3 Star Shows

Kismet

Kismet, a double bill from Rambert, begins with the hugely disappointing Gallery of Consequence by Dutch choreographer Emma Evelein – a shame, as this was a premiere – followed…

ACNE ROMEO

Acne Romeo opens in a noisy bar, where we are introduced to two characters: R (played by Callan Ridgwell) and J (played by Luc De Freitas).

Little Drops of Rain

There’s a moment early in Little Drops of Rain – a Taiwanese import from Bon Appétit Theatre – when you realise you’re in for something delightfully different.

Stealing Stories

After last year’s wonderfully chaotic Getting Over Hugh, I made a point of catching Acting Out’s return to the Prague Fringe with Stealing Stories.

Cafe de Profundis - A Surreal Portrait of a Circus Artist

Some performances—especially those featuring circus and juggling—can only truly work in a large space.

The Magic of Terry Pratchett

If you put on a show about a man with a huge following, his devotees are almost guaranteed to turn up in droves to honour their hero - which probably explains why Marc Burrows play…

Do Birds Hide to Die?

I’ve often wondered why both the rural and urban landscape is not littered with dead birds.

I've Never Met Anyone Quite Like You Before

Shame around love and sexuality remains a stultifying and challenging part of self-acceptance, especially for gay men.

In Other Words

A tragic romance story about dementia set to the backing track of Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon, In Other Words is a veritable tearjerker.

Medium

Review
★★★
Susanne Crosby
Brighton Fringe
Grania Dean Studio (Lantern Theatre @ ACT)
19th May, 2025

Isaac Freeman’s Medium offers an intriguing glimpse into the fascination with Victorian spiritualism.

Is She Really Going Out with Jim?

"Are you having a stroke?" Not exactly what inventor Jim (Paul Richards), pitching an idea to his long-term girlfriend Alison (Ruby Florence), wants to hear.

Moby Dick

“Call me Ishmael” is one of the most recognisable opening lines in literature, and the story of Moby Dick isn’t a mystery to many people.

The Angel of Death Will See You Now...

Review
★★★
Lois Zoppi
Brighton Fringe
Brighton Unitarian Church / Ironworks Studios
23rd May, 2025

A teacher lingers between life and death and wonders what it was all for, while the Angel of Death decides his fate in a liminal waiting room, longing to realise her dream of becom…

Don't Let Me Die Before Sunday

Anxiety.

Almost Famous

An actress alone on chaise reminiscing about her life suddenly becomes much more interesting at a pivotal point in the show where the penny drops as to what is going on.

Mettle

Review
★★★
Susanne Crosby
Brighton Fringe
Grania Dean Studio (Lantern Theatre @ ACT)
3rd May, 2025

Nicholas Collett tells a moving true story of his father, who served in the Royal Navy during the second world war, almost as an oral history encounter in this one-person show.

Much Ado About Nothing

If recent productions are anything to go by, the RSC of 2025 season will be characterised as the summer of great spectacle.

Krapp’s Last Tape

Some 12 years ago, Stephen Rea contemplated the possibility of performing Krapp’s Last Tape.

Faygele

Ari Freed (Ilan Galkoff) strolls down the side aisle of the Marylebone Theatre and casually addresses us as though we were friends.

Living With The Dead

Living with the Dead, a new play by Cosette Bolt, at Augustine Church Theatre, is Not So Nice Theatre's latest production.

Restless Natives: The Musical

It’s a special year for Perth Theatre as the grand old lady of Scottish theatre celebrates her 125th anniversary.

The Brightening Air

Conor McPherson’s latest play, which he also directs, might benefit from a more intimate setting than the Old Vic, but The Brightening Air retains an element of claustrophobia as…

The Merchant of Venice 1936

Review
★★★
Douglas Gibson
London Fringe
Richmond Theatre (Ambassador Theatre Group)
10th Apr, 2025

One of Shakespeare’s most problematic characters, Shylock the Jewish moneylender has undergone polarised interpretations since The Merchant of Venice was first performed.

Ghost Stories

This is not Hitchcock’s Psycho.

Death of a Salesman

Andy Arnold brings his production of Arthur Miller's modern classic Death of a Salesman to Scottish theatres, impressively with an all-Scottish cast.

One Day When We Were Young

Nick Payne’s One Day When We Were Young is a neatly crafted trio of vignettes, each of which provides an insight into how the lives of Violet (Cassie Bradley) and Leonard (Barney…

Road

Review
★★★
Rosa Georgiou
Edinburgh
Bedlam Theatre
27th Feb, 2025

Edinburgh University Theatre Company’s rendition of Road is an ambitious undertaking, that bravely attempts to capture all the gritty, raunchy realism of Jim Cartwright’s 1980s…

Hamlet

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, a handsome production.

We Will Hear The Angels

If you are looking for an antidote to the virus of Disney musicals, this show could have been designed in a laboratory for that specific task.

A Stan Is Born!

Alexis Sakellaris has a P.

Beauty and the Beast

This year marks a decade of Bard In The Botanics pantos at the Byre as the Glasgow-based company journeys east again with its special brand of festive fun.

Treasure Island

This charming re-telling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, set in Leith and Orkney, by Duncan McLean, directed by Wils Wilson, is a festive, yo ho ho version full of prat…

Sleeping with Beauty (One Little Prick)

Any prudishness will need to be left at the door as Sleeping with Beauty certainly delivers on its promise of a vulgarity-filled night that delivers every pantomime trope, starting…

Tender

Written by Eleanor Tindall (Before I Was A Bear, Soho Theatre) and directed by Emily Aboud (Lady Dealer, Bush Theatre), Tender is a turbulent sapphic meet-cute searching for stabil…

The Sculptor

The strength of this refreshingly original and subtly chilling production is the evocation of an almost overwhelming sense of the uncanny.

ED Recovery

‘I learned how to vomit silently…’ When these words are uttered midway through Lia Locatelli’s performance, it’s clear that this show isn’t going to pull its punches.

Schalk Bezuidenhout: Keeping Up

Schalk Bezuidenhout’s Keeping Up is a showcase of how far comedy and performance can be pushed to make people laugh.

Juno and the Paycock

Juno Boyle (J.

I Believe in One Bach

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
Dundee Fringe
The Keiller Shopping Centre, Chapel Street
17th Sep, 2024

Alan Gottlieb (Chris Brannick) has spent forty years on the back row of the second violins, but changes are afoot that threaten everything that gives meaning to his life.

The Truth About Harry Beck

The Cubic Theatre inside the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, provides the most fitting venue for Natural Theatre Company’s The Truth About Harry Beck, which commemorates …

Simon Amstell et al - Greenwich Comedy Festival

Greenwich Comedy Festival, London, has all the trappings expected of a festival and features 45 comedians across five days in the gardens of the National Maritime Museum.

Maybe This Time

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
Dundee Fringe
The Keiller Shopping Centre, Chapel Street
17th Sep, 2024

The Dundee Fringe provides the perfect context for Maybe This Time, a story of love, frustration and delusion rooted in the city.

Hellcats

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
Dundee Fringe
The Keiller Shopping Centre, Chapel Street
18th Sep, 2024

There is an enduring theatrical interest in witch trials.

Assembly Hall

A curate’s egg, flashes of brilliance but with a first third of tedious mire, Kidd Pivot company’s Assembly Hall, about an amateur medieval re-enactment society, will divide au…

Straddle: a fantasia on gay rage

Straddle, subtitled A fantasia on gay rage, follows the story of the unnamed Him, played by the energetic and engaging Peter Todd.

When Vincent Met John

When Vincent Met John is a historical encounter few could have anticipated.

Gaudi: God’s Architect

The Archdiocese of Glasgow Arts Project (AGAP) was founded in 2006 to engage people of all backgrounds through faith-inspired arts events and activities often through dramatic prod…

This Side of the House

Oxbridge and its debating unions are known to be places of political intrigue, where the future politicians of the day test their mettle and learn the skills they will be using whe…

The Glasstown Confederacy

In this new work from Fringe favourite, Rebecca Vines, the talented young cast explores the vivid imaginary worlds of Glass Town.

Weaving Me, Weaving Mum

A woman sits centre stage, wrapped in thick wools that appear to be knitted and crocheted from a myriad of red yarn.

Auto/Erotic Tango

"It takes two to tango" is a saying many of us have heard but perhaps have never fully experienced.

The Marriage of Figaro

This production makes me feel like Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.

BLUBBER

I’ve always hated sculling, and synchro.

Heart

Heart, a one man show written and performed by Reece Lewis, is the story of Tyler, an upbeat 24 year old gay black man navigating the challenges of the London queer scene and tryin…

Vibrance

Vibrance is a passionate display of art and dance from an up-and-coming generation of artists, dancers, and choreographers.

VEGAS

Poppy and Freddie wake up in the 'honeymoon suite' of a bed and breakfast in Slough.

Winchester

History can do strange things to a person’s reputation, and Sarah ‘Sallie’ Lockwood Winchester (née Pardee,1839-1922) has probably not fared too well in those stakes.

Nina Rose Carlin: Seeking Representation

As a smiling Nina Rose Carlin appears on stage with a suitcase, she asks for a one-way ticket to Tinseltown.

Three of a Kind – A New Musical

Set in modern-day America, this Broadway style musical does not hold back on ambition.

To Be A Prince

“What does it mean to be a prince?” This question is at the heart of To Be A Prince, the latest production by Grownup Playhouse, featured at Paradise in The Vault @ The Annexxe…

make the Bed

Make the Bed is an exploration of anxiety and paranoia based on writer and performer Ariela Nazar-Rosen’s own experience—in particular, a bed bug scare that pushed her to break…

What songs may do...

Impressive dancers and choreography by Mathieu Geffré in Rendezvous Dance’s What Songs May Do should have had everything going for it.

The Fantastical World of My Uncle Arly

When that I was but a little tiny dot, I would sit with my grandfather and solemnly play both the Owl and the Pussycat whilst he transformed into a pig, a turkey and a runcible spo…

A Singular Deception

James Barry was born Margaret Anne Bulkley, but she fooled the world in order to become a doctor in the British army, which in the very early nineteenth century was an unthinkable …

The Magic of Terry Pratchett

In my home, the first thing you encounter is two tall Billy bookcases from IKEA.

The Popess: Instructions for Freedom

Writer/performer Elena Mazzon presents an unusual piece of theatre in The Popess: Instructions for Freedom, directed by Colin Watkeys at The Carbon Lounge as part of PBH’s Free F…

Ghost Light: Between Fall and Flight

The two acrobats in this show must be from the future – ordinary humans cannot be so strong, hawk-eyed, and flexible, with senses of spatial orientation, balance and bravery so o…

Penthesilea

This is a Rock Opera mixed with a nineteenth century play about the lengths people will go to for lust.

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is a musical like no other.

YOAH

Cirquework is a relatively new name in contemporary circus and, in their debut show at the Fringe, have brought a slice of Japanese inspired mythology combined with some spectacula…

1 Moment in Time

Magician Sean Alexander is fascinated by moments in time.

Yes, We're Related

A year after the death of their mother, with her fiancée Mark (Jack Huckin) in tow, Saskia (Eleanor Griffiths) and Sarah (Florence Lace-Evans) reunite for a party to commemorate t…

Sleeper

Imaginative and atmospheric with striking visual images, there is much to recommend in Jajack Movement’s Sleeper, choreographed by Kim Yumi.

The Wellbrick Centre on Roswell Drive

Musical theatre appears to thrive on some of the most unexpected subject matters – the lives of poetic cats, the founding fathers of America, The Jerry Springer Show – so a new…

Psyche

Psyche is the first English translation of a one-woman show from Sandor Weores' collections of letters, poems and various documents that chronicle the life of a fictional 19th-…

Jaz Mattu Returns

Jaz Mattu goes back home to live with his dad in Kent to focus on his comedy career.

Squires

Squires is a very funny play, perfect for its 11:45 morning slot.

Aunty Ginger: Finding Splashman

I’m a fan of classic drag.

The Story of Sting and The Police

When it comes to Night Owl Shows, one is never disappointed with the array and gravitas displayed by the musical tributary company, who have gone the extra mile this year to featur…

007 Voices of Bond

From the signature guitar riff that accompanies the opening of Dr.

Eleanor

As the daughter of one of the most influential political and philosophical figures ever to have lived, Eleanor Marx was cursed to travel through life and death shackled by her fath…

Bellringers

There’s less Quasimodo and more Quasi-oh-no in Daisy Hall’s somewhat uneven belltower-based exploration of climate catastrophe in England’s green and pleasant back garden.

Nation

A nation, according to the political theorist and historian Benedict Arnold, is an imagined community.

Of the Land on Which We Meet

Na Dihnang Circus presents Of The Land on Which We Meet.

James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show

There’s an irony in James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show being performed in what was once an anatomy lecture theatre.

Tom Lawrinson: Buried Alive and Loving it

Tom Lawrinson has a manic energy that can barely be contained by an Underbelly stage.

Is the WiFi Good in Hell?

Lyndon Chapman’s debut play directed by Will Armstrong, Is The Wifi Good in Hell? is an evocative coming of age play where identity and environmental displacement collide.

American History Sex

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever brought up on a date? For Bobby Sheehan, it seems, it’s a fascination with the sex lives of the American Presidents.

Hot Concrete: Too Hot (and Too Concretey) for TV

It’s not often you get to be in the audience for a pilot TV show, let alone a live chat show witha warm-up act, special guests, commercial breaks and several references to pastco…

Thank You So Much for Coming

Hello and welcome to Cynthia’s fabulous party! Meet our generous host as she greets each and every audience member with a chocolaty hors d'oeuvre.

Battle Counters!

Battle Counters by John Chisham and Christian Loveless is a humorous adventure about friendship, family and being the best counter, poking fun at a very specific genre of kids tele…

Apricity

There’s a great deal to admire in Apricity, the blend of contemporary circus and dance from Australian outfit Casus Creations.

Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia

Before I even enter the venue, there’s a man with a huge pink microphone advertising Raul Kohli’s show, the noise blasting up and down Blair Street.

Dom Chambers: Magic Hunt

Dom Chambers bursts on stage, pumped up for a night that promises magic.

Ask A Stripper: No Holes Barred

Ask a Stripper challenges you to rethink everything you know about stripping and sex work.

Barbaren Barbies: A Wild Women Circus

These Barbies are fun! As you walk in, you'll notice a podium featuring the bottom half of a mannequin.

Corpse Flower

Threepenny Collective’s Corpse Flower at C Venues Aquila is a weird piece, though not in a negative sense, but in its amalgamation of multiple elements and curious happenings tha…

Antonio’s Revenge

If your idea of entertainment is brutal violence, the rattle of hi-falutin’ Jacobean verse, pervy sex and lots and lots of blood, then this is the show for you.

Josh Thomas: Let's Tidy Up

When Thomas first tumbles into the stage you'd be forgiven for thinking he's your perpetually late friend who always manages to make up for his tardiness with a series of e…

ARCADE

Darkfield are back at the Fringe with Arcade, their latest shipping container based adventure in the dark.

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