Scotland Archives - Page 5 of 61

Vincent Gambini, “Out Of Thin Air” – Wonder & Co. Edinburgh

2Jan

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Vincent Gambini, “Out Of Thin Air” – Wonder & Co. Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s only Magic shop, Wonder & Co, near Haymarket Station, hosts Vincent Gambini in a spell-binding show of close magic which will take your breath away, as part of Edinburgh Magicfest 2023, now in its 14th year. Gambini’s ability to weave a wonderful story around his magic set-pieces makes this as much a theatrical event as a simple magic show. Poetic, magical, lyrical and mystical, and short, this brief 30-minute monologue doesn’t put a single foot wrong. Gambini is as careful in his script and his delivery as he is in his manual dexterity – this is the full deck folks! Including the trick ‘disappearing aces’ and the ‘conundrum of black and red’ on a simple black cloth table, with the audience leaning in only a few feet away from the sleeveless Gambini, this is sure...

Street Magic Masterclass with Cameron Gibson – Wonder & Co. Edinburgh

2Jan

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Street Magic Masterclass with Cameron Gibson – Wonder & Co. Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s only Magic shop, Wonder & Co, near Haymarket Station, only opened its doors a few months ago, but the youthful ambition of owner/host, Cameron Gibson is clear to see. Looking like a mixture between Wonka and Potter, the charismatic Gibson seeks to induce magic and wonder to all, and certainly succeeds to some extent. The first wonder is the hidden magic room accessed via a small stair and a hinged bookcase; I feel like I’m in an episode of Mr Ben! Providing a deck of cards and a coin to the twelve seated guests, Gibson explains some simple card tricks and touches on the art of misdirection, in an almost scholastic setting. It is perhaps testimony to the success of the Edinburgh Magic Festival, now in its 14th year, and the health of the ‘Magic’ genre in general, that al...

23Dec

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Cinderella – Edinburgh People’s Theatre

It’s that time of the year again and Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s panto this season is Cinderella. It’s the classic story, but with a few extra characters so that as many company members as possible can get their moment in the spotlight. The show opens with a reminder that we can boo, cheer, and shout out because this is a pantomime. This helps the audience to overcome any initial shyness and participate right from the start. Little reminders of theatre etiquette, done humorously, are a great way of getting the audience on side. Cinderella’s stepsisters, Mattie and Hattie, played by Mandy Black and Gemma Dutton, are a lot of fun in their garish costumes and wigs. The shameless man-chasers enter through the auditorium, all the better to trade insults across, and wit...

Kevin Quantum – Waldorf Astoria (The Caledonian Hotel), Edinburgh

23Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Kevin Quantum – Waldorf Astoria (The Caledonian Hotel), Edinburgh

A fantastic and intimate performance in front of an audience of just 30, by one of Edinburgh’s finest magicians kicks off this year’s Edinburgh Magicfest 2023, now in its 14th year. On top of the multiple shows involving Kevin and many other talented magicians over the next eleven days, he is also the programme director for Magicfest and recently a father as well! He is certainly juggling quite a few balls. Kevin Quatum, once described by David Williams on Britain’s Got Talent, as ‘like a sexy Dr Who’ has come a long way from the Channel 4 show ‘faking It’ that launched his career in magic in 2006. An inexplicable an unexplainable levitation trick involving a dollar bill floating in midair is the undoubted star of the show tonight. A ...

Same Team – A Street Soccer Story – Traverse Theatre

16Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Same Team – A Street Soccer Story – Traverse Theatre

From the pens of Robbie Jack and Jack Nurse, comes the story of five disparate women all struggling in their own way, but brought together as a team to represent Scotland at the Homeless World Cup in Italy. Created alongside the women from the Dundee Change Centre, an initiative which uses football to inspire and empower the excluded, the marginalised and the homeless. The high-charged atmosphere of the five-aside pitch is brought brilliantly to life in a cleverly conceived gymnasium set by Alisa Kalyanova, complete with floodlighting and pitch lines. The Traverse 1 auditorium could hardly be better proportioned, with its steep terraced seating and wide rectangular stage, and successfully turns normally placid audience into screaming spectator by the end of the production. ‘The Bee’...

Cinderella – Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh

13Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cinderella – Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh

The story of a once beautiful town hall falling into rack and ruin but being saved, just in the nick of time, by the local community sounds like a fairytale, but here we are in the stunning interior of the revitalised Portobello Town Hall and the successful staging of the family favourite pantomime, Cinderella. Big, bold, colourful and entertaining. This Stage Door Entertainment, production of the timeless classic, could perhaps do with a bit of a reboot, riven as it is with stereotypes and outdated values, but nevertheless, from the reactions of the almost full house, still appears to hit every mark. Tommie Travers, Musical Director and co-Producer, correctly puts music centre stage, in a show which is jam-packed with banging tunes and great singing, and with a leading lady, Amy Ca...

The Snow Queen – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

8Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Snow Queen – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

The Royal Lyceum’s Christmas show is always something to be anticipated and relished. Navigating a careful course away from the ubiquitous seasonal ‘panto’, it aims for the high road, a more refined magical, mirth-filled, musical path, under the helm of Artistic director David Greig’s discerning eye. After the rather wonderful, An Edinburgh Christmas Carol, last year, which I loved, I was lucky enough to obtain a ticket for this year’s The Snow Queen, albeit a couple of weeks after the official press night. The opening scene, with a magical set and some nicely shadowy projections introduces, Hans Christian Anderson’s famous tale in a darkly Scottish setting, Edinburgh to be exact, complete with icy Edinburgh castle. So far so good. Two orphan children, Gerda, played by the rather wo...

Mark Thomas In England & Son – Traverse Theatre

8Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Mark Thomas In England & Son – Traverse Theatre

Raw, brutal, honest, comic. Of the latter Mark Thomas is a master but so equally effective is he at the first three elements that the grim message of violence and trauma begetting more of the same, generation to generation, is diluted not one jot. This is heavy, intense, choreographed by Movement Director Simon Jones, its rhythm well-punctuated by sound designer MJ McCarthy and Lighting Designer Richard Williamson. Proceedings commence with an introduction from Mark describing how he met writer Ed Edwards several moons ago at the festival. Ed, serendipitously, was behind Mark as they left his show ‘The Political History Of Smack And Crack’, perfectly positioned to overhear the pronouncement; ‘That’s the best thing I’ve seen in fuckin’ ages.’ Five years later, beyond creating some incre...

Katie Gregson-Macleod – Summerhall, Edinburgh

5Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Katie Gregson-Macleod – Summerhall, Edinburgh

Katie Gregson-MacLeod is probably a name you have never heard of but say it to Alexa and you might get a pleasant surprise as the Amazon music machine spits out five or six modern classics for your entertainment. This fresh meat is served up via TikTok, whose carnivorous audience launched Macleod’s career little over a year ago when her minute-long snippet of the breathlessly miserable piano-ballad Complex went viral, clocking up over 7M views in quick time. Appropriately enough, I’m at the Dissection Room at Summerhall, to analyse the small body of work that forms the touring MacLeod’s ouvre to date. It’s windowless, and airless, and unfortunately for this old man, chairless. I sit on a ledge next to the stage which I find out later is the sub-woofer. I’m still vibrating. Ominously or...

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

4Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

‘Tomm-eh… Tomm-eh!’ This was wild this year, sketches and skits performed at breakneck speed with scant regard for a wafer-thin plot, but did anyone care? Certainly not Tommy, one of the three kids hauled up to – hopefully – coin a spoonerism from a rendition of May McSmee’s (Allan Stewart) song about ‘smart fellas’. For despite the best efforts of the other two (Enda and Orla) he ended up garnering the biggest cheers for his devil-may-care attitude, quite an achievement in the face of full-throttle Allan Stewart. It summed things up; it wasn’t supposed to go like that, but it had everyone howling in their seats. This was full-tilt, punk pantomime. Amidst the shaky plot were several things that didn’t fit, particularly the Flawless dance troupe, but hang on, it’s… Flawless for heaven’s...