REVIEWS Archives - Page 53 of 549

After Shakespeare – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

10Aug

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Scotland

After Shakespeare – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

An hour-long monologue from Lexi Wolfe giving a 21st-century spin on the motivations for, and reactions to, the fates that Bard wrote them. First up - Henry V (or Prince Hal as he’s known to his drinking friends), clearly suffering from PTSD following the Battle of Azincourt) and haunted by the ghosts of civilians and soldiers he had seen massacred. Then came Hamlet, marooned in Purgatory and still procrastinating whilst pulling apart the piratical plot holes in Shakespeare’s masterpiece, and adding a gay subtext with Laertes for good measure. Portia arrived swiftly to confess her cross-dressing. Balthazar had given her a taste for it, and she carried on after Shylock’s trial. And finally, a sinister Lady Macbeth who confesses her real motivation for Duncan’s death and her subseq...

Betty Grumble’s Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t – Assembly Roxy

10Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Betty Grumble’s Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t – Assembly Roxy

Performance artist, sex clown and ecosexual Emma Maye Gibson returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a new show which she describes as a "composting" of herself. Merging dance, live music and bold physicality, Gibson explores themes of domestic violence, justice and grief with a characteristic intensity and humour. Gibson's previous Fringe performances have been in character as her drag alter ego Betty Grumble. This time, Betty is a mask and an outlandish mutant wig that can be donned by Gibson or her assistant Craig, an outward display of bravado that hides the human vulnerability within. However, Gibson becomes truly vulnerable on the stage tonight, literally baring all in a physical sense, but also emotionally. She relates her experience of taking an abuser to court, and being dismi...

Tiny Human Dramas – Rosemary Branch Theatre

10Aug

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Tiny Human Dramas – Rosemary Branch Theatre

Directed and produced by Meghan Rose Donnelly, Alexandra D’onofrio, and Laura Sophie Helbig and based on long-term anthropological research from several differing sources, Tiny Human Dramas is a tryptich performance consisting of two ten-minute plays written within twenty four hours of their performance and a third twenty-minute play developed earlier and incorporating prerecorded video elements. “Whispers of a Past Life” inspired by the work of Dr Maria Kastrinou on reincarnation stories in Druze communities in Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan and featuring performers Harriet Eaton and Jack So is an uncomfortable exploration of psychosexual colonialism depicted by two able young performers. “Life for Real” inspired by the work of Dr Alexandra D’Onofrio on crossing the Mediterranean...

10Aug

By Juliette PepinNo Comments

Scotland

Jackie!!! – Gilded Balloon

The lights dim, shots are fired, and we are jolted to attention. A sombre funeral march puts us in the centre of the bleak aftermath of the day that reset the American political landscape and shook the nation. We prepare for a mourning sequence, until a record-scratch sound effect blares and rosy lights give way to Jackie Kennedy chirping a Ben Shapiro quote.Making a sparkling debut at this year’s fringe, Jackie!!! is an unpredictably hilarious musical surrounding the famed First Lady and the heavy load of the Kennedy name. The Kennedys need no introduction, and tonight's audience seem well-versed in their folklore. The set design is impressive, allowing for swift entries and exits of tantalisingly unpredictable characters. With four White House Doors framing the stage, we glimpse i...

10Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

London

Romeo and Juliet – Stratford East

This is how you do a modern retelling of a Shakespeare classic. In partnership with Sadler’s Wells, Stratford East have crafted a unique, vibrant, and exceptionally effective production that breathes new life into the timeless tragedy. Set against the East London skyline, realised through a relatively simple yet superb set, this adaptation uses music and dance to ground its events in a contemporary, familiar setting. As a result, everything felt fresh, bold and original. Despite the language, and the fame of the story, it almost felt like I was watching a brand-new play. Not a mean feat! The dances ranged from crackling whole-company numbers to gorgeous and evocative routines performed by Praeploy Pam Tomuan and Louis Donovan, who represented the inner emotional states of Juliet and Rom...

Cold, Dark, Matters – C ARTS | C venues | C aurora

10Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Cold, Dark, Matters – C ARTS | C venues | C aurora

Jack Brownridge-Kelly’s one-man thriller, Cold, Dark, Matters finishes its run at the Edinburgh Fringe this week. Brownridge-Kelly has produced a masterclass in storytelling as he shares the tale of the mysterious events our main character Colin undergoes after he moves to Cornwall. The more this piece progresses, the more peculiar twists and turns we uncover. Brownridge-Kelly plays all the characters he meets in the close-knit, cult-like village, from the nosy and haughty community busybody to the gruff and cryptic neighbour - transitioning from each with clarity and fluidity - each completely distinctive from one another. Narrating the piece as himself, with a conversational and interactive note, he too seems just as shocked by the contents revealed in the mysteri...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Ceremony – Summerhall

I’m not sure what’s more remarkable - the fact that The Ceremony ends with thirty-odd people making chicken noises at full volume in the Summerhall courtyard, or the fact that this is the second show I’d seen tonight to feature a chicken. I’ve been reviewing theatre for many years, and I don’t think I’ve ever typed the word “chicken” before. Tonight, it comes up twice. Make of that what you will.It starts innocently enough. I arrived early, take my seat in the front row, notepad at the ready. Unfortunately, the front row plus notepad is like wearing a neon sign reading “critic” - and Ben Volchok, our master of ceremonies, clocks me straight away with a knowing wink and a smile. The premise of the show is disarmingly simple: the audience and the performer create a ritual together. That’s it...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Work and Days – The Lyceum

Some shows you see, enjoy, and forget. Others you see, endure, and wish you could forget. Works and Days is the rarest kind: the show you see, stagger out of, and then spend days trying to explain to bewildered friends who think you’ve been on the strong cheese.Brought to the Edinburgh International Festival by the Belgian collective FC Bergman - Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Thomas Verstraeten, and Marie Vinck - this is a wordless 70-minute epic inspired by the ancient Greek poet Hesiodos’ meditation on labour, life, death, and our place in the natural world. But forget the fusty schoolroom idea of “Greek poetry.” This is Hesiodos by way of Hieronymus Bosch, with a detour through Goya’s, Saturn Devouring His Son, and a nod to Turner’s, The Fighting Temeraire. It’s grime and grandeur, bea...

9Aug

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Every Brilliant Thing – @sohoplace

Every Brilliant Thing is a sweet, but ultimately flawed, play about depression, suicide and trying to get on with life. Stemming originally from a monologue written by Duncan Macmillan and developed with co-author Jonny Donahoe, the play is about a child dealing with their mother’s suicidal depression by creating a list of all the brilliant things that make life worth living. As the character grows older, the list takes on new meanings as they deal with their own depression. The show is at its best when its performer, Lenny Henry, is left to do crowd work, finding lots of humour in the script and playing the room brilliantly. The text frequently calls for audience members to play key characters in our protagonist’s life: his dad, the vet who put his dog down, his first love, Sam. Hen...

When Billy Met Alasdair – Scottish Storytelling Centre

9Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

When Billy Met Alasdair – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Enthralling. Feel free to locate your battered copy of ‘Lanark’ but under no circumstances attempt to speed-re-read two days before the show. Breathe… turns out it’s not necessary. Author & playwright Alan Bissett is the proud owner of a photo showing the two Scots cultural icons at the launch of said tome at Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre in 1981 and wondered how the conversation between the two might have gone. But there’s stuff before we get there… It's a simple set, just Bissett in front of us alternating between Connolly and (attaches glasses, cues the lighting) Gray, telling their own stories in lively monologues, insights into how and why they ended up doing what they do/did. There’s an armchair to Bissett’s left and a table on which sits a bottle of Glenfiddich (a rather spec...