Edinburgh
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Ode to Joy / WilfFriday, 19 August 2022
Ode to Joy (How Gordon Got to Go to the Nasty Pig Party), Summerhall ★★★★★You receive a glossary on your way in to James Ley’s high-voltage, high-camp Ode to Joy in the ancient, steeply raked lecture hall-cum-theatre of Summerhall’s Demonstration... Read more... |
Counting and Cracking, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - ambitious, powerful, but sadly under-attendedSaturday, 13 August 2022
First, a bit of housekeeping. Maybe it was the three-and-a-half-hour duration, or maybe the unfamiliar Sri Lankan subject matter, or maybe even the very un-festival-like hot weather that put people off an evening inside Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Temping / Work.txtFriday, 12 August 2022
Temping, Assembly George Square Studios ★★★★Sarah Jane is away in Hawaii. But don’t worry – she’s left plenty of instructions for your day temping in the actuaries’ office, checking voicemails, answering emails, updating spreadsheets. After all, it’... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Every Word was Once an Animal / Tim Crouch: Truth’s a Dog Must to KennelThursday, 11 August 2022
Every Word was Once an Animal, Zoo Southside ★★★★Ghent-based theatre company Ontroerend Goed have been prodding and provoking Fringe audiences for years, sometimes forcefully – as in 2001’s controversial, confrontational, crowd-baiting Audience – or... Read more... |
Burn, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - bold, risky, sometimes bafflingMonday, 08 August 2022
In retrospect, all the clues were there. A star actor embarking on a new performance genre; a fresh reappraisal of one of Scotland’s cultural icons; a hi-tech production of sumptuous video and prop trickery; a dance score from a major name in new... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Boy / Intruder|IntruzMonday, 08 August 2022
Boy, Summerhall ★★★★ Nature or nurture? It’s the perennial question behind so much in human development – and the central issue, too, behind Carly Wijs’s very moving Boy for Flemish theatre company De Roovers at Summerhall.Twins Brian and Bruce had... Read more... |
Ridout, SCO, Manze, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh review - sensual mystery and searing intensitySaturday, 07 May 2022
The programme for this concert had Andrew Manze’s fingerprints all over it. Of all the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s semi-regular guest conductors, he’s the one who most consistently delivers on the highest level. A thinker to his fingertips, he... Read more... |
RSNO, RCOS Students, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - a massive gesture of solidarityMonday, 02 May 2022
In my last review from Edinburgh, I remarked on the sheer size of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, with over 100 players on stage. Little did I know that two weeks later the Royal Scottish National Orchestra would swell its ranks with... Read more... |
Foals, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a euphoric returnSaturday, 23 April 2022
Much has changed for Foals since their current run of shows were first announced. Initially scheduled to support 2019’s twin releases of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 and 2, so much time has passed that the group are now set to release... Read more... |
Gillam, NYOS, Hasan, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - stunning variety from the new generationMonday, 18 April 2022
I expected the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s Usher Hall concert to be jam-packed with a joyful melee of admiring friends and relatives. This is a vast orchestra of over 100, and it wouldn’t take that many aunts and uncles to fill the Usher’... Read more... |
Philippens, BBCSSO, Wigglesworth, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - peace and triumph side by sideMonday, 14 March 2022
Mark Wigglesworth is a semi-regular guest with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and he’s hugely experienced in the opera world, which might explain why my expectations were so high for his Wagner in this concert. In the event, though, I didn’t... Read more... |
SCO, Leleux, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh review – new concerto for a deepening partnershipSaturday, 05 March 2022
You may well have seen a concerto performance that has been “directed from the keyboard”, or maybe even one that’s “led from the violin”, but have you ever seen a concerto that’s directed from the oboe?It’s quite a sight, I can tell you, and it... Read more... |
