https://youtu.be/3iaTuBISBK4 Based on Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Presented by Freckles Productions Directed by Mark Kane Tickets from £14.00 ★★★★ Originally crafted as a popular children’s book and adapted to stage and screen, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Stick Man has become a contemporary favourite for its delightful visuals and creative premise. Loving father, adventurous soul, and … Continue reading Stick Man – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Adapted by Dave Johns, from Ken Loachs' Film Directed by Mark Calvert Tickets: £20.00 (Con. available) ★★★★ £350 million a week for the NHS. There were no parties in Downing St. It's no worse than the flu. Forty new hospitals. No red tape: an oven-ready deal. Fifty rebuilt schools. These things are fictional. I, Daniel … Continue reading I, Daniel Blake – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics by Tim Rice Directed by Timothy Sheader Tickets from £21.50 ★★★★ Sourcing the humanity, the significant extremities within the zeitgeist of biblical figures, Jesus Christ Superstar, has long thundered an intentional juxtaposition to ruffle the feathers of politics, the church, misplaced adoration, and the Catholic obsession with guilt. One of … Continue reading Jesus Christ Superstar – King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Created and Performed by Ruxy Cantir Directed by Shona Reppe ★★★★★ It might seem a tight fit, being in ‘The Jar’ with an enormous fork looming overhead, but once opened – an explosively mysterious absurdity is what entrances audiences into a cabaret-styled wander through the picking process, one richly influenced by performer and creator Ruxy … Continue reading Pickled Republic – Assembly Roxy
Written and Directed by Andy McGregor Lyrics by Andy McGregor and Isla Cowan Review by Ben Connaughton ★★★★★ Music is at the heart of Battery Park. This makes sense, as it’s a production which documents the rise and fall of the titular (and fictional) Britpop band; this is less a musical – I didn’t see any kick … Continue reading Battery Park – The Byre Theatre
Written by Mike Bartlett Directed by Conor O'Cuinn Tickets from £6.00 ★★★★ Blossoming, in time, Mike Bartlett’s Albion magnifies grief in this state-of-the-nation piece that translates the death of a son into the death of a nation. A nuanced piece, one tricky to capture the shades and tones of each character’s misery and displaced fears of the … Continue reading Albion – Bedlam Theatre
https://youtu.be/7RkjXYk-BIQ Written by Morna Pearson after Bram Stoker Directed by Sally Cookson Tickets from £19.50 ★★★ The sign of a remarkable Dracula is to ensure that even in their absence, their lingering presence slowly constricts the heart of those watching: fear growing, nerves tightening, breath quickening. And it's what Liz Kettle manages to accomplish in … Continue reading Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Written by James Graham Directed by Daniel Evans and Seán Linnen Tickets from £13.00 ★★★★ An open and shut case. We’ve seen the tapes, watched the footage, read the papers and most importantly - we’ve heard the coughing. Articulating two sides of an argument many considered answer, James Graham’s Quiz pries open the case of the UK’s … Continue reading Quiz – King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Co-created and Performed by Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello ★★★★ The sombreness of the affair strikes the moment you walk into the Assembly Roxy, a venue already basking in a more gothic and even macabre glow with its architecture. From the memorial-styled programme, the crushed velvet curtain, to the lilies standing to attention on either … Continue reading Totentanz – Assembly Roxy
Ties is Directed by Moira Anne McAuslan Blackout is Directed by Chris McCulloch Time to Wake Up is directed by Peter Dobre ★★★★ A rising achievement from Glasgow-based theatre company Solar Bear, Wake Up is a successful venture with a trilogy of plays developed through its Make a Change Programme, specifically to hone and develop the craft … Continue reading Wake Up – The Studio, Potterrow
