Preview & Listings Mon 18 – Sun 24 March 2024
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week…
In another varied week of theatre, the big opener is Rob Drummond’s brilliant Don’t. Make. Tea. from Birds of Paradise at the Traverse for two nights only (Thurs/Fri: Tickets) ahead a stint in London. Our review of the 2022 production is here: ★★★★☆ Surprising.
The EUTC is taking on A Taste of Honey at the Bedlam (Wed-Fri: tickets). Shelagh Delaney’s groundbreaking 1958 script challenges notions of class, race, age of consent, gender, sexual orientation and illegitimacy. And this week’s slice of lunchtime theatre at the Traverse is Pushin’ Thirty, by Taylor Dyson and Calum Kelly of Dundee’s Elfie Picket (Tue – Sat: tickets).
Aidan Scott and Gillian Dean in the 2022 tour of Don’t. Make. Tea. Pic: Andy Catlin
While Don’t. Make. Tea. uses theatre to examine the Kafkaesque insanity of the benefits system for disabled people, Sarah Hopfinger uses dance in her bold exploration of the chronic pain experience, Pain and I, which is at Summerhall for two performances only ahead of a Scottish tour (Fri/Sat: tickets).
Emma Rice’s Blue Beard is into the second of a three week run at the Lyceum (ends 30 March: tickets). Our critic said it was nudging a five star show, but ended up with ★★★★☆ Furiously funny. The Lyceum Youth Theatre have an early evening Curtain Raiser, inspired by the themes of Blue Beard (Fri: tickets).
On a musicals tip, the EU Footlights Showchoir are down at the Magnusson Centre in the Edinburgh Academy with All Who Wander, (Thurs – Sat: tickets). This portmanteau production uses songs from a wide range of musicals to provide a sung-through narrative of the milestones in life.
Music of the Night
Stage Door Entertainment is promoting its Stage Door Fund, which helps youngsters attend its own courses, in The Music of the Night, a fundraiser at the Portobello Town Hall (Fri/Sat: tickets). The concert will feature a “stellar cast of performers from all our recent productions, celebrating the best of musical theatre”.
Hamilton continues at the Festival Theatre (ends Sat 27 April: tickets) and if you get a chance to see it, it is worth the effort. Our review (here: ★★★★★ The storm’s eye) has handy tips on how to get tickets for what is mostly a sold-out show.
And finally, there are a couple of theatre-adjacent dates at the Assembly Roxy. In An Evening With Sanjeev Kohli (Fri: tickets), the big man lifts the lid on 62 episodes of Still Game. Then Scotland’s circus cabaret night is back with Cirqulation 8: Power (Sun: tickets), exploring the theme of power, in all is manifestations, within all disciplines of circus.
Listings
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
An Evening with Sanjeev Kohli (Red Shoe Entertainment)
Fri 22 March 2024.
Evening: 7.30pm. (Upstairs)
Having entertained audiences for 62 episodes and an incredible 21 years, Sanjeev Kohli regales the audience with delightful stories from his time as “Navid” on Still Game and provides insights into his hugely successful career so far. This memorable night lifts the lid on some of the secrets that has made him on of Scotland’s most admired household names. Book here.
Cirqulation 8: Power (DeLighters)
Sun 24 March 2024
One show: 6pm (Central)
Scotland’s Circus Cabaret Night is back. What does true power mean? Is it strength, wealth, or position? Unity? Electricity? Perseverance and grace? What does it mean when we have it and what does it mean when we don’t?
Exploring the theme of POWER within all disciplines of circus. Book here.
Bedlam Theatre
11B Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ.
A Taste of Honey (EUTC)
Wed 20 – Fri 22 March 2024.
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Manchester, 1958. The leaden Irwell flows through Salford as children play make believe in bomb sites. Makeshift families come together and fall apart, exploring new ways of living and loving in the rubble. Written when she was 19, Shelagh Delaney’s play is a gem of postwar British theatre. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Hamilton
Run ends – Sat 27 April 2024
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Thurs, Sat: 2.30pm (+Tue 3 April)
Æ Review: ★★★★★ The storm’s eye.
The story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and helped shape the very foundations of the America we know today. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Blue Beard
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice.
Tue 12 – Sat 30 March2024
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Weds & Sat: 2.30pm.
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Furiously funny
Blue Beard the Magician makes hearts flutter and pupils dilate. With a wink, a stroke and a flick – things just seem to vanish. Cards, coins, scarves… and women. Emma Rice brings her own brand of theatrical wonder to this most beguiling and disturbing of tales. With her signature sleight of hand, Blue Beard explores curiosity and consent, violence and vengeance – all through an intoxicating lens of music, wit and tender truth. Book here.
LYT Curtain Raiser – Blue Beard
LYT Wednesday Seniors.
Fri 22 March 2024
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Weds & Sat: 2.30pm.
Curtain Raisers provide our young people with a more in-depth opportunity to engage with the season’s shows and showcase their performance skills. Join our Wednesday Seniors group as they present their original response to the themes of Blue Beard. Book here.
Magnusson Centre
42 Henderson Row, EH3 5DW.
All Who Wander (EU Footlights Showchoir)
Thurs 21 – Sat 23 March 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat, mat: 2.30pm.
Showchoir with a theatrical journey delving into the profound and multifaceted experiences that make up our lives. Songs from a wide range of musicals will provide a continuous narrative of the milestones in life, revealing that wandering can make us the architects of our own destinies. Book here.
Portobello Town Hall
147-149 Portobello High St, Portobello EH15 1AF.
The Music of the Night (Stage Door Entertainment)
Fri 22 – Sat 23 March 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm.
A fundraising concert for Stage Door Entertainment’s Stage Door Fund to make theatre accessible for all young people. The concert will feature a “stellar cast of performers from all our recent productions, celebrating the best of musical theatre”. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL.
Pain and I (Stories Untold)
Fri 22 – Sat 23 March 2024
Evenings: 7pm (Techcube 0).
A bold exploration into chronic pain experience by Sarah Hopfinger which unashamedly celebrates the rich complexities of living with pain. Featuring choreography, dance, autobiographical text and classical music composition by Alicia Jane Turner, Hopfinger asks: ‘what can pain teach us?’ in this honest and compelling work. Tickets and details: Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Pushin’ Thirty (PPP)
Tue 19 – Sat 23 Mar 2024
Daily: 1pm (Trav 2).
Scott and Eilidh had huge dreams when they won their high school talent show with an original song. Now, they’re both approaching thirty, neither of their lives are going anywhere, and they haven’t spoken to each other in over ten years. A new comedy about two former best friends in Dundee who are reunited after a chance encounter, with original songs by Dundee-based company Elfie Picket. Book here.
Don’t. Make. Tea.
Thurs 21/Fri 22 Mar 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm (Trav 1).
Æ review: ★★★★☆ Surprising
The near future. Chris never wanted to end up here. She’s a proud woman and hates asking for help but when her condition deteriorated she had no choice but to claim benefits. Ralph believes in the new system. He knows it can work for Chris. He’s here today, in her home, to assess her, to prove she is fit and capable of working. Can Chris persuade him to change his mind? And, if not, how far is she willing to go to save herself? Book here.
ENDS
