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Showing posts with the label John McKay

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False alarms: Diagnosis @finborough

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Nobody likes Cassandra, and like the Trojan princess who was given the gift of being able to see the future but cursed so that nobody would believe her, the woman at the centre of this piece could see into the not-too-distant future. She can see that disaster is about to strike. But she’s dismissed as a vulnerable, crazy lady who maybe had a bit too much to drink. This is the premise of “Diagnosis,” currently playing at the Finborough Theatre , written and performed by Athena Stevens.  You enter the Finborough under surveillance. The camera is pointed at the audience, and it soon becomes clear that we are somewhere in the not-too-distant future in London. A city where surveillance already abounds so we can capture all sorts of crimes taking place (albeit not in ultra-high definition).  In the future, every police station will record interviews with an audience with “vulnerable persons” involved. This is to ensure no police misconduct occurs. A police officer (Ché Walker) is in...
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Dad Jokes: Dead Dad Dog @finborough

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So what happens if your dad returns from the dead to haunt you for fun in mid-eighties Edinburgh? The first London production of Dead Dad Dog in 35 years shows that new ideas of the past just become the old things of the present. It’s an amusing concept made enjoyable by the likeable leads in the piece. Written by John McKay, who would go on to find fame in television and film, it’s currently playing at the Finborough Theatre .  Due to cast illness, the second half of this show, Sunny Boy, has not gone ahead. It’s a shame, as the second half was a sequel to the piece set in Glasgow in 2023. And so, while we miss the update, we can enjoy the eighties in all its glory and marvel at the fashion, thinking, and the fascinating possibility that if you died in the early seventies, you would never know who Margaret Thatcher was.  The premise is that young man Eck (Angus Miller) is getting ready for an interview for the BBC in Edinburgh when his father, Willie (Liam Brennan), appears. ...
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