Writer: J.M. Barrie Adaptation: Alan McHugh Additional Material: Elaine C. Smith & Johnny Mac Director: Kathryn Rooney Choreographer: Jane McMurtrie In it’s 60th panto anniversary year or should that be pantoversary, The King’s Theatre in Glasgow delivers a return to form with their take on the perennial favourite Peter Pan. Taking J.M. Barrie’s classic as its inspiration, familiar elements of the original story are still here but the usual panto liberties have been taken with the text. There are Peter and the Darling children, Tinkerbell (a camp as Christmas and always entertaining Darren Brownlie) and of course, Captain Hook (an…
Author: The Reviews Hub - Scotland
The Reviews Hub - Scotland
The Scotland team is under the editorship of Lauren Humphreys. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. We aim to review all professional types of theatre, whether that be Commercial, Repertory or Fringe as well as Comedy, Music, Gigs etc.
Since performing his debut show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Henry Rowley claims he’s tweaked his sketches to make them “weirder”. And although the main take away from Just Literally is the TikTok star’s hyperactive, impressive physicality and puppyish charm, the show does indeed run the gamut from crowd-pleasing accessibility to lyrical oddness with phenomenal verve. Rowley resembles a boyband member with his youthful good looks, black singlet vest and smattering of tattoos on his arms. Allied to his moneyed upbringing and status as an online phenomenon, he appreciates that, although he can count on plenty of established fans in his…
Writer: Johnny McKnight Director: Johnny McKnight Designer: Kenny Miller Musical Direction & Composition: Ross Brown Choreographer: Eva Forrester Riverland is a world away from the West End where Wendy Darling-Darling (Emma Mullen) lives with her Waitrose shopping Dadda (Robert Jack) and Mamma (Katie Barnett) and her (unfeasibly large) pet dog Nana (Marc Mackinnon). Stinkerbell (Johnny McKnight) lives happily in Riverland with her best pal Peter Panto (Star Penders) until the adventurous Peter meets Wendy and whisks her away to their side of town. Poor Stink is cast aside as lovestruck Peter focusses all his attention on his new darling. Into…
Paul Black hasn’t performed live for a year and a half. So there was a sense of occasion to this show, evidenced by the fact that the multi-discipline Glaswegian comic can joke about confusion that he might be playing the Hydro arena next door, and not the more modest but still impressive Armadillo, and it not seem an entirely outlandish possibility. All Sorts, a mix of stand-up and sketches featuring characters from his TikTok, in which he’s accompanied by his brother, Mark, and Alana Malone, has a slightly raw, cut and shunt feel to it, with the trio occasionally talking…
Book: Johnny McKnight Writer: Dodie Smith Stage Adaptation: Zinnie Harris Music and Lyrics: Douglas Hodge Director: Bill Buckhurst Dodie Smith’s story 101 Dalmatians has endured over the past 70 years, first appearing as a serial entitled The Great Dog Robbery in Woman’s Day magazine in 1956, to the beloved 1961 Disney animated adaptation and the 1996 live action movie. It has had previous stage adaptation in both the UK and US and a previous but different musical theatre take in 2009. First appearing on stage at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2022 it is now touring the UK in…
Clearly, the title of this show was no misnomer. Grace emerged on to the stage and made it clear from the start what this performance was likely to be. She was instantly recognised by a cross section of the audience, mainly 30-somethings, with a few others, like myself, scattered around the auditorium. She entertained for around 10 minutes at first, before bringing her support act, known only as Kim onto the stage to perform a short, set. She returned for 15 minutes or so to whet the audience’s appetite before leading in to an intermission. The full one-hour set followed…
Book: Chad Beguelin Music: Alan Menken Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin Director: Casey Nicholaw Disney’s Aladdin has finally arrived on its magic carpet in Glasgow. Shining, shimmering, splendid, it’s actually a whole lot more than that. It’s a big, beautiful traditional musical with first class production values that will satisfy the very youngest to oldest members of the audience. Largely following the storyline of the 1992 animated movie, there have been adaptations for the stage, and contemporary references added to bring it bang up to date. As expected from Disney, the quality is high in every aspect…
Maisie Adam has enjoyed a rapid ascent in stand-up, transitioning from the circuit to touring and television at breakneck speed. She also has a Netflix debut in the offing, albeit after a fashion, which she discloses with typically self-effacing good humour. So it’s perhaps understandable that she’s seeking to pause now and take stock, not least as she’s also recently got married and hit the milestone age of 30. Outside forces are pressuring her to have a child. Yet she’s just starting to be a parent to her parents, with their late middle-age eccentricities increasingly revealing themselves. She characterises her…