UK Theatre Network

SHOW: A BRITISH SUBJECT, Pleasance Theatre
12 August 2009 - £9.50

Mirza Tahir Hussain, a British subject, travels to Pakistan where he kills a taxi driver in self-defence. The young man is sentenced to death by hanging. He spends eighteen years on death row before a British journalist visits him to tell his story.

Nichola MacAuliffe’s play is the true account of this case and a scathing critique of the criminal justice system in Pakistan, the British authorities who would not save their own subject because their efforts might jeopardise British-Pakistani relations and the inhumanity of the death penalty. This poignant drama is extremely well acted and the relationship between MacAuliffe – who plays herself – and the condemned man is very touching. Both are deeply religious and although MacAuliffe is a Catholic and Tahir a Muslim there is a true understanding between them.

There will be a Q&A session on the production on 18 August at 2.20 pm. 

Review by Carolin Kopplin

Visit the official Edinburgh Fringe website for more details and tickets:-
http://www.edfringe.com 

SHOW: THE SHAPE OF THINGS by SPL, C, Chambers Street
12 August 2009 - £9.50 

The Shape of Things is a comedy with a vicious twist. Neil LaBute, one of the most intriguing American playwrights today, is a moralist who indulges in polarising his audience and he often succeeds. Adam works in a museum in a small college town where he meets Evelyn, an art student, who wants to make a statement by spray painting a penis on a statue – her point being that the sculpture is already ruined because a vine leaf was plastered over the genitalia six years ago to placate the outraged town folk.

Two people could not be more different that the shy, insecure Adam and the self-confident artiste. As Adam and Evelyn become closer Adam changes in more ways than one. The dialogues are snappy and the action is fast paced – a most enjoyable production with impressive performances by the four young actors.  

Review by Carolin Kopplin

Edinburgh Fringe Website http://www.edfringe.com

SHOW: CRY FROM UNDERGROUND (TELL ME YOUR NAME)
New Town Theatre
11 Aug 09, £10.00 

Thorston Manderlay adapted Dostoevsky’s novella “Notes from the Underground” and successfully transferred it to the 21^st century. The themes of the novella – isolation, alienation and disgust with a self-obsessed society are as relevant today as in 1864.

The protagonist, an educated and intelligent man, finds himself in a culture of mediocrity where “brainless action men” suppress “clever mice”. The very people he despised at school and university have become high/flying lawyers and successful businessmen while he - who is far superior in intelligence - is rotting away in a hole, tormented by his landlord. Retired at the age of 40 because he had enough of working in a stupid, mindless job to pay the rent he has no prospects and little hope. After a particularly unpleasant evening the protagonist finds himself in a brothel where he meets the Russian prostitute Lisa. Having escaped from a miserable life in a nondescript rural town Lisa now finds herself trapped as an illegal sex worker. Will they be able to find a way out?

Thorston Manderlay gives a brilliant performance as the tormented protagonist who hides his sensitivity and capability for love behind the veneer of a sociopath. Anne Burns Walker is impressive as the young woman. 

Review by Carolin Kopplin

Visit the official Edinburgh Fringe website for more details and tickets:-
http://www.edfringe.com 

King Arthur by Siege Perilous

The Edinburgh based company Siege Perilous, well known for high quality adaptions of classical text as well as new writing, presents Lucy Nordberg's interpretation of King Arthur. The play is written in blank verse while using contemporary language, an intriguing combination.

King Arthur is an enlightened leader who decides to impose democracy on his people. Yet they will have to learn to rule themselves, and who will train them? Furthermore, a successor must be found as his marriage to Guinevere has remained childless. The Christian Arthur hopes to achieve peace with Morgan Le Fay who rules a Pagan border state by accepting his illegitimate son Mordred as heir to the throne. Mordred is trained for the role of a traditional king but in a democracy he would only be a figurehead. The confused teenager falls under the influence of power hungry factions in court who want the crown for themselves.

In this fine production the actors are present on stage all the time. The stage design is minimalist with a circular chequered floor and only few props. There are outstanding performances throughout, especially Jim Byars as Arthur, Paul Crommie as his antagonist Kay, Anne Kane Howie as Morgan Le Fay, and Allan Scott-Douglas as the scheming Breunor.

 
(Carolin Kopplin)


For tickets visit the official Edinburgh Fringe website  http://www.edfringe.com

SHOW: DAVID BENSON SINGS NOEL COWARD

Assembly Rooms, 6-21 Aug (and 12 Aug), 15.20 – 16.30

10 Aug 09 £12.00

David Benson once again demonstrated his versatility in this delightful show celebrating the great Noel Coward. He transformed himself from a glamorous diva to a middle-aged businessman lamenting that he is Mad About the Boy within a second using little more than a pearl necklace, a feather band and a pair of glasses.

Accompanied by the charming Stewart Nicholls Benson presented Coward hits like Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage and There are Bad Times Just Around the Corner – quite relevant today - but he also included songs from the rarely performed show The Girl Who Came to Supper. David Benson conducted a good deal of research for this show. He included forgotten lyrics that even my friend who is a Coward connoisseur did not know. A highly enjoyable afternoon! 


For tickets, visit http://www.edfringe.com

Almost 10 is a darkly comic monologue about being a child.  Rachel is celebrating her ninth birthday but nobody comes to her party except for her best friend Hortense. So Rachel decides to call up the mothers of all fourteen girls who did not show pretending to be her own mother. She soon finds out that they all went to Eugenia's birthday party - a party to which she was not invited!

Clearly Rachel is not the most popular girl in school her mother calls her "Little Mowgli" because of her unruly hair and her art teacher won't let her draw her own picture for Mother's Day, she has to give somebody else's work to her mother who promptly adds it to the growing collection of paintings in the toilet. In this outrageously funny and touching show Rachel talks about her life and the poeple in it, aptly impersonating every single character to great comic effect - her vicious teachers, her obnoxious Bulgarian nanny, her overbearing mother, even He-Man!


(Carolin Kopplin)


For tickets visit the official Edinburgh Fringe website  http://www.edfringe.com 

     

Sex, drugs and... Trolls. Such is the life of “Peer Gynt”, probably Ibsen’s most surreal play which has now been updated in a brilliant Scottish adaptation by Colin Teevan.

The play is about young Peer, who despite his poor background has dreams of becoming rich and famous. After trying to leave the town where he has grown up, fleeing from his ex-girlfriend’s wedding with the bride. He then comes across the kingdom of the Trolls and is forced into marrying the Troll princess, although luckily managing to escape again. When we meet him later he is now much older and is selling arms in Africa, whilst trying to reinvent himself as the leader of a new cult.

This could easily become a very confusing play, but thanks to Teevan’s adaptation he keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Dominic Hill also makes good use of the large stage, keeping it quite bare and allowing the scenes to be filled by the actors instead and giving the piece the feel of epic theatre.

Keith Fleming and Gerry Mulgrew both give fantastic performances as young and old Peer, showing great subtlety and engagement with the piece. Cliff Burnett is also superb as The Button Man, who helps to guide the audience through the maze of Peer’s life.

A very different, but very entertaining piece of theatre!

 

Listings:

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

17 to 20 June

Wed – Sat eves 7:00pm

Matinee, Sat 2pm

Tickets: £7.50 - £20

Box Office: 0131 248 4848

www.lyceum.org.uk

 

Then touring until 27 June

D C Jackson’s sequel to last year’s hit comedy “The Wall” ends its run at the Traverse this week.

Two years have passed since Norma, Michelle, Rab and Barry used to meet at “the wall” in Stewarton, the most boring town in Ayrshire. Now they meet at “the ducky”, the local pond. Although things haven’t changed much in Stewarton they have for the three friends. Barry’s in Thailand, Michelle’s at uni, Rab’s having problems with his brother and Norma is pregnant.

This is a very funny play, in which Jackson uses teenage angst and west of Scotland dialect to their full comic affect. Such is the skill of his writing that he creates a play that is humorous, yet also deals with some bigger issues, such as death, bullying, loneliness and teenage pregnancy.

The cast all work well together. In particular Hannah Donaldson, as a very angst ridden Michelle, and Sally Reid, who is hilarious as Norma.

A clever and funny play that’s well worth a look!

 

Listings:

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

10 to 13 April

Wed – Sat eves 8:00pm

Sat mat 2:30pm

Tickets: £5 - £16

Box Office: 0131 228 1404

www.traverse.co.uk

 

“Quadrophenia” is based on the album of the same name, produced by The Who in 1973.

The album has iconic status, representing the clashes between the mods and rockers in Brighton in the sixties. This was one of the first instances of mass teenage rebellion and the success of the album and subsequent film has made sure it won’t be forgotten.

The story is very basic. It is about Jimmy, a disaffected youth who rebels against his parents and his upbringing by running away to Brighton in search of ‘The Girl’. In Brighton he gets caught up in the bloody battles between the teenage gangs, whilst still trying to find the girl of his dreams.

What the plot frames is Pete Townshend’s brilliant music. Less of a musical and more of a live music video for each song of the album, the staging helps to dramatise the lyrics and the music. I had never seen the film before and had only heard snatches of the songs, but I now understand why it is considered one of the great rock albums. Such is the poetry of Townshend’s lyrics and the fantastic accompanying music.

The cast all put in a great job of bringing life to the songs. Jimmy is in fact played by four different actors, in order to show the four different sides to his character. This works well and the part is played with equal energy and charisma by Ryan O’Donnell, George Maguire, Jack Roth and Rob Kendrick. The cast is supported by a superb band, who give all the songs their full justice. Add to this Sophie Kahn’s imaginative set, which achieves the difficult task of bringing some reality to the piece.

A very different piece of theatre, but worth seeing. Even if it’s just for the music!

 

Listings:

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

26 to 30 May

Tue – Sat eves 7:30pm

Fri mat 5:30pm

Sat mat 4:00pm

Tickets: £15 - £26.50

Box Office: 0131 529 6000

www.eft.co.uk

 

Then touring until 3 October

 

Birmingham Rep and the West Yorkshire Playhouse are presenting the first tour of Nicholas Wright’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s internationally successful trilogy of books “His Dark Materials” (consisting of “Northern Lights”, “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass”). The books have often been compared to “Harry Potter”, but in fact go much deeper. They challenge our perceptions of religion and examine the importance of family and friends. In fact the books have caused a lot of controversy amongst Christian groups, as they believe the books champion atheism.

Despite this the story and the books themselves are beautifully written and Nicholas Wright has done a brilliant job of adapting the epic story into a six hour piece of theatre. Due to its length, the play has been split into two parts.

The story is set in a world similar to our own, except everyone has a daemon. A daemon is an animal, a companion that is part of us and stays with us throughout our lives. In this world Lyra, a young girl abandoned by her parents must discover the truth behind where she came from. She must rescue her friend Roger, who along with the other children is having his daemon cut away from him. And with the help of her friend Will she must fight to protect the future of the world and all other worlds.

It’s a superb story that is well told by the ensemble of actors. All of them play many different parts, except Amy McAllister who puts in a superb performance as the headstrong yet brave Lyra. The daemons are also brought to life by fantastic puppets by the Blind Summit company. The cast work well together in creating a fantastic adventure that not only entertains, but challenges and stimulates as well. They also make great use of Ruari Murchison’s simple and effective set in telling the story.

An epic, yet enthralling piece of theatre!

 

Listings:

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

21 to 24 May

Thu 7:00pm – Part One

Fri 2:00pm – Part One / 7:00pm – Part Two

Sat 2:00pm – Part One / 7:00pm – Part Two

Sun 1:00pm – Part One / 6:00pm – Part Two

 

Tickets: £15.50 - £23.00

Box Office: 0131 529 6000

www.eft.co.uk

 

Then touring until 20 June