Articles by Gwen Sims-Williams

Ruskin Live

In 1853, art critic John Ruskin caused a stir in polite society with a series of Edinburgh lectures lambasting the city’s architectural pretensions.

The Way of the World

First performed in 1700, William Congreve’s quintessential Restoration Comedy has an appeal which defies the sillier conventions of its genre.

A Note of Dischord

Top hats off to Theatre Paradok for bringing something so unashamedly different to the Fringe.

Hanging Bruce-Howard

Review
★★
Gwen Sims-Williams
Edinburgh Fringe
13th Aug, 2013

Hanging Bruce-Howard is a good old-fashioned piece of farce.

Rough Magic

Rough Magic is essentially pantomime for the Marvel Comics generation, a light-hearted urban fantasy which feels a bit like a pilot for a wacky teen series.

Traverse Through Time: The Exhibition

How much do you know about the history of the Traverse Theatre? If the answer is ‘very little’, don’t expect to leave enlightened.

The Penelopiad

Everyone knows Penelope.

The Actor's Nightmare

Take one confused accountant.

Scotsman Best of the Fest

Best of Fest presents five acts (and one emcee) crowned with four-or five-star reviews by the Scotsman newspaper.

21st-century Poe

Marty Ross drags Edgar Allan Poe into a Glaswegian alley, knifes him in the back and shakes him down for drug money.

The Trojan Women

What happens to the innocent when a war is lost? Troy has fallen, the wooden horse has unleashed its deadly cargo, the men lie slaughtered and the Greek army stands triumphant.

Print Fusion

Print is one of the most consumer-friendly art mediums around and this little display proves no exception.

Timurid Beasties - A Magical Menagerie of Furniture, Rugs, Artefacts and Jewellery

The tigers, lions and elephants that strut their stuff in The Nomad’s Tent are a harmless lot – their ferocity having been harnessed for decorative ends and their forms playful…

Edinburgh Printmakers at ROSL

Constituting this exhibition of work by Edinburgh printmakers are a handful of understated prints hung up two flights of stairs at the Royal Over-Seas League.

Phoebe Anna Traquair Murals

In 1893 the Irish artist Phoebe Anna Traquair, a notable adherent of the Arts and Crafts movement, was asked to decorate the Catholic Apostolic Church on Mansfield Place.

Rites: A Children's Tragedy

Fans of Wedekind’s taboo-breaking original or its cult teen-rock musical spawn beware: this adaptation is never quite as wryly funny or as heart-wrenching.

The Cherry Orchard

Review
★★
Gwen Sims-Williams
Edinburgh Fringe
5th Aug, 2013

When a production’s most memorable aspect is the costuming, you know you have a weak show on your hands.

High Plains (A Western Myth)

The first few minutes of High Plains was like being cornered after last orders by a sad-eyed drunk intent on regaling me with a digression about his life.

Penthesilea

Apparently there’s a fine line between desire and cannibalism.

The Vanish Inquisition

Review
★★
Gwen Sims-Williams
Edinburgh Fringe
2nd Aug, 2013

It’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, except there are four of them and they have been abandoned by their actor, Richard, who spends most of the play as a cardboard cut-out…

Sleepless Travellers

Review
★★
Gwen Sims-Williams
Edinburgh Fringe
21st Aug, 2013

On a technical level, Teresa Cálem’s portraits are very good.

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