King’s Theatre

Edinburgh

Until 7th feb

19.00 (wed & sat 14.30 matinee)

£14.50-£29.50

The King’s Theatre is a beautiful venue with ornate marble stair cases, stained glass and carved wood. There is also many ornate plaster cast sculptures in the auditorium, your eyes are kept busy as you are reminded of the regal olden days of theatre! Dead simple is an adaptation of the novel by Peter James. It begins in Brighton and instanly reminds me of the movie Shallow Grave. The playful communal behaviour of financially adequate (posh) property developers. Two friends Michael (Jamie Lomas; Stella, Eastenders) and Mark (Rik Makarem; Emerdale, Torchwood.) Our lead lady Ashley ( Tina Hobley; Holby City, the Bill), Michaels soon to be bride and her Uncle Bradley ( Michael McKell; Casuality, Emerdale)have candid character building joviality in a grand sitting room. They are happy but we all know this isn’t going to last.  The reason for this coming together is the wedding and a planned stag do….and a prank which involves the groom being buried alive in a coffin. Michael has to contend with suffering the worst fate that is possible, particularly when he discovers all but one of his friends have been killed in a car accident. The only person that can help him is Davey,(Josh Brown; Grange Hill, Shameless) a young man with learning difficulties who lives with and in constant fear of his father. He plays computer games in front of the T.V. in his bedroom and talks to Michael via a walkie talkie he finds at the crash site. We can see Michael through a veil in a hidden compartment behind the bedroom wall. The effect works well as a way of being able to experience the two contrasting environments at the same time. The use of the walkie talkie is not the only time technology is used as a plot device. Mobile phones, texts and recorded messages are used throughout this show in way where you know it would be impossible without them.

The story sees many unexpected twists, surprises and MURDERS. Lighting and sound effects make the whole show intense and moody. Particularly effective scenes were of cars approaching and turning in the woods of the burial site. This is achieved with a limited amount of space . Dark periods were made to create the feeling of suffocation, just like the fate of the man in the coffin. This is broken up with plenty of humor, our detectives are commonly joking around and taking cracks at each other as is familiar in T.V. Detective dramas. Our manipulative leading lady’s character hails from Morningside and I assume this will change at the plays next location, it was a nice touch for a place to be familiar…even if it was the location of a tragic car accident. Or was it…really you need to see this play to see all the twists and even if you don’t get a chance to I wouldn’t want to ruin the book either. The presence of familiar T.V. soap opera faces makes it reasonable to assume that this show isn’t supposed to be constantly intense, certainly the two ladies behind me find most of the show hilarious so we don’t hold back at the parts where we are not sure we should be laughing. ( Safety in numbers!) Its always interesting to meet regular theater goers and for these ladies this is just the first of three shows this week! FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Sarah Marshall

By way of an explanation to those of you who have not come across the phenomenon that is A Play, A Pie And A Pint before, they are one hour plays performed at lunchtime in the crypt of what was once a large church, the entirety of which has been converted in to a bar/venue/restaurant complex called Oran Mor situated at the very top of Byres Road in Glasgow’s West End. The owner of the building, Colin Beattie and the Scottish actor and playwright, the now sadly deceased David MacLennan, had the idea of putting on lunchtime plays in the crypt. For your money you get, you guessed it, a play a pie and a pint (quiche, wine and soft drinks also available). The doors open at 12 noon which gives you ample time to finish your pie/quiche, read a paper or chat to your pals in the relaxing surroundings before the performance commences at 1 o’clock.

This week’s play, “Hooray For All Kinds Of Things,” was written by, and featured Sandy Nelson (Chris the postie in Still Game and self-confessed Jon Gnarr afficionado) in the lead role as Icelandic stand-up comedian and non-conformist ex punk, Jon Gnarr, who stood for and won the mayorship of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, in 2010. Supporting cast were Rebecca Elise as Heida Helgadottir as his election agent and (the very lanky) Jamie Scott Gordon as ageing punk and co-conspirator Ottar Proppe.

In 2008 the banking-led Icelandic economy had imploded and the population were completely fed up with traditional politicians who had led Iceland to the brink of total ruin. Into the breach strode Jon Gnarr and “The Best Party.” This play basically tells the story of what happened from The Best Party’s beginnings as a joke to cheer up the people of Iceland through to Jon Gnarr’s election as mayor of Reykjavik, by means of several scenes strung together as a flashback from Gnarr’s(Nelson’s) opening stand-up routine.

The Best Party stood for “Sustainable Transparency” and had the snappy slogan, “Hooray For All Kinds Of Things.” Aims included; A Polar Bear in Reykjavik zoo, free towels at the public baths and A Disneyworld with free entry for all. Gnarr proudly proclaimed that when elected, “I will go back on all my election promises.” They exposed icelandic politics for the worn-out, self-seeking, hypocritical mess it had become (some parallels with the UK I think) and in doing so won an election against all the odds.

The play, directed by Gary McNair was very tightly written and never faltered over the hour’s duration. There were many hilarious moments including a very different version of “Simply The Best”(pun intended) which got a great round of applause from a very appreciative audience. A serious point was made, along the way, of the importance and place of Art and artists of all kinds in modern society. The acting and delivery was of the highest order and the only (very) minor criticism was that some of the lighting cues were not up to the mark. Much recommended. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Dave Ivens

Edinburgh Playhouse
1st Feb 2015
7.30pm
£21.90 – £29.90

Formulated in downtown Los Angeles, Cirque Berserk started on their road of performance at the Burning Man and continued to run shows all over the United States. Direct from four sold-out seasons in London’s Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, they come to Edinburgh.

With the Playhouse auditorium half full the floodlights went up, blinding the audience. An booming electro-rock soundtrack plays and on jump an all black athletic crew dressed in period suits, demonstrating their impressive physical abilities with a skipping rope and creating remarkable human towers, all possessing amazing physical strength and acrobatics, a feat of sheer synchronized athleticism. Followed by two aerial performers on silks, owning true agility, twisting and flipping providing many heart-in-mouth moments. Two drummers walked on stage after, one a Jack Sparrow look-a-like with good humour and the other, a fiery blonde, however their set progressed on to some underwhelming percussion with ropes. Of course no circus is complete without a clown, cue the dopey and clumsy clown, Tweedy, trundling on with an iron as a dog and a floor brush. He mimes a silly but softly amusing hat act. He then tries to fix the blown ‘CIRCUS’ sign lights, using a ladder that would have any Health and Safety officer having kittens! Another elegant glittery aerialist spins in the air but she is indistinguishable from the many others out there. An acrobatic dance duo (a swan and faun?) takes stage presenting impressive balancing feats and demonstrating exceptional strength and focus. Next up is Cuba’s eight-strong male crew (and token female) with rippling muscles and adorned in tribal feathered hats, who launch each other into high somersaults from a teeterboard. Less jaw dropping fillers parade the stage, such as flirty showgirls, Tweedy the clown returns and a robotic bouncing-stilt artist but too many acts feel ordinary.

Before the interval however we are given a taste of something quite out of the ordinary! A spherical steel cage, 14 feet in diameter, is wheeled into position one, and then two leather-clad Brazilians ride on and begin to loop the loop inside the sphere! It leaves the audience choking back exhaust fumes, but it is still breath taking nonetheless. After the interval we witness men competing at the game of limbo, the level gets lower and lower, the game gets serious when the level is set alight and one very flexible man is able to successfully limbo under a foot level. Subsequently ‘Jack Sparrow reappears spinning fire ropes from his mouth and his partner proceeds to spin various objects lying down with her feet! An outstanding contortionist follows demonstrating she can control a bow and arrow more accurately with her feet than most can do with their hands. There is knife-throwing which is scarily close and almost unbearably exciting, finishing on a turning wheel and fire daggers. Tweedy returns for some bicycle capers, before he ropes in two ‘tall strong’ men from the audience which results in some amusing tomfoolery. A female displays some breath taking balance acts and the athletic male strong crew revisits for some hoops leaping, it is as if they are made out of elastic.

The show’s finale sees the return of the jaw-slackening spectacle, the ‘globe of death’ where not two, but four motorbikes take on the human hamster sphere. A very brave young woman entered the sphere and the bikers jostled for space through a heart stopping sequence. The lighting was spectacular and over the roar of the bikes you heard individual people in the audience gasping… wow!

This being the first time I have seen a circus on stage, rather than a tent, made me think the space was a little restricting and they probably could not perform to their full potential. Upon reflection there was plenty going on, yet little sense of drama. Any magnificently dangerous moments were lost and weren’t emphasised with a high tension build up. Cirque Berserk does not meet the heady highs of Cirque du Soleil, yet there is great attention to detail in the costumes, make-up and industrial Area 51’s set. There is a plot somewhere about a traveling gypsy circus, however it is a bit fragmented featuring talented performers, who just needs some polishing. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Sarah Lewis

Royal Scottish Conservatoire

27th-29th January 

This student production, directed by Peter Collins, was performed in the round, with music provided by supporting musicians and by the actors themselves. In his brief programme note the director pointed to Shakespeare’s use of the ‘affectation of country life’ to offer a critique of society and to pose some questions about fortune, nature, death and loss – as well as highlighting ‘love as a living relationship’ and the ‘power of language’ to light or obscure what may be true.

All this we get, in various measure, and perhaps the main credit to this performance is – thanks to the direction, and the lively, and often shrewd delivery of the actors – that we believe it, in spite of the strange setting, the daft occasions, the cock-eyed twists of the plot. What’s more, in this entertainment the comedy sustains our hope in humankind and genuine affection, while still allowing us scepticism and common sense. And that is so even when the foundation for many of the verbal twists and rallies has almost evaporated over time, and we may have to stretch a bit for the punch line or the context.

Much of the responsibility for keeping us in touch falls on Rosalind at the centre of things. On the night, Colleen Cameron, supported beautifully by Chloe-Ann Taylor as Celia and Conor Hinds as Orlando, was both radiant and mischievous, cheery and scathing, as required. It is one of the key twists in characterisation here that the central figure – among all the swirl of menace and foolery, of disguise in dress and switches in gender – turns out to be the most heavily smitten and yet she is the voice that most clearly mocks the conventions of love and courtship. Good in the opening scenes with Celia as her spirited companion, she gathered strength and confidence in Arden, and in her final ‘disclosure’ – where the knots of relationship were all unravelled – everything was brought to a joyful conclusion.

The rest of the company pitched in to very positive effect. Nicholas Barton-Wines as Touchstone had the energy, fun and perversity that the clown should deploy: both as barbed commentator, and as suitor to the formidable Audrey, who was played to good, licentious excess by Charlotte Driessler. Stephen Redwood was a slightly aslant but persuasive le Beau, as well as a sweet-pitched Amiens. Shane Quigley-Murphy and Tim Pollack both had three role switches to manage – presumably to display their range. The first showed best as an imposing Charles the wrestler, and as the solid and genuine, if mildly deluded (in ideal, pastoral terms), Duke Frederick. The second gave more as the truly menacing Duke Senior (later wafted away in two strokes of the pen) than as Adam the loyal servant (‘Still Game’ out of Blacks) or as Silvius the shepherd (kitted out for Alaska, but accented like Georgia). Emilie Mordal Konradsen, as Phebe, could be forgiven for her snappy responses, delivered with conviction, even though she too was lined up at the end with the others in pairs and headed for the happy Ark of marriage.

I haven’t forgotten Jaques, played by Robert Ginty in a fashion that caught his mixed character, which is mostly ‘melancholy’, though sometimes ‘merry’. Formerly (by the Duke’s account) a ‘libertine’; he appears in Arden keen for song and company, then apt to seek solitude. Eventually, having ‘bequeathed’ appropriate wishes like blessings on individuals in the company, he takes his farewell, called to ‘other than dancing measures’ and following the converted bad Duke to a cave of religious contemplation. It’s not easy to catch all that in ways that persuade. But Ginty did: conveying both Jaques’ vague and odd attraction, and also suggesting his depth and complexity, even as the character slipped away from the main stage. I don’t expect to see a better student Jaques; and if I see as good a professional one, I’d be perfectly content.

In other elements, there wasn’t much to be taken with the minimal stage setting – a bare square and rubber granules covering the floor around and perfuming the air not very pleasantly. Not much direct representation in this of the pastoral attractions of Arden – illusory or otherwise. Also I have hinted some of the costume choices (though definitely excluding Touchstone and Rosalind, and maybe the sheep) gave me pause. That said, the lighting worked fine, as did the swift changes and exits and entrances.

Summing up, I would identify the necessary strength of the production (and direction) was the way the company combined to create good feeling and generate amusement and pleasure. The wrestling match; the high jinks of the inhabitants of Arden singing and dancing round the campfire; the minimal but comic vocal contribution of ‘the sheep’ to the exchange between Corin and Touchstone; the eye contact of Ganymede and Aliena in the baiting of Orlando; the audience engagement when it had point, including the charm of the epilogue – all these provide fair examples. The text, too, was delivered pretty well by everyone ‘trippingly on the tongue’. Still, you don’t get comedy that works unless the actors actually bring spirit as well as conviction to it. But there was no problem here in that respect. FOUR STARS

Four Stars Reviewer : Mr Scales

Citizen’s Theatre (Glasgow)

2031st Jan

19.30 (matinees Sat & Wed)

£9-£17

To celebrate the coming of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in the wake of the barren Queen of England, Elizabeth, the inimitable bard produced his only scotcentric production, the powerful & gory psychological tragedy that is Macbeth – think Lady Macbeth as bunny-boiling Glen Close in Fatal Attraction. Four centuries later, both the play (known as the Scottish play) & its poet are firmly entrenched in  the collective consciouness of the British, & it is this fact that allows the cutting edge ‘Filter Theatre & Tobacco Factory,’ to tinker about with the play knowing full well that the audience will understand what the hell is going on.

So essentially, this particular Macbeth is Shakespeare for the Shakesperians, in which at one point Macbeth (played perfectly by Ferdy Roberts) finds himself reading from the ‘Brodie’s notes’ on his own tragedy – talk about plays-within-plays.

This rendition is pretty good, however, a Kafka-esque vision of apocalypse with mad little gremlins running about inside of your TV seat, twiddling buttons & carving out eerie soundcapes. That’s no metaphor, by the way, for the stage set is like a 1990s mound of music-emitting wires & gadgets, like a macrocosmic version of Musikfabrik’s ‘Delusion of the Fury.’ At its heart sat multi-instrumentalist Alan Pagan, a delight to listen to & observe his craft at first hand.

Of the board-treading troupe, I found the acting to be top notch, my favourite being Paul Woodson as Malcolm. The rest of the cast harmonized in the Greek fashion, & they together work’d this neo-modern, chopped & spliced, confectionary-included version of the Scottish play with some style. FOUR STARS

Reviewer : Damo Bullen

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow

9-15 Jan

The great playwright’s Athenian comedy is performed in a unique and hilarious manner. A story of love and lust fuelled by emotion changing flowers sets a surreal storyline, blended with the classical location of Greece. Director Ali de Souza bravely decided to characterise multiple dreamy scenes based on 1920’s Britain which works superbly thanks to fabulous set and sound design.

Ali De Souza

The character Helena, an Athenian hopelessly in love with Demetrius is played by the star of the show Elizabeth Bouckley. Our first glimpse of her is when she bursts on the stage in defined a comedic movement draped in an unflattering 1920’s dress which is greeted with audience laughter. We see Bouckley’s impressive range when a scene of love, confusion and poison are presented wonderfully shortly after the interval.

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ has a play within the play, in this incarnation,  Nick Bottom, a weaver, stars in a tragic love story performed in an private aristocratic home. Bottom is played by Laurie Scott who gives a surreal comedy-styled performance and makes a sterling job of it. He plays the weaver with a Yorkshire twanged voice with brilliantly funny facial expressions and jitters. All senses of humour will be tickled at least once in this powerful production. 5 STARS

Reviewer : Thomas Boglett

Eden Court

Inverness

10th December

This show was actually two plays or “melodramas” for the price of one, both of which contained much murder and mirth. They were put together by Eden Court Creative’s drama lab. The first play called Murder in the red barn  is based on a real life murder that happened in the nineteenth century. It was put together from 3 stage plays by Heather Corpe.

The play follows the exploits of the all round cad William Corder, played brilliantly by Tom Masterton, as he cheats, cons and eventually murders to get what he wants. William is the son of landowner in the country who returns from London to ensure his inheritance from his ill father. He has a fiancee in London but soon takes a fancy to local girl Maria. He enlists the help of an old gypsy lady ,who is actually plotting against him, to successfully seduce Maria. When Maria has a baby he starts to panic that he will be disinherited if his father finds out so proceeds to murder first the baby and then Maria before finally killing the old gypsy and running back to London. Of course he gets caught in the end and justice is done. The play was very old fashioned but still enjoyable with a host of ghosts as William’s victims builds up and the occasional laugh – especially when the old red barn was mentioned.

The second story is that of Sweeney Todd who murders city gents in order to supply meat to the pies of the bawdy Mrs Lovett. The play starts with the Widow Ragg and her son Tobias Ragg forced to resort to begging on the street. When Tobias is accosted by the police investigating the disappearance of city gents in fleet street he is rescued by Miss Oakley who takes pity on the Raggs and sets Tobias up as an apprentice with Sweeney Todd. Miss Oakley is awaiting the return of her sweetheart from sea but is concerned that he has been gone too long and won’t be able to find her as she had to move. Sweeney is murdering with ease and passing the bodies on to be made into pies sold by the two unwitting pie girls. The police are clueless and loving the pies as much as everyone else. It is only when Miss Oakley’s sweetheart returns that the fiendish enterprise unravels.

With lots of songs and double entendres added in for good measure it was a very enjoyable version. The cast were all very good with a special mention to Tobias, played by Rudi Eudan-Paul ,which was acting well beyond his age. The atmospheric music provided by the string ensemble also added greatly to the performance. A nice touch from Eden court was the offer to buy one of Mrs Lovetts tasty meat pies as a pre-theatre snack. Overall the night was entertaining and well put together. FOUR STARS

Reviewers : Lucy and Stewart Tonkin

Lyceum Theater

Edinburgh

28 Nov – 3rd January

£15-£28 (Children half-price)

19.00 (with occasional matinees)

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Eliza Curran, & at 11 years old I am the Mumble’s youngest reviewer. My first assignment was at the beautiful Lyceum theatre, & it was an amazing experience.  I was there to see a pantomime performance of the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) written by Road Dahl.  I have read and loved the book, and this show was just as good if not better!

This version of BFG is full of laughter throughout, including a massive, felt BFG which everyone loved.  The set was cleverly constructed to be a revolving house and there were eight actors and actresses who expertly portrayed the many parts.  Lewis Howden’s hilarious and brilliant depiction of the BFG was superb and Sophie and her Mum were amazing. There are many surprises in this professional and fun show.  I would highly recommend BFG, which will appeal to all ages. FIVE STARS

Reviewer : Eliza Curran