Listings Mon 27 May – Sun 2 June
All that’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week..
This week’s main event is the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, but there are also the decidedly adult matters of Avenue Q at the King’s and The Duchess [of Malfi] at the Lyceum.
If you are quick, you can nip into the wonder of mid-Twentieth century dramatic tension that is the Mousetrap, which is trying its luck in the Playhouse for three nights only from Monday. The play, first performed in 1952, has a certain intimacy so it will be interesting to see how it plays in the 3,000-seat Playhouse!
George Costigan as The Cardinal and Angus Miller as Ferdinand in The Duchess [of Malfi] at the Lyceum. Photo credit Mihaela Bodlovic
There’s little laughter in the Lyceum’s current show, The Duchess [of Malfi], although it is not as bloody – nor as wordy – as some productions have been. Zinnie Harris’ slick adaptation and direction updates it to a contemporary setting and finds a suitably contemporary theme.
This is not easy viewing, however, as Hugh points out in his review (★★★★☆ Necessarily nightmarish). And while the critics have differed in their appraisal of Harris’s ending, they have been near universal in their praise for the show overall.
Bossy Belters
It’s always good to hear of a new company getting under way. The Bossy Belters – great name by the way – are opening their account this week at the Pleasance, with two nights only of musical The Last Five Years. Very much looking forward to that one.
On Saturday, there is a one-off night at the Festival Theatre to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It’s more than a celebration of the theatre itself, however, but also a live celebration of the links that Capital Theatres has made with the Edinburgh community.
As for that wonderful Children’s Festival, which is in full swing this week, although many of these short-run productions are sold out, they are all thoroughly recommended – so if you have child of the appropriate age for one of the shows and you can find a ticket, take it!
Listings
Click on the name of the show to go to its ticketing site.
Assembly Roxy
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU. Phone booking: 0131 623 3030.
Valentina’s Galaxy
Sat 25 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Sats: 11.30am & 2pm; Tue – Fri: 10am & 1.30pm.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Inspired by women in space including Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space) and Mae Jemison (first African American woman in space), Valentina’s Galaxy is a fascinating and moving experience and a real visual treat. Book here.
The Brunton
Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Phone booking: 0131 665 2240
This Girl Laughs…
Tue 28 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Mornings: Tue – Fri 10.30am; Wed/Thurs 1.30pm; Fri 7pm; Sat 2pm.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
What happens when your world is turned upside down and you have to find your own way? When triplet sisters are abandoned in a forest by their father, three resolutions are made – one walks one way to find purpose, another the opposite way to find adventure and the third stays right where she is. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33a Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
It Runs In The Family (EPT)
Wed 29 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Wed – Fri: 7.30pm; Sat: 2.30pm.
Fast-paced farce by Ray Cooney set in a hospital where a senior doctor mismanages a chaotic series of events on the most important day of his career. Involving the head of the hospital, a policeman, a geriatric patient, a matron or two and the number 27 bus, there are mistaken identities galore and much serious mayhem ensues… Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Kevin Clifton in Burn the Floor
Tue 28 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm.
In the past two decades Burn the Floor has revolutionised Ballroom style. Combining jaw-dropping choreography and ground-breaking moves, Burn the Floor brings their famous, infectious and rebellious energy to the stage every single night in the UK, starring Strictly Come Dancing favourite Kevin Clifton, and the new Italian heartthrob, Graziano Di Prima. Book here.
1O Soldiers
Thu 30 May 2019
Evening: 7.30pm.
A thrilling and humane portrait of army life telling the stories of men and women serving on the front line. In 2008, choreographer Rosie Kay joined the 4th Battalion The Rifles, to watch and participate in full battle exercises, and visited the National Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre. Charged with Kay’s trademark intense athletic dance theatre, 10 Soldiers explores how the human body – with both fragility and incredible inner strength – remains on the frontline of war. Book here.
25 Live: The Big Birthday Show
Saturday 1 June 2019
Evening: 7pm
Join us for one night only to celebrate 25 years of the Festival Theatre. To mark this birthday we are proudly presenting a packed variety show of the very best of our creative partnerships. We will be sharing some of the work we have produced with our partners in the last year as well as premiering brand-new works commissioned specifically for 25 Live in a celebration of dance, music, film and song. Book here.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Avenue Q
Mon 27 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinee Sat: 2.30pm.
Catch-up with all your favourite (and unforgettable) characters on a downtown New York street trying to make sense of life’s burning issues – like what do you do with a BA in English? How do you find your purpose? And is the internet really just for… Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
The Duchess [of Malfi]
17 May – 8 June 2019
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.
LYT Curtain Raiser – The Duchess [of Malfi]
Friday 31 May, 5.30pm.
The Lyceum Youth Theatre take to the main stage with a short performance in response The Duchess [of Malfi]. Free but ticketed: Book here.
North Edinburgh Arts
15a Pennywell Road, EH4 4TZ Box Office: 0131 315 2151
Nero
Mon 27 – Wed 29 May 2019
Mon – Wed: 9.45am, 11.45am, 1.45pm (not Wed).
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Nero continues Zinola and McCarthy’s investigation into form and emotional content for early years audiences following the company’s earlier production Primo. Nero is a journey, an experience to live and to discover; a chance for children and adults to consider the darkness from a new point of view. Book here.
New Owner
Thurs 30 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Various Times
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Bart is a boisterous puppy waiting to be chosen from the animal shelter. Mabel is a lonely widow, trying to fill the hole in her heart. The day they find each other is the beginning of a profound friendship. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
The Mousetrap
Monday 27 – Wednesday 29 May 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Wed matinee: 2.30pm.
Æ reviews of previous tours: The Mousetrap.
A group of people in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? Agatha Christie’s famously long-running play reveals its characters’ sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motives are finally revealed. Book now.
Bill Bailey – Larks In Transit
Friday 31 May 2019
Evening: 8pm.
A compendium of travellers’ tales and the general shenanigans of twenty years as a travelling comedian. With musical virtuosity, surreal tangents and trademark intelligence, Bill Bailey tackles politics, philosophy and the pursuit of happiness. Book now.
The Carpenters Story
Sat 1 June 2019
Evening: 7pm.
Highly acclaimed concert-style production continues to captivate audiences across the UK with its spectacular re-creation of the classic songbook that made The Carpenters a legend in the world of popular music. Book now.
Pleasance Theatre
Pleasance Courtyard, 60 Pleasance EH8 9TJ.
The Last Five Years
Tue 28/Wed 29 May
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinee Sat: 2.30pm
A heartbreaking and heartwarming musical by Jason Robert Brown, that follows the relationship of Jamie and Cathy in two different timelines – his chronologically, her’s in reverse chronology. Presented by new local company: Bossy Belters. Book here.
The Studio at Festival Theatre
22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
And if I were me
Mon 27/Tue 28 May 2019
Twice daily: 10.30am, 1.30pm.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
In a giant transformable cube, three creature-dancers emerge, grow and unfold. They slither, squirm, jump and evolve, becoming unique beings, each with their own personalities. Act2 Theatre Company. Book here.
Us/Them
Wed 29 – Fri 31 May 2019
Wed: 7.15pm; Thurs: 10.30am, 1.30pm; Fri: 10.30am.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
In September 2004, 1,200 schoolchildren, their parents and teachers were held hostage by a group of armed terrorists in the small Russian town of Beslan. It lasted three days and ended in utter chaos. Us/Them retells this story through the eyes of two (fictional) children. BRINKS, as part of the EICF. Book here.
The Little Bath
Sat 1/Sun 2 June 2019
Various Times
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Created for very young audiences, The Little Bath is a show full of white foam; a lot of foam, smooth and floating, malleable and fragile. Working with this fascinating material is a dancer who sculpts it, blows it and creates landscapes and ephemeral characters. Book here.
Traverse Theatre
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Emil and the Detectives
Mon 27 – Wed 29 May 2019
Mon: 1.30pm, 7.15pm; Tue/Wed: 10am, 1.15pm.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
When young Emil catches a train to visit family in the big city, something valuable is stolen. But the thief soon discovers Emil was not such an easy target. Adapted from Erich Kästner’s 1929 novella by Nicki Bloom for Australian company Slingsby, this is more than a ‘good romp’. Book here.
Super Human Heros
Mon 27 May – Sat 1 June 2019
Mon: 7.30pm; Tue – Thurs 10.30am, 1.45pm; Fri 10.30am; Sat: 2pm, 7.15pm.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Captain Sunshine is not living up to his name! This Super Human Hero is not feeling super. Where’s the all action superhero? The Letter J with A comical and musical dance with darkness, exploring the ways we are, fail and try to be super human heroes. Book here.
The Invisible Man
Thurs 30 May – Sun 2 June 2019
Various Times
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
Mixing ingenious tricks and anarchic theatre, this unpredictable and unruly show explores the border between fiction and non-fiction. Theater Artemis, widely applauded for creating wonderfully absurd theatre for young audiences, return to the Festival with a show about everything you don’t see and the joy of remaining unseen. Book here.
The Warehouse
Elizafield, Unit 7, Edinburgh , EH6 5PY
Small Wonders
Tue 14 May – Sun 2 June 2019
Various times – Four times daily, Tue – Sun.
Part of Ed Int Children’s Fest.
See review: ★★★★★ Magic.
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. Book here.
ENDS
