Latest Articles - Page 52 of 645

Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster – Courtyard Theatre

10Aug

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster – Courtyard Theatre

What’s a girl to do? When you’ve been on the shelf — the literal bookshelf, that is — for more than 200 years, this question becomes ever more pressing. Should Liliana, a neglected heroine from an unfinished scrap of Jane Austen’s writing, remain a wallflower for all eternity, awaiting the extended hand of a mysterious gentleman to pluck her from her obscure perch and carry her away to freedom and fulfillment? The play wouldn’t be very fun if she did. Fortunately for all involved, this is not the fate playwright and performer Alexandra Jorgensen has mapped out for her. Her Liliana, an earnest young woman with that blend of self-righteousness and self-consciousness that has come to characterize Austenian adaptation, is out to seize control of the narrative. Jorgensen, operating he...

10Aug

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Bombshell – theSpace @ Triplex

Following a successful run in New York last year, Cross the Pond Theatre presents us with their new, original musical, Bombshell. Written by Madison Mayer, who stars as Scarlett, our climate-conscious main character, we explore three girls’ mission to spread climate awareness by performing raunchy cabaret numbers with a political message. With songs composed by Cumbernauld local Aila Swan, who plays Jane, Bombshell delivers a kooky and amusing story, with pizzazz and high energy. Emory Kemph directs and features as Eliza, perfectly capturing the sarky and satirical feel of Mayer’s writing, eliciting a great reaction from the audience with laughs aplenty. Each number flies by, with well-choreographed routines and strong harmonies—the trio are fabulous performers, strong in all aspect...

Picnic at Hanging Rock – Hope Street Theatre

10Aug

By Ann Marie JamesNo Comments

North West

Picnic at Hanging Rock – Hope Street Theatre

A performance which portrayed excellent acting ability, variety and characterisation. The performers (Hosanna Starkey, Juliette Collins, Lucie Rose, Lucy Hickman-Germon and Holly Lawless) certainly gave passion and energy to this production and provided us with excellent physical theatre and voice work. They were able to glide smoothly between character transitions. The set was very minimal and used mainly props and media to change scenes. The symbolism of the shoes being left on stage when the girls went missing was a clever incorporation. However, personally, I found the production quite difficult to follow, as yes, the performers switched characters and demonstrated their acting abilities well, but sometimes it was hard to ascertain who was who. Also, there was some confusion amon...

Up Late with Alabaster DePlume – The Hub

10Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Up Late with Alabaster DePlume – The Hub

It is one of those nights at The Hub that I will not quite shake off, in both the best and the slightly sourest sense of the word. Alabaster DePlume, Angus Fairbairn, mid-forties Mancunian jazz poet supreme, takes to the stage in Palisadeau colours. ‘Genocide’, he gives it a name, and then he mentions that one of the festival’s backers also supports the regime in Israel. That the Festival by association supports the regime. A couple of audience members stand up and quietly leave. The tension is immediate, and it ripples through the room. It does not need to go there, but maybe it was always inevitable, he has, after all, never been capable of separating his politics from his performing.But, politics aside, back to the music. The saxophone work is exceptional, rich with tone, breath, and at...

10Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Bach and Bartok – Usher Hall

The Edinburgh International Festival treats me to a musical triptych tonight at the Usher Hall, a concert in three sharply contrasting acts, delivered with precision and flair by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Fischer, now in his mid-70’s and one of Europe’s most admired conductors, has the air of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing and, perhaps, is savouring these final years at the helm. Co-founder of the orchestra back in 1983 with Zoltán Kocsis, he’s built a reputation not only for musical excellence but also for a willingness to experiment, from autism-friendly “Cocoa Concerts” to informal beanbag performances. There’s an ease and playfulness in his direction, the sort of confidence that comes from a career well cemented in the history books, but still curious...

#CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Play That Trump Does Not Want You to See! – Pleasance Courtyard

10Aug

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

#CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Play That Trump Does Not Want You to See! – Pleasance Courtyard

In August 2017 white supremacists held a ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which erupted into violence resulting in more than 30 people being injured in clashes between the so-called Alt Right and counter-protesters. The next day a white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters, injuring 35 people and killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal who provided legal help to people at risk of repossessions and evictions. Priyanka Shetty, who was at the time a student in Charlottesville, has written and performs this meticulously researched one person play. It’s a powerful production, directed by Yury Urnov, which lambasts the violent racism of the white supremacists, but also contends that what happened at Charlottesville was not an an...

10Aug

By Joe LangNo Comments

Scotland

Crocodile Tears – theSpace @ Venue 45

Returning for their third year at the Fringe, Shark Bait Theatre places the audience in the jungle amidst the cast of a reality TV show, which is on the precipice of descending into chaos. Director Ivan Hamshaw Thomas and the cast electrify Jess Ferrier's already hilarious script into a joyride, which doesn’t dwindle in pace when deconstructing the reality behind reality TV. Aside from splicing together elements from many recognisable reality TV shows to form the basis of the premise, the show tackles themes such as surveillance, public perception, and the animosity that forms when faced with the task of survival. The script does an amazing job at balancing all of these themes whilst maintaining a relevant and distinct voice, which is poking holes into the superficiality and stupidi...

The Real Housewives of The Zombie Apocalypse – Greenside Riddles Court

10Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Real Housewives of The Zombie Apocalypse – Greenside Riddles Court

Clydebuilt Theatre Company's follow-up to their successful debut original musical, Vote Macbeth! from the 2022 and 2023 Fringes, The Real Housewives of The Zombie Apocalypse mixes the bitchy arguments and self-promotional soap-opera of trash TV in with a good dose of undead, end-of-the-world shenanigans. When a zombie outbreak makes it into the House, our seven Housewives must deal with each other (well... maybe try to limit the infighting) to potentially save themselves, their sponsorship deals and, if they have time, discover what is going on. Complete with zombie outbreaks, bites, turns, cures, and conspiracy, the references to the classics of the genre most notably include The Evil Dead, with Sam Raimi getting name-checked several times and an appearance by Ash's chainsaw hand. ...

The Real Australia – theSpace @ Niddry St

10Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Real Australia – theSpace @ Niddry St

Reality TV, as we know - as we all SHOULD know - is scripted, planned and edited with precision a brain surgeon would be proud of, supposedly representative of ‘real’. With tongue firmly in cheek, the talented performers of Playon.productions aim to take it down – or rather, down-under - with this fast-paced, chaotic, too-short show featuring ‘eight ordinary Australians’ as they commune on Rottnest Island for the season finale of, guess what… The Real Australia. Every tragedy ends with a death (or similar), every comedy with a wedding, so… James is betrothed to Kylie, who has a sister, Danni, who’s a bit grumpy about it all. Sam, iPad permanently in hand, runs the wedding destination and is trying to keep everything on track but has committed a romantic error involving Brendan, who ...

I Was A Teenage She-Devil – theSpace @ Niddry Street

10Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

I Was A Teenage She-Devil – theSpace @ Niddry Street

Nancy Nelson (Faith Pasch) is the classic unattractive high-school loser (ie, girl with glasses), with unpopular friends Debbie (Lee Beka Harper) and Doobie (Matt Bader, filled in for by a producer on the night we attended) and persecuted by the popular kids: Heather (Charis Stockton) and Big Rod (Louis Hearsay) and their leader, Tiffani (Caitlin Anderson). Until one day when they take their humiliation too far and the Devil (Sean Arkless) offers Nancy a deal, a makeover and an opportunity for revenge... It is, in short, the classic American high-school setup combined with horror elements, in this case the Faustian pact, and an 80s setting. All three aspects are archetypes in their own right and, to different degrees, also combined; with high-school horror stories like Carrie and Fa...