https://youtu.be/dI88grIRAnY February 2011 saw the premiere at The Royal National Theatre in London of Frankenstein, written by Nick Dear and directed by Danny Boyle. The play proved a masterful adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, capturing both the horror and above all the tragedy at the heart of the story. Since then, recordings of this Read More
The unexpected element of Gillian Duffy’s The Ghosting of Rabbie Burns isn’t that the two-person play successfully delivers a complete and compelling dialogue. Nor is it the fact that the jovial tone detracts not from the deeper issues of love and commitment. Rather, what surprises most is that Duffy manages to create a fully engaging Read More
Shrouded in darkness, the rear of the stage contains a square rug, a chest of drawers, a TV and an armchair. A spotlight picks out a small red plastic stacking chair near the stage front. A lone man in drab, loose clothes falls onto stage and throws his body around. He dances by and around Read More
Dundee Rep Ensemble’s latest Christmas offering, in association with Noisemaker and Selladoor Worldwide, is Oor Wullie. A new musical directed by Andrew Panton, the production is an adventure filled with charm and laughter – all delivered in guid Scots, of course. Whether audience members have been reading about Wullie for eighty years, or are new Read More
Have you noticed Dundee audiences love to laugh? The Rep Ensemble’s second offering in their twentieth anniversary production line-up caters perfectly to this characteristic. A-Z of Dundee is a brilliant evening of tales, jests, history, and even a quiz, during which there are plenty of opportunities to giggle, chortle, chuckle, and guffaw. Opening with an Read More
Can a play about an historic tragedy entertain? Hearing great praise for Tay Bridge, I was intrigued to find out, and take pleasure in reporting that Dundee Repertory Theatre has managed to deliver. Despite being the first ‘in-house’ production I’ve seen at the Rep, previous shows had already set a high bar– and this play Read More
An ambitious Spring Season at the reinvigorated Perth Theatre includes Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, Gaslight. The play, originally set in 1871, is a Victorian thriller in three acts which portrays the psychological manipulation of a woman by her controlling husband, leading her to doubt her sanity. Gaslight enjoyed a long run following its 1938 première Read More
The job of writing a jukebox musical is never easy. It is hard enough to write songs to fit into an original and engaging story but harder still to write an original story to fit around popular songs that already exist. The early 2000s pop-punk band Son of Dork only released one album, and never Read More
Arthur Miller’s post-war family drama, All My Sons is not the first time the Dundee Rep Ensemble has taken on work by the American playwright. Their 2017 production of Death of a Salesman was widely praised and this their second stab at a Miller play is another success. However, Miller’s play is a first for Read More
Imagine the socio-political-economic texture of Scotland as an enormous loch. Writer, songwriter, and actor Gary Robertson has placed stepping stones on its sometimes placid, often roiling surface for his audience to skip across in his latest production. The play, raucous and gentle, threatening and comfortable, has the feel of an adult pantomime. Although Robertson touches Read More