Preview and listings: Mon 14 – Sun 20 Oct 2024.
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
The big opener this week comes from amateur company EGTG who are staging J B Priestley’s tense psychological drama Dangerous Corner (Ends Sat: tickets) at the Assembly Roxy. A goody this one and not to be missed.
Then there are three great shows for young people over the October week. The Baddies (ends Sun: tickets) at the Lyceum; Farah Saleh’s dance piece for over four-year olds, The World We Share (Fri: tickets) at Assembly Roxy; and 12+ rated Re:INCARNATION (Fri/Sat: tickets) from the Nigeria’s QDance Company at the Festival Theatre.
Paul Wilson in EGTG’s Dangerous Corner. Pic: Kate Stephenson.
Originally premiered at the Lyric Theatre, London in 1932, Dangerous Corner is the first of J.B. Priestley’s ‘Time Plays’ – so called for its use of time as a central theatrical device. The play would go on to worldwide success, inspiring a number of film and TV adaptations, and even a novelisation, bucking the trend of the more often seen page to stage.
Director Martin Foreman says: “I have always been a fan of Priestley’s plays and the skill with which he uncovers the secrets beneath people’s lives while portraying the façades that bind them to each other.
“Dangerous Corner, like his better-known An Inspector Calls, is a classic of the genre, but in several ways more daring with its references to drug use and same-sex desire. I am lucky to have an extremely talented cast to create this absorbing drama which will resonate with the audience long after the final curtain.”
Where’s the Gruffalo?
The Baddies at the Lyceum is almost everything you would want from a stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler book. There is a slightly missed opportunity in that we didn’t spot Scheffler’s customary Gruffalo reference though.
But the framing device from co-producers Freckle, of the story being a bed-time tale of the Mouse in the existing book, with her variously naughty children playing the Baddies, works perfectly. While the jaunty music and catchy songs are just right to set the tone for the whole thing
The Baddies at the Lyceum: Dyfrig Morris (Troll) Rachel Bird (Witch) and James Stirling (Ghost) Pic: Jess Shurte.
Then the Assembly Roxy has a great dance piece by Farah Saleh for over four-year olds: The World We Share for two performances only on Friday at 11am and 2pm. It’s 45 minutes of “hopeful dreaming” where the audience is invited to move around and eventually join what’s unfolded.
Saleh says: “As a Palestinian born in a refugee camp in Syria, and a mother of two young children who were born and raised in Scotland, it feels a fitting time to research and explore ways of addressing complex topics with young people who are both performers and audience members.
“I believe that the younger generation can and will bring more understanding and justice to the world. I hope that The World We Share will contribute to this process, as we try to find solutions for individual and collective issues as a group.”
biggest beats
The biggest beats, however, are at the Festival Theatre with Re:INCARNATION on Friday and Saturday from the Nigeria’s QDance Company. There is a 12+ rating for “some mild sexual references and possible partial nudity” but watching the trailer, this is completely thrilling stuff, which captures all sorts of musical genres – with a lot of bass thrown in.
According to the publicity: “Paying homage to the wealth and profusion of Nigerian music, the show draws on Afrobeats, born of an explosive cocktail of jazz, soul, funk, and traditional African music. In this mix of urban cultures, a reincarnation of the personal journeys of each of the dancers comes to the fore, marked by their individual signatures.”
QDance Company with Re-INCARNATION. Pic Festival Theatre
Moving away from October break-orientated shows, the Playhouse continues with the Book of Mormon (tickets) which is sitting down at the venue until November 2. That this comes labeled “outrageous musical comedy” is practically a given, coming as it does from the creators of South Park and the co-writer of Avenue Q.
Our critic was not too keen on it the last time around, saying of the 2022 tour that is is: “undoubtedly impressive in its staging, but is a distinctly troubling watch – and not because of its depiction of religion.” However we are revisiting the show and are looking forward to a new review of it later in the week.
Back to the Roxy, Scotland’s Circus Cabaret Night: Cirqulation is returns for a ninth iteration on Sunday (tickets) “freshening the blood flow of Circus Arts in Scotland” with an After Dark theme. This will be a family friendly show in the theme of Cirque Noir that embraces the magical, the world of night creatures and dark fairytales. Nice!
Finally the Traverse’s lunchtime offering until Saturday is the Edinburgh Fringe-set Lost Girls/At Bus Stops (tickets). Our critic liked it overall, saying it is a “is a rather sweet take on a time-honoured dramatic dilemma” and praising the performances from Catriona Faint and Leyla Aycan, best pals who first bonded over bad Fringe shows in underground venues, takeaway shops, bus shelters and the ethics of flyering.
Listing
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site.
Assembly Roxy
2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU
Dangerous Corner (EGTG)
Tue 15 – Sat 19 Oct 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm (upstairs).
Why did Martin Caplan die? A close-knit group of family and friends unravels as secrets are revealed following the death of one of their number. Martin Foreman directs this tense psychological drama from the author of An Inspector Calls. Details here.
The World We Share (Farah Saleh)
Fri 18 Oct 2024
Two shows: 11am & 2pm (Central).
How do we solve personal and collective problems? Can we do it together, even though we are all so different? A new dance performance four young people and three adults, from different walks of life, who come together with choreographer Farah Saleh and collaborators to explore these questions. Book here.
Cirqulation 9: After Dark
Sun 20 Oct 2024
Early evening: 6pm (Central).
Scotland’s Circus Cabaret Night is back, freshening the blood flow of Circus Arts in Scotland. The theme this time is After Dark. What are we up to when night falls? It’s the dark time of the year, embracing the magical, the world of night creatures and dark fairytales. A family friendly show in the theme of Cirque Noir. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells
Mon 14 Oct 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
The Tubular Bells UK Autumn tour will feature an expansive live group, conducted and arranged by Oldfield’s long-term collaborator Robin Smith, which will see the iconic Tubular Bells performed in full, as well as other works by Mike Oldfield including Moonlight Shadow, Summit Day, Family Man and Ommadawn.Book here.
Carrie Hope Fletcher – Love Letters
Tue 15 Oct 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Following the huge success of An Open Book, Carrie Hope Fletcher – Love Letters will see the musical theatre star explore all forms of love; from romantic to maternal, unrequited to obsessive, showcased through a composition of stunning musical theatre classics.Book here.
Ocean Film Festival
Wed 16 Oct 2024
Evening: 7.30pm
Venturing to rarely explored depths of the planet, meet the surfers, paddlers, divers and scientists who have dedicated their lives to answering the call of the ocean. Plunge into the wonders of the big blue – without getting your feet wet!Book here.
Re:INCARNATION (Qudus Onikeku/The Q Dance Company)
Fri 18/Sat 19 Oct 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Nigeria’s celebrated QDance Company explode onto the stage with their exuberant Re:INCARNATION. An ode to the richness of Nigerian culture, this dance, music, fashion and visual art creation showcases the depth of ancient Yoruba philosophy mixed with Nigerian youth culture bursting with pure and uncompromising joy.Book here.
Ed Gamble: Hot Diggity Dog
Sun 20 Oct 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Ed Gamble has minced a load of meat (thoughts), piped it into a casing (show) and it’s coming to a bun (venue) near you. There will be all your classic Gamble ranting, raving and spluttering but he’s doing fine mentally. Promise.Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
The Baddies
Based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Fri 4 – Sun 20 Oct 2024
Daily (not Mon) 10.10am, 1.30pm. Fri 4 & Sat/Sun: 3.30pm.
The Baddies love being bad. They roar, spook and cast wicked spells to try and scare a girl out of her wits…who will succeed? Or perhaps the girl is braver than they think… With songs by Joe Stilgoe (Zog and Zog and The Flying Doctors), The Baddies is a wickedly hilarious adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s smash-hit story. A laugh-out-loud riot for all the family. Book here.
Sandi Toksvig: Friends of Dorothy
Tue 15 Oct 2024
One performance: 7.30pm.
An evening to celebrate the publication of Sandi Toksvig’s new novel. The show will be packed with silly stories, profound truths, fascinating facts, readings from the book and a quick-fire Q&A. Life affirming, wise and funny, Sandi investigates what it really means to be a ‘Friend of Dorothy’. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
The Book of Mormon
Tue 15 Oct – Sat 2 Nov 2024.
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Fri, Sat mat: 2.30pm.
This outrageous musical comedy from the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and Bobby Lopez, the Co-writer of Avenue Q and Frozen, follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries, sent on a mission to a place that’s about as far from Salt Lake City as you can get… Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Treasure Island (Scottish Theatre Producers)
Tue 15 Oct 2024
Evening: 6pm.
Local lad Robbie Stevenson prefers to hide away from the world inside the pages of his favourite book, Treasure Island. But with a little bit of imagination, the book comes to life, and he is thrust aboard. Robbie soon finds that you can’t stay hiding forever when he must learn to navigate his own course, and to discover the world is full of treasure, if you’re brave enough to look. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Lost Girls/At Bus Stops (PPP)
By Róisín Sheridan Bryson.
Tue 15 – Sat 19 Oct 2024
Lunchtimes: 1pm (Trav 2).
It’s the Edinburgh Fringe and the city is suddenly bursting at the seams. Every cul-de-sac and kebab shop is alive with the effervescent fizzing of potential – it is the moment where dreams are made, and hearts are broken. An epic queer romance and a love letter to the world’s greatest and most magical arts festival. Book here.
ENDS
