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'Old habits die hard': Irvine Welsh's Porno comes home
'Old habits die hard': Irvine Welsh's Porno comes home

The Herald Scotland

time21-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • The Herald Scotland

'Old habits die hard': Irvine Welsh's Porno comes home

Having begun its life on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022 five years after Danny Boyle filmed Welsh's book as T2, Carswell's adaptation became a West End hit. Bringing it all back home for what probably won't be the last time is living testament to the ongoing power of Welsh's ever expanding back catalogue. The handy translations of Leith patois projected onto the back wall of the stage lest a passing west coaster stumble into the building acts as a cheeky curtain raiser to the uneasy reunion between Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie, the fab four at the heart of Welsh's original story. Fifteen years after ex junkie Renton did a runner to Amsterdam with the gang's money, he makes a prodigal's return home to tend to his sick mother. This surprise comeback also gives him the chance to hook up with his former drug buddies, and possibly make amends for his betrayal. With Sick Boy now in charge of a spit and sawdust old school Leith boozer, Spud attempting to write a history of his 'hood before gentrification wipes it out, and Begbie just out of prison, old alliances are rekindled as well as old tensions. The quartet may be older, but probably aren't wiser, as Sick Boy co-opts his pub function room to make amateur porn. Enter Lizzie, wannabe actress and local copper's daughter who joins the fun before history starts repeating itself as Renton gets itchy feet. This is presented largely through a series of bite-size monologues that get to the inner workings of each character. In performance this becomes a set of baroque routines that come on like a form of potty-mouthed spoken-word stand-up, with expletive laden punchlines aplenty. While Chris Gavin's Begbie is a study in hard man machismo, Kevin Murphy as Spud and Jenni Duffy as Lizzie both reveal a fragility hidden by either the effects of drugs in Spud's case or Lizzie's sassy bravado. When there is conversation, it explores the fragile ties that binds the group. The duologues between Liam Harkins as Renton and James McAnerney especially see the now middle-aged coulda-been contenders off-loading the baggage of shared history. Read more: If only we could bring Tommy Cooper, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Morecambe back to life True crime tale of Glasgow poisoning turned into city play 'Period parody run riot' The 39 Steps Pitlochry Festival Theatre If Harkins' Renton is an everyman figure who hasn't quite cleaned up his act, McAnerney's Sick Boy is a more mercurial figure, always looking for that ever-elusive money making scheme that will see him make it big. Lizzie's interplay with her dad Knox, played by Tom Carter, is a similar illustration of conflicting loyalties. Welsh's world is brought to life by Carswell and director Jonty Cameron with a heightened irreverence closer to restoration comedy than gritty realism. This is more than Carry on Trainspotting, mind. As old habits die hard, it becomes a story about working class aspiration and getting away with whatever you can in order to survive. The next chapter awaits.

Theatre reviews: The 39 Steps
Theatre reviews: The 39 Steps

Scotsman

time18-07-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Scotsman

Theatre reviews: The 39 Steps

Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The 39 Steps, Pitlochry Festival Theatre ★★★ The Last Laugh, Theatre Royal ★★★★ In a world where credible futures seem in increasingly short supply, it sometimes seems as if cultural nostalgia is becoming our only jam. Rock music survivors from the 20th century stage ever-larger stadium tours, tribute musicals whisk us back to the 1960s or 70s; and here, in Pitlochry and Glasgow this week, are two stage shows which have their own special relationship with our cultural past. Alexander Service and Chris Coxon in The 39 Steps | Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Patrick Barlow's brisk two-hour stage adaptation of The 39 Steps - first seen in London two decades ago - is probably best understood not as a version of John Buchan's 1915 novel, but as an affectionate send-up of Alfred Hitchcock's hugely successful 1935 film, designed to extract maximum laughs from the absurdities of extreme fringe theatre, as a cast of only four try to tell a story featuring at least 20 characters, with much help from bad hats, and worse facial hair. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To judge by Barlow's programme note for this year's Pitlochry production, he also intended his adaptation to add a little heart to what began as a brusquely masculine tale of Richard Hannay, a British imperial adventurer at a loose end, who finds himself in a desperate race to expose a deadly network of foreign spies before they catch up with him. And in Ben Occhipinti's Pitlochry production of Barlow's version - which follows and surpasses Hitchcock in introducing some female love interest to the story - Alexander Service as a handsome Hannay, and Blythe Jandoo in stylish Thirties form as all the women with whom he falls in love, both bring a real touch of romance to their performances. The problem, though, is that almost all other aspects of the plot are reduced to such Monty Python-style absurdity - as supporting actors Chris Coxon and Stephanie Cremona conjure up a bewildering series of dastardly villains and spoof Scottish peasants - that it becomes very difficult to attach any real meaning to the story. Liz Cooke's set is charming, with its little train circling the front of the stage to the upbeat strains of Vivian Ellis's Coronation Scot. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To my eyes, though, most of the comedy looks laboured and un-funny, in a post-1980s fringe theatre style that has had its day; and despite the best efforts of the actors - who received a well-deserved cheer from the audience as they took their bows - the show seems to me to lack momentum, and to be both less meaningful, and less seriously funny, than Barlow originally intended. The Last Laugh | Contributed There's a richer and more direct vein of comedy, by contrast, in writer and director Paul Henry's 80-minute play The Last Laugh, now on a UK-wide tour after its 2024 Edinburgh Fringe success. The show features a dressing-room conversation among three of Britain's most revered 20th century comedy stars; the great natural comedians Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe, and Bob Monkhouse, comedian and game-show host, who spent most of his life studying the structure of comedy. The Last Laugh follows other fine plays about comedy - notably Tom McGrath's Laurel & Hardy - in dealing with the strange, poignant relationship between comedy and death. Both Cooper and Morecambe died in mid-career, in the spring of 1984; and Hendy uses this fact to place all three stars in what turns out to be a dressing room on the edge of eternity. For most of its length, though, the show is a funny and fascinating exploration of comedy itself, as delivered by a generation of absolute masters. Damian Williams as Tommy, Bob Golding as Eric, and Simon Cartwright as Bob all make a brilliant job of evoking the special style and comic energy of the men they play; and they also bring an immense quiet skill to their handling of the play's huge range of emotional registers, from the daftly hilarious to the poignant, and finally to the tragic. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad

How in the name of the Pink Ladies can a rugby star play Danny Zuko?
How in the name of the Pink Ladies can a rugby star play Danny Zuko?

The Herald Scotland

time12-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • The Herald Scotland

How in the name of the Pink Ladies can a rugby star play Danny Zuko?

But how in the name of the Pink Ladies can someone go from being a rugby internationalist to a charted engineer, and then end up starring in not only in Grease but in two other autumn theatre productions, The 39 Steps and Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith? 'My dream was of becoming a rugby player from a very early age,' Service recalls. 'My dad played rugby, and I wanted to follow him. But the problem was that at five feet ten I was relatively small. And as I progressed into the Scotland Under 18&19 team, I found the injuries were arriving hard and often. And every time I was sidelined with injury – a torn hamstring or whatever – I would lose even more weight during the recovery time. It was a vicious circle. So, just as a back-up, I talked it over with my parents and decided to go to university and study Mechanical Engineering.' Service at the Melrose 7s (Image: Sandy Service) Having finished his degree at Glasgow University, Service hadn't kicked the rugby dream into touch. He took off to New Zealand. 'I still wanted to play, and reckoned I would learn so much from being in the country where rugby is a religion.' To support himself, Service worked in cafes and bars in North Island. And he joined a band, singing and playing guitar. Meantime, he played and coached rugby, then a teammate suggested his chum for a job as a consultant engineer. Yet, it was the night-time work on stage that brought about a massive life change. 'I took a call at work one day from a theatre director called Heather Harrison who'd seen me perform with the band – we were doing stuff like Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and John Farnham covers, that sort of thing – and wondered would I be interested in appearing in a play and come in for a reading? 'It's just a small role,' she added. And I was flattered and thought 'What have I got to lose?' and said yes straight off. I'd never actually acted before, except some small stuff at school, but I liked the idea of discovering if I could pull this off.' The theatre director however hadn't been entirely honest. It wasn't a small part. It was the lead role in My Boy Jack, the story of Rudyard Kipling's grief for his son (played in the TV movie by Daniel Radcliffe.) 'I was to be Jack,' he says, beaming in recall. 'I only had two weeks rehearsals. It was scary. And exciting.' Read more The virgin actor's reviews however were very good. He laughs. 'I began to think 'Maybe I'm not terrible at this.' And it wasn't too long before other Kiwi theatre producers came calling. The Scot was offered the role of Robbie in the Wedding Singer. 'I still hadn't thought of a career in acting. However, the likes of director Warren Bates sat me down and said, 'You should think about doing this full time.'' Service went on to land key parts in major productions of The Producers and Phantom of the Opera and this validation prompted him into thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, acting was worth a real shot. Yet, Alex realised that if he were to even consider a career in showbiz, he had to make the leap from New Zealand to London. Relocated, he took a weekend masterclass course with director/performer Michael Xavier, who was also hugely encouraging. Was this the planets again telling him his natural world was a spotlit hall showing off in front of an audience? 'Maybe it was, but I still didn't know for sure. Meantime, I needed to earn money and landed engineering work, having since become a Chartered Engineer, now working on some really big projects. And then I was asked to join West End Live, a showcase event and take over the role of Emmet (the male lead) in Legally Blonde.' Again, it went well, and Xavier pushed for his student to 'get real training'. Service was accepted into the London School of Musical Theatre and now determined to become a professional actor. He admits in sad voice however that he now had to let the rugby dream die. 'One director said to me, 'Alex, you are one kick in the face away from ever acting again.'' Service at work (Image: unknown) Service listened to the advice. He worked hard in shows such as Heathers. He worked on cruise ships, where he met his future wife, the Canadian actor Olivia Kustermans and the couple married in 2023. He smiles. 'Because of the work, we've spent more time apart since we married than we have been together.' But has rugby – or indeed mechanical engineering – played into his acting career. 'I think it has,' he says, pausing for thought. 'I've learned how to break things down technically. I can see where I'm supposed to be on stage. I'm a problem solver.' Yet, the life lesson Alex Service has learned is that it's a great idea to listen when others collectively say great things about you. And then be brave and run with your instincts. Even when they are taking you in an unimaginable direction. 'I guess that's it,' he says, grinning. Pitlochry Festival Theatre presents Grease, June 18 – September 27, The 39 Steps, July 11- September 26, Sunshine on Leith, July 25 – September 27.

HBO's ‘Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione
HBO's ‘Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione

Yahoo

time28-05-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

HBO's ‘Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione

HBO's Harry Potter TV series has found its Harry, Ron and Hermione. The trio of Hogwarts freshmen are newcomers to Hollywood. This time, Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton is Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout is the new Ron Weasley. In the films, those roles were played by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, respectively. There were eight Harry Potter films and a series of three Fantastic Beasts movies — a spinoff of the original IP. Author J.K. Rowling wrote seven Harry Potter books; the eighth book in the series was split into two movies. More from The Hollywood Reporter Taina Elg, Actress in 'Les Girls' and 'The 39 Steps,' Dies at 95 'Awards Chatter' Pod: Sissy Spacek on Her Collab 'Die My Love,' the 'New Hollywood' of the '70s and the Penises in 'Dying for Sex' Paris Gaming Studio Amplitude, Newly Independent From Sega, Raises $13.5 Million 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron,' showrunner and executive producer Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director (of multiple episodes) Mark Mylod said in a joint statement. 'The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.' HBO very publicly hosted an open casting call to find this next installment's new kids. Previously-announced cast can be found here. The Harry Potter series, not (yet?) officially titled 'Harry Potter,' to be clear, will be 'a faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter books,' HBO says. The series will stream on HBO Max (fka Max, ffka HBO Max — it's a whole thing). The HBO series is produced in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. It is executive produced by Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films. Harry Potter the series will begin production this summer for a 2026 rollout. See the new kids below; you can probably figure out who is who. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise

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