REVIEWS Archives - Page 55 of 563

The King of Hollywood – theSpaceUK @ Surgeon’s Hall

20Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

The King of Hollywood – theSpaceUK @ Surgeon’s Hall

Two heroes; long forgotten but pillars of an epoch. On a simply set stage, Hollywood silent movie star Douglas Fairbanks waits for his friend Charlie Chaplin in a heavenly restaurant. He’s been waiting for over 37 years; Fairbanks passed in 1939 and Chaplin in 1977. At some point around 1900, Charlie Chaplin trod the boards of the Gaiety Theatre in Leith with the clog dancing troupe ‘The Eight Lancashire Lads’. Chaplin enters and alludes to this connection as Fairbanks takes us on a potted history of his life in the movies. From the first moment this is highly engaging theatre. Lit with two large defined circles of light, two chairs and a table of expected restaurant props, Gerardo Cabal leans back confidently and brings a suave charm and subtle nuance to his version of Fairbanks. W...

The Last Keepers – theSpaceUK @ Symposium Hall (Annexe Theatre)

19Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Keepers – theSpaceUK @ Symposium Hall (Annexe Theatre)

A stranger washes up on Uig on the Isle of Skye. It’s purportedly 1970 and the lighthouse is closing down. The tight knit community is fragile. Everything is falling apart. The audience enters to the cast symbolically waving torches wrapped in blue plastic carrier bigs. This simple introduction sets a tone. Actors bustle in shock, the discovery of the stranger ensues, and the audience is engaged through a frantic commotion. The plot is relatively simple, or not when you begin its deconstruction. Donald, our mysterious man from the sea excites the village. He serves as the catalyst who creates ripples of animosity with every other person he crosses paths with. Like so many other EdFringe productions, this show has no printed programme or online production information. Pedantic, maybe...

Nearlyweds the Musical – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

19Aug

By Juliette PepinNo Comments

Scotland

Nearlyweds the Musical – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

We are cordially welcomed to the wedding of an eager bride-to-be, talking our seats at a wedding reception that never actually happens. Settling in for a light-hearted romcom, we receive just that - Jasmine Alice's new musical Nearlyweds is vibrant and upbeat, packed with quirky characters and excessive puns. Nearlyweds follows bride-to-be Lily who gets cold feet and jet sets to escape her wedding, while another husband-to-be Jake deals with repercussions of his fiancé baring his cheating habits for all his family to see. As both navigate new independence and impending fatherhood respectively, they meet through Lily's friend and Jake's brother Brian. Sarah Alexandra Brown as Lily is a compelling lead – we empathise with her as she confronts her disconnected relationship wi...

Liza Minnelli, Life is a Cabaret – Cellar Bar at Argyle Cellar Bar

19Aug

By Triona ScullyNo Comments

Scotland

Liza Minnelli, Life is a Cabaret – Cellar Bar at Argyle Cellar Bar

Life is a Cabaret features skilled storyteller and vocalist Sally McGreevy weaving together songs and anecdotes about Liza Minnelli’s life. This is McGreevy’s tenth year at the festival and it shows. A seasoned performer, she opens her act with the title track and immediately her audience warms to her. She then reveals snippets of Minnelli’s early life and captures the erratic nature of her formative years with the revelation that the star had attended twenty-two different schools by her sixteenth birthday. At this young age Minnelli left home to pursue her dreams of being a dancer but with such a strong vocal heritage she was always destined to be a singer and just two years late, in 1964, performed ‘Gypsy in my Soul’ live at the London Palladium. McGreevy performs the track effort...

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

19Aug

By Joe LangNo Comments

Scotland

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

"Best Worst Advice" is a show bursting at the seams with vitality and connection, as the three performers integrate the audience's questions into their flowing and dynamic dance routines. All my praise goes to Erin Tracy, Anne Gehman, and Emily Aust, who brought their absolute all to this performance and helped the show glide along as seamlessly as it possibly could. With the nature of this performance relying so heavily on audience participation, there’s always the doubt that perhaps the show will only be as good as the group watching. However, even with a not-all-that-enthusiastic crowd, each one of the three women was still able to grab hold of the moment and construct the 50 minutes into something memorable. For example, the show I went to see had two strangers in the audience b...

19Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Stick Together – theSpace on the Mile

Showing in theSpace on the Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe, Stick Together is a grassroots musical written and co-directed by Gabby Blackie. Set in Perthshire, we follow the journey of three field hockey players who have trapped themselves in the locker room. The surrounding area is overrun with zombies and with no sign of ZPS (Zombie Protection Services) the girls are forced to stick it out until morning despite growing tensions amongst the group. As the musical unfolds, we discover that Zara (Gracie Spencer) is massively crushing on Hazel (Madeline Gilroy). But with Zara’s hot-headed, defensive attitude - mostly directed towards new-girl Keelie (Kate Santos), Zara can’t help but push Hazel away in the process. Spoiler, they do end up together after singing it ...

Ghost Stories By Candle Light – theSpace @ Venue 45

19Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Ghost Stories By Candle Light – theSpace @ Venue 45

The art of telling ghost stories has been around for many moons, made even more popular by the Victorians. There’s something about sitting in a dark room, watching a dim light flicker and hearing an old tale about ghouls and creatures of the night which is often guaranteed to send a shiver up your spine. Ghost Stories By Candle Light strive to create this very aesthetic, using a series of battery powered candles (don’t worry we know real fire can be a health and safety nightmare) horse skull masks, white sheets and some lovely Gothic attire. Walking into the large theatre space we are met by two actors in these skull masks who wander the stage space to the rhythm of some somewhat chilling music. The show begins and the two engage in a character discussion to set up the first stor...

19Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Trainspotting Live – Pleasance EICC

Stark, uncompromising, and more than a little filthy, Trainspotting Live at the EICC is an experience that assaults all the senses. If you thought Irvine Welsh’s story was dark on the page, or confronting on screen, this immersive production makes it visceral, unavoidable, and at times literally in your face. The staging is deceptively simple, two sets of bleachers flank a narrow walkway, with a bed at one end and a heap of sheets at the other. Centre stage, on one side, sits the infamously disgusting “worst toilet in Scotland,” which becomes as much a character as any of the cast. A word of advice, choose your seat carefully. The back row is safer, the second-back row ideal, but anyone who braves the front may find themselves in the splash zone. But in reality, nowhere is safe! ...

I’m Ready to Talk Now – Traverse Theatre

19Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

I’m Ready to Talk Now – Traverse Theatre

One audience member at a time, for 45 minutes, in a room dressed like a hospital ward. That is the premise of I’m Ready to Talk Now, an award-winning piece created and performed by Australian artist Oliver Ayres, and it is as bold and unusual as it sounds. Developed in Melbourne before arriving at the Traverse for its UK premiere, the show has already drawn acclaim for its innovation, but to experience it first-hand is something else entirely. You are welcomed gently, even tenderly. The host tucks you into a bed, adjusts the space for your comfort, and slips headphones over your ears. What follows is a guided immersion into his own story, spoken in his voice, paced by his movements around the room. At times he is by your side, at times he drifts into shadow, and once, when he gazes ...

19Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Alright Sunshine – Pleasance

All Right Sunshine, written by Isla Cowan and directed by Debbie Hannan, is a blistering one-woman play that probes power, gender, and the policing of public space, with a performance that holds the room in an iron grip. At its heart is Molly Geddes as PC Nicky McCreadie, delivering a turn of such intensity and nuance that it feels less like acting and more like possession. From the outset, we know this is about the police, but the framing is unexpected, Geddes’ McCreadie is just five foot tall, far removed from the towering physical ideal once required of recruits. The irony is not lost. Once upon a time, men had to be six feet tall and women five foot eight to join the force. Now here is a small-statured officer, pigeonholed as a “mother figure” on weekend shifts, yet treated with...