Photo: Hugo Glendenning When Matthew Bourne first premiered his ground-breaking Swan Lake, there were walkouts and little girls crying. Where were the girls in tutus? Why was there a gay storyline? Where were Odile and Odette? Pearls were clutched. It’s thirty years later, and happily Bourne’s iconoclastic and singular vision has not only endured, butContinue reading “Thirty Swans A- Dancing”
Category Archives: Live theatre
Accessing The Fringe
Navigating the Edinburgh Fringe can be a Sisyphean task at the best of times, as the population of Edinburgh doubles and almost every available space transforms into a venue or site specific performance space. So it can be an altogether different kind of nightmare for disabled people, in terms of accessibility. Old buildings generally haveContinue reading “Accessing The Fringe”
Bard In The Botanics 2025 Season
Bard in the Botanics announces the new programme for 2025 season. The endlessly gripping and inventive team return with more suspense, humour, grit, mystery and romance this Summer. Images: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Romeo and Juliet, Doctor Faustus, Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia Bard in the Botanics has today announced details of its 2025 season,Continue reading “Bard In The Botanics 2025 Season”
The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen
James Lee Williams, who has sadly passed away aged just thirty two, was a brilliant all-rounder. The Vivienne, his drag queen alter ego named after legendary designer Vivienne Westwood, was the epitome of Scouse fierceness: witty, no-nonsense and extremely smart. I saw them perform in Drag Race UK Live in 2019 (they were the firstContinue reading “The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen”
Freelancer’s Blues
It isn’t easy being a freelance arts writer. While I’m fully aware there are worse jobs to have (I previously worked in a call centre, a hotel and in retail, uggghhh) there are a few issues with this bizarre occupation. Firstly, some publications insist that they will pay you, only to renege at the lastContinue reading “Freelancer’s Blues”
Oh No, It Isn’t/Oh Yes, It Is: Good Panto/Bad Panto
Panto, pantomime in its shortened form (like porno, ha ha ha!) is where kids in the UK often first witness theatre. Sadly, it’s often the ONLY theatre they ever see, because it’s mostly bloody awful. Don’t fight me on this, I’ve been a critic almost fifteen years now, and have seen more panto than many,Continue reading “Oh No, It Isn’t/Oh Yes, It Is: Good Panto/Bad Panto”
Lucifer Over Lanarkshire: Rocky Horror Sucks
Every year at the Samhain, or Halloween, season, musical theatre lovers break out their basques, fishnets and eyeliner and strut to theatres to see ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. Created by Richard O’Brien in the seventies, it fused glam rock with kitsch horror and has become a staple of repeated stage and screen experiences worldwide. ButContinue reading “Lucifer Over Lanarkshire: Rocky Horror Sucks”
(From Across The Arts Archive) Theatre Review: A Respectable Widow Takes To Vulgarity at Oran Mor,Glasgow
Arts:BlogTheatre Review: A Respectable Widow Takes to VulgarityPOSTED BY ACROSS THE ARTS ON FEBRUARY 26, 2013, AT 10.09AMLorna Irvine is charmed by a comedic parade of profanities. Like Pygmalion in reverse, Douglas Maxwell’s new play for Oran Mor and the Traverse upends familiar theatre troupes and tickles them into submission. The delightful duo of JoannaContinue reading “(From Across The Arts Archive) Theatre Review: A Respectable Widow Takes To Vulgarity at Oran Mor,Glasgow”
How (Not) To Be A Crayon Critic
Recently, I had the misfortune to read the WORST review ever (naming no names, or the offending publication). It wasn’t an indictment of the show, but rather, a really badly executed piece of writing. So here we go again, here’s a short guide to the foibles of a Crayon Critic.
Festivals Are For Poshos, Part 2.0
I’ve just returned from the Edinburgh Festival, and it was the usual melee of lunacy, irritation and genuine beauty. On an average year, I’d cover thirty shows, but given my recent surgery, I managed a paltry five. The problem is this: despite the Free Fringe, there’s not any way for newcomers to get a chanceContinue reading “Festivals Are For Poshos, Part 2.0”
Hit The North 