Edinburgh review: Medea – The Hub

First published in The Times, Monday August 15 2022

FOUR STARS

Liz Lochhead’s celebrated adaptation of Euripides first took Edinburgh by storm in 2001 in an award-winning production by Theatre Babel at the Assembly Rooms, with Maureen Beattie in the title role. It has taken more than 20 years for the play to make the short journey from New Town to Old, and from the Fringe to the international festival, courtesy of Michael Boyd’s revival for the National Theatre of Scotland.

Review: Cuttin’ a Rug – Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

First published in The Times, Wednesday February 15 2017

Four Stars

The middle instalment of a trilogy can often feel inessential: the slightly sagging bridge between a punchy opening and satisfactory denouement. This revival of the second part of John Byrne’s Slab Boys trilogy reaffirms the play as every bit as funny and poignant as episode one. If anything, Caroline Paterson’s production is a cut above the David Hayman-directed revival of The Slab Boys – staged at the same theatre a couple of years ago.

Review: Happy Hour – Òran Mór, Glasgow

First published in The Times, Friday November 13 2015

Four Stars

The dark comic tone of Anita Vettesse’s play is established early. “What’s in the shoebox?” asks Kay (Hannah Donaldson) of her mother, Anne (Anne Lacey). “Your dad,” comes the reply, without so much as a shrug of regret.

The premise of this debut from Vettesse may be familiar, but it is revitalised in Gethin Evans’s production by the keenness of the writing and a trio of fine, complementary performances. Donaldson, Lacey and Stephen McCole portray the surviving members of a disunited clan, who have gathered in the back room of the family pub to bid a not-so-fond farewell to newly deceased patriarch, Joe. While Anne sees a rare chance to gather her offspring around her, the kids have less honourable reasons for attending.