Theatre

Ed Robson

18 Oct 2007

Even Hollywood has turned, of recent times, to the subject of extraordinary rendition. But if the somewhat glamourised approach to the subject promised by the film Rendition, looks like creating a moral simplicity to the subject which threatens to bury…

Desire Under The Elms

18 Oct 2007

AMERICAN CLASSIC Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 25 Oct–Sat 17 Nov According to Jeremy Raison, artistic director of the Citz, theatre is about conveying ideas through stories. ‘I think now there’s a need for great stories and to see huge passion…

The Winter's Tale

4 Oct 2007

Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Sat 20 Oct CLASSIC So much of Shakespeare’s work examines the disparity between the rational, ordered world, governed by laws and etiquettes long since agreed and more pre-rational, primal urges and experiences, but…

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…

Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision

9 Aug 2007

Lycra, spandex, cheesy hosts, uber-innuendo and even a recorded welcome from Terry Wogan himself; it is indeed, almost Eurovision. There’s a palpable sense of excitement as badges are distributed, flags and clackers are sold and the cast do a warm up…

Hippo World Guest Book/Longwave

Festival Fringe

1 Aug 2007

When Chris Goode called his company Signal to Noise he was thinking about the nature of communication. The two shows he’s bringing to the Fringe this year are a case in point.

Natasha Wood: Rolling With Laughter

1 Aug 2007

Talking to Natasha Wood is a bit like having a conversation with Rory Bremner. Answering even the most straightforward questions, she’ll shift from her bra salesman dad’s doughty Nottingham accent to the gushing California-speak of a Hollywood dating…

New Artistic Director at the Traverse

News

17 Jul 2007

TRAVERSE APPOINTS NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Scotland’s new writing theatre, the Traverse, which launched the careers of playwrights such as John Byrne, Liz Lochhead and Gregory Burke, has announced the appointment of Dominic Hill as its new…

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…

Day Jobs

22 May 2007

Look closely at your electrician. Can you imagine him as a rock singer? What about your cleaning lady - does she exhibit in the Saatchi Gallery? And have you heard the one about the aerobics teacher with a book deal? For a variety of (mostly financial…

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…

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…

Kate Dickie & Pol Heyvaert

Beyond the news

13 Mar 2007

Whenever a murder occurs, particularly that of a child, there’s often an understandable outcry of grief, sometimes fuelled by sensational media coverage. We can name these unfortunate children as if we ourselves knew them. As part of the news coverage…

Strangers, Babies

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 17 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEW WORK Does our behaviour depend upon where we’re from, or where we are now? That hoary old chestnut, the nature versus nurture debate still rages on in every field of human knowledge. So it is that while it emerges quite plainly that the woman at…

Ice Cream Dreams

Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 28-Sat 31 Mar

13 Mar 2007

NEW WORK When writer Martin McCardie, currently best-known for his work on Channel 4’s Shameless, was approached to write a play set during the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars of 1983, he resisted the ready-made plot of drug-dealing and unsolved murder. ‘I…

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…

Me and My Girl

30 Oct 2006

If you’re in the mood to do the Lambeth Walk again, here’s your chance. This new touring production of the award winning musical includes such notables as Faye Tozer (formerly of Steps) and Sylvester McCoy (a past Dr Who) among its cast. All together…

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…

The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Comedy about republicanism, terrorists and dead cats follows predictable arc

25 Apr 2012

A comedy about republicanism, terrorists, and dead cats that’s more fun than it sounds, The Lieutenant of Inishmore displays Martin McDonagh’s talent for harnessing the comic potential in those peculiarly Irish turns of phrase. Many of the play’s best…

Reveal 2012 showcases new Scottish theatre

Highlights include Mexican reality TV, a Gaelic divorce and London riots performed by puppets

25 Apr 2012

Following on from last year’s successful inaugural Reveal Season, The National Theatre of Scotland, in association with the Citizens’ Theatre, present Reveal 2012, a season of new work by up and coming and diversifying artists, many of whom have been…

Interview: Tony Reekie - director of Imaginate children's festival

Children's theatre festival has a strong international flavour

19 Apr 2012

He may spend most of his life scouring the world for quality children’s theatre, but even Tony Reekie finds time for a bit of Killing. The Killing, that is, not cold-blooded murder. A big fan of the Danish television crime series, Reekie was less…

Political theatre festival Mayfesto to look at the August 2011 riots and Arab Spring

Programme features Chalk Farm, Springtime and No Time for Art

17 Apr 2012

All the world’s a stage The annual Tron festival Mayfesto engages with political struggle from the Egyptian revolution to the riots in England, as Mark Brown discovers Two years ago the then recently appointed director of the Tron Theatre in Glasgow…

Playwright Martin Travers on Roman Bridge

Travers' first full-length play was completed with the aid of the National Theatre of Scotland

16 Apr 2012

The initial inspiration for Roman Bridge was the fact that rural Scotland is peppered with old stone bridges. Loads are called the Roman bridge but not many of them are. I like that, things seeming to be one thing and turning out to be something else.

New production Lady M re-examines the Macbeth story

Mary McClusky discusses The Scottish Play's continuing relevance to modern audiences

16 Apr 2012

As artistic director of Scottish Youth Theatre and a frequent contributor to Oran Mor’s Classic Cuts season, Mary McCluskey is no stranger to slimming down a Shakespeare play to its essential components. And in the year of the World Shakespeare…

Cumbernauld Theatre to adapt Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckling yarn offers 'competing visions about the future of Scotland'

16 Apr 2012

Robert Louis Stevenson’s swashbuckling tale set in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 is being adapted for the stage by Cumbernauld Theatre this month. The coming-of-age adventure story is a journey through both time and terrain as young…

The Silence of Bees

New play by the writer of Roadkill explores family tensions against a backdrop of bee-keeping

13 Apr 2012

This moving site-specific piece written and directed by Stef Smith, award-winning playwright behind 2010’s human trafficking drama Roadkill, focuses on three generations of women who have dedicated their lives to bee-keeping and honey production.

Scottish Ballet tackle A Streetcar Named Desire

Behind the scenes at new ballet based on Tennessee Williams play

21 Mar 2012

Stanley Kowalski eases his muscles in around the thin body of the woman who will become his wife. Flirting with her, he pulls her handbag from her lap, wears it on one casually extended foot, a powerful, teasing predator. Behind her eyes, a light…

Interview: Kieran Hurley on the making of Beats

Theate show set in rave era circa Criminal Justice Act of 1994

21 Mar 2012

What was the inspiration for Beats? Is it autobiographical? No, unlike my previous monologue piece Hitch, which was autobiographical, Beats is all made up. It’s a story set against the backdrop of the tail end of the free party movement in the early…

Dear Glasgow theatre season focuses on Middle East and North Africa

New project from Oran Mor’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint strand

21 Mar 2012

With the Syrian crisis showing no sign of abating, the human story behind the various conflicts and uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa has seldom been so urgent. It’s an issue that David MacLennan, artistic director of Oran Mor’s A Play, a…

David Hayman to play King Lear at Citizens Theatre

Dominic Hill directs Scottish production of Shakespeare

21 Mar 2012

It’s been 33 years since David Hayman last performed at the Citizens Theatre. ‘Backstage is very different so I now need a chaperone to get me from A to B.’ he laughs. Widely recognised for his role as DCS Walker in ITV’s Trial and Retribution, Hayman…

Traverse theatre launch new writing festival Write Here

Offers audience chance to see works in progress by many writers

21 Mar 2012

Two months into her role as the Traverse’s artistic director, Orla O’Loughlin has launched one of the most exciting new writing festivals Edinburgh has seen in years. Write Here will showcase work from the theatre’s Young Writers Group graduates…

Kith/Kin dance double bill from Company Chameleon

Pieces explore journey to adulthood, friendship and bravery

21 Mar 2012

The recent departure of Janet Smith from Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) highlighted not just her achievements over the past 15 years, but the alumni she helped foster. Two such dancers are Kevin Turner and Anthony Missen, both of whom had a compelling…

Tightrope dance piece fosters re-evaluation of who can and cannot dance

Indepen-dance reworking of AMICI show follows ageing circus troupe

21 Mar 2012

Down on its luck, an ageing circus troupe sticks together in an attempt to survive. On paper, Tightrope’s storyline doesn’t sound like much fun, but in reality the work has been lauded for its wit and poignancy. The show was originally created for…

Antigone

Lung Ha's Theatre impresses with an excellent, stripped-back adaptation of Sophocles' Theban tragedy

19 Mar 2012

Lung Ha’s Theatre Company has gone from strength to strength in recent years, notching up acclaimed adaptations of everything from Chekhov to Aldous Huxley and Jules Verne. The company’s latest outing returns to the origins of European Theatre and…

Tim Price discusses his new play, For Once

The Pentabus production examines the impact of a car crash on the sole survivor

14 Mar 2012

Shropshire’s Pentabus Theatre has earned a shelfload of awards for its imaginative and challenging productions of stories set in rural areas. Television writer Tim Price’s debut play, For Once, is a case in point. Set in Wales, it’s about the impact of…

Waterproof / From Paisley to Paolo

Comic double-bill features some laughs but lacks freshness and subtlety

14 Mar 2012

These short comic plays, being toured by Mull Theatre, began their lives at A Play, a Pie and a Pint (Òran Mór, Glasgow’s famous lunchtime theatre). Both contemplate the life disappointments of young, Scottish, working-class men (most often with a…

ANA

Audacious, enjoyable bilingual co-production from Scottish and Québécois companies

12 Mar 2012

The eponymous heroine of this enjoyable co-production between Scotland’s Stellar Quines and Québécois company Imago Théâtre is one of those everlasting figures present throughout history, a cross between Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Dr Who, whom we…

Betrayal

Dominic Hill's treatment of Pinter's celebrated play is humourous and affecting

9 Mar 2012

With works by Pinter, Shakespeare and Beckett scheduled for his first season as artistic director at the Citz, Dominic Hill couldn’t have made a bolder statement about his ambitions for the venerable Glasgow institution. Yet his production of the late…

Episode 2: A Special Form of Darkness, Tramway, Glasgow, Sun 26 Feb

A mixed bag exploration of pessimism, decay and banality

7 Mar 2012

Genre: Experimental music, Theatre, Philosophy So, is everything just a bit fucked? Dissecting pessimism, decay and banality is the theme of the day on the Sunday of Arika’s Episode 2: A Special Form of Darkness, with opening talks by writer, theorist…

Un Fou noir au pays des Blancs

French language show details tumultuous arrival in Europe from Congo

29 Feb 2012

Having already toured extensively since 2001, taking his intriguing personal show from France to Guadalupe, Martinique and Canada, writer, storyteller, psychotherapist and professor of humanities Pie Tshibanda gives his debut performance in the UK at…

New production ANA from Stellar Quines and Québecois company Imago

Traverse show consists of 'gallery of portraits of women'

27 Feb 2012

Serge Denoncourt is sitting in the middle of a playground. There are no swings or slides, no sand pits or climbing frames – but it’s a playground none the less. To him anyway. In reality, we’re sitting in an empty rehearsal room, downstairs from the…

Plume is JC Marshall’s Lockerbie-inspired play starring Sylvester McCoy

Tron Open Stage-shortlisted play gets full production

27 Feb 2012

In 2010, JC Marshall’s Plume was shortlisted in the Tron’s Open Stage playwriting competition. Now it’s staging a full production of the play. Doctor Who’s Sylvester McCoy plays Mr Peters, a charismatic teacher whose son dies in a terrorist attack on an…

Behaviour theatre festival 2012

Highlights include work by Mammalian Diving Reflex, Stef Smith Fish & Game

27 Feb 2012

‘There are some performances I see and think right away, that’s a Behaviour show,’ says Arches artistic director Jackie Wylie. Controversial American dancer-performance-artist Ann Liv Young’s The Mermaid Show – performed naked apart from a silvery tail…

Chow Mein & Hex

Dark comedy double bill examines relationships and lampoons new age medicine

27 Feb 2012

After the success of their shows Chow Mein and Hex at last year’s Fringe Festival, Edinburgh-based theatre company Strangetown has combined both into one night of humour at the Traverse. The double bill includes Chow Mein, a comedy drama about the…

Errol White Company presents new group work IAM

New emotional work based on loss set for Tramway

27 Feb 2012

There are moments in our lives that hit us more than others. Events that alter the shape of who we are. It was one such moment that led choreographer Errol White onto a creative path that produced first a solo, and now a new group work, IAM. ‘The…

Double Nugget - Mary Massacre and Seven Year Itch

A dark comedy that's too light and a play for for a rewrite

27 Feb 2012

Lovers of Johnny McKnight’s brand of pathos-laden, observational comedy will find some moments to enjoy in Mary Massacre (such as a sullen, gossipy sales assistant in Argos or the dubious joys of online dating). However, the twin track monologues of…

Lung Ha's new production of Antigone

New score performed by National Youth Orchestra of Scotland

27 Feb 2012

Is standing up for your beliefs always the right thing to do? How far would you be prepared to go? Sophocles addressed these questions in Antigone in 440BC; with the Arab Spring and anti-Putin demonstrations in Russia, they are more relevant than ever…

Raydale Dower - Cryptic Nights at CCA, Glasgow, Thu 2 Feb 2012

Experimental but playful sound installation

8 Feb 2012

The title of Raydale Dower's new 'spatial sound composition' speaks volumes about the former Uncle John & Whitelock bassist and current Tut Vu Vu clarinettist and sonic architect's methodology.…

Alasdair Gray prepares for a second reading of Fleck - interview

Scots version of Faust myth to be performed at Margins Book Festival

2 Feb 2012

Will Self described you as ‘a creative polymath with an integrated politico-philosophic vision’, but you say you're ‘a fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glasgow pedestrian’. Which do you prefer as an official description? I don't approve of…

Zach Braff: Ten things you might not know

The star of Scrubs, Garden State and All New People also voices the US Andrex puppy

2 Feb 2012

1 He is the youngest of four children. He has two brothers, Adam and Joshua, and a sister, Shoshanna. His mother and father are divorced and have both remarried. He says he now spends Thanksgiving with his ‘four parents’. 2 He had an ‘American…