Theatre, Reviews and Theresa Muñoz

Greenstick Boy

Hearts and bones broken

21 Aug 2008

In her one-woman show about falling in love with a heroin addict, Maggie Cronin of Doctors fame entertains her audience with winning, bittersweet humour. Entitled Greenstick Boy after a 'greenstick fracture', a slight and sometimes hidden injury to a…

Histrionics

21 Aug 2008

With this rough-hewn but charming play, award-winning writer James Butler keeps the comedy flowing with men in drag, tuneless singing and tussles on the saloon floor. Blue smoke, a live lute and the damp air of the Caves transports us back to the 18th…

Ella, Marilyn, Marlene and Me

21 Aug 2008

This one-woman show tells the story of a thirtysomething songstress who's dying to be the next Australian pop star. While her acting is patchy, Melissa Western's impersonations of Ella Fitzgerald and Marlene Dietrich are spot on, while her natural charm…

Vincent

Hazy portrait of an artist

14 Aug 2008

Leonard ‘Spock’ Nimoy’s one-man show about Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh explores the last ten years of the artist’s life, looking into the events leading up to his suicide. American actor Jim Jarrett plays both Vincent and his brother Theo, whom we…

Baldanders

Polish puppetry for adults

14 Aug 2008

Baldanders examines the relationship between a freak show master and his caged beast. Inspired by the fantastical, existential ideas of Edgar Allen Poe, Jorge Luis Borges and Topor, it’s a thorny and enigmatic show that explores man’s desire for…

No Place for Dreams

Don't wake the volcano

14 Aug 2008

Brief Candle Theatre makes its Fringe debut with No Place For Dreams, a show by Paul Whitfield that boasts a lot of energy, but is altogether too austere. On a volcanic island filled with Spray-Riders, Wind-Eaters and Fire and Soil people, we meet Loam…

Finding Alice

Through the looking-glass and beyond

14 Aug 2008

There are four children's shows at the Fringe about Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, so fans of the fairytale have their pick. First-time playwright, Ben Harrison and Single Leaf productions present Finding Alice, an entertaining mix of live music…

Kiddy-Fiddler on the Roof

14 Aug 2008

At Townsville Comprehensive, teacher Arnold Finkler is falsely accused of molestation and chased by an enraged mob of parents. Included in this pot of madness is a headmaster running away to Thailand, as well as a troupe of Vicky Pollard-ish girls and…

Some People Think I’m Odd

14 Aug 2008

With her twitchy mouth and darting eyes, Jane Frost is compelling as Pandora, a woman who cut up teddy bears as a child and murdered her sister’s boyfriend aged 15. Using Punch and Judy puppets, Frost conveys a world of alienation and delusion, but her…

Free Outgoing

Struggle against the double standard

7 Aug 2008

India's conservative views on sex are placed under scrutiny in Anupama Chandrasekhar's culturally-damning drama, Free Outgoing. The show opens on a comical note when Malini, a widow with two teenage children, shows off her homemade jewellery cleaner to…

What's Wrong With Angry?

7 Aug 2008

This energetic show explores the well-charted territory of growing up gay in a disapproving world. Sixteen-year-old Steven Carter from Basingstoke falls in love with the head boy at his school. As the two begin a genuine romance, Steven struggles to…

The Merchant of Venice

3 Jul 2008

OUTDOOR THEATRE Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, until Sat 12 Jul Don’t be put off by Glasgow’s unpredictable weather and miss this summer’s Bard in the Botanics. Cheerful and casual in its approach to theatre, the outdoor play season is a big hit with…

Liar

5 Jun 2008

CHILDREN’S THEATRE Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 7 Jun, then touring Scottish travelling songs and family secrets are revealed together in Davey Anderson’s play for young adults, which explores the difficulties people have when they are…