Theatre and Sarah Redhead

The Magic Tree

No magic here

21 Aug 2008

From the programme notes, Ursula Rani Sarma's play sounds a dark, yet passionate love story - which just goes to show how misleading a synopsis can be. The Magic Tree explores themes of murder and gang rape and how these experiences destroy lives…

The Bulging Seahorse and Other Grey Matters

21 Aug 2008

Root Experience explores the powerful dilemma of knowledge of impending death versus blissful ignorance. Using audience participation to shape certain scenes, the result is both amusing and thought-provoking. However, the plot lacks plausibility and…

Esoterica

No ordinary card

14 Aug 2008

The paradox of a culture that loves to see magic and the sixth sense at work, while refusing to believe in either of them, becomes particularly apparent when, sitting in a darkened room watching one man appear to read another man’s mind, your brain…

Torn Out Pages

14 Aug 2008

In her 60s youth, fear of shame kept child abuse hidden, but now Elaine (Susan McKenzie) wants to find out the truth from her mother’s ghost. While described as a comedy, the piece is in fact deeply moving as, complemented by music and video, each actor…

I Caught Crabs in Walberswick

14 Aug 2008

Joel Horwood’s hilarious play draws on that ever-amusing tendency of adolescents and parents to regard each other as alien life forms, while portraying one volatile friendship in Walberswick. A funky soundtrack, luminous stage and deadpan narration…

Ten Days . . . That Shook the Kitchen!

14 Aug 2008

A magazine article inspires misfit mum Ruth Rich (Ginny Davis) to conclude that a life of playground politics and petty parent jealousy is definitely not where she belongs. Davis’ monologue, presented in the clipped, matter of fact sentences of a diary…

Death By Chocolate

At least there's chocolate

7 Aug 2008

This interactive murder mystery looks great on paper. The audience, cast in the role of student police officers, are charged to sift through trays of evidence at a murder scene, interview the suspects, and solve the case. Not only is this a chance for…

Upstart Crows

7 Aug 2008

Young Pleasance performs Michael Punter's exploration of the life of Christopher Marlowe, and the writing that shook English theatre and politics. The energetic cast gives its all in elegant period costume, with Matt Jessup particularly likeable as…

The Positive Hour

7 Aug 2008

Braindead Theatre Company performs April de Angelis' play, which explores notions of happiness in a modern world that isn't quite the fulfilling place the women's movement thought it would be. The show gradually warms up to become a moving and absorbing…

Borough Market

7 Aug 2008

The tourists are rife in the city, but tragedy in a wealthy student flat reveals Edinburgh's dark side. Breaking Butterflies company shows potential in a brisk and cleverly structured show, full of dark humour.

Scaramouche Jones

Quintessential English hero finally arrives north of the border

31 Jul 2008

Millennium Fever took hold at the end of the last century, with some people anticipating the end of the world and others a fresh start. But after two world wars, the demise of the British Empire, and dizzying technological advances, England seemed to be…

Lie of the Land

Torben Betts’ fierce poetry finds its natural home on the Fringe

31 Jul 2008

Many of us dream of a simpler existence in the countryside, but the sudden lack of people can be a shock to the system. Inspired by the personal nightmare that followed his own relocation from London, Torben Betts’ new play explores that sense of…

Old People, Children and Animals

19 Jun 2008

NEW WORK Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 19–Sat 21 Jun Many of us have elderly relatives, kids, even pets, but in our busy lives, how much time do we actually spend worrying about their welfare? Certainly, these three groups have rarely appeared on a stage…

The Infinite Pleasures of the Great Unknown

5 Jun 2008

NEW WORK Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 6 & Sat 7 Jun The provocative Dr Mabuse trilogy, made by Fritz Lang in the 1920-30s, was banned by the Nazis, before the filmmaker fled the country. It’s frightening, though unsurprising, that a work steeped in the…

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 Importance of Being Earnest

24 Apr 2008

CLASSIC Dundee Rep, Tue 29 Apr–Sat 3 May There are times when we all wish we had a legitimate excuse to avoid that dreaded visitor, awkward social engagement, or stifling family party. We continue to stay in touch with people we really don’t like…

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…

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…

The Visible Men

14 Feb 2008

NEW WORK Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 16 Feb Contemporary dance and comedy double act are two concepts that aren’t usually found in the same sentence. The two genres appear to attract such widely different types of audiences, and philosophies that…