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Nina’s C*nti Cabaret – Underbelly (McEwan Hall)

23Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Nina’s C*nti Cabaret – Underbelly (McEwan Hall)

Big venue, big lights, sound, crowd… but not enough Nina! The clues in the title of course, a genuine cabaret featuring two guest artists, and not the Full C*nti. Though someone who did avail of an All-You-Can-Eat breakfast buffet was first interloper Susie McCabe, a bonus surprise to anyone who wasn’t aware of the show’s format. Sadly (well, not that sadly as here she is alive and happily kicking) it led to a heart attack in the Bristol Hilton. As someone once said; ‘never let a crisis go to waste’ and in Susie’s hands the life-threatening incident provides much mirth. Albeit tempered if you’re from Bristol or Fife. Prior to this was Nina’s intro routine, her scratchy simian lowering whatever tone she thought she’d established, soiling every attempt at cordiality with the audience. ...

Yuck Circus: Naughties – Assembly George Sq.

23Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Yuck Circus: Naughties – Assembly George Sq.

I was probably doubly outside the target demographic for Naughties. I wasn't a teenage girl in the noughties, indeed I wasn't a teenager at all, but you don't necessarily need to have spent the decade clutching a flip phone and listening to Britney Spears to appreciate what Australian company YUCK Circus does here. The Palais du Variété is an excellent venue for this. A runway pushes deep into the centre of the lofty tent, while the considerable height above provides an ideal playground for the aerial work. Having previously endured the rather laddish Stamptown in this same space, Naughties proved a considerable improvement. Five women showed how this sort of circus cabaret can be done, with skill, personality and, appropriately enough, plenty of girl power....

Non-Human Animal – Gilded Balloon Teviot

23Aug

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

Non-Human Animal – Gilded Balloon Teviot

Roisin’s father was murdered. Now she’s left alone to deal with the consequeses – grieving, bingeing on mini Mars-bars and Gilmore Girls, shutting out the outside world, with a Mammy that’s suffering from dementia, and a health system that’s failing her. Writer Kat Woods pulled from her own experiences after the murder of her father which comes through in the confessional tone of the piece. Non-Human animal scratches the surface on many incredibly important topics, but unfortunately loses the actual storyline in this web of problems. What is the play about? The prison system? Trauma? Role-play? The NHS? Grief? Mental Health? Soberiety? Northern Ireland after the Troubles? Class? Social Media? Neurodiversity? Body image issues? Guilt? All of the above? Of course all of these socie...

Apples In Winter – The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault

23Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Apples In Winter – The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault

Miriam (Edie Campbell) loves to bake pie, apple pie to be exact with the apples from the tree in her garden that she lovingly nurtured to ensure that the apples in her pie were of the best quality. They should only be picked in September for the best apple pie…Robert loved her apple pie more than anything! Robert is Miriam’s son. Robert is in prison on death row, and his execution has been organised for midnight on that very day. His request for his last meal, is for his mother to make the apple pie that he loves so much. For Miriam, this request stirs up a tsunami of emotions, as she stands in the prison kitchen with her ingredients, to make the homemade apple pie for her son. Written by Jennifer Fawcett, and produced by Lynchpin Theatre Company, th...

The Tao of Lloyd – Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms

23Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

The Tao of Lloyd – Drawing Room at Assembly Rooms

The ‘Still Point Institute’ is holding a three-day immersive meditation, and the closing speaker has cancelled due to…circumstances beyond his control! Enter Lloyd Dobler (Dennis Trainor)…yes, the same Lloyd Dobler played by John Cusack in the 1989 movie ‘Say Anything’. A middle-aged Dobler is flown in to take over the closing speech of the retreat, which hosts high flying people such as Jeff Bezos, and Russell Brand, and Dobler’s spiritual Molotov cocktail could be a fiery brew. We learn that the invitation came from his ex-girlfriend from many years earlier Diane Court, who works for the company Meridian Systems, the creator software for the American government with ICE being one of the departments. If all this was not enough to make him feel uncomfortable, he must talk to...

Peregrinations – Central at Assembly Roxy

23Aug

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

Peregrinations – Central at Assembly Roxy

According to the dictionary, peregrination means a journey to foreign lands, especially on foot. This play by Dutch Kills Theater Company, follows multiple of such journeys of people crossing borders and eplores themes of migration, exile, and the search for belonging in a culture hostile towards immigrants. That alone makes it an important piece of work in the times of ICE in the US and ever increasing support for right-wing politics across the west. But Peregrinations is more than that. It is a wordless, but visually stunning theatre piece. It is a masterclass in mask-work and physical theatre with some incredible puppetry sprinkled in throughout the show. Based on interviews of the ensemble’s real lived experiences it tells stories of humanity, resilience and hope for a better...

Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

22Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical – Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose

The tale of Antigone continues to remain prominent within theatre and Greek history, a tale of a woman who goes against her leaders wishes in order to restore dignity to her deceased brother, ultimately leading to her death sentence and the taking of her own life. Like many Greek tragedies, this one is not a happy one, but it does deliver us the message that: it is important to stand up for what you believe in, even if the consequence is dire (oh and don’t disobey the gods…). Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical takes the classic tale but re-frames it in the 1980s, using the AIDS crisis as it’s driven point of revolt. This is cleverly done by exchanging the relationship between Antigone and Creon’s (known as Calvin) son Henry for a relationship between Henry and the deceased and sland...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Hole! – Underbelly Bristo Sq.

If it is done with enough passion, commitment and sheer musical ability, apparently you really can make a musical about absolutely anything. HOLE! is the proof. Created and performed by American Sing-Song's Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, and directed by RJ Tolan, its premise is completely bonkers. A fundamentalist Christian community in Nebraska prepares for an apocalyptic event called The Great Sucking, and survival depends upon having something firmly lodged where the sun doesn't shine. That's probably enough plot. What I wasn't expecting was just how controlled, sophisticated and ultimately joyous this would be. The musicianship is superb. Brasch and Leonhard-Hooper move from big, life-affirming harmonies into exquisitely intimate passages, sometimes accompanied...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Two Little Pigs – Pleasance Courtyard

There is a problem before Two Little Pigs has even begun. Sitting in the front row of The Green at Pleasance Courtyard, the glare from the lighting is sufficiently fierce that I resort to sunglasses. That shouldn't happen. The Green itself is a wafer-thin temporary structure seating around 60, full tonight, but with external noise penetrating the space. Nevertheless, director Merle Wheldon and her two performers have an intriguing hour ahead of them. Written by Caitlin McEwan, produced by Patrick Bone Productions, and performed by McEwan as Pig alongside Caleb Hughes as Mark, Two Little Pigs takes us into the increasingly troubling world of the manosphere. Mark's relationship with Martha has collapsed and she has walked out. Into the void comes a pig. The slight...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Top Gunchained – Guilded Balloon Teviot

It is not the most promising of starts. A double-height room, plastic seats laid out on the flat and an approximately 18-inch-high stage. On it, there is virtually nothing: black drapes, a solitary leather swivel chair and a Top Gun-esque flying jacket. Fortunately, Richard Marsh doesn't need much else. Top Gunchained retells Top Gun through beat poetry, physical comedy and Marsh's own relationship with his father. It is a clever conceit, but what elevates it beyond movie parody is the warmth of that father-son story. Marsh's portrayal of his dad, complete with a wonderfully characterful West Country accent, is particularly lovely. We see the young Marsh growing up on his father's knee with Top Gun becoming one of their favourite films and later r...