4 Star Shows

Look Back In Anger

The Almeida’s Angry and Young season has opened with John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger that heralded the mid 1950s revolution in drama and gave birth to the Angry Young Man gen…

Buckets of Blood: Fairy Tales Not For Kids

Review
★★★★
Richard Beck
Dundee Fringe
The Keiller Shopping Centre, Chapel Street
21st Sep, 2024

In a gripping and hilarious show, Yorkshire storyteller Eden Ballantyne takes us back to the original versions of some of the most famous children’s stories and leaves us wonderi…

Snake in the Grass

Alan Ayckbourn’s Snake in the Grass gives an opening impression of a potentially genteel tale concerning reunion of two sisters in the garden of their late father’s country hou…

Roots

The Almeida’s Angry and Young season has opened with two seminal works from the dramatic revolution of the late 1950s: Arnold Wesker’s Roots and John Osborne’s Look Back in A…

The Real Ones

Review
★★★★
Laura Tucker
West End
Bush Theatre
17th Sep, 2024

A meaty feast of new theatre from playwright Waleed Akhtar, The Real Ones is a fast-moving and impassioned exploration of platonic love, tackling themes of identity and sexuality t…

The Brenda Line

In the canon of surprising things my mother told me, the fact that the Samaritans used to have designated phone lines for men wanting to use them as sex lines must rank high.

A Night with Janis Joplin

A music-filled biography of the life and musical influences of Janis Joplin that sets the house on fire.

After the Silence

Very early in After the Silence, Juliana França’s character relates her experience of being taught about Brazil’s history in school.

The Fifth Step

With a smartly self-referential script from David Ireland, which is packed with engaging, funny, and irreverent dialogue, The Fifth Step proves to be a powerful and darkly comedic …

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is a joyful reimagining of the Princess of Wales' life, told with wildly speculative poetic licence.

A Girl Gets Naked In This

Perhaps winning the award for most provocative title of the Fringe, A Girl Gets Naked In This is a series of nine monologues written and performed by women on the subject of sex an…

Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment will be known to many, having been adapted for stage and screen countless times.

idiots... GAY idiots

According to hosts Grace Fool and Jennifer Schmennifer, this country is founded on Gay idiots—and quite right too! With live singing, drag, character comedy, lip-syncing and clow…

Technically: A Musical

Twitching the curtain and shining a light on what happens backstage, Jacob Marshall and Shannon Hill’s Technically: A Musical is a show full of inside jokes and caricatures from …

Cabin Fever

If you are looking for a funny family show, Cabin Fever by Fresh !nk Theatre Company at theSpace @ Sugeon's Hall is a show where kids will get the jokes (most of them) and adul…

I Did Something I Shouldn't Have...

Marketing a show as a thriller often raises hopes that are not met.

Hannah Gadsby: Woof!

Hannah Gadsby has been accused of killing comedy, but you’re going to remember this eulogy for a long time.

Nigamon / Tunai

Nigamon/Tunai is an inspirational immersive ritual created by indigenous artists, Émilie Monnet from Canada and Waira Nina from Columbia who seek to draw attention to the destruct…

Hamlet

There’s something revolutionary in the state of Denmark.

No Such Thing As A Fish

Meet Dan, James, Anna, and Andy as they take on the Fringe for a live recording of their podcast No Such Thing As A Fish – Thundernerds.

Eric Liddell: The Chariot of Fire

In more than a century of heroic Olympic feats and sporting glory, the Paris event of 1924 retains a special sort of sepia-tinted reverence.

The Chaplain

Directed by Catherine McLean, The Chaplain is the story of a man whose grim responsibility it is to administer salvation to the souls of the lowly unfortunates trapped in a decrepi…

This Is Not Romeo and Juliet

Not to be missed, hugely inventive, an extraordinary show, This is Not Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Danish Palle Granhøj is experimental but with broad appeal.

The Manchester Revue

At the end of the show, the cast on stage said “If you’ve enjoyed the show, we’ve been The Manchester Revue.

Show Pony

Have you ever wondered what it is like behind the scenes for circus performers? Have you ever wondered what happens to them when they reach middle age? This engaging, funny and mov…

Golem

In Jewish folklore, a golem is a clay figure brought to life by magic.

Summoning Sondheim

The theatre is dying, so Jordana Belaiche and Grace O’Keefe are holding a séance to bring back the legendary musical theatre composer, Stephen Joshua Sondheim.

The Flock and Moving Cloud

The dance pieces of this double bill have very different styles and atmospheres, The Flock is an austere, almost scientific study, Moving Cloud is a euphoric, high adrenaline party…

The Passion of Andrea 2

Upon entering the theatre, you're greeted by an array of massive sacks hanging above the stage, each differing in colour, texture, and shape.

The Weird Sisters

Marie-Laure Corben, Dalia Kay, and Eliza Waters' creation, The Weird Sisters, is now being performed at the Fringe following its debut at the Leeds Theatre Festival in July 202…

Dear Billy

In Scotland, Billy Connolly is more than just a successful comedian, actor, musician, television presenter, and Knight of the Realm; he’s “the Big Yin”.

Pericles

Pericles, not included in the First Folio and generally considered as authorially dubious, has only ever been staged in Stratford six times.

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho

Upon viewing Margaret Thatcher: Queen of Soho, with its vibrancy, provocative introspection, and above all cuttingly sharp humour, it’s really not hard to see why it celebrates i…

Negare

What if someone could gently peer deep into your soul and remove all the masks to reveal your true self? Luxembourg-based Z Art Company presents Negare, choreographed by Giovanni Z…

Tales from a British Country Pub

Review
★★★★
Richard Beck
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall / theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall
21st Aug, 2024

Once in a blue moon you take a punt on a show at 11pm and to your surprise, you find pure gold.

A Silent Scandal

Meade Conway discovered that the school he attended was involved in one of the Ireland's many school scandals.

Oedipus Rex

Leonard Bernstein rated this operetta as one of the dozen greatest musical classics of the 20th century; it is also one of the most intelligent interpretations of one of the founda…

The Gardening Club: A New Musical

This year, Bella Wright and Carleigh McRitchie introduced their latest creation, The Gardening Club: A New Musical to the Fringe.

Boardroom

Television at the turn of the Millennium was truly like the Wild West.

Night Train

A young woman, Maia (Soraya Pouilly), awakens tied to a chair and blindfolded.

Petty Tyrant

Thank God! A proper Fringe show.

Rose Matafeo: On and On and On

There are a lot of people to get into the Pleasance Forth for Rose Matafeo’s first comedy hour since 2018’s Horndog.

Hot Rubber

I’m not sure who came up with Hot Rubber’s concept of combining the children’s table-top racing game Scaletrix with a stand up comedy variety show, but after watching the sho…

Paul Merton and Suki Webster's Improv Show

Paul Merton has been bringing his Impro Chums to Edinburgh for a very long time but now he’s back with the Fringe debut of a new paradigm, Paul Merton & Suki Webster’s Impr…

Beats on Pointe

The fusion of ballet and hip-hop has long fascinated audiences since it was popularised by films like Step Up.

Dance-Forms' 79th International Choreographers' Showcase

Dance-Forms’ 79th International Choreographers’ Showcase returns for its 20th edition at the Edinburgh Fringe, presenting a collection of eight contemporary dance-theatre piece…

I wrote this show last night

Courtney Buchner’s I Wrote This Show Last Night is a fresh hour of comedy that plays with genre, form and style.

Limbo – A Sonata for Acrobatic Violinist and Acrobat

Let me start by saying that I understand there’s an overwhelming number of shows at this year’s Fringe.

The Pink List

Stories about the Second World War, the horrors of Nazi Germany and the Allied victory are well told across our cultural landscape.

Athens of The North

Three Edinburgh characters weave in and out of each other’s lives in Mark Hannah’s Athens of the North, premiering at the Hibernian Supporters Club, A play that confronts the w…

The Ruffian on the Stair

It’s sixty years since Joe Orton’s The Ruffian on the Stair, was broadcast as a radio play and now his unmistakable style is brought to life by Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group…

Honk!

The story of the ugly duckling is well-known; and entirely apposite for our strange times.

Recirquel: Paradisum

A man lies on the stage, shirtless and wearing only jeans.

A Little Night Music

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s MA MUsical Theatre Performance and Musical Directing students have taken the Fringe by storm, as always, with their nearly West End-level produc…

Lewis Major: Lien

As the door to the auditorium opens, you walk barefoot onto a dark stage.

Married At Fringe Sight

For the first time this Fringe, I was in the front row for a comedy show.

The Sound Inside

An Ivy league professor (Madeleine Potter) reveals herself to us in slices at Traverse Theatre.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: Teen Edition

Have you heard? Everybody is talking about the amazing show that hit the Fringe a couple of days ago.

Ava and Beaux: Tales of Magic

Ava Beaux is no stranger to the Fringe, but this show feels like somewhat of a watershed moment for the captivating magician.

Accidental Baby

Usually, the last thing the perpetually single friend wants to do is spend their time surrounded by happy couples, but with married comedy duo Alexander Cabana and Radostina Peteva…

Stamptown Comedy Night

You know you’re in for a good night when the show hasn’t even started and Stamptown’s Dylan Woodley has the crowd raring to go with an electric pre-show roller-skating displa…

One Man Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum

In his short but eventful life, Edgar Allan's Poe name became a byword for the Gothic horror stories which continue to entice and terrify readers nearly two centuries on.

Achilles, Death of the Gods.

One of the most famous classical poems of all times is the Iliad.

A Giant on the Bridge

A Giant On The Bridge doesn’t give much away from its description, so I was ready to be surprised.

Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words

Whilst she may have had the body of a 'weak and feeble' woman, it is hard not to believe that Elizabeth I didn't also possess the heart and stomach of a playwright.

Running Out of Time!

With 45 minutes to complete as many sketches as they can, Arran Kemp and Conor Mather (aka.

Sessions

Working Progress Collective is ‘a Midlands-born theatre company, making theatre for, by and with working class communities’.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Grab your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and goldfish, and go buy your tickets for the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam…

Baby Steps

Shows like this are the absolute heart of the Fringe.

Dummy in Diaspora

Chicago-based American actor and writer Esho Rasho is the child of an Assyrian-Iraqi refugee and an Assyrian-Lebanese immigrant, both of whom are war survivors.

Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World

Bob Marley is often overlooked when listing the great freedom fighters of our time.

Long Distance

Long Distance is a new play which explores intimacy and connection through a series of text messages.

RTFM (Read The F***ing Manual)

Building an IKEA wardrobe is probably a challenge at any time.

I Am Yours Sincerely

Writer and performer Ed Saunders-Lee presents the remarkable untold true story of his step-grandfather, Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent John Cox MC in the charming solo sh…

Legally Blonde

In 2001, the romantic comedy novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown captured readers’ hearts, followed by the beloved movie featuring Reese Witherspoon.

Please Right Back

If you haven't seen 1927 before, you should do so – their productions are magical.

Into the Woods

I used to have a difficult relationship with Into The Woods; as someone who primarily watches musicals at Fringe, where it is often cut to just the first act, I have felt like I’…

A Dram Good Whisky Festival

Review
★★★★
Stuart Mckenzie
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
A Dram Good Festival at 96 George Street
3rd Aug, 2024

In light of popular demand, Arbikie have forgone delaying their whisky festival until October and instead return for a summer soiree that brings a lively and interactive event of v…

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