Latest Reviews

Rhys Nicholson - Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!

Rhys Nicholson must have been pushing down the material in Rhys! Rhys! Rhys! for a long time, for this show is certainly a diamond.

The Mirror Crack'd

Years may pass and tastes may change, but Agatha Christie remains as fashionable as ever.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Like most dystopian stories, Simon Perrott’s Everybody Wants to Rule the World has a basis in reality which forces us to reflect on the issues of today.

Rehab: The Musical

Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young’s Rehab is an entertaining musical that is full of potential.

Javelin

Taking self-deprecating humour to another level, Tom Walker’s Javelin is a rather eclectic series of observations and character-based narratives, through which runs a relatively …

Ride

Few will perhaps have heard of Annie Londonderry, but after seeing Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams’ Ride, it will be practically impossible to forget the name.

Cruise

Electric, animated, compelling.

Viva Your Vulva: The Hole Story

As the crescendo of complaints and controversy was rising over the comedy circuit I was persuaded to abandon the safe confines of the theatre category and go in at the deep end, so…

Are You Being Murdered?

People can be sensitive about how they are described.

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World

Chris Bush, Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo’s Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is in one word, a celebration.

Alright?

Patrick Withey gives a delightfully engaging and endearing performance as the troubled 15-year-old in Black Hound Productions’ Alright!, which has absolutely nothing to do with C…

Second Summer of Love

Yummy Mummy (and Headmaster’s wife, just for extra grown-up points) Louise runs the school choir and helps her teenaged daughter with her homework.

Tom Ward: Anthem

It’s a loud and rowdy Saturday night at Monkey Barrel.

The Last Romantic

This show revolves around a fairly well-trodden premise: idealistic young creative seeks similar to make beautiful art with.

The Funny Thing About Death

There are very few taboo subjects left these days, but the one that will eventually come to us all still leaves many people uncomfortable.

Surfing the Holyland

Erin Hunter’s Surfing the Holyland is a dynamic and fast-paced one-woman show in which she tells the autobiographical story of her year living in Tel Aviv, the colourful cast of …

Railed

Railed is the newest offering from fringe-circuit regulars, the Head First Acrobats hailing from Australia.

Boy: Looking for Friends

Award-winning Polish performer Piotr Sikora has created a beautiful hour of family storytelling which uses clowning, mime, ukulele and audience participation to paint the journey o…

Artorigus

There is a distinctly medieval feel to Ross Stephenson’s Artorigus from the start, despite its modern trappings.

Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen

Fern Brady is here to speak for autistic women who happen to be hot – selflessly giving a voice to the voiceless (or just a very specific group that might not have thought to ide…

Angela Barnes: Hot Mess

There is something comforting about Angela Barnes’ Hot Mess.

Battle: A Modern Mystery Play

Battle describes itself as a modern mystery play, and takes the audience on an intricately-plotted historical journey from 1066 to the present day: exploring how women just gather …

What Broke David Lynch?

It is difficult to work out exactly who this play is for.

Hungry

The Fringe is nearing its close, but do you have space for more? Chris Bush’s bittersweet Hungry is serving up a Fringe hit.

Spit Me Out

Slap ‘N’ Tickle Theatre Company, founded in 2020 by East 15 Acting School alumni, has created a fabulously entertaining piece of devised theatre that explores sensitive issues …

Jungle Book reimagined

Breathtaking projections of animation by YeastCulture steal this show and a set which is largely conveyed by lighting.

Truth/Reconciliation

When flyered for Matthew Gouldesbrough’s new play Truth / Reconciliation, I was told I could expect “serious theatre” from the Elegy group.

Boris the Third

‘They all knew the person I was when they gave me the part,’ Harry Kershaw complains, words that ring hollow and true, in a prophetic sort of manner, a common feeling that we …

Beautiful Nothing

All that glitters is not gold, a message that is incredibly clear in Em Oliver’s Beautiful Nothing.

Appraisal

We’ve all been there! That sense of recognition permeates the room during Tim Marriott’s latest play Appraisal.

Two Hearts: We're Pregnant and the Baby is Music

As we all know, COVID was invented to stop people from enjoying live music, but now Two Hearts are here to help us recover from two years of silence.

Please, Feel Free to Share

Alex Dawson (Róisin Bevan) is a successful social media guru.

Long Nights in Paradise

There’s a lot packed in to Long Nights in Paradise, probably too much, but it still makes for an interesting story that explores the ups and downs of life, the building and disin…

Earwig

Earwig is an engaging and classy piece which tells the story of entomologist Marigold Webb, trapped in a loveless marriage and a society as uncomfortable with her deafness as it is…

2 Guys, 3 Drams: The Ultimate Live Blues and Whisky Experience

Felipe Schrieberg and Paul Archibald return to the Fringe this year in an act that delivers a whisky-soaked night of tremolo and bass that walks through the annals of blues classic…

The Transfiguration of Mrs Lamen

The story of the theatrical Dame has had many incarnations and they all revolve around a fairly standard trope.

Sarah Keyworth: Lost Boy

Sarah Keyworth’s Lost Boy is very difficult to fully describe.

KIN

One of the beautiful things about acrobatics is the way human bodies can collaborate in difficult-to-imagine ways.

Half-Empty Glasses

The Paines Plough Roundabout has become a symbol of the Fringe, developing its own signature style in the process.

Diva Live from Hell!

Damnation has never been so fun in Joe McNeice’s adaptation of Diva: Live from Hell.

BOBBY WINNER

Trial by Jury

Stunning, imaginative, inspired, colourful, amusing, brilliantly performed and beautifully sung, this Trial By Jury is Gilbert and Sullivan at its very best.

Runners

“You can disappear into the timelessness of motion.

Paradok Platform

Billed as a ‘queer manifesto against Grindr’, Looking for Fun is one of the new plays showcased at the Paradok Platform.

Grace Campbell: A Show About Me(n)

Grace Campbell is a one-woman manifesto for body, sex and mental health positivity.

Persephone

Wow, just wow.

Unseen Shepard

What if the characters you created in your plays were to come to life and challenge the lives and circumstances you created for them?Unseen Shepard finds Pulitzer Prize-winning pla…

Sam Nicoresti: Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture

Zany music and a psychedelic multimedia screen await the audience as we take our seats for Sam Nicoresti’s show Cancel Anti Wokeflake Snow Culture.

Police Cops: The Musical

Sometimes you’ve just got to listen to your balls.

Medea – Main Hall

Liz Lochhead’s slick modern take on a sadly relevant ancient tale is brought to life with intelligent staging and a ferociously powerful central performance from Adura Onashile.

Chelsea Birkby: No More Mr Nice Chelsea

As we enter the venue, Chelsea Birkby is waiting at the entrance with a tray of glasses of water for us because it can get pretty hot inside the room.

9 Circles

From House of Cards writer Bill Cain and The Shark is Broken director Guy Masterson, 9 Circles is a brilliantly performed, harrowing psychological thriller that would be shocking a…

Walk-Man

It’s a day like any other.

Sugar

After a year away, Mabel Thomas brings her acclaimed show Sugar back to the Fringe, this time in person.

The Song of Fergus and Kate

Filled with the charm of a children’s cartoon, The Song of Fergus and Kate is a quaint story about friendship and embracing differences that any child would find fascinating.

The Rest of Our Lives

Human physicality is utterly captivating – it’s why we go to the circus or the cabaret, where narrative and plot take a backseat to simple bodies, and the complex and incredibl…

The Importance of Being... Earnest?

What is the scariest thing in the world? Spiders… heights… whoever wins the conservative party leadership contest? None of the above.

Ted Hill: All the Presidents Man

Ted Hill is incredibly brave for putting on his show, All The Presidents Man, which in itself is a very clever title.

Ghost Quartet by Dave Malloy

Smashing Cabinets Theatre’s adaptation of Dave Malloy’s Ghost Quartet is ghost-like and haunting, confusing at times, but generally falls somewhere between the mysteriousness o…

Little Women

Broadway, here we come! The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s production of Little Women is astonishingly professional, from the high quality costumes and stage setting to the ph…

Matilda Jr the Musical

Based on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel, Matilda tells the story of a precocious five-year-old girl who loves books, hates bullies, and is revealed to have telekinetic p…

Fanboy

Fringe-first award winner Joe Sellman-Leava (Labels, Monster) is back at the Fringe with his new work Fanboy in which he explores his relationship with his past and future self.

Tempus Fugit: Troy and Us

The Greeks knew a lot about war and told great tales of heroism, victory and defeat.

Samsara

Early in Samsara two hooded figures from different cultures meet in a desolate landscape, only sparsely populated by stricken metallic figurines being slowly consumed by gathering …

Los Guardiola – The Comedy of Tango

The rhythm of the tango underpins Los Guardiola - The Comedy of Tango in this superb production from Musique et Toile, but the show is much broader than the one dance form.

BriTANicK

BriTANick is an American sketch comedy duo made up of Brian McElhaney and Nick Koche, and they quickly assure us that their name (a combination of ‘Brian’, ‘Nick’ and ‘Ti…

A Wilde Life

Chevron Theatre’s A Wilde Life is absolutely hypnotic, hinting at a time of debauchery and a glamour that has long since passed.

Brown Boys Swim

Brown Boys Swim is Karim Khan’s hilarious, touching tale of best friends Kash and Mohsen learning how to swim for a pool party.

The Collie's Shed

There is nothing like a timely reminder from the past.

Randy Feltface: Alien of Extraordinary Ability

Of the 39 shows I saw in three and a half days this Fringe, the biggest gamble and least familiarity was Randy Feltface.

Yuriko Kotani: Kaiju About

Like Edinburgh, London is not an easy city to live in.

X: 1969

Picture this: a musical based on the women of the Manson Family set to the music of Fleetwood Mac.

Starship Improvise

Combining the improvisation talents of Mischief Comedy, Austentatious, and Showstopper!, Starship Improvise is a blast out of this world, filled with moments of hilarity and creati…

Sam Morrison: Sugar Daddy

Dealing with grief is something that is very difficult because it’s so personal and particular to the individual.

No Place Like Home

Watching No Place Like Home was an experience unlike any other I’ve had so far at the Fringe.

Matt Forde: Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right

I reviewed Forde’s 2019 show Brexit, Pursued by a Bear and wrote of how his political comedy was as therapeutically valuable as it was satirically satisfying.

Don't Say Macbeth

GOYA Theatre Company’s Don’t Say Macbeth is a fast-paced show filled with well-balanced satire that pokes fun at and spoofs the theatre and musical industry.

Age Is a Feeling

The ephemeral beauty of a flower in bloom carries the unspoken narrative of decay and death.

Room – A Room of One's Own

Adaptation can do more than reproduce.

The MP, Aunty Mandy and Me

Award-winning writer and actor Rob Ward returns to the Fringe with his latest creation The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me.

Exodus

As we come into nearly eight years of rule of the UK Government by the Conservative Party – or 12 Years depending on your feelings for the Liberal Democrats – we have seen a ri…

Poems on Gender

Nuance is hard to find at the Fringe.

Wonderville

Central London has been deprived of a venue that regularly hosts nights filled with Cabaret and Magic for some time.

Tiff Stevenson: Sexy Brain

Sexy Brain is Tiff Stevenson’s tenth Edinburgh show – a mighty feat for any comedian.

She Wolf

Maggie McKenzie is a self-professed mad woman who passes a day addressing her sacred audience – a caged pack of wolves.

Sarah Sherman

Hailing all the way from the bright lights of New York, Sarah Sherman’s self-described horror comedy show - with the emphasis on the horror - is incredibly ghastly and overly gra…

Making a Murderer: The Musical

Making A Murderer: The Musical is created by Phil Meaney, and tells the heart-wrenching story of the Avery family and the injustice they suffered at the hands of the American legal…

La Merda

10 years on from its 2012 Fringe debut, La Merda remains raw and relevant.

Horsepower

Not all shows have clarity of meaning or purpose yet they still retain a certain charm.

Dreams of the Small Gods

Zinnia Oberski’s arresting body doesn’t shy away from being seen, hanging like a carcass from her trapeze in the clinical Demonstration Room of Summerhall.

DNA by Dennis Kelly

The Year 12 girls from Wycombe Abbey school in High Wycombe under the direction of Phoebe Francis have created a fine production of DNA by Dennis Kelly.

Chris Hall and Mark Bittlestone: Two Sour Gays

Review
★★★
Kate Nora
Edinburgh Fringe
Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre
18th Aug, 2022

One of the (many) great things about Fringe is that new comics, who don’t yet have an hour’s worth of material, can buddy up to put on a show — Chris Hall and Mark Bittleston…

Login

Create Account

Username or Password Reminder

Latest Reviews

Most Popular See More

Popular Articles

Popular Sections

Contact Us