Scotland Archives - Page 20 of 93

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room

10Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room

Performed cabaret style with tables and chairs, it’s well worth arriving a little before the stated ticket start time, with drinks in hand, to snag the best viewpoint. Early birds also get the significant bonus of a personal welcome from writer/performer Charlene Boyd, sashaying between tables humming tunes and chatting in American drawl like a hospitable Texas mam. Boyd has come a long way from the seeds of an idea, germinated during the lockdown-years, recently divorced mum of two, in her very unglamorous Glasgow high-rise! As the hamster wheel stopped for many of us, Boyd showed that it’s amazing what you can achieve when you have time on your hands! But Boyd always knew she was better placed than almost anyone to write the story of June Carter, having sung for the last 14 yea...

Maria Telnikoff: All The Men Are Going To Hate Me — Underbelly, Bristo Square

10Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

Scotland

Maria Telnikoff: All The Men Are Going To Hate Me — Underbelly, Bristo Square

As soon as Maria Telnikoff bursts onto the Buttercup stage at Underbelly Bristo Square in a frenetic, gyrating dance to Charli xcx’s ‘Guess’, she totally commands the space with her charisma and physical comedy skills. It’s an energetic start, and she maintains this electric energy throughout her 60-minute show All The Men Are Going To Hate Me. After she’s got that dance out of her system, Telnikoff introduces us to the concept of the show: she wants to write the next great work of literature — about all the men she’s slept with. It’s a simple but clever framework that allows her to break up and act out each of these stories as individual ‘chapters’, which she punctuates with a series of placards. As she takes us through the journey of her sexual history, we’re introduced t...

10Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Birdwatching – The Space @ Venue 45

Black Bright Theatre has hit it out of the park once again with their latest fringe production. The company is no stranger to the horror genre – a notoriously difficult style to actualise on stage. However, Black Bright Theatre always manages to hit the nail on the head – this time with a meta twist. Conceptually so well considered - what seems to be a classic coming of age story, becomes a fourth-wall-breaking, psychologically-thrilling powerhouse. The three actors (Ellen Trevaskiss, Maddie Farnhill, and Mimi Millmore) were exceptional – uniting a playful naturality, and a harrowed, tormented feel into their performances. Their ability to cut through to an audience in such a striking way, both comedically and dramatically, has for me, been unmatched at...

Is The WiFi Good In Hell? — Underbelly Cowgate, Iron Belly

10Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

Scotland

Is The WiFi Good In Hell? — Underbelly Cowgate, Iron Belly

Meet Dev: a young, queer boy growing up in the seaside town of Margate in 2008 who is absolutely itching to escape. Is The WiFi Good In Hell?, written by and starring Lyndon Chapman, is a richly detailed and beautifully touching coming-of-age story supported by an electrifying solo performance. We’re first introduced to Dev at the age of 12, where he spends most of his time hanging out on a derelict with his best mate, imagining his life when he leaves the so-called “dystopian wasteland” of Margate for a thriving life in London. In the 60-minute show, we follow Dev as he navigates school, university, and post-graduate life while discovering who he is in a world where he never quite fits in. Chapman is an absolute tour-de-force in this show, weaving the intricate web of Dev’...

Flesh – Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, Edinburgh

10Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Flesh – Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, Edinburgh

Performed down a close off the Royal Mile, this is a nicely site specific interpretation of the classic Edinburgh Burke and Hare story, and is sure to appeal to a good section of tourists on the lookout for a historical re-enactment. That this is also set to music comes as a sort of added bonus. This was surely the mindset of those who set off to dig up this absolute monstrosity from the annals of Edinburgh musical theatre history. In the battle royale that is Edinburgh in August there is no place for niceties or pally nepotism. This show may not be the worst I’ve seen but it looks under- rehearsed and amateurish compared to many of the shows out there. That’s not to say that it is all horrible. There are some good turns; Jeremy Fraser’s Burke is particularly well delivered, t...

Darren McGarvey: Trauma Industrial Complex – Trauma and Oversharing in the Age of Lived Experience – Stand Comedy Club

10Aug

By Triona ScullyNo Comments

Scotland

Darren McGarvey: Trauma Industrial Complex – Trauma and Oversharing in the Age of Lived Experience – Stand Comedy Club

With a different guest each day, award-winning author and journalist Darren McGarvey explores trauma, and the risks associated with sharing personal stories. Friday’s guest, Jenny Lindsay, is all too familiar with the subject, having faced the full force of cancel culture after tweeting a political opinion rooted in personal experience in 2019. Lindsay’s detractors label her a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) because she advocates for single-sex spaces, believing them to be vital resources for women, particularly those who have experienced sexual violence. 'Having been raped as a teenager, Lindsay reflected, years later, that should she have sought support services, they would have had to have been single sex. Her introduction to feminist teachings cemented this opinion. H...

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Laugh – Assembly George Square

A standing ovation at a Fringe show speaks volumes. Paul Hendy's (writer and director) The Last Laugh deserves loud applause and whoops of appreciation. It is funny and touching. The set is perfect, the lighting spot on and the performers are wonderful. Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe has that lovely little bounce perfected; Damien Williams channels the late Tommy Cooper brilliantly and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse looks and sounds just like the man himself, right down to the mahogany tan. The warm-up music is a sound bath of Bernard Cribbins, which my neighbour joyously sang along with. Songs about a man digging a hole or Ernie and his horse and cart … there are few silly comedy songs these days, if any. Aimed at a predominantly baby boomer audience with money to spare and...

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Breathe – Pleasance Dome

The creative ingenuity in this show is outstanding. The staging is slick; the voices beautifully melded and the music is perfectly crafted, demonstrating terrific inventive scope for blending human creativity with clever technology in an open and transparent way. I was enamored of the clicking fingers that translated into rainfall so that the fungi danced to the drum of nature. It was a transition evoking a touch of pixie dust! Louisa Ashton (co-founder of Sparkle and Dark Theatre Company) is an adept puppeteer and, together with Darcey O'Rourke and Peter Morton, they front this accessible, intelligent and astonishing work. Breathe is an intriguing journey with a sleepy acorn seed who has to survive the winter. It is full of imagination, multifunctional models and storytelling...

9Aug

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

Through The Mud – Summerhall Main Hall

Opening to screened news footage of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a mixed race student (Tinashe Warikandwa) is moved to join the protests and become a fierce advocate in the Black Lives Matter movement. 42 years earlier Assata Shakur, as a member of the Black Panther Party is violently involved with the civil rights movement, leading to a conviction for the killing of a State Trooper on the New Jersey Turnpike. Shakur (played by Apphia Campbell) later escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where she still lives and remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The two women share the stage with Shakur as a sort of ghost mentor, reliving her own fight, as the student becomes ever more embroiled in the 2014 escalating violence, following one of the main prot...

Richard Cobb: Running Joke – Laughing Horse @ Raging Bull

9Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Richard Cobb: Running Joke – Laughing Horse @ Raging Bull

Richard Cobb’s Running Joke is an entertaining hour of stand-up comedy, perfect for passing the time in the early evening. Performing in an intimate venue, Cobb’s natural delivery creates a friendly atmosphere almost akin to a chat at the pub. The show centres around various challenges Cobb had to overcome before he faced the challenge from which the show derives its name: running the Edinburgh marathon. It’s a relatable premise, allowing the audience to empathise with his journey and feel present in the stories he told. This isn’t an absurdist, existentialist or political stand-up. Rather, Cobb derives humour from real situations that happen to real people (mostly himself). He was perhaps a little nervous at the beginning and spoke very fast as a result. Unfortunately, this meant ...