Listings 8 – 14 October 2018
Plenty in the season of plenty
Big shows of all kinds are the theme for this week’s theatre offerings in Edinburgh, with the Traverse’s main Autumn show opening, the tour of Cyrano arriving at the Lyceum and Rebus taking to an Edinburgh stage.
Musical Theatre wise, there can be little better offering than Calendar Girls The Musical (★★★★★ Heartfelt), which continues at the Festival Theatre to Saturday. It is joyous, tragic and brilliantly realised. Take hankies.
Cathy Tyson (Siobhan Clarke) & Charles Lawson (Rebus) in Rebus: Long Shadows. Pic: Robert Day
Combining musicals and pop music, Let It Be returns to the Playhouse (Mon 8 – Sat 13) with a new second half. We thought the 2016 tour was ★★★★☆ Upstanding, and this should continue the vein with the chance to hear the Fab Four’s fab songs sung live, fabulously.
Theatre wise, the most hotly anticipated production has to be Clare Duffy’s Arctic Oil at the Traverse (Tue 9 – Sat 20). It’s play which has been a long time coming for Duffy, whose first draft of the script was inspired by the Greenpeace activists arrested at gunpoint by Russian police in 2013. But having a baby completely changed her perspective and she began to consider about what it means to be left behind from such a heroic team because of motherhood.
Gareth Nicholls directs Neshla Caplan and Jennifer Black in this tight two-hander set on a remote Scottish island, which centres on an estranged mother and daughter who are at loggerheads over how best to protect their children.
There is also plenty of anticipation for Rebus: Long Shadows at the King’s (Mon 8 – Sat 13), as you would expect for the first ever appearance on stage for Ian Rankin’s detective in a new script from Rona Munro. Whether this translates to great theatre remains to be seen, however, with the images coming out rather better than the reviews.
must-see
There have rather better notices for the Citz/NTS/Lyceum co-pro of Cyrano de Bergerac in Edwin Morgan’s brilliant translation directed by Dominic Hill, which opened at the Tramway last month to overwhelmingly four and five star reviews. With a few trims, which should appease the four-star doubters, it now arrives at the Lyceum (Fri 12 – Sat 3 Nov) where it looks to be a must-see over the coming weeks.
Elsewhere there are several productions which are worth flagging up. Vision Mechanics latest promenade event, Quest for Oz at Drummohr House (to Sun 28 Oct) is a great evening entertainment – and not just for families. While the brilliant circus subversion No Show at Summerhall (Sat 13/Sun 14) has a similar universal appeal.
Lucky Brunton patrons have a chance to see Morna Pearson’s punk musical comedy, Let’s Inherit the Earth directed by Ben Harrison (Sat 13), while the students open their Autumn Term proper with a production of David Ireland’s Cyprus Avenue at the Bedlam (Wed 10 – Sat 13).
Listings
Click on the name of the show to go to its ticketing page:
Bedlam Theatre
11b Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ
Cyprus Avenue
Wednesday 10 – Saturday 13 october 2018
Evenings: 7.30pm.
The EUTC present David Ireland’s absurd dark comedy following Belfast Loyalist Eric Miller as he becomes convinced that his Protestant heritage is under attack from his infant granddaughter.
The Brunton
Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Phone booking: 0131 665 2240
Let’s Inherit the Earth
Saturday 13 October 2018
Evening: 7.30pm
A new punk musical comedy by Morna Pearson, directed by Ben Harrison. Somewhere in the Caribbean, three turtles stare in disbelief at the expanding patch of seaweed that threatens to destroy their habitat – and on towards luxury beachfront condominiums, owned by the super-rich Mucklefannys and Storskinkas.
Drummohr House
Meet Wallyford Park & Ride, 33 The Loan, Wallyford, Musselburgh EH21 8BU
Quest for Oz
Thursday 4 – Sunday 28 October.
Evenings (not Mondays): 6pm, 6.30pm, 7pm, 7.30pm & 8pm.
Augmented reality theatre adventure from giant specialists Vision Mechanics sees the Yellow Brick Road destroyed. Download the Quest for Oz app to help the Wizard of Oz rebuild the Road and reunite the Land of Oz.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Calendar Girls the Musical
Run ends Sat 13 October 2018
Evenings Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Thu & Sat: 2.30pm.
Created by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, this award winning production is based on the true story of the calendar girls – a group of ordinary ladies who achieved something extraordinary. Starring Fern Britton, Anna-Jane Casey, Sara Crowe, Karen Dunbar, Ruth Madoc, Rebecca Storm and Denise Welch. Read Æ’s review here: ★★★★★ Heartfelt.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Rebus: Long Shadows
Mon 8 – Sat 13 October 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Thurs & Sat: 2.30pm.
Rona Munro collaborates with Ian Rankin to bring a new John Rebus tale to the stage. Now retired, the shadows of his former life still follow him through the streets of Edinburgh. But when the daughter of a murder victim appears outside his flat, he’s back on the case… Staring Charles Lawson, Cathy Tyson and John Stahl.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848
Cyrano de Bergerac
12 October – 3 November 2018
(Preview Fri 12: 7.30pm)
Daily Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed, Sat: 2pm.
The hugely romantic Cyrano de Bergerac is given a Caledonian heart in a new production of Edwin Morgan’s legendary Scots translation, directed by Citizens Theatre Artistic Director Dominic Hill.
A co-production with the NTS and Glasgow Citizens.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014
Let It Be
Monday 8 -Saturday 13 Oct
Evenings: 7.30pm, Matinees Weds, Sat: 2.30pm.
Relive The Beatles’ meteoric rise from their humble beginnings to the heights of Beatlemania and an amazing reunion concert featuring later hits. Æ review of 2016 tour: ★★★★☆ Upstanding.
The Studio at Festival Theatre
22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Shall We Dance
Sat 13 October 2018.
Evening: 7pm.
Join us for a contemporary, laid-back, fun and glittering evening of ballroom dancing. Learn the basics with instruction from professionals, dance the night away with live music from Radio Pachuco and watch a fabulous showdance by champion dancers. Open to all skills, from beginner to advanced.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall Square, EH9 1PL
No Show
Saturday 13/Sunday 14 October 2018
Sat: 7.30pm; Sun: 2pm.
Ellie Dubois’ all female circus troupe joyously and heartbreakingly reveal what lies hidden beneath the showmanship. There will be desperate attempts and heroic failures, glorious achievements and bruised bodies and egos as the performers push themselves to their physical and mental limit.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404
PPP: It Wisnae Me
Tue 9 – Sat 13 Oct 2018
Daily: 1pm; Fri: 7pm.
A police interview room. A table. Jock has been huckled for a crime he says he didn’t commit: imperialism. He has been spotted at the scene, but is it what it looks like? Or is Jock, despite what he claims, a racist himself? It Wisnae Me is a political satire posing the question of Scotland’s complicity in colonisation.
Arctic Oil
Sat 6 – Sat 20 Oct 2018
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Thurs 11, Sat 20: 3pm.
A mother and daughter battle to save their children. While Ella fights for her son’s future, Margret is terrified that Ella’s activism will her get killed. Not all mothers know best. Arctic Oil gets under the skin of what climate change could make us do to the people we love.
ENDS
