Pippa Murphy
Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape
★★★★☆ Philosophical weight
Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape at the Lyceum deals unapologetically with difficult emotional and political themes, eschewing any easy answers or resolutions in a way that could be difficult but is made palatable by performances of power and nuance.
Macbeth (an undoing)
★★★☆☆ Intriguing
Macbeth (an undoing), by Zinnie Harris after William Shakespeare at the Lyceum, is the latest in a long line of rewritings of Macbeth. While it is undoubtedly thought-provoking, it ends up more perplexing than engrossing.
Tim Crouch: Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel
★★★★★ Exit, mind blown
Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel is a worryingly prescient piece. It is an exquisite creation that apparently denies the very point of creativity, a hymn to humanity that insists that humanity has had it. To call it ‘thought-provoking’ would be a criminal understatement.
Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil
★★★☆☆ Human
The latest Sound Stage production from the Lyceum and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil, is a funny and affecting tale of love and obsession set in the decaying heartlands of Scottish industry and football.
Below the Blanket
★★★★☆ Twilit contemplation:
What’s not to love about wandering through the Botanics at twilight? Always a great place to escape the bustle of city life, it becomes even more so if you visit after the gates have officially shut.
Lost At Sea
★★★★☆ Poignant:
Perth Theatre’s production of Lost At Sea, at the King’s until Wednesday, is emotional, humane and beautifully staged.
Creditors
★★★★☆ Compellingly troubling:
Strikingly staged and worryingly contemporary, Creditors at the Lyceum is unsettling and difficult to ignore.
A Streetcar Named Desire
★★☆☆☆ Underwhelming:
Worthy but earthbound, Rapture Theatre’s touring production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the King’s never really convinces.
POP-UP Duets (fragments of love)
✭✭✭✭✩ Wonderful:
POP-UP Duets, Janis Claxton’s series of nine dances on the theme of love at various locations in the National Museum in Chambers Street, is refreshing, beautiful and an excellent idea all round.
The View From Castle Rock by Alice Munro
✭✭✭✭✩ Stately:
There is a classy and accomplished feel to The View from Castle Rock, the Book Festival’s collaboration with Stellar Quines.
