Scotland Archives - Page 67 of 93

Kidnapped – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

13Apr

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Kidnapped – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, National Theatre of Scotland’s retelling of this boy’s own adventure novel is a fine evening’s entertainment. Branded on the fliers as a ‘swashbuckling rom-com adventure’, it does do some serious veering around from pantomime to poetic to abstract post modern, to sassy jazz cabaret with a splash of bromance. As Kim Ismay proclaims following her rousing ‘I’ve been everywhere (man)’ opening musical number, ‘this book is different’. Kidnapped follows the adventures of youth Davie Balfour, who, following the death of his father leaves the safe dullness of his Borders town to travel to Edinburgh in search of his rich uncle. We are at this point introduced to ‘the boulder’, a cleverly conceived hollowed out stage device which also houses a f...

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

12Apr

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

IMHO the fairy tale tradition meets tattoos meets masks meets humour meets intense physical creativity meets time … is a feast. Matthew Bourne’s recreation of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty is all his Gothic own and yet not. The man himself credits the original dancers with contributing to the exquisite storytelling and, there is no doubt, his long-term collaboration with designer Lez Brotherston is a winning combination. It is a beautiful creation of light and dark. The performers clearly love what they do and their passion bleeds into the auditorium and captures your body and soul. Bourne cares about every detail and he inspires equal attentiveness in his cast and crew. The result is a deeply, deeply satisfying and uplifting narrative. A radical vampiric element is stirred into vari...

11Apr

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Stornoway, Quebec – Traverse Theatre

The year, 1888. The place, Stornoway. But far from the sharp coastline characteristic of the Outer Hebrides, the action is set in a forgotten town in Quebec during the worst snow blizzard of the year. The set up is simple: five people who shouldn’t be near each other end up trapped in a saloon where a mix of whisky and ether seems to be the soup of the day. Stornoway Quebec is the latest (and probably the only one of its kind) play by prolific writer Calum L. MacLeod for Scotland’s Gaelic language drama company Theatre Gu Leòr. It follows the story of Màiri MacNeill - Elspeth Turner-, a Barra-born but Texas-raised bounty hunter who after a betrayal, is on the hunt of Canada’s most wanted outlaw, Donald Morrison. A series of leads brings Mairi to a remote inn run by Mrs and Mr Bouc...

7Apr

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Family Tree – Traverse Theatre

This production, by Actors Touring Company and Belgrade Theatre Coventry, in association with Brixton House, is about Henrietta Lacks (played here by Aminita Francis) the African-American woman who was the unwitting source of the cancer cells now known as the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one which continues to be a source of invaluable medical data to the present day, from helping fight cancer, to HIV, to COVID. However, her cells were taken without her or her family’s knowledge or permission (they only found out decades after her death, and by accident) and continue to be exploited financially. Henrietta was not the only black woman whose body has been exploited. In some cases, such as this, it was by the medical establishment with some kind of medical bas...

7Apr

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

H.M.S. Pinafore – The Bedlam Theatre

H.M.S. Pinafore or The Lass That Loved A Sailor tells the story of a timeless trope - despite societal differences, love really does level all ranks. But because this is Gilbert and Sullivan’s take on the matter, there’s a lot of wry satire, some song and dance and a bit of farce before we reach that delightful conclusion. The story is simple, Josephine Corcoran (Helen Brown) daughter of Captain Corcoran (Harry Lempriere-Johnston) of the H.M.S Pinafore, is in love with Ralph Rackstraw (Owen Hatch) a lowly seaman. As her betrothed Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty (Charles Barber), steps on board the ship, Josephine must make some important life changing decisions about which man she should marry. Upon arrival the Bedlam Theatre does not look like it can stomach a Gilbert...

Wish You Were Dead – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

6Apr

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

Wish You Were Dead – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Coming less than a week after the final episode of I.T.V.’s “Grace”, this is a timely outing for a play adapted by Shaun McKenna from the Peter James novel featuring Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. The inspiration for the novel stems from a less than comfortable stay James and his wife experienced at a French chambre d’hote while on holiday in the south of France. However, anyone expecting a gritty thriller with D.S. Grace driving the investigations will be sorely disappointed by this play, which is performed mostly for laughs and is more of a comedy horror than serious murder mystery. As with any detective story, it would be unforgivable to give away the entire plot, (not that there are any real surprises), but the crux of it is that the holidaying Grace, played by G...

2Apr

By Ella CatherallNo Comments

Scotland

Castle Lennox – Royal Lyceum Theatre

‘Castle Lennox’, presented by the Royal Lyceum Theatre of Edinburgh and Lung Ha Theatre Company, tells the story of Annis, a young Autistic woman who is sent to the titular Castle Lennox, a mental institution, and her interactions with both staff and fellow patients. Where this show shines is in its representation of disabled people. The show features a majority disabled cast, and all disabled characters in the show are played by disabled actors. That this show is able to provide opportunities for disabled creatives is admirable and something I hope to see more of – I’ll definitely be a closer follower of the work of the Lung Ha Theatre Company from now on. Arguably more notable is that the disabled characters in this show are well-developed, full people that exist as more than inspirat...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Edinburgh Playhouse

31Mar

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Edinburgh Playhouse

Come to Edinburgh Playhouse and you'll be in 'a world of pure imagination' with the first ever UK and Ireland tour of Charlie and the Chocolate factory directed by James Brining and written by David Greig with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Adapted from Roald Dahl's children's story of the same name, this production is sure to be a hit with the whole family! With vibrant and colourful lighting by Tim Mitchell and mystifying video and illusion design from David Callanan and Chris Cox respectively, the show lives up to the expectations of the book as well as the two movie adaptations from 1971 and 2005. A notable moment where it is as though you are watching the film live in front of your eyes comes from the four grandparents. Although not on stage as a full four i...

31Mar

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

How Not To Drown – Traverse Theatre

This might not be the best production one sees this calendar year but it’s a shining example of why theatre itself, companies like ThickSkin and venues like The Traverse are so important. Having said that, the village and/or town halls of middle England might benefit from a tour, the front five rows reserved for Daily Mail readers. It’d be nice to think this ninety minutes would prove more nourishing than the three-word-slogan diet they’ve been addicted to for the last seven years. For amongst the complexities of what constitutes home or how essential the family is, the key message here is that conditions and circumstances exist in some countries of which plenty have no concept. It explains, at the very end, why Dritan’s father took the shocking decision to send his 11-year-old son on a ha...

<strong>Unbecoming – Summerhall</strong>

25Mar

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Unbecoming – Summerhall

This deeply personal solo piece, by Anna Porubcansky of Company of Wolves, unmasks the artist’s windswept inner world in all its dreamlike complexity, through poetry, song and performance. The show opens with a lament. A melodic dirge about loss, death and mortality. Porubcansky’s clear, plaintive singing voice is perfect here, and there are some lines of poetry which will stay with me for very a long time. Here, and elsewhere in the show, Porubcansky uses technology to layer her vocalisations, drawing on repetition to create a richly meditative atmosphere. Porubcansky’s openness and vulnerability, as a poet and performer, is exquisite. This is not a work of fiction: all the content comes from Porubcansky’s personal experience. She really shows up, emotionally...