‘Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life’. A quote from the scientist Albert Schweitzer, not the scientist featured in the play, Tank, but a scientist with a much better sense of moral integrity than the characters on stage. Tank is an extraordinary piece of theatre, not simply because […]
In the anniversary year of the Easter Rising it is easy to see why the National thought that this was the way to go. A play by one of Ireland’s genius writers, written to reflect turbulent times of war, focusing on the working people. On paper, it looks […]
Seann Walsh hasn’t been to Edinburgh for a couple of years. This is almost definitely because he’s been living a prolifically healthy lifestyle; wheat free, dairy free, avocado on rye, that sort of thing. Not because he looks like a glowing vision of health, but because he can’t […]
Alternating between the present day and the mid 90s, Happy Dave is both the story of a DJ and a commentary on today’s youth culture, or lack of it. The rave scene in the 90s was a counter culture that really stuck it to The Man. Thousands of […]
It’s the end of the world. A great flood has swept all but four human beings into oblivion. Somehow, against the odds, four strangers manage to escape on a swan pedalo. At first the characters are fairly stereotyped: posho Steven; nerdy pessimist, Andy; spiritual nutter, Bobby; scarily competitive […]
In all the fun of the fringe it’s easy to overlook the theatre productions that are doing something more than simply entertaining their audiences and trying to break even. A lot of theatre I’ve seen in Edinburgh this summer is pushing boundaries in terms of form, but Villain […]
A Tale of Two Cities; one of Dickens’ greatest works set during the French Revolution and featuring one of the most ruthless female characters in history, Mme Defarge. It is here adapted by two companies, the Chung Ying Theatre Company and Red Shift Theatre Productions. One can picture […]
Alex Kealy’s style of comedy much resembles a sixth former giving an awkward PowerPoint presentation. The content of his show wouldn’t be out of place in an A Level economics/politics classroom either: Gove, Boris and Corbyn all get a bashing; the disadvantages of a free market economy are […]
It’s a simple set-up. The audience fills out a form while queuing for the show; they accuse someone they know of a crime, and they provide a line or two of substantiating evidence. Then the show gets up and running and one of these ‘criminals’ is called to […]
Where to start with this magical piece of multimedia performance? The live music that accompanies it. Or perhaps the awe of watching the live performers interact with the projected puppets? Or the breathtaking skill of the projectionists who mastermind the whole performance by constantly changing and layering intricate […]