Latest Articles - Page 291 of 645

25Aug

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Frozen Jr – Z-Arts

Z-arts Renaker Theatre hosted Manchester Musical Youth’s (MMY) latest production of Frozen Jr, the show is unfortunately only running tonight and tomorrow evening with a matinee in the middle as it is a show not to be missed. This Disney family favourite did not disappoint the audience, it is hard to believe that the cast only had four rehearsals following their weekend residential and junior festival earlier in the year to produce such a well-polished production. This is MMY’s third show in a space of a month and the standard never ceases to amaze me, it is evident that the production is a team effort involving many family members supporting the process with their super talented youngsters. The auditorium and front of house was a buzz of super proud relatives and friends rightful...

Call Mr Robeson – Edinburgh Fringe Online

24Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Call Mr Robeson – Edinburgh Fringe Online

Call Mr Robeson is a one-man show telling the story of the life of Paul Robeson, singer, actor, and political activist. Written and performed by Tayo Aluko and directed by Olusola Oyeleye, it is an interesting exploration of the early civil rights movement in America, against a background of Hollywood films, theatre performances and concerts, with live performances of Robeson’s songs sung by Aluko, accompanied by Michael Conliffe on piano. The piece opens with Aluko singing Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen while carrying a chair, which is used to symbolise the weight of the events of Robeson’s life on him. Aluko has a strong and operatic voice and performs the songs throughout the piece brilliantly, and often, particularly in the case of Old Man River, with dramatic flair and action w...

24Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Dibubuísmos – Edinburgh Fringe Online

Dibubuísmos is a short poetic video exploration of creativity and the self. Created and performed by Paes Loureiro, it is a unique way of delving into the artistic self and where the artist fits into the natural world. The piece opens with Loureiro mindfully cleansing herself and shedding her existing self. The movements are slow, deliberate and show an appreciation for the little things and living with intention and awareness. Loureiro contemplates herself and her surroundings in a place where land meets water, before floating through the river in a ritual of rebirth and peaceful meditation. Background music allows the mood of the piece to alter and moments of drama to be built up, which creates a sense of dialogue with Loureiro, even though the piece contains no spoken word. ...

Dee Christopher The Psychic Vampire – Frankenstein & Bier Keller

24Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Dee Christopher The Psychic Vampire – Frankenstein & Bier Keller

In the dark depths of the spookiest pub in Edinburgh you can find yourself a magic act like non other. Dee Christopher takes you on a journey to prove both his legitimacy as a real life vampire and his skill as a magician using the mediums of storytelling, humour and some seriously impressive tricks. The best way to describe Dee Christopher as a performer would be a man with the essence of an old Hollywood rock star, he is like Johnny Depp if they had let him play a cool vampire instead of the strange thing from Dark Shadows. His voice is somewhat calming but at the same time you feel as though you’re watching some mysterious stranger in a bar who’s stories you could listen to all night. Not only are we given magic, but through audience choices we are told stories of this vampire...

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Jake Bugg – Edinburgh Playhouse

Bringing my Edinburgh Fringe reviewing to an end for another year (with review number 63!), an absolute belter, five-star performance by Nottingham lad, singer-songwriter and supreme musician, Jake Bugg, at the Edinburgh Playhouse. An artist that I have known of and heard snippets of over the last ten years, this concert came as a very pleasant surprise, and reminded me that I actually do know loads of his songs, albeit not the names of them! Luckily, I was sitting next to fellow reviewer and big Bugg fan, Eilidh Tuckett from Artmag, who was able to lean over and tell me the names of the songs as they came thick and fast. Thanks Eilidh! From the very Oasis sounding, Kingpin, from Bugg’s second album to the much softer and more lyrical Hold Tight, his favourite from his fifth album, y...

23Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Body 115 – The Hope Theatre

In an extremely warm theatre, I watched poet and writer Jan Noble, create imagery with verse, a necromancer of inventive poetic speech, searingly powerful, and infinitely watchable. Body 115 is a homage to Dante’s Divine Comedy, delving into the underworld with its decay and death. Jan Noble’s one-man show sees Body 115, who is one of the long unidentified victims of the King’s Cross fire in 1987, the 31st victim, who lies in the earth, has memories of fire, and an horrific death. Following the dramatic nature of The Divine Comedy, body 115 becomes Virgil, who guided Dante, and represents human reason. For those unaware of Dante’s Divine Comedy, it is a poem written by Dante Alighieri, during the 14th century, which is divided into three parts, the Inferno, Purgatorio,...

Remember The Before – Hen & Chickens Theatre

23Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Remember The Before – Hen & Chickens Theatre

An unnamed couple try to pick over their relationship memories, but why do their memories differ? An intriguing peek into this couple’s relationship history, who have been given numbers and not names (one is played by Sarah Pearcey and two by Jed McLoughlin). Written by Jed McLoughlin and directed by Pippa Dykes, the story arc gives plenty in terms of intrigue. Jed’s character (One) buzzes, as his extrovert nature wins over his partner when they first meet, he is funny, lovable, and larger than life, whereas Sarah (Two) is more reserved, but loves his outgoing nature. The couple clearly care about each other, but it is unclear whether they have a future together, as their shared experiences don’t appear to have evolved into shared memories. It asks the ...

How I Met My Mother – Ukraine Fringe Online

23Aug

By Angela KellyNo Comments

REVIEWS

How I Met My Mother – Ukraine Fringe Online

Produced by RibbitRePublic Theatre and being performed for Ukraine Fringe, ‘How I Met my mother’ is a solo performance by Jonathan Paterson. Directed by Vanesa Quesnelle the show is an autobiographical narrative of one man’s experience of living with his mother who has Dementia. The story telling is on point from the opening of the show- Paterson is immediately charming, warm and engaging. Stage presence comes naturally to Paterson and the audience are captivated. His storytelling is relayed both in the present time and also in the past as he alternates between the two which works well as he relays his story with nothing held back. The show provides an insight into Paterson as a performer also through his honesty in relation to his ADHD, explaining this to the audience as he closes a do...

23Aug

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

Scotland

Algo-Rhythm – The Bill Murray

Algo- Rhythm by the ‘Useless group’ is a dynamic trio with memorable and relatable Musical comedy. They serve it with a twist as fresh and delicious as mint chocolate chip gelato. They burst with enthusiasm on stage. Leoni Amandin, Sinead Hegarty and Rebeka Dio have wicked sorcery under their wings. They dig deep into their experiences of being queer, creative and navigating the world around us. With some adorable use of sock puppets and cardboard cutouts, their audience interaction game is strong, confident and sassy! It is delightful to hear the clarinet, piano and ukulele being played through the show by the talented performers, seamlessly changing roles and pitches. They combine the whimsical of ‘where do eels come from?’ with matter-of-fact sharing of trade secrets that they...

The Music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – The Jazz Bar

23Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – The Jazz Bar

The Colin Steele quintet, featuring the brilliant saxophone of Martin Kershaw, cooked it up a storm at The Jazz Bar tonight. A young lady in the front row (who couldn’t have been more than 11 years-old!) was back for the second night in a row. And why not, when you have musicianship of this quality on your doorstep. The superlatives list would be long for the saxophone playing of Martin Kershaw who was the stand-out on stage, a truly world-class performer. Beautifully supported by Colin Steele on trumpet, Pete Johnstone on keys, Brian Shiels on Bass and Max Popp on the skins. It was great to see the level of respect and love for their fellow players and the space they all received to show off their individual skills on the various instruments, all of which was heartily applaud...