Dan Bryant

Kiss Me Kate

14/02/26

Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh

Seemingly tailor-made for Valentine’s Day consumption, Kiss Me Kate is an ambitious undertaking for any company, but Edinburgh University Footlights handle it with their customary skill. From the first strains of Another Ope’nin, Another Show, the twenty-two strong cast unleash an absolute barn stormer of a production, backed by a 15-strong band.

Theatre impresario Fred Graham (Ewan Rotherston) is putting on his production of The Taming of the Shrew and has also taken on the lead role of Petruchio. He has somehow persuaded his former wife, Lilli Vanessi (Nina Birbeck), to return to the stage after a long absence as the titular Katherine. It soon becomes apparent that the two of them still have unfinished business. Arguments inevitably ensue and further complications arise thanks to lead dancer, Bill Calhoun (Dan Bryant). He’s currently playing Lucentio whilst romancing the show’s flighty Bianca, Lois Lane (Elham Khosravipour) – a woman who seems to have had relationships with just about every man in the vicinity.

When Bill gets involved in a shady poker game and loses a large amount of money, it emerges that he’s cheekily ‘borrowed’ Fred’s identity. Suddenly, the production finds itself with two new additions to the cast: a couple of gangsters (Bella Cripwell and Christiana Doe), who are determined to ensure that the show is successful enough to pay off Bill’s massive debt…

With music and lyrics by the legendary Cole Porter, Kiss Me Kate offers a clever ‘show within a show’ framework, and it’s liberally peppered with memorable songs and frenetic dance routines. Both Rotherston and Birbeck have incredible vocal ranges (Birbeck’s unfettered performance of I Hate Men is a particular standout), while Bryant dances up a storm throughout and Khosravipour embodies the mischievous Lois with relish. Her rendition of every Tom, Dick or Harry is a hoot.

But of course in productions like this, the ensemble work is essential and choreographers Lysa Britton and Caitlin Visser have drilled the cast to perfection. The rendition of Too Darn Hot which opens the second half, led by an athletic Paul (Aaron Ventnor), threatens to blow the roof off the theatre.

And naturally, those two unnamed gangsters are an integral part of the show as they increasingly muscle their way into proceedings until they are performers in their own right. Hilariously personified by Cripwell and Doe, they add the final flourish to a dazzling production. If you don’t come out of this singing Brush Up Your Shakespeare, there’s clearly no hope for you.

4.6 stars

Philip Caveney

Road

27/02/25

Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh

We enter the auditorium to the strains of Jarvis Cocker warning a rich girl of what it’s really like to be common, to “watch your life slide out of view / and dance and drink and screw / because there’s nothing else to do.” Okay, so tonight’s play – Jim Cartwright’s Road – is set in the mid-80s, a whole decade before Pulp’s song was released, but the lyrics couldn’t be more apt. It’s a fitting anthem to what is essentially a series of bleak vignettes: snapshots of the residents of a Lancashire road as they navigate their way through another grim weekend, trying to find some glimmers of joy in Thatcher’s broken Britain.

This is a sprawling, kaleidoscopic play, but EUTC’s students do an impressive job of wrangling it into shape, creating a vibrant, cohesive show. I especially enjoy their commitment to world-building, with actors in character as the audience files in, as well as throughout the interval, when some chat to people in the toilet queue, while others invite us to join them on stage to dance at Bisto’s Beatoven Disco with DJ Ronan Lenane. (There’s also a pre-show in the bar, but there’s not a lot of room in there, so we don’t get to experience what that’s like.)

I have mixed feelings about Cartwright’s script. Groundbreaking when it premiered in 1986, there’s no denying its continued relevance, as the UK struggles with a cost-of-living crisis and a hollowed-out job market. It’s an elegy for the working-class, and I like its bold spirit and the stylised way the characters voice their despair, saying all the things that usually remain unspoken, masked by politeness and a “chin-up” mentality. However, while the issues sadly haven’t aged, the writing style has: it seems heavy-handed compared to more recent polemics, hitting the audience repeatedly over the head with a message we understand from early on.

Nonetheless, this is an impressive production, and the array of talent in the room is undeniable. Under Moses Brzeski-Reilly and Dan Bryant’s inventive direction, Bedlam’s performance space is almost unrecognisable. Instead of the usual end-on stage, we have a thrust, the audience positioned around three sides. The fourth side sports a door, a big window and some scaffolding, and the gallery above is also pressed into use. The square performance space is divided into four distinct areas, the road, a ginnel, a living room and a bedroom, the latter pair representing the interiors of several different homes. Miki Ivan’s complex lighting design is crucial in guiding the audience to the various locations.

The sound design – by Millie Franchi – is admirably detailed, the ambience convincing and evocative. However, thanks to a combination of the thrust staging and the venue’s vaulted ceiling, there are moments when I find myself struggling to hear what some of the characters are saying, especially those who are facing away from me on the far side of the room.

It’s hard to single out individual performers in an ensemble piece like this, but there are a few standouts. Ava Godfrey, Amelia Duda, Will Grice and Sam Gearing absolutely nail the climactic scene where Louise and Carol’s double date with Brink and Eddie transforms from a nihilistic drinking session into an almost spiritual attempt to conjure up some happiness. Ava Vaccari is compelling as Molly, an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimers, while Noah Sarvesvaran provides the centre point as Scullery, the drunken vagrant who guides the audience through proceedings.

Once again, EUTC have succeeded in putting their own inimitable stamp on a classic production. There are just two more chances to see this before it closes, so why not head on down to Bedlam and join in the mayhem.

4 stars

Susan Singfield