Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
Best of 2019: Theatre
STANDOUT: BAC Beatbox Academy's Frankenstein Pic: Joyce Nicholls
ALISTAR FINDLAY is mesmerised by this multiple ‘Visions of Scotland’ assault on the audience’s eyes and senses
The Star's critics ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA reviews I Am Love, The Penguin Lessons, Freaky Tales, The Thicket
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
ANY round-up of theatre productions can throw up some strange bedfellows. This year's harvest is no different, highlighting the wonderful diversity of performers and themes on show in the last 12 months.
The Edinburgh Festival provided a cornucopia of live theatre, from the banal to the brilliant. Among the 63 countries represented in 753 shows, BAC Beatbox Academy's Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster stood out.
Six youngsters blew audiences away with a dynamic reinvention of Mary Shelley's classic which tackled contemporary social issues. Conceived as a "live concept album," the thrilling vocal soundscape, ranging from slick beatboxing and original rap numbers to haunting, soulful harmonies was inventive and mesmerising.
More from this author
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
SIMON PARSONS applauds a tense and thoughtful production that regularly challenges our political engagement and prejudices
SIMON PARSONS questions whether a dark take on Shakespeare’s Seasonal comedy is in harmony with the original text
