Chris Pearson
Conspiracy
★★★★★ Bureaucratic nightmare
Conspiracy, a co-production between Edinburgh-based grassroots companies Strawmoddie and RFT, is a chilling and almost obscenely mundane account of the Wannsee Conference, held in a Berlin suburb in January 1942.
Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
★★★☆☆ Well-turned
Amidst the noise, rituals and trappings of pantomime and Christmas, Strawmoddie’s take on Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather provides a welcome parody of our seasonal excess, at the Pleasance Theatre to Sunday.
And Then There Were None
★★☆☆☆ Patchy
Agatha Christie’s evergreen And Then There Were None is presented by Strawmoddie at the Central Hall, Tollcross, with delicacy and no little effort. Unfortunately, choices with staging – and problems seemingly inherent in the venue – make for an awkward experience.
Ondine
★★★★☆ Well judged emotion
In a glorious mix of the heartfelt and the ridiculous, Underground Theatre bring a translation of Jean Giraudoux’s Ondine to La Belle Angele for the final week of the Fringe.
The Importance of Being Earnest
★★★☆☆ Perspicacious
The Edinburgh Makars return to the Church Hill theatre with a bounce in their step for three performances of a nicely juicy production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Twelfth Night
★★★☆☆ Rumbustious jollity:
Charging at Shakespeare at full speed and with all comic guns blazing, Some Kind of Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night at Paradise in the Vault will win no prizes for subtlety but should please a wide audience.
Ganymede
★★★☆☆ Timely reworking:
Ganymede, TypeCast Productions’ reworking of Shakespeare at Paradise in Augustines, is an intriguing production that uses the spirit of the Bard to cast light on contemporary concerns.
Volpone
★★★★☆ Ruthless:
The Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group bring Ben Johnson’s comedy, Volpone, to life and new audiences in a hilarious version of the tale about just how far people will go to be rich.
Black Comedy
✭✭✭✭✩ Fast-paced fun:
Excellent comic timing is a feature of Arkle’s extremely enjoyable Black Comedy at the Royal Scots Club.
Death and the Maiden
✭✭✭✭✩ Painfully poignant:
Emotionally charged, Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group’s production of Death and a Maiden is poignant, gripping and full of pain.
