Theatre and Brian Donaldson

Highlights from the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe programme

Daniel Kitson, Billy the Mime and Paolo Bianchi set to appear

22 May 2012

The Fringe madness is looming on the horizon and as long as the nation isn’t holed up with Olympics fever, this could well be another record-breaking year. You’ll be less than surprised to hear there’s a massive amount of comedy on show, including a…

Five things you might not know about Spamalot

Eric Idle and John Du Prez's Monty Python-inspired musical tours UK

27 Feb 2012

1 The multi award-winning musical production from Eric Idle and John Du Prez, Spamalot was ‘lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ I guess Idle can do whatever he wants but an eyebrow was raised by the inclusion of…

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…

Surrealism and stupidity of Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown kids show

Absurdist comic Phil Burgers a refreshing antidote to corporate Fringe

29 Jul 2011

Anyone who saw last year’s late-night Fringe anarchy from Dr Brown may raise an eyebrow to learn that he’s now doing a kids’ show, as well as another full-on physically comedic adult hour. To the man behind the mask, absurdist American comic Phil…

Edinburgh Festival of Politics 2011 - Highlights

Richard Holloway, Sarah Boyack and David Greig among highlights

8 Jul 2011

The Festival of Politics may be one of the junior members of the August fraternity, but it just keeps coming of age. An array of events, speakers and themes are on the agenda this year with technology and the upheavals across north Africa and the Middle…

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

The Hot 100 2010 - Mark Millar, Kevin Bridges and Alasdair Gray take top 3 spots

Our annual chart of the people from Scotland being interesting, successful and creative

16 Dec 2010

The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist.

Derevo - Harlekin

Sinister, beautiful show from Fringe favourites

9 Aug 2010

You never quite know where you are with Derevo. The 80 minutes of Harlekin somehow fly by, aided in part by the trio’s willingness to hop around theatrical styles from dance to commedia dell’arte, from mime to psychological terror. It’s apt that such…

No Son of Mine

Family secrets uncovered amid a heap of gags

9 Aug 2010

For anyone who has been embarrassed by a parent or felt shame at their offspring, this is possibly not the show for you. Then again, those scenarios most likely cover everyone, and it would be a shame to miss out on such a pleasing mid-afternoon show.

Jessica Ransom

What would you do with a million?

9 Aug 2010

The bunker that is the Pleasance Cellar has been a launch-pad for several notable Fringe careers. Rhod Gilbert and Jason Manford both performed their debut solo shows in there and last year Jonny Sweet swept to Best Newcomer glory on that stage. Mind…

Don't Run with Scissors

A Betrayal of Penguins can't quite regain of glory of 2009

9 Aug 2010

Like most glorious debut ventures, the ‘difficult second album’ syndrome is a tough nut to batter. And try as they might, A Betrayal of Penguins just can’t quite regain the glory of 2009 in their new show, Don’t Run with Scissors. Some might point to a…

30 top shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010

The List's pick of the Edinburgh Festival programme

23 Jul 2010

From Turner Prize-winning Martin Creed and New York theatre experimentalists The Wooster Group to former wild child Storm Large and promising newcomer Jonny Sweet, this is The List's pick of August’s entertainment.

The Gospel at Colonus promises rousing theatre experience

EIF soul and gospel take on Sophocles' tragedy sure to impress

16 Jul 2010

If there’s a more roof-raising theatre experience at the entire festival, never mind just at the International end of things, we can’t wait to hear about it. Lee Breuer and Bob Telson’s The Gospel at Colonus merges rock’n’roll, soul and gospel to fire…

Beautiful Burnout unites physical theatre with world of boxing

Frantic Assembly and National Theatre of Scotland collaboration

16 Jul 2010

Marking the first co-production between Frantic Assembly and the National Theatre of Scotland, this piece of highly physical theatre has been written by Bryony Lavery whose past credits include A Wedding Story, Breathing Underwater and Her Aching Heart.

David Leddy's Sub Rosa

Gothic late-night promenade through Masonic lodge

16 Jul 2010

This gothic Victorian promenade show takes a small audience on a late-night tour of a Masonic lodge. Ghosts lead you through hidden rooms and into derelict corners, the darkness beyond getting more profound as the intensity of your anxiety rises with…

Edinburgh Festival 2010: More Fringe show highlights

Some of the shows to look out for at the Fringe

16 Jul 2010

With over 2,400 shows to choose from at this years Fringe festival, it's all to easy to succumb to the paradox of choice. Here we present our picks for some of the smaller shows that are worth looking out for.

An overview of the 2010 Edinburgh Festivals and their directors

What to expect from Edinburgh in August

15 Jul 2010

Nowhere does a festival quite like Edinburgh, and even with the film folk having long moved out of August, there is more than plenty going on for lovers of art, literature, comedy, theatre, kids entertainment, music, dance and military displays. The…

Seven shows featuring doctors at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010

15 Jul 2010

Dr George Ryegold, Dr Peter Lovatt, Doc Brown, Doctor Brown, Dr Bunhead, Dr Ettrick-Hogg and Doctor Faustus. Are any of these medically-monikered acts for real?

Edinburgh festivals line-ups announced

28 May 2010

Whatever your cultural poison, Edinburgh’s festival circuit has it covered

The Funeralogues

Gently comic with genuine poignancy

19 Aug 2009

Set in a churchy C space, this piece by US actress and playwright Stacy Mayer is a mild-mannered wander through the mind of an obsessive. ‘Stacy’ is captivated by all aspects of the funeral business and will do anything to gatecrash a wake. Gently comic…

Party

Thrusting politicos, talented comics

10 Aug 2009

Seemingly unlike the vast majority of politicians in this country, Tom Basden is a truly honourable man. Having written this tight and hilarious comic play about a gaggle of diverse characters fumbling their way around the formation of a new political…

Janeane Garofalo makes a Fringe debut

Stand-up from a liberal-leaning political satirist

13 Jul 2009

Janeane Garofalo has been to Scotland once before when a former boyfriend appeared in Annie Griffin’s Glasgow-set comic-drama The Book Group in 2002. ‘It was a really beautiful place, but at the time, unfortunately, I had a bit of a drinking problem. I…

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…

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…