Scotland Archives - Page 18 of 154

Tick, Tick…Boom – Nicholson Street Venues

9Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Tick, Tick…Boom – Nicholson Street Venues

A story of a struggling theatre writer and the sacrifices he makes to make his dream come true, Tick, Tick…Boom is a show full of fun and thought-provoking songs. An autobiographical piece on the life of Jonathan Larson: most famously known for the hit musical Rent. Whilst a successful movie, and perhaps with a creative set and direction a strong musical, unfortunately Midnight Sun Theatre’s production misses its mark. Set in a small black box theatre with a tv screen to show locations and several black stage boxes and stools which seem to be aimlessly moved around the space the entire show, the direction and vision for the show seems amiss. Songs are not directed in a particularly interesting or dynamic manner the performance seemed to lack any kind of atmosphere at all, with very few ...

Colin Cloud: Hoax – Pleasance Courtyard Grand

9Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Colin Cloud: Hoax – Pleasance Courtyard Grand

If illusions and magic are your thing or you just fancy a good mind-boggle, Colin Cloud has you covered. From guessing the names and dates of people’s first kisses to getting an audience member to read the audiences’ minds, this show is sure to have you leaving more confused than you started. Cloud has an incredible stage presents: Funny, trustworthy and somewhat other worldly. He is incredible skilled at what he does and despite there being 700 plus people in the room, he made sure to make the whole room feel included. Now I don’t want to spoil too much so the tricks themselves will remain a secret, but the show is well paced and has you on the edge of your seat throughout. Audience participation is guaranteed with a large number of audience being chosen for set tricks or ...

9Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

[Seagull] – Studio Theatre

[Seagull] directed by Stijn Van Opsatal is a bold new take on Chekhov’s classic play The Seagull. Running consecutively for two and a half hours, this is an adaptation unlike any you have seen before. At the forefront of [Seagull] is the performance of the text in Flemish Sign Language. This production truly highlights the ingenuity and championing of accessibility as not just a requirement, but as a medium in its own right. Performed as part of the Edinburgh international festival, [Seagull] is brought to us by two Belgian theatre companies; Toneelhuis and Olympique Dramatique. [Seagull] follows the story of a young aspiring playwright and the relationships around him. Featuring four acts, each exploring the themes of unrequited love and creative ego, tensions rise and fall b...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Wolf of Poyais – Assembly Roxy

There are some stories so extraordinary that the difficulty in putting them on stage is not making them interesting but making the theatre as interesting as the story. The Wolf of Poyais, written by Sam Went and performed by Thom Tuck, takes on one of the most extraordinary confidence tricks in British history, the story of Scottish soldier, adventurer and fraudster Gregor MacGregor, the man who managed to sell people land in a country that did not exist. Born in Scotland in 1786, he became a soldier and adventurer, fought in the South American wars of independence and then performed perhaps his greatest feat of imagination. He invented Poyais. Not merely a piece of land. A country. It had a government, currency, titles, documents, land for sale and, most importantly, inves...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

For Dolores – Traverse Theatre

Two larger-than-life women. One very small lift. Sparks are inevitably going to fly. Eva O’Connor’s For Dolores throws Réaltín, a little Irish star with an inexhaustible capacity for storytelling, together with Mo, a gloriously forthright Glaswegian, in a broken-down lift. What follows is surely one of the great encounters of this year’s Fringe. Lara McDonnell as Réaltín and Catriona Faint as Mo make a classic double act, and an unusually refreshing all-female one. Réaltín embellishes and romanticises, Mo punctures and corrects. When Réaltín recalls romantically “coming off the boat” from Ireland, Mo reminds her that she actually got off a £19.99 Ryanair flight. That rhythm drives the play. A joke becomes an insult, an insult becomes affection, and affection occasionally revea...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Water Colour – Traverse Theatre

There is something very frustrating about a play centred on a painter that never quite convinces you that its protagonist actually paints. Written by Milly Sweeney and directed by Sally Reid, Water Colour arrives in Edinburgh with considerable acclaim and an impressive collection of awards behind it, which makes my reaction to it all the more surprising. I found the writing naive, the storytelling resolutely linear and the theatrical world surrounding its central character’s art strangely unconvincing. The structure is very much: this happened, then this happened, then this happened. Events accumulate but rarely seem to deepen. Molly Geddes as Esme, the young artist at the centre of the story, and Ryan J Mackay as Harris give perfectly reasonable performances, but the writing rarely ...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Supposing – Traverse Theatre

Supposing you fell down a hole. Supposing, shortly afterwards, you began hearing voices, seventeen of them in fact, a kind of Greek chorus taking up residence inside your head. And supposing you became convinced that falling down that hole had somehow allowed you to see into the future. Written and directed by Zinnie Harris, Supposing takes this curious premise and turns it into a clever, funny and increasingly unsettling examination of reality, marriage and what happens when nobody believes what you believe to be true. At its centre is Nicole Cooper as Sally, married for fifteen years to Richard, played by Richard Conlon. Cooper establishes an immediate connection with the audience, helped enormously by one of Harris's simplest and most effective theatrical devices. On Alisa ...

Alice Fraser: Oh Man! – Monkey Barrel Comedy

8Aug

By Ella BeckleyNo Comments

Scotland

Alice Fraser: Oh Man! – Monkey Barrel Comedy

When she’s off the comedy stage, Alice Fraser is a politics and news podcaster, which she jokes puts her in a small demographic of women that can speak to men without interruption. Her show pulls from topical issues like AI, the manosphere, capitalism, technology, gender and sexuality. Fraser pulls these themes together succinctly, conveying her worldview with persuasive intellect, but it all feels a little too ambitious to contain within a one-hour Fringe comedy set. Fraser’s stand-up show centres around training a little AI vacuum cleaner how to be a man, with PowerPoint slides and crowd work used cleverly along the way. Fraser discusses how masculinity presents itself, moving through themes of today while exposing men in her life like gym-bro Jaden. ...

Disenchanted! The Hit Musical – Pleasance at EICC

8Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Disenchanted! The Hit Musical – Pleasance at EICC

The phrase “Disney princess” immediately brings to mind some well-known stereotypes: breathy voices, ultra feminine demeanour, and a desire to live happily ever after with a handsome prince. The cast of “Disenchanted!” manage to debunk all of this in their opening number, led by a punky Snow White who is not inclined to be anyone’s fairytale bride. “Disenchanted!” began over a decade ago as an off-Broadway production but only premiered earlier this year in the UK. Times have changed in recent years, and female characters in children’s films are much better represented overall. However, the original princesses are so well known that this parody still works effectively. What doesn’t always work is the structure of the musical – effectively a song cycle with a mixture of solos and grou...

Chris Forbes: Father Christmas – Monkey Barrel Comedy at Monkey Barrel 2

7Aug

By Ross MackieNo Comments

Scotland

Chris Forbes: Father Christmas – Monkey Barrel Comedy at Monkey Barrel 2

Was I surprised at the festive atmosphere inside the room at Monkey Barrel? A bit, with its dual screens with roaring log fires on both. Creating a feel of being inside an Alpine lodge and not a darkened room in Edinburgh. Especially when outside was a cloudy, grey afternoon, albeit tepid for August. And then entered Chris Forbes in full winter technical gear wishing us a Merry Christmas. The audience’ minds were screaming no; this is not right but were quickly lulled into that warm fuzzy space that is Christmas. As Chris was shedding a layer of blizzard proof garments we heartly sang Jingle Bells with all our might and the atmosphere was that of Christmas eve. Was I disappointed it was Christmas? Absolutely not, what followed was a soulful journey through the yuletide period ...