Book: Jessie Nelson Music & Lyrics: Sara Bareilles Director: Diane Paulus The kitchen. The hub of the home where secrets are spilt, wine is poured, and all the best parties happen. A chore for some, the escape of cooking is a (literal) lifesaver for others, a place to have autonomy and control over the aspects in front of them, where otherwise they have none. For diner waitress Jenna it’s a safe place – but one steeped in more trauma and reassurance than we initially see. For her, the creation and naming of the various Pies for sale in Joe’s Pie…
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.
Writer: Giles Terera Director(s): Tom Morris & Giles Terera Two hundred years ago, Olaudah Equiano recounts the reports of a massacre aboard the slave ship Zong, where one-hundred and thirty-two Africans were thrown overboard to preserve the lives of the crew. Seen as no more than property, insurance to claim, Equiano joins with anti-slavery campaigner Granville Sharp to condemn these actions, to re-open the blinded eyes of justice, and help set in motion to ripples that led to the abolition movement in the UK. But the narrative transcends deeper than many at first envisage; the mission extends from the courtroom…
Music and Lyrics: Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly Director: Cora Bissett Adaptation: Douglas Maxwell A city without another of similar ilk, Glasgow sees layers of history, strife and raucous wonderment collide in a myriad of uninhibited pitches – almost a living, breathing paradox of a city. Nowhere more evident than in Peter Mullan’s 1998 meticulously grim and pitch-dark cinematic comedy Orphans, which finds the four siblings of an archetypal Glasgow matriarch struggling in their various ways the night before her funeral. The halberd of success for any production is not its transition from Broadway to the West End, or even from…
Book and Lyrics: Tom Eyen Composition: Henry Kreiger Direction and Choreography: Casey Nicholaw Everyone has a dream. For some, it’s a shiny new Cadillac, for others it’s something more simplistic; approval – and for some, this form of acceptance manifests as the desire we all strive for secretly – fame. Some for the money and influence, others for the self-respect and acknowledgement of talent. Dreamgirls charters this pursuit, the various strifes associated while trudging through the glitz and sparkle of showbiz and down into the seedier underbelly of maintaining this fame. Champion of Broadway, which has weaved itself into the foundations of…
Book: Douglas McGrath Music & Lyrics: Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil Director: Nikolai Foster Providing the soundtrack of a generation, singer and songwriter Carole King forged her path away from the expectations set upon her from an earlier age. King’s life laid bare for the world to see, Beautiful the Carole King Musical uplifts the traditional biopic musical theatre piece away from its Jukebox comedic staples and into a touching production that seeks not the thrill and trivialities but instead seeks to honour the legacy of Carole King and the lyricists and songwriters she…
Based on the novel by Dan Brown Adaptation: Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel Director: Luke Sheppard Priory of Sion. Illuminati. The Holy Grail. Many of us know the tales, the legends, but here’s the thing; there’s always a grain of truth hiding in the myth. A novel for those who dislike novels, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code saw a plethora of Grail hunters, curious minds and conspiracy theorists reaching for the bookshelves with its engaging plot, fast pacing and attentive action sequences and puzzle-solving. And following a rather reputable film adaptation, the stage was (for once) not the natural progression, but…
Music: Dan Gillespie Sells Book & Lyrics: Tom Macrae From the Original Idea by Jonathan Butterall Director: Matt Ryan Acceptance and Identity. Peculiar that these two pivotal and paramount concepts are so difficult for us to overcome and welcome – both others, and ourselves. With a few spoonfuls of Priscilla, dollops of Billy Elliot, and all the decadence of the drink stained, nicotine-infused bars of Soho – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie continues to burn away through the humdrum of musical theatre’s catalogue, a welcome addition, and a welcome return of an old friend. Just before the initial lockdowns across the UK, Everyone’s Talking About Jamie was…
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…