Blog

Mary Woodward Review

Emergence, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Review

Brett Herriot

***** (5 stars)

“Utterly brilliant!”

My daughter was very pleased for me when she heard I was going to see Scottish Ballet perform Crystal Pite’s Emergence, which I missed when it had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2016.  I had no idea what to expect, but she raved about the piece…

Now I understand why she was so impressed!  But first I must tell you about the world premiere that preceded it last night – Julia Cheng’s Entress.  I was familiar with the word egress thanks to Terry Pratchett’s insistence that it’s not a female eagle but another word for an exit.  It seems that an entress isn’t a female tree-person from Tolkein’s world, but an old Scottish word for an entrance!

I find myself unusually lost for words when trying to describe both works – I can say that they are both danced to fascinating scores, that they both use a monochrome palette, and that they have classically trained dancers moving in such extraordinary ways that at times I wondered whether they’d had some of their joints removed and replaced with multi-directional ball and socket joints in order to move in the ways I was seeing on stage.

But these words fail to give any idea of the extraordinary visual spectacle in front of me.  Two different pieces, both exploring individual dancers’ ability to move in any number of ordinary and extraordinary ways and the actions, reactions and interactions of individuals, small groups, and the entire company.  Movement grew, changed, developed, flowed across the stage in an endlessly inventive stream.  At times I wished it were possible to freeze the action, to pause and take in what I’d already seen – but we were carried on and on until the final moments brought a storm of applause.

One of the great joys of the Scottish Ballet company is their strength and depth of talent throughout all the levels – and this was clearly demonstrated in Entress when First Artist Rishan Benjamin danced the part of Nüwa.  Part goddess, part snake, Nüwa spun and swirled in a flowing robe as she wove her magic under the undulating white cloud/canopy that stretched above the stage and had a life of its own as a third partaker in the action.  I’ve always enjoyed watching Rishan, and was delighted to see her shining in the spotlight, an equal partner with Soloist Kayla-Marie Trantolo, the Protagonist who seemed to be seeking to escape from the community which much of the time surrounded her.  The entire company demonstrated their versatility, their athleticism, their incredible dance skills and their ability to convey the surging emotions gripping them.  Isobel Waller-Bridge’s score, sensitively played by members of the Scottish Ballet orchestra under Yi Wei, was full of poignant moments and passionate outbursts. 

How I wish I could see it all again, NOW!  There was so much to take in, so much to think about, so much to enjoy and appreciate – one performance simply isn’t enough.  Please, Christopher can we see it again very soon??!

And then there was Emergence – short, sharp, snappy and utterly brilliant!  To sum it up as ‘an exploration of hive mind’ is totally to oversimplify a superbly choreographed piece which again I could watch over and over and over…  The whole company were outstanding – solos, duets, and groups flowed into each other: everyone contributing to the whole, no ‘star’ and ‘also ran’ here, but a truly ensemble creation, totally extraordinary precision, total togetherness in the act of creation, and a total joy to behold.

Composer Owen Belton’s score was also new to me – it seemed mainly to use percussion instruments, but I was so engrossed in the dancing I can’t be sure: suffice it to say that music and movement fused to create something very special.  Small wonder that the EIF performances were raved about and that last night’s Glasgow audience went wild with their applause at the end of the piece.

Yet another total triumph for Scottish Ballet!

Scottish Ballet presents Emergence, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Run Ended but production will tour to His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen 25th – 26th September 2026 https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/emergence-talk-ballet/

and the Festival Theatre Edinburgh, 1st to 3rd October 2026 https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/emergence/

Arts News!

The King’s to be leading lady of Pinocchio!

Brett Herriot

With the long hot summer now receding into memory and theatres around the country now seeing there autumn and winter programs taking to the stages, it’s that time where many theatre attentions turn to the annual festive extravaganza that is Pantomime.

One venue in particular, Edinburgh’s Grand Old Lady of Leven Street, The King’s will see pantomime return home after a four year long decampment to the larger Festival Theatre while the King’s underwent its multi-million-pound revamp.

With the Festival Theatre seeing productions of Cinderella, Snow White, The Further Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan and Jack and the Beanstalk how do the legendary Edinburgh Panto Team go home in style? The answer is simple! The King’s herself will become the star of the show! In a Panto that’s never graced its stage in the modern era plus a chance for our beloved favourites to take on new Characters!

Celebrating the reopening of the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh’s Cherished Panto trio return Allan Stewart once again dawns the frocks as May Geppetto, Grant Stott as the evil Stromboli and Jordan Young in the title role of Pinocchio.   

The dazzling festive line-up is completed by Edinburgh panto favourites Clare Gray and Gail Watson and musical theatre star C.J. Borger as Jiminy Cricket, fresh from the hit West End show, Back to the Future, the Musical.   

Returning for her eighth year, Clare Gray plays the mischievous Kitty the Cat, after enchanting audiences with her lovable Pat the Cow in Jack and the Beanstalk last year.   Bonnyrigg, born and bred Gail Watson has just finished a successful Fringe run of Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas at the Gilded Balloon and will play Phyllis the Fox.  

The hotly anticipated panto tells the tale of Pinocchio’s dreams of becoming a real boy. The story has been specially tailored to celebrate the return to the King’s Theatre, bringing the spirit, history and much-loved traditions of the King’s into this year’s panto.      

The King’s Theatre is woven right into the heart of the adventure. In Toy Toon, May Geppetto and Pinocchio are desperately trying to raise enough money to reopen their beloved King’s, leading them to join the Great Stromboli’s travelling puppet show when he promises them a share of the takings. But when the money is stolen, Pinocchio must set off on an adventure to recover it, save the theatre and prove he has what it takes to become a real boy.  

Produced by Crossroads Pantomimes, the world’s biggest pantomime producer, who also delivers the annual pantomime at the London Palladium, will see this spectacular adventure bursting with toe-tapping song and dance numbers, jaw-dropping special effects, fabulous costumes, laughter, magic and plenty of mayhem.   

Capital Theatres and Crossroads Pantomimes Present, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Kings Theatre Edinburgh, The Production will run from Saturday 28th November 2026 to Sunday 17th January 2027.  For more information and tickets go to: The Adventures of Pinocchio – Capital Theatres

Brett Herriot Review

High Society, Edinburgh Playhouse, Review:

Brett Herriot

*** (3 Stars)

“Filled with old school musical charm!”

The Edinburgh Playhouse kicks off its Autumn and Winter Season with a weeklong run of the Cole Porter Classic, High Society, fresh from its success in London’s west end at the Barbican featuring all time classic songs like “Who wants to be a millionaire?” and “I got you under my skin”. Despite some inspired performances and a sumptuous staging, the show needs a tad more oomph to really get it going. However it still succeeds in delivering a show filled with old school musical charm!

High Society with music and lyrics by the legendary Cole Porter and a book by Arthur Kopit started life as the 1956 motion picture musical based on the “Philadelphia Story” which would become a beloved classic to a generation. Forty one years later in 1997 the movie was adapted for the stage premiering at American Conservatory Theater San Francisco prior a short run on Broadway.

A new production was mounted in the spring of this year at the Barbican in London and is now on tour around the UK.  The plot follows a pretentious Oyster Bay socialite who is planning to wed an equally pretentious executive, when her ex-husband arrives to disrupt the proceedings. A relatively loose story to hang a succession of Porters biggest Hits upon.

Due to the indisposition of both Helen George “Tracy Lord” and Julian Ovenden “Dexter Haven” both were unable to appear with Isobel Snaas and Andrew Coshan stepping into the roles respectively  and both deliver exceedingly well. Nigel Kennedy delivers a warm take on “Uncle Willy” but the true stand out of the show is the triple threat joy that is Freddie Fox as “Mike Connor” boy can this gorgeous performer sing, dance and deliver true acting chops that capture the audience in every single moment he is on stage. Featuring a further six principal cast members and a 16 strong ensemble who shine when delivering Anthony Van Laast’s inspired and period perfect choreography.

Rachel Kavanaugh’s direction sees the show swing along but alas without much depth to the characters which is why there is such a sense that the whole show just needs a serious dose of oomph about it rather than just trundling along nicely.

Production wise it’s a truly sumptuous affair, Tom Rogers set design brings the pastille vistas of New England to vivid life accompanied by Howard Hudson’s sublime lighting design. Adam Fisher’s sound design is bang on the money with a perfect balance between performers and Musical Directors Dan McLaughlin’s stealthy and excellent 14 strong pit band. Six of these musicians also feature in a perfect onstage jazz band to great effect.

Special credit must go to Jon Morrell’s utterly gorgeous costume design; it’s a riot of colour, elegance and class totally befitting both the time period and the heart of the show itself to great acclaim.

This is a High Society that has much to offer and proves there is still a place in the modern theatre world for these classic tales to be told, just don’t scratch too far beneath the surface and you will have a swinging time at a musical that remains endlessly entertaining in a true swinging  jazz style.

High Society, Edinburgh Playhouse, Runs until Saturday 12th September 2026. For more information and tickets go to: High Society Tickets | Edinburgh Playhouse in Edinburgh | ATG Tickets

Brett Herriot at the Festivals

Thank you! The curtain falls on the 2026 Edinburgh Festivals Season!

Brett Herriot

“Time for the Society to Listen!”

Three weeks and four weekends spanning August 6th through August 31st has seen the annual cultural explosion that is the festivals season taking over the Scottish Capital as Edinburgh welcomes the globe and re-establishes itself as the greatest platform for the arts in the world!

The two-person team here at Scotsgayarts.com received thousands of emails from companies performing across the Edinburgh Fringe, The international Festival and the Book Festival.  These were whittled down to the hundred or so reviews that have been published on the site across the duration of the festivals.

Our coverage has spanned all the August Festivals including the International Festival, The Fringe and the PBH Free Fringe.

The 2026 and 79th Fringe has been especially challenging with the late kick of date that saw audience figures fall off a cliff in the last week and given that Scottish Schools went back just one week into the festival applied a significant amount if pressure. For those venues based in the new town the devasting fire at the former Debenhams building meant the closure of the George Street temporary garden with the gardens bar and venues including the Bijou moving along to St Andrew’s Square and George Street remaining open to Traffic.

For the city council to defend a seven-week closure of Princes Street and the associated chaos that was the diversions is somewhat galling and made significant dent in the footfall of Potential Audience members for those show’s housed across the new town.

The Fringe Society now ensconced in their multi-million-pound new home have issued media statements claiming sales have increased yet its reflected on one soul Saturday (17th August) yet most companies and producers struggled with low ticket sales or hemorrhaging money with the society once again asking for public money the question has to be asked, where was the society’s support this year? There was no additional signage in the town, just the usual mix of privately funded show advertising, where was the TV and radio advertising or even harnessing the media to try and boost audience figures?

The Fringe Society are clinging steadfastly to the misguided fact that the Fringe must finish on the end of August English Bank Holiday? Why? Who is paying the society to enforce this decision? The Society is supposed to listen to the companies but it’s happy to do nothing but acquire a brand new home and put the begging bowl out for more money.

The one thing that is clear is the formula isn’t working for far too many and can’t continue, discussion is needed across the festival organizers going forward and more importantly the city council and the citizens of this great city to secure the cultural phenomenon for both performers, producers, venues, the city and its people on a shared equal footing for generations to come. If the Fringe Society are listening, they must pull the 2027 and 80th Fringe Forward by a week to allow for recovery from this years festival.  

As the curtain falls on this year’s festivals, we at Scotsgayarts.com offer our profound thanks to all those who shared their work with us, each and every moment spent in venues that spanned small intimate theatres to the grandeur of the tattoo arena at Edinburgh Castle provided magical theatrical magical moments that will stay with us for a lifetime.

The Arts matter and Scotsgayarts.com is indebted to the creatives who shared their work and themselves and make the festivals just what they are! We now move forward into the autumn and winter season of work from across Scotland, but we are already pondering with excitement what the 2027 Festival season will bring our way!

For now, rest well, thank you and haste ye back!

Brett

Editor

Scotsgayarts.com

Mary Woodward at the Festivals

Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyyah, Edinburgh International Festival, Review

Brett Herriot

**** (4 stars)

“Courageous”

Gosh I’m glad we weren’t presented with the whole 150-or-so-hours of the entire narrative of this Arabic epic.  It’s a long tale that used to be told at weddings and celebrations, and would be spread over many days in which the basic saga would be embellished with many diversions and flights of fancy.  Palestinian and Arabic theatre makers Khashabi Theatre kindly reduced the main tale to its bare bones – but even so, there was much to tell.

We entered the Lyceum’s auditorium to find Rana Baransi, Maya Omaya Keesh, Rami Nakhleh, Adan Rabos, Misan Miso Samara, Atallah Tannous and Abed Zoabi already on stage, waving to us and saying hallo – Marhabbah – as we made our way to our seats on whichever level they were.  Thus we were, as with all good storytelling, instantly engaged in and with what we were going to hear: not invisible and silent observers, but people willing to be a part of whatever unfolded on stage.

There’s no way I can summarise Al-Sirah Al-Hillaliyyah [the epic of Bani Hilal] – even its barest bones took up two pages of the programme.  It’s a long, heroic saga full of misunderstandings, fighting, jealousy, plotting, revenge, and above all blood and slaughter.  My Arabic is non-existent and I, like many others, was grateful that both short plot summaries and translations of much of the dialogue were screened on the back wall of the stage – a necessary distraction but at times a real hindrance to trying to keep alert to the many things going on in front of us.

There was music – wonderfully haunting singing from Rana Baransi and Abed Zoabi in particular – with fascinatingly complex instrumental and percussion accompaniments and mood-setting.  There was shadow play and shadow puppetry and very clever use of gels and spotlights to provide backgrounds; there were ‘real’ giant horses; there was movement and dance; there were solo and chorus scenes.  All this combined to enable masterly storytelling – face, voice, gesture, body language and movement all working together to draw us in, provide strikingly beautiful visual moments, and keep us engrossed in the narrative.  The flexibility and versatility of all the artists was deeply impressive: at times it was enough simply to watch, listen and enjoy without trying to keep track of what exactly was going on.  And it wasn’t all doom and gloom – there was much humour along the way.

It’s no mean feat to keep an audience engaged when speaking to them in a language with which most of them are not familiar.  Yes, it happens in opera – but then the singers spend a lot of time repeating the same thing, which helps a lot!  When both the story and the language are unfamiliar, it’s much harder [just as with Angels in America in Dutch last week].  All credit to Khashabi Theatre, playwright Bashar Murkus and creative producer, dramaturg and visual artist Khulood Basel for creating a magnificent piece providing a window into a world of which I knew very little.  Though I have to add that, reflecting on the major motives driving the action, it’s depressing that current world events are often being driven by exactly the same motives…

In these troubled times, it’s all the more important that Khashabi Theatre are preserving Palestinian culture when attempts are being made to erase the entire nation and its heritage.

It’s not surprising that the performance was greeted with a standing ovation, both for the quality of the show and for the courage and determination of the performers.  Thank you, International Festival, for bringing Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyyah to us and inviting us to engage with a world so very different from Edinburgh in 2026.

Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyyah, Edinburgh International Festival, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Run Ended for more information go to: https://www.eif.co.uk/events/al-sirah-al-hilaliyyah