Articles by James W. Woe

BOLSTOFF: A Modern Actor’s Introduction to Advanced Contemporary Performance

In BOLSTOFF: A Modern Actor’s Introduction to Advanced Contemporary Performance the lads from Wicker Socks (Fionn Foley, Michael-David McKernan and Ronan Carey) help guide us thr…

The Voice Factor [X]

Review
★★★★
James W. Woe
Dublin
The New Theatre
16th Jan, 2017

The Voice Factor [X] is the playwriting debut of Michael-David McKernan, an hour of sharp satire and musings on the nature of fame for those that are unprepared for it.

God Has No Country

Written and performed by Donal Courtney, God Has No Country is the story of Hugh O’Flaherty a priest from Killarney that saved 6,500 lives in Rome during World War 2.

The Quare Fellow

Money For The Sun’s production of The Quare Fellow is an astounding bit of theatre.

The MMORPG Show

The MMORPG show is a good idea but lacks the slick execution required to fully succeed.

Lou Sanders: What's That Lady Doing?

It is a rare treat to see surrealist comedy this good.

Colin Hay: Get Rid of the Minstrel

Most will only know Colin Hay from his time as the frontman for Men at Work and appearing in an episode of Scrubs.

Will Seaward: Magnificent Bastard

Everyone wants to rule the world but Will Seaward actually has a list of ways to achieve this.

Knightmare Live: The Game Has Changed

For many like me Knightmare was watched with a religious fever back in the 90s.

John Robertson: Arena Spectacular!

John Robertson claims that comedy is a sick industry (and he should know).

Abberline's Artefact

Chief Inspector Abberline is known as the man that failed to catch Jack the Ripper.

Mark Steel's in Toon

This year Mark Steel aims to give a brief overview of the cities and sights of Scotland.

Jonny & the Baptists: Eat the Poor

Johnny and Paddy return with another hour of rip roaring music based satire.

Princes of Main: Cool

Princes of Main return with another sketch show chock-a-block with odd characters, witty one liners and silliness.

Wasted

It’s quite a bold group that brings a show about life-failing drug users in post Thatcher Britain to Edinburgh, the home of Trainspotting.

John Robertson: The Dark Room

“You awaken to find yourself in a dark room”, it’s a phrase shouted many times during The Dark Room.

Shoot the Women First

Shoot the Women First revolves around a mercenary company.

Chris Gethard: Career Suicide

Too often, successful American comedians make their way to the UK assuming that audiences are as easy to please as they are back home.

Shaedates: or How I Learned to Love Myself

Review
★★★
James W. Woe
Edinburgh Fringe
Zoo
17th Aug, 2016

Shaedates is a show about finding yourself – quite literally.

Henry Rollins – Charmingly Obstinate

The force of nature that is named Henry Rollins graces the Edinburgh Fringe once again, bringing with him another hour of profound advice and big laughs.

Mungo Park – Travels in the Interior of Africa

Mungo Park proved that any true Scotsman would do almost anything to avoid spending another bloody day in Selkirk.

Robert Newman: The Brain Show

In a previous show, we witnessed Robert Newman intellectually tear down Dawkin’s view of evolution.

Spencer Jones is The Herbert in Proper Job

Almost every review of Spencer Jones takes the lazy route of saying he’s like Mr Bean meets something/someone wacky.

This Glorious Monster: Wrong 'Uns

Wrong ‘Uns is aptly titled because there is plenty of them packed into this hour of sketch comedy.

The Necessity of Atheism

The genius of the Romantic poets was their ability to bring emotion to the forefront in a world where faux-rationality reigned.

Dark North and Hungry Jane: Two Plays of Supernatural Horror

After comedy, horror is the next most difficult art form to tackle; although comedy reigns king at the fringe there is still an eager audience waiting to be scared.

Dark Heart

Dark Heart is a Shrodinger’s Cat of a show, managing to be both hopelessly amateurish and professionally polished at the same time.

The Game's a Foot, Try the Fish

Tom Taylor has produced a show so funny at one point I thought my lungs were going to burst.

Sherlock

Bablake Theatre’s take on the character of Sherlock delivers a few laughs, though it offers nothing new to the already long list of pastiches and homages the detective has receiv…

Ada/Ava by Manual Cinema

This is Manual Cinema’s first visit to the Fringe and they have brought with them a technical and awe-inspiring show that combines live music and shadow puppets.

Andy Zaltzman: Plan Z

The Satirists for Hire returns to the fringe with another hour of bizarre similes, half baked ideas, and desire for a better world.

The Vaudevillains

This year Les Enfants Terribles are gracing us with a show that’s fun but is a hotchpotch of great performers, boring music, missed opportunities and laughs.

Irons

Irons the new play from writer Colin Chaston certainly pushes the envelope of believability.

Big Bite-Size Lunch Hour: Best Bites

Big Bite is celebrating it’s 10-year Fringe anniversary with a ‘best of’ showcase: although an enjoyable selection of short pieces - effectively boiling down to long sketches…

Joe's NYC Bar

Interactive theatre is a tricky beast.

Intergalactic Nemesis: Twin Infinity – A Live Action Graphic Novel

Intergalactic Nemesis was like being trapped in a lift that wouldn’t stop going up or down, it made me angry on so many levels.

Perfidious Lion

Some shows stick in your head even if they are flawed.

Nish Kumar: Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Unless You Shout the Words Real Loud

Nish Kumar has provided a wily hour of satire as some people could sit for the entire show and not realise it’s really a show about politics.

Burnistoun Live at the Fringe

For many Rab Florence and Ian Connell are the unsung heroes of Scottish comedy.

Life According to Saki

Whether you’ve never heard of Saki before or consider yourself a die hard fan, this production is sure to please.

Darren Walsh: S'Pun

Unsurprisingly Darren Walsh’s S’Pun is an hour of puns.

Canned Laughter

Some people claim that the 1960s and 1970s were the golden age of British comedy.

I Am Thomas

Review
★★★★
James W. Woe
Edinburgh
The Lyceum
25th Mar, 2016

I am Thomas is an economic show bound together with a fantastic cast.

Zippos Presents Cirque Berserk!

The Marx Brothers greatest failing is at the circus.

Hairspray

Hairspray is a breath of fresh from the normal Broadway musicals that trudge their way through the British stages.

The Tailor of Inverness

One-man show The Tailor of Inverness first hit Edinburgh stages eight years ago and has been touring ever since.

Beauty and the Beast

Horsecross’s production of Beauty and the Beast holds a debt to the Disney version of the tale, and it never quite gets out from under its shadow.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

It’s that magic time of year when we theatre critics stop watching plays about middle class people and their problems, and get to watch a man in a dress tell dirty jokes to ki…

Rambert Dance Company: Dark Arteries

Rambert is quite possible the most important dance company performing in Britain today; at the very least their influence is far-reaching.

The Man Called Monkhouse

Bob Monkhouse was a complicated and enigmatic man.

Zanna, Don't

What would the word be like if homosexuality was the norm? Zanna Don’t is here to answer that question and bleed the concept dry, long after the amusement has left the building.

Abnormally Funny People

Abnormally Funny People showcases some of the best and brightest comedians living with disabilities on the circuit, oh and a token “normal”.

Sanctuary

If you are looking for some respite from hackneyed scripts and dodgy accents, you are not going to find it in Sanctuary.

Chris Martin: This Show has a Soundtrack

Chris Martin is trying something a little different this year by having his show underpinned with a musical soundtrack.

Tar Baby

Tar Baby is a show caught between two worlds, comedy and drama, poignant and silly, white and black.

David Tsonos: Walking the Cat

Review
★★
James W. Woe
Edinburgh Fringe
Just the Tonic at the Caves (Salvation Rooms)
24th Aug, 2015

You’d imagine that it’s quite difficult to write an hour of stand up about owning a cat, and apparently it is, because about half way through David Tsonos’ Walking the Cat he p…

Moribund

Review
★★
James W. Woe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Street
22nd Aug, 2015

Moribund: a show about death and the afterlife that fails to get a rise out of the audience.

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