Wednesday, December 17

Scotland

Sisters Three – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre
18Aug By Ben PearsonNo Comments
Scotland

Sisters Three – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre

TheatreGoose’s Sisters Three is a highly accomplished piece of theatre that takes the audience on an enchanting, funny and often moving journey. The premise is relatively simple; the titular sisters from Chekov’s masterpiece, Irina, Masha and Olaga, are aware that they are in a play (don’t worry you don’t need to have read it). But when Irina wishes for the lives of any other sisters, in any other medium, the three are taken on a whirlwind journey ranging from Greek tragedy and Shakespeare to historical figures and the Sugababes. Writer and director Emma Howlett’s script manages to discuss a range of philosophical and academic questions, including the nature of happiness and freedom, and the place of women within literature, whilst remaining endlessly entertaining. Frequent movement...
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#NoFilter – Greenside @ George Street
18Aug By Oliver GigginsNo Comments
Scotland

#NoFilter – Greenside @ George Street

Based on real stories gathered from conversations and social media, new musical #NoFilter follows three duos and the effects social media has on their lives and relationships. One pair are friends, Sina (Jamie Douglas-Turner), who runs an OnlyFans, and Ember (Vincenzo Dipasquale), who links us with the next two couples, Pandora (Eva-Marie Blaire) & Candor (Sirus Desnoes), and Savannah (Natalie Gray) & King (Aaron Andrews). The former's relationship is defined by social media, having started on Tinder and seemingly fallen apart through Instagram, while the latter's was formed in person. Dipasquale's Ember is the glue of the show, linking not only the characters but also stories and numbers through his narration, and Dipasquale's likable performance helps paper over some narra...
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A Knock On The Roof – Traverse Theatre
18Aug By Greg HolsteadNo Comments
Scotland

A Knock On The Roof – Traverse Theatre

World Premier A Knock On The Roof, a brand new, and very current, one-person play written by and starring Khawla Ibraheem, which takes us to Gaza as young mother, Mariam, prepares for war along with her mother and 6-year-old son, Noor. The title refers to the, so-called, humanitarian practice of dropping small warning bombs on residential buildings in Gaza, giving civilian tenants five to fifteen minutes to evacuate before a much bigger rocket hits. Whether this happens in reality is anyone’s guess. The family live at the top of a seven-storey tower block, which is good and bad. Good because they will hear the knock on the roof first, but bad because they will have a long way to run to escape the carnage that is coming. Mariam decides to train for the possibility of this Knock...
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Keep Watching It – theSpace on The Mile
17Aug By Jessie MartinNo Comments
Scotland

Keep Watching It – theSpace on The Mile

The new, independent company Kestrel Eye Productions brings their psycho-thriller to Edinburgh.  With the scene set (it being close to eleven o’clock at night) I creeped my way into the black box theatre.  The concept of the play was intriguing – a shunned celebrity scientist presents her latest experiment which she hopes will bring about her acceptance back into society. The experiment being the control of human emotions by taking Matrix-like red and blue pills - the scientist making a human-like, winged creature to test these pills.  While in theory this piece could have made some very current and relevant observations and commentaries, it unfortunately missed the mark.  It did do as it intended to – we saw the effects the pills had on the creature, but with a ...
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Ariana vs Chomsky – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall
17Aug By Tom ScottNo Comments
Scotland

Ariana vs Chomsky – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

On 22nd May 2017 a terrorist bomb ripped through the Manchester Arena after a concert by the American pop singer, Ariana Grande. 22 people were killed, ten of them aged under 20. The youngest victim was an 8-year-old girl. More than a thousand were injured. ‘Ariana vs Chomsky’ is set against this tragic background. The play covers the relationship of Chloe and Mark over several years. In May 2017 they relocated from London to Manchester. They’re left wing and admire the works of Noam Chomsky, the American linguist, philosopher and political thinker. When Obama was President, Chomsky condemned Washington’s “global assassination campaign..the drone campaign” as “by far the worst terrorist campaign in the world”. He added: “And when you bomb a village in Yemen, say, and you kill somebod...
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Murder at the Fringe – Hill Street Theatre
17Aug By Jessie MartinNo Comments
Scotland

Murder at the Fringe – Hill Street Theatre

Following up on their first instalment at this year’s Fringe (The Court), Edinburgh Little Theatre brings us another audience-forward crime puzzler.  After introducing the murder case, we were given the evidence, suspects, and their testimonies.  Having seen the cast perform in The Court it was wonderful to see the dynamic range of every actor – each person’s character was on the completely opposite side of the spectrum compared to their last – even if you had not seen The Court, the conviction of each actor is undeniable.  I was particularly impressed by the “floozy” mistress, the bumbling butler, and the seedy financial advisor – all round authenticity. Delivering their alibis in a verbatim-esque style, the audience jotted down notes as each suspect spoke, then late...
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Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Pleasance Courtyard
17Aug By Wendy McEwanNo Comments
Scotland

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Pleasance Courtyard

Every night, the Showstoppers improvise a brand-new musical, based on a suggestion from the audience. It’s different every time. Tonight’s title is Blood Is Thicker Than Oil, and it is the story of a family-run oil rig. The opening number introduces the characters. The cast creates a catchy chorus that will be repeated later on and provide each other with backing vocals. The oil rig characters are in the middle of the stage: to one side is the band, and on the other, The Writer, who introduces the show and occasionally shakes things up if the rest of the cast are getting a bit comfortable. The Writer, the band, and the technician form a triangle, with clear lines of sight allowing nonverbal communication. Job ads often ask for candidates who can work individually and as part of a...
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Ada Campe: Big Duck Energy – The Stand Comedy Club
17Aug By Triona ScullyNo Comments
Scotland

Ada Campe: Big Duck Energy – The Stand Comedy Club

Award-winning cabaret star Ada Campe performs a few flights of fancy and a deep dive into some serious silliness in a show about hope, heartbreak, and finding your happy place.Described by the Scotsman as having a "magnetic presence and a ticklish way with words," and by Sandi Toksvig as "genius," I had high hopes for Ada Campe’s one-woman show, and I wasn’t disappointed. From her opening story about living in a "not yet up-and-coming area of London" to her final show tune, Campe takes us on a glorious trip through her early days on the cabaret circuit that is equal parts poignant and hysterically funny. Beginning with her first gig as one part of a Strawberries and Cream double act, hired by a funfair to open their evening show, Campe paints a picture of a budding performer with bi...
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Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street
17Aug By Oliver GigginsNo Comments
Scotland

Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street

2023's Fringe sell-out Twilight parody, Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story, returns in a shorter one-hour format as the "roasting of Edwin and Bea", a collection of highlights from the 2023 show (and, by extension, of the most famous moments from the Twilight franchise), linked together by the couple's daughter Regina (or Renesmee in the Sacred Texts). To anyone not still living the green-tinged mouth-breathing life, this might be a little confusing as the show definitely expects you to know who everyone is - or rather, who everyone is replacing - but clearly this was not an issue for the audience of (mostly) twilight fans, who were howling with laughter throughout. All the more well-known aspects get skewered. One Bea's performance (there is more than one: we all need stunt doubles) i...
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Hamlet – Royal Lyceum Theatre
17Aug Avatar photoBy Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments
Scotland

Hamlet – Royal Lyceum Theatre

An international festival ought to end in carnival fashion, and this blended version of Hamlet did just that. It was an explosion of success, rejoicing, a knees-up and warm audience participation. Teatro La Plaza from Lima, Peru, has created a feast of a show using back projection (Lucho Soldevilla), music, thoughtful lighting (Jesūs Reyes), a simple set and a fabulous cast of Downs Syndrome adults. This adaptation of Hamlet is both funny in itself and wonderful as a piece of art for showcasing the unquestionable talents of a marginalised sector of society. Written and directed by Chela De Farrari, a founder of the company, the intention is to entertain as you ask questions which help us better understand the contemporary world and, in this instance, the world of the Downs person in...
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