Theatre and Anna Millar

CATS awards to be hosted by Alan Cumming

David Harrower, Maureen Beattie and Stuart Bowman in the running for prestigious theatre awards

23 May 2012

He’s one of the busiest actors at work today, preparing for curtain up on his one-man version Macbeth, but Alan Cumming is to take time out from rehearsals to host this year’s Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland. The CATS, which this year celebrates…

Oliver! set for run at Edinburgh Playhouse

Cameron Mackintosh-produced epic featuring original Lionel Bart score

23 May 2012

‘Cameron Mackintosh doesn’t do small,’ announces Brian Conley, his warm grin a lifetime away from the Fagin character he depicts in the Scots impressario’s successful revival of Oliver! TV star Conley’s acclaimed turns in Jolson and Hairspray suggest a…

Brian Conley to play Fagin in Oliver!

The new Cameron Mackintosh production is stopping at Edinburgh's Playhouse

15 May 2012

‘Cameron Mackintosh doesn’t do small,’ announces Brian Conley, his warm grin a lifetime away from the Fagin character he depicts in the Scots impressario’s successful revival of Oliver!. TV star Conley’s acclaimed turns in Jolson and Hairspray suggest a…

Claire Sweeney takes lead role in Educating Rita revival

The actress discusses Willy Russell's much-loved script

15 May 2012

Whether on stage or screen, few can forget Willy Russell’s young, earnest heroine, in Educating Rita, a working class girl hungry for education who finds herself under the tutelage of a lost, boozed up lecturer, searching for life beyond academia. For…

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…

The Man Who Lived Twice production from Birds of Paradise

Play dramatising meeting between Edward Sheldon and John Gielgud

27 Feb 2012

Writer, actor and director Garry Robson loves a challenge, and as the pen behind Birds of Paradise’s upcoming production The Man Who Lived Twice he’s given himself just that. In dramatising the meeting between legendary American playwright Edward…

Interview: Zach Braff, writer, director and star of All New People

The Scrubs and Garden State star discusses his new theatre production

2 Feb 2012

‘I’m still Jenny from the block,’ says Zach Braff after a moment’s reflection. ‘Even now I feel a bit underground in the acting world.’ For those who enjoyed Braff (and 20 million viewers around the world did) as the lovable JD in US comedy drama…

Jemima Levick on Steel Magnolias revival

The theatre director aims to retain the humour and tenderness of Robert Harling's original script

1 Feb 2012

‘I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special,’ says Dolly Parton as brassy hairdresser Truvy in the 1989 film adaptation of Steel Magnolias. The country singer led a cast of big name Hollywood hitters that included…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

Some Small Love Story

A gem with a young but talented cast

23 Aug 2011

Theatrical tales about love – particularly love lost – can so easily be overly saccharine, lacking the depth and sentiment to truly engage. Not so here. Stripped back simplicity is to the fore, as four excellent young performers reveal two great love…

Eight

Eight beautifully-written stories impressively told

23 Aug 2011

A selection of eight stories are impressively told here in monologue rotation. Among them are grieving art gallery owner Andre, Bobby, a struggling single Mum and Jude, a well-to-do lad coming of age on foreign shores. Ella Hickson’s characters are…

Doris Day Can F**k Off

Musical one-man experiment

23 Aug 2011

The concept for Greg McLaren’s show should certainly be applauded: for a number of weeks he went round the UK communicating to people through song, taping his experience as he went. Accompanied by a sound deck, guitar and gold lame jacket, this is the…

An Instinct for Kindness

Dignitas tale told with dignity

17 Aug 2011

Last year, Chris Larner accompanied his ex-wife Allyson to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland and watched as she drank a liquid that would swiftly end her life. Here, with just a simple chair as a prop, Larner recounts the days, weeks and years leading…

From the Fire

Tightly directed show based on New York’s Triangle Factory Fire of 1911

14 Aug 2011

There is some formidable talent at play in this tightly directed show, telling the story of New York’s Triangle Factory Fire of 1911, in which hundreds perished due to poor working conditions. Although set 100 years ago, the themes resonate today, as…

Shhh: The Musical

Enthusiasm let down by unoriginal script and forgettable songs

8 Aug 2011

There is little doubting the enthusiasm of this young cast, as they do their best with a ‘romcom’ script about finding love in a bookshop. Sadly their energy is largely wasted on a script lacking in originality and punch. The characters are roundly…

Minute After Midday

Pared-down performance based on Omagh bombing

8 Aug 2011

Pared-down performances resonate here as three very different stories are told, in overlapping monologues, from the day the Omagh bombing devastated Ireland. A young survivor, a widow, and the driver who left the car bomb on Lower Market Street, relive…

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Musical

Japanese one-man show dedicated but lacking in pace and musical gravitas

8 Aug 2011

Toulouse Lautrec’s life was a colourful one, worthy of musical exploration, and this Japanese company’s dedication is admirable, in a one-man show, helmed by Japanese performer/songwriter Jun Sawaki. But while Sawaki undoubtedly offers his all to the…

Corn Exchange theatre company bring Man of Valour to Edinburgh 2011

One-man action movie from acclaimed Irish company

27 Jul 2011

It’s a scenario familiar to many. A lonely office worker tries to escape his humdrum existence, living out a fantasy world of swashbuckling make-belief and mind-blowing heroism. ‘Everyone can relate to it,’ says actor and co-writer Paul Reid. ‘It’s…

Four site-specific shows to catch at Edinburgh 2011

What Remains and You Once Said Yes among highlights

20 Jul 2011

What Remains. Theatre company Grid Iron celebrates ten years on the Fringe with this eerie piece set in the bowels of Edinburgh University. Music comes courtesy of composer David Paul Jones. Even in Edinburgh/Glasgow Poet Ishbel McFarlane takes the…

Five cabaret shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2011

Meow Meow, Ali McGregor, Le Gateau Chocolat and Cabaret Whore among highlights

20 Jul 2011

Meow Meow. A firm Fringe favourite, this purrfectly glitzy performer brings her edgy post-feminist cabaret woes to the International Festival, as part of a much-anticipated work-in-progress. When you’re racking up over 6m hits on YouTube, chances are…

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 - sneak preview

Liberace, Finnish a capella groups and iPad fairy tales just some of the coming attractions

23 May 2011

Whether it’s origami genitalia, homosexual deities or political commentary on the Lockerbie bombing, Edinburgh’s Fringe seldom arrives with a whimper but rather a ruddy great roar. June sees the official launch of 2011’s line-up, but we thought we…

Edinburgh International Festival 2011 programme keeps an eye on the East

National Ballet of China, Ravi Shankar, Philip Glass among highlights

23 Mar 2011

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra raise the curtain of the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival in style this year with a performance Robert Schumann’s exotic musical Das Paradies und die Peri, one highlight from an EIF programme that boasts acts from…

Mayfesto 2011 programme revealed

Tron artistic director Andy Arnold discusses the politically-edged theatre festival

7 Mar 2011

To say The Tron’s artistic director Andy Arnold has big hopes for this year’s Mayfesto would be an understatement. Launched in 2010, Arnold’s plan was to bring Glasgow a new, socially and politically engaged theatre festival – and that’s just what he…

UK playwrights fight government cuts

Theatre Uncut features work by Mark Ravenhill, David Greig, Lucy Kirkwood and Jack Thorne

18 Feb 2011

Scotland’s art scene seldom stands on ceremony and next month looks set to be just as impressive as Bedlam Theatre hosts a day of theatre, music and talk, as part of a nationwide stand against the Government spending review. Playwrights including Mark…

The best upcoming events in Scotland in 2011

Highlights of the 2011 cultural calandar from Film, Music, Comedy, Theatre and Visual Art

3 Jan 2011

Huge gigs, inspiring theatre productions, comedy legends and two cute little waving bears – just a few of the things coming up in ‘11 that we can barely contain our excitement about

Spamalot musical comes to Edinburgh Playhouse

Monty Python's King Arthur comedy

29 Sep 2010

If ever a man was able to look on the bright side of life it is Eric Idle. Whether jumping out of cakes in a tutu for Prince Charles in a comical re-enactment of Swan Lake, or dressing up in wings, mocking the outfit worn by Emma Thompson in Angels in…

Theatre, Darling!

16 Sep 2010

Whether it is cutting edge drama, hearty laughs or a decent tippling hole, Glasgow and Edinburgh’s theatre and comedy scene has it covered, find Niki Boyle and Anna Millar

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival 2010

Bill Douglas Trilogy screening and premiere of David Greig’s Monsters in the Hall

10 Sep 2010

If there’s one thing that Scotland has in spades, it’s a proliferation of some mighty fine smaller scale festivals, and the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival (now in its 4th year) has more than earned the credibility to rub shoulders with…

Über Hate Gang

Explosive and well executed play on terrorism

23 Aug 2010

The audience become (un)willing members of a terrorist act in this well-executed play, as the Über Hate Gang plan to blow up the theatre. A slightly meandering start gives way to some explosive confrontations as personal rifts and deeply hidden secrets…

Speechless

Giving voice to a powerful story

17 Aug 2010

As the familiar strains of ‘Jerusalem’ play out, a pair of twins, June and Jennifer, emerge onto the stage. Unable to find a language to communicate with the outside world they are almost silent, speaking only to each other, creating a fantasy world in…

The Man Who Was Thursday

Injects some far-fetched fun into a light-hearted romp

14 Aug 2010

This young, enthusiastic company injects some far-fetched fun into a light-hearted romp about the war on terror, in a noughties reimagining of the original novel by GK Chesterton. A cheeky wink to the left-not-knowing-what-the-right-hand’s doing is…

Elsie and Mairi Go to War

High on initial interest but short on the requisite drama

14 Aug 2010

This well-acted tale follows two heroines of WWI dispatched to Belgium as ambulance drivers. Using extracts from the women’s diaries and contemporary press interviews, the play is adapted from a book by Diane Atkinson, who here ill-advisedly narrates…

Step inside a payphone booth for a spot of storytelling

The Invisible Dot provides audiences with a new form of entertainment

12 Aug 2010

What with the Fringe being the Fringe, it’s only right and proper that some of this year’s shows should crop up in the most unlikely of places. And so it is that The Invisible Dot have brought four old British Telecom payphone booths to this year’s…

The Gospel at Colonus reveals authentic traditions at its heart

Reworking of Greek tragedy takes centre stage at EIF

11 Aug 2010

His celebrated version of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House cast dwarf actors opposite Amazonian women performers while his reimagining of Peter Pan using pint-sized puppets made audiences look anew at JM Barrie’s classic children’s tale. Now theatrical maverick…

More Light Please

In search of further illumination

9 Aug 2010

The emotional and economic reality of emigration is fertile ground for theatre, and More Light Please provides another addition to the canon with its story of young Natalia moving from Poland to Dublin in search of a better life. The scene is set in…

Wolf is a innovative and well-imagined piece of theatre

Engaging exploration of human/wolf relations

9 Aug 2010

The audience heads into the Caves with a growing sense of trepidation. We’ve been told that the ‘wolves’ may want to touch, move or smell us. We’ve been told we should let them. We should also make ourselves comfortable; we’ll be standing…

Merrill Grant: A Twentieth Century Fox

A cabaret homage to silver-screen greats

5 Aug 2010

With her Southern twang, strawberry-blonde hair, beaming smile and can-do attitude, Merrill Grant is the epitome of a 1930s belle. Which is just jim-dandy, given the cabaret act she’s bringing to this year’s Fringe. Inspired by her love of Shirley…

Fringe 2010 cabaret offerings are as colourful as ever

Smoke & Mirrors, Alan Cumming and The Crack

30 Jul 2010

From pared down to jazz-hands up, this year’s variety and cabaret offerings are as colourful as ever. Anna Millar meets the makers to find out why we just can’t get enough It’s a certain man who can shimmy from club door whore to straight-talking…

Poignant preview

A bold, imaginative retelling of three Argentinean tales

26 Jul 2010

As if getting into bed in the dark with strangers wasn’t intriguing enough, Micaela Tettamanti’s 45-minute show Poignant features one of the smallest audiences on the Fringe (only four are admitted at any one time) and has no actors or stage to speak of.

New York stories: The Sun Also Rises and Vieux Carré hit Edinburgh 2010

Elevator Repair Service and Wooster Group head up International Festival

16 Jul 2010

If the world of theatre was like a finely crafted china shop, then two very impressive bulls are preparing to charge at this year’s International Festival. As leaders of the experimental pack, Elevator Repair Service and the Wooster Group perform, not…

Tron Theatre summer production sets sail for Valhalla!

23 Jun 2010

Theatre-goers beware: reality will leave the building for artistic director Andy Arnold’s latest summer production. Following on from last year’s darkly comic Cooking With Elvis, Valhalla! looks similarly offbeat, replete as it is with magic swans…

Final curtain for Glasgow's Ramshorn Theatre?

31 Mar 2010

Pressure is mounting for Strathclyde University to make a decision about the future of the Ramshorn, following the shock announcement that the theatre is to be closed. Credited with kick-starting the careers of Peter Capaldi and Lost star Henry Ian…

John Adams and Lee Breuer among Edinburgh International Festival 2010 highlights

22 Mar 2010

As the programme is launched for this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, we cast an eye over the highlights

Mayfesto: Something Old, Something New

25 Feb 2010

Inspired by the long-gone Glasgow theatre of the same age, the Tron’s Mayfesto season is hoping to capture some of its namesake’s former glory. The brainchild of artistic director, Andy Arnold, it plans to celebrate often politically-charged new plays…

Curtain up

7 Jan 2010

The National Theatre of Scotland has launched its programme for 2010, with highlights including a new piece of work by the team behind worldwide hit Black Watch. In line with the company’s ethos of working with a variety of art forms, in February and…

Anguish With Posie

6 Jan 2010

Fans of spoken word night DiScomBoBuLate will be no stranger to Ian Macpherson’s ability to wax lyrical. A creative powerhouse for writers, actors, comics and directors, the night helped provide the inspiration for Macpherson’s upcoming play, Anguish…

Scottish Matthew Bourne showcase given go-ahead

19 Nov 2009

A new piece of work by dance legend Matthew Bourne will be staged as a result of National Lottery Funding. The King’s Theatre and Theatre Royal have been awarded £265,905 by the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) as part of a £2.5million National Lottery…

Rain Man

19 Nov 2009

It’s a pleasant surprise to see how successfully Dan Gordon’s theatre adaptation of the screen classic starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman translates to the stage. The tale of city slicker Charlie Babbitt’s relationship with his long-lost…

Entries sought for Tron Open.Stage playwriting contest

30 Oct 2009

A new playwriting competition has been launched allowing Scots, or those living in Scotland, the chance to have their theatre show produced at the Tron Theatre. As part of a new initiative applicants can apply online by providing a synopsis of their…

Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival 2009 launches

10 Sep 2009

Singer Karine Polwart is just one of the many names putting her name – and voice – behind this year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Now in its third year, the festival explores mental health in its broadest sense with almost 200 events…

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…

Almost Like a Virgin

Strikes an impressive pose

19 Aug 2009

The problem with pretending to be someone else is that there’s always a chance the audience will want more of them and less of you. This ode to the Queen of Pop is a case in point. Madge impersonator Evelyne Brink strikes an impressive pose as she belts…

King Ubu

Playfully robust take on power and its outrageous (mis)fortunes

12 Aug 2009

Runaground theatre adapts Alfred Jarry’s absurdist masterpiece, setting the scene for the rise and fall of their greedy protagonist against the inspired backdrop of a vaudeville theatre. A talented ensemble cast shamelessly over-plays it, capturing with…

Catwalk Confidential

70s fashion icon Robyn Peterson

10 Aug 2009

Talent-spotted by Valentino aged 14, 70s fashion icon Robyn Paterson jumped a plane from Miami to Paris in search of fame and fortune. While a familiarity with the lifestyle of 00s glitterati makes the shock value of this well-heeled one-woman show a…

Conversation Pieces at Royal Concert Hall

Bill includes Michael Palin, Kenny Logan and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

6 Aug 2009

Michael Palin, Kenny Logan and Sir Peter Maxwell are just a clutch of the names rocking up to the Royal Concert Hall as part of their Conversation Pieces season. The talks, held in September and October, boast talents from across the board, including…

Belt Up bring Tartuffe and Trial to the Fringe

The award-winning physical theatre company provide an inspired spin on some enduring classics

23 Jul 2009

If the Fringe is about anything, it’s about an inexhaustible ability to surprise an audience, whether it be with a crazy venue space, a thrilling new script or a suitably memorable performance. Step forward - Belt Up.

Precious Little Talent

Playwright Ella Hickson is living proof that Scotland’s got talent. She meets Anna Millar.

23 Jul 2009

It may be the title of her latest show, but Precious Little Talent is not a description you could apply to last year's Fringe darling, Ella Hickson. 2009 should be her year again.

Sex-themed shows at the Edinburgh Festival

Three very different Fringe shows with a lust for life

13 Jul 2009

From origami private parts to Jesus as a nightclubbing homosexual, the Edinburgh Fringe seldom lacks controversy. Talk of The Chippendales rocking into town direct from an oiled-up stint in Las Vegas, has already had the chattering classes gasping for a…

Alice Through the Looking Glass

9 Jul 2009

With Tim Burton and Johnny Depp set to re-imagine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the silver screen, Lewis Carroll’s fantastical tales are firmly back in the public eye. So rich is Carroll’s storytelling that, since its publication in the 19th…

Singin’ in the Rain - Long to rain over us

25 Jun 2009

Anna Millar looks forward to some old-school hoofing in Singin’ in the Rain

Setting the stage - Edinburgh International Festival

2 Apr 2009

EIF artistic director, Jonathan Mills, referred to the ‘menace and magic’ of this year’s festival programme, as he unveiled the highlights last week. In keeping with 2009’s Homecoming celebrations the Edinburgh International Festival launched works rich…

The Hot 100 2008

11 Dec 2008

It’s been a helluva year. 2008 has been a time of significant global change, socially, politically and culturally, with Scotland no exception. So here, for your delectation, is The List’s pick of the 100 people, places and things that rocked our world…

Vagina Monologues set for Edinburgh Playhouse

27 Nov 2008

A new production of Vagina Monologues will rear its much-hyped head at the Edinburgh Playhouse from 16-21 Feb next year, starring Kaye Adams, Karen Dunbar, Michelle McManus and Gail Porter.

I am Robert Mugabe

11 Aug 2008

Al Carretta is so fascinated by Robert Mugabe he’s writen two shows about the Zimbabwean despot, as Anna Millar discovers. The late, great George Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.’ Never was a truer word…

Polish theatre

Poles apart

31 Jul 2008

Sitting in a picturesque café in the heart of Warsaw – Poland’s capital and largest city – it’s easy to forget the turbulent history that has shaped this country’s place in the world today. The city has long had a reputation as a vibrant playground…

Hard times - Gladder to be Gay?

Festival of Politics

22 Jul 2008

Simon Callow is heading our way with both Stonewall and Dickens on his mind. Anna Millar chats to one of theatre’s hardest working men about his love of acting and support for gay rights Mere minutes out of London rehearsals for The Magic Flute and…

Nominees revealed for 2008 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland

22 May 2008

Dundee Rep has been hailed as the frontrunner for the 2008 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS). The Rep heads the bill with 13 nominations across 9 categories, including Best Performance in both the male and female categories, Best Ensemble…

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…

NEWS - Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre

17 Jan 2008

Last week’s announcement that there was ‘no imminent threat’ of closure to Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre arrived amid increased fears that the space would have to close its doors to comply with safety regulations. With any major much-needed facelift…

Film City Glasgow takes Ibsen play to big screen

4 Oct 2007

One of the Edinburgh International Festival’s most successful productions is set to make its silver screen debut, with the help of a Glasgow film company. DollHouse, based on Henrik Ibsen’s classic text, was showcased at this year’s EIF by leading…

Orpheus X

23 Aug 2007

The gods are surely smiling on Edinburgh this month, as the American Repertory Theatre rocks up to the Edinburgh International Festival with a modern version of the Orpheus myth. The brainchild of master performer and maverick musician Rinde Eckert…

Òran Mór presents theatrical greatest hits

23 Aug 2007

It has proved to be one of Oran Mór’s most popular exports, paving the way for many variations on a theme. In early September, the hip Glasgow venue will celebrate the success of its Play, A Pie and A Pint with a special ‘best of’ week. Ae Fond Kiss…

Scottish Opera appoints new director

News

9 Aug 2007

Italian conductor Francesco Corti signed up as new music director

Kelvingrove to host charity art sale

NewsArts sale in aid of breast cancer charities

9 Aug 2007

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is to hold an arts sale in aid of breast cancer charities across Scotland.

Enough is enough

1 Aug 2007

Festival Fringe Enough is enough Iris Bahr, the multi-talented star of US comedies Curb Your Enthusiasm and King of Queens makes a dramatic change of direction with her politically potent one-woman play, Dai