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Event Review | Knight at the Castle - Year of the Young People, Edinburgh Castle, 5 October 2018

8/10/2018

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Knight at the Castle was a one-off artistic showcase and night of entertainment at Edinburgh Castle for the Year of the Young People - a Scottish government initiative that seems to keep on giving.

The concept was that the night would be a special event at "Scotland's oldest knight club" (see what they did there?), Edinburgh Castle, showcasing young talents from across the arts and giving people a chance to explore the castle in neon light. It delivered accurately on that description.

Glasgow-based indie quartet West Princes opened, playing the courtyard before the sold-out crowd marched the drawbridge, past the burning crown torches, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce to enter the castle (which it’s worth noting is normally £16.50 to see around, given this event was £15).

All the exhibitions were open and available to stroll through, and seeing the history available to tourists year round was definitely one of the high points in itself. There’s a great new exhibition opened just on the event day exploring how the castle changed hands between the English and Scottish after the 12th century and the invention of the trebuchet. The prize-posession crown jewels were also open to the public, and the old castle jails had been takeover by magicians and singers who entertained the crowd as they walked through.

Likewise, in between exploring you could drop in to magic shows or musicians placed around the castle.

Singer-songwriter, guitar player, pianist, and women of many talents Sophie Penman impressed with her commendable instrumental skills, immaculate voice and poignant lyrics. Penman had won a competition from The List to play in the Grand Hall at the castle, which we thought a particularly good idea. There was a resounding plea for more when the singer finished her set.

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Theatre Review: Madagascar the Musical - The Edinburgh Playhouse, 2 October 2018

4/10/2018

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There is a child sitting in front of us. A young lad. About eight but dressed to the nines. There are a lot of children sitting around us in the Edinburgh Playhouse. This is Madagascar the Musical after all, but we are going to focus on this particular child.

As Jo Parsons dressed as a four foot King Julien the lemur shuffles to the centre of the stage and announces that he does in fact - predictably - like to move it, move it, he likes to… move it, the accompanying music starts and the on-stage protagonists, Alex the lion (X-Factor winner Matt Terry), Marty the zebra (Antoine Murray-Straughan), Gloria the hippopotamus (Timmika Ramsay) and Jamie Lee-Morgan's Melman the giraffe join the rest of the cast in an undeniably catchy, entertaining and incredibly surreal segment where a bunch of human beings dressed as animals dance and sing their way round stage, the child in front of us begins fist pumping. The kid has been quiet the whole way through the show, sitting comfortably, not laughing too loudly, but simply cannot contain himself as the song he has clearly been waiting for bursts into action. By the end of the segment, he simply sits in his seat, both arms in the air like he’s just won the lottery. Time of his life.

The boy represents the crowd, in all age brackets, pretty well to be honest. Madagascar the Musical has a slow start. The in-zoo segments and build up to the arrival of the escaped animals on the African island is predictable and offers little in original scripted entertainment. It is exactly that - build up - but it’s also the first half of the show, right up to the interval, so it’s a shame it didn’t offer a few more laugh out loud moments or hooking moments, and with great vocals from each of the leading cast, it’s a shame there’s not more original, engaging and innovative musical instrumentation too. Live musical performances with more focus would add a lot to the show.

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