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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Touching: The Tailor of Inverness
Gloriously silly fun: On the Island of Aars
EDINBURGH THEATRE
The Tailor of Inverness
****
On the Island of Aars
***
Writer and actor Matthew Zajac's solo play is about his father, Mateusz, The Tailor of Inverness.
Mateusz was a postwar Polish émigré who settled in the Scottish city, founded a small business, married a local girl, joined the British Legion and played bingo.
These are the bare bones of a story that becomes ever more complicated and unsettling as we learn of Mateusz's long journey across wartorn Europe to freedom and - in a subtle metaphor running through the play's 75 minutes - how we can reinvent ourselves by assuming another garb, such as a different army's uniform or national dress.
The author appears as his father and, just as we think we know the older man, starts telling the rest of Mateusz's story as himself - and it's not what we are expecting.
Beautifully performed, and directed by Grid Iron's Ben Harrison, with simple props, intelligent use of a back projection and atmospheric onstage music by fiddlers Gavin Marwick and Jonny Hardie, this is a deeply affecting piece of personal theatre that I heartily recommend.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, in the nicest possible way, as Chris Larner and Mark Stevens (creators of The Translucent Frogs of Quuup), take us to another wonderful comedy musical, On the Island of Aars.
A rocky outcrop far off the Scottish coast, the Aars end of nowhere, as it were, is peopled by a lonely young woman, Morag (Laura Main), madasdogs Calvinist ministers Donald and Hamish (Mike Wilson) and a cavedweller (Larner). They are joined by the sexually voracious Puupiline, a Dutch health and safety inspector, and much nonsense ensues involving the haggis crop, long-lost fathers and 1970s concept albums. Gloriously silly fun.
Both to 25 Aug (0131 226 0000; www. edfringe.com) ¦
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
