Duncan Harley

The task of re-animating dead flesh is not for the faint hearted but, at some two hundred years distance from publication of the original novel, Mary Shelley’s tale of a latter-day Prometheus continues to fascinate. During the summer of 1816, Mary Shelley along with Lord Byron and Mary’s future husband – the poet Percy Shelley holidayed near Geneva. Freakish weather curtailed their plans and a ghost story competition ensued. Mary famously triumphed and in 1818 – aged twenty, she published the Gothic horror novel we now know as Frankenstein. She was later to record, ‘How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?’ Multiple takes on the story have emerged during the subsequent years and the nightmarish tale of science versus god has spawned a plethora of sensationally bonkers Hollywood films and theatre adaptations. Thankfully, this new but ambitious theatrical take by Rona Munro steers clear of the bolt-necked cadaver approach. The...

As jukebox musicals go Beautiful hits the sweet spot. Familiar songs, slick choreography and simple staging litter the production. Add Daisy Wood-Davis to the mix, sprinkle in a measure of 60’s pop culture fold-in some sugary bio and cook slowly. Result? Mouth-watering! Ok, perhaps the bio is a little bit hazy in places. The story dwells on Carol’s first marriage and kinda glosses out the other three. And maybe music insiders would express surprise at the portrayal of a sugar-sweet music industry bereft of draconian contracts and stingy executives. But this is entertainment at its best, and not by any means a social history class. So, if the audience comes out smiling, all is well in nostalgia-land. Alongside the familiar Carol King solos, and there are quite a few, the show makes great play of the fact that the early King was in essence a prolific maker of hits. But for other people. She later found her own voice. But her early career saw her sweating as a jobbing-songwrit...

Comic Christmas capers in Aberdeen wouldn’t be quite the same without the annual HMT panto and this years rags to riches take on Cinderella stars soprano Rachel Flynn as Cinders with doors opening this month for a five-week run.  Naturally, wicked step-sisters are to the fore and the cast list for 2019 includes Call the Midwife star Laura Main who delivers a sterling performance as the Fairy Godmother, River City funny man Paul-James Corrigan who shines as Buttons, Two Doors Down Joy McAvoy plus River City Sally Howitt as the Stepsisters and Prince Charming is played by Emmerdale Paul Luebke. Dancer/choreographer Louie Spence plays a delightfully camp Dandini with Alan McHugh leading the action as the outlandishly-costumed Baroness Heifer McHardup. Outwitting step-sisters involves both humour and determination and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud slap-stick moments along the way alongside a multitude of double-entendres and slick comedy routines. Lavish ...

This unfolding story of the demise of the Weimar Republic is seen through the eyes of young American novelist Cliff Bradshaw – played here by Charles Hagerty - and is based loosely around Christopher Isherwood’s classic 1939 novel  “Goodbye to Berlin”.   A central focus is the doomed love affair between English cabaret performer Sally Bowles, played here by Kara Lily Hayworth, and Cliff who has come to Berlin to complete a novel but soon becomes immersed in other distractions. Alongside his pursuit of Sally, a serial manizer, Cliff soon finds himself involved in money-laundering for the fascists and is witness to a moral decay which will ultimately destroy the easy-going morality of a city known by many at the time as the Babylon of Europe. Much of the action takes place in the Kit Kat Club – a place where ‘Here there are no troubles … Wilkommen, Leave your troubles outside … We have no troubles here! Here, life is beautiful.’ John Partridge plays the magnific...

Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stevens capture the brilliance of Morecambe & Wise in this homage to Eric and Ern and, if the PR fluff is to be taken seriously, you’ll feel like you’ve seen the real thing when you take in the show described in glowing terms as being: ‘Straight from their hit West End, Olivier nominated show "Eric and Little Ern" which Ian and Jonty wrote and performed in ... see them as Eric & Ern and be taken back to a world of sunshine and laughter. Their brilliant homage hits all the right notes! From Greig's Piano concerto to Mr Memory, "Arsenal!" A show full of Morecambe and Wise's most loved routines. Highly acclaimed for their portrayal of the legendry comedy duo, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, talented actors Ian Aspital [sic] and Jonty Stevens return in this new and fabulous show, crammed full of renditions of those famous comedy sketches, evokes memories of times when whole families would huddle around the telly on Sunday even...

All they ever really wanted to do was raise some cash to buy a settee for the local cancer ward but when word got out that Rylstone & District Women's Institute were planning a Pirelli style Christmas calendar, things soon spiralled out of control. It’s a well-worn tale. A bevy of rural friends decide to publish a fund-raiser for cancer support following a death. John has died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and wife Angela’s pals at the Rylstone & District Women's Institute set about creating a wall calendar as something for her to focus on during this most difficult time.  However, instead of the familiar Women’s Institute images of sheep infested landscapes, ecclesiastical spires and cricketed village greens, they decide to bare all. The 1998 launch of the raunchy publication attracted widespread press coverage and very soon the print run reached into the tens of thousands. A book and a film followed along with international fame. Described as a group of ordinary ladie...

  Fans of rock-opera unfettered by notions of either plot development or political correctness will be delighted with this cheesy as hell piece of rock n’ roll debauchery. Landing like aliens upon the Aberdeen stage, the cheap gags spewed forth amongst a feelgood pseudo-rebellious and occasionally offensive script.  A duo of Cleese-like goose-stepping Germans vie with a bevy of gyrating strippers for supremacy as a thinly spread plot tells of unrequited love and vaunted ambition. Brassy, glitzy, brash, raunchy and ultimately inhabited by pretty much all of the seven dwarfs, the show makes a mockery of correctness. Rock of Ages women exist in a bubble of Ann Summers lingerie while the guys generally get to leer and swill beer. But thankfully, the musical score makes up for the disappointing dialogue and from the opening call “Are you ready to rock?” to the closing anthem Don’t Stop Believin’ , at least the music makes sense. And that probably is the saving grace ...

Anti-Jewish pogroms in the not-so-far-off days of the Russian Empire were quite common and reached new heights during the period 1903 to 1906 when a series of state-sponsored ‘demonstrations’ affected many settlements in the Ukraine and in Bessarabia. Thousands of Jews were reportedly killed and many more thousands displaced as a wave of violence backed up by harsh laws targeted Russian Jews. Tsar Nicholas II was not known for his tolerance of either dissidents or minority groups and in the political turbulence of the times the Jews made for a convenient scapegoat. Married to a granddaughter of Queen Victoria he was referred to by Trotsky as having been “more awful than all of the tyrants of ancient and modern history”. Aberdeen’s Bon Accord Magazine was more succinct when, during a state visit to Balmoral it reported that “When the Tsar is at home, we do not hesitate to call him a tyrant. Then in heaven’s name, why – when he visits his grandmother-in-law, should we play th...

The traditional folk tale of how the beautiful Snow White survived the evil queen’s murderous attention has been told in many versions over the centuries. Countries across the globe from Albania to Malaya hold versions of the tale deeply rooted in popular culture.  In an Indian take on the story, the magic mirror is portrayed as a talking parrot and an Albanian version has Snow White’s jealous sisters portrayed as a murderous duo intent on her untimely demise. The Brothers Grimm are often credited with having collected the definitive version of the story. Featuring seven unnamed dwarfs, a glass coffin and an insanely jealous stepmother they published several versions of the tale over the period 1812-1854. In 1937 the tale was subjected to Disneyfication and, despite Disney having trademarked the name “Snow White” in 2013, the films and the literature continue to follow the snowy-white road. Ever popular as a pantomime theme the likes of Dawn French, Wendi Peters ...

This coming weekend sees Aberdeen Bramble Brae School pupils take to the HMT stage to take part in balletLorent's brand-new production of Rumpelstiltskin. Conner Burton, Connor McGregor, Emily Rose Wood, Hanna Adrykowska, Rhylan Stuart Quinn, Rhys Warner and Robert Smith will tread the boards at His Majesty’s Theatre alongside award-winning dance theatre company 'balletLORENT'.  Liv Lorent - Artistic Director and Choreographer for the production - commented that  “We’re so pleased to have found a fantastic group of children in Aberdeen to become part of our team. At this age, children often have innate talent, a lack of self-consciousness and physical beauty in movement, which can be captured and channelled to great effect through projects like ours.” As a folk-tale, Rumpelstiltskin  is a tragedy deeply mired in kidnap and gender exploitation. Indeed, the fairy-tale tugs strongly at the heartstrings: ‘There was once a miller who was very poor. But he had a...

I was privileged to obtain a copy of Edi Swan’s splendid history of His Majesty’s Theatre a couple of years ago. I forget precisely how the book arrived in my hands. It was either via Amazon or, more likely via a swap for some Leopards. In the days when Leopard Magazine was on the go as an independent voice for the writers of the North-east, I was able on occasion to get my hands on a few writer’s copies. Just to oil the wheels you understand and not to oil my bank account. Artists, local businesses and heritage centres usually benefited from the spare copies. One may have ended up in Royal hands. But, of course, my tongue is tied to this day. Whilst researching a story, folk more often than not will ask when it will be published and can they get a complementary copy sent out as a reward for speaking onto the page. As politely as possible, the writer will usually resort to some excuse or other. “Ah, well, that’s an editorial issue” or “I’ll see what I can do” is often ...

Cilla the Musical is based on BAFTA-winning writer Jeff Pope’s 2014 ITV series and tells the story of Black’s meteoric rise from ambitious Cavern Club cloakroom girl to chart-topping mega-star. Her sometimes turbulent relationships with Bobby Willis and the troubled Brian Epstein feature strongly alongside a no-holds-barred peek into Black’s less-savoury aspects. At a not-too-long two hours and fifty minutes, including interval, the show celebrates the triumphs and the tribulations of one of Epstein’s many stars and covers the greats from the Cilla back catalogue along with tribute numbers from the bands from the heady days of the Black magic. Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Mamas & the Papas and of course the Fab Four feature alongside a stream of biopics of the men behind the labels. Burt Bacharach, Ed Sullivan and Andrew Lancel’s splendidly vulnerable Brian Epstein feature alongside Alexander Patmore’s study of the dependably stoic Bobby Willis. Scotti...

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame arrives in Aberdeen this week in the form of the 1960s era, jukebox-laden musical  Jersey Boys ,  and from curtain rise to curtain fall this highly polished and electrifyingly energetic production features around 30 original Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons numbers. With a pedigree of 27 Top 40 singles including  Big Girls Don’t Cry ,  Walk Like a Man  and  Rag Doll,  the original Four Seasons’ tough-but-tender doo-wop harmonies continue to wow Rock ‘n’ Roll fans of all ages. Add to the mix around 100 million record sales, and it’s difficult to see how Director Des McAnuff’s musical portrayal of the groups often troubled rise and fall could fail to please the theatre audience. In fact, this is one of those shows that should be seen again and again. I should know – to date I’ve seen this tribute show three times and given a whiff of a chance, I would go back at least one more time. As always, casting makes...

It’s difficult to adequately classify Far, Far From Ypres. Described as “the story of the Scottish war effort during World War One” with “its excitement, hope, suffering, endurance, humour, fear and disillusionment in the face of horror told through the eyes of fictional, prototypical soldier Jimmy MacDonald” this ambitious multimedia production sits oddly – and please excuse the pun – with its feet astride two camps. A strong documentary-styled historical narrative, delivered by veteran broadcaster Iain Anderson, frames a broad range of popular song from the period whilst overhead a mix of trench imagery combines to add poignancy to the performance. We are told that the fictional Jimmy is from any town or village in Scotland and that when issued with his tin hat and his Enfield rifle, he heads off to the continent in search of medals for the victory parade and of course for a great foreign adventure. An acceptable figure for Scottish war dead has yet to be calculated – s...

Duncan Harley Reviews The last time I witnessed a Flying Pigs production was in far off 2016. Titled Dreich Encounter it failed to disappoint and I recall penning the immortal words “Father Ted meets Ivor Cutler utterly fails to describe this production adequately … reminiscent of Cutler’s Glasgow classic  “Life in a Scotch Sitting Room”, [Flying Pigs]  gently parody the folk memories of the North east.” Not much has happened to alter my opinion and this year’s splendidly polished offering features around thirty of what Flying Pigs term their best glaikit hits . Entitled Now That’s What I Call Methlick , and incorporating classic sketches involving the likes of Hilton John, The Bakery Wifies plus of course Mither: Nasal Hair , the show takes the form of a musical comedy/sketch review of all things Aberdonian. The opening set comprises classic numbers from The Buckie Drifters. As Craig Pike enthuses about his shingles a tartan-trewed backing group launch into...