All our blogs are written by
carefully selected reviewers who have experience in theatre
acting, journalism and production. We are all volunteers and the
team have been together since 2001. Quite simply, we do it
because we are PASSIONATE ABOUT THEATRE, and we hope to encourage
more and more people around the world to visit their local
theatre.
Thanks for continuing to spread the news and help this network
grow and grow.
Douglas McFarlane
Editor, UK Theatre Network
http://www.uktheatre.tv
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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
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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
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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 21st 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
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King Arthur by Siege Perilous
Published by: Carolin Kopplin on Friday 14th August 2009
06:08pm
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 Arthus 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. Mordered is
trained for the role of a draditional 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 cown 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.
For tickets visit the official Edinburgh Fringe
websitehttp://www.edfringe.com
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Almost 10 - Pleasance Courtyard
Published by: Carolin Kopplin on Friday 14th August 2009
06:08pm
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
websitehttp://www.edfringe.com
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SHOW: DAVID BENSON SINGS NOEL COWARD
Published by: Douglas McFarlane on Friday 14th August 2009
06:08pm
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
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