A bitesize showcase of three wildly different plays
Neil Cooper
Four stars
Take three plays, each around an hour in length, and all originally commissioned and performed at Glasgow's Oran Mor venue as part of the lunchtime phenomenon that is A Play, a Pie and a Pint. Then put them into the Tron's bijou Changing Room space with a trio of directors and a cast of three in a mini rep season of brand new productions and see what happens. The result in Studio3, an initiative introduced by the Tron's new artistic director Jemima Levick, is a bitesize showcase of wildly different work.
Alright Sunshine is a monologue by Isla Cowan that sees police officer Nicky describes her life in a day patrolling Edinburgh's Meadows. As Nicky recounts her observations, her initially chatty portrait takes an increasingly dark turn as a seemingly minor incident over a Frisbee gives way to all too justifiable anger.
Dani Heron is magnificent as Nicky in Debbie Hannan's tautly paced production. As she delivers Cowan's words, Heron exposes what women are up against in a world of institutional misogyny, domestic trauma and the very real dangers of life on the street.
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FLEG sees director Dominic Hill revisit Meghan Tyler's wild cartoonish comedy set in Protestant East Belfast on the day the Queen dies. Here, Caroline and Bobby hold court in their red, white and blue bedecked home and garden, one of three very different environments created by designer Kenny Miller.
As council employee Tierna attempts to lower all flags to half-mast, Caroline and Bobby defend its honour with exaggerated zeal. Bobby in particular sees his lager soaked fantasies personified as a pole-dancing temptress in a Union Jack mini dress. Jo Freer as Caroline and Kevin Lennon as Bobby strut the stage like a pair of Viz comic grotesques come to life, while Heron doubles up as Tierna and the Fleg with similar abandon.
Fruitcake is the new title of Frances Poet's play formerly known as The Prognostications of Mikey Noyce. It charts the awkward reunion between life long friends Holly and Mikey after Mikey calls Holly following several years' silence seeking the return of a Maroon 5 CD. Holly isn't happy, especially as Mikey never showed up for her mum's funeral. But then, Mikey hasn't left the house since before lockdown, since when he has developed all manner of conspiracy theories that he has to tell the world.
Levick's own revival of Poet's play taps in to the long term side effects of lockdown and the pains of confinement in a battily manic display of sparring between Freer as Holly and Lennon as Mikey. This s only interrupted by Heron as Cassie, the motor-mouthed old school friend of Holly who might just be able to sort things out.
While all three plays could easily stand alone, Studio3 is nevertheless a welcome compendium that sees serious subjects dealt with in a variety of ways that showcases the glorious range of playwriting that exists right now.
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Edinburgh Reporter
2 days ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fringe 2025 – Alright Sunshine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nicky is here to talk about her life as an Edinburgh police officer. She's actually waiting for a meeting with her seniors, but in the meantime she'll fill us in on her daily schedule. She's wanted to join the police since she was a little girl. Her Dad was in the force, you see. He kept the city safe, and now that's what she's doing. She's proud of her job. Nicky's beat is on Edinburgh's Meadows. They, like everywhere else in the city, have a daily routine – and a nightly one. You can't mess with a routine – if you do, the result is chaos. Nicky keeps everything under control. Including herself. We can tell right from the beginning of Isla Cowen's Alright Sunshine that Nicky is a powder keg of barely supressed emotion. Molly Geddes' razor sharp, drumfire delivery barrages us with information. Nicky knows everything about her patch; the joggers, the dogwalkers, the old ladies carrying their shopping. The teenage drinkers. The Morningside Mummies – 'An existential scream behind their Chanel lipstick'. At first it's (intentionally) hard to tell whether Nicky's energy comes from enthusiasm for her work or exasperation with the people she has to police. Her descriptions of daytime Meadows' frequenters are very funny indeed; if you live in Edinburgh you'll recognise every one, in fact you may well be one. The summer, she says, makes everyone worse, including all those middle-class types with their barbecues, beer and Frisbees. As Nicky's story continues, it's clear her Dad's been the major influence in her life. She idolised him. She didn't even mind when he missed her birthdays; he was out there keeping everyone safe. Including her. Or was he? When she speaks of her Mum, it's with disgust and pity. Mum isn't strong like Nicky and Dad; she cries like a girl. Mum wanted her to wear a dress to the meeting, to get the sympathy vote. Nicky's having none of that; why should she? Gradually little hints are fed into the narrative. When Mum's out Dad indulges Nicky with tomato sauce sandwiches, 'our little secret'…. But all the time he's hammering home a message, 'Dinna be emotional, dinna let them think you're weak, DINNA BE A GIRL' Of course Dad was 'impatient' with Mum; with all the pressures of his job, what did she expect? Cowen and Geddes bring these unseen characters alive. I came away with a very clear picture of bully boy Dad and cowed, fearful Mum. So now Nicky devotes her entire life to the police. Overtime, paperwork, patrols with male officers (because it's thought a man is less likely to hit an officer if he's accompanied by a woman.) Her long-suffering boyfriend's left her, but was that really because she worked long hours? As Nicky becomes increasingly agitated, the reason for her distancing from Rob surfaces, despite her attempts to 'push it all down.' Geddes moves from funny to deadly serious with great skill. A slight pause here, a look there; she never fails to take the audience with her. As the truth starts to emerge from all the bluster, we realise why control is so important to Nicky, why she has suppressed her emotions for so long. She's tried so hard to act like a man, to please her Dad, satisfy the police force's needs, turn a blind eye to the appalling behaviour of male officers ('It's all just a laugh.') Even confronted by a scene of appalling domestic violence, she didn't cry, she kept it all in. The records of the perpetrator's earlier assaults were lost, the incidents never followed up. And now Nicky's been forced to acknowledge that all of this has got her nowhere, or at least nowhere she wants to be. The patriarchy has wronged her, and so many other women, in every imaginable way. She's not worried, she says, about the forthcoming disciplinary hearing. Men ('including Dad') only ever get a rap over the knuckles so why should she be any different? But Cowen's script and Geddes' actions make it clear that Nicky is very worried, she knows all too well that this isn't how things go for women, ''Don't be a girl'….I AM A F—ING GIRL!' There are very few props in this show; Geddes is well able to carry the monologue without them. Her police uniform is, however, used to powerful effect. It's Nicky's protection, psychologically as much as physically. It makes her feel safe when she's patrolling the Meadows at night. Without it she's as vulnerable as the next woman, walking home alone at night. Nicky tells women to take a cab, carry your keys in your fist, avoid dark places. Cowen paints a vivid and very real picture of the Meadows after dark; insufficient lighting, lonely paths, noises behind you. (Saoirse Ronan: 'That's what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?') Music is used to excellent effect. As Nicky begins to implode, the rushing sound in her head grows unbearably, overwhelmingly, loud. The show's lighting is also well done, particularly the threatening darkness of the nighttime walk across the Meadows. There is no sunshine any more, 'alright' or not. As Nicky is called in to face the music, she puts on her police jacket and slowly, very slowly, places her hat on her head. It's a silent moment of realisation. The audience is hushed. This is what institutionalised misogyny does to women; female police officers, victims of domestic violence, wives of 'strong' men, women simply walking home at night. Alright Sunshine is a Wonder Fools production. See it at Pleasance Dome (Jack Dome), 1 Bristo Square (Venue 23) at 4.20pm every day until 24 August. Please note there is no performance on Mondays 4, 11 and 18 August. Please also don't be like me and go to the wrong Pleasance site! This one is in the Edinburgh University Students' Association building in Bristo Square. Like this: Like Related
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Scotsman
Stranger Things re-review 2025: my verdict on episode 3 & 4
Our Stranger Things 2025 re-watch continues with season one 📺🚨 Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Our Stranger Things re-watch continues with episode 3 & 4. Discover my verdict on Holly, Jolly and The Body. Find out which episodes will be re-reviewed next week! Grab your bicycle, walkie-talkie and left-over Vietnam War supplies because it is time for another trip to Hawkins, Indiana. Last week marked the start of my Stranger Things re-review and you can read my thoughts on the first two episodes here. This week we continue with season one and reach the half-way mark of the show's original 2016 run. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is a pair of episodes that feature some of the most iconic moments across the whole show - bet you haven't looked at Christmas lights quite the same ever since. But got me wondering what Stranger Things is about - what are the Duffer Brothers interested in telling us. If you haven't already, go and watch Stranger Things season 1 episode three and four and then come back and read my thoughts. Let's continue with our weekly re-review and take a trip to the Upside Down. Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly David Harbour in Stranger Things | Netflix Synopsis: An increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan's been up to. Joyce is convinced Will is trying to talk to her. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Holly, Jolly is an episode of television that feels very interested in the idea of being seen - and more importantly not being seen. It is a throughline that can be found across all of the different plotlines over its 50 minute runtime. We pick-up from the end of the previous episode with Barb waking up in the Upside Down, having been grabbed from the swimming pool. She calls out but cannot be seen or heard by Steve and Nancy back in the normal world - but the Demogorgon is watching. Her disappearance goes pretty much unnoticed back in Hawkins, beside Nancy. Even her own parents don't seem to have realised something is wrong and the rest of the school certainly hasn't taken note. Meanwhile Nancy herself feels watched by her peers, potentially judged for her hook-up with Steve. It feels like all eyes are on her, while no eyes are on Barb and her absence that day. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Joyce is unable to convince Jonathan that the blinking light-bulb is Will. In another twist on the theme of being seen/ unseen, she is the only one who can see her son's attempts to reach out. And it is her willingness to keep the belief and 'see' her son that is rewarded by one of the most iconic moments of the whole show. The Christmas lights in the living room - turned into a ouija board of sorts. Barb's disappearance raises the idea of people who slip out of sight and disappear unnoticed and this is a motif that is echoed in Joyce's plotline. Mike's mum Karen visits the Byers home and while not fully paying attention to her young daughter Holly, she is almost snatched into the Upside Down after wandering into Will's room and is only saved by Joyce. Meanwhile we get glimpses of Eleven's time at the mysterious institute in which her psychic powers were formed and harnessed. She is constantly observed by Papa (Dr. Brenner) but the only time he seems to see her as a child in need of parental affection is after she uses her powers to injure a bunch of orderlies. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the present, there is a sense that Mike, Dustin and Lucas don't yet see her as a part of the group - and maybe just see her as a tool. Dustin demands more demonstrations of her powers, Mike grows irate when she doesn't lead them directly to Will. It all comes together with the episode's climax when a body is found - but we the audience do not fully see who it is. Just that it is wearing the same puffer gilet as Will was in episode one. Holly, Jolly may not have the novelty of the first episode, but it feels thematically coherent in a way that makes it a really strong instalment. Side note, once again let's give Winona Ryder her flowers because her performance as Joyce manages to infuse her with so much humanity that she never feels like a caricature. Chapter Four: The Body Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Will Byers in The Upside Down in Stranger Things | Netflix Synopsis: Refusing to believe Will is dead, Joyce tries to connect with her son. The boys give Eleven a makeover. Nancy and Jonathan form an unlikely alliance. We reach the halfway mark of Stranger Things' first season with this episode and it got me wondering: what is the show about? It has lots of trimmings and genre trappings. The 1980s setting, the Stephen King/ Amblin vibes, government conspiracy and cosmic monsters. But what is Stranger Things about? What is the story that the Duffers want to tell amid all the bells and whistles? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite this being perhaps the weakest episode so far, it is perhaps the one that really crystallised in my mind what this show is about. Stranger Things is a story about finding your people and discovering how far you will go for the ones you love. If you think about why you love Stranger Things - why we all do - it is those character combinations that just fizzle and pop. This is jumping ahead a bit but Steve and Dustin for example. The Body is an episode that starts to really put the focus on that - it is the first time Nancy and Jonathan properly interact with each other, for example. Eleven gets to go to the school with the boys and become a real part of the group. Hopper's connection to Joyce and the Byers pushes him to follow his gut and find the truth about the 'Will' pulled from the water. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But it is that last part that also is the weakness of the episode - even on first watch, you know that Will is not dead. It wouldn't make dramatic sense for him to be killed off-screen. So the episode spends a lot of time on a plotline that feels like it is just spinning wheels. But at least the fake body wasn't dragged out for more than one episode and the idea of Stranger Things is starting to come firmly into focus - at least. What do you think of episode three and four - do you agree with my re-review? Let me know your thoughts by email: . If you love TV, check out our Screen Babble podcast to get the latest in TV and film.
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Scotsman
Stranger Things re-review 2025: my verdict on episode 3 & 4
Our Stranger Things 2025 re-watch continues with season one 📺🚨 Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Our Stranger Things re-watch continues with episode 3 & 4. Discover my verdict on Holly, Jolly and The Body. Find out which episodes will be re-reviewed next week! Grab your bicycle, walkie-talkie and left-over Vietnam War supplies because it is time for another trip to Hawkins, Indiana. Last week marked the start of my Stranger Things re-review and you can read my thoughts on the first two episodes here. This week we continue with season one and reach the half-way mark of the show's original 2016 run. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is a pair of episodes that feature some of the most iconic moments across the whole show - bet you haven't looked at Christmas lights quite the same ever since. But got me wondering what Stranger Things is about - what are the Duffer Brothers interested in telling us. If you haven't already, go and watch Stranger Things season 1 episode three and four and then come back and read my thoughts. Let's continue with our weekly re-review and take a trip to the Upside Down. Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly David Harbour in Stranger Things | Netflix Synopsis: An increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan's been up to. Joyce is convinced Will is trying to talk to her. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Holly, Jolly is an episode of television that feels very interested in the idea of being seen - and more importantly not being seen. It is a throughline that can be found across all of the different plotlines over its 50 minute runtime. We pick-up from the end of the previous episode with Barb waking up in the Upside Down, having been grabbed from the swimming pool. She calls out but cannot be seen or heard by Steve and Nancy back in the normal world - but the Demogorgon is watching. Her disappearance goes pretty much unnoticed back in Hawkins, beside Nancy. Even her own parents don't seem to have realised something is wrong and the rest of the school certainly hasn't taken note. Meanwhile Nancy herself feels watched by her peers, potentially judged for her hook-up with Steve. It feels like all eyes are on her, while no eyes are on Barb and her absence that day. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Joyce is unable to convince Jonathan that the blinking light-bulb is Will. In another twist on the theme of being seen/ unseen, she is the only one who can see her son's attempts to reach out. And it is her willingness to keep the belief and 'see' her son that is rewarded by one of the most iconic moments of the whole show. The Christmas lights in the living room - turned into a ouija board of sorts. Barb's disappearance raises the idea of people who slip out of sight and disappear unnoticed and this is a motif that is echoed in Joyce's plotline. Mike's mum Karen visits the Byers home and while not fully paying attention to her young daughter Holly, she is almost snatched into the Upside Down after wandering into Will's room and is only saved by Joyce. Meanwhile we get glimpses of Eleven's time at the mysterious institute in which her psychic powers were formed and harnessed. She is constantly observed by Papa (Dr. Brenner) but the only time he seems to see her as a child in need of parental affection is after she uses her powers to injure a bunch of orderlies. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the present, there is a sense that Mike, Dustin and Lucas don't yet see her as a part of the group - and maybe just see her as a tool. Dustin demands more demonstrations of her powers, Mike grows irate when she doesn't lead them directly to Will. It all comes together with the episode's climax when a body is found - but we the audience do not fully see who it is. Just that it is wearing the same puffer gilet as Will was in episode one. Holly, Jolly may not have the novelty of the first episode, but it feels thematically coherent in a way that makes it a really strong instalment. Side note, once again let's give Winona Ryder her flowers because her performance as Joyce manages to infuse her with so much humanity that she never feels like a caricature. Chapter Four: The Body Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Will Byers in The Upside Down in Stranger Things | Netflix Synopsis: Refusing to believe Will is dead, Joyce tries to connect with her son. The boys give Eleven a makeover. Nancy and Jonathan form an unlikely alliance. We reach the halfway mark of Stranger Things' first season with this episode and it got me wondering: what is the show about? It has lots of trimmings and genre trappings. The 1980s setting, the Stephen King/ Amblin vibes, government conspiracy and cosmic monsters. But what is Stranger Things about? What is the story that the Duffers want to tell amid all the bells and whistles? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Despite this being perhaps the weakest episode so far, it is perhaps the one that really crystallised in my mind what this show is about. Stranger Things is a story about finding your people and discovering how far you will go for the ones you love. If you think about why you love Stranger Things - why we all do - it is those character combinations that just fizzle and pop. This is jumping ahead a bit but Steve and Dustin for example. The Body is an episode that starts to really put the focus on that - it is the first time Nancy and Jonathan properly interact with each other, for example. Eleven gets to go to the school with the boys and become a real part of the group. Hopper's connection to Joyce and the Byers pushes him to follow his gut and find the truth about the 'Will' pulled from the water. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But it is that last part that also is the weakness of the episode - even on first watch, you know that Will is not dead. It wouldn't make dramatic sense for him to be killed off-screen. So the episode spends a lot of time on a plotline that feels like it is just spinning wheels. But at least the fake body wasn't dragged out for more than one episode and the idea of Stranger Things is starting to come firmly into focus - at least. What do you think of episode three and four - do you agree with my re-review? Let me know your thoughts by email: .
