All stories by David Kettle on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Ragnarok, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh review - moving miniature apocalypse by David Kettle

End-of-days drama from centimetres-high clay figures, in a powerful collaboration from Scottish and Norwegian companies In terms of conveying monumental events using small-scale means, Edinb…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:48AM
Saturday, February 10, 2024

Many Good Men, Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh review - daring but flawed provocation by David Kettle

A shocking attack kicks off an audacious experience that makes its audience complicit, in Clare Duffy's ambitious but patchy show There’s been an incident in Edinburgh. Right near the Scot…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:42AM
Thursday, January 18, 2024

Jekyll and Hyde, Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh review - audacious contemporary resonances by David Kettle

Gothic excess mingles with more modern themes in a one-man transformation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Evil walks among us. But it doesn’t arrive courtesy of mad scientists, bubblin…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:06AM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Same Team, Traverse Theatre Edinburgh review - shamelessly unseasonal Christmas cheer by David Kettle

Grit, authenticity and raucous comedy in a five-woman soccer show You can keep your Cinderellas, your Aladdins, your wannabe Lord Mayors of London. The way forward with Christmas shows is cl…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:24AM
Thursday, November 2, 2023

FLIP!, Summerhall Edinburgh review - sassy, satirical parable by David Kettle

A Faustian fable of online influence crackles with energy and attitude You can almost feel the energy blazing off the stage in this fast, furious and fiercely funny two-hander from writer Ra…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:06PM
Monday, October 16, 2023

Dracula: Mina's Reckoning, Festival Theatre Edinburgh review - audacious and entirely convincing by David Kettle

An all-female spin on Stoker's classic horror from the National Theatre of Scotland dares to challenge stereotypes An all-female production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula – well, kind of – t…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:43PM
Monday, October 9, 2023

Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh review - a maze of ideas by David Kettle

The Scottish independence referendum is just one of the strands that Peter Arnott attempts to weave together in an unconvincing Chekhovian drama The title of Peter Arnott’s new play – a …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:03PM
Saturday, August 26, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: CHOO CHOO! / Blood of the Lamb by David Kettle

Intrusive thoughts and US abortion policy come under scrutiny in two Fringe shows CHOO CHOO! (Or... Have You Ever Thought About ****** **** *****? (Cos I Have)), Pleasance Dome ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:25AM
Friday, August 25, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Distant Memories of the Near Future / Soldiers of Tomorrow by David Kettle

Government-mandated coupledom and intractable conflicts in two Fringe shows at Summerhall Distant Memories of the Near Future, Summerhall ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:25AM
Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Dark Noon / Concerned Others by David Kettle

A brutal history of America and an intimate examination of Scottish drug-related deaths in two powerful shows Dark Noon, Pleasance at EICC ★★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:55AM
Monday, August 21, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: The Insider / Sensuous Governing by David Kettle

Two strong shows in the Fringe's #DANISH strand offer financial temptation and otherworldly interactions The Insider, ZOO Southside ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:33PM
Sunday, August 20, 2023

Dimanche, Edinburgh International Festival 2023 review - troubling and bewildering by David Kettle

Climate change gets an exquisitely beautiful, gently humorous treatment by two Belgian puppetry and mime companies A toy car – in fact, a mobile home with comically enormous antenna on top…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:33PM
Saturday, August 19, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Maureen / Common Dissonance by David Kettle

Warm-hearted wisdom from an 80-something plus ambitious circus at House of Oz Maureen, House of Oz ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:07AM
Friday, August 18, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: PLEASE LEAVE (a message) / Shadow Kingdom by David Kettle

Communicating with the far future and dream-like shadows for children in two contrasting shows PLEASE LEAVE (a message), Underbelly, Cowgate ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:13AM
Thursday, August 17, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Without Sin / An Alternative Helpline for the End of the World / Two Strangers Walk into a Bar... by David Kettle

Three one-on-one shows offer absolution, advice and a choreographed blind date With its throbbing crowds and its performers baying for attention (and for audiences), the Edinburgh Fringe can…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:13AM
Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: The Grand Old Opera House Hotel / YOU ARE GOING TO DIE by David Kettle

A patchy operatic send-up and an unflinching examination of dirt and degradation in two very different shows The Grand Old Opera House Hotel, Traverse Theatre ★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:13AM
Monday, August 14, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Adults / Bacon by David Kettle

Illicit gay encounters form the themes of two provocative shows - with contrasting results Adults, Traverse Theatre ★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:13AM
Saturday, August 12, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Casting the Runes / The Return / Woodhill by David Kettle

Sinister supernatural forces, a broken Balkan childhood and a scream of fury for prison reform in three varied shows Casting the Runes, Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:13AM
Friday, August 11, 2023

Trojan Women / Thrown, Edinburgh International Festival 2023 reviews - passionate all-women productions by David Kettle

Overwhelming power in a hybrid of Eastern and Western traditions, though a more modern take on female identity issues struggles to convince Trojan Women, Festival Theatre ★★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:33AM
Thursday, August 10, 2023

Edinburgh International Festival 2023 reviews: FOOD / Dusk by David Kettle

Our compulsion to consume and our acceptance of outsiders investigated in two visually impressive shows FOOD, The Studio ★★★ There’s no denying it: Los Angeles-born Geoff Sobelle …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:13AM
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Heaven / Lie Low / After the Act by David Kettle

Three outstanding shows at the Traverse Theatre tackle unexplored life choices, uncertain trauma and Section 28 Heaven, Traverse Theatre ★★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:13AM
Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Stuntman / Beautiful Evil Things / What You See When Your Eyes Are Closed... by David Kettle

Male violence, Greek myths and a modern-day cyclops in three strong shows Stuntman, Summerhall ★★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:19AM
Saturday, August 5, 2023

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: The Death and Life of All of Us / Anything That We Wanted To Be / Chicken by David Kettle

Three solo shows at Summerhall cover family secrets, untrodden life paths - and poultry celebrity The Death and Life of All of Us, Summerhall ★★★★ Victor Esses was 16 when he firs…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:13AM
Monday, May 22, 2023

Dear Billy, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh review - powerful tribute to Scottish pride by David Kettle

Celebration of Scotland's iconic comedy legend Billy Connolly is a moving portrait of a nation Anyone expecting to see the Big Yin himself, Gary McNair breathlessly explains as he dashes on …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:48AM
Saturday, May 20, 2023

Anna Karenina, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh - nimble, sweary staging of Tolstoy's iconic novel by David Kettle

It might sometimes whizz by, but Lesley Hart's stage adaptation has all the power, passion and profanities you could ask for How do you cram a thousand-page novel, a cast of dozens and profo…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:03AM
Monday, February 13, 2023

Macbeth (an undoing), Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh - audacious update of the Scottish play by David Kettle

Zinnie Harris reimagines Shakespeare to compelling effect, making the audience complicit You’d hardly call a director particularly perceptive for highlighting Lady Macbeth as the true pow…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:22AM
Thursday, October 6, 2022

James IV: Queen of the Fight, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh review - revelatory historical drama by David Kettle

Kingship, tolerance and the trappings of power are among the many themes of Rona Munro's passionate, timely new play "The poem is real," intones entertainer-turned-courtier Ellen solemnly as…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:49AM
Tuesday, August 23, 2022

The End of Eddy, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - powerful but lacking compassion by David Kettle

An energetic, lithe gig-theatre adaptation of Édouard Louis’s 2014 trauma memoir can't escape the book's limitations Those working-class people really are appalling, aren’t they? Racist…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:42AM
Monday, August 22, 2022

Edinburgh Fringe 2022 review: The Stones by David Kettle

A slow-burn gothic horror plays with our sense of reality to intelligently creepy effect In many ways, The Stones is what the Fringe is all about: a new theatre company (London-based Signal …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:54AM
Friday, August 19, 2022

Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Ode to Joy / Wilf by David Kettle

Two plays by Scottish writer James Ley set out to shock, provoke – and provide belly laughs too Ode to Joy (How Gordon Got to Go to the Nasty Pig Party), Summerhall ★★★★★

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:18PM
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Room, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - decadent, extravagant, and somewhat mystifying by David Kettle

James Thierrée joyfully collides together dance, mime, acrobatics, music and more - but what does it all mean? "I feel I owe you an explanation." That much James Thierrée concedes partway …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:54AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards