Theatre review: Yukon Ho! (Tall Tales From The Great White North), Summerhall, Edinburgh

We are in the frozen north and a woman is hauling a backpack across the ice as mist whirls around the stage.This physically gorgeous production is a one-woman account of life in the Yukon, the northern territory of Canada, which is one of the coldest inhabited regions of earth.

Yukon Ho! (Tall Tales From The Great White North), Summerhall Bruford (Venue 26)

Yukon Ho! (Tall Tales From The Great White North), Summerhall, Edinburgh * * *

Dancer and storyteller Jennifer Irons introduces us to the history of the region, telling us about the gold rush, when men and women used to drag a year’s worth of supplies across the hills.

She describes the lack of sunlight in winter, talks of the dreadful fate of the first nation people and about the huge number of deaths and suicides that beset the area.

Jen escapes to North London, where she becomes a dancer and performer. But although she finally feels free in her new home, she has a yearning for the big skies and wide horizons of her birthplace.

Until 25 August

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