The Lyceum Theatre opens their 2008/9 season with the Scottish Play. There is, however, something strangely lacking in the current production of “Macbeth” and that something is passion. Read the rest of this entry »

It has already broken all records; Matthew Bourne’s “Dorian Gray” is the biggest selling Festival dance show, ever. After his sizzling “The Car Man” was in Edinburgh last year this show has been eagerly awaited, and on sales alone is the hit of the Festival. So how does it measure up? Read the rest of this entry »

The cast have no names; they are random letters of the alphabet. They are the nameless ones, the children in care. At 16 they are considered old enough to go out to “practice flats” to learn to make their own way in the world. They have neither the practical, nor emotional skills to cope. Read the rest of this entry »

Tazieh is a highly stylised Shia lament for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed, who was killed in 680. It existed in a simple form around Persian villages from the 10th century. From the 16th century onwards when Persia became a Shia Islamic state it was officially recognised and was performed each year in purpose built takias (stadia) as an act of religious remembrance. Read the rest of this entry »