Scotland Archives - North West End UK

Stand & Deliver: The Lee Jeans Sit-in – Traverse Theatre

21May

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Stand & Deliver: The Lee Jeans Sit-in – Traverse Theatre

The Bryant & May Matchgirls strike in 1888 in Bow. Fords in Dagenham and the fishing industry champions, the Women Of Hessle Road, both in 1968. The Grunwick dispute in Dollis Hill in 1976. Fast forward to 1981, the Lee Jeans factory in Greenock, a fading town west of Glasgow once vibrant with ‘ships & sugar’. Maggie T is attempting to drag the UK out of the dismal 70’s, with, as they say, scant regard for the horses. Cue the factory’s American owners, having availed themselves of some generous government assistance in Greenock in the first place, are having their heads turned by similar enticements in N Ireland. 240 jobs, predominantly for local women, hang in the balance. The story was exhaustively researched by local journalist and broadcaster Paul English and written by...

20May

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

The Bodyguard – Edinburgh Playhouse

I must admit I went into this musical differently to most people around me because, somehow, I’ve never actually seen the film. Which almost felt embarrassing once the audience started reacting to certain moments with anticipation usually reserved for cult classics. Still, there was something nice about experiencing the story without constantly comparing it to the film version. It meant I could just take the show as it was: glossy, dramatic, a little ridiculous at times, but undeniably entertaining. The production wastes no time throwing you into the spectacle of it all. One minute Edinburgh’s Playhouse is settling, the next there’s a gunshot and suddenly we’re in full concert territory with pyrotechnics, dancers and Queen of the Night blasting through the theatre. It sets the tone ...

18May

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

The Freshwater Five – Traverse Theatre

From the Isle of Wight, theatre company Deadman, have embarked on a national tour of The Freshwater Five, a true story very close to home. Directed by the company’s artistic director, Samuel Bossman, and written by Liam Patrick Harrison, this play aims to spread light on miscarriage of justice and community. Inspired by the real events, the play focuses on 2011 where five fishermen from Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, were accused and jailed for conspiring to import £53m worth of cocaine onto the island. In 2021, new evidence was found that hoped to free the men who were collectively jailed for a total of 104 years. The Freshwater Five is a deep analysis into this evidence and recounts what led up to the events. This play has an intriguing premise - a genuine local story told by cr...

18May

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Guys and Dolls – Festival Theatre

Southern Light’s Guys and Dolls arrives at the Festival Theatre with all the confidence and swagger of a Broadway classic that knows it has survived generations. Frank Loesser’s score still sparkles, Damon Runyon’s world of gamblers and hustlers still charms, and Southern Light throw absolutely everything they have at it. This is a huge production, packed with colour, movement and musical ambition, with a cast of around seventy determined to fill one of Scotland’s biggest auditoriums. And for long stretches, they succeed. Directed by Andy Johnston, with musical direction by Fraser Hume and choreography by Janice Bruce, the production understands that Guys and Dolls lives or dies on energy. The Festival Theatre stage is enormous and unforgiving, capable of swallowing le...

Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil – Royal Lyceum Theatre

15May

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil – Royal Lyceum Theatre

You could attend Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil at the Lyceum for Ricky Ross alone and leave entirely satisfied. Fortunately, this exquisitely produced new work gives us much more besides. Part gig theatre, part football odyssey, part meditation on grief and belonging, this is one of those deeply Scottish productions that somehow becomes universal precisely because it is so rooted in place. Cowdenbeath may be the setting, but emotionally this could be any town we have tried to escape and yet remain permanently tethered to. Adapted by Gary McNair from Ron Ferguson’s original story, the play follows Sally, played quite brilliantly, with warmth, intelligence and emotional precision by Dawn Steele. After leaving Cowdenbeath behind to build a new life in London as a solicito...

The Wars of Patie Crichton – Duns Play Festival

7May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Wars of Patie Crichton – Duns Play Festival

The HotTrod Theatre Company was commissioned by The Wilson’s Tales Project to deliver a new dramatic rendering from the bank of Scottish Borders tales which once appeared weekly in the Berwick Advertiser. They were so popular they were reprinted for a century and found favour as far away as Australia and America. These stories, some based on real events, were all the rage and a recent initiative is working to republish them all in modern-day language so as not to lose this cultural body of work. Nichol’s reworking resulted in The Wars of Patie Crichton. Writer and performer, John Nichol, fuses two tales to create a warm, homely story featuring two actors and a chair. It was greatly appreciated by the full house at the Duns Play Fest. A couple’s misunderstanding results in misery for the...

May Day Rapid Response to our Times – Central Hall

3May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

May Day Rapid Response to our Times – Central Hall

May Day traditionally heralds the arrival of spring, new buds, hope and fertility. In more recent years it is the bank holiday associated with international worker day - a celebration of solidarity, the power of the people and the value of working for the common good. Hannah Lavery and Cora Bissett did a marvelous job in creating a themed variety show of great Scottish and international talent for this rapid response to our times. Important issues were unwrapped like a selection box of bite-size entertainment which touched the funny bone, elicited tears and were always thought-provoking. Just for one night, this show drew a rapturous crowd. Live theatre is like nothing else - it is a moment in time; a flame flickering and then extinguished; a shared experience which brings hear...

2May

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Shotgunned – Traverse Theatre

Roz (Lorna Panton) packs up the belongings of Dylan (Fraser Allan Hogg), her ex. She hesitates, then adds one last item, a cheerful framed painting of the name Olivia. We see the tenderness, and the anger, that Roz and Dylan hold for each other. The story of their romance is told nonsequentially. These are the familiar, everyday moments of life, as two young people in love laugh and cry together. Their first awkward conversation. Dylan teaching Roz how to play on the Xbox. Sharing their hopes and dreams for the life they will build together. It all falls apart after Roz suffers a miscarriage. The grief for their daughter, Olivia, is too much to bear. The story is simple, and Matt Anderson’s script is very much character driven. He has provided some lovely ...

The Ballad of Johnny and June – Festival Theatre

1May

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Ballad of Johnny and June – Festival Theatre

There is a problem with telling a story everyone already knows. This story of Johnny and June understands the problem well enough, but the script never really finds an alternative solution. Instead, the music is left to speak for itself. The show opens with Jackson, the quintessential Johnny and June number, a confident, toe tapping start that promises energy and momentum. From there, the narrative is framed largely through the eyes of their son, John Carter Cash, offering a lens that suggests memory, subjectivity, and, crucially, that truth is never singular. When Johnny first meets June at the Ryman Auditorium and declares, with typical bravado, that he will one day marry her, we are reminded that this is only his version of events. It is a useful idea, that truth shifts depending on ...

1May

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Tomorrow – Traverse Theatre

Hereford based dance company, 2Faced held the Scottish premiere of Tomorrow at The Traverse this week. Directed and choreographed by Tamsin Fitzgerald and devised with dancers Lew Baker and Sam Buswell, Tomorrow is a striking portrayal of men’s mental health displayed using contemporary dance. This show was devised in collaboration with Mind, a charity dedicated to providing mental health support for anyone who needs it across England and Wales. 2Faced partnered with Mind to create Men in Motion - a dance class specifically for men struggling with mental health issues. It was through this group’s sharing of their lived experiences, as well as the performers own experiences of mental health that Tomorrow was devised from. Fitzgerald’s direction is raw and in your face -...