Issue 638

Faust

Dark, thrilling and unsettling adaptation of Goethe’s classic

20 Aug 2009

Surely one of the Edinburgh International Festival’s most ambitious projects, Silviu Purcarete’s grand adaptation of Faust takes over, and fills, the huge warehouse space at Ingleston’s Royal Highland Centre. Based on Goethe’s treatment of the German…

Up and Over It!

Irish dance finds a new direction

23 Aug 2009

Just as shows such as Riverdance sought to release Irish dancing from the steely grip of the competitive circuit, this entertaining hour seeks to liberate the form yet further. Dancers Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding have toured the world, won every…

Mark Millar

Helping comics go widescreen

20 Aug 2009

Mark Millar is surely the Steven Spielberg of the comics world. It’s a tricky task to be hugely popular while retaining massive critical acclaim, but he’s managed to successfully straddle the world of art and commerce with his love of mainstream heroes…

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…

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…

Joey Page

A distinctive voice that belongs to someone else

23 Aug 2009

Joey Page comes to Edinburgh for his full Fringe debut with a ringing endorsement in his lugs from Noel Fielding. Which is as good an explanation as any why a large proportion of the decently-numbered Caves gathering look like the sort of people who go…

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…

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…

Guy Incognito

A muddled execution that feels unfinished

24 Aug 2009

A series of sketches set over one public school term, the former BBC New Talent Pick of the Fringe act has a more interesting conceit than material. Though wonderfully empathetic at times (the English teacher defining 'love' nearly brought tears not…

Danielle Ward

Self-aware yet distinctive act

23 Aug 2009

Danielle Ward is not, it emerges quickly, your common or garden aide-mémoire comic, reheating pre-cooked observations and serving them on a Styrofoam plate of uninvested playing-at-caring. Her thematic inventiveness is evident from the first skit, a…

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

23 Aug 2009

(15) 104min (Sony DVD retail) Very welcome reissue of Peter Medak’s 1972 film adaptation of Peter Nichols’ hit West End play is a reminder that bad taste and suburban schadenfreude did not begin with Family Guy. Alan Bates and Janet Suzman are Bri…

Shappi Khorsandi

Making stand-up look a little bit too easy

21 Aug 2009

The title of Distracted Activist sums up Shappi Khorsandi’s predicament. As one of the few female comedians to get airtime, and an Iranian at that, she should be well versed on all debates that this inevitably enables. Khorsandi is certainly a…

Planet of the Shapes: Susie Orbach

The bestselling psychotherapist on body fascism

20 Aug 2009

In 1978, psychotherapist Susie Orbach wrote the bestselling Fat is a Feminist Issue, warning against dieting, and outlining the compulsive behaviour linked to eating disorders. Fast forward 30-odd years, and have we paid heed to her warnings? In her…

Side Dishes

More culinary treats

20 Aug 2009

The old Claremont Bar at 133-135 East Claremont Street (near Powderhall) is now a bar/diner called Elbow. Behind it is a team including Wendy Schofield (aka Trendy Wendy of club Tackno) of The Street on Broughton Street. It’s serving breakfast from 9am…

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…

Dance hitlist

23 Aug 2009

Everything Must Go, Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break, Michael Clark, Scottish Ballet, Zeitgeist

(500) Days of Summer - Joseph Gordon-Levitt interview

The former sitcom star talks about his movie success

21 Aug 2009

‘You have to make it for yourself. You have to figure it out for yourself, and if it’s real love it’s going to be unlike anyone else has ever felt before’. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, star of the new romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer, is getting…

Hitlist: Books

The best of the literary fest

21 Aug 2009

Suhayl Saadi, Frank Gardner, Steve Toltz, Tobias Hill, Susie Orbach, Mark Millar, Douglas Coupland

Alistair McGowan

Back to the 90s

21 Aug 2009

Next to more recent TV impressionists such as Kevin Bishop and Peter Serafinowicz, Alistair McGowan is a positive veteran. Some 13 years after his last Edinburgh run, he proves that he’s still able to draw on his vast repertoire of voices to comic…

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

21 Aug 2009

(Young & Lost) A sublime paean to the restorative powers of nature, space and time, The First Days of Spring elevates London’s Noah and the Whale from punctuation-denigrating indie-poppers – see 2008’s mini-hit, ‘5 Years Time’ (sic) – to philharmonic…

The look of love: Pedro Almodóvar interview

We preview the Spanish filmmaker's Broken Embraces

20 Aug 2009

Pedro Almodóvar, the most famous Spanish filmmaker since his Aragónian idol Luis Buñuel, and one of the most acclaimed auteurs in international cinema, once described his relationship to his chosen medium of expression thus: ‘Cinema has become my life.

Admeto Re’di Tessaglia

Getting a handle on Handel

20 Aug 2009

Scorned lovers, jealous tantrums and furious outbursts are all in a day’s work for conductor Nicholas McGegan. As he explains, ‘There’s not a great deal of difference between opera and soap opera – they are all about love, jealously and ambition.…

Ben Dover

Penetrating tales of filth with dodgy jokes

20 Aug 2009

Everyone in the room knows what to expect from this chirpy pornography pioneer. His show is unashamed filth, packed with glorious details of the fascinating world of the professional shagger. In a Festival full of sex tales, it’s intriguing to hear the…

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…

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…