Archive for August, 2019
Pool (no water)
★★★★☆ Cruel but hilarious:
The Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group’s late evening show at the Royal Scots Club, for week one of the Fringe only, is a decidedly over-18s only production of Pool (no water).
The Grandmothers Grimm
★★★★☆ Enjoyably illuminating:
Literate and relevant, playful and serious, The Grandmothers Grimm at Paradise in The Vault is an involving, thought-provoking and extremely enjoyable hour.
Oliver!
★★★☆☆ Strong performance
Young critics scheme review
The Edinburgh Little Theatre brings Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist to life this week at the Hill Street Theatre.
The 27 Club
★★★☆☆ Decidedly downbeat:
The 27 Club, by Rebel Pigeon and New Celts at theSpace on the Mile, is an exploration of loss whose frustrations are balanced by some real insight.
Parasites
★★★★☆ Raw emotion:
There is brutality, but also considerable compassion, in Seesome Theatre and New Celts’ Parasites at theSpace on the Mile.
Surprise Package
★★★☆☆ Brightly cheerful:
Surprise Package, Saughtonhall Drama Group’s comedy at Saughtonhall United Reformed Church, is garishly old-fashioned and very silly, but put together with genuine care.
Sunset
★★★★☆ Moving portrayal of a marriage:
This one woman show at theSpace @ Niddry Street until Saturday only, is a thoroughly recognisable portrait of an older woman reflecting on the emotional roller coaster that constitutes her long marriage.
The Pat Hobby Stories
★★★★☆ Bittersweet tales beautifully performed:
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s later short stories are given a suitably bittersweet telling by Paul Birchard for Fringe Management, at the Gilded Ballon Teviot’s Sportsman room for the whole fringe.
Arrivals
★★★☆☆ Initially intriguing:
Arrivals, by Twelve Twelve and New Celts at theSpace on the Mile, is an odd beast. It is probably fair to describe Dougal Thomson’s script as two plays; one that works very well, and one that is less successful.
Level Up
★★★★☆ Comic foreboding:
Level Up by Full Breakfast and New Celts at theSpace on the Mile is a believable portrait of social control made enjoyable by some warmly human performances and pin-sharp direction.
