Amy Russell

Africa in Motion 2011 animation strand wins the day

Burkinabé animated film L'arbre aux esprits (Tree of Spirits)

Animation is a small but rapidly growing genre in African cinema. L’arbre aux esprits (Tree of Spirits) is one of several animated films to be screened at Africa in Motion 2011 as part their children’s programme, taking place on Saturday. The story…

Yours, Isabel

Strong script brings together romance and female independence

Set in1940s America and based on a real correspondence, this play subverts the classic war time romance of pining love letters to give an altogether more nuanced portrayal of the relationship between Isabel and her traditionally minded boyfriend Nick.

Mark O'Rowe's lyrical and violent play Terminus to be revived at the Citz

The drama pairs Tarantino-esque clashes with rhyming monolgues

Wondering what would happen if someone fell from one of the many construction cranes looming over Dublin at the time, writer/director Mark O’Rowe set himself a challenge by starting his play Terminus at the height of the action and let his imagination…

Yo! Picasso: Beside Picasso / Picasso’s Women

Ramshorn Theatre presents two plays focusing on artist's turbulent life

Picasso is taken out of the gallery and on to the stage as the Ramshorn presents two plays focusing on the turbulent life behind the canvas. Yo! Picasso! opens with the artist’s death, as he enters into a state of limbo and is met by Sabartés, his long…

Our Share of Tomorrow

Strong performances illuminate study of love and loss

A girl arrives on a quay looking for the man that loved her mother 15 years ago and never stopped waiting. Her mother is dead and she is there to tell him that he is her father. Intriguingly, she is accompanied by a recently befriended and much older…

Africa in Motion 2012 documentary strand takes youth as theme

Waited For, Waliden: Enfant d’Autrui and Le Collier et la Perle

Friday 4 November saw the second day of African documentary screenings at the maze-like Edinburgh School of Art. Friday’s three part screenings focused on festival’s theme of youth and children through the exploration of family and the different…

Africa in Motion 2011 begins with mystical grace

Nacer Khemir's Bab’Aziz kicks off the celebration of African cinema

The launch of this year’s Africa in Motion film festival kicked off at Filmhouse on Wednesday night with a bustling, brightly dressed crowd that would not have seemed out of place in a humming African market. The warm atmosphere of festivity and…

Africa in Motion film festival 2011

Pegase, Tree of Spirits and an appearance by director Obi Emelonye among festival highlights

‘The first criteria is that they are excellent films,’ explains Lizelle Bisschoff, founder of the Africa in Motion film festival, when asked about the selection process for the fest. African cinema is still an unknown factor for many UK filmgoers, and…

7 Day Drunk

Shallow attempt at drunken creativity

Performance artist Bryony Kimmings sets out to explore the connection between alcohol and creativity. In this she uses art made during her experiment to form the basis of a show, which, while colourful and energetic, fails to bring any original insight…

The World According to Bertie dramatises Alexander McCall Smith novel

Scotland Street novels take to the stage in their home city of Edinburgh

In case you need to be reminded of the Edinburgh that exists beyond the frenzy of the festivals, Andy Jordan Productions is bringing the fourth in Alexander McCall Smith’s Scotland Street novels to the stage with a faithful adaptation, recreating the…

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs in Institut Français at Edinburgh 2011

A little of slice of Gallic culture at the heart of the New Town

Imagine a stripey-shirted onion seller left Brittany for Edinburgh many years ago, and managed to peddle his wares so successfully that he bought a house on Randolph Crescent where his descendants still live today. This is the world that the Institut…

Dead Man's Cell Phone

Director Stasi Schaeffer brings Sarah Ruhl's play to Scotland

A women picks up a cell phone left in a diner, and, after realising that the man it belonged to has died, finds herself pulled into the world he left behind, reconciling fractured relationships and making her own connections along the way. Written by…

Chouf Ouchouf, Zimmermann & de Perrot

Fusion of traditional and contemporary technique and design for over 7s

The Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger are bringing a slice of Morocco to Stirling this month – perfect for those who need to be reminded of life beyond wellies and overcoats. While there is no story to follow in the traditional sense in Chouf Ouchouf, each…

Ramshorn Theatre stages The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Production recreates radioplay using Douglas Adams' original scripts

DON’T PANIC – the Ramshorn has finally gained permission to bring The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy back to the stage, after Disney purchased the rights over 10 years ago. A collaboration between the Strathclyde Theatre Group and the Radio Theatre…

The Bookie

‘It’s my first one,’ says playwright Douglas Maxwell of his new production, The Bookie. ‘My Fisher-Price “My First Musical”, it’s a proper learning curve.’ In a script that gives a Scottish flavour to Vegas-style razzle dazzle, a big time casino tycoon…

Barockestra: Rocking the Classics

Enthusiastic rock take on well-known classical pieces

Rock interpretations of well-known classical pieces from Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the like featuring a full rock band, opera singer and ballerinas to give a foot-tapping tour of the greats. Overlaid with a cheesy humour that you could only…

Miranda

Bollywood meets Shakespeare in this twist on the Tempest

A naïve young actress full of Bollywood sass is recruited to join a British theatre company in their production of The Tempest. What follows is a rather adolescent ghost story of improbable romance and revenge. Ankur Bahl gives an animated performance…

Bud Take The Wheel I Feel A Song Coming On

Resonant family drama in the heart of the English countryside

A son returns home to the country after an absence of eight years with the intention of developing the local mill to create new housing in the area. Facing up to an abusive father stuck in a dying trade, a sister boiling with teenage rage and a mother…

Mary & William

Intimate rendition is by turns humorous and poignant

Actress Mary MacDonald Hamill performs a biographical piece woven together with excerpts from Shakespeare which provide a lyrical commentary to the narrative. Following the story of her life and career from childhood, this intimate rendition is by turns…

The Lonesome Foxtrot

While imaginative, lacks precision

Adapted from the Russian story ‘Fro’ by Andrei Platonov, a young wife pines for her husband who has travelled to the far east to help create a new world, and devises a plan to bring him back. This 1930s-styled production relies heavily on symbolic…

A Corner Of The Ocean

Vibrant physical theatre that’s set to make waves

This dynamic production by Jammy Voo ricochets between the lives of four different women struggling to establish their sense of self and find stability in a turbulent world. Each is touched by the news of a man’s disappearance during a diving accident…

Poem Without A Hero

The first stage production of a Russian masterpiece

Translated from the original Russian with a graceful fluidity by DM Thomas this production is a bold step towards furthering the appreciation of Russia’s highly acclaimed 20th century poet Anna Akhmatova by an English speaking audience. Brought to the…

Stick Man Live on Stage

Based on the hugely successful children’s book by Julia Donaldson, Stick Man is the story of a loveable anti-hero who lives in the family tree ‘with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three’. But when a dog whisks an unsuspecting Stick Man…

The List Operators for Kids prepare for the Edinburgh Fringe

Aussie comic duo out for fun without the moral lesson

The List Operators for Kids have taken Australia by storm and are now preparing to face the Fringe with a show that dares to be funny, energetic, rude and absolutely 100% not educational in the slightest. Double act Matt Kelly and Richard Higgins…

Bette/Cavett preview

70s television and Holywood royalty come to the stage in Grant Smeaton’s acclaimed show

When you go to the theatre – unless you’ve bought tickets for a multimedia extravaganza – you don’t generally expect to watch television. So you might be surprised at being pulled through the TV screen to become part of the live studio audience watching…