'In this way I shall preserve many things that would otherwise be lost in oblivion. I shall find daily employment for myself, which will save me from indolence and help to keep off the spleen, and I shall lay up a store of entertainment for my after life.'

For James Boswell posts please follow the labels on the right.

This blog mainly contains reviews from the Edinburgh Festivals from 2008 to 2010 which I wrote for the Edinburgh Festivals Magazine. These reviews cover everything from comedy to contemporary dance; children's theatre to Handel.


Sunday, 23 October 2011

The Rap Guide to Evolution Review

The Rap Guide to Evolution

Richard Dawkins has often been chastised for his Napoleonic approach to intellectual debate. Any academic opponents he meets are destroyed in detail, and as soon as possible.

Another analogy can also be used. Dawkins and his lot are gangsters, with an evolutionary pistol cocked, locked and ready to shove in the face of the creationist massive. It’s along these lines that Adam Speers takes us in his Rap Guide to Evolution.

The show is surprisingly in depth when it comes to actually explaining not only Darwin but also ideas about evolutionary psychology. Why, for example, do people commit crimes in the inner cities? Darwin apparently has some answers.

Normally combining education and popular culture results in the audience being let down on both accounts, although this show manages to stay entertaining and informative. It is, however, one to miss if you relish intellectual debate or subscribe to the near heresy of creationism.

A natural progression in the increasingly fraught battles fought around Darwin and God.

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