Scotland Archives - Page 22 of 61

Dreams of Anne Frank – The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

11Aug

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

Dreams of Anne Frank – The Space @ Surgeon’s Hall

This is a gripping production about the experiences of Amsterdam teenager, Anne Frank, who was forced into hiding from the Nazis in 1942. The young actors from Zenith Youth Theatre in Bath are to be congratulated on an assured production. It’s a tragic tale but Bernard Kops’s play, loosely based on Anne Frank’s famous diary, provides plenty of amusing moments. Anne, along with her parents and older sister, Margot, hide in a ‘secret annexe’ of a warehouse because, as a Jewish family, they fear for their lives when the German army enters Amsterdam. They have to share the cramped living accommodation with another Jewish family, Mr and Mrs Van Daan and their son, Peter. And also, with Mr Dussel, a dentist. They live in the annexe for more than two years and unsurprisingly...

Blueswater Presents – Live at The Jazz Bar

11Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Blueswater Presents – Live at The Jazz Bar

Recently having celebrated their 10th anniversary, this is a serious five-piece blues band with long-standing Fringe credentials, with over 750 Fringe shows and in excess of 20,000 attendees in the bag already and ready to defend their (self-awarded) title as the hardest working band at the Edinburgh Fringe. And if this performance was anything to go by in a packed Jazz Bar, I think it is a fair description. Sweaty, loud and proud. A really enjoyable and raucous ninety minutes of musical mayhem. Expect, Baby Please Don’t Go, Who Do You Love, Blue Suede Shoes and Gloria, to name just a few of their extensive set list. If you are looking for a good time, dancing and singing along to some rhythm and blues standards, you can’t really go wrong here. Don’t expect high art or quiet contem...

11Aug

By Amy HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Alone – Assembly George Square Studios

Alone is a sci-fi drama following scientist (Kat Glass) and pilot (Courtney Bassett) on a mission to save the earth from the raising CO2 emissions through extra-terrestrial microbiology. The use of drama to explore climate change makes the topic of sustainability more accessible to the non-scientists amongst us. Also, the feminist themes shone an incredibly important spotlight on the silencing of female scientists in research. This was the first time I have seen a show addressing the sexism of scientific academia and I feel gratitude towards this play for recognising and publicising this inequality. A quick search revealed that theatre company Dusty Room Productions practice what they preach by using sustainable props and partnering with reforestation programmes which makes this play even...

Hello Kitty Must Die – Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance 2

11Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Hello Kitty Must Die – Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance 2

Following the global phenomenon that was ‘Six’, hatched right here at the fringe six years ago, the same Tony-winning production team are doubling down on this Musical, a mash-up of Asian Feminism with a killer’s touch. Unfortunately, this looks more like a show in development rather than the finished article. Not only is the action slow and dull, the acting and singing are not much better. Starting like a modernised version of Six with five American performers of East Asian origin, standing in formation, clad all in black, it aims, it claims, to demystify the Western myth of the ‘Hello Kitty’ trope. Erm, okay… I am already bored, and we are not even through the opening number. The show proceeds to tell the story of Fiona Yu (Sami Ma) a 30-year-old American Lawyer, and virgin...

Lash – Bunker Three, Pleasance Courtyard

11Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Lash – Bunker Three, Pleasance Courtyard

Lash, written by Philip Stokes, and performed by Jack Stokes, was the most impressive thing I’ve seen at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Written in lyrical, rhyming verses, it tells the story of a young man, Sonny, on a night out after work. Philip Stokes has crafted a remarkable script, which seamlessly blends comedy, tragedy and political commentary whilst never losing our protagonist’s voice. Despite speaking in rhyme, Sonny feels real and relatable. He’s working a job he doesn’t like, with people he has little in common with, and just wants to escape the harsh realities of existence with a good night out. Throughout the night, Sonny has run ins with drug dealers, colleagues and the local homophobic and toxically masculine ‘hard men’. Each of these encounters reveal something new ab...

11Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Thrown – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Set against the backdrop of the obscure art of Backhold wrestling, Glasgow writer Nat McClearly teams up with director and performer Johnny McKnight to create this none-too-subtle play about racism in Scotland today. Backhold wrestling, a bit like Sumo in a kilt, still thrives at Highland games around Scotland, and as Scotland wrestles with it’s own national identity, this play questions if we really are ready to welcome in outsiders or are we still a colloquial, backward-looking and fundamentally racist nation. Each of the five characters in this play has their own motivations and stories to tell and demons to deal with: Coach Pamela is military in her instruction, ‘validation comes from within’ yet her own identity fears are just barely hidden and ready to burst out. Imogen, a...

Film Club: An improvised Comedy – Just the Tonic, The Caves

11Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Film Club: An improvised Comedy – Just the Tonic, The Caves

There is such an abundance of improvised comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe, that a performance must be truly excellent in order to stand out. Sadly, Film Club didn’t reach that level on this occasion. It began promisingly, as the audience were asked to shout out a film they loved as a child, a film they saw too young, and a film that moved them. One brave audience member volunteered to use their film choices. I can’t remember exactly what these were, but we ended up with a general theme of thriller time-travel, which seemed promising. All in all, the selection process took maybe five to ten minutes, which was a bit longer than most of the other improv I’ve seen, but by no means killed the energy of the audience and performers. The improvised skits were ultimately hit and miss. Whilst ...

Sheila’s Sister & Her Musical Cousins – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

11Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Sheila’s Sister & Her Musical Cousins – The Space @ Surgeons Hall

Improvised comedy isn’t easy when there’s a small audience. The form relies on audience participation. This team of three musicians and two actors, hailing from Chicago, kept the tempo up with a small gaggle of theatre goers. The married duo, Dana Allande O’Brien and Edmund O’Brien, last performed at the Gilded Balloon in 1995 to great acclaim. In between, they’ve been busy raising children, writing comedy games and scripts for TV. Suddenly, it’s 2023 and they’ve only just got back to The Toun. I enjoyed the flip piece. It was clever. And their opening piece was very entertaining. Of course, being impro, you probably won’t see those little gems when you come another day, but, no doubt, there’ll be other jewels to behold. Their publicity says it is suitable for 14+ but I...

Hendrix and Us – The Jazz Bar (Venue No.57)

11Aug

By Amy HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Hendrix and Us – The Jazz Bar (Venue No.57)

Scottish jazz-funk guitarist Aki Remally presents this ear-shattering and mind-blowing tribute to Hendrix. Just like Hendrix, Remally and his crew expertly navigated the binary between rock and jazz creating a sound that was both delicate and powerful. His singing was so alike Hendrix that when Remally spoke between songs his Scottish accent was a (pleasant) surprise. The other musicians were also incredible, and they all worked together like organs in a body to bring the band to life. Although it is impossible to pick a favourite from this set-list the impromptu addition of Red House featuring meandering interludes on the electric guitar was incredible. Whilst All Along the Watchtower was a crowd-pleaser with its funky riffs. Throughout, the performers played with passion which made t...

Hi Ho Hi Ho, It’s Off To Work I Go – theSpace @ Niddry St

10Aug

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

Hi Ho Hi Ho, It’s Off To Work I Go – theSpace @ Niddry St

In his autobiographical solo-show, Phillipe Andre Coquet takes the audience on a journey through his remarkable life. From growing up in New York, close to gangs, drugs, hookers and pimps, to being a teenager in 70s Hollywood discos, to spending 25 years in a New Age cult, and to a midlife career change as an erotic masseur – Coquet has seen it all. His story is musically infused with classic Broadway songs such as ‘Life is a Cabaret’ or ‘Glitter and be Gay’, as he simultaneously explores the history of sex-workers in Broadway musicals, the very thing that made him a theatre-kid and a performer later in life. His performances are all acapella, because ‘his accompanist didn’t accompany him to Scotland’, as Coquet explains. However, his beautiful singing voice makes up for it. The...