Scotland Archives - Page 8 of 132

6Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

War Horse – Festival Theatre

Based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo which was later adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 2011, the show was adapted for the stage back in 2007, on which it has been more or less ever since (factoring in for Covid). The eponymous War Horse is Joey, young farmer Albert’s beloved equine companion, who gets sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France in 1914 during mobilisation. Soon he and Albert who, despite being too young, followed him into war a few months, are caught up in enemy fire in No Man’s Land. Despite having followed Joey explicitly to find him, there seems little hope of reuniting, or even surviving the War that was meant to be over by Christmas. Featuring life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company and projection on a tear-like screen by Nico...

2Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Top Hat – Edinburgh Playhouse

Irving Berlin’s Top Hat taps into the Edinburgh Playhouse this week with more sparkle than a sequinned gin palace, and, in a rare feat, manages to float for two and a half hours without ever feeling heavy. Not just that, the sound is also extraordinary, and for a venue sometimes dogged by poor acoustics, this is a revelation: sound clear as a bell, band fizzing with verve, and an audience leaning in from overture to curtain. For context, Top Hat began life in 1935 as an RKO film directed by Mark Sandrich, a vehicle for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with Berlin supplying the evergreen numbers, “Cheek to Cheek,” “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?”. The stage version we see tonight descends from the 2011 UK adaptation by Matthew White and Ho...

26Sep

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Man’s Best Friend – Traverse Theatre

The acclaimed Douglas Maxwell’s new play, Man’s Best Friend, opened at the Traverse Theatre having previously played at the Tron in Glasgow. Directed by the Tron’s Artistic Director, Jemima Levick, and starring Jordan Young, a rising star in Edinburgh’s famous panto, this play is both laugh-out-loud hilarious and also beautifully emotive. Ronnie (Young) is a dog walker tasked with walking his neighbor’s beloved pooches. However, when the belt holding their leads breaks, the dogs are left running free into the woodlands of the local park. Alone, Ronnie is left with his thoughts as he navigates through the trees, searching for the runaway canines. And his mind begins to wander, perhaps it's answers and understanding he’s looking for also. From the outset, Young crafts a natural and...

25Sep

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

FEIS – Traverse Theatre

FEIS is a story of ambition, intergenerational discord and Irish dancing, with a side order of chaos. Deirdre (Louise Haggerty) is seriously over-invested in her daughter Aiofe’s (Leah Balmforth) dance career. Grandmother Maura (Julie Coombe) is delectably unhinged. Deirdre secretly makes ends meet by creating online Irish dance-themed adult entertainment. Family secrets come to light as Aiofe seeks to understand who she is. Anna McGrath’s mercurial script energetically captures the love and battles between three generations of women. Director Laila McGrath keeps the pace just right, giving the actresses space to really go for it with the larger-than-life characters. The belly laughs come from the heart of the story, as the characters raise the stakes to outdo each other. Haggerty an...

25Sep

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Black Hole Sign – Tron Theatre

Beginning its development in 2021 by Traverse Theatre’s in-house playwright Uma Nada-Rajah, Black Hole Sign hits the stage this week at the Tron Theatre. Over the course of a night in a collapsing (figuratively and literally) NHS ward, we gain insight into the series of events that led to the dismissal of Senior Charge Nurse Crea (Helen Logan) as she fails to meet her duty of care. Combining heavy emotional arcs with amusing and outlandish characters, Black Hole Sign captures the toil NHS staff and patients alike face due to overworking and underfunding. Inspired by Nada-Rajah’s own experience working as a nurse, this play hits hard - the events that take place are harrowing and all too realistic. The play unpacks a huge myriad of issues; we see the strain put on personal relat...

The Talented Mr Ripley – Festival Theatre

18Sep

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

The Talented Mr Ripley – Festival Theatre

I remember first reading Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley as a teenager and being completely hooked by Tom Ripley’s mix of cunning, insecurity and longing. There was something about him that felt both thrilling and a little unsettling, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the Riviera he inhabited, sun-drenched, glamorous and just a little decadent. Then I watched the 1999 film, and my fascination only grew. So, when I got the chance to see the story brought to life on stage at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre on the opening night, I was really intrigued about what I was about to experience. From the very first moment, the play draws you into Ripley’s world. Ed McVey is rarely off stage and he inhabits Tom with such precision that it is impossible not to be captivated. He moves ef...

17Sep

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Our Brother – Traverse Theatre

The horrific events that took place in Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 – 79 are well documented, but writer Jack MacGregor has - to good effect -dramatised a true, less well-known incident from 1978. An idealistic Scots professor, simply referred to as ‘Stranger’ (played by Bobby Bradley) managed to grab 15 minutes with Pol Pot, or ‘Brother No 1’ (David Lee-Jones). With him was ‘American’ (Nicole Cooper), armed with enough knowledge of the atrocities to remain somewhat less effusive. This piece explored the (chiefly Marxist) motivation and ambition shared, initially, by Stranger and Brother, the notion that there was a way to create an egalitarian, agrarian utopia. Upon a simple platform covered in white sheets the three actors performed this inten...

Cauld Blast Orchestra – Traverse Theatre

15Sep

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cauld Blast Orchestra – Traverse Theatre

Some reunions coast on memory, others roar into the present as if they had never left. Cauld Blast Orchestra’s return to the Traverse is firmly the latter. Born out of Communicado’s Jock Tamson’s Bairns more than thirty years ago, the band has always revelled in being unpigeonholeable. Folk, jazz, rock and classical sit in the same set, stitched with irreverence and played with virtuosity. Founding members remain the backbone. Karen Wimhurst, who first gathered the band together in 1990, is on clarinet for most of the evening, weaving intricate lines that remind you why this music still burns bright. Ian Johnstone dazzles with his versatility, moving between tuba, accordion and piano, each instrument sounding like it’s his true home. Steve Kettley, equally compe...

11Sep

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Wallace – Traverse Theatre

Hero. Butcher. Myth. Will the real William Wallace please stand up? This new hip-hop musical examines a giant of Scottish history through three different lenses. Who was he really, and what does that mean for Scotland now? As “Scotsman", Dave Hook recounts the familiar tale, which has inspired generations of Scots as well as a Hollywood blockbuster. His Wallace is simultaneously "just a man standing up for what’s right “, and a heroic colossus, crushing the enemies of freedom with his humongous fists. Manasa Tagika portrays Longshanks as the gangster lord he surely was, oozing status in his blood red fur coat and indoor sunglasses. "I don't think of you much”, he tells us Scots - but he really, really needs us to know that. This was my favourite part of the show but, tellingly, I cou...

10Sep

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Fiddler on the Roof – Festival Theatre

Fresh from its critically claimed performance at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Joseph Stein’s golden age musical, Fiddler on the Roof, raised the roof of Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre as part of its UK and Ireland tour. This new production, directed by Jordan Fein, keeps the charm of 1960s musical theatre while providing some more contemporary elements for modern audiences. Based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof follows Jewish milkman, Tevye (Matthew Woodyatt), in the small village of Anatevka under the rule of the Russian Tsar. With five daughters at home, and little money coming into the family, Tevye relies on the old tradition of the ‘matchmaker’ to find rich suitors for his daughters. However, when his daughters begin to challenge these age-old beliefs,...