Review: Life, Death and Duran Duran – Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre, Edinburgh

First published in The Times, Monday August 21 2017

Three Stars

The title will no doubt attract fans of a certain age, yearning for the polished sounds of the phenomenally successful new wave band. Yet, while snatches of songs such as Planet Earth and Hungry Like the Wolf make appearances in Sam Shaber’s one-woman show, the emphasis here is very much on the performer’s own eventful life and career. Far from nostalgic, the monologue, directed by Lynn Ferguson, is frank and sometimes surprisingly tough.