Pippa Murphy Archives - North West End UK

The Mountaintop – The Royal Lyceum Theatre

5Jun

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

The Mountaintop – The Royal Lyceum Theatre

Katori Hall’s magnificent, beautifully written play is set the night before the assassination of the American civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King jnr, in 1968. The production is directed powerfully and vibrantly by Rikki Henry. Occasionally the actors were in danger of being upstaged by the fabulous set and sound effects. And the pace in the first half of the play was at times a little too frantic. But this was a breathtakingly inspiring production by Henry. The play takes place in a motel room in Memphis shortly after King had made his last speech, ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop’ in which he declared: “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you t...

A Streetcar Named Desire – The Lyceum, Edinburgh

This is a thrilling production of a great play by Tennessee Williams. It pulsates with raw energy and gripped the packed house at The Lyceum. The Pitlochry Festival Theatre production, directed with panache by Elizabeth Newman, has a stellar cast and an innovative creative team. When 30-something Blanche DuBois unexpectedly turns up at the small downstairs apartment rented by her younger sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley, she thinks she’s come to the wrong address. Blanche was expecting something better than this poky apartment in a poor area of New Orleans ironically called ‘Elysian Fields’. Blanche has been used to the grandeur of Belle Reve, the family plantation in Mississippi. But although Blanche has a trunk full of pretty clothes, she has to admit to Stella that ...

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me – Summerhall, Dissection Room

Performed cabaret style with tables and chairs, it’s well worth arriving a little before the stated ticket start time, with drinks in hand, to snag the best viewpoint. Early birds also get the significant bonus of a personal welcome from writer/performer Charlene Boyd, sashaying between tables humming tunes and chatting in American drawl like a hospitable Texas mam. Boyd has come a long way from the seeds of an idea, germinated during the lockdown-years, recently divorced mum of two, in her very unglamorous Glasgow high-rise! As the hamster wheel stopped for many of us, Boyd showed that it’s amazing what you can achieve when you have time on your hands! But Boyd always knew she was better placed than almost anyone to write the story of June Carter, having sung for the last 14 yea...