollecting how they met, got married and tug of disagreements solely about duvet covers. The show, first performed at the RVT, returns to the Camden Fringe and is the love story we yearn for and deserve. In the onslaught of heteronormativity slapped at us across all media, the piece holds the quiet comfort of a warm cup of coffee with a friend. Sophia is a performance poet with three published poetry collections and one novel. For two years, she hosted the LGBT+ radio sho...

The Improv Musical – Gilded Balloon, Patter Hoose

20Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

The Improv Musical – Gilded Balloon, Patter Hoose

Music Theatre Warwick, from the University of Warwick, have made the impossible look easy in this entirely improvised musical. The audience chose the two lead characters, Sherlock Holmes and SpongeBob SquarePants, and the location: the Titanic. The musical was named ‘who lives in a monocle under the sea’, by a particularly witty band member, and the performers got straight into it. What followed was hilarious, ridiculous, and highly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the short mid-way break, in which the audience decided the next plot point. In this case, that John Watson, who had been thrown overboard, would arrive back on the Titanic to declare his love to SpongeBob through an opera song. It was just as crazy and hysterical as it sounds. Throughout the show, I was...