Listings: Mon 30 Oct – Sun 5 Nov 2023
What is on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
It’s another week of plenty on the theatre front in Edinburgh this week, after a strong start from the Horror Festival at the Banshee Labyrinth – on Hallowe’en night, of course.
Just ready for Halowe’en, Some Kind of Theatre’s take on the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales, The Grandmothers Grimm is at the Traverse (tickets), a new satire on social media is at Summerhall with FLIP! (tickets), the Merry Mac Funshow’s John McKay’s 1988 hit, Dead Dog Dad is revived at the Traverse (tickets) and Theatre Paradok have a new play about Marx’s youngest daughter with Eleanor at le Belle Angele (tickets).
Allegro have Grease at the Church Hill Theatre – Tue 31 – Sat 4. Pic Rachel Bolton.
On a musical theatre tip, local amateurs Allegro are turning the Church Hill Theatre into Rydell High as they get their teeth into Grease (tickets), Aladdin is bedding in at the Playhouse (tickets) ahead of its UK tour, the brilliant Apphia Campbell has re-conceived her solo show WOKE, as a two-hander: Through the Mud at the Lyceum (tickets) and Scottish Opera have their sparkling take on Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Festival Theatre (tickets).
Not to forget a night of scratch performances at the Studio on Wednesday with the likes of Tam Dean Burn experimenting in the Open Floor Scratch Night (tickets), Unearthed Dance Company, also at the Studio, with All, Here & Now (tickets) and Kevin Quantum doing the close-up magic thing he does so well with Edinburgh Magic at the Waldorf Astoria (tickets).
Listings for week ending Sunday 5 November 2023:
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site:
The Banshee Labyrinth
29-35 Niddry St, Edinburgh EH1 1LG.
Edinburgh Horror Festival
Thurs 26 – Tue 31 Oct 2023
The Horror Festival returns with a host of spooky theatre shows, storytelling and other events. The main focus of their theatre is at the Banshee Labyrinth, where there are a wealth of live performances on Hallowe’en night, including the following theatre shows.
See our Horror Festival preview here for full details
Chamber Room
The Dream Extortionist: A Collection of Nightmares
5.45 – 6.30pm. Tickets: Pay What You Can: Book here.
Survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse
6.55 – 7.45pm. Tickets: £5 – £10. Book here.
I Was a Teenage Bisexual
8 – 8.45pm. Tickets: £6 – £8: Book here.
Cinema Room
Frighthouse Presents: The Game of Misfortune Live Podcast
7.30 – 8.30pm. Tickets £5: Book here.
Dark Dreams
8.45 – 9.40pm. Tickets: £10 – £12: Book here.
You Are A Monster
10-10.45pm. Tickets: Pay What You Can: Book here.
la Belle Angele
11 Hasties Close, EH1 1HJ.
Eleanor (Theatre Paradok)
Sun 5 – Tue 7 Nov 2023.
Evenings: 7pm.
Set against the explosive backdrop of early socialism, Agnes Perry-Robinson’s new play follows the tragic life of Karl Marx’ youngest daughter, a fierce activist whose life has been long eclipsed in history by the male figures in her life. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Grease The Musical (Allegro)
Tue 31 Oct – Sat 4 Nov 2023.
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Allegro head to Rydell High for the automatic, systomatic, hyyyyyydromatic story of Danny, Sandy, the T-Birds and those Pink Ladies in the musical which has a bit more grit than many. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
The Barber of Seville (Scottish Opera)
Fri 3 – Sat 11 Nov 2023
Fri 3, Wed 8, Sat 11: 7.15pm; Sun 5: 3pm.
Back by popular demand, Sir Thomas Allen (The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni) creates a riotous production of Rossini’s beloved comedy. When Count Almaviva sets his sights on the beautiful Rosina, he enlists Figaro – barber, fixer, and all-round man of action – to help woo her. It is no easy feat: Rosina’s guardian Doctor Bartolo keeps her under lock and key with the intention of marrying her himself… Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Through the Mud
By Apphia Campbell and Meredith Yarbrough.
A Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Stellar Quines co-production.
Thurs 2 – Sat 4 Nov 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Apphia Campbell reconceives her solo show WOKE, as a two-hander with Meredith Yarbrough. gainst a powerful soundtrack of original music and traditional gospel and blues sung live, two women 42 years apart become involved in the struggle for civil rights. One, a notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur; the other, a present-day university student enrolling as the Ferguson riots begin. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014
Disney’s Aladdin
Ends – Sat 18 Nov 2023
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Sat: 2.30pm; Sun: 1pm & 6pm.
One lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite. Featuring the iconic music by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice – this exuberant production is filled with unforgettable magic, comedy and breath-taking spectacle. Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Open Floor: Scratch Night
Wed 1 Nov 2023
One show: 7.30pm.
The Studio’s brand-new scratch night, where theatremakers and theatre companies from Edinburgh and beyond can test brand-new ideas in front of a live audience for the first time. Applications will open in September 2023. Book here.
All, Here & Now (Unearthed Dance Company)
Fri 3/Sat 4Nov 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Fresh from their highly successful run at this year’s Fringe Festival, Edinburgh’s Unearthed Dance Company with a mixed bill of contemporary dance work by Artistic Director Hannah Mason. Join them on a journey through movement, music and a profound love of dance together. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL.
FLIP! (Fuel & Alphabetti Theatre)
Tue 31 Oct – Sat 4 Nov 2023
Evenings: 7pm (Techcube 0)
A powerful new satire from critically-acclaimed writer Racheal Ofori and director Emily Aboud (Evening Standard Future Theatre Award winner 2021) that probes what it means to live freely under the shadow of social media, encroaching on every aspect of our lives. Co-commissioned by Fuel and Soho Theatre, as part of Soho Six. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
The Grandmothers Grimm (Some Kind of Theatre)
Tue 31 Oct/Wed 1 Nov 2023.
Evenings: 8pm. (Traverse 2).
Written and Directed by Emily Ingram
Æ reviews of EdFringe productions: ★★★★☆ Enjoyably Illuminating.
Cannibalism, werewolf trials, deceit and murder… Marie Hassenpflug and the Brothers Grimm are editing the darkness out of old stories but as they do so, little by little, the voices of the storytellers who created the tales are eroded away. What will be saved and what will be forgotten? Book here.
Dead Dad Dog
Wed 1 – Sat 4 Nov 2023.
Evenings: 7.30pm. (Traverse 1).
Written by John McKay
Teturning to the Traverse for the first time since its 1988 premiere, this comic smash hit sees young Alexander “Eck” Dundee dogged by the spectre of his long-dead father Willie, a flare-trousered 1970s picture of Caledonian cheesiness. Explores grief, the impact of the death of a father figure on the lives of a family across generations – and the challenges to forming positive male relationships in an era of deep change for masculinity. Book here.
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh, the Caledonian
Princes Street, EH1 2AB.
Edinburgh Magic
Sat 4 Nov 2023
Saturday evening: 6pm & 8.30pm (Versailles Suite)
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Rosy
Kevin Quantum performs an hour of magic that’s fooled some of the most brilliant and creative people ever to have lived, often times with strong links to Edinburgh and Scotland. An elegant, intimate and quite astonishing evening of magic, mystery and wonder in one of Edinburgh’s most historic and enchanting hotels.tickets.
*NB: This is intended to be a complete listing of all public theatrical productions on in Edinburgh. If you are staging a show which is not listed, or a listing is inaccurate, please get in touch through the contact page, here.§
