Scotland Theater Reviews Page 19

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: EIGG THE MUSICAL, Greenside
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 11, 2023

Situated in Scotland's Inner Hebrides, the Isle of Eigg has a fascinating history of sovereignty. Not long ago, the inhabitants on Eigg faced a different type of invader; a celebrity Laird looking to create a Gaelic island utopia. Will the citizens support his vision? Can they put up with his antics...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: SAD, Summerhall
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Exceptionally convivial and inclusive, the performances are relaxed and explained ahead by Brigitte herself. It’s loud, and dark, and blindingly bright. But earplugs are provided and leaving or taking a break are completely appropriate reactions. Audiences are encouraged to be understanding....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: TEMPORARILY YOURS, Underbelly Bristo Square
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Italian performer Greta Zamparini takes extracts from Concita De Gregorio and creates a complex solo show about the commodification of the female body. A series of women open up and explain why they do what they do. From a high-end escort to a trafficked woman who’s finally back home, Temporarily Yo...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: TOMORROW'S CHILD, Assembly Checkpoint
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Innumerable sounds of all kinds create a 360-degree retro journey to the future. While the blindfold doesn’t completely plunge the individual into the darkness, it evokes an air of mystery and immerses them in a world of weird delivery methods and pyramidal children. It’s an engrossing adventure tha...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: DNA, TheSpace On The Mile
by Mary Baillie - August 11, 2023

The Parker & Schnell Youth Company showcase the immense talent of young people through their performance of ‘DNA’....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ANIA MAGLIANO: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE DONE THIS, Pleasance Courtyard
by Mark Carnochan - August 11, 2023

Ania Magliano solidifies herself as a star of the UK Comedy scene with her latest hour of stand up....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: MONET X CHANGE: LIFE BE LIFEIN', Underbelly Bristo Square
by Mary Baillie - August 11, 2023

The glam queen showcases her knack for storytelling, comedy and operatic vocals (that RANGE though) in an anecdote-filled, fabulous performance extravaganza....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: SIAPA YANG BAWA MELAYU AKU PERGI? (WHO TOOK MY MALAY AWAY?), Summerhall
by Mary Baillie - August 11, 2023

Faizal Abdullah launches an engaging, thought-provoking, unique and deeply personal exploration of Malay identity in Singapore through his performative lecture Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?)...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: SOFIE HAGEN: BANGLORD, Monkey Barrel
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 13, 2023

Comedian Sofie Hagen brings Banglord to Monkey Barrel....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD: SCARY TIMES, Monkey Barrel
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 11, 2023

A new hour of stand-up by the wee guy with the glasses from Glasgow. Featuring routines and jokes on such topics as Edinburgh Zoo, going for a walk, and the collapse of the British state....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: TONES: A HIP-HOP OPERA, Pleasance Courtyard
by Mark Carnochan - August 11, 2023

Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera marks fifty years of Hip Hop wonderfully by sticking to the roots of the music all the while showing just how far it has come....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: OSCAR AT THE CROWN, Assembly George Square Gardens
by Mary Baillie - August 11, 2023

A queer immersive nightclub musical based on the life of Oscar Wilde? In theory, this sounds incredible. In practice, I’m not completely convinced. Did I have fun? Yes. Did I know what was going on? Questionable....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: LOVE IS BLUE, C Arts
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Though it comes off as the only reason for the play to exist, the campaign remains an important subject. Cotter weaves religious homophobia and bereavement into this story of sudden homelessness and penance. It would make it an exciting, multi-faceted project to program, but it still has a long way ...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE MITFORDS, TheSpace @ Surgeons' Hall
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

What ties down the project is the one-woman aspect of it. Wilkinson Wright is a tremendous actress, but this direction gives her a staged personality disorder. The framing of the play throws it straight into the action; the performer modulates her voice to shape the different women, but the result i...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: HOLLYWOODN'T, Gilded Balloon Teviot
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Directed by Elizabeth Kaye Sortun, while it offers a look at the complexities of toxic dynamics, coercion, consent, and control, it doesn’t truly achieve its goal. Verlo’s past is colourful and intriguing, but this isn’t the production that makes it shine. It lacks the aplomb that inspires reflectio...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: MRS PRESIDENT, C Arts
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Lily Wolff directs with gorgeous brushstrokes. Smooth, creative changes of pace come with gradual shifts in the lighting and sound designs, revealing Mary’s interiority and explaining her history. Leeanne Hutchinson’s First Lady is a complex, hurt mother who can’t seem to overcome the pain in her li...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: VIOLET AND ME, Pleasance Courtyard
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

It’s a tale of resilience, resentment, and regret told with instinctive storytelling and a dash of friendly advice. Photos of her relatives and snapshots of her life accompany her narrative, giving a visual reference to her stories. It’s a delicate, lovely play from a woman whose strength could neve...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: BREAKING THE CASTLE, Assembly Rooms
by Cindy Marcolina - August 11, 2023

Captivating writing is matched by a tireless performance that transports you in time with a complex breakdown of drug abuse. He admits that he makes it sound too good for comfort: the chemsex, the dissociation from his problems, the unbridled fun of it. On the opposite side, he places the drug-induc...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ON YOUR BIKE, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose
by Fiona Scott - August 11, 2023

The Edinburgh Fringe truly demonstrates that anything can be a musical. Whether it’s recent political events, or a modern cultural phenomenon, On Your Bike gives the humble delivery driver a moment in the spotlight. After winning a best musical award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021, the show returns...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: FIELDING EDLOW: GASLIGHTING IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE, Just The Tonic At The Grassmarket Centre
by Kat Mokrynski - August 25, 2023

Fielding Edlow: Gaslighting Is My Love Language is a celebration of one woman’s independence but also a reflection on life choices and how to move forward after over a decade of a difficult marriage....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: A COMEDY OF OPERAS, Pleasance At EICC
by Kat Mokrynski - August 14, 2023

As someone who worked in an opera house in New York and volunteers with an opera house in London, I have had quite a bit of experience with the genre and several different shows. I decided to go to see A Comedy of Operas to see how they were able to combine opera, rock, and pop into a fun love story...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: OLAF FALAFEL: LOOK WHAT FELL OUT OF MY HEAD, Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree
by Kat Mokrynski - August 14, 2023

What do bananas, parcels, and a tit on a stick have in common? They all play crucial roles in Olaf Falafel: Look What Fell Out of My Head....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ANNABEL MARLOW . . . IS THIS OKAY??, Pleasance Courtyard, The Attic
by Kat Mokrynski - August 12, 2023

If the show had simply been categorised as “Music” and not “Comedy,” I believe that I would have enjoyed it more, as I went in expecting more comedy than simply singing and playing instruments. There are some good jokes, but they tended to be few and far between the songs....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: GARRETT MILLERICK: NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD, Monkey Barrel
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 10, 2023

I’m sick of everyone moaning all the time, so I’ve written a show about how bloody great everything is. I haven’t actually written it at the time of going to print and in previous years I’ve made all sorts of promises in the blurb. Not going to fall into that trap again! But look, I’m going to put a...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: JM COETZEE'S LIFE & TIMES OF MICHAEL K, Assembly Hall
by Mary Baillie - August 11, 2023

There are rare occasions in the theatre when dance, film, music, adaptation, ensemble and puppetry combine to create magic. This is one of them. ...