Traverse Theatre Archives - Page 6 of 9

17Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Kind Complex – Traverse Theatre

Established in 2009, Edinburgh’s Strange Town Youth Theatre has developed into something of an institution for theatrical experimentation in the City and is known for pushing the boundaries of what young people are capable of. With no less than three separate plays kicking off at the Traverse this week, tonight is the turn for Tuesday night’s 14-18 year olds to show what they could do, and they certainly did not disappoint. The talented acting of this magnificent bunch, I counted twenty, combined with Isla Cowan’s thought-provoking futuristic script and Catherine Ward-Stoddart’s crisp direction, is certainly a very watchable combination. Although there is no choreographer or MD mentioned in the programme, the movement and music selection are excellent throughout, from the straight lines...

16Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Over The Waves – Traverse Theatre

Established in 2009, Edinburgh’s Strange Town Youth Theatre has developed into something of an institution for theatrical experimentation in the City and is known for pushing the boundaries of what young people are capable of. And like all experiments, perhaps not every project works or turns out exactly as planned. There is a feeling, in this hour long show of a great idea which has not been fully realised, and yet should nevertheless be applauded for its vision and its scale and its courage. The stage is set within the steeply banked Traverse 1 with a central great grey monolith carved with lists of faded names, reminiscent of a war memorial. At the front apron of the stage a chalk outline of a body suggests a recent murder. Around the stage buzz five characters questioning each ot...

11Jun

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Childminder – Traverse Theatre

Written by real-life child psychiatrist Iain McClure, the titular ChildMinder (or at least one of them) is Joseph (Cal MacAninch), a man with a secret. Several in fact, and not the kind that live harmoniously with a successful and public career as a child psychiatrist. But buried things often rot and fester, and these secrets have a habit of suddenly robbing even the most pleasant moment of its security as the ground gives out from under him, until the question becomes one of life or death... Or at least that's my byline for the show. The one on the Traverse website talks about "being haunted", "didn't realise", "a modern ghost story" and an "eerie psychological thriller" which, while not entirely inaccurate, really only reflects about twenty minutes in the last quarter of this 90-minut...

Quines Cast Podcast Season Two Launch: RIOT – Traverse Theatre

27May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Quines Cast Podcast Season Two Launch: RIOT – Traverse Theatre

Disembodied voices snap-chat earnestly. The cast is meritorious. They posit thoughts and summaries upon a serious issue, in this case, RIOT: why riots happen and the impact of rioting. But the disembodied voices are simply sound bites without flesh: skinny starters for discussion rather than a proper, in-depth discourse. If I were one of those bright, energetic, purposeful women who contributed, I’d have shivered to be reduced to a sound bite. But maybe it was ironic? Maybe I missed the point? The voices felt reminiscent of Loose Women: trite opinions aired for entertainment. Having said that, I was won over by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson. She read a piece specifically written for RIOT which was measured, thoughtful, factual and gripping. She embodied all the things that women are per...

Dear Billy – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

22May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Dear Billy – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Why is Gary McNair’s ode to master comedian, Billy Connoly, Dear Billy, excellent? It is the authentic voice of Scotland. It has perfect comic timing. Every man and woman portayed is distinct in characterisation. The words are all true - not a single piece of fiction. The idea is brilliantly simple while the execution looks simple, but is, in fact, brilliantly compiled, composed and performed - not simple at all. He makes it funny. I take my hat off to you, Mr McNair, and your team of story-gatherers. This is a fabulously funny, tender, and varied piece of theatre which had me in stitches, and I’m not a die-hard Billy Connolly fan, like some of the audience in this full-house. It is the breadth of commentary/recollections that makes this piece sparkle - stories of...

Love The Sinner – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

18May

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Love The Sinner – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

The Seven Deadly Sins are sometimes known as capital vices and it’s appropriate that writer and performer Imogen Stirling chooses a fever dreamscape of Glasgow as a backdrop. She says it’s ‘Glasgow-but-not-quite’ but two key components of the play are a big river and an awful lot of rain. It’s a landscape reminiscent of Alasdair Grey’s Lanark, each sinner - it might be said - redolent of the characters in David Keenan’s ‘This Is Memorial Device’ set just down the road in Coatbridge and Airdrie. Officially North Lanark. They each employ their own strategies to deal with life’s perceived flaws, but the stars of Stirling’s second book of poetry, Sloth, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Lust and Wrath, share something in common in that they are all, apparently, isolated. It’s no surprise to learn ...

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Traverse Theatre

25Apr

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Traverse Theatre

Established in 2016, Tandem Writing Collective comprising of three young(ish) writers Mhairi Quinn, Jennifer Adam and Amy Hawes, gave us a sneaky peek of a trio of (in workshop) new plays to a rapt and enthusiastic audience at the subterranean Traverse 2 tonight, for one night only. And with the juicy promise that all three will become fully developed plays later this year. Accompanied very nicely by musos, Celloist Jessica Kerr and keyboard player Aaron McGregor on stage, actors Kim Allen, Natalie Arle-Toyne and Betty Valencia, with scripts in hand bring the three workshop pieces to beautiful and dynamic animated life, to the obvious delight of the writers sitting in the front row with beaming smiles. And why not, all three pieces sounded and looked great and the actors, to a woman,...

Pass Out: Utter Filth – Traverse Theatre

19Apr

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Pass Out: Utter Filth – Traverse Theatre

For their HND showcase, the emerging performers from PASS at Edinburgh College devised and performed two pieces of theatre, both inspired by the provocative theme of “Utter Filth”. In the first performance, “Utter Filth” is a nightclub. The kind of place young people go to when they want to test their boundaries, with illicit substances aplenty. There are some nice group scenes, with collective movement and chit chat between the clubbers. We are introduced to “Josh” (Joshua Thomson), a likeably awkward young man. He is introduced to a group of friends by a mutual pal (Dan Webb) and there is some amusing dialogue between the two as Dan asks Josh to tone down his geekiness with these, clearly judgemental, new friends. The group discuss what to do on their big night out.&...

Sean and Daro Flake It ‘til They Make It – Traverse Theatre

18Apr

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Sean and Daro Flake It ‘til They Make It – Traverse Theatre

Director, Robert Softly Gale shows that disability is no impediment at all for making great theatre and scoring a five-star hit. The current artistic Director of Glasgow based, disability centred, Birds of Paradise theatre, teams up with The Traverse theatre to bring the gallus patter of Glasgow to the more refined East coast for this World premier of a show which could easily become a classic of the Scottish theatre circuit for many years to come. Fearless acting talent, Sean Connor as Sean (handy) and Cameron Fulton as Daro give truth to Laurie Motherwell’s brilliantly hilarious script which follows the fortunes of the two likely lads as they double-handedly take on the world from behind the ice cream van counter. As if to make even more room, in what is a packed theatre, the stage...

We Were Promised Honey! – Traverse Theatre

13Apr

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

We Were Promised Honey! – Traverse Theatre

In We Were Promised Honey! members of the audience become travellers on a prophetic tour of our own futures. We are not merely observers. We are participants within the world of the story. In 2018 Richard Russell, an airport baggage handler, stole an empty passenger plane and flew it for over an hour. He had learnt to fly by playing video games. Unfortunately, Russell had never practiced landing. Russel conducted some astonishing aerial manoeuvres, experiencing and sharing moments of pure joy – but hearing his story, our delight is tempered by our awareness of how the story must end. Writer and performer, Sam Ward, tells stories about the future lives of the people in the audience. Stories that will unfold over the next few centuries. (He is optimistic a...