Theatre review: The Time Machine – Cumbernauld Theatre

First published in The Times, Monday October 17 2022

THREE STARS

What does the future hold? HG Wells, in his 1895 novella The Time Machine, offers a pessimistic diagnosis for humanity. His Victorian gentleman scientist pedals forth on his heavily customised bicycle to the year AD 802701 and discovers the light-fearing Morlocks feeding on the docile, fruitarian Eloi. The story is as much a reflection on the inequality of the late 19th century as a work of speculative fiction.

Theatre review: Sister Radio – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

First published in The Times, Thursday September 1 2022

FOUR STARS

Pitlochry Festival Theatre has opened the doors on its smart 172-seater studio, not with fanfare and pageantry, but with a play of remarkable stillness and restraint. Sara Shaarawi’s two-hander about a pair of Iranian-born sisters sharing a flat in Edinburgh over a period of some 40 years, is unafraid to dwell on the silences, comfortable and uncomfortable, that open up between these two women at various points in their life.

Review: Hope and Joy – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

First published in The Times, Tuesday November 5 2019

Three Stars

Ellie Stewart’s play opens in a room in the maternity unit of a hospital where Hope (Kim Gerard) is giving birth alone. A brief exchange with the sunny-natured hospital cleaner, Joy (Beth Marshall), offers respite from contractions. The stage seems set for a tale of quirky friendship and heart-warming realism.