Latest Articles - Page 292 of 645

23Aug

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

South East

My Fair Lady – Frinton Summer Theatre

The big tent on the Greensward is a big thing for Frinton Summer Theatre. Marking the finale run of the theatrical season, Clive Brill (Producer & Artistic Director) usually selects a big show where the creative juices can really run wild in the central stage, and the live band can rip out the scores with abandon. ‘My Fair Lady’ is the 2023 big top production, a musical theatre piece by Lerner and Loewe. The story follows Eliza Doolittle (Jennifer Louise Jones) a flower girl in Covent Garden as she learns how to become a lady under the guidance of Henry Higgins (Alan Cox). It’s an interesting way into the class question for one’s accent can affect one’s position in life and this exploration through Higgins’ education of Eliza and her slum dialect can be seen as she transforms not on...

23Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Kyiv City Ballet – Assembly Hall

Hopeful, playful and bright. Those are the adjectives I’d use to describe the show performed by the homeless Kyiv City Ballet this evening. The company was on tour in France when hostilities broke out in Ukraine. There was no going home. The company has been living by touring ever since: recycling costumes and shows, inventing new shows and making beautiful art as a means of making a living and a way of distracting themselves from their terrible exiled predicament. Creative dance is a wonderful means of expression and this company has kept itself afloat through its own endeavors. Their new piece is an expression of love, humanity, sharing and caring. It is utterly charming. There is no wiff of bitterness nor an aside to the black nature of mankind. It is simply a celebration of h...

Cults, Startups and Pornstars: How I (almost) Won My Dad’s Approval – Zoo Playground

23Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Cults, Startups and Pornstars: How I (almost) Won My Dad’s Approval – Zoo Playground

This humorous confessional makes light of child abuse in order to win over the audience. The subject matter is made palatable and, therefore, people listen. In response to a traumatic childhood, Cheyenne claims to have developed an App to protect children online. It was removed from use. If true, this should concern us all. But I only have one side of the story. Cheyenne’s. What goes on behind closed doors is rarely revealed easily and then there’s the difficulty of building a case. But, online exploitation, now that’s a public thing and a dirty thing and an underground thing that needs policing. I would have thought any efforts in this field would be welcomed with open arms. This was the part of the show that hit me. And it was meant to. The other parts, are there to pull ...

The 7 Fingers: Duel Reality – Underbelly Circus Hub

23Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The 7 Fingers: Duel Reality – Underbelly Circus Hub

Now, here is an oddity, a show I have seen twice, once on preview night at the start of the Fringe, and again tonight, and I can immediately see improvements! The first thing to say, is that this show is best viewed from the central seating area (where I was tonight), if you can. Duel reality starts with a beautifully choreographed fight scene between the two ‘sides’ of the ten-strong troupe, pitting the blues against the reds. To add to the audience experience you are given a wrist band of blue or red as you enter the circus tent and ‘requested’ to support your team. There is whooping, clapping, screaming from the audience – this idea sounds like it is working well! Raising the stakes of the team struggle, we soon come to realise that Blue is Capulet and Red is Montague and the ...

The Last Show Before We Die – Summerhall Roundabout

23Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Show Before We Die – Summerhall Roundabout

The Last Show Before We Die was created, written and performed by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, or Ell and Mary as we know the versions of themselves they present on-stage. They are former lovers, and current (still) best friends, housemates and work partners, whose previous collaborations include FITTER and HOTTER. The latter was the last piece of live theatre this reviewer saw before the first lock-down of the pandemic, which was already making its mark when audience members were encouraged to jump up and dance at the end of the show, but to do it without moving around the theatre or coming into contact with anyone. The history the two performers share (with each other, not with Covid, or me) is central to this show, and obvious whether you know about their previous projects or not,...

Beats on Pointe: Masters of Choreography – Assembly George Square

23Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Beats on Pointe: Masters of Choreography – Assembly George Square

In this extravaganza of fabulousness, the outrageously skilled members of the Australian dance company, Masters of Choreography, seamlessly combine a boundless range of dance and performance disciplines including hip hop, ballet, commercial, breakdancing, and more. Sometimes they synchronise with each other’s moves in different styles, with the ballerinas adapting newer dance styles to perform en pointe. A particularly exciting moment involves a break dancer spinning on his head while, behind him, three ballerinas pirouette in unison. The athleticism of the performers is astounding, with gymnastic backflips, leaps, and lifts galore. The ballet team enters a dance showdown with the hip-hop team, and the hip-hop group seems to win, though I’m not sure why. Even seemingly casual movements ...

A Mirrored Monet – Greenside @ Nicholson Square

23Aug

By Marcelina KruczyńskaNo Comments

Scotland

A Mirrored Monet – Greenside @ Nicholson Square

A marvelous performance. With excellent acting and the intricate staging and visual effects being a feast for the eyes, this performance is certainly one for the books. A Mirrored Monet written by Carmel Owen, directed by Fraser Grant and music directed by Neil Metcalfe is certainly one to be remembered. The show focuses on the life of Monet. Drawing on inspiration from sources like letters, paintings and more, the performance focuses on all aspects of the artist's life covering the ups just as much as the downs. In a series of flashbacks Monet’s life is unraveled. Within these flashbacks we meet Camille (Monet’s first wife) who in this run was played by the understudy Kim Shepherd. We also meet other artists Monet associated himself with such as the likes of Renoir (played by Chris Dod...

The Disney Delusion – Underbelly Bristo Square

22Aug

By Amy HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Disney Delusion – Underbelly Bristo Square

Award-winning Canadian comedian Leif Oleson-Cormack presented his stand-up show ‘The Disney Delusion’ at the Edinburgh Fringe after a sold-out run at the Edmonton Fringe. Oleson-Cormack wore his heart on his sleeve throughout his intimate monologue about unrequited-love. Despite moments of deep-hearted tenderness this was primarily a light-hearted show that was easy to laugh along to. Attending this show felt like going for a drink with that one friend who tells you the most ridiculously scandalous stories. The show began by giving a brief overview of Oleson-Cormack’s love life (touching on themes such as virginity and sexuality) before developing into a more linear storyline with a play-like feel. Within this story the dramatization of eccentric characters such as The Doctor, The Frank...

22Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Shooglenifty – Rose Theatre, Edinburgh

I vaguely recall the Shoogles, it must have been more than 25 years ago in some dank Edinburgh cellar. But I still remember being moved, shocked even, by the discovery that Scottish traditional music could be funky, edgy, dance-worthy! I cannot remember what I was expecting then (Jimmy Shand perhaps?!), but the band that termed the phrase Acid Croft were a musical revelation. And here tonight, at The Rose Theatre, nothing has changed, yet everything has changed. No longer led by their charismatically big-bearded frontman, fiddler, Angus Grant, who used to bound around the stage like some BFG and always whipped the crowd up a storm, lost way too early to throat cancer in 2016. But somehow, they have survived, regrouped, with new fiddler Eilidh Shaw, fitting in beautifully to the w...

22Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Bacon – Summerhall

Bacon, written by Sophie Swithinbank, and brought to the Edinburgh Fringe by HFH Productions, is a masterclass in storytelling. Focusing on the lives of fifteen-year-old’s Mark, Corey Montague-Sholay, and Darren, William Robinson, it explores masculinity, sexuality, and the dangers of toxicity in youthful relationships. Mark has just joined a new school and is struggling to make friends until he meets the hot-tempered Darren. The two could not be more different, and as such seem drawn to one another. Swithinbank’s script is electric. Despite repeatedly switching between narration and dialogue, it feels incredibly real. The characters may address the audience, but they never stop feeling like actual human beings. Perhaps this is because they are both so relatable, albeit in very differen...