3 Star Shows

Horne's Descent

It all starts off so nicely, but it’s not long before Nina Atesh’s drawing-room drama turns into a battleground of conflicts that resurrect the past, fight for the present and …

Cold, Dark Matters

Cold Dark Matters is the story of a writer.

Hide and Seek

It’s refreshing to see a much-visited subject of bullying and homophobia in a world dominated by social media, given a fresh treatment that is both innovative and extraordinary, …

Blonde Poison

Gail Louw's best-known work, Blonde Poison, forms part of a four-play season devoted to her work at the Playground Theatre.

Metamorphosis

How does one adapt Franz Kafka’s bizarre novel onto the stage? With distinctive style and relative simplicity, answers Frantic Assembly.

Hansel & Gretel

Engelbert Humperdink’s biggest hit, packed with stuff that should not fit.

MIDWYNTAR

Many of us have experienced the horror of meeting our significant other’s parents for the first time.

The House of Bernarda Alba

Looking out at you from the poster for the National Theatre’s latest version of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, Harriet Walter cuts an imperious figure.

The Snow Queen

Review
★★★
Joy Watters
Edinburgh
Lyceum Theatre
28th Nov, 2023

This new version sees Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale transported to Scotland with a race against time covering the length of the land to vanquish the evil Snow Quee…

This Isn't Working

Mayor, Cabinet Minister and stooge; not the CV of Boris Johnson, but just some of the jobs attempted by Sandy Surname, the protagonist of the uneven, but entertaining narrative ske…

Ghosts

The traditional blacked-out auditorium that marks the start of a play at the Sam Wanamaker theatre is illuminated one candle at a time, until the six candelabra and four sconces br…

Treason - the Musical

The brief descriptor of Treason the Musical as “a historic tale of division, religious persecution, and brutality” reads like a modern-day newspaper headline.

To Have And To Hold

The final days of a sixty-year marriage are turned into a domestic comedy in the latest offering from playwright Richard Bean, of One Man, Two Guvnors fame, in To Have and To Hold,…

The Nag's Head

If you are partial to rather extraordinary pieces of theatre, that contain elements of many genres but cannot be pigeon-holed into any of them, then The Nag’s Head at the Park Th…

Owners

Carly Churchill looks upon Owners, now revived at Jermyn Street Theatre, as a watershed in her life.

Iolanthe

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
West End
London Coliseum
16th Oct, 2023

There is nothing subtle about Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical attack on the House of Lords in Iolanthe, which premiered in both London and New York on 25th November 1882; the fi…

The Island

There is an intriguing opening to The Island at the Cervantes Theatre.

Am I Irish Yet

Described as a ‘one-woman show chronicling the life of Kate Kerrigan’ Am I Irish Yet? lays bare her problem as soon as she opens her mouth.

Artefact & Something Unspoken

The ever-flexible performance space at the Playground Theatre is once more transformed with great imagination, this time to accommodate the double bill of Rena Brannan’s Artefact…

Sorry We Didn't Die at Sea

The traditional direction of migrants seeking a better life is turned on its head in Emanuele Aldrovandi’s Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea (translated by Marco Young) at the Park Th…

The Lady With a Dog

Publicity for Lady With a Dog, written and directed by Mark Giesser, at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, promises a version in which ‘Chekhov’s famous short story of romance and infi…

One Under Par

Was she or was she not fully aware of what she was doing? He certainly was, and for that reason should he have stopped before taking Birdie’s virginity? There’s a suggestion th…

Tea & Toast Present: The Museum of Relationships

Review
★★★
Susanne Crosby
Brighton
The Actors
10th Sep, 2023

Improvising a whole rom com style comedy show around audience suggestions is not for the faint hearted, and this group’s approach is relaxed and confident.

The Little Big Things

Review
★★★
Simon Ximenez
West End
Soho Place
4th Nov, 2023

In October 2022, theatre impresario Nica Burns opened @sohoplace, the first new theatre to be built in London's West End for 50 years.

Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape

In his new work, playwright Peter Arnott takes the audience back to those pre-Brexit, pre-Covid days when Scots were on the verge of voting in the independence referendum.

Oggie! Oggie! Oggie!

This show’s title summons up many associations except, perhaps, the one that forms the foundation of the play.

I'm Muslamic – Don't Panik

Bobak dances, clowns and flings himself about the stage for an hour as he tells the audience about his Iranian heritage and growing up in Bristol in the 90s where Islamophobia and …

The Pirates of Penzance

Cat-Like Tread makes a welcome post-Covid return to the Fringe with this ever-popular jolly romp, a Gilbert and Sullivan classic and a dashed good night out.

Twelfth Night

Where would school theatre be without A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night? The latter is certainly a popular Shakespeare play for drama educators, with its saga of shipwr…

Tom Brown's Schooldays

Thomas Hughes’ novel of 1857 is as seminal as Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby in exposing scholastic malpractice in the 19th century.

Phaedra / Minotaur

With Phaedra/Minotaur, director Deborah Warner and Choreographer Kim Brandstrup present a couple of easily digestible slices of re-interpreted Greek mythology.

Dungeons 'n' Bastards: An Adam Riches Gameshow

Channelling Westeros with a lower-budget wardrobe, Adam Riches brings his Game of Thrones themed game show to an audience of ‘bastards’.

Dances Like a Bomb

Dances Like a Bomb is a dance and physical theatre piece by Irish Dance Company Junk Ensemble.

Nomad

It’s hard to know how much to say about the content of Nomad, a physical theatre piece by Gözde Atalay, because disorientation was such a strong part of my experience.

Come Die with Me: The Murder Mystery Musical Parody

Review
★★★
Katerina Partolina Schwartz
Edinburgh Fringe
Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre
23rd Aug, 2023

It’s Come Dine With Me with a twist, and that twist is murder because apparently that’s what it takes to spice up a dinner party these days.

Without

Ben Tomalin, Maisie Fawcett and Sophie Holmes’ Without is an interesting contender at this year’s Fringe Festival in that it has a very strong cast that handles an equally stro…

Declan

Vulnerability and sexual awakening go hand in hand in Declan, an unnerving one-man play set in rural Wiltshire.

Little Shop of Horrors

Flower arranging becomes a life and death hobby in Little Shop of Horrors, a popular-on-the-circuit science fiction cult musical classic.

Winging It

Lydia Whitbread’s Winging It is a vague yet very intense coming of age musical.

The Signalman

Based on the short story by Charles Dickens, Unexpected Places Ensemble’s adaptation of The Signalman is a creative if confusing adaptation as the creative team tries to create a…

Palindrome: The Musical

Palindrome is Cambridge University Musical Theatres Society’s latest Edinburgh Fringe offering.

The Grandmothers Grimm

Nestled in a dim-lit basement within a stone archway, Paradise in The Vault feels like the perfect venue to indulge in some late evening fairytales, and from the moment the cast co…

Burnt Lavender

Burnt Lavender is a queer cabaret, devised and presented by students from the University of Worcester's Masters in Touring Theatre degree.

DNA

What a wonderful play is DNA.

Everything That Annoys Me, and You

Thomas is excited about tonight; so excited that he has called his parents and his brother with the time to look out for biggest meteor storm in 33 years that will fill the night …

Aca-ting Out

In true Fringe spirit, The Oxford Belles bounced back from interruption to deliver an hour of punchy girl-power anthems partly marred by issues with balance and mixing.

Stanislaus and James

This is a little treasure, the sort of performance that is easy to overlook but which enriches those who root it out.

Ed Patrick: Catch Your Breath

Ed Patrick starts his show Catch Your Breath with a simple, “I’m a doctor, so I’m running late,” a rather light-hearted, if telling, joke that puts us at ease with its self…

The Dead of Night

Dead of Night by Hurly Burly is a traipse through gothic romantic literature in an exploration of the nature of humanity and monsters.

MANikin

Manikin is Saltire Sky’s latest production, following on from their acclaimed show – 1902.

Spirit of Ireland

Ireland has magnificent spirit, particularly when supported by the French.

This is a Chair

More written about than performed, this is a rare chance to see a version of Caryl Churchill’s 1997 play, This is a Chair.

Little Ward of Horrors

Little Ward of Horrors, unfortunately, seems to somewhat fall into the category of sketch shows that sell tickets due to their name, The Malignant Humours.

Here Be Dragons

This is a heartfelt piece, in which a group of intrepid teens set out to discover monsters… and discover them in the last place they thought to look.

Ivo Graham: Organised Fun

Organised fun is one of those phrases that can evoke different emotional responses from people.

The Revel Puck Circus: The Wing Scuffle Spectacular

There’s popcorn and candyfloss on sale as the audience make their way into the Lafayette big top at Underbelly’s Circus Hub.

Dogfight

Dogfight follows the exploits of three marines who are about to be deployed in the conflict in Southeast Asia.

35MM: A Musical Exhibition

A song cycle inspired by the photographs of Matthew Murphy, 35MM: A Musical Exhibition is a unique concept and the perfect choice for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Graveyard of the Outcast Dead

Written by Kira Mason and directed by Matthew Attwood, Graveyard of the Outcast Dead is a musical play that tells a series of connected Gothic folktales.

Dusk

A community of actors are staging a theatre version of Lars Von Trier’s film Dogville.

A Trilogy: blood (line)

Many people wish to be famous, successful, or simply stand out from the crowd.

I Killed My Ex

Boasting the tagline, “who hasn’t thought about killing an ex?”, Emilie Biason’s I Killed My Ex shows us about the practical difficulties involved in such an endeavor.

Groovicle

Dancer and performer Elliot Minogue-Stone presents pop art, contemporary dance and cabaret in his brand-new mish-mash show, Groovicle at Zoo Southside.

Square Peg

This intensely personal show is a fascinating performance with hints of a lecture about it and a suggestion that it is really an audience, in this case with Simeon Morris, as he in…

Funeral

After a slow and rocky start, Ontroerend Goed’s Funeral becomes an emotionally resonant space for processing a person’s grief.

Thunderstruck

It was a long and winding road, but by the time I left David Colvin’s Thunderstruck, I was – well.

Certain Death and Other Considerations

Certain Death and Other Considerations is a poor execution of an interesting premise.

Vix Leyton: Antihero

Welsh comedian and popular podcaster (The Comedy Arcade) Vix Leyton has the gift of affability.

Colleen Lavin: Do the Robots Think I'm Funny?

Whilst Colleen Lavin’s Do The Robots Think I'm Funny? is an interesting experiment and indicative of our fascination with AI, it’s not a particularly well-structured or fun…

DARLING BOY

On the surface, this is yet another 'coming out' story.

Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story

If you still chuckle at those Twilight memes making fun of Kristen Stewart’s awkward portrayal of Bella Stark, or harbour some nostalgia for the immortal (and problematic) YA ser…

One Week in Magaluf

ERA Productions returns to the Fringe this year with a familiar act that sees the lively quartet of Megan (Mia Taylor), Nicole (Catherine Hutchinson), Amy (Abi Price) and Olivia (M…

The Typewriter

The 20 seater upstairs theatre at Riddles Court provides a suitably tight space for The Typewriter, a play based in a cramped office.

Hysterical Artefacts

With so many improv troupes at the Edinburgh Fringe, it’s difficult to set yourself apart especially when you’re competing with the likes of Austentatious and Showstoppers!.

Ants

If you’ve ever been a corporate cog, this is the show for you.

A Trilogy: bag--

Mix one of cup of Eat, Pray, Love with three tablespoons of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and you’ll get something a little like A Trilogy: bag—, one of three standalone shows …

Lost in Translation

Set in the unconscious mind of a tortured poet, Mahan Nikbakhsh’s new play Lost in Translation examines cultural and intellectual disconnection that seeks to unpack the British-I…

God Done Opened the Sky!!

God Done Opened the Sky is Jersten Ray Seraile’s tale of young boy realising that his inner world and outer world are painfully conflicted – the way he sees himself is not the wa…

The Climate Fables

Describing itself as “a retelling of Rapunzel” for the climate age, Debating Extinction, the first of a double bill entitled Climate Fables, by Padraig Bond, contains several i…

How to Survive and Thrive in an Impossible World – With a Piano!

How To Survive and Thrive in an Impossible World – With a Piano! is a self-help, group-therapy show that really doesn’t tell us anything that we haven’t seen before.

Chopped Liver and Unions

Chopped Liver and Unions tells the story of workers’ activist and trades unionist Sara Wesker, now largely lost to the footnotes of twentieth century history, but in her time a n…

A Highly Suspect Murder Mystery – Murder at the Movies

A silly solve-a-long mystery, this is for anyone who wishes their Agatha Christie murders were packed with a few more puns.

The Birth of Frankenstein

The Birth of Frankenstein tells us the story of Mary Shelley, the mother of science fiction, on her fateful trip to Geneva with Percy Bysshe Shelley.

An Asian Queer Story: Coming Out to Dead People

With such an emotionally heavy title as An Asian Queer Story: Coming Out to Dead People, I was a little worried what to expect from this comedy show.

Soldiers of Tomorrow

Soldiers of Tomorrow tells the story of Itai Erdal’s conflicted relationship with Israel, specifically his time as a soldier and the prospect of his nephew’s future as a soldie…

5 Mistakes That Changed History

Review
★★★
Victor Black
Edinburgh Fringe
Assembly George Square / Assembly George Square Studios
8th Aug, 2023

In 5 Mistakes That Changed History, host Paul Coulter establishes the self-evident premise, that this will be something of a comical TED Talk about some fascinating moments that sh…

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