The Snow Queen
The Guardian 27 November 2023 When the curtain goes up on this Caledonian Snow Queen, the view is both familiar and strange. Familiar, because we recognise the austere silhouette of…
Morna Young and Finn Anderson on The Snow Queen
The Scotsman 13 November 2023 A first-time collaboration is a risky thing. What if the participants don’t hit it off? How do they negotiate if one is not happy with…
Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape
The Scotsman 11 August 2023 How long does it take to write a play? If you ask Peter Arnott you might be surprised by the answer. He has been working…
Anna Karenina
The Guardian 18 May 2023 It must be Saturday because Anna Karenina and her husband, Alexei, are having sex. The act is passionless and mechanical. They are fully dressed, the…
Macbeth (An Undoing)
The Guardian 9 February 2023 To summon up witches is to play with fire. Could the same be true about summoning up a dead playwright? That is what writer/director Zinnie…
Nicole Cooper on Macbeth (An Undoing)
The Scotsman 31 January 2023 It is a conundrum for any actor playing Lady Macbeth. Things start off the way you would expect in Shakespeare’s tragedy as she greets her…
Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel
The Guardian 12 August 2022 On the back wall there is a notice saying: “Please rinse and sanitise.” Over to the right a poster from Equity, the union for performers…
This Is Memorial Device
The Guardian 17 August 2022 A few years ago, the director Stewart Laing invented a character called Paul Bright. He was a Glasgow performance artist who had staged an epic…
Laurel and Hardy
The Guardian 8 June 2022 Movie director Leo McCarey has a proposal for producer Hal Roach. He has seen Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel acting in the same silent short,…