A True Tale of Defiance and Denim from Greenock. For some time now, I have approached 80s and 90s period pieces with caution. Although almost always crowd-pleasing, they often lack substance, preferring to bathe in aesthetics and cultural touchstones of the time. So when I came to see Stand and Deliver, the telling of the 1981 protest at Lee Jeans written by Frances Poet, I had a question on my mind....

Scottish elections prove one thing more than anything else – what Scotland thinks of itself. We aren’t just voting for what we would like to see, but what we think best reflects the character of the country, deep down. The same question arises for Scottish performances that go to the Fringe. So many want to differentiate themselves from the international, but mainly the English, performances that dominate the major venues. Ironically, many end up trying too hard and creating

The Lyrical Life of a Jacobite Heroine: Look, look, I want to talk about it too! How all the way through Flora I kept flinching (I’m not used to hearing my name spoken about in relation to anyone else), I laughed at shared experiences (“Fiona– I mean Flora!”), and secretly hoping...

This Play, More Than Any Other, Will Make You Question Your Carbon. Some people will baulk at the concept of The Trials, but they shouldn’t. Dawn King’s new play, directed by Joanna Bowman, imagines a future in which the climate crisis has wreaked havoc. There are floods, fires, limited resources – and now those with the biggest carbon footprints must answer for their crimes. The jury is composed of teenagers, who must decide the fate of the grown-ups. So, yes, not everyone w

Even if you haven’t heard of the ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae, by Euripides, you may have heard of “Bacchanalia”, or a “bacchanalian party”. Visions of drunken excess, perhaps in honour of a mad and powerful cult leader, come to mind. If you are familiar with the play, you might remember that the play’s chorus is comprised of a horde