Theatre

Stonewall

9 Aug 2007

Doubtless huge progress has been made regarding gay rights in recent decades but there are still reports of gay people being persecuted across the world.

Romeo and Juliet

8 May 2008

When the curtain falls on Scottish Ballet’s new production, it won’t just be the performers who deserve a round of applause. Sitting in the audience, it’s easy to forget the months of planning, preparation and perspiration that go into staging a…

Preview of the year 2007

2007 is about the future. And about the past. It’

3 Jan 2007

THE FUTURE Cyberspace invaders We may not be flying around in hover cars or wearing spangly all-silver outfits, but thanks to the internet the future has truly arrived. And the revolution will continue apace in 2007, argues Suzanne Black. A…

Leith Festival announces line up

8 May 2008

Leith provided further evidence of its status as one of the city's most vibrant areas with the launch of its annual festival. Organisers revealed that the Leith Festival would showcase its trademark brew of home grown talent, alongside big name…

Romeo and Juliet

16 Aug 2007

Having finally got over Baz Luhrmann’s version, it feels like we can move on to a new approach to this popular, if flawed, old Shakespearean standby. If Peter Meineck’s version for Aquila doesn’t quite make for a new ‘standard’, it certainly…

Big in Falkirk - Ajay Chhabra and Mike Roberts

24 Apr 2008

Anyone staging outdoor theatre in Scotland crosses their fingers – and toes and eyes – that the weather will behave itself at showtime. But for Ajay Chhabra, co-artistic director of nutkhut, who is bringing the dance and pyrotechnic spectacle Bollywood…

As You Always Do

8 May 2008

NEW WORK Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 21–Sat 24 May Behind the stories of the media there are truths that we will never see. When we view reports of murders, disappearances and wars, our perspective is controlled by the scripting, editing and camera…

The Drawer Boy - An interview with Andy Arnold

24 Apr 2008

The Tron seems to be undergoing its own version of a glorious 100 days at the moment as its newly appointed artistic director, Andy Arnold, hits the ground, not so much running as sprinting. The former artistic director of The Arches avows that a very…

Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision

10 Apr 2008

MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 22–Sat 26 Apr The Eurovision Song Contest has always been a beast of wild contradictions. The annual competition is regular derided for its middle-of-the-road compositions, political voting and the never-ending…

Nova Scotia

8 May 2008

NEW WORK Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 24 May Next time you’re trapped behind an oldie trying to use a cash point, quietly contemplating the benefits of euthanasia, you might want to reflect on Phil and Spanky, and buy yourself some patience.

Colette Sadler: The Making of Doubt

8 May 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 9 & Sat 10 May She has danced throughout Europe, won a Creative Scotland award and choreographed for Belle and Sebastian. Yet the inspiration for Colette Sadler’s latest work was found practically on her…

Macbeth: Kill Bill Shakespeare

20 Sep 2007

As the Scottish king might ask: ‘What bloody man is that?’ Well it’s not quite William Shakespeare that’s for sure. Writer/director Malachi Bogdanov loves Shakespeare but he also loves the films of Quentin Tarantino. Describing Macbeth: Kill Bill…

The Curve Foundation 10th Anniversary Gala

8 May 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 20 May ‘I thought if I were to have a party to celebrate ten years of the Curve Foundation, who would I invite?’ says Ross Cooper, artistic director of Curve Foundation. ‘Who has been relative to our…

Magpie

24 Apr 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Dundee Rep, Wed 7 May Aptly named after a cocky wee beastie with an eye for cherry-picking gems, Magpie is an expertly-curated rummage through some of the most exciting contemporary choreography of the last 20 years – a modern…

Jeremy Raison - The Sound of My Voice

8 May 2008

Perhaps it’s merely a coincidence, but it seems somehow appropriate that the Citizens’ Theatre production of The Sound of My Voice should premiere exactly 40 years after the Paris disturbances of May 1968. For this great outcry was not about a lack of…

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

13 Dec 2007

Much as there’s grumbling about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals across the theatre world, it’s hard to deny their bankability. As the years pass, there might also be a certain nostalgia for such monolithic star vehicles as Joseph and the Amazing…

Scottish Arts Council funding shift causes controversy

1 May 2008

A redistribution of Scottish Arts Council funding, announced today, has readjusted the balance of financial power within the Scottish arts. Among those to benefit under the new plans are: Arika , who run experimental music festivals Instal and Kill…

Glasgay! announces Tennessee Williams Festival

1 May 2008

The Glasgow-based LGBT festival Glasgay! has announced a new Tennessee Williams Festival for Autumn 2008, to commemorate the author on the 25th anniversary of his death. Among the events scheduled for the Williams Festival are four UK premieres of…

The Emperor’s New Kilt

24 Apr 2008

CHILDREN’S THEATRE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 24–Sat 26 Apr It’s hard to know who to praise most for this clever, funny and engaging show. There is not a single weak link to be found. The intelligent script blends humour, pathos and insightful…

Skin Piel (Without Sin)

8 May 2008

NEW WORK The Arches, Glasgow, Tue 20-Thu 22 May Morally questionable animal testing aside, in vivo research has proven its worth through centuries of scientific study, with experimentation on, or dissection of, entire systems providing valuable…

The Wasp Factory

8 May 2008

REVIVAL Regal Theatre, Bathgate, Thu 15 May, then touring Our fractured, alienating and individualist society is bound to produce some disquieting anomalies among its youth. In a world where the first priority is self, our capacity to empathise with…

Miranda Richardson confirmed for Reading Room

1 May 2008

Actress Miranda Richardson has been confirmed as the guest reader for choreographer and director Jonathan Lunn 's Reading Room at Stirling's MacRobert. The show, which features text by the late Anthony Minghella and 'draws on the worlds of film…

Nova Scotia - John Byrne

24 Apr 2008

‘Thirty years! Thirty years!’ John Byrne is standing in the middle of Victoria Street in Edinburgh, looking like one of his own drawings. Perfectly-sculpted, curled white quiff, battered layers of tweed and colour, thoroughly imposing, nicotine-stained…

Is This About Sex?

1 Aug 2007

Not just about sex, this play examines the societal confines of the modern world, exposing the inextricable issues of identity with sexuality and gender and of course sex itself.

Debbie Does Dallas - The Musical

23 Aug 2007

There’s a very fine line between a send-up of a ropey cultural item and something that’s just plain ropey. Almost from its shrill opening bars it becomes crystal clear that Debbie Does Dallas – The Musical has crossed the line. The fundamental…

The Song from the Sea

8 May 2008

CHILDREN’S THEATRE Platform, Glasgow, Wed 14 & Thu 15 May In these hectic times, rarely do you hear a child complain of having nothing to do. On the contrary, moments of calm are in short supply for most children. Tapping into this modern phenomenon…

The Emperor’s New Kilt

10 Apr 2008

CHILDREN’S THEATRE King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 12–Sat 19 Apr, then touring When Hans Christian Andersen first penned The Emperor’s New Clothes in 1837, he was issuing a veiled attack on the excesses of the Danish church. Many years later…

Scottish Ballet to tour another Romeo and Juliet

13 Mar 2008

Following Scottish Ballet’s win for Outstanding Repertoire (Classical) at the National Dance Awards, the troupe is to introduce a second full-length production of Romeo and Juliet to its touring programme. Acclaimed choreographer Krzysztof Pastor…

Fuerzabruta

1 Aug 2007

With its mix of acrobatics, dance, theatre and club, Fuerzabruta is impossible to define. Claire Prentice visits South America for a sneak preview. The DJ whacks up the volume on the decks and suddenly the whole audience erupts. Fifteen hundred people…

Shadow of a Gunman, The

The Shadow of a Gunman

13 Nov 2006

CLASSIC The temptation with Sean O’Casey’s celebrated Dublin trilogy, which began with The Shadow of a Gunman (1923) and continued with Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926), is to present them as knock-about Oirish comedies…

Blood Brothers

18 Oct 2007

MUSICAL Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 27 Oct There’s no flying car, singing animals or pyrotechnics, yet Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, which explores class, poverty and unemployment, remains one of our longest running musicals. Just…

Amy Lamé’s Mama Cass Family Singers

18 Oct 2007

THEATRE Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 25–Sat 27 Oct ‘I came up with the idea of a misremembered memoir which is what the show is,’ says Amy Lamé of her one-woman show Mama Cass Family Singers. ‘A lot of it is real, some of it’s made up, but it’s all…

Hamlet Solo

16 Aug 2007

To do justice to Hamlet is no easy task, but to render the Danish play as a one man performance is almost laughable in its ambition. There is, of course, the obvious novelty value to witnessing Hamlet being performed by one man. But Hamlet Solo is far…

La Femme Est Morte or Why Should I Not Fuck My Son

9 Aug 2007

Britney is in a state of crisis. She split from her husband, shaved her head, drove with her son on her lap and allegedly tried to have his teeth whitened, and of course it’s all the media’s fault, just as they are held responsible for Phaedra’s demise…

Tracy Beaker

Tracy Beaker Gets Real

26 Mar 2007

MUSICAL THEATRE She’s rude, inconsiderate, bolshy and the bane of many parents’ lives. Tracy Beaker may be a fictional creation, but her cheeky expressions - both facial and verbal - have been embraced by pre-pubescents across the…

Mary Stuart

Theatre editor Steve Cramer talks to Siobhan Redmo

18 Sep 2006

Steve Cramer I suppose one of the aspects of this new David Harrower version of the text that we might expect is a certain politicality. Siobhan Redmond It’s not the politics but the politicking that goes on that you really notice. All these men are…

Edinburgh Festivals Forum appoints Susan Rice as Chair

24 Apr 2008

The Edinburgh Festivals Forum, the commission set up to oversee the strategic development of Edinburgh's Festivals and to maintain the city's position as the pre-eminent festival city, has announced the appointment of Susan Rice as Chair. Rice, who…

Heelie-go-Leerie

10 Apr 2008

CHILDREN’S THEATRE Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 11–Sun 13 Apr Clichéd though it sounds, kids often get more fun out of the box something comes in than the expensive product within. Imaginary play with cardboard tubes, dressing-up clothes and…

Dickens Unplugged

16 Aug 2007

Unless you were brought up in a workhouse, you’ll be familiar with at least one of Dickens’ many tales. Beginning with Oliver Twist, this musical, is not quite as Dickens intended. We embark upon a full speed tour of his books, ending with A Christmas…

The Truman Capote Talk Show

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 12-Sat 16 Sep

1 Sep 2006

THEATRE In Murder By Death, the daft 1976 spoof whodunnit based on a Neil Simon screenplay, five sleuths arrive at the mansion of eccentric millionaire Lionel Twain. He plans dinner, and then a murder, which they must solve. Aided (and hampered) by…

Fears eased over Festival performer visa crisis

8 May 2008

Fears that thousands of performers at the Edinburgh Festival would be prevented from entering the UK due to new immigration legislation have been eased with the introduction of a new type of visa. The Home Office has announced that visiting…

Educating Agnes

8 May 2008

NEW TRANSLATION Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, run ended; Perth Theatre until Fri 9 May When Molière’s L’école des femmes was translated as Let Wives Tak Tent by Robert Kemp in 1948, it set in motion a half-century tradition of Scottish reworkings of…

A Conversation With Edith Head

1 Aug 2007

If you’re a film fan you’ll have recognised the superhero outfitter Edna Mode in the Pixar animation The Incredibles as an affectionate caricature of the legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, who’s the subject of this one-woman show. If not…

Angels In America, Parts 1 & 2

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 1-Sat 12 May

23 Apr 2007

REVIVAL There’s little doubt that in the future, when the great histories of theatre post-1950 are written, Tony Kushner’s classic will take a prominent role. Reckoned by many a critic to be the greatest play of the 1990s, its cultural shockwaves…

Death Story

8 May 2008

NEW WORK Oran Mor, Glasgow, until Sat 10 May The thriller format that we’ve come to associate with Alma Cullen’s film and television work in such programmes as A Touch of Frost and Inspector Morse is abandoned in her latest play for a more reflective…

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

24 Apr 2008

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE DANCE Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 25 & Sat 26 Apr Since its formation in 2000, the Dance Consortium has brought us an array of international treats. From ballet to hip hop, the Consortium introduces diverse, innovative and…

Black Watch

10 Apr 2008

WORLD TOUR Rothes Hall, Glenrothes, until Sat 5 Apr, then touring While many Scots disagree with the continuing troop presence in Iraq, there remains an undeniable sense of pride in and anxiety for our troops overseas, and it’s this sense of a shared…

Romeo and Juliet

27 Mar 2008

CLASSIC Dundee Rep until Sat 29 Mar Is Romeo and Juliet really ‘the greatest love story ever told’? The breathy publicity for Dundee Rep’s latest production, featuring young, beautiful, talented actors Hannah Donaldson and Kevin Lennon as the…

Scottish Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty

29 Nov 2007

CHRISTMAS BALLET Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 11–Sat 29 Dec Since his arrival at Scottish Ballet, Ashley Page has been like a Christmas cracker – when his festive shows open, you never know what you’ll find inside. Both The Nutcracker and Cinderella…

The Car Man

6 Sep 2007

Everyone loves a drifter. The myths of whole countries have been built around those beautiful, denim-clad strangers who roll into towns to stir up trouble. It’s a conceit that works much better in small-town America than, say, Motherwell, which Matthew…

A Conversation with Edith Head

9 Aug 2007

Hollywood costume designer Edith Head worked on almost 500 films in her 54-year career. She dressed Mae West, Dorothy Lamour and Barbara Stanwyck in their most iconic outfits. She played with the big boys at Paramount (and later Universal) and her onyx…

Hughie

The Arches, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEGLECTED CLASSIC An ageing New York gambler lords it over a luckless hotel night clerk, spinning unlikely tails of his continuing prowess in gambling and womanising. Both the gambler and the hotel have seen better days. Such is the scene in this…

Brian Ferguson

3 Jan 2007

FACE FOR THE FUTURE He’s not exactly a new face: He’s kicked around the Scottish theatre for three or four years in this reviewer’s recollection, and probably longer, but Brian Ferguson’s 2006 has launched him as a substantial actor on the Scottish…

This is Our Youth

Ramshorn Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 10 May

7 May 2008

When the lights dimmed and ‘Juicebox’ by The Strokes filled the theatrical space, it became immediately clear that director James Keenan saw This Is Our Youth as a play rooted in contemporary New York. The choice of band is astute, as we follow three…

Trumpets and Raspberries

24 Apr 2008

FARCE Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 10 May Farce is a form that seems to thrive on dangerous times. From the great war disillusionment and depression that saw Travers and Coward at their peaks, on to the social revolution of the 60s that…

Edinburgh Fringe set for Scandal

24 Apr 2008

The Fringe is set to be sexed up in style this year with the arrival of one of New York City’s longest running burlesque shows, Le Scandal, due to hit Edinburgh in August, following its debut at the Brighton Fringe next month. The show is currently…

Top theatre group pulls out of this year's Fringe

23 Apr 2008

Theatre group Aurora Nova, who have specialised in visual theatre and dance performances at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2001, will not be taking part this year. The company, who are based at Stockbridge's St Stephen's Church, have said a shortage of…

The Blank Album

13 Mar 2008

As all musicians know, putting together an album isn’t just about writing songs. Running order, track length and variety of sound all come into play. So when choreographer, Natasha Gilmore decided to use the album model to create her latest dance piece…

POPPEA

16 Aug 2007

One of the most powerful leaders in the world abuses his position by having an affair and ignoring the will of the people – it’s a concept as familiar today as it was 2000 years ago for the Romans, on whose machinations Claudio Monteverdi based his…

Scottish Ballet

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Wed 11 - Sat 14 Apr, then

27 Mar 2007

BALLET (Photo: © Merlin Hendry) It’s 20 years since the death of Scottish Ballet’s founder, Peter Darrell, and you can’t help but wonder what he’d make of the company today. After prolonged periods of uncertainty, Scottish Ballet has become a…

Michael Clark interview

Dancing with demons

12 Feb 2007

It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts, as the saying goes. And from an early age, Michael Clark had beauty. A beautiful face, a beautiful spirit and a beautiful style that other dancers tried, and failed, to emulate. And what he…

Mamma Mia!

10 Apr 2008

MUSICAL SECC, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Apr Truly global phenomena are becoming something of a cliché: there’s a McDonald’s on every street corner, a Nestlé product in every home, and a production of Mamma Mia! running in every country in the world…

Oresteia

27 Mar 2008

NEW WORK Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 27–Sat 29 Mar Critics tend to use the phrase ‘an uncomfortable night of theatre’ to describe the effect of a challenging piece on an audience. But in Lazzi’s one man version of Aeschylus’ tragic trilogy, the…

Romeo and Juliet - interview with Kevin Lennon

28 Feb 2008

By comparison to Shakespeare’s other great tragedies, there’s a certain snootiness on the part of literary critics about Romeo and Juliet. Certainly it’s early work, and shows a certain immaturity, but does it constantly need to be compared unfavourably…

Scottish Dance Theatre

28 Feb 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Glasgow Theatre Royal, Thu 28–Fri 29 Feb When dance works – and I mean really works – it’s not your eyes that tell you, but your heart. And that rush of adrenalin. Needless to say, it doesn’t happen very often – but with Liv Lorent…

Richard Alston Dance Company

1 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 13 Nov Music – some choreographers can’t start work without it, while for others it’s the final piece in the jigsaw. But for Martin Lawrance, dancer and choreographer with Richard Alston Dance…

A Midsummer Night's Dream

18 Oct 2007

CLASSIC King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 23–Sat 27 Oct Okay, let me fess up. The prospect of another production of the Dream will, generally, fail to fill me with the joys of life, despite the great text’s best intentions in that direction. Like…

The Car Man

18 Oct 2007

DANCE THEATRE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 30 Oct–Sat 3 Nov The small town of Harmony, USA has two things in abundance – heat and hormones. Both of which drive the town’s spirited young folk to acts of lust, infidelity and violence. Originally…

Merchant City Festival

20 Sep 2007

We’re not short of festivals in Scotland. The months between April and November have begun to feel like one of those Strip the Willows that happen at particularly drunken céilidhs, where you’re buffeted relentlessly between cultural events and…

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

23 Aug 2007

This engaging mix of movement, song and animation presents a variety of vivid situations. The central characters are two eerie sisters not unlike the little girls from The Shining, who lead us through a series of grim gothic adventures in an inter-war…

Macbeth: Who is That Bloodied Man?

Nicola Husband

16 Aug 2007

Macbeth, like most of Will’s plays, has suffered from many strange interpretations, including a film that transposes the action to a 90s rave and an American theatre version that quite literally strips the characters bare. These wacky interpretations…

Venus as a Boy

9 Aug 2007

In this intriguing and highly emotional adaptation of Luke Sutherland’s award winning novel, adaptor and actor Tam Dean Burn plays a dying rent boy who claims he is turning to gold. Burn, accompanied by Sutherland, who provides a riveting electrical…

Breaker Morant

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

After the success of Talk Radio, the Comedians Theatre Company returns to the Fringe with a hard-hitting courtroom drama. But as the Australian leads tell Steve Cramer, the play is not without its bawdy elements

England

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Art of the matter Tim Crouch tells Mark Fisher that England is about many things, but they don’t include warm beer and nostalgia

Peter Powers

Profile

2 Jul 2007

Name Peter Powers Who’s he then? Dubbed as a ‘hipnotist’ and the ‘Ali G of stage hypnotism’, he has the ability (or, I suppose, power) to have a man standing about in women’s underwear or find a cure for the most acute of phobias. His TV work…

Nightshade

19 Jun 2007

It’s an intriguing premise: commissioning seven of the most exciting young choreographers in Europe to create a striptease, working with real strip artists rather than professional dancers. Definitely worthy of a few good tabloid headlines . . .

Scooby Doo Live on Stage!

18 Jun 2007

STAGE SHOW There are some lines which transcend generations, and ‘I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!’ is certainly one of them. First screened in 1969, Scooby Doo has had an enduring popularity few can emulate.

Introdans Ensemble for youth and NDT2

22 May 2007

MODERN DANCE Double Dutch usually implies confusion and misunderstanding. But in Edinburgh this month, it means two tasty helpings of dance from the Netherlands. Hot on each other’s heels, Introdans Ensemble for Youth and Nederlands Dans Theater 2…

Hansel and Gretel

21 May 2007

THEATRE SHOW Like most fairytales, scratch away the surface of Hansel and Gretel and you find something nasty lurking underneath. Edible house aside, the story is filled with fear and adversity - perfect for any theatre company to get its teeth…

Green Whale

Green Whale

13 Dec 2006

The pitch Three Edinburgh children stow away on the ‘Big Betty’ whaling ship, hoping to raise money for their poor family. Onboard they meet Nin the merciless hunter, Crill the eccentric captain, Isabella the former Queen of Spain and a mysterious girl…

Merchant of Venice, The

The Merchant of Venice

2 Oct 2006

CLASSIC It’s easy enough to see, in Britain’s current climate of religious intolerance, why Mark Thomson should wish to open the Lyceum’s new season with Shakespeare’s tale of money and racism. It is one of Shakespeare’s trickiest pieces. Our 21st…

Tutti Frutti - feature

Cult fiction

12 Sep 2006

Sometimes, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. 19 years after it was shown on television, Tutti Frutti has come to occupy a very special place in Scotland’s collective memory. The exuberant, hilariously dark drama, written by the inimitable…

Limbo/Zarraberri

8 May 2008

TRANSLATION Òran Mór, Glasgow, Mon 12 May–Sat 17 May In the 14th century, Dante described limbo as the ‘first circle of hell’ in The Divine Comedy. This 800-year-old concept of limbo, in which unbaptised babies who die are said to be stuck between…

That Night Follows Day

24 Apr 2008

NEW WORK Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 1–Sat 3 May ‘My own observations show that we have rated the powers of children too low and that there is no knowing what they cannot be given credit for.’ Freud believed growing up became a matter of submitting to…

The Polish Play

24 Apr 2008

NEW WORK Craigellachie Village Hall, Craigellachie, Aberdeenshire, Wed 30 Apr, then touring The issue of immigration becomes more controversial each day, and everyone has an opinion. We regularly hear what the politicians and the papers think, but we…

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

24 Apr 2008

REVIVAL Dundee Rep, until Sat 26 Apr, then touring This popular modern fable focuses on introverted songbird Little Voice (Debbie Saloman), who retreats to her bedroom to escape the attentions of her boisterous mother, Mari Hoff (Elaine C Smith).

A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle

10 Apr 2008

ADAPTATION Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 21–Sat 26 Apr Grappling with questions of Scottish identity, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is acknowledged as Hugh MacDiarmid’s finest work, and an integral part of the modern Scottish Renaissance movement. Now…

Myth

10 Apr 2008

DANCE Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 17–Sat 19 Apr According to Jung, the self is only created when the conscious and the unconscious unite, and a failure to embrace our unconscious brings on fragmented turmoil. It’s this notion of ‘finding a balance within…

Black Watch - John Tiffany

27 Mar 2008

Certainly the most phenomenal success produced by the Scottish theatre for a couple of decades, Greg Burke’s Black Watch has travelled the world since its first appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006. New York, Sydney, Los Angeles – it has become…

Havana Rakatan

27 Mar 2008

CUBAN DANCE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 8–Sat 12 Apr To the untrained eye, Cuban dance can seem like one big mass of hip-rolling passion. When in fact the country is rich with individual dance styles, each with its own tale to tell. The history of…

Hidden World - Litter of Sandals

28 Feb 2008

NEW WORK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 25 Feb–Sat 1 Mar Being able to address the oppressive regimes of recent world politics in mainstream lunchtime theatre is a luxury some countries simply do not have. In Hidden Worlds, playwright Stuart Delves…

Fugee

28 Feb 2008

YOUTH WORK Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 13–Sat 15 Mar Given the number of acclaimed professionals the Lyceum Youth Theatre has produced over the years, it always seems worthwhile to check in on their thriving and dynamic program once in a while.

Sleeping Beauty (King's Theatre, Glasgow)

13 Dec 2007

The pitch It’s time for Princess Beauty to put away childish things, say goodbye to her childhood friend Chester the Jester (aaawwww!) and get ready for some right royal action. Carrion the witch and Norval her son (or is he?) have other ideas, however…

Eeting Beauty

13 Dec 2007

The pitch In the self-referential world of the Pantosphere, baby Bess is the daughter and niece of a celebrated Ugly Sisters double act, while her mother has been asleep for 100 years. Set to suffer the same fate on her own 18th birthday, she is cursed…

Jack and the Beanstalk (Dundee Rep)

13 Dec 2007

The Pitch Plucky young Jack (Kevin Lennon) and his yummy mum Alice (John Buick) are facing eviction, so Jack is dispatched to Dunbletherin’ market to sell prize cow Susannah. When the unfortunate bovine ends up in the grubby mitts of rogue debt…

The Producers

15 Nov 2007

MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 17 November It’s a rule of thumb that celebrities cast in touring musicals to pull in floating punters will require some degree of propping up by the singing/dancing pros in the company. Certainly…

Desire Under The Elms

1 Nov 2007

MODERN CLASSIC Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Nov O’Neill’s 1925 experiment in modern tragedy has been acclaimed as a powerful, elemental drama, so it might ill-behove me to question its status. But Jeremy Raison’s production at the Citz…

Faustus

1 Nov 2007

NEW WORK Dundee Rep, Tue 13–Sat 17 Nov, then touring In general, the visual arts and theatre go together like garlic and custard. The theatre’s more outward-looking social vision, its concern with public issues, might seem to contrast with the…

Peer Gynt

4 Oct 2007

For as long as people question their identity, pondering who they are and what role they play in the world, Peer Gynt will occupy a prominent place in the culture. It would, indeed become still more notable were all productions of Ibsen’s classic of…

Eden Court has opening in it sights

31 Aug 2007

The curtains are poised to rise on a major theatre project in the Highlands, after a controversial refurbishment which finished late and was £3 million over budget. Eden Court Theatre is expected to open for business in two months after its £23…