TV Review: Only Child

Writer and director Bryce Hart’s sitcom Only Child is fairly generic on paper: prodigal son returns to small town to reconnect with ageing parent. But it’s the minutiae and pathos that make this sitcom so binge worthy, and, ultimately, truly affecting. Greg McHugh portrays Richard Pritchard, a mid-level actor returning to the small northern townContinue reading “TV Review: Only Child”

Bad Cover Versions: David Hasselhoff- The Passenger (2021)

Want to know what a midlife crisis sounds like? Look no further. This candy ass version of the Berlin era Iggy Pop classic is like your drunken uncle at karaoke, going, “I’ve still got it, damn it. Don’t I?” It’s like his association with Germany made him believe he could do this song justice. Demonstrably,Continue reading “Bad Cover Versions: David Hasselhoff- The Passenger (2021)”

That Night

My spine is a fret board, I feel electricity in my hair. The bass just hit me and the drums turn the tips of my fingers into claws. We’re sandwiched between each other and now they’re playing my favourite song, you know the one from the debut. You’re twirling, I don’t know why. You lookContinue reading “That Night”

Archive Theatre Review: BATSHIT

close search menu BATSHIT More than just a provocative title ★★★★ theatre review (edinburgh) | Read in About 2 minutes    Batshit Photo by Joel Devereux By Lorna Irvine Published 03 Aug 2024 With a typically taboo-baiting Edinburgh Fringe title, Leah Shelton’s one-woman show, directed by Ursula Martinez, could have been a clichéd romp through performance art tropes. But it’sContinue reading “Archive Theatre Review: BATSHIT”

The Body Keeps The Score

Before we left, before the final barbs, before the hurt, before the anger, before the indifference, I knew. I knew that the kindness was performative, that you’re an imposter. I knew that you study others, because you are dead inside. Before goodbye, the smiles, winks, studied lines, I knew it was only a matter ofContinue reading “The Body Keeps The Score”

The Great Performance Debate

Commedia Dell’arte Dr Gareth K Vile, great friend of mine and brilliant thinker, recently ruminated on the great Scottish theatre debate, because some critics hadn’t been invited to the musical version of ‘One Day’ : is it dying? I can’t speak to a broader academic discourse, as I’m a university dropout, and not a doctorContinue reading “The Great Performance Debate”

Overlooked Classic: Lisa Germano- Lullaby For Liquid Pig

Multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano could have been dismissed as another “whisper singer”, but for the fact she can really sing, write and play. She always mines the saddest, most traumatic parts of her soul and turns them into eerie beauty. Dark night of the soul art can often be self-indulgent or mawkish, but Germano deals inContinue reading “Overlooked Classic: Lisa Germano- Lullaby For Liquid Pig”

Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)

The front cover shows Lung Leg, in a still from Richard Kern’s notorious film Submit To Me, doing her typically fucked-up, possessed writhing. Kern of course had collaborated with Sonic Youth on the ‘Death Valley 69’ video, but EVOL, which remains my favourite Sonic Youth album beside Daydream Nation, is a much different beast thanContinue reading “Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)”

Film Review: Days Of The Bagnold Summer

If this was an American film, lessons would be learned and resentment eased, in a neat “I was never the same after that summer” trope. But it’s not: it’s British, full of warm days and familial complications. Effortlessly directed by comic actor Simon Bird, it’s a little like Mike Leigh, if lighter and more incidentalContinue reading “Film Review: Days Of The Bagnold Summer”