Yasmin Sulaiman

Irene MacDougall to play female Prospero in Dundee Rep's The Tempest

Caliban and Ariel also adapted as female roles in new production

15 May 2012

Irene MacDougall has been a member of the Dundee Rep ensemble since its inception, but 2012 will mark her first turn in The Tempest. Like Helen Mirren in Julie Taymor’s recent film of Shakespeare’s classic, MacDougall will play Prospero as a female. The…

Blue Raincoat theatre company to tour Ionesco's The Chairs

Director Niall Henry discusses the fêted production

15 May 2012

After a five-year tug of war over rights, Sligo-based Blue Raincoat arrives in Scotland this month with its fêted production of Eugene Ionesco’s The Chairs. Director Niall Henry, who co-founded the company in 1991, is thrilled about the tour and cites…

Michael Frayn - Skios

An astute and entertaining comic novel from the erstwhile playwright

24 Apr 2012

(Faber) Michael Frayn’s new novel is a farce of Carry On proportions. Awkward sexual encounters, mistaken identities and buffoonish caricatures of powerful men and women litter the plot of this engaging, occasionally bawdy comedy. To many, Frayn is…

New production Lady M re-examines the Macbeth story

Mary McClusky discusses The Scottish Play's continuing relevance to modern audiences

16 Apr 2012

As artistic director of Scottish Youth Theatre and a frequent contributor to Oran Mor’s Classic Cuts season, Mary McCluskey is no stranger to slimming down a Shakespeare play to its essential components. And in the year of the World Shakespeare…

David Hayman to play King Lear at Citizens Theatre

Dominic Hill directs Scottish production of Shakespeare

21 Mar 2012

It’s been 33 years since David Hayman last performed at the Citizens Theatre. ‘Backstage is very different so I now need a chaperone to get me from A to B.’ he laughs. Widely recognised for his role as DCS Walker in ITV’s Trial and Retribution, Hayman…

Traverse theatre launch new writing festival Write Here

Offers audience chance to see works in progress by many writers

21 Mar 2012

Two months into her role as the Traverse’s artistic director, Orla O’Loughlin has launched one of the most exciting new writing festivals Edinburgh has seen in years. Write Here will showcase work from the theatre’s Young Writers Group graduates…

Plume is JC Marshall’s Lockerbie-inspired play starring Sylvester McCoy

Tron Open Stage-shortlisted play gets full production

27 Feb 2012

In 2010, JC Marshall’s Plume was shortlisted in the Tron’s Open Stage playwriting competition. Now it’s staging a full production of the play. Doctor Who’s Sylvester McCoy plays Mr Peters, a charismatic teacher whose son dies in a terrorist attack on an…

New Junction 25 production Anoesis

Teenage company one of Scotland’s most lauded theatre groups

27 Feb 2012

Junction 25 may be made up of teenagers, aged between 12 and 18, but it’s also one of Scotland’s most lauded theatre groups. The company has been making its own brand of innovative, improvisational plays since 2005 and last year won a Herald Angel Award…

Lovesong looks at beginning and end of a marriage

Frantic Assembly, Abi Morgan, Steven Hoggett and Scott Graham

1 Feb 2012

During its runs in Plymouth and London, Lovesong has had audiences reaching for the tissues in huge numbers. Penned by Abi Morgan (27, The Hour), produced by Frantic Assembly (Beautiful Burnout) and directed by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett (the…

Double Nugget combines shows Marymassacre and Seven Year Itch

Random Accomplice take two duet plays on tour

1 Feb 2012

With hits like Little Johnny’s Big Gay Wedding and last year’s Smalltown, Random Accomplice have proved themselves to be one of Scotland’s best-loved theatre groups. Now, they’ve revived 2008’s Marymassacre and 2009’s Seven Year Itch in a touring double…

Sophie Hannah - Kind of Cruel

The seventh Zailer and Waterhouse murder mystery zips along but falters at the end

27 Jan 2012

(Hodder & Stoughton) Kind of Cruel is Sophie Hannah’s seventh release to feature police duo and dysfunctional couple DS Charlie Zailer and DC Simon Waterhouse, recently brought to life on ITV by Olivia Williams and Darren Boyd. This taut, nightmarish…

Playwright Peter Arnott discusses The Infamous Brothers Davenport

Arnott and Vox Motus to resurrect the 19th century American spiritualists

6 Jan 2012

This new show from playwright Peter Arnott and Vox Motus promises to be part Dickens, part Derren Brown. It focuses on real-life American magicians William and Ira Davenport, who in the 1860s were a central part of the spiritualist movement, which first…

Adam Ross - Ladies and Gentlemen

Comically dark short story collection from the Mr Peanut author

12 Dec 2011

(Jonathan Cape) In spite of the dark, comically cruel note struck by this short story collection, Ladies and Gentlemen makes surprisingly quick and easy reading. As with his 2010 debut novel, Mr Peanut, Adam Ross suffuses his prose with compelling…

Pantomimes and Christmas shows in Scotland 2011

Festive work aimed at young audiences in Edinburgh and Glasgow

15 Nov 2011

In the UK, pantomimes traditionally form the first encounter that children have with theatre. But for children under three years old, the noisy drama of a panto can be a disorientating and unnerving experience. However, in recent years, theatre-makers…

Penelope Lively - How It All Began

The author of the Booker-winning Moon Tiger continues to display a talent for sharp observation

15 Nov 2011

(Fig Tree) It’s been 24 years since Penelope Lively won the Booker Prize for Moon Tiger, but her new novel shows that her writing is still sharp and acutely relevant. On the surface, How It All Began is a light-hearted, sometimes comical drama about…

Director John Binnie on aerial production Mind Walking

The Tanika Gupta-penned play deals with issues of death, age and vulnerability

21 Oct 2011

Tanika Gupta’s new play Mind Walking is like an ‘Asian King Lear’, according to its director, John Binnie. In it, a 74-year-old Indian man, having lived in Britain for all of his adult life, reverts to his native tongue in old age. Combing a…

Revival of David Harrower's Blackbird coming to the Tron

Pilot Theatre's production will star George Costigan and Charlie Covell

21 Oct 2011

David Harrower’s Olivier Award-winning Blackbird is among the Scottish playwright’s most acclaimed works, but six years after its Edinburgh International Festival debut it remains a controversial one. Inspired by the real life crimes of Toby Studebaker…

Apocalypse (A Glamorously Ugly Cabaret)

Catherine Gillard and Peter Clerke of Benchtours embark on a cabaret adventure

21 Sep 2011

Two years after they folded their lauded theatre company, benchtours, Catherine Gillard and Peter Clerke are touring with a new outfit: Occasional Cabaret. Apocalypse, their first full-length production, is developed from a two-week residency at…

Calum’s Road

Real life-inspired drama about road-building on Raasay

21 Sep 2011

It’s been nearly 40 years since Calum MacLeod single-handedly built a much-needed stretch of road on Northern Raasay, after decades of unsuccessfully campaigning the local council to do so themselves. Now, this inspirational islander is the subject of a…

The Fall Children

Weak storyline made up for by macabre, colourful underworld

22 Aug 2011

This sinister fairytale turns a place that young children fear to tread – under the bed - into a delightfully macabre underworld. A little girl awakes to find that she and her stuffed toy Caruso have fallen into this dark chasm. With the help of a…

David Almond

Crossing the divide from children’s books to adult fiction

19 Aug 2011

Since penning his first children’s novel, 1998’s Whitbread Award and Carnegie Medal-winning Skellig, David Almond has been lauded as one of the UK’s greatest authors for younger readers. In 2010, the Skellig prequel, My Name is Mina, had critics falling…

Tim and Light

An ode to friendship for all ages

12 Aug 2011

Hal Chambers has created a mesmerising original tale in Tim and Light. Under his direction, the story comes to life through a group of talented actors and puppeteers, who manipulate a range of household items to assemble a charming landscape with more…

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Quirky five-minute adaptation of much-loved children’s book

11 Aug 2011

This five-minute adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ 2006 children’s book is one of the quirkiest and most delightful offerings at this year’s Fringe, no matter what your age. The performance itself takes place in the Black Box, Bootworks Theatre’s…

The Just So Stories

Colourful and engaging adaptation of Kipling’s well known tales

8 Aug 2011

There’s no cosier venue at the Pleasance Courtyard than The Green, the huge inflated igloo that’s home to many of its shows for children this year. In The Just So Stories, kids, their parents and a few solitary grown-ups are invited to dive into the…

Tim and Light children's show all about playing games and puppets

Burton and Miyazaki-inspired puppetry at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

29 Jul 2011

Tim and Light is the second children’s show from Tucked In, following 2007’s lauded Jackajack. In this adventure, which has been touring UK theatres and festivals this summer, a boy called Tim and his cat Light board a train from Brighton that doesn’t…

The Incredible Book Eating Boy - five-minute show for one adult and one child

Oliver Jeffers’ book-munching tale comes to life in tiny Pleasance venue

29 Jul 2011

In The Incredible Book Eating Boy, by award-winning children’s author Oliver Jeffers, a little boy called Henry gobbles up books like chocolate. At this year’s Fringe, Bootworks Theatre will stage an adaptation of this quirky but touching story in their…

The Velveteen Rabbit children's show from Backhand Theatre

Much-loved children’s tale takes to the stage at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

29 Jul 2011

Following the success of 2010’s Greek Myths for Kids (which returns for another run this year), Backhand Theatre are back at the Fringe with a new adaptation of Margery Williams’ 1922 novel, The Velveteen Rabbit. One of six shows presented by the…

TEAM return to Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 with Mission Drift

Ambitious new work takes in 400 years of American history

20 Jul 2011

Since their 2005 Fringe debut, New York City’s cutting-edge-but-chaotic theatre company the TEAM has attracted critical praise, sold-out runs and won three Fringe Firsts – not bad for a group of NYU graduates that initially came together to perform just…

Edinburgh theatre show Rose stars Art Malik and daughter Kiera

Play by Hywel John set for 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

20 Jul 2011

Art Malik is no stranger to the stage, despite being better known for his film and TV roles – which range from a psychotic terrorist in 1994 Hollywood blockbuster True Lies to a heartthrob anaesthetist in hospital drama Holby City. Over the past 30…

Knives in Hens

Belgian theatremaker Lies Pauwels adapts David Harrower's pre-industrial drama

27 May 2011

Until a few months ago, Lies Pauwels had never read Knives in Hens, David Harrower’s pre-industrial tale of a woman’s progress from ignorance to literacy. Now, the Belgian theatremaker is directing a new National Theatre of Scotland production of the…

Entre Nous

A showcase of physical theatre by Adam Smith College diploma graduates

27 May 2011

Fife’s Adam Smith College has recently been criticised for the planned closure of its theatre arts courses but its Diploma in Physical Theatre, based in Glasgow, is in rude health as its graduation show Entre Nous will prove later this month. Now in its…

Mayfesto to focus on Celtic nations for 2011

Playwrights David Harrower and David Ireland and director Leann O'Kasi share their views

20 Apr 2011

Last year’s inaugural Mayfesto – a theatre festival that aims to showcase politically-themed work at Glasgow’s Tron – took the problems of the Middle East as its overarching theme. This year, Artistic Director Andy Arnold has opted for a more local…

Rona Munro’s play Pandas set for Traverse Spring Summer season

Romantic comedy explores links with China through three couples

18 Mar 2011

Just a few weeks after Rona Munro’s Pandas was revealed as part of the Traverse’s Spring Summer season, Edinburgh Zoo announced that it would soon be home to the first pair of giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years. The timing may have been…

Dancing at Lughnasa story of five sisters rural in 1936 Donegal

Citizens run marks 21st anniversary of Brian Friel's hit play

18 Mar 2011

When The Original Theatre Company’s version of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa arrives at the Citizens Theatre in April, it will mark the 21st anniversary of its very first performance. ‘We hope that’s it’s going to really speak to people in Glasgow,…

The Last Werewolf

Glen Duncan's mystery thriller balances a penchant for culture references with a gripping narrative

15 Mar 2011

(Canongate) Glen Duncan’s The Last Werewolf may be about a supernatural being but this is no ordinary fantasy. The novel is framed as the diary of 200-year-old Jacob Marlowe, the last werewolf on earth, who is pursued by government-sanctioned hunters…

Classic World War I drama Journey’s End set for King’s Theatre

Director David Grindley on massive success of recent revival of play

7 Mar 2011

There’s a tunnel on the Canadian National Memorial site at Vimy Ridge in northern France that tries to give you an insight into the conditions soldiers would have gone through during World War I. Our tour group, a mixed bag of journalists and PRs, is…

Matthew Zajac stars in and directs tragicomedy Sweetness

New play focuses on bitter relationship between two brothers

24 Feb 2011

Since 2008, Dogstar Theatre has spent much of its time touring internationally with The Tailor of Inverness, co-artistic director Matthew Zajac’s moving and award-winning account of his father’s journey from Poland to Scotland. But in between all this…

Propeller production of Richard III & The Comedy of Errors

King’s Theatre hosts first-ever performance in Edinburgh from group

11 Feb 2011

In the last year, Edward Hall has been praised for resuscitating the fortunes of London’s Hampstead Theatre, but it was with the innovative, all-male Shakespeare company Propeller that his reputation as a director of note first emerged. The group has…

Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator set for Glasgow performances

New group Boxman Theatre tackle bold work at Tramway

11 Feb 2011

Since its 1993 Traverse debut, Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator has been held up as one of the Scottish playwright’s best works, its aggressive and unsettling atmosphere making it an early classic of what’s become known as ‘in-yer-face theatre’. It’s a bold…

Nicole Krauss - Great House

More conventional in its prose than priot work but equally rewarding

11 Feb 2011

Like her last novel, The History of Love, Nicole Krauss’ new offering spans time and geography, introducing her readers to a multitude of characters that are inevitably connected to one another by an object: this time, a desk. Great House, though, is…

The Company Will Overlook a Moment of Madness

Adaptation of Rodolfo Santana's breakthrough play

26 Jan 2011

This Spring’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint season features a cross-city collaboration between Glasgow’s Oran Mor and the National Theatre of Scotland’s Reveal season at the Traverse in Edinburgh. Featuring five new adaptations of Latin American plays, it…

The Beckett Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable

The Gare St Lazare Players perform trilogy as 3-hour solo performance

14 Jan 2011

Samuel Beckett may be better-known for iconic plays like Waiting for Godot and Endgame but Irish theatre outfit Gare St Lazare Players have proved over the last 14 years that his lesser-known prose works have as much to offer when performed on stage.

The Breathing House - respectability and desire clash in a gothic atmosphere

Acclaimed production of Peter Arnott’s Edinburgh-set play gets Tron run

14 Jan 2011

Scott Cadenhead is reluctant to call himself the ‘artistic director’ of Rekindle Theatre, a new Glasgow-based theatre company, opting instead for ‘driving force’. The group will perform what will be only its second production at the Tron in January, a…

Jack and the Beanstalk

Andy Gray, Allan Stewart and Grant Stott reunite for perfect antidote to the bitter winter.

15 Dec 2010

Following a stint in Glasgow, Andy Gray’s reunion with the King’s resident pantomime dame Allan Stewart and recurring baddie Grant Stott is one of the most anticipated events of the capital’s Christmas season. And when he appears on stage as King…

The Three Musketeers

Chris Hannan's bawdy reinvention chaotic at times, but with a warm festive atmosphere

15 Dec 2010

Alexandre Dumas’ legendary trio undergo a bawdy reinvention in Chris Hannan’s new Christmas play for the Traverse. It retains the story’s core characters – the eponymous musketeers, plus d’Artagnan and archetypal pantomime villain Cardinal Richelieu…

Stage musical The Secret Garden stars Siobhan Redmond

Cross-generational appeal of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel makes for ideal festive show

23 Nov 2010

It’s a century since the publication of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, but this seminal work of children’s literature has only grown in stature through time. The tale of Mary, an orphaned girl who seeks refuge in a blooming hidden garden…

India Knight - Comfort and Joy

Humour and musings on the redemptive qualities of Christmas

19 Nov 2010

Upon the release of her lauded first novel My Life on a Plate in 2000, India Knight was hailed by critics as the natural heir to Helen Fielding in the still relatively new genre of chick-lit. Ten years later, the sequel to her debut is being released…

Atmospheric show The Strasse set for Bedlam Theatre performance

New play by Tash Frost brings ominous atmosphere of short story to stage

15 Nov 2010

Edinburgh University’s Bedlam Theatre is perhaps one of the capital’s most prolific live performance venues, with adaptations and new writing showcased at lunchtimes and special week-long productions. The UK’s oldest student-run theatre, it’s been…

Third Person: Bonnie and Clyde Redux

Proto-type Theatre's newest work told through two actors and an overhead projector.

3 Nov 2010

This might be their first full-length show in Scotland but Proto-type Theatre are no strangers to Glasgow. The company, founded in 1997 in New York City, enjoyed a brief residency at the CCA before establishing its current home in Lancaster in 2006.

Simon Garfield's Just My Type explores typography

‘A fairly jaunty, easy read on subject that might be daunting’

27 Oct 2010

To date, Simon Garfield’s books have covered topics as diverse as the World Wrestling Federation, the history of Radio 1, World War Two diaries, and the colour mauve. Continuing this trajectory of unrelated subjects, the journalist and non-fiction…

Why Frank Wedekind's seminal play Spring Awakening still resonates

Grid Iron unleash new production at Traverse, Edinburgh

27 Oct 2010

Frank Wedekind’s seminal drama Spring Awakening has experienced a renaissance in recent years. The often banned 1891 play, which portrays 14-year-olds grappling with ideas of sexuality, death and religion in the prohibitive climate of late 19th century…

The sex-themed shows that turn Edinburgh into sin city during August

Pole dancers, prostitutes and rampant bedhoppers at the 2010 Fringe

16 Jul 2010

'Coming back from seeing the second Sex and the City film,’ says live artist Bryony Kimmings, ‘I was absolutely disgusted.’ And she’s not the only one groaning about the latest instalment of this once groundbreaking explicit comedy about the sexual…

Meg Rosoff, John Green, Tohby Riddle and Cathy Cassidy at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Writers doing it for the big kids

15 Jul 2010

Meg Rosoff might be known as a successful author for young adults, but it’s not necessarily a category with which she’s comfortable. ‘Recently, I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird for its 50th anniversary,’ she says. ‘If that was published now, it would be…

Adam Ross - Mr Peanut

3 Jun 2010

(Jonathan Cape) A terse thriller, Mr Peanut pivots along three narrative threads, each of which takes a look at the sinister side of marriage, and two of which end in murder. That they do not become entangled is a testament to the skilfulness with…

Benjamin Markovits - Playing Days

28 May 2010

(Faber) Though not explicitly billed as a memoir, Benjamin Markovits’ new novel appears to be largely autobiographical. A college graduate with literary ambitions, its narrator takes up a spot on a second division German basketball team, in a move…

Lola Shoneyin - The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives

30 Mar 2010

(Serpent’s Tail) In her debut novel, Lola Shoneyin presents us with an engrossing portrayal of a polygamous household, in which four wives fiercely compete for their husband’s affections and go to great lengths to bear his children. The emotional…

Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals

4 Mar 2010

(Hamish Hamilton) Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book – a thoughtful and vigorously researched survey of US farming practices – may seem at odds with his previous works, but there are striking similarities. Like his lauded novels, Everything is…

Over the Grump: Jenny Eclair

25 Feb 2010

Backed by a new generation of fans Jenny Eclair is arriving into the best years of her career. The Grumpy Old Women star tells Yasmin Sulaiman why she’s now returning to stand up.

Tiffany Murray - Diamond Star Halo

7 Jan 2010

(Portobello) Inspired by her own upbringing at Monmouthshire’s Rockfield Studios – the world’s first residential recording studio whose alumni include Queen, Iggy Pop and Oasis – Tiffany Murray’s second novel is part dysfunctional family drama, part…

Cathi Unsworth - Bad Penny Blues

4 Dec 2009

(Serpent’s Tail) The raw materials of its storyline may sound well-worn, but there’s something about the textured layers of Cathi Unsworth’s third novel that effortlessly draw the reader into the dark and disturbing environment she creates. Using…

Michael Crichton - Pirate Latitudes

19 Nov 2009

(HarperCollins) The first of two books to be published posthumously, Pirate Latitudes was found as a complete manuscript after Michael Crichton’s death in November 2008. Set in the volatile colonial Caribbean in 1665, it details British privateer…

Jealousy by Catherine Millet

15 Oct 2009

The success of her 2002 memoir, The Sexual Life of Catherine M, propelled French art critic Catherine Millet into the spotlight as one of Europe’s most celebrated contemporary sexual libertines. Indeed, this blisteringly honest dissection of her…

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger

Disappointing ghost story from The Time Traveller's Wife author

17 Sep 2009

Like her debut novel The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger’s new offering requests from her readers some suspension of disbelief. When bookseller Elspeth dies, she leaves her plush Highgate flat to her American twin nieces, the daughters of her…

The Stripper

16 Sep 2009

‘I hate old age,’ complains Richard O’Brien. ‘The only thing going for it is the bus pass.’ But although the Rocky Horror Show writer and former Crystal Maze host may bemoan his 67 years, the revival of his 1982 musical The Stripper, now on a five-week…

The House of Bernarda Alba preview

Rona Munro on her latest theatrical endeavour

3 Sep 2009

It’s been a big year for Rona Munro. Just weeks after the premiere of The Last Witch at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Scottish playwright is gearing up for the first performance of her adaptation of The House of Bernarda Alba, by revered…

The Silver Darlings preview

1 Sep 2009

As the Year of Homecoming enters its final stretch, it seems a more appropriate time than ever to celebrate the achievements of Neil M Gunn’s epic Highland novel, The Silver Darlings. A new stage adaptation by playwright Peter Arnott and director Kenny…

The Tale of Lady Stardust

Meditation on religious extremism

26 Aug 2009

Convinced that David Bowie is a prophet, Ziggy and Gary are eagerly awaiting the Rapture in their grotty flat when their bubble is pierced by the appearance of a drugged-up clubber. As a meditation on religious extremism, it has little new to say but…

God: A Comedy by Woody Allen

Deliberately unsatisfying, disposable feeling

25 Aug 2009

UCLU Runaground re-create Woody Allen's neurotic mannerisms with startling clarity in this polished student production of his 1975 play God. The shambolic way in which its narrative blurs the audience/actor relationship may not appeal to theatre-goers…

A Year’s Hard Labour

Sound performances make this an engaging free show

25 Aug 2009

Goldsmiths Drama Society showcases a diverse array of talents in this marathon-paced play. As six jurors discuss an immigration case, their daydreams meld into reality, though slick staging ensures the audience is never confused. And, despite the…

G3: The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek

Brave and occasionally sinister

24 Aug 2009

The damp, scruffy interior of The Caves seems like the ideal location for this brave and occasionally sinister sketch show. As accomplished actors, the members of G3, are able to effortlessly embody the many characters they create, ranging from a…

4 Poofs and a Piano

A seemingly inexhaustible supply of sexual puns

24 Aug 2009

The four poofs of Jonathan Ross's house band are affable enough but their hour of musical comedy is suffocated by a seemingly inexhaustible supply of sexual puns. A few energetic dance routines - after which these pre-Brüno stereotypes nearly collapse…

Jason John Whitehead

This rambling show needs a little more coherence

24 Aug 2009

JJW is having a crisis: now in his 30s, his body clock is ticking but he has no real affection for kids, and a string of jokes about beating other people's children compose the core of this routine. His quirky delivery steers him past slower moments but…

Wondermart

Avoid the security guards on this inventive supermarket exploration

21 Aug 2009

There are moments in Wondermart that might make the more self-conscious shopper ditch their trolley and run away in fright. Through the course of this 30-minute supermarket wander, the listener is required to become the performer, quietly complicit in…

Alistair McGowan

Back to the 90s

21 Aug 2009

Next to more recent TV impressionists such as Kevin Bishop and Peter Serafinowicz, Alistair McGowan is a positive veteran. Some 13 years after his last Edinburgh run, he proves that he’s still able to draw on his vast repertoire of voices to comic…

Ritter, Dene, Voss

Torment amongst siblings

21 Aug 2009

Skilful acting and inventive staging underpin this menacing yet comic tale, in which two sisters bring their brother home from a mental institution and are confronted by their fraught relationships over the dinner table. Taking Austrian writer Thomas…

Nightfall

Experimental mime

21 Aug 2009

Hurtwood Theatre Company’s experimental work is a charming meditation on different forms of love. At first relying solely on mime, the impreciseness of some of the actors’ movements means a few sequences are hard to follow. But as the form progresses…

Idiots of Ants

Glitches mar a slick show from comedy savants

20 Aug 2009

Idiots of Ants aren’t having the best of nights: their projector is on the blink and their performance feels rushed. Killer lines are mumbled through and some of their sketches fall flat with this audience who are rightly expecting something a little…

David Levin talks The Testament of Cresseid

The Israeli director discusses adapting Burns for the stage

20 Aug 2009

Robert Burns might be the subject of many Homecoming events this year, but Jonathan Mills’ decision to focus on the lesser-known Scottish poet Robert Henryson as part of the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2009 programme could prove a rewarding one.

Controlled Falling Project

Australian act wows with an elegant mix of physical theatre and acrobatics

20 Aug 2009

The muted colour scheme of the 1930s laboratory instruments cluttering the stage make a charming backdrop for the agile performers in Controlled Falling Project, a theatrical display of acrobatics from Australia’s This Side Up. Speaking few words, the…

Chauntecleer and Pertelotte

Bestiality and poultry fornication make for unexpectedly fun viewing

20 Aug 2009

Chicken sex is perhaps a rather unlikely subject matter for a play but writer Dougie Blaxland somehow manages to make the idea seem realistic in Chauntecleer and Pertelotte, though some may find graphic descriptions of coital relations between humans…

Twine

Moving tale of twine-made being brewed in a teapot

18 Aug 2009

Riddles Court off the Royal Mile makes a suitably atmospheric location for the first Fringe show from Edinburgh-based children’s theatre company, Tortoise in a Nutshell. Their tale – in which a group of tea and cupcake-loving storytellers inadvertently…

The Gadabouts

Their general affability is wasted on this largely disappointing show

18 Aug 2009

A man down on last year’s praised line-up, The Gadabouts’ Matt and Joe are clearly talented performers but their general affability is wasted on this largely disappointing show. There are a handful of highlights hidden in the duo’s haphazard hour of…

Foil Arms and Hog

Deliriously funny and at times unexpectedly dark

18 Aug 2009

The sketch form is taken back to its pleasingly gimmick-free basics here by Irish trio Foil Arms and Hog. While some of their routines are based on familiar formats, their best work is deliriously funny and at times unexpectedly dark. If their future…

Simon Munnery

A comfortingly familiar Fringe fixture

18 Aug 2009

With his erudite allusions and penchant for the silly, Munnery’s AGM has become a comfortingly familiar Fringe fixture. This year, the comedian switches from family stories to a supermarket-themed mini opera, before delving into the bucket of…

Patrick Monahan's Stories and Fables for Kids That Like to Sit at Tables!

Fringe stalwart ups the ante in lovely kids comedy

16 Aug 2009

When asked to queue quietly for Patrick Monahan’s first show for kids, one young audience member groans, ‘It’s just like being at school.’ It’s a shame then that more teachers aren’t like Monahan, whose artful blend of comedy, storytelling and energetic…

Felicity Ward

Tales of poor Aussie upbringing lack bite

16 Aug 2009

There’s no denying that Australian comedian Felicity Ward has stage presence. There’s something about her that’s instantly likeable, from the butter-wouldn’t-melt way she breathes numerous expletives to the sweetness with which she interacts with the…

Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident

Pies fight puddings in this chuckle-worthy children’s tale

16 Aug 2009

With its healthy eating message and cheeky send-up of a celebrity chef, there’s an educational element to Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident that many parents will love. Yet it’s delivered with such fiercely imaginative silliness that children won’t…

Luke Wright

His concerns may be petty but the poetry is not

16 Aug 2009

You’ve got to hand it to Luke Wright. Since his first solo Fringe show in 2006, he’s come back to Edinburgh every year with a new collection of withering poems, each of which dissects the highs and lows of his chosen profession with equal menace and…

Pippa Evans

Wicked musical comedy in every conceivable way

16 Aug 2009

The ease with which Pippa Evans slips between her psychotic characters in this cabaret-style show is an instant reminder of why she was shortlisted for an if.comedy Best Newcomer award last year. However, there is an element of patchiness about her…

Precious Little Talent

No slight return from award-winning playwright

13 Aug 2009

After last year’s award-winning Eight – which has since played to acclaim in London and New York – emerging playwright Ella Hickson returns with a truly lovely piece of theatre, one that proves she can write dialogue as confidently as she mastered the…

The Gravediggers

Gravedigging comedy that doesn’t dig deep enough

13 Aug 2009

The title may sound sombre but there’s little in the action of Charley Miles’ play that resembles the funereal – except, perhaps, its pace. It recreates the slow rhythm of daily life in a small Yorkshire town far too accurately, encasing the play in a…

The Chronicles of Irania

12 Aug 2009

The pleasantries of tea, sweets and traditional stories are juxtaposed with harrowing tales of violence towards women and homosexuals. The country may be fictional but its real-life inspiration is all too clear, and Maryam Hamidi’s beautiful turn as…

Maggie Service

12 Aug 2009

Service’s background as a trained actor gives her valuable comic versatility in this one-woman sketch show. But while her characters – ranging from an overly-chatty 24-hour medical emergency helpline assistant to an Australian drama teacher whose mantra…

Ophelia (Drowning)

Sorrow in a swimming pool

12 Aug 2009

A heavy exploration of the many forms of Shakespeare’s tragic character, Ophelia (Drowning) gains much from its setting in a swimming pool. It’s an engaging experiment but perhaps a little too immersive, and the sorrow-stricken experience may leave you…

Pappy's Fun Club

Sketch favourites achieve cohesion through chaos

11 Aug 2009

Sketch comedy at the Fringe is often accused of a lack of fluidity, in the absence of an over-arching narrative thread to keep its audience engaged. Former if.comedy award nominees Pappy’s Fun Club may have been guilty of this in the past, but somehow…

Hugh Hughes

Storytelling with humour and charm

11 Aug 2009

Hugh Hughes in … 360 is every bit as touching, though perhaps less polished, than the Welsh performance artist’s previous offerings, the Fringe First-winning Floating and Story of a Rabbit. Without props or music, Hughes relies simply on his charm and…

Newsrevue

Easy targets are tackled with reliable aplomb

11 Aug 2009

Pregnant teens, a bumbling Gordon Brown and child-hungry Madonna make too easy targets for the talented performers in Newsrevue, many of whose topical, musical sketches aren’t developed to their full potential. But select moments – like David Cameron’s…

Andrea Donovan: Regret Me Not

Meaningful character comedy

11 Aug 2009

The lingering poignancy of Regret Me Not, in which Donovan portrays a range of fictional women, indicates a bright future for this comic. There are some duds, including a Geordie drug addict turned life coach, but her Aussie school swimming instructor…

Sound and Fury: Sherlock Holmes and the Saline Solution

American comedy trio take on Victorian London

10 Aug 2009

With the foreboding spectre of a Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes film being released later this year, American comedy trio Sound and Fury’s new show (Sherlock Holmes and the Saline Solution) is a welcome DIY send-up of literature’s most famous…

Crush

From hormonal teenagers to marriage: Paul Charlton returns

8 Aug 2009

Paul Charlton’s Fringe debut – 2003’s Love, Sex and Cider – won a major award for its portrayal of the lives of four angst-ridden teenagers in North East England. His comeback piece six years later, however, is a predictably more mature affair. A dark…