Pleasance at EICC Archives - North West End UK

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

17Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

Shakespeare is already a dramatic affair, especially when it comes to Much Ado About Nothing, but what happens when one of the play's leads is drunk? Sh!t Faced Shakespeare takes a cast of professionally trained Shakespearean actors and then gets one of them drunk leading to what can only be described as beautifully brilliant chaos. The cast must then attempt to perform a shortened performance of the chosen Shakespeare text whilst putting up with the drunken adlibs of their inebriated cast mate. To make things more interesting a different cast member will take on the role of the drunk each night along with a different character in the show, you are guaranteed that the show will be different every night of the run. The show is safe enough with the drunk being supervised at all ...

Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits – Pleasance at EICC

9Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits – Pleasance at EICC

Seventy minutes with an 83-year-old who’s got all her marbles and oodles of talent besides was one brilliant way to spend a rainy afternoon in Edinburgh. Playing to a full house of 1200 capacity, Miriam Margolyes’ fan-base is younger than her which, of course, didn’t matter a jot to this outspoken and wonderfully entertaining woman. She had the crowd in the palm of her hand right from the get-go. There were Margolyes followers in their twenties upwards, the younger members presumably fans of her outings in the Harry Potter series of films. My favourite Margolyes performance was the fabulous Italian nurse she played in Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet. She was deliciously nuanced and funny in that role, bringing it to life as I’d never seen it before or since. We listened to Sachmo...

6Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Arturo Brachetti: SOLO – EICC

Being a reviewer has its pluses. When promoters, The Pleasance, provided an extra ticket especially so that my daughter could accompany me to this one, they created a beautiful father/daughter moment which will outlast me! A magical hour of entertainment, by one of the true masters. Italian national treasure, Arturo Brachetti, is in town with several truck loads, a circus-full if you will, of props, costumes and surprises, the sheer scale of which will take your breath away. Regarded by many as the greatest, The Guinness Book of World Records lists Brachetti as the world’s fastest and most prolific quick change artist, having achieved a staggering 250,000 costume changes throughout his career. Some of the props are a bit ragged at the edges, but then so is Arturo. It kinda add...

Iain Dale: All Talk with Nicola Sturgeon MSP – Pleasance at EICC

11Aug

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

Iain Dale: All Talk with Nicola Sturgeon MSP – Pleasance at EICC

Nicola Sturgeon received a rapturous reception when she walked onto the stage. The audience was overwhelmingly on her side with regular outbursts of applause in response to her comments. This was her first extended interview since she stepped down as Scotland’s First Minister five months ago. Her interviewer was the broadcaster, Iain Dale, who is also interviewing other politicians at the Festival Fringe. Although a Conservative, you cannot tell from Dale’s questions. His approach is conversational, not confrontational. Dale has a good rapport with Sturgeon who he’s interviewed twice before. It’s a wide-ranging interview on a host of subjects including some very personal questions. Dale reminds Sturgeon that at the start of the year she said she had ‘plenty left in the tank’ so wh...

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet – Pleasance at EICC

10Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet – Pleasance at EICC

Two households, both alike in dignity In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unlean, And booze makes one of the lovers rather quite mean! Shit-faced Shakespeare are at it again, turning another Shakespeare classic into comedy gold as one of our leads is absolutely bladdered. We join a cast of incredible, traditionally trained actors as they put on a condensed version of the well known play Romeo and Juliet, or at least they attempt to do so. Each night a different cast member will increase the difficulty of both their job and their peers by getting drunk, and if the audience doesn’t think them drunk enough more alcohol will simply be provided leaving you with a version of Romeo and Juliet like y...

Are You Being Murdered? – Pleasance at EICC

9Aug

By Anna ChiariNo Comments

Scotland

Are You Being Murdered? – Pleasance at EICC

What would happen if Agatha Christie met Father Brown? This seems to be asked by David Semple, the acclaimed writer of the famous series branded BBC ONE, in bringing to the stage the one man shows entitled "Are You Being Murdered?" A show focused exclusively on the talents of "Allo Allo" actor Arthur Bostrom, capable of bringing together comedy and mystery, suspense and social satire. Set in the golden age of old BBC sitcoms, the show proves to be marked by a glossy nostalgia that winks at a specific generation and targets that generation specifically. Although with its lively monologue and ready wit, the show seems to take up, like a dress worn out by too much use, certain stereotypes of a genre unable to speak to a contemporary audience with sharper and more irreverent tastes. The...

8Aug

By Kat CliffordNo Comments

Scotland

Buffy: Revamped – Pleasance at EICC

As a long-time fan of Buffy, I had high hopes for this show, and I was not disappointed. This show is a rip-roaring ride through 90’s nostalgia. Brendan Murphy is like a one-man time machine pulling in jokes and references from all branches of the fruitful 90’s tree. He is an amazing storyteller, and you can feel his passion for Buffy speak for itself through his energetic performance. This is a well-crafted piece of theatre that uses all manner of media to set the scene, songs, video clips, theatre, props, poems, audience participation, lighting, sound effects and stand up, this show has it all! This show leans hard into the cult, campy fun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and gives it a silly, original update for the 2020’s , Buffy: Revamped is a very self-aware show that manages to poke f...

Black is the Color of my Voice – Pleasance at EICC

8Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Black is the Color of my Voice – Pleasance at EICC

Amazing. Brilliant. Such an expanse of energy. These are some of the comments I heard on leaving the theatre. For myself the rapture began less than one minute in. The hairs, not just on my arms, but on my scalp, stood on end as our protagonist call “Daddy!” Why? I’m not sure. It must have been the emotional intensity. I knew this was going to press buttons and make me bleed. In a good way. Apphia Campbell has a powerful voice: a fitting tribute to Nina Simone, but, more than that, this woman can act. She knows about pace and tension and pathos and immersion. It is a beautiful piece of theatre. Scripted to perfection by Campbell, this is a don't miss piece for lovers of Nina Simone and all theatre goers who admire true commitment and emotional frankness. For me, I knew little of t...

28Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Making Mischief in Edinburgh Again

Mischief are the award-winning company behind The Play That Goes Wrong, Magic Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery as well as the BBC comedy series The Goes Wrong Show and they are back in Edinburgh for this year's Fringe. CHARLIE RUSSELL AIMS TO PLEASE Written and performed by Charlie Russell Pleasance Courtyard (Below) 3rd – 27th August at 3.15pm https://bit.ly/3PHe8Mi Charlie Russell wants to do a show in Edinburgh, but all she can think about is what she wants people to think of it and ultimately, of her. So rather than focusing on what she wants to say, she’s just going to create a show that will please absolutely everyone by trying to hit as many solo fringe show tropes and styles as possible within an hour. That’s doable, right? MISCHIEF MOVIE NIGHT ...