3 Star Shows

Readymade Cabaret 2.0

The first rule about a Dada performance is that you don’t start one with the history of Dada.

Ingénue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood

A simple premise lays the foundation for Melanie Gall to recount the story of two of Hollywood’s brightest golden age stars, Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland: a New York Times jour…

An Intervention

It is a complete delight to watch these two actors practice their craft.

Every Time A Bell Rings

The phrase "Every Time a Bell Rings" is well known and resonates especially at Christmas time: straight away we expect a link to the classic It’s a Wonderful Life, and …

Little Gift

M6 Theatre Company have put together a heartwarming show filled with the Christmas spirit, with some truly charming use of puppetry, storytelling and stage magic It is exactly the …

Howerd's End

Review
★★★
Kate Copstick
UK Regional & Tours
Golden Goose Theatre / The Old Joint Stock Pub
1st Nov, 2020

A lot of love has gone into this imagined duet between Frankie Howerd and his lover Dennis Heymer.

SpaceXPat

SpaceXPat explores the motivation and aftermath of an astronaut expat called Pat deciding to stay permanently on the International Space Station (spot that pun in the title).

Five Lock Down

Conceived, written and acted by Timothy Quinlan, this short film features some of the better acting on offer at the Fringe, and like so many others, is inspired by the strange real…

Boom Room

The Boom Room is a sweet little radio play that captures the ennui and idiosyncratic Englishness of lockdown – cleaning out spice racks, a sudden urge to plant potatoes – and p…

Too bored to stay in, too scared to go out!

The 72-year-old cabaret performer Nigel Osner knows a thing or two about ageing and self-isolating during the pandemic.

Shoe Lady

Viv (Katherine Parkinson) has lost her shoe on her London commute.

Ask Me Anything

Review
★★★
Elanor Parker
Brighton
The Old Market
12th Mar, 2020

It’s embarrassing recalling your teenager years, isn’t it? Awkward crushes, cringe-worthy fashion choices and dramatic mood swings; most of us are very happy to leave those yea…

W*nk Buddies

“It’s about us—together,” explain Jake Jarratt and Cameron Sharp, in their new play in which two drama students – straight “Jake”, gay “Cameron” – end up trying…

Matt Hoss: Here Comes Your Man

Matt Hoss is a man on a mission.

The Visit

Though we aren’t given the choice that may be implied by the inclusion of the subtitle in The Visit or The Old Lady Who Comes to Call, it is a play that uses juxtaposition as it …

Is Trying Enough?

Families come in all shapes and sizes.

Darling, It’s Not About You

Love is never easy.

NUMB

NUMB, by Timothy Cobeanu, has an unusual start.

A Little Space

Review
★★★
Monica Yell
Brighton
The Old Market
11th Dec, 2019

Watching A Little Space made me think of Marmite.

No Place Like Home

Connor is on a night out and ready to be open about his sexuality.

Hayley Ellis & Sally-Anne Hayward

Review
★★★
Beth Watson
Brighton
Komedia Theatre
17th Nov, 2019

Going to see comedians with no prior knowledge of their work is always a bit of a risk.

Shadows by Jon Fosse

Suspended from the ceiling of the Coronet Theatre are five crystalline orbs that almost look like faces.

A Kind of Loving

The decade might be set in history as ‘Swinging’, but for many of us who lived through the ‘60’s the appellation has only a marginal connection with the realities of life.

Murder in the Cathedral

Performing a play in a cathedral about an archbishop assassinated in a cathedral might sound like a match made in heaven.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane is an intensely Irish play set in the wilds of Connemara, premiered locally by the Druid Theatre Company in Galway in 1996.

A Life Twice Given

Review
★★★
Monica Yell
Brighton
Rialto Theatre
1st Nov, 2019

A simple production, A Life Twice Given stretches itself to do justice to a very complicated idea, with only limited resources and space.

Gaslight

Gaslight has stood the test of time in the canon of British theatre.

TICKLE the Musical

While browsing some of the more risqué websites you may discover some titillating videos of various people trying to get each other to laugh, moan and groan simply by tickling.

Breaking The Code

It’s only two years until the face of Alan Turing appears on the new £50 note.

Dead Funny

The Tower Theatre Company seek to outrage and (somewhat) inspire with their recreation of Dead Funny.

Torch Song

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
West End
Turbine Theatre
16th Sep, 2019

The neon sign above the stage at the new Turbine Theatre, Battersea, hints at the lights of New York City, but it also reminds us of the history behind director Drew McOnie’s pro…

Stiletto Beach

The world premiere of Sadie Hasler’s Stiletto Beach has burst onto the stage at the dynamic Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch in a bold, brave, fearless and funny exploration of what…

Falsettos

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
West End
The Other Palace
12th Sep, 2019

Falsettos has been around since 1992, but it’s UK premier has only just opened at The Other Palace, London.

Hansard

Review
★★★
Simon Smith
West End
Lyttleton Theatre
12th Sep, 2019

If, unlike me, you include politics, the public-school system or pub quizzing in your CV’s ‘Other Interests’ section, you’ll already know that Hansard is the name given to …

a great big sigh

Only a couple of weeks ago I, and some friends, were in an Escape Room.

The Mannequin

Das Stuck’s The Mannequin is a contemporary Edda of intertwining tales: bohemians enwrapped in the fashion industry whilst isolated in the LGBTQ+ community.

Green & Blue

Green and Blue is a touching and thoughtful production about two police officers patrolling opposites sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland durin…

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Brecht’s darkly comic play about the ascent of the moronic, childish but charismatic gangster Arturo Ui should be relevant for obvious reasons.

Bruised Fruit

Amy Garner Buchanan and Hayley Ricketson embark upon their second collaboration and create a show that explores what it means to be a woman trying to claim an identity for herself.

Will Gompertz: Double Art History – The Sequel

Will Gompertz feels like an old friend, not because I have ever met him, but because I have grown up with his inciteful and interesting contributions as the BBC’s arts editor.

The 27 Club

The play follows Nick: a young, successful artist struggling with his identity and mental health.

Still Life by Noël Coward

The Hart Players theatre company brings Noël Coward’s Still Life to the Fringe.

Play Before Birth

It’s an old feminist adage that the personal is political – and it doesn’t get much more personal than this.

Isabelle

Irene Possetto’s one-woman play presents a young girl named Isabelle living a life of true tragedy in 1301.

Judas

Smokescreen Productions is supporting the work of Amnesty International through its new work, Judas, at Assembly Blue Room.

The John Rowe Show

Direct from Australia, John Rowe brings his sofa-based entertainment show to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Never None (but She)

Asterglow theatre is a new amateur company focused on new writing centered on female and non-binary individuals.

Lucrece

William Shakespeare’s narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece tells the story of Lucrece, a noblewoman in ancient Rome whose rape at the hands of her husband’s friend, Tarquin, ulti…

Improvengers: Pretendgame

Improvengers: Pretendgame is an ambitious concept without the follow-through.

[BLANK] by Alice Birch and NYTP

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Alice Birch’s writing.

Looping: Scotland Overdub

Billed as part Brazilian street dance and part Scottish ceilidhe with everyone invited to share the dance floor and a whisky, this suggested a rather more joyful, carnivalesque exp…

AcadePitch Presents – Romeo and Juliet: An A Cappella Tragedy

There are quite a few variations on the Romeo & Juliet theme at this year’s Fringe, but few have as many puns as AcadePitch Presents - Romeo and Juliet: An A Capella Tragedy.

Tess

The blank, sterile corridors of Surgeons Hall are not where you might expect to find folky fun late at night.

The Comedy of Errors

Folksy Theatre describe their touring, and frequently open air, production of The Comedy of Errors as being ‘Filled with Folksy's wonderful live music, audience interaction a…

Staged

Circus is inherently exciting to watch – the whole point of it is to see human bodies interact with the world in a way you didn’t think was possible.

Laurie Black: Space Cadette

Laurie Black is back and she’s green, keen and featuring a plethora of originally written electro synth space cabaret songs.

How to Hide a Body in New York

As the surge of improv comedy takes over the Fringe, Sisterwives brings a classic sketch show that packs a wicked punch.

10:31, MCR

It was a day like any other day.

The Examination

Very few kind words have ever been said about the prison system in this or any other nation.

Rodgers with a D – The Tommy Rodgers Centenary Celebration

If you’re one of the many people who visit the Fringe from far flung parts of the world (hello Londoners daring to go past the M25) it’s easy to forget amongst all the clamour …

The Rude Awakening: Sex, Shame and Liberation

Amber Topaz, the inaugural Miss Burlesque UK, brings Edinburgh Fringe a burlesqueless theatrical cabaret experience that is personal, informative, and inclusive.

Men Chase Women Choose

Review
★★★
Zoe Callow
Edinburgh Fringe
Summerhall
17th Aug, 2019

A riotous romp through the history of the female body, the patriarchy and the bad science behind the titular gender myth.

MOOT MOOT

‘What’s going on…??’ Rosana Cade cries, with their head in the seat of a swivel chair, spinning slowly in front of a fixated and silent audience.

Le Coup

Le Coup, in the Underbelly Circus Hub’s ‘The Beauty’ tent, is perfectly programmed.

Ladies Who Lunch

Four work colleagues reunite after 30 years, in this delightful intergenerational analysis of motherhood.

Hetaira: A Mythic Cabaret

More of a personal theatrical experience than what one might expect from a show described as ‘cabaret’, Allie Jessing’s Hetaira: A Mythic Cabaret sees the talented actress de…

Chris Read: Little Man

Chris Read is a talented singer-songwriter performing his debut solo hour at the Fringe this year.

Chain of Trivia

BBC radio music aficionado Russell Clarke is making his Edinburgh Fringe debut in a show jam-packed with fascinating rock ‘n’ roll trivia and random connections between the sta…

The Last Bubble

Black Light Theatre Company features a boisterous and lively cast in their production The Last Bubble.

The Art of Skipping

This new musical follows the story of Alex Peel, whose life is changed by a diagnosis which will eventually lead to her going completetly blind.

Stoned, Stupid and Stuck (A Californian Fairytale)

Stoner comedy is a strange subgenre.

Limbo: The Twelve

Limbo: The Twelve is one of the latest pair of musicals from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, allowing a group of talented young performes the opportunity to perform an origina…

Adventures of Butt Boy and Tigger

It is often a challenge to take a piece of original writing that has already achieved success at the Fringe and do something new with it.

A Grave Situation

This World War II farce is a good choice for a 25-strong company to showcase their talents, with a wide range of roles on show.

Risk Assessment

A clever, conversational creation which examines differing experiences and attitudes to feminism, misogyny and the patriarchal structures which limit women in society.

I Predict a Wyatt!

Sam Wyatt is an ambitious stand-up comedian who has taken a novel approach to this year’s festival, in designing a live gameshow with uniquely imaginative rounds.

The Winter's Tale

Staging The Winter’s Tale in the middle of the summer might seem to be an unusual choice, but as we huddled in the wind blasted Brighton Open Air Theatre it seemed pathetic falla…

Romeo & Juliet: One-Man Musical

One man, a guitar, and the most venerated love story of all time.

Stealth Aspies – Aspies Anonymous

Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a beacon of individuality for our time: it presents a platform for anybody with the desire to express themselves and whatever makes them individuals.

James Freedman: Moment of Truth

In Moment of Truth, James Freedman opens with an air of mystery.

Here Comes the Tide, There Goes the Girl

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
Edinburgh Fringe
Venue 13
10th Aug, 2019

Here Comes the Tide, There Goes the Girl is one of four plays presented by CalArts at venue 13 this year and is steeped in their tradition of producing original material that stret…

Enigma

Enigma, a new musical presented by Enigma Theatre UK is an exciting piece of historical musical theatre telling the story of a unit of female code breakers in America during World …

Vigil

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has, for many years, produced and maintained a “Red List” of species which are either already extinct or in danger of bei…

Seasoned Professionals

It’s probably worth clarifying in the first sentence of this review that I was not expecting to be drawn into the bureaucratic complexities of being the Easter Bunny whilst at th…

Le Monocle

Tiff Milner (writer/director) presents a well-researched retelling of a lesbian herstory, set in twentieth century Paris, at the eponymous the lesbian bar Le Monocle.

Bitch, Antigone

Noises Off meets Antigone with a lot of great dick jokes thrown in for good measure! Bitch, Antigone from Australia’s Out Cast Theatre and writer Steven Dawson, is a hilarious go…

F. Off

The National Youth Theatre have put Mark Zuckerberg on trial.

The Hypnotist – Live and Outrageous

Review
★★★
Ben Dali
Edinburgh Fringe
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse
8th Aug, 2019

Robert Temple is performing the only traditional hour-long hypnosis show in Edinburgh Fringe this year, so if you’re looking for a show where any number of people can volunteer t…

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