Listings Mon 13 – Sun 19 May 2019
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
The answer’s “plenty” it would seem, although the highest profile show is the latest from the Play That Goes Wrong gang – The Comedy About A Bank Robbery.
Oh, and the Michael Jackson musical is at the Playhouse, Thriller Live!, which we have reviewed many times and which, rather fortuitously for the longevity of this production, focusses on the late singer’s professional career rather than his personal life.
A scene from The Comedy About A Bank Robbery
And what of this plenty? There’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Studio for starters, with Mike Patton directing Leitheatre in Tennessee Williams’ 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner, set on a plantation home in the Mississippi Delta.
Then down at the Brunton, there’s no business like show business for the Encore musical theatre company, who are staging Annie Get Your Gun. Both shows run Wednesday to Saturday.
Anyone with an interest in Variety and music hall should be getting along to the Festival Theatre this, or next, Saturday afternoon where four dancers from the Variety era will be telling stories of their youth in An Audience With…
Then there is the first of the Edinburgh International Children’s Theatre Festival shows opening a three week run. It’s Small Wonders, an installation by Punchdrunk built in a warehouse off Newhaven Road. Sounds like a fascinating proposition – there are four shows a day, a very small audience and all adults will need to be accompanied by a child in order to gain entry.
UK premiere
Or how about the UK premiere of the Jon Fosse’s play The Guitar Man, at Assembly Roxy from new Edinburgh company Surrogate Productions. It’s directed by Nora Wardell, who has a gender swap casting of the title character, who will be played by Scotland-based American actor, Renee Williams.
And then to the Traverse, still basking in its ten nominations for the CATS – or 11 if you count the PPP co-production of The Mack. This week’s PPP – Toy Plastic Chicken – had an outing at last year’s Open Door festival, but the stand-out production of the week has to be Shine, a bittersweet coming of age story from actor, rapper, singer and rising star Kema Sikazwe.
Oh, and those wags at the Village Pub Theatre are celebrating the royal birth with a round of newly minted, script-in-hand plays on Thursday – Regal Pint Size – the Children of King’s.
Listings
Assembly Roxy
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU. Phone booking: 0131 623 3030.
The Guitar Man
Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 May 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm
A man makes his living singing the same songs day after day on the edge of town. He plays to an audience that is always on the move, always passing him by. People call him ‘The Guitar Man’. In a world made up of winners and losers, The Guitar Man asks what is left when we reject the role we are expected to play? Written in 1997, Norwegian writer Jon Fosse speaks to a post-industrial society in crisis, where rootlessness and homelessness are the common experience. Book here.
The Brunton
Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Phone booking: 0131 665 2240
Annie Get Your Gun (Encore)
Wed 15 – Sat 18 May 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Encore theatre company with the feel-good musical based on the true story of Annie Oakley, which is packed with such great songs as There’s No Business Like Show Business and Anything You Can Do. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
An Audience With…
Sat 18 May & Sat 25 May 2019
2-5pm.
Janice Parker Projects in collaboration with Capital Theatres bring an entertaining and rare encounter with dancers from the Variety era. Doreen Leighton-Ward (87), Marie Duthie (96), June Don Parker (92) and Betty Clarkson (98) will ignite your imaginations and regale you with stories, photos and memorabilia from their fascinating and prolific careers. Book here.
Hormonal Housewives
Sunday 19 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
Join Vicki Michelle and the Hormonal Housewives as they blast their witty way through a catalogue of women’s bits. No subject is taboo for these girls and no thought is too private as the challenges of modern womanhood are sliced, diced and put to rights. And that’s not all – audiences will be treated to some of the very best bits from the previous tour of this smash-hit show. Book here.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
The Comedy About A Bank Robbery
Tue 14 – Sat 18 May 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed & Sat: 2.30pm.
Following the phenomenal sell-out success of their multi award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre return with their latest fast and fabulous comedy caper. Think Ocean’s Eleven meets the Marx Brothers… Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
The Duchess [of Malfi]
17 May – 8 June 2019
(Previews: Fri 17, Sat 18 & Mon 20: 7.30pm)
Daily Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Sat: 2pm.
Webster’s original is the most thrilling and chilling of the Jacobean revenge tragedies – an exploration of male rage and female resistance as two brothers try and control their sister, block her marriage and repress her agency with fatal results. These themes of patriarchy versus female empowerment convinced Zinnie Harris that the play is ripe for an adaptation which chimes with our contemporary concerns surrounding the abuse of male power. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Thriller Live!
Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 May 2019
Tue – Fri: 7.30pm; Sat: 4pm & 8pm.
Æ reviews of previous tours: Thriller LIVE!
Direct from London’s West End, where it’s in its record breaking 9th year, Thriller Live is a spectacular concert created to celebrate the career of the world’s greatest entertainer. Book now.
Riddle’s Court
322 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PG
Doorways in Drumorty
Thursday 16 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm.
Mike Gibb’s smash hit Scottish play based on Lorna Moon’s short stories, directed by Andy Corelli. 16 year-old Jessie McLean seemed destined for spinsterhood when her young man left town never to return – leaving her alone and unfulfilled. 35 years later, a young girl in a similar circumstances helps her discover an inner courage which she uses to foil the myopia of those around her. Book here.
The Studio at Festival Theatre
22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Wed 15 May to Sat 18 May 2019.
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Tennessee Williams’ portrayal of a day in the life of the Pollitt family, wealthy plantation owners in 1950s’ American Deep South. A powerfully written work with strong and diverse characters, and themes of repression and dishonesty in relation to disputed wealth, dysfunctional family relationships and sexuality and mendacity. Book here.
Traverse Theatre
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
PPP: Toy Plastic Chicken
Tue 14 – Sat 18 May 2019
Lunchtimes Tue – Sat: 1pm; Fri evening: 7pm (Trav 2).
At Edinburgh Airport, a toy plastic chicken is suspected to be a bomb. A woman is screened for domestic radicalisation, while her interrogators decide to perform a violent and radical act of their own. Based on a true story, Toy Plastic Chicken is a violent comedic exploration of degradation and revolt. Book here.
Electrolyte
Tue 14 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm (Trav 1)
Follow Jessie through gigs, parties, city streets and warehouses, journeying from Leeds to London, on a quest to find her mother. Wildcard Theatre’s multi award-winning gig theatre show combines spoken word and original music to powerfully explore mental health for a contemporary audience. Book here.
Harbour
Thurs 16 May 2019
Evening: 8pm (Trav 2).
Inspired by David Greig’s adaptation of Local Hero, the Lyceum Original Sixty explore the idea of community, love and communication in search of their own local hero. Book here.
Shine
Thurs 16 – Sat 18 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm (Trav 1)
Actor, rapper, singer and rising star Kema Sikazwe, also known as Kema Kay, makes his powerful stage debut mixing a bittersweet coming-of-age story with an electrifying live soundtrack and heartfelt words. Book here.
The Village
The Village Pub, 16 South Fort Street, EH6 4DN
Regal Pint Size – The Children of Kings
Thursday 16 May 2019
Evening: 8pm
It’s VPT’s Spring season with new short plays, cake, bants, pants and royals! First up it is script-in-hand short plays provoked by the idea of the offspring of those who would rule over us. No booking – £3 entry on the door.
The Warehouse
Elizafield, Unit 7, Edinburgh , EH6 5PY
Small Wonders
Tue 14 May – Sun 2 June 2019
Various times – Four times daily, Tue – Sun.
Inside Nanny Lacey’s flat are her collection of miniatures. These homemade creations capture the adventures she’s shared with her daughter Bella over the years. Like 3D photographs, they’re treasured moments of time and each one tells a different story. In Punchdrunk’s magical, immersive and interactive experience, Bella invites you to join Nanny Lacey in her flat and explore the tiny worlds she has created. Part of EICF. Book here.
ENDS
