3 Star Shows

Innovations Contemporary Dance Platform Autumn 2022

Review
★★★
Stephanie Green
Edinburgh
The Studio
12th Nov, 2022

One of the excitements for an audience is to spot future stars.

Cheer Up Slug

Jamie Patterson (Will) and Charis Murray (Bean) give delightful performances in Cheer Up Slug by Tamsin Rees, the debut production for their company, Shot in the Dark Theatre, at t…

The Yeomen of the Guard

There was a more than usual buzz in the air at the Coliseum in anticipation of ENO’s latest foray into the world of Gilbert & Sullivan with The Yeoman of the Guard.

The Drought

When the waters of the world dry up, who will be left victorious in the aftermath?It has been three months since the water dried up; three months or what seems like a lifetime for …

Navy Blue

Navy Blue, the colour of workers’ overalls is an existential cry of protest, a dance/voice-over/visual performance choreographed by Oona Doherty and cast to Rachmaninov’s Piano…

Mary

Douglas Henshall has wasted no time in returning to the stage after his years in Shetland.

Noises Off

Sardines, Telephones, Tax Avoiders, Axes, Whiskey, Flowers and more Sardines.

Dmitry

In marked contrast to the UK’s recent smooth transition from one monarch to another, the story of Dmitry (Tom Byrne), at the new Marylebone Theatre, tells a woeful tale of power-…

Blues for an Alabama Sky

Are dreams supposed to be ambitions we strive to realise? Or simply ideals meant to be unattainable, existing to help us get through our mundane everyday lives?This seems to be the…

The Crucible

It’s rare for a play’s allegory to be as widely known as its actual story.

Help! We Are Still Alive

There’s an upbeat charm that hangs over Grey Area Theatre’s Help! We Are Still Alive.

Jungle Book reimagined

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

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…

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…

Searching and Knowing

For an episcopalian minister from California, Joyce Parry Moore’s performance in Searching and Knowing comes as somewhat of a surprise.

The Collie's Shed

There is nothing like a timely reminder from the past.

The Lost Letters

Does it matter that snail mail letters are dying out in our fast moving world? We can now email instead, cutting down fewer trees, so what have we actually lost? Plenty, say Newbur…

Brainstorm

Recent studies in education suggest that the two best ways for students to boost their educational development (by eight months in each case) are immediate feedback from a teacher …

Almost 13

Almost 13 is a highly thoughtful and at times disturbing portrayal of the childhood experiences of a young girl growing up in Brooklyn, New York.

Hot Clown Sex

The Hot Clown Company is a relatively new troupe that set out to blend sketch comedy and physical theatre with a particular emphasis on clowning.

Simply Blue

There is a real physicality in music.

Blood Harmony

Chloe, Maia and Anna are reunited under the most painful of circumstances, the death of their mother.

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.

Poems on Gender

Nuance is hard to find at the Fringe.

O, for a Muse of Fire: Henry IV 1, Henry IV 2 and Henry V

Shakespeare’s Henry IV and V - two great plays and one that’s a bit of a stinker.

Fitry

Fitry is an intriguing one-man show from Faso Danse Théâtre, Brussels, featuring Serge Aimé Coulibaly as the performer.

X: 1969

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

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.

52 Souls

Chronic Insanity’s 52 Souls is a series of monologues that correspond to each indiviudal playing card (plus one Joker) along the subject of death and mortality, all in an hour.

Double Crossed

Whilst mildly fun, it is odd in this day and age to have any form of pro-police art.

Alternate Endings

The end is nigh.

Ice Age

Ice Age is a life-affirming show celebrating and bringing much-needed visibility to what disabled people can achieve as performers on stage despite being confined to a wheelchair.

Living with Sin

Turning what we know about morality on its head, Gabrielle James and Joshua Newman’s Living With Sin is an interesting twist on the traditionally 'evil' seven deadly sins…

Greg

Greg is Duck in Arms Theatre’s first production.

Vote Macbeth!

An original musical with plenty of spark, Vote Macbeth! aims to present a fresh take on the well-worn story of the Scottish play.

Cherub Spring: A Political Satire

Children, especially toddlers are known to be tyrants.

The Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz

Before the Thinking Drinkers even begins, the audience experiences a feeling which is very rare at Edinburgh Fringe: ‘This show is value for money!’Provided with a bag containi…

The Masks of Oscar Wilde

Occasionally humorous, this is a well-formed exploration of Wilde’s life, loves and works.

The Girl and Her Balloon

Recalling Banksy’s famous graffiti, originally painted on the side of Waterloo Bridge in 2002, Amy Wakeman’s The Girl and Her Balloon is a similarly ubiquitous depiction of hop…

What Broke David Lynch?

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

Three Women and Shakespeare's Will

Three Women and Shakespeare’s Will is is a nice little premise for a play.

007 Voices Of Bond

In March 1952, hunched over a typewriter on a semi-circular table in the corner of a Jamaican villa, a man has finally completed his first draft of an espionage novel that would re…

North Star (What I Listened to Instead of My Intuition)

Lori Hamilton's retelling of her eventful life is touching and amusing, despite the whirlwind pacing.

Sylus 2024!

Jeff Ahern’s presidential campaign based on audience suggestions brings an insightful look at the current state of political affairs.

Are You Being Murdered?

People can be sensitive about how they are described.

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…

Attenborough and His Animals

Clownfish Theatre has returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with an updated version of their show which saw sell-out audiences in 2019 as well as similar success in Adelaide.

Joseph Parsons: Equaliser

Swept up by the Lionesses’ historic win at the Euros, I booked to see Joseph Parsons: Equaliser.

Buffy: Revamped

Spike has left Sunnydale for Edinburgh to fulfil an ancient prophecy and the ‘stakes’ have never been higher!When you’re part of a fandom like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there…

Simon Munnery: Trials and Tribulations

Fringe veteran Simon Munnery once more brings his eclectic mix of props, jokes, sketches, songs, poetry, and storytelling to the stage of The Stand with Trials and Tribulations.

MARVELus: All the MARVEL Movies... Kind Of!

The Just Us League of Javier Jarquin and Gary Tro return with an update of their whistlestop tour of the first 3 Marvel Cinematic Universe phases (somewhat contradicting their titl…

KIN

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

CUMTS: SLEEPOVER

Gen Z has arrived.

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.

Leith Social

Leith Social offers a rotation of different comedic, musical and cabaret acts under the roof of The Pitt Street Market, hosted by Cornish comedian Sam Lake.

Garry Starr: Greece Lightning

Despite the hyper atmosphere and start of Garry Starr’s Greece Lightning, there is something vaguely unsettling about the manic nature of the way that Starr approaches this show.

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.

The Transfiguration of Mrs Lamen

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

About Us

All of Us is an attack on welfare state reform.

Love Loss & Chianti

Love, Loss and Chianti stages two of Christopher Reid’s poetic works A Scattering and The Song of Lunch, both, as the title suggests, explore the liminal space where love and los…

My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical

Review
★★★
Kate Nora
Edinburgh Fringe
C venues
14th Aug, 2022

Are you a love warrior? Turns out, I am!Hallmark movies might be cheesy and predictable, but they’re the kind of films that help people escape their lives, and during the pandemi…

Blodlina: The Viking Musical

Where do you start if your ultimate goal is a West End and Broadway musical? Revivals often start at Chichester and new concepts here at the Fringe.

Out to Lunch

Well-written, though lacking in some areas, Out to Lunch is an enjoyable watch for anyone interested in a slice of wacky humour.

Fata Morgana

Most often seen at sea, in that area that rests just above the horizon, a Fata Morgana is a type of complex mirage superstitiously named after the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay…

Bad Teacher

I’m sure we can all remember seeing our teachers feeling the pressure on the cusp of parents evening, and as we’re beginning to realise in light of the unprecedented events of …

The Queen's Cartoonists

Six Players.

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.

Speed Dial

It’s finals week on an unnamed university campus and a professor in English literature is having a bad time of it.

Business Casual: FERAL

No imaginary babies are safe in Business Casual: FERAL, a slice of enjoyably daft sketch comedy from American trio Jeremy Elder, Hunter Saling, and Corey Peter Lane.

Ian Lynam: Autistic License

This personal account from Ian Lynam draws on his own experiences and research to break down the superficial stereotypes, misleading media presentations, and poor psychological pra…

Mary, Chris, Mars

Mary, Chris, Mars tells the story of two astronauts who share a Christmas Day together after a chance encounter pushes them away from the crippling isolation of their solitude and …

Feeling Afraid as If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen

According to The Stage’s recently departed Scotland editor, Thom Dibden, comedy first overtook theatre as the largest proportion of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s programme du…

Half-Empty Glasses

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

Dreamgun: Film Reads

Don't you forget about Dreamgun! The comedy script re-writers are back for another year at the Fringe with updated material and even a few new movies thrown in.

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.

Bilal Zafar – Care

There’s inherent absurdity in an industry which charges elderly people and their families countless thousands of pounds for care but pays a pittance to the often-underqualified s…

Joz Norris: Blink

If Joz Norris is no longer a comedian, then why is he still very good at making people laugh? You see, at some point in recent history, after an unfortunate experience with a non-s…

Two's Company

Two’s Company is Gillian Duffy’s take on rekindled romance and finding new direction in later life, following 55-year-old Maureen as she navigates life after her second divorce…

She Wolf

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

Magical Bones: Soulful Magic

Britain’s Got Talent finalist Magical Bones is one of the more recognisable magicians on the Fringe thanks mostly to his BGT appearance.

Irvine Welsh's Porno

The highly anticipated world premiere of Irvine Welsh's Porno catches up with the lives of Renton, Sickboy, Begbie & Spud, fifteen years after their appearance in TRAINSPOT…

Railed

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

Dom Chambers: Fake Wizard

America’s Got Talent semi-finalist Dom Chambers makes his Fringe debut with the magically titled Fake Wizard.

Cirque Berserk!

I have a soft spot for classic, big top style circus even if it is being presented in a conference centre by a company that are famed for bringing this genre to West End stages.

Ivo Graham: My Future, My Clutter

Too young to be yelling at clouds, Ivo Graham decides to talk loudly at us over the course of an hour instead.

Harriet Kemsley: Honeysuckle Island

When Harriet Kemsley was young, she daydreamed about her perfect secluded hideaway, Honeysuckle Island, and her memories of that have inspired her latest stand-up show at the Monke…

Briefs: Bite Club

In 2017 I last saw Briefs in a Spiegeltent on the Southbank.

Fashion Freak Show

Fashion Freak Show is a retrospective of Jean-Paul Gaultier’s career using a combination of catwalk, dance and theatre revue.

The Seagull

Review
★★★
Katerina Partolina Schwartz
West End
Harold Pinter Theatre / The Harold Pinter Theatre
13th Jul, 2022

Stripping back any recognisable aspect of Russian culture, Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull presents the bare minimum of what theatre can be: a group of …

Login

Create Account

Username or Password Reminder

3 Star Shows

Most Popular See More

Popular Articles

Popular Sections

Contact Us