Scotland Archives - Page 20 of 129

Betty Grumble’s Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t – Assembly Roxy

10Aug

By Torya HughesNo Comments

Scotland

Betty Grumble’s Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t – Assembly Roxy

Performance artist, sex clown and ecosexual Emma Maye Gibson returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a new show which she describes as a "composting" of herself. Merging dance, live music and bold physicality, Gibson explores themes of domestic violence, justice and grief with a characteristic intensity and humour. Gibson's previous Fringe performances have been in character as her drag alter ego Betty Grumble. This time, Betty is a mask and an outlandish mutant wig that can be donned by Gibson or her assistant Craig, an outward display of bravado that hides the human vulnerability within. However, Gibson becomes truly vulnerable on the stage tonight, literally baring all in a physical sense, but also emotionally. She relates her experience of taking an abuser to court, and being dismi...

10Aug

By Juliette PepinNo Comments

Scotland

Jackie!!! – Gilded Balloon

The lights dim, shots are fired, and we are jolted to attention. A sombre funeral march puts us in the centre of the bleak aftermath of the day that reset the American political landscape and shook the nation. We prepare for a mourning sequence, until a record-scratch sound effect blares and rosy lights give way to Jackie Kennedy chirping a Ben Shapiro quote.Making a sparkling debut at this year’s fringe, Jackie!!! is an unpredictably hilarious musical surrounding the famed First Lady and the heavy load of the Kennedy name. The Kennedys need no introduction, and tonight's audience seem well-versed in their folklore. The set design is impressive, allowing for swift entries and exits of tantalisingly unpredictable characters. With four White House Doors framing the stage, we glimpse i...

Cold, Dark, Matters – C ARTS | C venues | C aurora

10Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Cold, Dark, Matters – C ARTS | C venues | C aurora

Jack Brownridge-Kelly’s one-man thriller, Cold, Dark, Matters finishes its run at the Edinburgh Fringe this week. Brownridge-Kelly has produced a masterclass in storytelling as he shares the tale of the mysterious events our main character Colin undergoes after he moves to Cornwall. The more this piece progresses, the more peculiar twists and turns we uncover. Brownridge-Kelly plays all the characters he meets in the close-knit, cult-like village, from the nosy and haughty community busybody to the gruff and cryptic neighbour - transitioning from each with clarity and fluidity - each completely distinctive from one another. Narrating the piece as himself, with a conversational and interactive note, he too seems just as shocked by the contents revealed in the mysteri...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Ceremony – Summerhall

I’m not sure what’s more remarkable - the fact that The Ceremony ends with thirty-odd people making chicken noises at full volume in the Summerhall courtyard, or the fact that this is the second show I’d seen tonight to feature a chicken. I’ve been reviewing theatre for many years, and I don’t think I’ve ever typed the word “chicken” before. Tonight, it comes up twice. Make of that what you will.It starts innocently enough. I arrived early, take my seat in the front row, notepad at the ready. Unfortunately, the front row plus notepad is like wearing a neon sign reading “critic” - and Ben Volchok, our master of ceremonies, clocks me straight away with a knowing wink and a smile. The premise of the show is disarmingly simple: the audience and the performer create a ritual together. That’s it...

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Work and Days – The Lyceum

Some shows you see, enjoy, and forget. Others you see, endure, and wish you could forget. Works and Days is the rarest kind: the show you see, stagger out of, and then spend days trying to explain to bewildered friends who think you’ve been on the strong cheese.Brought to the Edinburgh International Festival by the Belgian collective FC Bergman - Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Thomas Verstraeten, and Marie Vinck - this is a wordless 70-minute epic inspired by the ancient Greek poet Hesiodos’ meditation on labour, life, death, and our place in the natural world. But forget the fusty schoolroom idea of “Greek poetry.” This is Hesiodos by way of Hieronymus Bosch, with a detour through Goya’s, Saturn Devouring His Son, and a nod to Turner’s, The Fighting Temeraire. It’s grime and grandeur, bea...

When Billy Met Alasdair – Scottish Storytelling Centre

9Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

When Billy Met Alasdair – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Enthralling. Feel free to locate your battered copy of ‘Lanark’ but under no circumstances attempt to speed-re-read two days before the show. Breathe… turns out it’s not necessary. Author & playwright Alan Bissett is the proud owner of a photo showing the two Scots cultural icons at the launch of said tome at Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre in 1981 and wondered how the conversation between the two might have gone. But there’s stuff before we get there… It's a simple set, just Bissett in front of us alternating between Connolly and (attaches glasses, cues the lighting) Gray, telling their own stories in lively monologues, insights into how and why they ended up doing what they do/did. There’s an armchair to Bissett’s left and a table on which sits a bottle of Glenfiddich (a rather spec...

8Aug

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

1984 – Pleasance Courtyard

It was an overcast morning in August, and the clocks were striking 11:25am for Box Tale Soup’s adaptation of !984, the classic novel by George Orwell. Winston Smith works within the outer layer of ‘the Party’ as he begins to desire change and rebellion. In a world where simple things such as thoughts become crimes, Winston must navigate his hope without getting caught while also finding others who share his dreams and want to launch a rebellion. This is never going to be easy as, of course, Big Brother is always watching. On arrival into the theatre, the first striking detail of this piece is its set. Surrounded by wooden pillars, boxes and an ominous, white, tent-like structure, the space has been filled well. Moreover, all of these set pieces are used in very practical ways. Set p...

8Aug

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

R/Conspiracy – Gilded Balloon

Merging the real world with the realms of the world wide web, R/Conspiracy - written and performed by Ella Hällgren, directed by Emma Ruse - sees Alex, a young girl in her twenties become fascinated by a thread on Reddit suggesting a man with machete has been spotted in the local area. Clearly distracting herself from problems in her life, she becomes obsessed with investigating the so-called ‘machete man’ leading her further and further into the online mystery. Hällgren, who plays Alex, has a lovely brightness to her performance. It is clear to the audience that she’s really enjoying being on stage and speaking the words she has written. However, R/Conspiracy suffers from a big issue in regard to pacing. There is a lot of rise and fall in the piece’s energy levels, so much so that ...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Philosophy of the World – Summerhall

Every now and then at the Edinburgh Fringe, a show comes along that seems to fracture theatrical logic entirely—while still leaving you entirely gripped. Philosophy of the World, devised by the experimental collective In Bed With My Brother, is one of the most original, unsettling, and oddly moving performances I’ve seen in years. It may well go on to become a cult classic. The show is inspired by The Shaggs, a 1960s rock band made up of three sisters from New Hampshire, whose father was convinced they were destined for greatness. That father, Austin Wiggin Jr., pulled them out of school, forced them to practise endlessly, and produced their only album—widely derided at the time, but now held up as an artefact of outsider art. Philosophy of the World takes this story and explodes it...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Paldem – Summerhall

Written and created by BAFTA winner, David Jonsson, Paldem is a daring and provocative Fringe debut that boldly ventures into the world of amateur pornography, digital fame, and performative intimacy. Premiering at Summerhall, the play unfolds as an “anti‑romantic comedy” exploring themes of race, desire, artistic ego, and online commodification.The story centres on Kevin (Michael Workeye) and Megan (Tash Cowley), former lovers, who reconnect one night and end up having sex. What neither expects is that they’ve accidentally recorded the whole thing. But when they watch the footage back, they’re surprised: it’s hot, they look great, and the dynamic works. From there, an idea is born. In today’s society—where everything is monetisable and nothing is too intimate for content—they realise they...