There isn’t a discernible specific time period, judging by the use of modern attire, a radio, and so on – all we know is that Poland is still ruled by a monarchy. Given that the monarchy was abolished in 1795 and the play itself was first published in 1636, perhaps more could have been done to reflect the centuries-old setting. The set is relatively basic, which makes it easy, I suppose, to take the show on tour (which is what has happened with this production), and while eventually there’s a … [Read more...]

I am grateful for Josh Jones reminding the audience (the whole audience, of course, not just me) that he can see everyone in the crowd - a disputed point, perhaps, given some comedians at the Fringe make a point of saying they can’t see us all in the darkness, which goes some way to explaining their repeated invitations to ‘make some noise’, which is apparently the only way they know we haven’t all decided to leave the room. But it wasn’t a threat: Josh (so friendly that it’s first name terms … [Read more...]

Is The Threepenny Opera really an opera or is it more in the realm of musical theatre? The Edinburgh International Festival itself classifies it as ‘music theatre’ - it does have a separate ‘opera’ category, and it has a list of musical numbers, rather than arias, recitatives, choruses and so on. But then perhaps The Threepenny Musical doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, and I found myself thinking of the actors more as singers than as characters.   There isn’t a lot of … [Read more...]

There’s a consistent maturity throughout this show, which is perhaps unsurprising given the experiences of Odile Gakire Katese, or Kiki, as she would like to be known and her contemporaries. Between April and July 1994, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group in Rwanda, as well as others who were known to hold moderate political stances, were killed by soldiers, police and armed militia. As Kiki told the Edinburgh International Festival, having broken the ice with a brief discussion about the … [Read more...]