Author: The Reviews Hub - Scotland

Writers: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss Directors: Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage Last week we celebrated International Women’s Day. A minor, though no less significant slice, of the appreciation, adoration and respect millions across the globe deserve. And yet, looking back into Her-Story, there’s a pantheon of stories left behind in the shadows of more notorious men. As we steadily (and slowly) find common ground against the archaic norms of the patriarchal past precedent, the stories of these women unearth and step into the spotlight. Now, offering a voice to the past, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s Six is precisely the show…

Book: Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan Lyrics: Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman Director: Paul Kerryson The flasher down the street, rats around your feet and the friendly bum on his barstool – you’d be forgiven for mistaking the bright and shimmering era of the sixties in Baltimore for the streets of Auld Reekie Toun. Hairspray makes a return to Edinburgh, with bigger hair, bolder ballads and as welcoming an audience as ever for their opening night. For a few hours, attempt to distance yourself from reality and be welcomed into the heaving bosom of Baltimore, 1962 – where teen Tracy Turnblad dreams…

Writer & Director: Zinnie Harris A lie is a the most considerably ruthless tool we possess. One glance across the sorry state of affairs makes this obvious, where the truth shall set you free, but a lie maintains governance: Tell a lie; apologise. Better yet – tell a lie; tell another. The narrative is key and those who control the story – control the outcome, for the rest of us, while our tall tales may not determine the course of history – they do strike at what responsibilities we share as we evade the truth, shackling ourselves to a chain…

Writer: Lucy Kirkwood Director: Andrew Panton Unexpected, but far from unfamiliar – a visitor arrives at a small cottage by the shoreline, their intentions unknown, but their presence unnerves the residents of this off-grid slice of tranquillity in a world snared in turmoil. Once a distant fantasy, but now a crushing reality within generational gaps, the nightmare following a meltdown of a nuclear plant, this cottage sits on the outskirts of the no-go zone – close enough to remain within the confines to look after the cows, just far enough to avoid the lethal radiation. Hopefully. Both familiar with this…

Writer: Tim Firth Director: Joanna Read Training days. Excursion missions. Trust exercises. Does anyone enjoy mandatory work events like these? If they do, they’re the ones to avoid at the office party. A reimagining of their comedic play Neville’s Island, Tim Firth adapts their work for an all-female cast, following similar structural and narrative threads, tweaking others into Sheila’s Island. After triumphantly declaring their success with solving the work-issued cryptic puzzle clues, Marketing Manager Sheila proudly lands (well, sinks) the boat on the coast of a small island in the Lake District. A training weekend with work, Sheila’s team of…

Based on the work of William Shakespeare Director: Dominic Hill Shakespearean Opera – it’s a nightmare of a concoction, merging two gigantic forms of artistic expression, running the risk of overwrought emotion or needless complexity. More often than not, the scroll of failures outweighs the pleasant experiences. And then there are productions like Scottish Opera’s Midsummer Night’s Dream – a damn fine balance of exceptional magnitude, clever, and touching – ingeniously capturing the bard’s work, while infusing a contemporary and accessible edge to their show. Dominic Hill’s triumphantly original marvel continues the success Hill demonstrates, being the third operatic adaptation…

Writer: Vlad Butucea and Hope Dickson Leach Director: Hope Dickson Leach Cinematography: David Liddell Adapted once more, Robert Louis Stephenson’s Gothic Novella – The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is a literary juggernaut, a cultural icon with an impact that drives itself into the English language’s understanding of duality, private life – and perhaps most significantly the dredged up remains of Scottish nationalism vs Unionist ideals. The Ghosts of Leith Theatre, resurrected once more to draw the muck and mirth of the city into the realms of live performance from Scotland’s cream of the crop, with an understanding not…

Writer: Richard O’Brien Director: Christopher Luscombe A miserable, wet, wet night in the middle of the abyss. A broken-down car and two young lovers lost in the woods, with not but a castle on the road to freedom. But in search of a phone, denizens of a dangerous and troubling nature are afoot for the pair. A pastiche of the schlock B-movies of his youth, Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show establishes the musical in the lavish eccentricities we have come to expect from the film and original stage play. O’Brien’s production decorates the usual rock n’ roll hits with pops…