Greer Ogston

Inside Yerma

Singing, dancing and despair

21 Aug 2008

Lorca’s play, widely regarded as a metaphor for the Spanish civil war, deals with grand themes of honour, passion, desperation and love. In the Spanish campo, Yerma is unable to conceive with a husband she does not love and feels entombed in her house…

The Gymnast

Harrowing history makes for unsatisfying theatre

14 Aug 2008

This curious collage of movement, speech, sound and lighting FX creates an impressionistic portrayal of life under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Opening with a series of statistics and dates, we are bombarded with the major losses and severity of…

I Love You, Bro

Tragedy for the dotcom generation

14 Aug 2008

Johnny (Ash Flanders) just wants to be someone, and online he can be anyone he wants. What starts out as a humorous look at socialising in the digital era swiftly morphs into a dark analysis of our atomised society. After a chance online meeting…

Lynn Ferguson – Heart and Sole

14 Aug 2008

Lynn Ferguson’s witty play deals with loneliness, relationships and one woman’s love for a fish named Dave. The star’s effortless talent for characterisation allows her to switch between fish fanatic, brash west coast wifey and timid teacher, mixing wit…

Christie in Love

14 Aug 2008

Howard Brenton’s play follows the police interrogation of John Reginald Christie, infamous serial killer and rapist. The actors submerge themselves in the roles of the repugnant Christie, an anxious constable (Marco Violino) and domineering inspector…

Confessions and Obsessions of a Thirtysomething Divorcee

14 Aug 2008

In this light-hearted rant about being a thirtysomething woman Xara (Melanie Sherwood) poses questions about love, sex and relationships with a wry sense of humour. With clichés such as dildos, shoes and support pants thrown in, this is a warm-hearted…

The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer

Shaking things up

7 Aug 2008

Belly dancing, spanking, stripping and politics are the intriguing ingredients of this rags-to-riches tale in which object of media notoriety Nadira Aleiva (who was mistress to the controversial former ambassador in Uzbekistan, Craig Murray) tells her…

Lynn Ferguson - The Plan

Pure dead good

7 Aug 2008

Lynn Ferguson knows how to spin a good yarn. Her second theatrical offering at this year's Fringe is a mesmerising, character-based dark comedy in which Death kills time in her office, listening to the news and marking off the fatalities on her…

Tied Up in Knotts

7 Aug 2008

Having spent her career trying to escape the shadow of her prominent Hollywood dad, Don Knotts, Karen's one-woman show is, ironically enough, all about her famous father. Knotts attempts to engage with her audience by conjuring up characters from her…

The Elephant Man

7 Aug 2008

Mary Swan and Saul Jaffe's play confronts us with the true story of Joseph Merrick, charting his struggle from circus freak to medical marvel. Jaffe uses his physicality to manoeuvre himself around Sam Pine's inspired set, which comes complete with…

Limbo/Zarraberri

8 May 2008

TRANSLATION Òran Mór, Glasgow, Mon 12 May–Sat 17 May In the 14th century, Dante described limbo as the ‘first circle of hell’ in The Divine Comedy. This 800-year-old concept of limbo, in which unbaptised babies who die are said to be stuck between…

That Night Follows Day

24 Apr 2008

NEW WORK Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 1–Sat 3 May ‘My own observations show that we have rated the powers of children too low and that there is no knowing what they cannot be given credit for.’ Freud believed growing up became a matter of submitting to…

Flight Path

1 Nov 2007

NEW WRITING Traverse, Edinburgh, Tue 6–Sat 10 Nov David Watson’s new play, presented by Out of Joint, explores Britain’s youth from a multi-generational perspective. The piece presents 12 months in 12 scenes depicting the life of an 18-year-old…

Blood Brothers

18 Oct 2007

MUSICAL Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 27 Oct There’s no flying car, singing animals or pyrotechnics, yet Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, which explores class, poverty and unemployment, remains one of our longest running musicals. Just…

Playhouse Creatures

18 Oct 2007

REVIVAL Dundee Rep, Sat 27 Oct–Sat 10 Nov April De Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures focuses on the first women in theatre. According to actress Irene McDougall, who plays Mary Betterton, the play ‘looks at women’s struggle in a male world. There are…

Desire Under The Elms

18 Oct 2007

AMERICAN CLASSIC Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 25 Oct–Sat 17 Nov According to Jeremy Raison, artistic director of the Citz, theatre is about conveying ideas through stories. ‘I think now there’s a need for great stories and to see huge passion…

Waiting for Groucho

4 Oct 2007

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 17–Sat 20 Oct NEW WORK It may be hard to believe now, but the Marx brothers shocked audiences in the 1930s. As American critic Roger Ebert commented, ‘How much more anarchic the Marx brothers must have seemed in their time…

Beneath You Spider Girls Are Everywhere

4 Oct 2007

A report from the National Consumer Council warned that by the age of ten, many children have become brand aware shoppers and labels can become a dangerous obsession. Birds of Paradise’s latest production examines this phenomenon basing their latest…

Game?

23 Aug 2007

If you’ve ever been to a dinner party and wanted to scream in frustration then this creative company, Tangled Feet, have the play for you. What begins as a get together to welcome the neighbours soon morphs into a sharp, surreal insight into the…

Scarborough

23 Aug 2007

An ever controversial issue, teacher/pupil relationships are by no means a novel subject matter, but you will rarely have experienced a performance quite so up close and personal as Scarborough. The audience line the walls of a very intimate seedy hotel…

Skolka

23 Aug 2007

Three mail order bride applicants sell themselves to the audience, and before you know it you’ve followed their life history and found out exactly how they ended up smiling at a camera in desperation. This physically enthralling piece draws you into the…

The Importance of Shoes

23 Aug 2007

A story of obsession, infidelity and wondrous shoes, this piece uncovers the bad situations people can get into. With sharp, snappy dialogue exchanges the play stylishly skips along, light-heartedly exploring our faults and vices. Shoes become the…

The Last

23 Aug 2007

The last party, the last drink, the last time for, well everything. The end of the world is ‘fucking nigh’. The world is literally counting down to the end as a group of friends spend their last hysterical hours together. Filled with drugs, drink and…

Best Western

Rich Hall's motel life

23 Aug 2007

Although listed under comedy and written/directed by Fringe favourite, comedian Rich Hall, Best Western is far from a light-hearted romp. It looks at two interlinking families in a middle America Motel, where the owners are being forced to sell and the…

Tell

23 Aug 2007

This stylish piece depicts the abject loneliness of two peoples’ lives as they try to recapture former happiness in their own unique ways. Alfred recounts memories of his honeymoon in Paris while Vivien dreams of a garden of her own. The couple draws…

The Swingers

23 Aug 2007

This inventive mix of film and live performance is a comical romp about one couple’s foray into the seductive world of swinging. Film sequences are used to hilarious effect with perfect timing and some brilliant character acting. The German porno is a…

Touch by Bill Dare

23 Aug 2007

Touch is a charmingly sweet play, though not sickeningly so. It’s about a meeting between two lonely souls in unusual circumstances. Their quirks and foibles somehow fit together in a case of opposites attract. The two characters, Emma (Lucinda…

POPPEA

16 Aug 2007

One of the most powerful leaders in the world abuses his position by having an affair and ignoring the will of the people – it’s a concept as familiar today as it was 2000 years ago for the Romans, on whose machinations Claudio Monteverdi based his…

Jihad: The Musical

16 Aug 2007

The magic of the musical genre is that you can get away with so much. If you can’t say it, sing it. This show is a perfect example. Catchy songs like ‘The Jihad Jive’ whisk us through Sayed’s story. In it we follow a young naïve Afghan flower seller who…

Habagat

16 Aug 2007

Four sisters have just buried their father in a banana box and are facing life together on an island, which is deserted save for its angry natives. Dealing with sisterly love and hate, greed and colonialism, the play explores the devastating effect the…

Greedy Scratchers

16 Aug 2007

From stone age to space age, this piece examines human life through the ages by focusing on one family. Beginning as homo sapiens relying on primal instincts, like sex, food and power, the piece explores how humans have evolved physically, emotionally…

Transformation

16 Aug 2007

Transformation is a compelling tale of one woman’s extraordinary life. An actor, dancer and environmental campaigner explains what she calls the transformation cycle, beginning in chaos and progressing full circle to order. Using her physicality and…

Dickens Unplugged

16 Aug 2007

Unless you were brought up in a workhouse, you’ll be familiar with at least one of Dickens’ many tales. Beginning with Oliver Twist, this musical, is not quite as Dickens intended. We embark upon a full speed tour of his books, ending with A Christmas…

What If?

16 Aug 2007

Narrated by Naveed Khan, this topical drama explores the modern phenomenon of My Face, a social networking site on which socially inept Neil (James Kenston Cooper) spends most of his day exploring and searching for She (Alexis Terry), the coffee shop…

Mile End

16 Aug 2007

Examining the darker side of life that lurks in dreams, sinister shadows and our own minds we meet one man who has an unsettling nightmare, seeing a red scarf on the tracks. When his wife comes home with the same scarf he begins to take notice. It looks…

Age of Angels

16 Aug 2007

This piece explores one cataclysmic moment during which ten lives collide. The school kids’ ball goes over the fence and across a busy road, beginning an unstoppable chain. One actor tells the story from multiple perspectives, creating each character in…

Apollo/Dionysus

16 Aug 2007

‘Naked’, is the first word that springs to mind but prurience is slowly replaced by curiosity as philosophical questions are posed; about right and wrong, good and bad, religion, love and family. This piece examines the age-old relationship between man…

The Racket

16 Aug 2007

Richard Walker’s one-man, two character, show begins with Simon, a war correspondent, sharing his views on war and the suffering he has seen in Baghdad. No amount of Scotch can make up for the never-ending ‘racket’. The second half looks at free spirit…

Special

16 Aug 2007

This provocative play, which deals with power, trust and love, offers an insight into one couple’s increasingly adventurous foray into S&M. The sexual acts are graphic, so this is not for the easily embarrassed. However, this is not sordid sex, it’s…

Attempt 3.4

16 Aug 2007

A group of enthusiastic young actors attempt to create their own city from nothing. Their high energy levels and creative characters are fun to watch for the first ten minutes, but you can’t help but feel they are enjoying themselves more than we are as…

Famous Last Words

16 Aug 2007

Two poets and a soldier face their mortality as an angry mob draws ever closer to the castle in which they are hiding. The soldier wants to die fighting and the poets wish to die writing, but before they go, they all want to tell their stories and leave…

Ravenhill For Breakfast

16 Aug 2007

With a new 30-minute play every morning, breakfast doesn’t get much fresher. While all the plays are connected, they each stand alone as a 30 minute rehearsed reading. Woman in Love tells the story of a dying man in hospital and those closest to him. A…

Long Time Dead

9 Aug 2007

‘On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude.’ With these words, French climber Lionel…

Night Time

9 Aug 2007

At night the world becomes a different place as perfectly innocent objects appear sinister, shadows create threatening corners and noises are amplified. It’s easy for your imagination to get the better of you, an experience Chris (Kananu Kirimi) is all…

Yellow Moon

9 Aug 2007

David Greig’s Yellow Moon is a modern teenage romance for the Burberry generation. Directed by Guy Hollands, the talented cast of four slip convincingly in and out of character as they efficiently narrate the chapters in this episode of a young man’s…

Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision

9 Aug 2007

Lycra, spandex, cheesy hosts, uber-innuendo and even a recorded welcome from Terry Wogan himself; it is indeed, almost Eurovision. There’s a palpable sense of excitement as badges are distributed, flags and clackers are sold and the cast do a warm up…

Hugh Hughes in . . . Story of a Rabbit

9 Aug 2007

Self described ‘emerging artist from Wales’, the endearing Hugh Hughes eagerly addresses the age old question of death: what it is, what happens, and how differently we all react to the inevitable. He intermingles the story of a rabbit’s death with that…

PIT

9 Aug 2007

Meat, sand and heat are the main ingredients for Megan Barker’s fascinating play. Three actresses tell the story of one woman’s struggle through life as social workers take her children, her man treats her with no respect, her baby is ill (literally…

Blood Confession

9 Aug 2007

It’s priests versus police as these long established institutions collide when an old murder investigation is re-opened. Two priests arrive at the local police station to sign some papers and report vandalism only to find they are to be interrogated for…

Darkness Within

9 Aug 2007

A young cast of three explore the bleak existence of three stereotyped characters; the nympho prostitute, junkie rent-boy and institutionalised manic depressive. By exposing each character’s inner-monologue in various situations within their lives, they…