THEATRE
Private Peaceful Wed 25–Sat 28 Jun, 11am (Wed 2pm only; Fri 2pm also). £10–£25. Simon Reade’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel about the life of Private Tommo Peaceful in WWI. Last of the Duty Free Mon 7–Sat 12 Jul, 7.30pm (Thu & Sat 2.30pm also). £10–£29.50. Keith Barron, Gwen Taylor and Neil Stacy are reunited to play out another instalment in the TV series.
■ TRAMWAY 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. HOT: New Dance and Performance from Australia Thu 12 Jun–Thu 3 Jul, times vary. Prices vary (festival pass £44–£64). A selection of the most exciting and spectacular contemporary dance and performance from Australia. See preview, page 92. Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival Thu 10–Sat 12 Jul, 7.30pm. £8 (£6). This festival is a huge celebration of youth dance from across the world. See preview, page 92
■ TRON THEATRE 63 Trongate, 552 4267.
✽ In My Father’s Words Thu 19– Sat 28 Jun, 7.45pm (not Sun & Mon). £12–£16 (£8–£12). A play about identity and language, and the indivisibility between the two.
■ WELLINGTON CHURCH 77 Southpark Avenue (off University Avenue), 334 0454. First Steps to Music Sat 28 Jun, 10am. £5. Join Katie and her puppet friends in live music for wee ones. ■ WILD CABARET & WICKED LOUNGE 18 Candleriggs, 552 6165. FREE The Big Show Fridays & Saturdays 13 Jun–Sat 5 Jul, 8pm. Tuesdays 17 Jun–8 Jul, 8.30pm. An evening of cabaret.
EDINBURGH
■ ADAM HOUSE 3 Chambers Street, 651 2120. Colin Cloud: Forensic Mind Reader Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul (not Mon & Tue), 7pm. £11 (£9; children £6). Real- life forensic scientist (and presumably huge Sherlock fan) Colin Cloud finds the guiltiest person in the room by using his magnificent skills of deduction, as well as memorising huge amounts of info and profiling a murderer. Part of Edinburgh International Magic Festival. Scott Smith: The Imagining Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul (not Mon & Tue), 8.30pm. £11 (£9; children £6). The acclaimed illusionist has you believing anything is possible as tests the boundaries of reality and imagination. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
■ CAMMO ESTATE Cammo Visitor Centre, Cammo Road, 447 7145. The Spokesmen Sat 14 & Sun 15 Jun, 12.30pm & 6pm. Mon 16 Jun, 10am & 1.30pm. £8. Visible Fictions lead you on a whirlwind tour of discovery through a local green space. Bikes and helmets provided. See review in Kids, page 65. ■ DOUBLETREE BY HILTON 34 Bread Street, 221 5555. FREE MagicFest at SKYbar Thu 3 Jul, 6pm. Watch your wallet as all those light-fingered types move into the bar. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
■ THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE 18–22 Greenside Place, 0844 871 3014. Immortal Chi Fri 13 Jun, 7.30pm. £19.50–£23. Mixture of exhilarating martial arts, multimedia images and live music telling the story of a Tai Chi Master and his ultimate challenge. Annie Get Your Gun Tue 17–Sat 21 Jun, 2.30pm & 7.30pm (Tue & Fri 7.30pm only). £10.50–£38. Irving Berlin’s musical, loosely based on the life
96 THE LIST 12 Jun–10 Jul 2014
■ ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street, 248 4848. Magic and Variety Gala Show Fri 27 Jun, 2.30pm & 7pm. £12–£26. The Edinburgh International Magic Festival kicks off with a gala show of illusion, sleight-of-hand, circus and mind reading featuring many of the acts performing across the festival. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. Second Face Thu 12 Jun, 5pm. Sun 15 Jun, 7pm. £8 (£5). Are your real friends those online or the ones you can see and touch? What if you had to choose between them? Performed by Strange Town actors ages 11–14. Suitable for all ages. Into the Unknown Thu 12 Jun & Sat 14 Jun, 9pm. £8 (£5). What happens when you venture into the unknown? Who will lead and who will follow? Performed by Strange Town actors aged 14–16. Suitable for all ages. You Game Fri 13 & Sat 14 Jun, 7pm. £8 (£5). When a schoolboy dies suddenly, the rest of his year skive off school in remembrance. But did any of them really know him? Performed by Strange Town actors aged 11–14. Suitable for all ages. Trash Palace Fri 13 Jun, 9pm. Sun 15 Jun, 7pm. £8 (£5). Play about the hangover from an evening at the trash palace. Performed by Strange Town actors aged 16–18. Suitable for ages 12+. Eleanor the Adventurer and the Land of Spendiferous Hats Sat 14 Jun, 3pm. Sun 15 Jun, 2pm. £8 (£5). Can the brave explorer and her plucky sidekick prevent all-out war in a strange and distant land? Performed by Strange Town actors aged 8–10. Suitable for all ages. For Services Rendered Thu 19 & Fri 20 Jun, 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Somerset Maugham’s emotional drama, chronicling the devastating effects of war on one English family. Ages 14+. Colonel Custard: Magical Mayhem Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, 5pm. £11 (£9, children £6, family £28). Colonel Custard is the current British Children’s Entertainer National Champion. His extensive repertoire includes juggling, levitation, unicycling, magic and plenty of slapstick comedy. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
✽ Michael Neto: Tragic Magic Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, 7pm (not Mon). £13 (£11; children £8). Scottish Close-Up Magic Champion four years in a row, Michael Neto performs as a failed big- star magician whose wife wants him to choose between her or magic. Edinburgh International Magic Festival. Luke Jermay: Strange Power Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, 8.30pm (not Mon). £13 (£11). Mind magic from the mentalist maestro and creative consultant to Derren Brown. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
■ VARIOUS VENUES Edinburgh International Magic Festival Fri 27 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, times vary. Prices vary. MagicFest pulls another rabbit out of the hat with a programme of close-up conundrums, mindboggling illusions, comic cabaret and other feats of the impossible. The festival begins with the Magic and Variety Gala Opening and continues to bamboozle with events and workshops. ■ THE VAULT 11 Merchant Street, 510 0022. David Blanco: Honest Lies Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, 7pm. £11 (£9; children £6). All magicians lie, it’s part of the art form. David Blanco performs dramatic visual magic accompanied by true stories, honest. Edinburgh International Magic Festival. Billy Reid: Watch Closely Sat 28 Jun–Fri 4 Jul, 8.30pm. £11 (£9; children £6). Close up magic where cards appear and disappear, coins transpose to impossible locations, and objects levitate. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
JUKEBOX MUSICAL BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow Mon 16–Sat 21 Jun
Familiar from grainy film footage and his polite interpretation of early rock’n’roll, Buddy Holly makes an unlikely subject for a jukebox musical. His short career, and reputation as the courteous man of rock, seems to lack the high drama of other, more controversial musicians. Roger Rowley, who plays Buddy, disagrees. ‘I feel quite protective of him. He can easily be taken as a caricature – the nice rock star in glasses. But telling a bio-play, we portray the character in dramatic situations.’
Modern celebrities find themselves under constant public scrutiny,
exposing their bad behaviour. ‘But back then the truth about people in the media was kept under wraps,’ Rowley says. The musical presents Holly as a rounded person. ‘So we show him breaking up with his band, meeting his wife for the first time,’ he explains. The drama of his life provides the structure for the story and puts the songs in context. Rowley’s relationship with the man and the show is long-standing. ‘At the moment, the Buddy Holly story is my career so far!’ he laughs. ‘It was my first job out of drama school. I had done a lot of the groundwork in an amateur show before I went to drama school. I have done three versions so far.’
From barely knowing Buddy – when he did the show for the first
time, he ‘vaguely knew ‘Peggy Sue’: the first time I heard the song ‘Oh Boy!’ was on the musical’s website’ – he has come to recognise Holly’s importance. ‘I love doing it because Buddy Holly was an artist. I know him as well as I can do through my own body.’ But he realises it is more than impersonation.
‘At the end of the day you have to perform to an audience of 2000 people and it is paramount to tell the story well,’ he concludes. ‘Only then do you put the Buddy accent on, the trademark hiccups and intonation.’ (Gareth K Vile)
story of Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley. ■ EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE 13–29 Nicolson Street, 529 6000. Pilrig Park: Going for Gold Fri 13 Jun, 7.30pm. £9. Local arts specialist school Pilrig Park presents its latest show, which almost every child has contributed to in some way, from dancing to costumes. Edinburgh Choreographic Project Sat 14 Jun, 8pm. £12. Modern dance from this independent Scottish dance troupe.
■ KING’S THEATRE 2 Leven Street, 529 6000. Avenue Q Thu 12–Sat 14 Jun, 7.30pm (Sat 2.30pm also). £15–£29.50. A laugh- out-loud musical that tells the story of a recent college graduate who moves into a shabby New York apartment, all the
way out on Avenue Q, where he meets colourful types who help him finally discover his true purpose in life. All Creatures Great and Small Mon 16–Sat 21 Jun, 7.30pm (Wed & Sat 2.30pm also). £14–£27. A heart-warming adaptation of James Herriot’s tales of his life as a country vet. The Addams Family Fri 27 Jun, 7.30pm. Sat 28 Jun, 2.30pm & 7.30pm. £15–£17.50. Musical comedy based on the characters from the TV series. ■ ROXY ART HOUSE 2 Roxburgh Place, 629 0039. Four Nations Magic-Off Fri 4 Jul, 10pm. £20 (£18). The ‘Late ‘n’ Live’ of the magic world, this night-time magical bust-up sees some of the stars of the festival’s programme pull out every trick they can get their sleight-of-hands on in the hope of being crowned Four Nations Magic Champ. Edinburgh International Magic Festival.