Scotland Archives - Page 85 of 94

10Jun

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

On Air – Traverse Theatre

"On Air" mixes classic Fairy-tale characters and stories with modern sensibilities and need for "content". It evolved from small improvisations based around fairy tale characters in unusual settings, which were subsequently structured and developed by director Bradley Lewis Cannon. It is presumably from this latter stage we get the wraparound story involving a group of high-schoolers (an out-of-his-depth director played by Christie Gill, an ambitious Runner played by Emma Makin, and the genial sound-man Peter played by Jamie Duffin) trying to make a fake show as an audition piece for a TV channel together with its host, Kerry Minger (Finlay Gilzean). Within this structure we get three individual pieces, two of them involving tabloid talk shows around Sleeping Beauty (Layla Crombie-Su...

Laurel & Hardy – Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh

9Jun

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Laurel & Hardy – Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh

Knowledge of our two protagonists – for those of us who had a TV back in the late 60’s/early 70’s - extended to a pair of bumbling incompetents consistently at odds with even the most mundane of situations. Funny, comic, slapstick, every grade of mirth was covered, be it driving a car or attempting some interior decoration, the wince-inducing violence happily hilarious and incidental. In our lofty 9-year-old estimation Tom & Jerry cartoons (the proper ones!) owed a huge debt to Stan and Ollie. But this production delved behind the Saturday morning entertainment, an insight into the lives of Oliver Norvell Hardy and Arthur Stanley Jefferson, successes in their own right prior to becoming the duo the globe knows so well. The austere, bleached (even the pies were bluey-grey) concrete b...

Sunshine on Leith – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

9Jun

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Sunshine on Leith – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Just before closing for renovations, the iconic King’s theatre is lifting its curtain to David Shrusbsole’s latest version of Sunshine on Leith, an essential musical by Scottish playwright Stephen Greenhorn which was first performed in 2007 and subsequently adapted to the big screen in 2013. Directed by the harmonious tandem of Elizabeth Newman & Ben Occhipinti, this time it is the well established Pitlochry Festival Theatre in collaboration with Capital Theatre to bring this renovated version of the play to the Scottish capital. In essence, Sunshine on Leith is an open love letter to Edinburgh. By using memorable songs from the Proclaimers-Scotland’s most beloved twins-it manages to tell a universal story of belonging and finding your place in the world. In Newman’s words: “[Sun...

Don Giovanni – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

7Jun

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Don Giovanni – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

‘Hurry hurry’ one character sings to another. ‘I can’t’ the other character replies. This is Mozart after all and the composer has never been known to keep things short and to the point. Don Giovanni doesn’t drag like the final acts of Figaro, but you do have to buckle yourself in for a lengthy ride. For those who don’t know the storyline of one of the greatest operas in the canon, the titular character of the opera, Don Giovanni, is more than just a philandering womanizing rake. He’s a liar, a rapist and a murderer. This is all apparent in the first 10 minutes when he’s already a committed a murder. As the opera progresses there are a series of characters baying for his blood, all wronged by his actions. When it seems he has achieved the impossible and dodged his demise he meets his en...

The Scandal at Mayerling – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

26May

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

The Scandal at Mayerling – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Considering the months of uncertainty, the arts have faced after the past two years, Scottish Ballet’s Scandal at Mayerling is not just a feat of performance, but a tremendous achievement. Delivering such an astonishing piece of performance art is no small undertaking, and in doing so, the company demonstrate their strength as world leading company. The scandal of the ballet’s title rocked Europe. In a small shooting lodge on the outskirts of the Viennese woods, the politics of Europe changed forever- it’s the rarely spoken catalyst of World War I. A Crown Prince with divergent political views could have changed the course of history if he had inherited the crown, but here he is, as the ballet ends, reliant on morphine, obsessed with his mistresses and lying dead with his lover. This is...

Wuthering Heights – King’s Theatre Edinburgh

26May

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Wuthering Heights – King’s Theatre Edinburgh

Wise Children’s Wuthering Heights takes its form as a creative and all together magical adaptation of the 1847 Emily Bronte novel: Wuthering Heights. It’s serves to tell the story of two young lovers whose social status, race and upbringing become their own downfall. Heathcliff (Liam Tamne) is a young man found and adopted at Liverpool docks only to live his life in the shadows due to his ethnic background and darker features, when he meets adoptive sister Catherine (Lucy McCormick) he falls in love with the strange and mentally unstable young lady. Unfortunately, Catherine has other ideas and instead of pursuing her romance with Heathcliff she marries another man to attain her rank in society and so Heathcliff vows to get his revenge on those he blames for the loss of his happiness. This ...

Anything Goes – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

12May

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Anything Goes – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

When theatre reopened in London 2021, it opened with a bang. The Barbican’s Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsay was not just a highlight of 2021, but rather a theatre highlight of the decade. With a new star cast, starring Bonnie Langford, the absolutely de-lovely production hits the spot. Tonight’s cruise liner was crammed with as much action as a Shakespearean romantic comedy, if not more. Mistaken identity, farce and wall to wall tap dancing abound in every scene. Starlet Reno Sweeney (Kerry Ellis) is heading to New York aboard SS American, where her love Billy Crocker (Samuel Edwards) has also stowed away but is in hot pursuit of the debutante, Hope Harcourt (Nicole-Lily Baisden), who is due to be married to her PG Wodehouse-esque fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. As...

11May

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Rock Of Ages – Edinburgh Playhouse

Rock of Ages is a cheesy jukebox musical that plays as the perfect throw back to everyone’s favourite 80s and 90s rock anthems such as “Here I Go Again”, “Dead or Alive” and “Don’t Stop Believing”. There are several stories told throughout by fantastic narrator Lonny (played by Joe Gash), the main one being of star crossed lovers Sherrie (Gabriella Williams) and Drew (Sam Turrell) who both moved to the Sunset Strip to find fame but instead found each other however the one and only Stacee Jaxx (Matt Terry) proves to become their biggest obstacle. There is another secondary plot concerning the demolition of the Sunset Strip. It goes without saying that this production is near perfect! The cast are all incredibly talented and perfectly cast, we all already love the music, an...

11May

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Cluedo – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

An irresistible invitation from Lord Boddy brings the seemingly unconnected Colonel Mustard (played by Wesley Griffith), Miss Scarlett (Michelle Collins), Reverend Green (Tom Babbage), Professor Plum (Daniel Casey), Mrs Peacock (Judith Amsenga) and Mrs White (Etisyai Philip) to a country house one dark and stormy evening. Soon the connections, motives and corpses begin piling up as the mystery and hysteria grows. Who is doing the killing? Was it Miss Scarlett, with the revolver in the dining room, or Professor Plum, with the lead pipe in the library? Despite the familiar name, Cluedo is a new piece of work. That is to say, it's a new British play based on an older American play based on an 1985 American film (staring Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd), based on a 1949 British board ...

Ballet Black – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

5May

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Ballet Black – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

After their hugely successful first visit to the Scottish capital in 2019, Ballet Black is finally back after their postponed 2020 show. This time, the London-based company is celebrating its 20th anniversary with two brand new pieces: Say It Out Loud and Black Sun. As I type this review, I notice the nail polish I am wearing – a blush pink tone- which is unoriginally called ballet slippers. This helps illustrate the fact that ballet is inherently white. The lack of diversity within ballet dancers and the struggle racialized performers face in the industry led Cassa Pancho, a trained dancer of Trinidadian and British parents, to fund Ballet Black in 2001 as a company to provide role models to young, aspiring black and Asian dancers. Over the course of these 20 years, Ballet Black has...