Allan Radcliffe

Gordon Barr on Bard in the Botanics 2012

The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It to be staged in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens

15 May 2012

This season, for us as we move into our second decade, is all about discovery, exploration and new horizons so we were looking for plays that tied in to those themes. The link to The Tempest is fairly clear but As You Like It covers some similar ground…

Roman Bridge

An unflinchingly claustrophobic production with bold performances and muscular dialogue

9 May 2012

There’s a knowing nod to Samuel Beckett in Martin Travers’ Roman Bridge, the first full production in the National Theatre of Scotland’s Reveal 2012 season. The main protagonists are a pair of ragged-trousered hobos, who cling to each other, eat, sleep…

Enquirer

3 May 2012

Whether by luck or incredible foresight, the National Theatre of Scotland’s exploration of the demise of the newspaper industry couldn’t be playing at a more auspicious time. Entering the top floor of the Hub at Pacific Quay, the first thing that draws…

Further Than the Furthest Thing

Haunting, beautifully-designed production of Zinnie Harris' play

30 Apr 2012

From ripping out the seating for a powerful in-the-round production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus to the Mad Men-style two-storey 1950s maisonette of A Doll’s House, Dundee Rep has often impressed with its bold, imaginative use of design. The company’s…

King Lear

David Hayman heads an impressive ensemble cast in a gripping production of Shakespeare's play

26 Apr 2012

Incredibly, it’s 33 years since David Hayman appeared in a Shakespeare play at the Citz, and his casting here, as the Bard’s aged monarch, raging against the dying of the light, provides a link to that spell in the 1970s-1990s when the Glasgow…

A Streetcar Named Desire

Incredibly dynamic, exhilarating and edgy production from Scottish Ballet

25 Apr 2012

Early on in Scottish Ballet’s audacious adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire it hits home just how persuasively Tennessee Williams’ play has been adapted for non-verbal storytelling. Director Nancy Meckler and choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa have…

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.

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.

For Once

Poignancy and lyricism in play exploring fragility of family unit

7 Apr 2012

The sight of a hyper-realistic kitchen set, complete with fridge, cluttered shelves and fully functional sink usually portends an hour or two of domestic desolation of the kind favoured by the Angry Young Men of 50s/60s British drama. And when the…

Moonlight and Magnolias

Ron Hutchinson's comedy explores the story behind the making of a Hollywood epic

2 Apr 2012

The strange alchemy that sorts screen hits from cinematic turkeys is energetically explored in Ron Hutchinson’s play about the events leading up to the shooting of Hollywood blockbuster, Gone with the Wind. The story behind the filming of Margaret…

The Man Who Lived Twice

Stylish, striking and poignant study of 1930s dramatist Edward Sheldon and actor John Gielgud

28 Mar 2012

For a few years in the early 20th century playwright Edward Sheldon was the toast of Broadway, with melodramas such as Romance notching up lengthy runs and inspiring movies with Garbo and Dietrich. Crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, he withdrew…

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…

Photographer Alan Dimmick - interview

The Scottish photographer discusses his artistic habits and history

14 Mar 2012

What was the first exhibition you went to see? I recall as a very young lad going to the ‘Art Galleries’ at Kelvingrove a lot with my Mum in the late 60s – just remember being amazed. The Robert Mapplethorpe show at the old Stills in the High Street…

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…

Robert Aldrich - Gay Life Stories

Fascinating insight into the lives of gay men and women throughout history

28 Feb 2012

(Thames & Hudson) Gay rights have made huge strides in the West in the past couple of decades and with that has come an increase in the numbers of openly gay celebrities from across the spectrum of public life. But what of the many unsung heroes of…

Roger Ackling - interview

The visual artist's current exhibition features burnt images created using magnifying glasses

3 Feb 2012

What was the first exhibition you went to see? Something at the Wallace Collection, London. Maybe Brueghel. What was your first paid job as an artist? Part time teaching at Wimbledon School of Art. What kind of music do you listen to while…

Passing Through charts encounter between a magician and a young woman

Theatre romcom two-hander from Peapod Productions

2 Feb 2012

Striking out on your own can be tough. But for actor Philip Kingscott, who set up Peapod Productions in 2010, the gamble has been worthwhile. Last year’s touring production The Garden was a five-star success, leading Kingscott to commission a new play…

The Infamous Brothers Davenport

Captures excitement of Victorian public séance but makes for unsatisfactory theatre

1 Feb 2012

Some 52 members of the crew on this co-production between Vox Motus and the Lyceum were required to sign secrecy clauses, so it’s no surprise that the show has its fair share of ‘how-did-they-do-that’ moments. In one scene, a table rises from the ground…

Preview of 2012 - Martin Creed: All the Bells

Turner Prize winner invites Brits to ring in the Olympics

6 Jan 2012

Controversial he may be but conceptual artist Martin Creed has always been brutally honest with the paying public. His most famous work to date, Work No. 227: the lights going on and off, did exactly what it said on the tin and helped the Glasgow-raised…

The King and I

This stylish production of the musical classic can't disguise the script's patronising tone

6 Jan 2012

Like most of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s quintet of hit musicals, the deceptively light surface action in The King and I struggles to keep the lid on the problematic themes rumbling away underneath. Where the culture clash between prim, feisty governess…

The Lost Sock Princess

Puppet Lab's festive show for under-sevens is infectious, interactive fun

19 Dec 2011

Ever wondered what happens to your socks when they disappear from the washing machine? Puppet Lab provides some highly persuasive answers to this conundrum in a big-hearted entertainment pitched at children under the age of seven. The show kicks off in…

Interview: Simon Hart, artistic director of the Manipulate Visual Theatre Festival

Highlights of the 2012 theatre and puppetry festival programme

19 Dec 2011

What can we expect from this year’s Manipulate programme? A great festival with an eclectic international mix: of stylish and sophisticated object theatre, digital projections, animations – and lots of water – in the Theatre Sans Soucis’ Hamletmachine…

Interview: Kirsty Whiten

Breeder Badlands show at Edinburgh Printmakers

19 Dec 2011

What made you want to be an artist? The uniform. And the pension plan. Your new solo show, Breeder Badlands, explores the complexities of the familial unit. What was the original inspiration for the exhibition? This work is really personal – friends and…

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…

Cinderella (Dundee Rep)

Witty script, excellent performances and bold lack of concern for tradition

12 Dec 2011

Writer Phil Porter has taken perhaps the best-loved of all festive tales, pulled it apart and reassembled it with a bold lack of concern for tradition. Yes, folks, this is Cinderella but not as we know it. For starters, this version is set on a…

Cinderella (King's Theatre, Edinburgh)

Panto dream time Allan Stewart, Andy Gray, Grant Stott and Paul Elliot strike gold once again

8 Dec 2011

The great strength of the King’s panto, year upon year, is its ability to hook audiences of all ages and tastes. The script, co-written by Paul Elliott and everyone’s favourite dame, Allan Stewart, features great dollops of slapstick and toilet humour…

Liam Rudden of the Brunton Theatre’s Aladdin - interview

The writer-director shares his insight into the panto-creating process

6 Dec 2011

What are the challenges of adapting such a well-known story? The biggest challenge is ensuring that the narrative is not lost in amongst all the routines, gags and songs. Finding the right routines and songs to advance the story is crucial. How does…

St Andrew's Day - The best art from Scotland

Our editors pick highlights from Scottish art through history

25 Nov 2011

Virtually unknown until the late 1940s The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch (to give the full name of the painting more commonly known as The Skating Minister) is now something of a Scottish cultural icon. The image was created by…

Top Hat

Loving tribute to the Fred'n'Ginger classic, starring Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen

24 Nov 2011

According to legend, screen hoofer Fred Astaire was such a perfectionist that, during the 40th take of a scene from Swing Time (1936), his partner Ginger Rogers’ feet started to bleed through her satin slippers. In this stage adaptation of one of…

Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh reopens

Three-year rejuvenation makes collection more accessible

18 Nov 2011

It’s a starry night in early November, and I’m about to get my first taster of the newly refurbished Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The imposing sandstone building that sprawls across an entire block of Edinburgh’s Queen Street has been closed…

South Pacific

New York revival with refreshing emphasis on character in Rodgers and Hammerstein classic

15 Nov 2011

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer-winning musical set in and around a US naval base during World War II includes so many songs that have become standards that the plot seems almost surplus to requirements. You can almost feel the smiles of recognition…

Gayle Chong-Kwan: The Obsidian Isle

The photographer talks about her latest exhibition, inspired by the blind third century poet Ossian

15 Nov 2011

The Obsidian Isle documents a fictional island on which exist Scotland’s lost and destroyed buildings and places. What inspired this? As part of a photography award I received in 2009 I had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Scotland. I…

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Abi Morgan explores tensions between faith and science in a fascinating but frustrating new play

3 Nov 2011

The tensions that lie beneath the serene surface of convent life have proved fertile territory for writers and dramatists down the years, from Powell and Pressburger’s psychological horror Black Narcissus to Muriel Spark’s Watergate satire The Abbess of…

Hiding in Full View - Alison Watt interview

The painter discusses her latest exhibition, a response to American photographer Francesca Woodman

21 Oct 2011

What first made you want to be a painter? My father is a painter, so the idea of looking at and making paintings has always been a very normal and natural activity for me. The place I felt most at home as a child was in my father’s studio. It seemed to…

Saturday Night - Tramway, Glasgow, Sat 8 Oct 2011

Vanishing Point's Interiors follow-up explores similar themes but lacks direction

21 Oct 2011

Vanishing Point’s lovely, imaginative 2009 work, Interiors, revolved around a disparate group of characters at a dinner party. As the audience were cast in the role of voyeurs spying through lit windows the scene was played out in complete silence, the…

Apocalypse! - John Clancy's 'glamorously ugly cabaret'

Cabaret at the end of the world takes aim at complacency and hypocrisy

21 Oct 2011

There’s an inspired idea at the heart of John Clancy’s ‘glamorously ugly cabaret’, that, with a couple of tweaks and the right home, could develop into a truly anarchic calling card for new Scottish company The Occasional Cabaret. The premise of a…

Central Station: Charlie Anderson

Provocative rising artist with an eye on contemporary culture

21 Oct 2011

Since graduating in 2009, Charlie Anderson has pissed off art collectors, curators, graffiti writers, three world-renowned artists, been threatened by a leading London gallerist, and has been punched in the face by an Edinburgh artist. He has also won…

The Hunted - Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Sat 15 Oct 2011

Enjoyably scary but slightly confused fairy tale mashup

20 Oct 2011

At first glance the new production from acclaimed young person’s company Visible Fictions seems a straightforward, if well-crafted, thriller, perfect for the spooky season. A wolf is at large, preying on the residents of a timeless fairy tale village.

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off

Timely revival of Liz Lochhead's seminal allegorical play

21 Sep 2011

Liz Lochhead’s powerful, playful dissection of a key chapter in Scotland’s history may have debuted at the height of the Thatcherite 80s, but the play’s central themes – the pernicious effects of sectarianism, the Scots’ complex relationship with our…

New stage adaptation of Para Handy stories set for Scottish tour

Writer and director John Bett on timeless appeal of Neil Munro tale

16 Sep 2011

My Skye granny was an inveterate haunter of provincial auction houses and would often return home with baskets of books which nobody wanted and which a wily auctioneer had partnered with household items of more immediate interest to buyers. These books…

An Evening with David Sedaris

Bona fide literary superstar reads from his works

23 Aug 2011

David Sedaris is that rarest of beasts: a bona fide literary superstar and recording artist who regularly appears on TV shows such as Letterman, has performed at Carnegie Hall and has the fanbase to be able to sell out a week-long run at Edinburgh’s…

Ali Cook

Old-fashioned with homage to TV magic shows

23 Aug 2011

A familiar face from TV magic shows, Cook’s hour is determinedly old-fashioned with homage paid to the polyester-haired showmen of his youth in one sketch. Cook’s sleight-of-hand is impressive, while his elucidation of some of the world’s greatest…

Mary Christ - The Unmusical!

Crude, unfunny innuendo from excitable drag queen

23 Aug 2011

Sharing a black box theatre with Mary Christ is like being trapped in a cupboard with a vampire. The excitable drag queen gets up close and personal with her audience, divulging details of her sex life, but there’s no satire here, just 45 minutes of…

I, Malvolio

Revisiting Shakespeare’s maligned steward

22 Aug 2011

Appearing in the latter half of a Festival that has made its theatre audience work harder than in previous years, Tim Crouch keeps us on the edge of our seats with a show that probes cultural tastes through the figure of Shakespeare’s much maligned…

Untitled Love Story

Stories of love and loss that fail to catch fire

17 Aug 2011

Untitled Love Story is the first of David Leddy’s productions for years to be set in a conventional theatre. And, while the Venice-set meditation on lost love contains the lyrical writing and formal innovations that have made his past work so exciting…

Gareth Richards

A lack of confidence on the comedian's part undermines the good-quality material

15 Aug 2011

A Best Newcomer nominee from 2010, Richards should have more faith in his material. His topical routines, while nicely observed, are delivered in an apologetic manner that doesn’t inspire confidence. He seems more relaxed when performing his clever…

Delete the Banjax

The sketch group appear to be having fun, but the audience isn't in on it

15 Aug 2011

A couple of smart musical numbers and an inspired repeat joke involving a flipchart can’t distract the overall feebleness of this sketch quartet’s material. An unfunny extended pub quiz skit is a particular lowlight, and the excitably shrill…

The Tempest

Anarchic comedy showcases Korean theatrical traditions and retains spirit of the original

14 Aug 2011

Shakespeare’s swansong enjoys a unique status in the playwright’s canon. Part magical realist fantasy, part forerunner to the absurdist tragicomedy, part wry comment on the nature of playwriting itself, The Tempest floats outside of the classifications…