Traverse Theatre Archives - Page 8 of 9

<strong>The Memories Will Mostly Be Bright – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</strong>

5Dec

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

The Memories Will Mostly Be Bright – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Creating and crafting theatre from scratch is a brave endeavour. Part of you is being measured, assessed and critiqued and it takes guts to put your ideas and interests out there for the public to judge. And so, I applaud this young writer and director, Conçalo Gois. Napier University Drama Society is clearly a very active group with 27 members of cast in this production about the nature of memory and significant moments in time remembered differently by different people. It didn’t quite hit the mark but was admirable in concept. Some things that needed attention include sound effects - ease them up, ease them down. Here it was a sudden assault on the senses and just as a surprise when they stopped - bam; lighting - use it to enhance the atmosphere/mood or concept. As this was about ...

<strong>Cell Outs – Traverse Theatre</strong>

25Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cell Outs – Traverse Theatre

Two ex-screws take to intimate interior of the thrust stage of Traverse 2 to provide a thought-provoking insight into the British prison system. Glasshouse Theatre Company’s, Harriet Troup and Ella Church play themselves as graduates cajoled into the prison system on the promise of putting their arts backgrounds to good use in rehabilitation, only to find that barely six weeks later they are ‘lambs to the slaughter’ as fully qualified Prison Officers. In a comedic twist the two friends are posted to prisons within waving distance, one to a male prison, the other a female, covering both bases as it were, and provided rich material for this production. Set against a period of government cut-backs and lay-offs, the play takes us from initial recruitment through the ‘breakthrough grad...

<strong>Redcoat – Traverse Theatre</strong>

20Nov

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Redcoat – Traverse Theatre

Lewis Jobson treats us to some extra sparkle, joy, and magic in this exuberantly light-hearted one-man show. He celebrates his youthful adventures as a Redcoat in Bognor Regis, a world where you are never fully dressed without a smile, and a public altercation with Barney the dinosaur can earn you a verbal warning. If you like singing and clapping along to unashamedly cheesy music, you will certainly love this show. A group karaoke rendition of I Will Survive is a delightfully guilty pleasure, and there are plenty more of your favourite songs included. This is a tale of a young adult living away from home for the first time, and Redcoat Lewis reminisces about his crush on The Slushy Guy, cooking pizza on a George Foreman grill, and cheerfully entertaining children at b...

<strong>Witch Hunt – Traverse Theatre</strong>

17Nov

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Witch Hunt – Traverse Theatre

One could happily have stayed seated and watched this show all over again. Straight away, not tomorrow night (the second and last night in Edinburgh and, sadly, of the entire tour). It had almost everything; music, dance, poetry, slapstick, puppetry, magic, limericks, puns, double-entendre, songs, nudity, but above all… laughter. Abigail Dooley & Emma Edwards did not name their company ‘A & E Comedy’ half-heartedly. There was even some of the most genuine audience participation yet witnessed though in this day and age it’s pretty cathartic to join in with the refrain ‘It’s a shitshow, an asshole rodeo’. A one-woman show with a twist this Ricket and Rattled along from the opening scene - featuring some ill-fitting dentures and malfunctioning hands - through to the last. There’s H...

<strong>Sister Radio – Traverse Theatre</strong>

11Nov

By Lucy McGuireNo Comments

Scotland

Sister Radio – Traverse Theatre

43 Years in 80 minutes – Sister Radio has the silence speak volumes. The sinister silence between sisters or the ignorant silence of a nation. Sister Radio skilfully explores themes of familial bonds and displaced families during its short runtime. The story follows a tale of two Iranian sisters. They live the same routine day in and day out – making coffee, reading tea leaves, and listening to the radio. When the audience is first introduced to them, they are elderly and stuck in an everlasting silence – never talking to one another. Once the global lockdown has taken affect, the sisters are forced to grapple with their past and remember the sins that changed their relationship forever. Often shifting from the present to the past, we see how the sisters initially came to li...

<strong>The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</strong>

4Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Time Machine: A Radical Feminist Reworking – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Nearing the end of a one-month tour, Feminist Theatre group Jordan and Skinner bring their own take on the H.G. Wells classic tale to Edinburgh’s Traverse No. 1 Stage. On a well-attended opening night, the first priority is to find a seat amongst the predominantly young and female audience. Not easy - squeezing past tightly drawn calves whilst trying not to fall down the cliff of heavily raked seating ultimately, happily, pays dividends. Note to self – come early next time or bring rope! At the start of the play one of the cast asks the audience, ‘if you had a time machine where would you go?’. An interesting question. ‘You would go to visit your favourite painter, or ancient Greece or Rome maybe, you wouldn’t go to the future, it’s going to be sh*t!’. Yes…. well, set against rising ...

26Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Crocodile Rock – Traverse Theatre

Andy McGregor’s Crocodile Rock evokes Elton John and his sexuality through the title, before the actual landmark on Milport in the West of Scotland is overtly referenced. So, the audience is primed to expect a tale with a gay man at the centre. Sexual desire is an old story: as old as time itself. We are not all heterosexual. Some of us don’t fit in. Difference can seem threating. If you stand outside the norm, life can be cruel and folk hard-hearted. Yet, Stephen’s story has a lively freshness that is as unique as Scotland. You can tell that Andy McGregor loves creating stories for wee folk as much as for adults. The sense of fun and his simple rhyming songs appeal to the child in all of us. On this tiny island of Milport, a lost and lonely boy finds his alter ego and his sense of p...

The Beauty Queen of Leenane – Traverse Theatre

21Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Beauty Queen of Leenane – Traverse Theatre

Maureen Folan (Julie Hale) leads a frustrating and angry life looking after her elderly mother Mag (Nuala Walsh), thanks in great part to the latter's mix of necessary dependency due to old age and her less than charming personality. Maureen has a few issues herself, highlighted by the forced proximity and partly due the frustrations of missed opportunities, a personal grief echoed by the many Irish folk forced to pursue other lives in America and England. One such person is the attractive Pato Dooley (Paul Carroll), older brother of neighbour Ray (Ian O'Reilly), who is back in his hometown for a short stay, and with whom a meeting offers Maureen some escape from her troubles, though in what way remains to be seen. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is the first part of Martin McDonagh's fi...

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War – Traverse Theatre

17Oct

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War – Traverse Theatre

The 549 of the title is the number of Scots who took part in the Spanish Civil War, fighting a losing battle in the name of democracy (and, in some cases, money) against fascism, which was encroaching its way into Spain with Franco in much the same way it was everywhere else with Hitler, Mussolini, Mosley, Petain, etc. The parallels to modern nationalism are difficult to miss (particularly with our own modern European war for which many non-natives have volunteered), and the show goes into them further still with a framing device set in the modern day. We then travel back in time to the true story of the four men from Prestonpans who went to Spain to fight, George Watters, Bill Dickson, Jimmy Kempton and George Gilmour. This is clearly a personal story. The team have spent eight year...

Don’t. Make. Tea. – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

6Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Don’t. Make. Tea. – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

It is a rainy night in Edinburgh. I expect to find a car parking place easily, but to my horror find the streets jammed, there is a rock concert on next door. I park three streets away and jog towards the venue. 3 minutes to spare. If I was disabled, I would be in a right pickle. Appropriate, given that the show tonight is from BOP, a leading force of disability led theatre in Scotland. Established in Glasgow in 1993, Birds of Paradise (BOP) Theatre Company became Scotland’s first touring theatre company employing disabled and non-disabled actors. The remit of the company has always been to produce accessible theatre and to highlight the challenges faced by the disabled community. I am delighted to see that the 250-seater theatre is near capacity and the demographic is refresh...