“I feel it. I feel that rage and that violence and that pain, and then I go out in the street here, and they’re all oblivious.” Sister Radio, written by Sara Shaarawi, delicately weaves the decades long story of two sisters, born in Tehran but living in Edinburgh. A story of displacement, family and betrayal, […]
Christopher York’s debut play, Build a Rocket, is a one-woman show that tells the story of teenage mother Yasmin and her experience of challenges, heartbreak and joy while bringing up her son. Starring Serena Manteghi, winner of the Sunday Times’s ‘Best Female Solo Performance’, the play’s marathon solo-performance is its stand-out feature, facilitating unique approaches […]
The Breakfast Plays at the Traverse are a chance for emerging writers to test their work with an audience. Throughout the Fringe, there are a choice of four different plays performed as script-in-hand readings; full listings can be found on the Traverse website. This time, the play is Mooning by Scottish-based playwright Erin McGee. Mooning […]
Packed with layers of symbolism which stick with you beyond the performance, Burgerz brilliantly strikes the balance between comedy and drama. Based on the experience of artist Travis Alabanza as a trans and gender non-conforming person, the performance is inspired by a transphobic encounter in 2016 in which a burger was thrown at Alabanza. From […]
Content warning: strong language “Muthafuckas like you and me have to take a step back.” This is the central thrust of Jay’s philosophy: a swaggering, blustering, silver-fox, macho incarnation of Hollywood Liberalism’s worst excesses. He’s played brilliantly by Darren D’Silva with a furious, dominating energy, striding around set like a colossus, silver hair slicked back. […]
When the staging of a play is minimal and the cast small, every part of the production must be engaging in order to succeed. The Unreturning achieves this with ease. Playwright Anna Jordan’s impressive piece in collaboration with Frantic Assembly and Theatre Royal Plymouth depicts the varying struggles of four men coming home from three different […]
Clare Duffy explores the icy relationship between a mother and daughter in her new production Arctic Oil. Locked together in a bathroom, a climate change denying mother and activist daughter are forced to confront daunting divides over family and the environment. The bathroom, often a catalyst for female conversational bonding, is the perfect setting to […]
To tackle such a contentious topic as the 1937 Kirkintilloch disaster, which saw ten young Irish boys die in a Scottish bothy fire, and to further insist on Gaelic playing a central role in the play’s dialogue, requires deep sensitivity. Thankfully, Theatre Gu Leor’s latest production for the National Theatre of Scotland, Scotties triumphs both in […]