From politics of bereavement to an island storm

This is the case with the world premiere of ­Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell’s latest piece So Young (Traverse, until August 25). With such acclaimed plays as Decky Does A ­Bronco (2000) and The Sheriff of Kalamaki (2023), Maxwell has proved himself a master of ­forensic humanism. His new piece employs ­similar techniques of subtle emotional ­exploration.

It’s 2021 and 40-something friends Liane ­(Lucianne McEvoy), Davie (Andy Clark) and Milo (Nicholas Karimi) are grieving for Helen, their friend (and Milo’s wife) who – while in ­remission from cancer – died very recently from Covid-19. Milo has invited Liane and Davie over to his Glasgow home to have takeaway food and – to his friends’ anxious concern – to meet his new girlfriend.

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When the aforementioned new partner, Greta (Yana Harris), turns out to be a 20-year-old who remembers high school teacher Liane from her school days, the metaphorical merde hits the ­proverbial fan. Liane and Davie’s disbelief is ­unavoidably mixed with their unprocessed grief.

That grief combines with the memories, ­affections (and resentments) of a long period of friendship. It also clashes with the unexpected clear-sightedness and moral courage of Greta, in the face of the emotionally wounded Liane’s -generational dismissiveness.

The writing is, typically of Maxwell, ­thoughtful, emotionally complex and, ­importantly, ­often ­wonderfully, bleakly comic. Liane’s ­announcement to Davie that she is “­politically opposed” to Milo’s relationship with Greta is – in the context of Liane’s outraged hurt – ­characteristic of the play’s intelligent humour.

Director Gareth Nicholls’s confident and ­engaging production enjoys a smart and ­convincing set by designer Kenny Miller. It also boasts universally strong performances from a fabulous cast.

Interestingly, Maxwell’s script demands most of the female actors. McEvoy – whose ­performance is deeply moving, tremendously sympathetic and, often, excoriatingly funny – gives, surely, one of the performances of this year’s Fringe. ­

Harris’s playing of the embattled Greta is ­unerringly ­credible.

There are no doubts about the credibility of the production of Carmen (Festival Theatre, run ended) presented by the Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique of Paris and the ­Scottish ­Chamber Orchestra. Staged on Brechtian ­principles (a bare stage, populated ­temporarily with such period costumes and props as the ­story requires), this presentation of Georges ­Bizet’s magnum opus was a superb way to begin the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2024 opera programme.  

The nakedness of the performance space – in which the action emerges from behind multiple rows of curtains – facilitates director Andreas Homoki’s intelligent choice to shift the action back and forth between our own times and ­early 19th-century Seville. At the outset, ­Albanian ­tenor Saimir Pirgu wanders on to the stage ­wearing the clothes of a typical, 21st-century ­civilian and picks up a copy of Prosper Mérimée’s novella Carmen.

Beguiled by the titular protagonist – the ­seductive, adored and ill-fated young woman who has historically, and problematically, been defined as a “gypsy” – Pirgu’s character ­imagines himself in the army uniform of Carmen’s wretched lover Don José. From there, Mérimée’s tale – as retold by Bizet’s librettists Henri ­Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy – unfolds as a work of gently self-aware metatheatricality exemplified cleverly by the swaggering toreador Escamillo (played by the superb bass-baritone Jean-Fernand Setti) wearing a 21st-century leather biker’s jacket.

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The never-ending potency of the Carmen myth thus established, Homoki needs a great Carmen, and he has one in the extraordinary French mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez. From her famous introductory aria Habanera forward, Arquez is simply transfixing. Her singing has a power, range and passion that is equalled only by the ­utterly compelling, reckless passion with which she imbues her iconic character.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Louis Langrée, does tremendous, ­lively justice to Bizet’s marvellous score, not least in its renditions of such famous pieces as The ­Seguidilla and the Toreador Song.

There’s music of a very different kind in June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me (Summerhall, until August 24, then touring). Supported by a fine trio of theatre musicians (Ray Aggs, Amy Duncan and Harry Ward), ­actor-dramatist Charlene Boyd (who is a long-time singer with Johnny Cash tribute band ­Jericho Hill) explores her relationship with the country and western legend (and inspirational wife to Johnny Cash) June Carter.

The piece – which is a co-production ­between Grid Iron Theatre Company and the ­National ­Theatre of Scotland – draws upon Boyd’s ­remarkable research trip to the Appalachian Mountains (where June was born and raised) and the country music Mecca of Nashville, ­Tennessee. Played on a cabaret-style set inspired by the Bluebird Café in Nashville, the show ­unfolds an engaged, sometimes justifiably angry biography of Carter, including her struggle to be successful in a very male-dominated, not to say misogynistic industry.

Did you know, for instance, that it was June who wrote Cash’s hit song Ring Of Fire? It is, surely, impossible not to share Boyd’s ­­incredulous rage about June not having been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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Boyd’s insights into Carter’s life are conveyed through the prism of her trip to the United States. They are also combined with her own life as a divorced, working-class mother trying to ­progress in the stage and screen arts in Scotland and beyond.   

Directed by the excellent Cora Bissett, Boyd shifts between the roles of Carter, a ­biographical narrator and herself. As she does so, she creates a piece that is, by turns, informative, ­emotional, musically uplifting and, in personal terms, ­unusually and disarmingly honest.  

The Fringe is for arts lovers of all ages, a fact that is underlined by The Last ­Forecast ­(Assembly @ Dance Base, until August 18). An excellent physical theatre piece for ­children aged five and over, it is the work of the ever-impressive Scottish children’s theatre ­company Catherine Wheels. Created and ­choreographed by Bridie Gane, this piece – in which Gael, a gecko-type animal, blends in with the brightly chequered surroundings in her ­island home – is a humorous, thought-provoking and highly original show.

The perfection of Gael’s very human ­environment is disturbed by the arrival of a ­decidedly chaotic outsider. It is threatened, too, by the storm and flooding that is being ­constantly flagged up on the shipping forecasts (which play humorously with the maritime place names ­familiar to listeners of BBC Radio 4).

The contrasting movements of Shanelle ­Clemenson’s nimble Gael, who is able to ­camouflage herself when the newcomer is ­sniffing around, and the clattering stranger (­Kieran Brown) are executed beautifully.

The outsider’s use of a toilet brush to clean ­under his arms, then his bum, followed by his teeth gives young theatre-goers a great gross-out moment.

The set and costume designs (by Alisa ­Kalyanova and Alison Brown respectively) are a visually enchanting delight. The soundtrack is deliciously varied, culminating in a fantastic use of a traditional Scottish reel.

All in all, this is a gorgeously complete show about such themes as identity, coexistence and the climate crisis, which is pitched perfectly for young audiences.

For tour dates for June Carter Cash visit: gridiron.org.uk