The National Theatre of Scotland is getting better and better. A double bill of two more plays in their Traverse Debuts series yet again combines quality writing with strong acting. Read the rest of this entry »

Midsummer - a time of year when the sun is at its zenith but poised for change, a gradual change of slipping towards the darkness of midwinter. So too for 35 year olds, halfway along the road to three score years and ten, an age when one is in one’s prime but aware of mortality and ready to take stock and assess what lies ahead. This is the underlying theme of “Midsummer (a play with songs)” currently on at the Traverse Theatre. Read the rest of this entry »

The most famous anti-war book ever written, “All Quiet on the Western Front “ follows a group of idealistic German schoolboys boys who are urged on by their teacher to enlist in the Great War. High hopes and high spirits soon become grim realism as life in the trenches unfolds, and one by one they die. .A great novel, an Oscar winning film, but just how effective is Giles Croft’s stage production currently at the King’s Theatre? Read the rest of this entry »

There is a constant battle going on in the classroom as a teacher tries to impart knowledge against a background of pupil disruption. There is a constant battle going on in adolescence as teenagers try to come to terms with the hormones raging within. And outside in the wider world a real battle is being fought - an eternal war in time and place that involves violent bloodshed and will cut down a generation of young men. Read the rest of this entry »