Posts by David Petherick
The Panopticon
A stunning central performance, superb casting and a striking, minimalist set combine to make this seminal 2012 novel come alive on stage. This is powerful, visceral, and shocking. Anais Hendricks (Anna Russel-Martin) is a 15-year-old girl who has been locked in to the ‘care system’ since birth, and has now been transferred to the Panopticon,…
Read MoreSolaris
This is the first time that Solaris has been brought to the stage, and David Greig’s treatment based on the novel by Stanisław Lem is stunning, fresh and resonant. Science fiction allows for rules to be broken and conventions to be usurped, and this production certainly defies the norm, and any expectations you may bring…
Read MoreAngus Macfadyen is Robert the Bruce: Exclusive Interview on Location
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Angus Macfadyen talks to David Petherick of EdinburghFestival.org about his role in the forthcoming film ‘Robert The Bruce’. Originally playing the role of Robert The Bruce in 1995’s Braveheart, Angus talks on location in Scotland about the long journey towards making this movie, the snows of Montana, a conversation with a spider…
Read MoreRobert the Bruce
This is not the story of a man who has been defeated in war coming back with a sword in his hand. This is the story of a family broken apart by war coming together with love in its heart. This beautifully woven piece of cinema is captured with ravishing photography by John Garret, and…
Read MoreThe Duchess [of Malfi]
This finely-staged drama is a visceral exploration of male violence and oppression, at once gripping, terrifying and mesmerising. A purposely nervous but soulful song starts the action in a stark, stripped back setting, and Kirsty Stuart quietly asserts both her power and her fragility from the start. Based on John Webster’s Jacobean revenge tragedy, The…
Read MoreThe Magic Flute
Mozart’s classic ‘Singspiel’ The Magic Flute is a ravishing, glittering success. If you are new to Opera, this is probably one of the best ways to get an introduction, and this production will delight and surprise even the most seasoned opera fan. It’s in the form of what was known as a ‘Singspiel’ – telling…
Read MoreLocal Hero
It’s a big risk to take such an iconic, well-loved Scottish film and turn it into a stage musical. But Local Hero at The Lyceum is a triumphant, joyous and uplifting success. From the start, sparse, simple staging and subtle washes of light create an intimate, evocative atmosphere, with earthy humour and a distinctly Scottish…
Read MoreKátya Kabanová
Scottish Opera seems to have caught the zeitgeist with this production, which is one of three Kátya Kabanovás running in the UK at the beginning of this year, with Opera North and Covent Garden also joining in the Katyamania. But, even without seeing the others, I can be confident in saying that this looks very…
Read MoreTouching the Void
I can recall many theatre performances. But I can only once recall seeing anything quite as accomplished, astonishing and as well crafted as Touching the Void.* Story. Dialogue. Characters. Lighting. Sound. Set. Props. Movement. Music. All fused together to provide a jaw dropping spectacle that was an immersive and complete work of art. I was…
Read MoreAnthropocene
There was a tangible buzz in the air for the world premiere of this opera in Glasgow’s Theatre Royal. With music by Stuart MacRae and libretto by author Louise Welsh, the story is set in the frozen wilderness of Greenland, where a scientific expedition comes to grief when plummeting temperatures cause the exploration ship King’s…
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