GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield
Strange tales, then and now
Separated by centuries and countries of origin, ANGUS REID sees two quirky plays with a common thread in confronting social and political issues
LIGHT TOUCH: Luna Dai and Robin Khor Yong Kuan in Strange Tales.
[Tommy Ga-Ken Wan]
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an excellently crafted new musical that explores the life and death of Ruth Ellis
PAUL DONOVAN is tickled by the excruciating take-downs of one of the funniest, wittiest, political writers around.
RON JACOBS points out, via a transcription of Kissinger’s secret recordings, that Trump could never have existed without Nixon and Kissinger
ELLIS RAE is persuaded that the advantages of the ‘talking cure’ are superior to the treatment of mental illness with drugs
JOHN GREEN, MICHAL BONCZA and BELLA KATZ review The Good Boy, Broken English, and Don't Be Prey
Strange Tales
★★★
I Can Go Anywhere
★★★★
Traverse Theatre Edinburgh
WHILE other theatres offer panto, the Traverse is serving up two helpings of bold new writing that chime as much with the political season as with Christmas.
What can you do when a man has no heart? is a topical question to ask about any number of Tories and it comes to mind watching GridIron Theatre’s adaptation of Pu Songling’s 17th-century Strange Tales, which gives a Chinese twist to this Dickensian dilemma.
What is done to resolve it here is to seek out the poorest and most despised beggar on the streets, prostrate yourself, endure their insults and eat their phlegm.
Similar stories
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
ANGELA COBBINAH applauds the success of a tribute in drama by a daughter to her immigrant mother
ANDREW HEDGECOCK relishes visual storytelling with no respect for genres, movements or styles