Mark Fisher
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Davey Anderson discusses the upcoming New Plays from China strand
17 Apr 2013
The world premiere performances showcase the talents of three Chinese playwrights
It’s not often that Scotland gets to see a Chinese world premiere before China does, but it’s about to happen three times. Joining forces with the National Theatre of Scotland, Glasgow’s lunchtime theatre season A Play, A Pie and a Pint is presenting a…
Behaviour festival features work by five of Scotland’s rising stars in Scottish theatre
19 Mar 2013
New work from Gary McNair, Claire Cunningham, Rob Drummond, Nic Green and Kieran Hurley
Five of Scotland’s most promising theatre makers have each been cultivating an intriguing new show, as part of the National Theatre of Scotland and The Arches’ Auteurs Project. Ahead of their first outings at the Behaviour festival, Mark Fisher asks…
A guide to Scotland's cabaret, circus, magic and puppetry festivals and organisations
8 Nov 2012
Groups and festivals working in live art, including Conflux, Club Noir, Manipulate and Surge
Cabaret artiste The neo-burlesque scene has gone mainstream thanks in no small part to the efforts of Club Noir, which runs events all over the country from its base at the O2 Academy in Glasgow. Claiming a place in Guinness World Records for being…
Ten collaborative music, theatre and film projects from Scotland
7 Nov 2012
Including Speed of Light, Pass the Spoon and Whatever Gets You Through the Night
Pass the Spoon. It sounded like an unlikely dish, with ingredients including off-beat artist David Shrigley (who wrote the libreto), modernist composer David Fennessy and Magnetic North director Nicholas Bone working with the Red Note Ensemble, but when…
A guide to children's theatre companies in Scotland
7 Nov 2012
Organisations in Scotland putting on shows for and by young people
One of Scottish theatre’s great success stories is the number of exceptional children’s companies to have emerged over the last 20 years. Catherine Wheels, Frozen Charlotte, Licketyspit, the Puppet Lab, Starcatchers, TAG, Visible Fictions and Wee…
A guide to the best upcoming Scottish theatre talent
6 Nov 2012
The brightest and most multitalented young stage talents in Scotland
Joe Douglas After graduating in 2006 with a degree in theatre directing, Douglas got an early break when he became a trainee director in residence with the National Theatre of Scotland. His production of Dennis Kelly’s children’s show Our Teacher’s a…
Interview: Julia Donaldson on her role as children’s laureate
2 Nov 2012
Author of The Gruffalo, Superworm, Stick Man and Tiddler
The job of a Children’s laureate is never done. It’s not enough for Julia Donaldson to produce her celebrated picture books – favourites such as The Gruffalo, Superworm, Stick Man and Tiddler with their gorgeous illustrations by Axel Scheffler – and…
Big Noise - The community orchestra for children under 12
31 Oct 2012
Music group draws inspiration from ‘El Sistema’ philosophy of Venezuela
Musical director Francis Cummings takes his place in front of the 40-strong orchestra and raises his arms, poised to launch into Henry Purcell’s ‘Rondeau’ from the Abdelazar Suite. ‘No counting to three, because that’s for children,’ he says. The…
Why has Creative Scotland been under sustained fire during 2012?
18 Sep 2012
The questions surrounding the debate over Scotland's arts funding body
The appearance of Creative Scotland’s chief executive Andrew Dixon in front of the Scottish Parliament’s education and culture committee on Tuesday 18 September reflects the arts community’s deep concern about the competence of the national funding…
Wonderland from Vanishing Point theatre deals in pornography and voyeurism
17 Aug 2012
A new show from Glasgow theatre company set for UK run
Mark Fisher flies to Italy to find Glasgow’s Vanishing Point raising the Neapolitan temperature with Wonderland
It’s So Nice explores relationship between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I
23 Jul 2012
French performers are aiming to throw light on history at Edinburgh Fringe
Talk about coals to Newcastle. Barbara Sylvain and Lula Béry are a French/Belgian double act who thought it’d be a good idea to bring a show about Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I to Scotland. The 16th-century tale of the francophone Mary and her…
Peter Michael Marino discusses Desperately Seeking the Exit
23 Jul 2012
The writer/performer who’s hoping to turn a stage disaster into a Fringe success
It’s a classic case of triumphing in the face of disaster. In 2007, Peter Michael Marino’s adaptation of the Madonna movie Desperately Seeking Susan, opened in London’s West End and, after devastating reviews, crawled through 13 days before closing…
How to make your Edinburgh Fringe show a success
19 Jul 2012
Author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide Mark Fisher dispenses good advice
A couple of years ago, I was commissioned by Methuen Drama to write The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide, a 280-page manual published earlier this year and described by Lyn Gardner of the Guardian as "a wonderfully practical but also inspirational book…
Interview: Playwrights David Greig and David Harrower share a bill at Edinburgh Fringe
11 Jul 2012
Scottish playwrights share a bill at Edinburgh for first time
It took centuries of endeavour before the first man ran a four-minute mile. Yet as soon as he did, it happened again just two months later. Since Roger Bannister broke that barrier in 1959, many athletes have done the same. That, says playwright David…
The tragic number - Fringe shows charting the musicians who died aged 27
11 Jul 2012
Trio of Edinburgh Fringe shows explore the haunted number
John Kielty is sitting in an Edinburgh bar, listing the supernatural properties of the number 27. ‘It’s the cube of three; three being the original magic number,’ he says. ‘The moon orbits the earth every 27 days. The sun revolves on its axis every 27…
Théâtre du Soleil's epic Jules Verne-inspired 2012 Edinburgh Festival show
11 Jul 2012
Serge Nicolaï on Les Naufragés du Fol Espoir (Aurores)
Multi-talented actor Serge Nicolaï tells Mark Fisher why four hours is positively speedy in the egalitarian and epic world of Ariane Mnouchkine and Théâtre du Soleil
Interview: Alan Cumming on staging a one-man Macbeth
25 May 2012
Aberfeldy’s most famous son on the toil and trouble of Shakespeare
How much doom and gloom can one man take? For most actors, it would be enough of a mental burden to take on the role of Macbeth, the warrior king whose ambition leads to self-destruction. But for Alan Cumming, that’s only the start of it. In a new…
Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms to reopen in time for Fringe 2012
25 Apr 2012
18-month refit and staff changes at George Street venue
Say what you like about modern-day dress sense, but when Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms returns to life, today’s fashionistas will have some stiff competition. Yes, they’ll be excited about the opening ceilidh in July and the high-profile Fringe line-up…
Steel Magnolias
27 Feb 2012
Play made famous by big-screen adaptation is slight and horribly sentimental
You should maybe seek a second opinion on this one. Judging by the full house and the warm reception, the Rep’s decision to stage Robert Harling’s play – best known for the big-screen adaptation with Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton – demonstrates a…
Mark Fisher on The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide
1 Feb 2012
Theatre critic's book of essential advice to aspiring Fringe performers
1 Choosing a title takes ages It’s as straightforward as they come, yet The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide was a title born of months of discussion. The subtitle, How to Make Your Show a Success, was arrived at no quicker. My editor couldn’t believe…
Preview of 2012 - King Lear
6 Jan 2012
New Citizens Theatre boss Dominic Hill brushes up his Shakespeare
Take on the Citizens Theatre and you take on the past. Any artistic director of the Glasgow institution can only be aware of the building’s history. Opened as the Royal Princess’s Theatre in 1848, it became home to James Bridie’s Citizens’ company in…
Theatre critic Mark Fisher on the Shakespeare productions planned for 2012
13 Dec 2011
Alan Cumming, David Hayman and more to stage the Bard next year
In 1964, the Polish critic Jan Kott published Shakespeare, our Contemporary. The book caused a stir for framing a long-dead playwright through the lens of 20th century totalitarianism. Director Peter Brook was delighted to find a commentator who could…
Jackie and the Beanstalk
7 Dec 2011
Johnny McKnight's panto manages to entertain while challenging traditional gender roles
According to panto dame Dott Von Trott, things have got so bad in the austerity-stricken pantosphere that ‘parents in Bridge of Allan have started firing their nannies and learning their own kids’ names’. Serious times indeed, and there’s something…
Theatre director Vicky Featherstone discusses Abi Morgan-penned drama 27
20 Oct 2011
The play examines themes of aging, loneliness, faith and science
‘You’re such a journalist,’ says Vicky Featherstone when I ask her whether 27 is going to ruffle feathers among scientists and Christians. The play is, after all, about a crisis of faith in a convent provoked by a scientist’s request to study the nuns…
Liz Lochhead discusses her new play, Edwin Morgan's Dreams – and Other Nightmares
21 Sep 2011
The new production will premiere at this year's Glasgay! festival
It’s a sprightly Liz Lochhead who comes into Edinburgh’s Urban Angel for a breakfast coffee – latte with an extra shot – in the midst of a typically whirlwind calendar of deadlines, poetry readings and confabs with theatre directors. This summer she had…
