The Dogstone. Nasty Brutish and Short. Traverse.

The Traverse and the National Theatre of Scotland have put on 4 new plays this autumn.    I missed Cockroach but caught this double bill as well as Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us.
Both of these new plays were directed by Domenic Hill, and Naomi Wilkinson designed the sets.    The pair have worked together before, notably at [...]

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Midsummer – Traverse

A crowded diary ment that getting to Midsummer  – a new play with songs from David Greg was -  looking unlikely.   But a glowing review from Waldorf and Statler over at View From the Stalls, and being a long-time David Greg fan, made this a ‘must see’.
And what a hugely enjoyable night it was.   A story [...]

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Scotland Homecoming 2009 Promotional Video

Homecoming 2009 is an initiative to encourage people with Scottish connections living abroad to visit the old country in 2009.   It is to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns’ birth, and there are 200 events running from Burns Night through to St Andrews Day.   It is costing the taxpayer dearly, yet we are hopeful of [...]

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Pekka Kuusisto – Scottish Ensemble – Red – Perth

I had never heard of multi award winning Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto before, and this concert was billed as a ‘wildcard’ with no advance programming available, except that we were promised something amazing.
What we got was unlike anything we have had before from the Scottish Ensemble:    Jonathan Morton actually devolved leadership of his band to [...]

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A Streetcar Named Desire

This was billed as a production using modern theatrical tricks to recreate the atmosphere of a seedy quarter in New Orleans, and it only partly worked.    The theatre had a smell pumped into the auditorium which was supposed to be something like coffee and banana I think, but in fact just smelt rather nasty.    We [...]

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Tracey Emin – Retrospective – Edinburgh

I have wondered about Tracey Emin for a while, and have seen various pieces of hers as they have visited Scotland over the years.     I have never made up my mind about her, so I wanted to catch the Retrospective at the Modern Art Gallery in Edinburgh before it closed.    And I had not seen [...]

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Computers on TV – Spooks – BBC

Towards the end of the second episode of the current series of Spooks, a vital disc containing ‘just in time’ information was delivered to the spook team sitting in a car.    The disc was stuffed into a laptop, and the information downloaded in a very very few seconds to MI5 HQ, with disaster averted.    
So I am [...]

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