Issue 638

Otago Lane under threat from housing development

17 Sep 2009

A plan to build flats and commercial units in Otago Lane in Glasgow’s West End has come under fierce opposition amid fears it will ruin the boutique-style lane and force the closure of one its best-loved retailers, the Tchai Ovna tea house. Protesters…

Stuck in a rut

Utter nonsense

17 Sep 2009

For many of those students graduating in the centre of recession, the prospect of unemployment and mountains of debt to repay is a very real and current problem. This show is very loosely based on the dire situation much of the class of '09 are facing…

Dan Atkinson: Death by One Thousand Pricks

Compelling and entertaining thesis on the current state of Britain

1 Sep 2009

Dan Atkinson is sick of pretending. He's through with being nice, kaput with repressing his desires, and done with right-wing 'pricks' that moan and whine on radio call-ins. Charmingly presenting the stage as a realm in which the truth runs free, and…

Miles Jupp: Telling it Like it Might be

Mr Nice Guy is generous with the laughs

28 Aug 2009

Playing on his persona as a harmlessly posh good egg, the sort you’d happily leave your kids with, Jupp crafts tales of his failings and faux pas, mishaps visited on him and his own ineptitudes into a rolling onslaught of rib-tickling yarns. Designed to…

Kim Noble

Unfettered lunacy?

27 Aug 2009

Of the near 600 shows listed under Comedy in the Fringe programme, there will be absolutely nothing in there like Kim Noble Will Die. Indeed, whether the return of the man who was once one half of the Perrier Best Newcomer winning double act Noble and…

Russell Kane: ‘Fakespeare: The Tragicall Saveings of King Nigel’

More bard theory than he's letting on?

27 Aug 2009

Russell Kane’s second ‘Fakespeare’ play tells the story of Nigel, a vile Essex banker torn between his fat orange wife – ‘the Gorgon’ – and his ‘semi-chav’ secretary, Donna. Nigel also has to choose between suicide and the nefarious investment in Sudan…

Moscow State Circus

Backbends aplenty; smiles and spontaneity in short supply

27 Aug 2009

The Moscow State Circus is full of extremely talented performers. High above the audience, Alexander Doktorov stands on his head, his hands and legs spread wide into the open air. Lots of people can do headstands, but I haven’t seen many executed on a…

The Bone House

No sleep tonight

27 Aug 2009

The cult celebrity of serial killers and the average person’s ability to become one is the subject of this new horror play by Marty Chan that questions our fascination with the macabre. Beginning as an informal lecture by self professed ‘Mind Hunter…

Nagisa Oshima retrospective

Legendary Japanese director has his work shown at the Filmhouse

27 Aug 2009

Arguably Japan’s greatest living director is honoured in this fantastic and near comprehensive 22 film retrospective. Tracing Oshima’s impressive body of work from early left-leaning melodramas Cruel Story of Youth, The Sun’s Burial and Night and Fog in…

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

One of the key American films of the 1980s

27 Aug 2009

Paul Schrader’s brilliant overlooked 1985 biopic of the mad life and times of one of Japan’s most brilliant and troubled souls, Poet and novelist Yukio Mishima, gets a very rare outing on a new print in Glasgow while in Edinburgh they are showing the…

Chess in Concert

Video footage of the Abba/Tim Rice musical

27 Aug 2009

Filmed performance of the blokes from Abba and Tim Rice’s musical about the sex lives of chess players. (It’s actually slightly more complicated than that, but who cares really?) Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 with a full orchestra and chorus…

I'll Be Bert

Funny and touching one man show

27 Aug 2009

Hero worship and unwavering loyalty are faithfully remembered in this funny and touching one man show by Bill Cronshaw. Charting his lifelong devotion to Manchester City FC, this piece recalls life in 50s Manchester by focusing on Cronshaw’s childhood…

Cabaret Whore

Sex, revenge and Katie Price

27 Aug 2009

The themes of sex, revenge and Katie Price are just some of the topics tackled in Sarah-Louise Young’s all female cabaret show. Performed with passion from the very beginning, Young’s interchanging characters - Southern belle, socially inept librarian…

Crave

Raw and powerful from the very beginning

27 Aug 2009

Royal Holloway Theatre’s restaging of Sarah Kane’s penultimate play explores four characters disillusioned with life due to excess, abuse and loneliness. Raw and powerful from the very beginning, Kane’s fluid, poetic script dominates a piece that makes…

The Big Smoke

A series of films about London

27 Aug 2009

The ever English capital-centric British Film Institute presents this collection of films from lost London which includes shots of Victorians going to work, some turn of the 20th Century street scenes and, most interestingly, sci-fi short The Fugitive…

Life of Brian

Monty Python classic comes back to the big screen

27 Aug 2009

Has it really been that long? Find out what the Romans really did for us in this special thirtieth anniversary screening of Monty Python’s most contentious and complete film. GFT, Glasgow from Sun 6-Tue 8 Sep.

Richard Williams - The Blue Moment

26 Aug 2009

It’s the only jazz album that legions of non-jazz fans possess. It helped define a cultural era and raked out a path for much of what followed. When Miles Davis marched his merry band into a converted Manhattan church in the spring of 1959, even the…

Scottish Paintings: Old Masters to Contemporary

Great works undermined by staid and debilitating presentation

26 Aug 2009

This closed and muted historical survey covers a time span of around 400 years and reaches from the dark, still-life ages of William Gow Ferguson in 1632, to the rarely exciting contemporary abstract paintings of Callum Innes. Chronicling Scottish…

Comedy Hitlist

26 Aug 2009

Brendon Burns In years gone by this mouthy Aussie could have started an almighty battle in an empty room. He doesn’t have that problem anymore given the number of dates he’s added to this sold-out run. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 25–29 Aug…

5 Questions: Terry Alderton

Terry Alderton once played in goals for Southend FC before turning to comedy. There’s nothing in our

26 Aug 2009

What five words best describes your show this year? No format, just full on. Can you name a comic who should be more famous than they are now why? Me. What bugs or delights you most about Edinburgh in August? The weather bugs me; it…

Also published: 5 Unit-Shifters

26 Aug 2009

Dan Brown The Lost Symbol You may have heard of his last book, The Finchley Coat or something. Bob Langdon is back with more ‘history, codes and intrigue’. Some copies are expected to be sold. Bantam Press. James Patterson Alex Cross’s Trial…

Charlie Higson - The Enemy

26 Aug 2009

(Puffin) Take a dose of 28 Days Later, touches of Survivors and Escape from New York and the author’s already-proven track record in writing adult genres for a young audience with the Young Bond series, and you have an impressive first instalment in…

Micaela Leon: Kabarett Berlin

An underwhelming tribute to eight 'Weimar Girls'

26 Aug 2009

As Micaela Leon takes you through her top eight ‘Weimar Girls’, you get a real feel for her respect for these women – it’s just unfortunate that her tribute is an underwhelming substitute for the real thing, and her telling of their stories comes across…

A Promised Land

Weighty dramatisation of post-Holocaust Europe

26 Aug 2009

Thought provoking by virtue of its subject matter (post-Holocaust Europe, the early days of the Israel-Palestine conflict), this play is weighty and worthy. Despite much originality and skilful performances from Corinne Harris as two very different…

Eric's Tales of the Sea

Moving, humbling, and comic

26 Aug 2009

Breathtaking, poignant, suspenseful, and hilarious, Eric's tales are enthralling, told by a gifted storyteller who will draw you into the murky depths of his world. Self-deprecating and never boastful, he gives an account of the bravery of his fellow…

Sweeney Todd: His Life, Times and Execution!

Enjoyable, atmospheric adaptation

26 Aug 2009

Lashings of fake blood, ample busts and bawdy thrusts characterise this enjoyable and suitably grotesque adaptation. The twist here is that the killings are largely accidental, the killer a meek, clumsy and rather sweet boy. The puppetry is perhaps an…

Up

Crisp and elliptical with a killer closing line

26 Aug 2009

Edgy production about a young gay teacher who’s in hospital recovering (or perhaps not) from a mental collapse. There he recalls a haunting incident from his youth, involving a student and a pair of sharpened pencils. Debut playwright James Ley’s script…

The Tale of Lady Stardust

Meditation on religious extremism

26 Aug 2009

Convinced that David Bowie is a prophet, Ziggy and Gary are eagerly awaiting the Rapture in their grotty flat when their bubble is pierced by the appearance of a drugged-up clubber. As a meditation on religious extremism, it has little new to say but…

The Play About Charlotte

Emotional story of mental illness told from different perscpectives

26 Aug 2009

A successful young playwright struggles with a lack of inspiration in her life and marriage until her work suffers and mental illness blurs the boundaries of reality. A plot which twists back on itself to revisit scenes from a different perspective…

Tap and Chat with Lionel Blair

Does exactly what it says on the tin

26 Aug 2009

This show does exactly what it says on the tin. Lionel does a little tap dancing, which given his antiquity is impressive, then goes into a series of showbiz recollections of days gone by about everyone from Brucie to Liza, adding songs and bits of film…

Milkshake Live!

26 Aug 2009

Gently lure your wee ones away from the telly … by taking them to see their favourite telly types live. The idea is to induct the little ‘uns into a love of theatre at an early age, with all-singing and dancing appearances from the loveable likes of…

The One and the Many

Cliched and repetitive philosophical rom-com

26 Aug 2009

An ill-advised trip to a massage parlour leads to the discovery of the mysterious ‘virgin whore of Prague’ in this philosophical rom-com. The concept of a successful virgin prostitute is just one of several twists in a show that attempts to question…

RE

Strong performances and an over-ambitious script

26 Aug 2009

Frustrating piece about three people trapped with each other and the ghosts of their pasts. Confusion arises from a script trying to do too much in such a limited time frame, but the show is saved by beautiful staging and strong performances, which keep…

Glasgay!

26 Aug 2009

This year’s celebration of LGBT culture and art kicks off as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on Tour reaches Glasgow. Featuring opening night drama Shank (3 Sep), Born in 68’s (pictured) tale of life and sexual politics in France (6 Sep) and…

The Final Destination

26 Aug 2009

The fourth entry in the popular horror franchise ups the ante and takes things to the next level in eye-popping 3D. This time around our leads cheat death at as race track as ever more inventive kills (think a more deadly version of old-school board…

Orphan

26 Aug 2009

This unfortunately overlooked recent horror offers plenty of dark thrills and genuinely creepy moments making a nice addition to the ‘evil child’ subgenre. Perfectly paired with the ultimate diabolical kiddie movie The Omen (the classic 1976 Richard…

Home

26 Aug 2009

Quirky dark drama concerning an isolated family who live on the edge of an abandoned motorway. However Isabelle Huppert and Oliver Gourmet’s life is disrupted as the road reopens and the thoroughfare that once offered them freedom rapidly becomes a…

Once Upon a Time in The West

26 Aug 2009

A chance to see Sergio Leone’s masterpiece on the big screen. The pacing, cinematography and a truly haunting score from Ennio Morricone added to stand out performances from Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda add up to 165 minutes of spaghetti western…

Weepie

Remarkably assured piece of theatre

25 Aug 2009

For a hard-hitting portrayal of emotional violence and its shocking physical manifestations, this play is awfully funny. For an exploration of how we seek transcendence through love, religion, or acts of murder, it is rooted surprisingly firmly in the…

Third Breast

Hampered by ham-fisted direction

25 Aug 2009

Hampered by ham-fisted direction where outbursts of ‘dramatic’ music punctuate any significant utterance, any poetry in the lines is garbled by actors who don’t understand either their characters or the meaning of the words. This magical realist…

A Year’s Hard Labour

Sound performances make this an engaging free show

25 Aug 2009

Goldsmiths Drama Society showcases a diverse array of talents in this marathon-paced play. As six jurors discuss an immigration case, their daydreams meld into reality, though slick staging ensures the audience is never confused. And, despite the…

The Works of Fate

Makes up for its rough edges with major gusto

25 Aug 2009

This bawdy and at times comical take on De Sade follows the awaited return of a prodigal son, turning, by an outrageous contrivance, into a meta-theatrical re-enactment of the sordid life of his stepmother, with much emphasis on its violence and sexual…

Forever Young

WWI through letters, diaries, poems and song

25 Aug 2009

Remembering WWI through letters, diaries, poems and song there are some wonderful performances here from the Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre’s young cast. While the ‘war is hell’ message may be clichéd, in these troubled times it’s truer than ever, while…

A One Way Street

Eco-friendly yummy mummies in sketch form

25 Aug 2009

The preoccupations of suburban housewives are presented in four, well-observed sketches. Sarah and Lois, trapped in a larder during a kids’ party, argue the merits of ‘genuinely sustainable’ party bags. Paula and Cathy, rehearsing their pitch for a…

Words with AL Kennedy

Meanders delightfully

25 Aug 2009

AL Kennedy proves herself a consummate storyteller in this sharp meditation on the power of words. A largely autobiographical look at her love affair with language, Kennedy meanders delightfully from paranoia about her recent Costa award win through her…

The Last Witch

Sensual story of power and the state

24 Aug 2009

Beneath its bare story there’s something far more complex at work in Rona Munro’s new piece for the Traverse and the EIF. This re-imagining of the true, though factually sketchy, demise of Janet Horne, a Dornoch woman executed for witchcraft in 1727 and…

Sean Hughes

Sex, anti-depressants and rock’n’roll

24 Aug 2009

Sean Hughes must have wailed with delight when he learned that The Chippendales would be taking to the Debating Hall stage straight after him during his short run of What I Meant to Say Was …. Sex has always been a big theme for the Dubliner and here he…

Edinburgh Free Fringe round-up

24 Aug 2009

In a festival where Ricky Gervais can charge whatever he wants for a show in the Playhouse and sell out comfortably, as well as expecting to pay £10 for a half-decent comedian nobody's heard of, it's nice to see the free alternatives still going strong.

William Andrews

A techno treat and funnybone fondling fiesta

24 Aug 2009

Back in the day when Edinburgh-based comic Will Andrews was flaky Geordie maniac Tony Carter, a propensity for technological hi-jinks either hampered or helped chaotic Fringe shows such as Evil Army or Benefit Fraudster. The New Deal character actually…

John Bellany’s: A Celtic Voyage

Cramped but impressive selection of works by Scottish artist

24 Aug 2009

Scottish painter John Bellany’s East Coast hometown of Port Seton, a small seafaring community where fishing was a way of life and Calvinism blew fear through the streets, informs the artist’s oeuvre. Fish, gannets, swans, playing cards and boats…