1,020 stories by "Mark Fisher"
Tron, GlasgowYou couldn't fault this adaptation of Julia Donaldson's novel for being short of themes. In 90 minutes, it ticks off bereavement, child abuse, missing people, drug addiction, me…
Beacon, GreenockHalf an hour along the Clyde from Glasgow, the Beacon is a handsome new arts centre with a 500-seat main auditorium and a 100-seat studio. The artistic director of the �…
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh There is much that is extraordinary about Shelagh Delaney's debut play: that it was written by an 18-year-old after watching something by Terence Rattigan and thinkin…
Citizens, GlasgowThe class war isn't over yet. Just ask the House of Commons catering staff whom MP Christopher Chope referred to as "servants" last week. Let's hope they don't react li…
Citizens, GlasgowAs pantos across the land ramp up the contrast, volume and colour, the Christmas show at the Citz is refreshingly austere. Against a backdrop of naked winter trees, this Sle…
Dundee RepAt this time of year, even the more sober-minded shows play to the gallery with fart gags and slapstick. The distinguishing characteristic of Jemima Levick's production of The Snow…
Tron, GlasgowWhen Charles Dickens conceived the character of Ebenezer Scrooge, it is unlikely that he had in mind a large woman in a spangly leotard, bejewelled shoulder pads and curly black…
Arches, GlasgowIt's not so much the spirit of Christmas birth as of Easter resurrection that possesses this Hans Christian Andersen adaptation by Catherine Wheels. It begins, delightfully, i…
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghIt's impressive enough that Johnny McKnight is writing, directing and starring in Aganeza Scrooge at Glasgow's Tron this season, but somehow he has also managed to fie…
Oran Mor, GlasgowThey discovered Elvis, they discovered sex, they discovered material wealth. Now the baby boomers are discovering death. The results can be maudlin and introspective " but n…
Traverse, EdinburghThe wag who described Morna Pearson as the Dr Dre of Scottish theatre was probably exaggerating. The Elgin-born playwright is no gangsta rapper, though you can't deny the …
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghTowards the start of Shakespeare's comedy, the fairy queen Titania tells her lover Oberon how their quarrel has turned nature upside down. "The seasons alter…
Traverse, Edinburgh"I'm at home and I feel homesick," says the character of Kate Bane, explaining her unresolved anguish to the boyfriend who has come to meet her parents. Or rather, in Ella…
Platform, GlasgowImagine a string quartet, but with actors instead of musicians. In place of a score, a set of overlapping monologues. As they riff on similar themes, they could be from a fa…
Govanhill Baths, GlasgowEven a trip to the swimming baths is full of ritual. First comes the initiation ceremony of changing room, wire basket and wristband " just as it is here in Adrian Ho…
Citizens, GlasgowShe enters in socks, tracksuit bottoms and faded grey T-shirt. Her blood-red hair is a shade away from the glossy surfaces of her fitted kitchen. Her son has just been dropp…
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghCanadian playwright Michel Tremblay's Les Belles SÅ“urs, translated here as The Guid Sisters, is one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, remarkable on many l…
His Majesty's, AberdeenYou can imagine a stage adaptation of Robin Jenkins's sublime 1955 novel turning out like Of Mice and Men. Set during the second world war on a remote Highland estate,…
Tron, GlasgowYou couldn't accuse Sylvia Dow of being over-hasty. After a lifetime in arts administration, she has waited until her 70s to make her playwriting debut. There is nothing antiqua…
Royal LyceumThe play by Arthur Miller that became Death of a Salesman was originally called The Inside of His Head, but the title could apply equally to Vanishing Point's nightmarish contrib…
Fringe veterans have various strategies for surviving Edinburgh " from stirring up debate to remembering your motivation " but all agree on the benefits of limiting beer intakeOf all the exp…
Pitlochry festival theatreSince director Richard Baron staged The 39 Steps at Perth Theatre in 1998, the adaptation has been on a journey as long and involved as that of Richard Hannay when …
Tron, GlasgowAs titles for riotous comedies go, this one had to be the grimmest. The stones in Sean Harkin's pockets are there to weigh him down as he drowns. His suicide, as playwright Mari…
Arches, GlasgowThe earliest hours of the morning are also the most solitary: a drunk staggering home; a security guard watching CCTV; a forlorn Facebook user hoping someone will message back…
Pitlochry festival theatreThe murder-mystery always lets you down. It's a genre that compels you to piece together the clues, then leaves you with a sense of emptiness the moment the detecti…
