Traverse Theatre Archives - North West End UK

2Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Bee Asha – Traverse Theatre

As part of The Soundhouse Winter Festival we’re treated to a vibrant set from poet, spoken-word, rap, jazz, dance, multi-faceted artist Bee Asha, but more of that in a minute… Support is no less than erstwhile keys player for The Vaselines, Carla J Easton, playing a clutch of songs from a forthcoming album that started life in a small recording booth in Nashville. With Brett. Dignifying a Fender Mustang (ok, could’ve been a Jaguar or Jazzmaster), peppering the set with anecdotes ranging from buying said guitar from Glasgow’s salubrious West End, to adventures halfway up a Norwegian glacier with Mr Hefner himself, Darren Hayman, she’s accompanied by ‘the best-dressed man in music’, Paul Kelly on acoustic. He was well-attired but a touch of glitter wouldn’t have gone amiss. What reall...

16Nov

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Through the Mud – Traverse Theatre

Spanning past and present, Apphia Campbell’s Through the Mud explores racism in America during the Black Panther movement as well as Black Lives Matter. Filled with a gospel and blues soundtrack, sung live by the performers, this is a show with a strong message but some struggle of identity. With only two actors, we follow the stories of Assata Shakur (Apphia Campbell) during the civil rights movement and Jim Crow laws while flipping back and forth to Ambrosia Rollins (Tinashe Warikandwa) a college student wrapped up in the Black Lives Matter protests in 2014. Both actors also play smaller, secondary roles in their counterparts' stories. Initially, these changes between past and present can feel confusing, trying to keep up with what time period we are in. Accent changes are quite subtl...

16Nov

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Òran – Traverse Theatre

From the fantastic minds of Wonder Fools comes Òran, a contemporary retelling of the famous greek myth of Orpheus. Fresh from its 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival run, this piece, written by Owen Sutcliffe and directed by Jack Nurse, has embarked on a new tour. Òran (Robbie Gordon) has a difficult relationship with his parents, particularly heightened by the loss of his older brother. Alone, he strikes up a strong friendship with Liam. However, as two young boys living in the modern age of social media, this friendship soon goes awry as indecent images are shared by the young boys in an immature attempt at revenge. Like the Greek myth, Òran heads into the underworld to make amends with Liam, who serves as a Eurydice-esque character. Robbie Gordon performs the poetic, spoken word-in...

8Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Arlington – Traverse Theatre

The most visually remarkable production to grace the Traverse Stage in years, Arlington. This new Shotput production of Enda Walsh’s dystopian fable is a feast for the eyes, ears, and the darker corners of your brain. It is strange, unsettling, sometimes hilarious, and very occasionally infuriating, but it is never dull. The set earns its own applause. Designer Anna Yates places Isla, our imprisoned heroine, on a raised metal platform, roughly level with the third or fourth row of Traverse 1, surrounded by the cold glow of surveillance screens. Behind her, a full wall of projection blooms with shifting images, ghostly fragments, data streams, and hints of an outside world, or what might once have been. The stage picture is technically dazzling, a precise marriage of lighting, sound...

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening – Traverse Theatre

29Oct

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening – Traverse Theatre

Kathryn Tickell is one of Folk’s superstars, though it’s a title she’d probably toss over her shoulder in embarrassment. Prolific and eclectic from an early age she’s delivered albums of her own too numerous to mention since 1985 while collaborating with artists ranging from The Penguin Café Orchestra to Sting to Andy Sheppard. And most points in between, staying resolutely modest and self-effacing. Tonight, she performs with a slightly altered line-up of The Darkening, a creation inspired by twilight, or, as the French put it, ‘Entre Chien et Loup’, that time of day when a certain magic – both exhilarating and malevolent - is in the air. Together they perform what’s been dubbed ‘Ancient Northumbrian Futurism’ and while it’s an accurate description it’s also worth learning from one of Kath...

27Oct

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

So Young – Traverse Theatre

Off the back of its Edinburgh Fringe run, Douglas Maxwell’s So Young returns to the Traverse Theatre, directed by Artistic Director, Gareth Nicholls. Milo (Robert Jack) is in his forties and has recently lost his wife, Helen. Struck down with grief, he invites his friends, married couple Liane (Lucianne McEvoy) and Davie (Andy Clark) for an evening of food, drinks and reminiscing. However, he also invited his new partner, Greta (Yana Harris), who is 20 years younger than him. It isn’t long before tensions rise, and feelings are made known between these life-long friends. So, Young explores the different ways in which grief affects people as well as the struggles of getting older. Maxwell approaches his themes with his notorious wit, providing the audience with many laughs throughout ...

24Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Batshit – Traverse Theatre

There’s a certain audacity to a one-person show. One performer, one story, one mind in charge of the entire evening. Batshit, created and performed by Leah Shelton, turns that control into both its subject and its triumph. In a world quick to label women “mad”, Shelton calmly, stylishly, and with extraordinary precision, takes charge of her own narrative, and everyone else’s for that matter, for sixty taut minutes.When you enter the tight Traverse 2, the first thing that hits you is the bank of LED strips looming above the stage like a silent judge. It’s no decorative flourish: throughout the show, that strip becomes an emotional metronome, pulsing and flickering in unnervingly close rhythm with the sound design. The coordination of light and sound, operated, I assume, from a pre-programme...

10Oct

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Cheapo – Traverse Theatre

Cheapo, brought to the Traverse Theatre by Play, Pie and a Pint, follows schoolboy Jamie (known as “Sheldon” to his bullies, played by Testimony Adegbite) as he sets up his travel chess board in KFC, ready for his usual match. Expecting to meet the same friend he plays with every week, Jamie is instead greeted by Kyla (Yolanda Mitchell), one of his bullies. Kyla has a proposition: she wants Jamie to retract his witness statement to the police. In return, her boyfriend and his friends will spare him a beating. As their chess game unfolds, it becomes clear that Kyla is not as cruel as she initially seems—she is frightened, afraid of the consequences of going to court. Likewise, Jamie fears the repercussions of withdrawing his statement, particularly in light of how the police treat young ...

6Oct

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

HER – Traverse Theatre

What would you do if you knew explicit photos of a young schoolgirl were being leaked? Would you do anything? Have you done anything? We’ve all witnessed situations like this before—it’s an all-too-common scenario, so common in fact that most people wouldn’t bat an eye. HER, produced by Strange Town and written by Jennifer Adam, confronts the audience directly, urging us to stand up and take action. The play insists that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander. Fast-paced and quick-witted, we are swept into the heart of the school by our two schoolkid narrators, B1 and B2, played by Zara-Louise Kennedy and Alex Tait. The pair move deftly through a multitude of characters, from teenage bams to ostentatious patrons of the fancy restaurant where HER (Eleanor McMahon) works. While t...

26Sep

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Man’s Best Friend – Traverse Theatre

The acclaimed Douglas Maxwell’s new play, Man’s Best Friend, opened at the Traverse Theatre having previously played at the Tron in Glasgow. Directed by the Tron’s Artistic Director, Jemima Levick, and starring Jordan Young, a rising star in Edinburgh’s famous panto, this play is both laugh-out-loud hilarious and also beautifully emotive. Ronnie (Young) is a dog walker tasked with walking his neighbor’s beloved pooches. However, when the belt holding their leads breaks, the dogs are left running free into the woodlands of the local park. Alone, Ronnie is left with his thoughts as he navigates through the trees, searching for the runaway canines. And his mind begins to wander, perhaps it's answers and understanding he’s looking for also. From the outset, Young crafts a natural and...