Listings Mon 27 Feb – Sun 5 Mar 2023
What’s on Edinburgh’s Stages this week…
It’s a week of fierce performances on Edinburgh’s stages, with the return of lunchtime theatre to the Traverse while the Edinburgh students do the heavy theatrical lifting with their interpretations of two hefty works.
The big news of the week is the arrival of Rambert Dance with Peaky Blinders – The Redemption of Thomas Shelby (Tue – Sat: tickets) at the Festival theatre. We have seen the images from the production and this looks to be “kill for a ticket” stuff. Our Suzanne got the long straw for this one, so here’s looking forward to her review from first night.
A scene from Peaky Blinders. Pic: Johan Persson
Rambert is not the only dance company in town – the Varna International Ballet is bringing a trio of classics in the repertoire to the Playhouse.
The utterly tragic Giselle (Thurs: tickets), French composer Adolphe Adam’s most famous work; Tchaikovsky’s haunting Swan Lake (Fri: tickets); and Tchaikovsky’s big Christmas treat: The Nutcracker (Sat: tickets) all get an evening outing with the Nutcracker having a saturday matinee.
Elsewhere there are two online experiences. The first is an online talk, Reimagining the Empire Palace Theatre. (Tue: tickets). Led by Stuart Smith-Gordon of Ice Cream at the Interval, the company which makes card models of theatres, it will delve into the archives about this lost Frank Matcham theatre which was on the site of today’s Festival theatre and was damaged by fire in 1911 then closed in 1927.
Then the ever-inventive CMF Wood has the first part of two linked but separate plays: frison Online, (Tue – Thurs: Tickets), from her company Production Lines. A play about “finding love and the person you have always wanted to be” its linked play, frison In A Bar is next week, at Leith Arches. Our Allan is set to cover both pieces.
timeless
So to those student productions. First up, the EUSC is at Teviot Row debating hall with Julius Caesar (Wed-Sat: Tickets). Shakespeare’s timeless story of power struggle, hierarchy, and inherited violence is reimagined in the context of the 1950s New York mob.
Meanwhile, at the Bedlam theatre, the EUTC is taking on Brian Friel’s Translations (Wed-Sat: Tickets). A timely production in the week the Windsor Framework is signed, this “play about language and only about language” according to Friel, uses language to explore England and Ireland’s troubled relationship.
Ordinarily, the return of A Play, A Pie and A Pint to the Traverse for a six-week residency would be at the top of the page. Sadly, if you don’t already have a ticket, it is returns only for the opening play: Until It’s Gone (Tue-Sat: Tickets).
Alison Carr’s play about a post-female world boasts something of a dream team with Stellar Quines’ Caitlin Skinner directing Sean Connor and Billy Mack. Our Hugh will be telling us what we have missed: Best get in early for the rest of the season!
Listings
Click on the name of the show to go to its ticketing site.
Bedlam Theatre
11b Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ.
Translations
Wed 1 – Sat 4 March 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm, Sat mat: 2pm.
The EUTC take on Brian Friel’s play set in 1833 in County Donegal, where the lives of an Irish-speaking community residing in the townland of Baile Beag are shattered by the arrival of a detachment of the Royal Engineers who are conducting an Ordnance Survey of Ireland. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby
Tue 28 Feb – Sat 4 March 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm, Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Rambert Dance with a new dance theatre event, delving into the story of Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders, written by the creator of the global hit television series Steven Knight and directed/choreographed by Benoit Swan Pouffer. Dazzling, athletic dance and stunning dramatisation with iconic eclectic Peaky soundtrack from a live on-stage band. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Ode to the Scottish Play
Thurs 2 – Sat 4 March 2023
Evenings: 7pm.
The Lyceum Youth Theatre and 60+ on the Lyceum main stage with a festival of performances in response to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Thursday: 60+ present The Messengers, The Party and The Third Murderer.
Friday: LYT Seniors present The Scottish Nobles, Banquo’s Ghost, Lady MacDuff and Hekate.
Saturday: LYT Juniors present: Birnam Wood, The Gentlewoman and The Doctors.
Tickets and further details: Book here.
Online
On a screen in your own home
Reimagining the Empire Palace Theatre (Ice Cream at the Interval)
Tuesday 28 February 2023
Evening: 7.30 – 8.10pm (Via Zoom)
An online talk will to explore Edinburgh’s ‘Lost’ Empire Palace Theatre designed by renowned Theatre Architect Frank Matcham. It will delve into the archives, highlighting key finds and discuss Ice Cream at the Interval’s new exciting project. The talk will be lead by Ice Cream at the Interval’s Stuart Smith-Gordon. Book here.
frisson Online (Production Lines)
Tue 28 Feb – Thurs 2 March 2023
Evenings: 8pm (Via Zoom)
Production Lines with a new pair of plays by CMF Wood. This first part is live online, the second will be in real life at Leith Arches. The two parts are designed to enjoyed alone or as a pair. Overall, frisson is “a sweet, darkly funny story about finding love and finding the person you’ve always wanted to be”. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014
Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Living Dangerously
Wed 1 March 2023
Evening: 7.30pm
Named by the Guinness Book of Records as ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’, Sir Ranulph’s many ambitious endeavours have pushed his endurance levels to the very limits, inspiring generations and making him a pioneer of exploration with an unparalleled story to tell. Book here .
Giselle (Varna International Ballet)
Thurs 2 March 2023
Evening: 7.30pm
The moving story of delicate Giselle and her aristocratic but duplicitous lover Albrecht is set to a glorious score. From the visual splendour of the rustic villagers happily gathering the harvest at the start of the story to the eerie moonlit forest haunted by beautifully drifting spirits, this production is unforgettable. Book here .
Swan Lake (Varna International Ballet)
Fri 3 March 2023
Evening: 7.30pm
The greatest romantic ballet of all time is brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s haunting and unforgettable score. From the impressive splendour of the Palace ballroom to the moon-lit lake where swans glide in perfect formation, this compelling tale of tragic romance has it all. Book here
The Nutcracker (Varna International Ballet)
Sat 4 March 2023
Two shows: 2.30pm & 7.30pm
This most famous of fantasy ballets for all the family begins as night falls on Christmas Eve. As snowflakes fall outside, the warm glow of the open fire sends flickering shadows across the boughs of the Christmas tree and all the presents beneath. Book here .
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Beautiful Evil Things
Thurs 2 March 2023
Evening: 7.30pm.
A fierce, funny, bloody take on some of the oldest stories known to woman. From a killer Gorgon. A new, high-energy, one-woman show from Ad Infinitum combining physical storytelling with cut-throat wit. Coming hot on the heels of their multi-award-winning hit, Odyssey, join Medusa on a thrilling adventure. Book here.
Teviot Row House
Debating Hall. House, 13 Bristo Place,EH8 9AJ
Julius Caesar (EU Shakespeare Company)
Wed 1 – Sat 4 March 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat: 2.30pm.
EUSC set Shakespeare’s timeless story of power struggle, hierarchy, and inherited violence in the context of the 1950s New York mob. Mob boss Julius Caesar is popular and loved by those beneath him. Afraid that Caesar may strive towards over-reaching rule, his closest friends conspire to kill him. The warfare that ensues displaces the mob from everything that is familiar to them. Book here
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404
Until it’s Gone (PPP)
Tue 28 Feb – Sat 4 Mar 2023.
Matinees: 1pm. (Traverse 2).
By Alison Carr
In a future, however many years from now where women are extinct, two men meet on a park bench. The younger has brought two Kia-Ora’s to share, but the older doesn’t want to know. A dark comic drama that explores a world without women, and what that means for the men left behind. Book here.
You Are Now Approaching…
Tue 28 Feb 2023
Evening: 7.30pm (Traverse 2)
A reading of a new play by Traverse Breakthrough Writer Lydia Sabatini.
In You Are Now Approaching Brackham-Under-Sea. Please Dive Carefully an Essex coastal town is about to be hit by a crisis, a flood of unprecedented destructiveness. Does it have what it takes to endure? Book here.
ENDS
