Scotland Archives - Page 10 of 154

Twonkey (Soft December Night In Tallahassee) – Edinburgh Dragonfly (Other Room)

17Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Twonkey (Soft December Night In Tallahassee) – Edinburgh Dragonfly (Other Room)

Other than the closing line of one of Twonketta’s musical interludes, there was no ‘Soft’, ‘December’, ‘Night’ or ‘Tallahassee’. Of course there wasn’t. Welcome to the Twonkey-sphere. Or Twonko-verse. Or, since the unceremonious, Ziggy S-style curtailment of Twonkey’s career a couple of years back, maybe the Twonketta-sphere? Some are starting to question the story about the tin of condensed milk, sensing the hallmarks of a particularly ruthless boardroom takeover. Still, Twonketta feigns such remorse that we accept, attend and note that most of the backing props and puppets have moved on too. With gusto they set about this adventure, a complex chilli-spiced grapefruit, designed to give most professional chefs a seizure. One which the Marvel franchise can only dream of. So, hold on… tight!...

17Aug

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Mozart’s Don Giovanni – Usher Hall

The Scottish Chamber Opera dazzles again with its high-spirited rendition of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the Edinburgh International Festival. Conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, the show continues the SCO’s highly acclaimed series of Mozart operas at the festival. Part raunchy comedy, part high drama, Don Giovanni tells the story of a dissolute Spanish nobleman whose penchant for womanising and bloodshed brings him to a grisly end. Act I opens with Don Giovanni murdering Il Commendatore after a failed attempt to bed the old man’s daughter, Donna Anna. Konstantin Krimmel plays a leonine, bombastic Don Giovanni, who is at times slick with charisma, at times laughably pompous. His Canzonetta in Act II (“Deh, vieni alla finestra”), sung with elegance and tenderness, is a particularly memo...

Houdini Speaks To The Living – The Space On The Mile

17Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Houdini Speaks To The Living – The Space On The Mile

Hidden Room Theatre produce this show from writer-director Beth Burns and writer-magician Patrick Terry, who also stars as Houdini, along with Robert Matney playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Houdini was famously a debunker of fraudulent mediums, while Conan Doyle, perhaps counterintuitively as the creator of the very rational Sherlock Holmes, was a crusading spiritualist. That the two men were real-life friends feeds the dramatic tension that has fascinated many for a century and is the centre of this show. The level of research is clear, with lines taken verbatim from the letters and works of Houdini and Conan Doyle. Terry & Matney first originated these roles a decade ago, and their ease in these parts is clear, though Terry's theatricality, while reasonable for a performer c...

17Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Swan Song – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

Swan Song, produced by Irish theatre company Jilted Bride Productions, is a camp melodrama providing commentary on the hypocrisy, corruption and egos of the entertainment industry. Big Media, and their subsidiary Big Film, are the biggest conglomerate around. Headed by the evil Big Media Boss, she is on a mission to shut down anyone who disagrees with her. In an attempt to return to the spotlight, director Oswald recruits bygone diva Heidi Hole to star in his new play. When Big Media Boss fires journalist Samira Plath for her support of liberal activism, her father and renowned critic Skandar Plath returns to confront Big Media Boss, rehashing age-old secrets and scandals. After her father is murdered, Samira makes it her mission to take down Big Media Boss f...

17Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Steak Out – Gilded Balloon

Steak Out is the latest offering from Edinburgh born writer and actor Ruaraidh Murray, providing a dark comedy with a lot of local flavour. Set over two nights before Christmas, the play follows an Edinburgh family as they seek good fortune and revenge. Murray stars as Pilton butcher Archie, who hatches a plan to steal the best cuts from his ex-employer, Smedleys of Stockbridge. Aided by his girlfriend Karen and her out of work actor son Thomas, he finds himself committing a more serious crime than the one he'd originally planned. The performances are excellent. Murray is very believable as the rough and ready Archie, constantly being berated for his language by long suffering girlfriend Karen. Reanne Farley displays range as family matriarch Karen, scolding the men in her life for ...

Endometriosis the Musical – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

17Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Endometriosis the Musical – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

Blending musical comedy with medical commentary, Endometriosis the Musical tackles a global health issues with considerable energy. A musical about menstruation might not appeal to all, but this seven strong company make it a relatable and funny experience. Written by Maria Bartholdi and Kristin Stowell, who both have lived experience of endometriosis, the story follows business woman Jane as she tries to deliver the best presentation of her career. Her big opportunity comes when colleague Brad, a self-titled "business bro", becomes the latest victim in a spate of bear maulings. Despite trying to impress her boss Mr McKenna, she struggles to focus when her period turns up right on cue. Luckily her office bestie Miranda is there to stage an intervention, encouraging her to see a doct...

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Evita Too – Zoo Southside

ZOO Southside’s Main House is a wonderfully generous Fringe venue, a huge wide stage, properly raked seating and not a bad view in the house. In fact, the stage is so large and voluminous that you could probably roller skate around it naked if you wanted to. Sh!t Theatre, it turns out, wanted to. Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole are one of the funniest double acts at this year’s Fringe. I’ve seen Sh!t Theatre many times before and they never disappoint. EVITA TOO gives them an unusually expansive playground, and they use pretty much all of it. Their starting point is Isabel Perón, Juan Perón’s third wife and the woman who succeeded him as President of Argentina in 1974, becoming the first female president of any country in the world. Yet ask most of us about a Mrs ...

Boy In A Box – Guilded Balloon Patter House

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Boy In A Box – Guilded Balloon Patter House

There is something wonderfully unsettling about Paul Coates’ Boy in a Box. This is a single hander that treads a remarkably fine line between humour and some very dark places indeed, including suicide, while somehow finding room for what becomes a fascinating, if increasingly unhinged, lecture on American history. And the box is not theoretical. It is right there. Every now and again, a thump comes from inside it. Whatever, or whoever, is in there wants out: the disenfranchised, the silenced, the forgotten majority? We are told one thing with certainty, whatever is in the box is definitely not white. So, what is it? Black? Brown? Asian? Honduran? All of them? And, more importantly, who is willing to open the box and find out? Coates veers between appearing like a madma...

Tamsyn Kelly (Rat’s Ass) – Monkey Barrel Comedy

16Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Tamsyn Kelly (Rat’s Ass) – Monkey Barrel Comedy

Tamsyn’s skint. So is her boyfriend. She works in comedy. So does he. They decided to move to London anyway. No doubt the drive and desire that took them there explains why she pops in each morning to the venue; just to check no-one’s opened a door that might disturb that damp subterranean ambience long ago patented by The Fringe. It’s a long way to the top, or maybe Blue Peter, but an even longer journey if you’re born to a homeless couple in Cornwall, though, as this show proves, it does provide better stories. She nips in the bud any conclusions based on her haircut. Though the drill collection is expanding and the shelving potential increasing for all the Hockey trophies. She dumps the obligatory ADHD diagnosis into the same category as an air fryer, since with either you’ll ...

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

ALOK: Eat, Pray, Leave – Pleasance One

If I had to choose one word for Eat Pray Leave, it would be confusing. ALOK is difficult to quantify and, for me, frequently difficult to understand. Having reviewed more than 30 shows at this year’s Fringe, this was comfortably the most densely challenging in terms of language. ALOK Vaid-Menon is an international star, writer, comedian, poet and leading non-binary voice, and there is no doubting the intelligence or purpose behind this hour. ALOK is not here to make trite jokes. They are here to provoke, challenge and demand recognition. I came with an open mind, ready to listen and understand. But I also needed to be let into the conversation. Too often, the language felt constructed for an audience already familiar with its vocabulary and cultural references. I could sense...