Scotland Archives - Page 30 of 93

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience – Scottish Events Campus (SEC), Glasgow

11Jul

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience – Scottish Events Campus (SEC), Glasgow

Van Gogh, the man, who tried to be an art dealer and failed, tried to be a Pastor, like his father, and failed, and tried to be an artist and failed. And eventually gave up on life at the age of just 37, having sold one painting in his life, shooting himself in the chest with a revolver on 27th July 1890, and dying two days later. What would Vincent make of this remarkable exhibition, 134 years on. I wonder? A 50-minute train trip from Edinburgh, a refuel at the superlative Paesano Pizza (well worth the 20-minute wait), and a pleasant 30-minute walk by the river Clyde, on a surprisingly dry day, for Glasgow, brought me to the Scottish Events Campus, nestled between the pneumatically impressive Ovo Hydro and the iconic SEC Armadillo. Glasgow’s creative hub. Better known for live music...

Lea Salonga – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

3Jul

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Lea Salonga – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

A rare opportunity to see one of the greatest singers of our time, a true icon of musical theatre and a Disney princess twice over. The singing voice of warrior, Mulan and Princess Jasmine in Alladin, but perhaps best known for her role as Kim in Miss Saigon for over fifteen years, Salonga has a long list of stage and screen credits, spanning over 35 years. When Salonga took on the role of Kim in Miss Saigon in 1989, aged just 18, she went on to become the first Asian performer to win a Tony and one of the youngest to win an Olivier. In the 1990’s she played Eponine alongside, Michael Ball’s Marius in Les Misérables. The rest, as they say, is history. Most recently starring in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, in London’s West End, she has taken time out to tour the UK, for eight perfo...

28Jun

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Grease – Edinburgh Playhouse

Think you know Grease? Think again. This production takes Rydell High back to its gritty roots and it’s never been so refreshing. Forget your memories of Travolta and Newton-John politely bopping away in pastel pinks, Nikolai Foster’s Grease’s origins appear firmly rooted in the sardonic gritty teenage drama that Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey originally wrote. Here, the teenage hormones flow quicker than burger sauce, the cuss words come thick and fast and hand-jiving is a very serious business, indeed. Now sitting somewhere between a homage to Americana and a raw Westside Story, Douglas O’Connell's set design includes all key components of the era, reveling in Americana. One can’t help but feel a little High School Musical creep into the giant Rydell High with the bright red tracksuit...

27Jun

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Life of Pi – Festival Theatre

Life of Pi at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre is a treat for the senses. Based on Yann Martel's novel of the same name, the action commences in a bleak, bare hospital ward where Pi (Sonya Venugopal) is hiding under the bed. The clever use of projection (Andrzej Goulding) and sound effects (Carolyn Downing) indicate time and place. It is set pre-computerisation, so letters appear on the wall as if from a typewriter with suitable tap, tap, tap reverberations. As soon as recollections flood the stage, this grey, sterile room transforms seamlessly into a verdant, noisy zoo in India; a colourful Bazaar; and a ship’s deck without effort - as if by magic. Before you know it, the transformation has happened: we are adrift upon an ocean with no land in sight and several dangerous animals for compa...

Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier – Cre8 Theatre

27Jun

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier – Cre8 Theatre

Twisted is a retelling of Disney's Aladdin from the point of view of that cartoon's villain, Jafar (Fionn Cameron/Oliver Payn on alternating nights), portrayed here as a well-meaning public servant struggling to deal with his tragic backstory with Sherrazade (Cosette Bolt), and to fix the Magic Kingdom's (an amalgamation of Disney and Agrabah) issues, including its incompetent Sultan (Mitch Gardiner), immature princess (Mhairi Goodwin/Heather Richardson), criminal dude-bro Aladdin (Calum Philp/Orla Bayne) and belligerent neighbour Prince Achmed (Darren Walls). Unsurprisingly, much of the comedy is built around the Disney version of the tale. Quotes from song lyrics from the original film are peppered throughout the dialogue, scenes from the cartoon are comedically described to have happ...

25Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Callum Beattie – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

The prodigal son returns as Musselburgh man Callum Beattie takes to the magnificent stage of the 2200 capacity, Usher Hall tonight to belt out some crowd favourites and experiment with some new material in front of a sell-out audience. The 34-year-old has come a long way from busking the streets and performing around the pubs of Edinburgh. Between songs, he tells us his regular gig fifteen years ago was at the Red Squirrel pub, just a stones throw away from tonight’s rather more salubrious venue. Despite the minor setback of the drummer breaking his arm during rehearsals, the show most certainly went on, and quite a show it was. Opening the set with the pumping title track of his second album, Vandals, has the packed house jumping and my fillings vibrating. Health and safety is out t...

19Jun

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Ballet Black: Heroes – Festival Theatre

The theatre is packed, and full of anticipation. These artists have something new to say. I have enjoyed many ballet performances in my time, but I have never seen anything like this. Nevertheless, this double bill from Ballet Black is rooted in tradition. It is also technically excellent. This feels brand new, always ballet but with influences from other dance styles, and a dynamic soundtrack that recognises the modern and the classical. Throughout the double bill, the intention of the performers is expressed with a powerful intensity. I am always inspired by the ability of dance, and dancers, to cut through the busyness of words, and get to the guts of a story. If At First, choreographed by Sophie Laplane, is a meditation on power, which is represented by a crown. Initially one dan...

Shirley Valentine – Royal Lyceum Theatre

15Jun

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Shirley Valentine – Royal Lyceum Theatre

It’s easy to get stuck in life's daily routine, to lose all excitement in life due to duty and obligation. Shirley is a mother whose kids have grown up and left home, a wife to a man who still requires babying and all in all a shell of her former lively self. For Shirely life's about making her husband’s dinner and talking to the kitchen wall, a life unsatisfied and without risk or excitement, that is until her friend hands her a ticket to Greece. 2 Weeks abroad without the husband or kids… or at least that was the plan, now she’s met a man and discovered the true Shirley Valentine once more. Shirley Valentine is a brilliantly written one woman play that really makes you think about life and how it shapes us. It makes you think about who you are, how you got to where you are and reminds...

13Jun

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

Lie Low – Traverse Theatre

‘Lie Low’ is a theatrical jewel. This is theatre at its best, a production which deals with serious issues but still manages to be hugely entertaining and genuinely funny. If you possibly can, go and see this amazing show. You won’t be disappointed. ‘Lie Low’ is brilliantly written by Irish playwright, Ciara Elizabeth Smyth. The script won the Best Theatre Script award in 2023 from the Writers Guild of Ireland. It’s energetic, funny, profound, imaginative, inventive and deeply moving. Smyth’s script is superbly directed by Oisín Kearney. The production is perfectly paced and keeps the audience on the edge of its seats throughout the 70 minutes of the show. Charlotte McCurry plays Faye, a woman in her thirties who has been suffering from nightmares and insomnia following a violent ...

Scottish Opera: La traviata – Festival Theatre

8Jun

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Scottish Opera: La traviata – Festival Theatre

It is an under-reported fact that the 2001 Baz Luhrman jukebox musical Moulin Rouge is an adaptation of 1853 Verdi opera La Traviata, itself an adaptation of the 1848 novel La Dame aux Camelias, the most famous (and autobiographical) work of Alexandre Dumas Fils (son of the more well-known creator of the Three Musketeers). All three works take place in Paris and, in all three, a famous courtesan (here Hye-Youn Lee as Violetta Valery) with consumption falls in love with an idealistic young man (here Ji-Min Park as Alfredo Germont) with a disapproving father (Giorgio Germont as Phillip Rhodes). She then forsakes all others until convinced to leave him by a father figure, which she does reluctantly with a lie, for an aristocrat (either a Count, a duke, or here Baron Douphol, played by Nichola...