Hugh Simpson
Joyfully Grimm – Reimagining a Queer Adolescence
★★★★☆ Hopeful
Joyfully Grimm – Reimagining a Queer Adolescence at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a winning combination of personal reminiscence, politics and traditional tales which is understatedly poetic and utterly convincing.
Around the World in 80 Days
★★★☆☆ Enjoyable
Arkle’s Around the World in 80 Days, at the Royal Scots Club in Fringe Week Two, is a straightforward piece of family-friendly theatre. Inventive and committed, it has its drawbacks, but is always fun.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
★★★★☆ Terrific ensemble
Captivate’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Edinburgh Academy is an imposing production, full of fine singing and acting.
How I Learned to Drive
★★★★☆ Difficult
How I Learned to Drive, from Arkle at the Royal Scots Club for the Fringe’s second week, is a challenging piece staged with due care and skill.
Di(n)e
★★☆☆☆ Lacking life
There is a peculiar absence of drive in Di(n)e by Connor Rock, from Invisible Strings Theatre Co and New Celts at the Space on the Mile.
We Used To Be Girl Scouts
★★★★☆ Does Its Best
Hey Thanks! Theatre Collective and New Celts’ We Used To Be Girl Scouts is a heartfelt production that is as smart as it is emotional.
LIFE
★★★☆☆ Drawn out
LIFE from Maria McDonell at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a production that does not always quite live up to its startlingly clever premise.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kind Of…!
★★★★☆ Clever fun
Shortened and adapted versions of Shakespeare have been the backbone of the Fringe for years, but there can have been few that feature such a large, well prepared and infectiously enthusiastic cast as Edinburgh Youth Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kind Of…!
Mairi Campbell: Living Stone
★★★☆☆ Gentle
Mairi Campbell: Living Stone at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a gently musical journey through history and the present day. It has much to recommend it, but cannot help seem slightly disappointing in the light of what has gone before.
VL
★★★★☆ Huge energy
VL, from Francesca Moody Productions, at Roundabout @ Summerhall throughout the Fringe, will delight anyone who has ever been a worried teenager. Or anyone who appreciates comedy.
