Church Hill Theatre
Listings Mon 4 – Sun 10 Sept 2023
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week…
A trio of very different shows are in town this week, as the post-EdFringe hiatus begins to fade. There is also the chance to hang out at the Lyceum for their family fun day.
Dimanche (EIF)
★★★★☆ Hugely inventive
Dimanche at the Church Hill is a magically inventive display. The International Festival production is a collaboration between two Belgian companies – Focus, who use puppets and miniature objects and Chaliwaté, a physical theatre troupe. Both of these approaches are in evidence in a constantly engaging spectacle.
Perfect Days
★★☆☆☆ Antenatal
A quarter of a century on from the premiere of Liz Lochhead’s witty, fast-paced comedy Perfect Days, Leitheatre find that the truths which underpin the laughs still hold, but struggle somewhat to explore them.
The Lady Vanishes
★★★☆☆ Magnificent hokum
The Lady Vanishes provides for an entertaining evening up at the Church Hill Theatre, where the Threepenny Theatricals draw on 1930s English sensibilities for this train-set period thriller.
The Taming of the Shrew
★★★☆☆ Suspiciously old-fashioned
The Edinburgh Makars’ production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, at the Church Hill until Friday, is an apparently traditional version of the play which may well be more quietly subversive than many modern revisions.
9 to 5 The Musical
★★★☆☆ Pacy fun
There is considerable enjoyment to be had in Edinburgh Music Theatre’s production of 9 to 5 the Musical at the Church Hill.
The Joy of Sets
The challenges and rewards of set building
The Edinburgh Makars are looking for a volunteer to take the lead on set design and construction, as their current set builder, Alasdair Taylor, is looking to step down from the role to pursue other interests.
Brassed Off
★★★★☆ Tragicomic grandeur
If we must have music-driven stage adaptations of films, they should be like Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s impressive production of Brassed Off, where the music is integral to a story that actually means something.
SCDA One Acts – Saturday
Calculated quartet
To the second night of the Edinburgh district round of the SCDA’s One Act Play Festival at the Church Hill Theatre, where the four plays on offer demonstrated that the competition is firmly back on track.
EPT’s Book Club wins One Acts
Edinburgh People’s Theatre overall winner at SCDA One Act Festival
The Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s production of The Book Club of Little Witterington won first prize and the Edith Forbes Trophy in the Edinburgh district round of the SCDA’s One Act Play Festival 2023, held at the Church Hill Theatre over Friday and Saturday evenings.
