Lau, St Giles Cathedral

Dean Owens and the Sinners, Pleasance Theatre

 

NOTES

Began with The Agents of Happiness.  Intorduced as young band, but I knew the joke.  Dean , Craig, bassist, plus old pal on drums and guest guitarist.  Rokcy, good fun, nice to see 2 lead guitars  But no youngsters!

Main act on for 90mins.  Funny, emotional, superb.  Dean in great form -whistling too.  Andy (Dunlop?) on drums.  Wide range of songs, but crowd singing on Man From leith and Raining in Glasgow.  

As good as it ever was.

Inside No 9 : Stage Fright, Playhouse

 A stage adaptation that combines the essential base ingredients of the renowned TV show - comedy and horror - with a dose of nostalgia and references for the cognoscenti.  Not only references because, broken across the show, they recreated the TV episode Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room.  Not only references to their own show, but to other comedians too, such as Morecambe and Wise.  And then there was that night's guest star, with a different one appearing for every show, and indulging in a bit of improv with Reece and Steve.  (Jonathan Watson was ours, and played up over Steve's character's inability to get the name of 2 Doors Down right.)

The opening sketch set the tone beautifully, with that comedy/horror mix, a dose of shock, and a strong warning to the audience on theatre etiquette, all in the opening five minutes.  From then on it was Reece and Sheersmith having fun with words, wordplay, sometimes heading for the groanworthy route, often clever.  Great fun for fans, potentially confusing for the newcomer to their world!  (And for young people, who might be wondering who'd miss a lot of the jokes, rootted in the culture of past TV.)  

Even the curtain call turned into another macabre sketch.  Laughs ands scares from beginning to end, and a sense of satisfaction that this was a wrthy tribute/follow up to one of the great TV series of the century.

La Boheme, Festival Theatre

My first ever visit to a classical opera.  And, based on this one experience, probably my last.  So perhaps I am not the best person to be weriting a review!

I'd outline the plot, but... here isn't much of one.  Four guys, poverty stricken artists of various kinds, enjoy life as best they can.  Two of them fall in love, the affairs are on, then off.  Rodolfo's girl, Mimi, returns, in poor health, and dies.  Everyone is sad.

Around that there are modern day crowd scenes, with much colour and spectacle.  Lots of music and songs, but I couldn't recall a single melody afterwards.  And the words, whilst sung and spoken in Italian, are relayed to the audience in English supertitles.  This is handy for keeping up with what's supposed to be going on, but also distracting, far more so than subtitles on a film.  They also made me laugh at their content sometimes, probably when i wasn't supposed to.  "I'll go for my muff" was a memorable moment.

There's also the intensity, which rarely seems to vary.  Somebody singing "How's your cough, it seems better than yesterday" is accorded the same level of drama as "She'll be dead in half an hour".  Nuanced it is not.

I don't regret going, it was an experience, butI don't think I'll ever be an opera buff...

The Baker's Wife (La Femme du Boulanger)

 A black and white French comedy classic from 1938.  Villagers are excited that a new man has taken over the old bakery (the only one they have).  His loaves are perfect, and he has a very attractive wife who draws the men in to purchase their bread.  But when the wife runs off with another man (a local), and the baker stops baking, the locals know they have to intervene - they want their fresh baguettes back!

Farce meets an expert view of small town life, of rural mores and communal action.  There are well delineated characters and relationships, conservative values and hypocrisy,  a storyline that never flags.  Very funny, very observant, very enjoyable.  Sometimes old is best.

Alice Howe and Freebo, Bijou Cinema, Southport

Support came from The Cabin Hill Band - guitar, double bass and 4 voices.  Plenty of good musicianship and singing quality on offer, but their arrangements of some pop classics were weak.  Things imporved greatly when they moved on to some old time Americana - blues and gospel - and a self penned number from the guitarist.  

And then on to the stars of the night.  Howe and Freebo bring very different backgrounds and experiences together to form a duo that performs with love for the music and laughter never far away.  Freebo is a hugely experienced and talented musician, who can write some good songs and sing with the confidence of his years.  Alice is not as strong on the strings, but has a voice full of warmth, expression and range that can bring new life to oldies and passion to her own material.  Her cover of Joni Mitchell's A case of You is outstanding, standing up well to the original version.  While her own material shows her depth of songwriting experience, and ability to write from the heart.  Add in a lot of funny moments, and some audeince participation, and this was a wonderful evening of music.

Righ Aisgair : The Fisher King (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 2 young women hiking acorss the moors of Lewis.  Lexie (Fiona MacNeil) is on a mission, to fish in the loch where she used to go with her dad.  Effie (MJ Deans)  is, it seems, relauctantly chumming along, and not happy with the pace her pal expects her to go at.  Along the way there are tales of fairies and ghosts and some songs and jokes.  All tied in with a mix of happy and sad memories, and delights and fears.  And as secrets come out the pair learn about one another, and the mysteries of the land.  Ca they make it back safely in the dark, when the mist is swirling and confusing?

This is about the power of myth and how it can relate to real world issues, and about facing up to fears and secrets.  Gaelic is woven into the script, which works quite well, but the jokes lack punch, and the narrative loses it's way at times.  It's an interesting concept, and well acted by both parties (there is a third actor, but their appearance is brief - and weird), but lacks cohesion and a real conclusion.  Enjoyable enough, but not memorable.