Theatre review: Don Quixote – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Friday September 30 2022

THREE STARS

There is a gem of an idea at the heart of this comedy by Ben Lewis. Echoing the famous line in Miguel de Cervantes’s 1605 prototype novel, “When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?”, the playwright reimagines Cervantes’s Man of La Mancha as an octogenarian resident of Clackmannanshire, hovering somewhere between lucidity and delusion, who takes to the road in a mobility scooter, armed with antique weaponry and an unshakeable sense of heroic destiny.

Theatre review: The Bookies – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Saturday May 7 2022

THREE STARS

According to the writing partnership of Mikey Burnett and Joe McCann, the idea of setting a comedy-drama in a bookmaker first came to them in 2007. Fifteen years on, the world of the turf accountant has changed beyond recognition. Gone are the smoke-filled betting shops of old, replaced by shiny corporate outlets stuffed with gaming machines, the paper slips and tiny pencils supplanted by online accounts.

Theatre review: The Children – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Saturday March 5 2022

FOUR STARS

It is a tale as old as theatre itself. Two people, in a lonely place, enjoying a delicate equilibrium, are disturbed by an unexpected knock at the door. In walks an unwelcome figure from the past, an avenging angel or perhaps even Death herself, and the fragile balance of the household is instantly and irretrievably broken.

Panto review: A Christmas Carol – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Tuesday December 7 2021

FOUR STARS

It is no easy task to find new ways of staging Dickens’s seasonal tale of greed and redemption. Its familiarity is what makes it such a mainstay of Christmas theatre. One of the pleasures of this production is its willingness to play with our expectations, both as regards the story and the conventions of festive theatre.

Theatre review: Wings Around Dundee – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Friday September 10 2021

THREE STARS

As Andrew Panton, the artistic director, reminds us in his opening address, the auditorium at Dundee Rep has been empty since March 2020. It is fitting somehow that the company’s first in-person show in 18 months should be a play set in Dundee in the midst of the pandemic that also touches upon aspects of the city’s heritage. John McCann’s script is rich in references to local landmarks such as Balgay Hill, the old music school and the McManus, which the audience laps up enthusiastically. There is even a cameo appearance from the museum’s most famous resident, the Tay Whale.

Review: Smile – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Monday February 24 2020

Three Stars

It is said that all political careers end in failure; the same observation could be made about most football managers. Jim McLean’s final match in charge of Dundee United ended in a 4-1 loss to Aberdeen. Nonetheless, the fans insisted on their club’s longest-serving manager taking a lap of honour.

Review: Tay Bridge – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Thursday September 5 2019

Three Stars

The City of Discovery’s best-known stories and characters inspire all the shows in Dundee Rep’s 80th anniversary programme. The season has opened on perhaps the most infamous event in the city’s history: the collapse of the original Tay Bridge during a gale in December 1879 with the loss of all 75 people making the journey by train from Fife to Dundee that night.

Review: A-Z of Dundee – Rio Community Centre, Newport-on-Tay

First published in The Times, Monday June 3 2019

Three Stars

This irreverent celebration of the City of Discovery could hardly be timelier. Dundee has undergone a renaissance in recent years, the most striking symbol of which, the V&A Dundee, opened its doors in 2018. Last year, the city was included in the Wall Street Journal’s top ten global travel destinations and was described in GQ magazine as “Britain’s coolest little city”.

Review: All My Sons – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Monday February 25 2019

Four Stars

Jemima Levick is the ideal person to helm this revival of All My Sons. The former artistic director of Dundee Rep has confessed that she wasn’t the greatest admirer of Arthur Miller’s first major success when she was asked to return to her former place of work to direct the 1947 play. Yet her production does exactly what a good revival of a classic should do: it invites its audience to look at a familiar work with fresh eyes.

Review: The Snow Queen – Dundee Rep

First published in The Times, Monday December 10 2018

Four Stars

The Snow Queen is no stranger to Dundee Rep. The most recent production of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, in 2012, starred the aptly named Emily Winter in the role of the icy monarch, negotiating a pine forest on stilts.

 

As one of the longer-serving members of the Rep ensemble, Winter also appears in this latest incarnation, though this time in the role of the Summer Princess, ruler of a balmy, fruit pastille-coloured region the heroine Gerda (Chiara Sparkes) has to pass through on her way to the frozen north.