Issue 583

How to make it

16 Aug 2007

Talent. Britain has it, apparently. The airwaves are clogged up with fat, snaking queues of wannabes who want nothing in life so much as the chance to perform an acapella version of Rihanna’s Umbrella to a sneering celebrity panel. We’re in an age where…

La Didone

16 Aug 2007

‘I developed special software for the last couple of pieces,’ says Elizabeth LeCompte, artistic director of New York avant-garders the Wooster Group. ‘Final Cut Pro and Isadora, you know, I was the initial developer.’ Actually, she was nothing of the…

90s revival

16 Aug 2007

When you are young there is no such thing as nostalgia, there is only the seemingly limitless advance of new experiences. Music inevitably provides the backdrop – a drunken first kiss, the first gig you ever sneaked into underage, or maybe just that…

Billy Brag

16 Aug 2007

Billy Bragg was described by The Times as ‘a national treasure’. That particular phrase would surely bring a wry smile to his face, not least because the topic currently vexing the lifelong political campaigner and singer-songwriter is the fundamental…

Eagle vs Shark

16 Aug 2007

When New Zealand stand-up comic, actor, painter and photographer Taika Waititi took a shot at writing and directing a movie he had no idea it would be nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and become the focus of a…

Impressing the Czar

16 Aug 2007

‘You’re going to get really lost,’ predicts Aki Saito, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She’s talking about the average person’s reaction to William Forsythe’s three-act extravaganza, Impressing the Czar. ‘You won’t know what to…

School of Comedy

16 Aug 2007

In this age of Asbos, hoodies and teenage gang warfare it’s probably illegal to encourage youngsters to swear and be rude in front of adults, but this is exactly what the grown-ups behind School of Comedy plan to do. The show is billed as ‘an adult…

Eat - New York-style delis

16 Aug 2007

The ampersand is on the march. Berits & Brown, Kember & Jones, Sonny & Vito, Phoebe & Floyd – all new or newish Glasgow café-delis except the last one, a kids’ designer clothes label. Still, easy mistake to make. You can probably blame the…

In control

Samantha Morton

16 Aug 2007

Samantha Morton is in control. The critically lauded, hard working and in-demand British actress plays the long suffering wife of troubled singer of legendary Manchester band Joy Division in the Ian Curtis movie, Control. Fresh from winning the Best…

Shop - Bolshie

16 Aug 2007

Ethical fashion may be being shouted about all over the internet, but Bolshie, Glasgow’s only clothes shop dedicated to ethical, Fairtrade, organic and recycled clothing, is tucked away on a leafy residential street near Glasgow University. It looks a…

Ratatouille

16 Aug 2007

The adventures of an aspiring rodent chef whose gastronomic endeavours make him the toast of Paris is hardly a conventional dish to serve up to audiences. But Pixar’s attention to character and detail has already created such unlikely characters as…

The Elves and the Shoemaker

16 Aug 2007

When it comes to classic tales, The Elves and the Shoemaker is high up on most people’s lists. Just picturing those little elves beavering away, creating tiny shoes, is enough to excite little ones, and send big ones down memory lane. Well you don’t…

5 Questions - Club Noir

16 Aug 2007

If you want decadent glamour, Club Noir is the ultimate burlesque experience. Promoter/performer Tina Warren spills a few secrets

A Different Kettle of Fish

16 Aug 2007

Irreverent, witty, surprising, mischievous, and overacted to great dramatic effect, this was an hour spent in wonderfully silly company. The troupe – four men and one woman – rattles through sketches so fresh they ought to patent them. JK Rowling…

A History of Scotland (In 60 Minutes or Less)

16 Aug 2007

The avowed intention of this whizz through Scotland’s turbulent past is to bypass the usual cheesy tartan and shortbread stereotypes in favour of something altogether grittier. While this is a noble aim, the trio of performers initially struggle to get…

A Mighty Heart

16 Aug 2007

Prolific, versatile British director Michael Winterbottom’s film about the kidnapping of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl by Pakistani militants in Karachi in 2002 is at once a riveting political thriller and an enormously affecting human drama.

Abigail Burdess

16 Aug 2007

Coming out in a wheelchair and disarming everybody with her offbeat chatter, Abigail Burdess shows it’s no big thing to break your foot if you’re a comedian. She warms up the audience with her quirky, wide-eyed observations and quotes from her…

Adam Bloom

16 Aug 2007

The concept of downtime is unfamiliar to Adam Bloom. After charging onstage and whirling through five minutes or so of funny, friendly, filthy audience interaction, the act proper begins without a wasted nanosecond. Bloom has a sort of sunny fury…

Age of Angels

16 Aug 2007

This piece explores one cataclysmic moment during which ten lives collide. The school kids’ ball goes over the fence and across a busy road, beginning an unstoppable chain. One actor tells the story from multiple perspectives, creating each character in…

Al Pitcher

16 Aug 2007

He’s been called unpredictable and divided audiences with his ad hoc ways, but happily for Pitcher, his celebration of saying precisely whatever pops into his head could earn the recognition he deserves. Never a dull moment, this walking, face-pulling…

Alan Warner

16 Aug 2007

When the movie of Morvern Callar opened the Edinburgh International Film Festival back in 2002, there was much talk that this would be the first of many film adaptations of Alan Warner’s work. Frankly, the thought of anyone trying to get a script out of…

Alex Gray

5 Questions

16 Aug 2007

5 words to describe The Riverman? Taut, pacy, atmospheric, warm, believable (my editor’s words, not mine; I’m too modest). 4 authors who you think should be more famous than they are now? Alanna Knight, Deryn Lake, Lin Anderson, Suhayl…

Alistair Barrie

16 Aug 2007

For someone who describes himself as a ‘twat’ and claims to suffer from low self-esteem, Barrie exudes a reassuring confidence that draws you into his world and holds you there. His show hangs around the loose theme that we’re all going to hell in a…

Also Published

16 Aug 2007

• Marie Phillips - Gods Behaving Badly Aphrodite is a phone sex operator while Apollo peddles a living as a TV psychic. Only their cleaner Alice can help save these fallen Greek gods. Jonathan Cape. • Adrian Hyland - Diamond Dove Set in central…

American Poodle

Miles Johnson

16 Aug 2007

Guy Masterson is, as ever, a man with his fingers in many pies at this year’s Fringe, working on no less than six shows. This particular outing, billed as an exploration of the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and its American chums so discussed…

An Air Balloon Across Antarctica

16 Aug 2007

We all cope differently with grief, however we can probably assume that very few of us are likely to grab a hamster, jump in a hot air balloon and journey across Antarctica in the style of this slightly surreal play’s protagonist. Talking hamsters with…

An Audience With Adrienne

16 Aug 2007

This show makes for an endearing evening with an extremely personable performer, which, within Theo Clinkard’s fluffy, camp lounge room set, is likely to bring you some pleasant memories and the odd melancholic thought. In it, performance artist and…

Andrew Lawrence

16 Aug 2007

Of all the descriptions Andrew Lawrence gives himself - ‘a voice like Joe Pasquale’ or ‘hair the colour of sexual rejection’ – the one that gets the biggest laugh is his ‘special needs character from a Dickens novel’. Returning after last year’s…

Andrew Marr

16 Aug 2007

Andrew Marr has always used his vast intellect with such wit and verve that he has always come across as a political pundit real people could enjoy. It’s hard to imagine David Frost interviewing Gordon Brown on a Sunday morning, as Marr did last month…

Anita Loos Retrospective

16 Aug 2007

Name Anita Loos. Born 26 April, 1888, California. Died 18 August 1981, New York. Who was she? Loos was one of the most celebrated US screenwriters, playwrights and authors of the last century. Over her long life she experienced several…

Anti-Ageing, Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

16 Aug 2007

Has Scotland spawned its next Gillian Mckeith? Join Elizabeth Roddick for this seminar that tells you all the things you know already and choose to ignore about living a healthy life. It’s not easy to take what someone says seriously while they’re…

Apollo/Dionysus

16 Aug 2007

‘Naked’, is the first word that springs to mind but prurience is slowly replaced by curiosity as philosophical questions are posed; about right and wrong, good and bad, religion, love and family. This piece examines the age-old relationship between man…

Attempt 3.4

16 Aug 2007

A group of enthusiastic young actors attempt to create their own city from nothing. Their high energy levels and creative characters are fun to watch for the first ten minutes, but you can’t help but feel they are enjoying themselves more than we are as…

Ballads of the Book

16 Aug 2007

The relationship between music and literature has always been a strong and natural one, but never has that bond been tighter than with the Ballads of the Book project. Described by Chemikal Underground as a ‘meteoric creative hoopla’, it brought…

Ballerina Who Loves a B-Boy

16 Aug 2007

Although it’s been crammed into a hotel function room better suited to the cringey frugging of a wedding disco, this gleeful little production is the most assured and exuberant of the cluster of Korean breakdance shows infesting the Fringe this…

Bang On! - Junk Percussion Workshop

16 Aug 2007

Before you leave home to attend this workshop, take a good look around you. What have you got that’s broken, unwanted, and, most crucially of all, makes a good noise when you whack it, shake it or scrape it? Whatever it is, bring it along – because the…

Barb Jungr Sings Dylan

16 Aug 2007

Barb Jungr’s cabaret-influenced take on the songs of Bob Dylan is certainly a distinctive one, but it proved very effective on disc when the Glasgow-based Linn Records issued Every Grain of Sand back in 2002, and should do likewise in this outing. The…

Basic Training

16 Aug 2007

The humour we associate with issues of belonging can be very powerful, mainly because it instils a kind of panic in people as who we are, where we are from, and where we are going are thrown into question. And panic is always funny. Kahlil Ashanti’s one…

Belly of a Drunken Piano

16 Aug 2007

When Stewart D’Arrietta takes to the stage beneath the cloak of darkness, he emits a tone-perfect Waitsian growl. There’s no doubting that this Australian troubadour knows and loves the songs and gets a kick out of being grumpy at a mobile going off and…

Camille O’Sullivan

16 Aug 2007

5 words to describe your show Dark, edible, vulnerable, cheeky, flammable. 4 things that would be on your dream rider Nick Cave, Marmite, a winning lotto ticket, a handsome, pretty masseur. 3 things you’d like to get out of your visit to…

Cat and No Mouse

16 Aug 2007

Dressed in bow ties and tails, a bossy cat and gullible mouse attempt to put on a show. Only trouble is, Cat is convinced she can go it alone as the star of the show – hence the title. Setting her ego aside for one minute, Cat agrees to perform the…

Chas Early

16 Aug 2007

5 words to describe this year’s show? Your very last chance, baby. 4 stand-ups/comedy acts who you think should be more famous in September than they are now? Josie Long, Gordon Southern, Isy Suttie, and Robin Ince, who is already a little…

Christian Reilly

16 Aug 2007

Reilly was a comfort eater, until he discovered rock. Mixing cheeky songs with a legs-spread rock stance, he throws in Lou Reid and Stephen Hawking impersonations and a crowd-pleasing Chris Martin piss-take. When his acoustic guitar sounds a little…

Classic Entertainment!

16 Aug 2007

Mr Winchester and his slightly camp, hapless sidekick Tommy (who replaces Winchester’s wife following her mysterious disappearance) are intent on injecting some cabaret into the alternative comedy circuit. Dodgy wigs, inappropriate asides and bad…

Copying Beethoven

(12A) 104min

16 Aug 2007

BIOPIC ‘He’s deaf, of course . . .’ explains a helpful old woman when Anna Holz (Diane Kruger) comes knocking on the door of Ludwig van Beethoven’s house. It’s an awkward introduction followed by the great composer’s heartfelt explanation of how he…

Craig Hill

16 Aug 2007

Crazed musical energy makes Hill’s comedy infectious, and smarty-pants audience interaction makes it hilarious; some of the funniest bits come from his savaging of hapless crowd members who refused to answer his questions. Whether it’s memories from a…

Crazy Love

16 Aug 2007

Burt Pugach was working in the movie business when he spotted Linda Rise sitting on a park bench and decided he had to have her. Little did she know that he had a wife and disabled child already. From this moment on their story proves the adage that…

Dan Clark

16 Aug 2007

Clark unfangles himself, argues with his imagination and donates a few purposefully awkward silences in this neat yet unobtrusive little parcel. Raising more titters than belly laughs with his observations on life and Facebook, Clark might not brand…

David Batchelor

16 Aug 2007

5 words to describe your show this year Not dark, not heavy, not deep, not tragic, not sublime. 4 exhibitions you really want to see at the Art Festival Lygia Clark, Eva Hesse, Hanna Hoch, Mira Schendel. 3 things you love about the Art…

Dead Living

16 Aug 2007

Multinational corporations usually come under fire in climate change debates, but just last month, one such giant, Coca-Cola Enterprises, announced plans to cut down the amount of water it uses by six percent and reduce energy used for lighting by 50…