Scotland Archives - Page 68 of 91

<strong>Vanity Fair – Church Hill Theatre</strong>

17Nov

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Vanity Fair – Church Hill Theatre

Vanity Fair is, when it's not inspiring magazine titles, a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published serially between 1847 and 1848. It was memorably subtitled "a novel without a hero" due to its protagonist, Becky Sharp, spending its entire duration trying to better her position in life with little care for the repercussions on supposed friends, (richer) husbands or even her own child. Because of this, the story isn't "just" a period costume drama, and any adaptation has to contend with a cynical protagonist doing unlikeable things while still keeping the audience engaged, and possibly even rooting for her. This aspect, which was previously managed so masterfully by a British TV adaptation, was something the twenty-year-old Reese Witherspoon vehicle film (which cast the TV ...

<strong>Witch Hunt – Traverse Theatre</strong>

17Nov

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Witch Hunt – Traverse Theatre

One could happily have stayed seated and watched this show all over again. Straight away, not tomorrow night (the second and last night in Edinburgh and, sadly, of the entire tour). It had almost everything; music, dance, poetry, slapstick, puppetry, magic, limericks, puns, double-entendre, songs, nudity, but above all… laughter. Abigail Dooley & Emma Edwards did not name their company ‘A & E Comedy’ half-heartedly. There was even some of the most genuine audience participation yet witnessed though in this day and age it’s pretty cathartic to join in with the refrain ‘It’s a shitshow, an asshole rodeo’. A one-woman show with a twist this Ricket and Rattled along from the opening scene - featuring some ill-fitting dentures and malfunctioning hands - through to the last. There’s H...

<strong>Ainadamar – Edinburgh Festival Theatre</strong>

15Nov

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Ainadamar – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Ainadamar (The Fountain of Tears) is a fusion of dance, visual technology, voices and orchestra, knitted together in bold, beautiful, installation-style art. The opening, a monochrome projection of a bull, is instantly intriguing and the intermittent visual representations cast to the shimmering circular curtain continue throughout the opera, lending depth and coherence not afforded by the libretto (David Henry Hwang). The curtain is easily penetrated and moved aside, suggesting power and vulnerability at one and the same time. The chainmail bullring conceals scene changes and reveals the action with the cast free to move between the interior and the exterior. This metaphor translates to traditional Andalucia and its gypsy customs of Flamenco and bullfighting, which Lorca endeavoured to...

<strong>Sister Radio – Traverse Theatre</strong>

11Nov

By Lucy McGuireNo Comments

Scotland

Sister Radio – Traverse Theatre

43 Years in 80 minutes – Sister Radio has the silence speak volumes. The sinister silence between sisters or the ignorant silence of a nation. Sister Radio skilfully explores themes of familial bonds and displaced families during its short runtime. The story follows a tale of two Iranian sisters. They live the same routine day in and day out – making coffee, reading tea leaves, and listening to the radio. When the audience is first introduced to them, they are elderly and stuck in an everlasting silence – never talking to one another. Once the global lockdown has taken affect, the sisters are forced to grapple with their past and remember the sins that changed their relationship forever. Often shifting from the present to the past, we see how the sisters initially came to li...

<strong>The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</strong>

4Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Nearing the end of a one-month tour, Feminist Theatre group Jordan and Skinner bring their own take on the H.G. Wells classic tale to Edinburgh’s Traverse No. 1 Stage. On a well-attended opening night, the first priority is to find a seat amongst the predominantly young and female audience. Not easy - squeezing past tightly drawn calves whilst trying not to fall down the cliff of heavily raked seating ultimately, happily, pays dividends. Note to self – come early next time or bring rope! At the start of the play one of the cast asks the audience, ‘if you had a time machine where would you go?’. An interesting question. ‘You would go to visit your favourite painter, or ancient Greece or Rome maybe, you wouldn’t go to the future, it’s going to be sh*t!’. Yes…. well, set against rising ...

<strong>Edinburgh Gang Show 2O22 – Festival Theatre</strong>

4Nov

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Edinburgh Gang Show 2O22 – Festival Theatre

The Edinburgh Gang Show is the annual Scouting and girl-guiding variety show of singing, music-playing, dancing and comedy, which has now been happening since 1932, though Edinburgh's first one was in 1960, with the girls first joining in 1967. Covid has affected the continuity of the Edinburgh Gang Show, and not just in the usual ways the arts and other sectors have seen. Three years are a great deal of time in terms of age groups: the usual five sixths of participants being veterans from previous years and one sixth newbies have been reversed, with 100 members being new and only 20 returning, and only 20% of the Junior gang having even seen a previous year's show. Reviewing the artistic endeavours of minors runs the risk of becoming a real-life, non-comedy version of Alfred Molina's C...

<strong>Spike – King’s Theatre, Glasgow</strong>

3Nov

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Spike – King’s Theatre, Glasgow

Spike is Spike Milligan, and this play gives us a glimpse into the man's life through his creation and run of the Goon Show, a now often forgotten (and now often politically incorrect) 1950s radio comedy show which mostly lives on today, as the announcer concludes the show pointing out, through the people it has influenced. These include The Beatles (most notably their films, Christmas records to their fans and the B-side to Let It Be, You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), Monty Python (for whom Milligan cameoed in their film Life of Brian), Eddie Izzard, Douglas Adams, and many more. Though its other chief claim to fame is as an early notable leading role for Peter Sellers, who would later star in the Pink Panther series, amongst other things. But this play, produced by Karl Sydow, Tr...

Saturday Night Fever – Edinburgh Playhouse

2Nov

By Louise BalaguerNo Comments

Scotland

Saturday Night Fever – Edinburgh Playhouse

Adapted from the acclaimed 1977 film of the same title, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is a show that, regardless of whether you are familiar with the original film or not, will hit you with an urge to dance as soon as you hear the Bee Gees soundtrack, an absolute delight for the ears all the way through. Greeting its audience with a very satisfying opening, sounds of electric guitars echoing loudly as the music smoothly morphs into ‘Stayin’ Alive’, our three Bee Gees singers (Aj Jenks, Drew Ferry and Oliver Thompson, nailing every single one of the songs) are ready to go, a full cast on stage dancing energetically to the classic hit, disco balls turning the theatre into a giant discothèque. Our hero in this colourful Bee Gees infused landscape is Tony Manero, interpreted by Jack Wilcox, a y...

South Pacific – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

26Oct

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

South Pacific – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Chichester Festival Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of South Pacific has found a temporary home in Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre during its 2022 tour. Written by the great Rodgers and Hammerstein and directed by Chichester’s artistic director, Daniel Evans, this production keeps the classic charm of the golden age while also looking visually stunning. South Pacific, as the name suggests, is set on a South Pacific island during the Second World War, showing the struggles of the army and marines as well as the inhabitants of the island. Arguably the strongest of performers is Julian Ovenden, who plays the role of Emile de Becque, the show’s leading man. Ovenden commands the audience’s attention whenever he is on stage, allowing his resonant voice to hit every part of the auditori...

26Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Crocodile Rock – Traverse Theatre

Andy McGregor’s Crocodile Rock evokes Elton John and his sexuality through the title, before the actual landmark on Milport in the West of Scotland is overtly referenced. So, the audience is primed to expect a tale with a gay man at the centre. Sexual desire is an old story: as old as time itself. We are not all heterosexual. Some of us don’t fit in. Difference can seem threating. If you stand outside the norm, life can be cruel and folk hard-hearted. Yet, Stephen’s story has a lively freshness that is as unique as Scotland. You can tell that Andy McGregor loves creating stories for wee folk as much as for adults. The sense of fun and his simple rhyming songs appeal to the child in all of us. On this tiny island of Milport, a lost and lonely boy finds his alter ego and his sense of p...