Scotland Archives - North West End UK

2Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Beyond Monet – Royal Highland Centre

There’s something delightfully odd about stepping into one of the colossal cattle halls of the Royal Highland Centre and finding yourself transported into Monet’s luminous world of haystacks, lily ponds, and steam trains. Edinburgh’s Beyond Monet is the smaller sibling of last year’s Glasgow Beyond Van Gogh installation, but size, as it turns out, is only part of the story. The Royal Highland Centre, by contrast, offers a more contained, unified volume. Here, the projections encircle you on all four walls with complete synchronicity, transforming the experience into something more cohesive. Instead of moving through fragments and competing tableaux, you sink into a single visual world. Oddly enough, the smaller building produces a bigger emotional effect. The room becomes womb-like, dar...

2Dec

By Susan CohenNo Comments

Scotland

Baltic – Cumbernauld Theatre

Well, this is a panto full of creative Christmas joy! The word BALTIC is the jokey Scottish colloquialism for the word FROZEN, so the audience arrived in anticipation of being treated to a narrative which involved at least some of the much-loved characters of the Disney movie. It turns out that they weren’t to be disappointed. According to the promo blurb, brave young Elspeth, with magical powers still to be unleashed, lives in the snowy village of Glenfrost. When her brother Kai is kidnapped by the wicked Snow Queen Chilblain and her slippery sidekick Jack Frost, she sets off on a daring rescue mission. She’s joined by her hilariously cheeky pal Sammy the Slush, her snow-stopping mammy Dame Agnes Avalunch, and a whole host of frosty new friends, including a talkin...

2Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Bee Asha – Traverse Theatre

As part of The Soundhouse Winter Festival we’re treated to a vibrant set from poet, spoken-word, rap, jazz, dance, multi-faceted artist Bee Asha, but more of that in a minute… Support is no less than erstwhile keys player for The Vaselines, Carla J Easton, playing a clutch of songs from a forthcoming album that started life in a small recording booth in Nashville. With Brett. Dignifying a Fender Mustang (ok, could’ve been a Jaguar or Jazzmaster), peppering the set with anecdotes ranging from buying said guitar from Glasgow’s salubrious West End, to adventures halfway up a Norwegian glacier with Mr Hefner himself, Darren Hayman, she’s accompanied by ‘the best-dressed man in music’, Paul Kelly on acoustic. He was well-attired but a touch of glitter wouldn’t have gone amiss. What reall...

Cinderella: A Fairytale – Royal Lyceum Theatre

2Dec

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Cinderella: A Fairytale – Royal Lyceum Theatre

Deck those halls as it’s Christmas time once again in Edinburgh with Royal Lyceum Theatre’s annual festive show, this year Sally Cookson’s and Adam Peck’s Cinderella: A Fairytale. A classic story known and loved by many, holding on to its original charm alongside modernisation, making this play a stand-out for family festive fun. We follow Ella (Olivia Hemmati), recently orphaned and ‘looked after’ by her stepmother (Nicole Cooper) and tormented by her wicked stepsiblings (Christina Gordon and Matthew Forbes). In this production, Ella has a deep connection with birds and, when finding some needed solace from her awful living conditions, she meets a fellow bird enthusiast (Sam Stopford), who just so happens to be a prince. As the story goes, Ella is invited to a royal ball but will every...

24Nov

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Gallus in Weegieland – Tron Theatre

What a way to kick off panto season! Gallus in Weegieland at The Tron theatre is glam, gorgeous, and very glaswegian. Expecting the typical tired panto schtick and gags, I was very gladly mistaken - this is a panto that cares. With an actually engaging storyline accompanied by original songs by Ross Brown (who's multi-tasking and multi-instrumentalism in playing the score was incredibly impressive), I was grinning from ear to ear. Based on Alice in Wonderland, we saw Alice (Jorgey Scott-Learmonth) embark on a quest to find love, inspiration, and bravery in Weegieland in order to pass her ballet exam back on earth. Of course, it wouldn’t be a panto without an evil queen and Queenie of Hearts, Louise McCarthy did not disappoint. If Elaine C. Smith was hig...

A Night at the Musicals – Peebles Orchestra

19Nov

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

A Night at the Musicals – Peebles Orchestra

Peebles Orchestra was founded by Claire Garnett, MBE, in 1976. Claire was its guiding spirit for forty-two years before she handed over this tremendous pool of talent to the chair, Chris Dubé. Claire has been fundamental in establishing a solid musical base in Peebles. She founded Peebles Players for people with disabilities and music for dementia in care homes. Her legacy does her proud. A Night at the Musicals was Peebles Orchestra’s latest offering on Saturday evening. Chris Dubé, his hard-working vice-chair, Annelies van den Bogaard and the entire orchestra relished the opportunity to partner with local youth and adult groups: Stardust, InChorus, Nomad Beat, and two gifted young soloists, Gregor Scott, fifteen, and Erika Rae Franssen, seventeen. Conducted by Ross Gunning, this ensem...

16Nov

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Through the Mud – Traverse Theatre

Spanning past and present, Apphia Campbell’s Through the Mud explores racism in America during the Black Panther movement as well as Black Lives Matter. Filled with a gospel and blues soundtrack, sung live by the performers, this is a show with a strong message but some struggle of identity. With only two actors, we follow the stories of Assata Shakur (Apphia Campbell) during the civil rights movement and Jim Crow laws while flipping back and forth to Ambrosia Rollins (Tinashe Warikandwa) a college student wrapped up in the Black Lives Matter protests in 2014. Both actors also play smaller, secondary roles in their counterparts' stories. Initially, these changes between past and present can feel confusing, trying to keep up with what time period we are in. Accent changes are quite subtl...

16Nov

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Òran – Traverse Theatre

From the fantastic minds of Wonder Fools comes Òran, a contemporary retelling of the famous greek myth of Orpheus. Fresh from its 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival run, this piece, written by Owen Sutcliffe and directed by Jack Nurse, has embarked on a new tour. Òran (Robbie Gordon) has a difficult relationship with his parents, particularly heightened by the loss of his older brother. Alone, he strikes up a strong friendship with Liam. However, as two young boys living in the modern age of social media, this friendship soon goes awry as indecent images are shared by the young boys in an immature attempt at revenge. Like the Greek myth, Òran heads into the underworld to make amends with Liam, who serves as a Eurydice-esque character. Robbie Gordon performs the poetic, spoken word-in...

10Nov

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

(Parent)ified – Augustine United Church

In Erstwhile Media’s final play of their “One Dramatic Night” at Augustine United Church, we saw Rhona O’Donnell star in Cosette Bolt’s one-woman play (Parent)ified. Based on Bolt’s own experiences, this play was heartbreakingly raw, looking at the impact abusive parenting has had on our protagonist’s life as she is forced to step up to the plate and raise her younger sister, putting her own life on hold. Directed by Oliver Giggins as well as Bolt, this play is dynamic, displaying not only the frantic nature of our protagonist’s life with the fast-paced blocking, but also the passage of time as we pendulate between her life in the early teenage years all the way through to her mid-20s. O’Donnell was the perfect choice for this role, engaging us completely throughout which...

The Ebony Frame – Augustine United Church

10Nov

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

The Ebony Frame – Augustine United Church

Based on Edith Nesbit’s story of the same title, Erstwhile Media presents us with Oliver Giggins’ adaptation of The Ebony Frame—the second instalment of work at “One Dramatic Night” in Augustine United Church. Much like the source material, Giggins’ adaptation is an atmospheric and haunting tale in which protagonist Arthur Marsh (played by Alexander Donaldson) inherits a house where he discovers a portrait in an ebony frame. Unlike Nesbit’s original, the subject in the portrait is a man by the name of Raoul (played by Pedro Branco), giving this gothic horror a queer twist as Marsh becomes enraptured by the portrait’s presence. He soon encounters the ghost of Raoul and begins to uncover the torrid love affair the two men once shared in a past life. Giggins’ writing is enticing, and w...