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Thursday, May 11, 2017

The 306: Day review – war drama sings praises of women written out of history by Mark Fisher

Station Hotel, PerthThe second part of Oliver Emanuel’s first world war trilogy is a confrontational patchwork that shatters the myth of Britain’s cheerful army of working womenOne day l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42PM
Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Charlie Sonata review – wayward odyssey of a drunken dreamer by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghSandy Grierson brings humour and bitterness to Douglas Maxwell’s tale of a redemptive mission, directed by Matthew LentonThe eponymous figure at the centre of Dougla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM
Sunday, April 23, 2017

Out of This World review – theatrical fantasia falls back to Earth with a crash by Mark Fisher

Macrobert Arts Centre, StirlingIts bewildering mix of projections, music and ariel work makes Mark Murphy’s show about a coma patient a technical marvel, but the story is ultimately prosai…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Coriolanus Vanishes review – shape-shifting portrait of a man on the run by Mark Fisher

Tron, GlasgowIn this exquisite solo piece, with parallels to Shakespeare’s play, the writer and performer David Leddy gets under the skin of an outsiderChris has an identity crisis. Played…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Monday, April 10, 2017

A Number review – dizzying double-take on the question of cloning by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghA crisp combination of stillness and urgency powers Caryl Churchill’s teasing speculations on identityCaryl Churchill’s two-hander zips along in an hour, so most e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Thursday, April 6, 2017

Girl in the Machine review – the dilemmas of digital dependency by Mark Fisher

Traverse, Edinburgh Stef Smith’s dystopian sci-fi two-hander, staged during the Edinburgh international science festival, anatomises our relationships with technologyThe lines of Neil Warm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Theatre review by Mark Fisher

Traverse, EdinburghStevie finds out about her husband's affair in Edward Albee's thrilling drama from a letter sent by their old friend Ross. What he wrote, she says, was "awful and absurd, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18PM
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Hay Fever review – hate is love in Coward's midsummer night of warped romance by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghDominic Hill’s production of this sharply observed comedy is at its best when mocking the social embarrassments of polite societyNoël Coward’s silly, subversive 1…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The Winter's Tale review – Scots-tinged Shakespeare is rich and raucous by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh Scottish writer James Robertson has translated selected scenes in this ravishingly lit and superbly designed production of Shakespeare’s playJohn Michie’s Leontes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Monday, February 13, 2017

Locker-room banter is not just about Trump – it's men everywhere by Mark Fisher

Gary McNair has created a show using verbatim testimonies from hundreds of interviewees to reveal the prevalence of a hidden, misogynistic male languageGary McNair has accosted a stranger. H…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Sunday, February 5, 2017

Still Game: Live 2 review – hilarity ahoy as the TV sitcom takes a sea cruise by Mark Fisher

SSE Hydro, GlasgowFord Kiernan and Greg Hemphill return to the stage with an even more ambitious live show – and just as many laughsWhen does a sitcom get too big for its boots? It’s a w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Monday, January 30, 2017

Manipulate review – head-spinning theatre festival sets sail on silken sea by Mark Fisher

Traverse, EdinburghFisk, a meditative evocation of mental breakdown onboard a paper boat, is a highlight at the festival of animation, puppetry and movementThere’s a turntable in the Trave…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM
Sunday, January 15, 2017

Picnic at Hanging Rock review – a show with volcanic power by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghLutton’s production of the classic 1967 novel is a metaphor for the underlying contradictions of colonialismIt feels like an unresolved chord. Everything is on edge.…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AM
Sunday, December 11, 2016

Black Beauty review – a galloping, five-star triumph by Mark Fisher

Traverse, EdinburghThe beguiling playfulness of this rollicking adaptation cleverly amplifies the high drama of Anna Sewell’s equestrian adventureThey should have called it Horse Play. Thi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM
Monday, December 5, 2016

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland review – Anthony Neilson's Christmas Caroll by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghNeilson’s playful take on the much-loved novel is an eccentric fantasia full of clever theatrical tricksIt was in this theatre 12 years ago that Anthony Neilson pres…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Friday, December 2, 2016

The Snaw Queen review – a psychedelic sugar binge by Mark Fisher

Tron, GlasgowAnything goes, especially Hans Christian Andersen’s original story, in Johnny McKnight’s hyperactive festive rompIf you’re looking to buy some red glitter in central Glasg…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Five Guys Named Moe review – crowdpleasing tribute to father of R&B by Mark Fisher

Festival Square theatre, Edinburgh Bandleader Louis Jordan’s songwriting skill shines through in this breezy jukebox show, which makes up for sparse plotting with abundant feelgood spiritH…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Sunday, November 27, 2016

Weans in the Wood review – cracking journey to the dark heart of panto by Mark Fisher

Macrobert Arts Centre, StirlingHigh-density gags featuring a host of fairytale favourites cover up the narrative cracks in Johnny McKnight’s subversive panto“Weans in the Wood is about s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AM
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Jumpy review – April De Angelis’s toe-curling mother-daughter truths by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghCora Bissett’s spirited revival is performed by a fine ensemble beneath a towering set but doesn’t go deeper than a lightweight observational comedyShe’s a woman…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Monday, October 31, 2016

Back to the rivers of blood: Enoch Powell returns to a divided Britain by Mark Fisher

In 1968, MP Enoch Powell prophesied doom over mass immigration. Now, nearly 50 years later, Ian McDiarmid is playing him in new drama What Shadows. How does it feel to voice his notorious sp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart – review by Mark Fisher

Tron, GlasgowA small academic industry is building around the work of David Greig. Books are appearing with titles such as The Sense of Place and Identity in David Greig's Plays and the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32PM
Tuesday, October 18, 2016

One Thinks of It All As a Dream review – psychedelic salute to Syd Barrett by Mark Fisher

Òran Mór, GlasgowAlan Bissett evokes the whimsy of The Wind in the Willows in his insightful eulogy to Pink Floyd’s wayward geniusChapter seven of The Wind in the Willows is called The P…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Friday, October 14, 2016

'It's our global addiction': Scottish oil drama Crude drills down to reality by Mark Fisher

Profit, pollution, civil unrest and contact lenses: oil seeps its way into the lives of millions. It’s a big issue – so big that Grid Iron theatre’s new theatre work is set in a docksi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Broons review – nostalgic entertainment with an emotional punch by Mark Fisher

Adam Smith theatre, KirkcaldyThe long-running Scots cartoon strip transfers to the stage with gentle humour and couthie familiarity intact, but also some pirandellian uneaseHas there ever be…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:46PM
Thursday, October 6, 2016

The Suppliant Women five-star review – an epic, feminist protest song by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghAeschylus’s tale of escape from forced marriage and the perils of exile is made brilliantly tense in David Greig’s thoroughly democratic productionWhen David Greig…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:33AM
Monday, September 19, 2016

Trainspotting review – Renton and co return to the stage with raw power by Mark Fisher

Citizens theatre, GlasgowHarry Gibson’s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel about urban alienation speaks as loudly, scabrously and irreverently as everThey used to call it “the Aids ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:50AM
Sunday, September 4, 2016

Democracy review – Blair-era drama as colourless as a section of the Berlin Wall by Mark Fisher

Macrobert Arts Centre, StirlingRapture’s flat production of Michael Frayn’s 2003 play has more the stagy air of Yes, Prime Minister than the the sharpness of House of CardsThey say Adolf…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM
Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Counting Sheep: the polyphonic protest show that puts you inside Kiev's Maidan by Mark Fisher

Using folk singing, found footage and a revolutionary interactive staging, Marichka Kudriavtseva and Mark Marczyk’s ‘guerrilla folk opera’ throws Edinburgh audiences into the heart of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AM
Monday, July 11, 2016

The Lonesome West review – Martin McDonagh's dark tale of battling brothers by Mark Fisher

Tron, GlasgowThe last instalment in the Leenane triology is given a touching and funny revival with some superb performancesAt first sight, the plays in Martin McDonagh’s Leenane trilogy l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:44AM
Monday, June 20, 2016

The James Plays review – triumphant trilogy holds a mirror to Scottish history by Mark Fisher

Edinburgh Festival theatreRona Munro’s day-long reimagining of 15th-century royal Scotland shows a nation determined to do things on its own terms Related: The lost kings of Scotland There…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:05AM
Sunday, June 12, 2016

Much Ado About Nothing review – sharp, smart and very funny by Mark Fisher

Dundee RepBenedick and Beatrice offer a romance worth believing in Irene Macdougall’s intelligent, well paced productionKeep an eye on Robert Jack’s left hand. When the actor strides on …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:22PM