Scotland Archives - Page 8 of 127

KC Shornima: Detachment Style – Bunker One

20Aug

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

Scotland

KC Shornima: Detachment Style – Bunker One

Shornima born in Nepal raised in Georgia America is a comedienne with a twist. She draws on her personal experiences from childhood trauma living in a boarding school during a civil war in Nepal, to relationships with friends, boyfriends and rejection from her parents. Her ability to conceptualise these personal challenges and reverse the psychology into comedy is impressive. Quick firing one liners and layers of storytelling packed full of realism of a life most would find deeply debilitating. The relevance of the ‘Me To’ movement, rape and therapy are part of what she deconstructs through her comedy hour. Shornima is a writer for Saturday Night live, she has an extraordinary way of explanation that is unique and at times difficult to absorb, but this is her style, and it gets a la...

ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show – Gilded Balloon

20Aug

By Juliette PepinNo Comments

Scotland

ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show – Gilded Balloon

With spontaneous sharp wit, wild rhymes and surprise pop culture references, Shake It Up Shakespeare pokes fun at the classic tragedies in this unpredictable and boisterous romp. We are confronted with our first choice of a comedy, tragedy or history – after a resounding chant for tragedy, we are told to expect that everyone will, in true Shakespearean fashion, die. As we walk to our seats, we are given the option to write phrases and prompts for the cast to select at random throughout the play, with the power to change the entire course of the story. The result is hilarious chaos, with a murder being committed in Aisle 4 of an ASDA, Hamilton lines being freestyled for a 16th century audience ('methinks I am not throwing away my shot’) and Auld Lang Syne celebrations thrown in. The ...

20Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Bog Body – Paradise in the Vault

Lindow Moss, Cheshire - a peat bogland gains notoriety in 1984 when an iron-age body is uncovered from the bog mostly intact, fondly named Lindow Man. Soon after being discovered, the body was properly preserved and then displayed in the British Museum - until now. It’s Petra’s wedding day and she’s full of the pre-wedding jitters, maybe because it’s a huge milestone in life, or maybe because she is about to marry the decaying body of Lindow Man which she has stolen from the British Museum. Produced by Itchy Feet Theatre, Bog Body is a one-woman show that revels in the dark and brooding atmosphere, with both humour and almost thriller-like aspects. Performed by Maddie White, we are let into Petra’s inner world - stressed, all over the place, and in deep emotional a...

The King of Hollywood – theSpaceUK @ Surgeon’s Hall

20Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

The King of Hollywood – theSpaceUK @ Surgeon’s Hall

Two heroes; long forgotten but pillars of an epoch. On a simply set stage, Hollywood silent movie star Douglas Fairbanks waits for his friend Charlie Chaplin in a heavenly restaurant. He’s been waiting for over 37 years; Fairbanks passed in 1939 and Chaplin in 1977. At some point around 1900, Charlie Chaplin trod the boards of the Gaiety Theatre in Leith with the clog dancing troupe ‘The Eight Lancashire Lads’. Chaplin enters and alludes to this connection as Fairbanks takes us on a potted history of his life in the movies. From the first moment this is highly engaging theatre. Lit with two large defined circles of light, two chairs and a table of expected restaurant props, Gerardo Cabal leans back confidently and brings a suave charm and subtle nuance to his version of Fairbanks. W...

The Last Keepers – theSpaceUK @ Symposium Hall (Annexe Theatre)

19Aug

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Keepers – theSpaceUK @ Symposium Hall (Annexe Theatre)

A stranger washes up on Uig on the Isle of Skye. It’s purportedly 1970 and the lighthouse is closing down. The tight knit community is fragile. Everything is falling apart. The audience enters to the cast symbolically waving torches wrapped in blue plastic carrier bigs. This simple introduction sets a tone. Actors bustle in shock, the discovery of the stranger ensues, and the audience is engaged through a frantic commotion. The plot is relatively simple, or not when you begin its deconstruction. Donald, our mysterious man from the sea excites the village. He serves as the catalyst who creates ripples of animosity with every other person he crosses paths with. Like so many other EdFringe productions, this show has no printed programme or online production information. Pedantic, maybe...

Nearlyweds the Musical – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

19Aug

By Juliette PepinNo Comments

Scotland

Nearlyweds the Musical – theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

We are cordially welcomed to the wedding of an eager bride-to-be, talking our seats at a wedding reception that never actually happens. Settling in for a light-hearted romcom, we receive just that - Jasmine Alice's new musical Nearlyweds is vibrant and upbeat, packed with quirky characters and excessive puns. Nearlyweds follows bride-to-be Lily who gets cold feet and jet sets to escape her wedding, while another husband-to-be Jake deals with repercussions of his fiancé baring his cheating habits for all his family to see. As both navigate new independence and impending fatherhood respectively, they meet through Lily's friend and Jake's brother Brian. Sarah Alexandra Brown as Lily is a compelling lead – we empathise with her as she confronts her disconnected relationship wi...

Liza Minnelli, Life is a Cabaret – Cellar Bar at Argyle Cellar Bar

19Aug

By Triona ScullyNo Comments

Scotland

Liza Minnelli, Life is a Cabaret – Cellar Bar at Argyle Cellar Bar

Life is a Cabaret features skilled storyteller and vocalist Sally McGreevy weaving together songs and anecdotes about Liza Minnelli’s life. This is McGreevy’s tenth year at the festival and it shows. A seasoned performer, she opens her act with the title track and immediately her audience warms to her. She then reveals snippets of Minnelli’s early life and captures the erratic nature of her formative years with the revelation that the star had attended twenty-two different schools by her sixteenth birthday. At this young age Minnelli left home to pursue her dreams of being a dancer but with such a strong vocal heritage she was always destined to be a singer and just two years late, in 1964, performed ‘Gypsy in my Soul’ live at the London Palladium. McGreevy performs the track effort...

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

19Aug

By Joe LangNo Comments

Scotland

Best Worst Advice – Greenside @ George Street

"Best Worst Advice" is a show bursting at the seams with vitality and connection, as the three performers integrate the audience's questions into their flowing and dynamic dance routines. All my praise goes to Erin Tracy, Anne Gehman, and Emily Aust, who brought their absolute all to this performance and helped the show glide along as seamlessly as it possibly could. With the nature of this performance relying so heavily on audience participation, there’s always the doubt that perhaps the show will only be as good as the group watching. However, even with a not-all-that-enthusiastic crowd, each one of the three women was still able to grab hold of the moment and construct the 50 minutes into something memorable. For example, the show I went to see had two strangers in the audience b...

19Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Stick Together – theSpace on the Mile

Showing in theSpace on the Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe, Stick Together is a grassroots musical written and co-directed by Gabby Blackie. Set in Perthshire, we follow the journey of three field hockey players who have trapped themselves in the locker room. The surrounding area is overrun with zombies and with no sign of ZPS (Zombie Protection Services) the girls are forced to stick it out until morning despite growing tensions amongst the group. As the musical unfolds, we discover that Zara (Gracie Spencer) is massively crushing on Hazel (Madeline Gilroy). But with Zara’s hot-headed, defensive attitude - mostly directed towards new-girl Keelie (Kate Santos), Zara can’t help but push Hazel away in the process. Spoiler, they do end up together after singing it ...

Ghost Stories By Candle Light – theSpace @ Venue 45

19Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Ghost Stories By Candle Light – theSpace @ Venue 45

The art of telling ghost stories has been around for many moons, made even more popular by the Victorians. There’s something about sitting in a dark room, watching a dim light flicker and hearing an old tale about ghouls and creatures of the night which is often guaranteed to send a shiver up your spine. Ghost Stories By Candle Light strive to create this very aesthetic, using a series of battery powered candles (don’t worry we know real fire can be a health and safety nightmare) horse skull masks, white sheets and some lovely Gothic attire. Walking into the large theatre space we are met by two actors in these skull masks who wander the stage space to the rhythm of some somewhat chilling music. The show begins and the two engage in a character discussion to set up the first stor...