Preview of the week Mon 20 – Sun 26 May
What’s on in Edinburgh’s Theatres over the week ahead.
Victor Zarallo, Daniel Davidson and Nicholas Shoesmith in Scottish Ballet’s production of Matthew Bourne’s Highland Fling. Photograph by Andy Ross
Compiled by Thom Dibdin
There is not quite as much on this week, after last week’s hectic schedule left many Edinburgh theatre-lovers wondering which way to turn. But there is still something for most tastes, from Beckett to Buchan by way of Liz Lochhead.
Getting the big ticket events out the way first, the spiffing four actor version of the 39 Steps returns to the King’s where it was last seen in 2008. At the Playhouse, Ghost the Musical continues to tug at the tear ducts.
Monday night is scratch theatre night at the Traverse, with Words Words Words. Opening on Thursday, the fabulous Jenna Watt returns with her Fringe First winning Flaneurs and the Gare St Lizare Players production of Beckett’s First Love, the latter ahead of the Gate Dublin Theatre’s production at the EIF.
The big amateur production of the week is up at the Church Hill Theatre where EPT are presenting Liz Lochhead’s Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, while the Edinburgh Acting School have The Tempest at Summerhall next weekend. Down at the Brunton, the house will no doubt be packed all week for Alpha Dance Annual Show, always a popular show with strong production values and many, many young dancers.
But the big dance event of the week is the arrival of Scottish Ballet at the Festival Theatre on Wednesday with Matthew Bourne’s Highland Fling. The opening night in Glasgow was utterly superb and this is don’t miss material for ballet fans.
A lucky few will be at the Royal Lyceum on Saturday, where Daniel Kitson is bringing his latest one man show, which sold out within minutes of being announced.
Listings:
Brunton Theatre:
• Alpha Dance Annual Show
“More than 300 young dancers aged 3 to 18 years old take to the stage to perform many dance styles from Classical Ballet and Tap, to Hip Hop, Cheerleading and funky Jazz!”
Tickets from the Brunton Box Office on 0131 665 2240.
Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Mon-Sat, 7pm.
EPT’s Lynne Hurst (Mary), Mags Swan (La Corbie) and Lynn Cameron (Elizabeth). Photo © Robert Fuller.
Church Hill Theatre:
• Mary Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped Off (EPT)
“Once upon a time, there were twa queens on the wan green island, and the wan green island was split inty twa kingdoms. But no equal kingdoms.”
Edinburgh People’s Theatre present Liz Lochhead’s acclaimed interpretation of the lives, loves and rivalry of two famed queens, whose insurmountable differences tear them apart. Mary is young, inexperienced, compassionate and vulnerable. Her older cousin, Elizabeth, rules her own land with ruthless control and no leniency for political foes – even members of her own family. In this deadly game of murder, betrayal and power, there can only be one winner, one ultimate ruler of this “wan green island”.
Reserve tickets from: www.ept.org.uk; or buy online at: www.thequeenshall.net.
Church Hill Theatre, Morningside Road EH10 4DR. Wed-Sat, 7.30pm.
Edinburgh Playhouse:
• Ghost
“Based on the phenomenal Oscar-winning movie that captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation back in the 90s, Ghost is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic in the hope of saving her from his murderer.”
Read Martin Gray’s Four Star review of the production here: Puts the spectre into spectacular.
Tickets from www.atgtickets.com
Edinburgh Playhouse, 18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Mon-Sat, 7.30pm (Wed/Sat mats 2.30pm), run ends 1 June.
Festival Theatre:
• Scottish Ballet: Highland Fling
“Presented exclusively by Scottish Ballet, Highland Fling is a ‘romantic wee ballet’ choreographed by Olivier Award-winning Matthew Bourne.
Inspired by La Sylphide, and with a wickedly wry Scotch twist, Highland Fling follows the antics of James – a young Scot with sex and love and rock and roll on his mind. Recently married to his beloved Effie, his addiction to excess finds him in the fateful company of a beguiling gothic fairy who leads him on a downward spiral into a weird and wonderful world far from the realities of life on the mean streets of Glasgow.
Tickets from: www.edtheatres.com
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Wed-Sat 7.30pm (Thurs/Sat mat 2.30pm).
King’s Theatre:
• The 39 Steps
Direct from the West End, Broadway and many countries around the globe, smash-hit comedy The 39 Steps follows the incredible adventures of dashingly-handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff-upper-lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents and, of course, devastatingly beautiful women.
Tickets from: www.edtheatres.com
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Mon-Sat 7.30pm (Wed, Sat mats 2.30pm).
Royal Lyceum Theatre:
• Daniel Kitson: After the Beginning . Before the End
Sadly, but unsurprisingly, Daniel Kitson’s latest monologue is sold out.
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Sat 8pm.
Summerhall:
• Edinburgh Acting School: The Tempest
“Edinburgh Acting School brings Shakespeare to life with the performance class’s version of The Tempest. Set in the middle of a storm, this was Shakespeare’s last written play. Best-known as a tragi-comedy it is sure to entertain.”
Tickets from www.summerhall.co.uk
Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Southside EH9 1PL. Sat 25 7pm, Sun 26, 2pm.
Traverse:
• Words, Words, Words
This no-holds barred, work-in-progress scratch extravaganza is the Traverse’s beating heart of new writing, where writers at any stage in their career are invited to present short pieces of their work.
Pieces are brand new and still forming – with the emphasis on development of work in progress. Eight slots have been allocated to writers and each piece will be directed by one of the Traverse emerging directors, paired by a member of the artistic team.
The night continues in the bar – to talk about the work and give feedback to the writers.
Tickets from: www.traverse.co.uk
The Traverse, 10 Cambridge Street EH1 2ED. Mon, 8pm.
• Flaneurs
In 2010 a friend of Jenna Watt’s was the victim of a violent attack. Shocked to discover there were bystanders at the scene, Jenna created Flaneurs in an attempt to explore why we choose to intervene or not and asks whether ‘one punch is enough’ to provoke an intervention.
Flaneurs won her a Fringe First last year and comes fresh from touring to England. In it, she explores the nature of violence in our cities and attempts to deconstruct the ‘bystander effect which posits that: ‘the larger the crowd the less likely it is than anyone will intervene.’
Tickets from: www.traverse.co.uk
The Traverse, 10 Cambridge Street EH1 2ED. Thurs/Fri, 8pm.
• First Love
“A young man, expelled from the family home, takes refuge on a bench by a canal. There he meets a woman who takes him home, with comically disastrous consequences.
“Gare St. Lazare Players have toured internationally with their critically acclaimed presentations of Beckett’s prose works. Conor Lovett’s exceptional performance animates the bone-dry humour of a character besieged with a clutter of emotions.”
Tickets from: www.traverse.co.uk
The Traverse, 10 Cambridge Street EH1 2ED. Thurs-Sat, 7.30pm.
ENDS
