#EdFringe
Caged: The True Story of Isabella MacDuff
★★★★☆ Commanding
Confined behind bars before her audience, Isabella MacDuff takes to the stage to tell her own story in Caged, written and directed by Colette Swan for Pigeon Cote Productions.
She Burns
★★★★★ Her noblest wark
She Burns is a feminist reworking of the story of Scotland’s very own Bard, in an enlightening and entertaining show, playing for just six performances across the fringe at Johnnie Walker Princes Street.
Animate Lands: A Celtic Myth Cycle
★★★★☆ Traditional
After selling out the Scottish Storytelling Centre in 2022, Animate Lands: A Celtic Myth Cycle returns to the venue for the Fringe. Storyteller Dougie Mackay accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Freya Rae, takes us on a poetic journey through traditional Scottish tales and wilderness.
PALS
★★★★☆ Unstoppable
Filled with banter and the odd Gaelic phrase, PALS at the Gilded Balloon Patter House is a brilliant adventure-comedy that will have you laughing one minute and holding back tears the next.
Singing Willows
★★★☆☆ Whimsical
Singing Willows at the French Institute is the brainchild of Alexandra Borghino, a French artist who has adapted her book of the same name into bilingual tunes for wee ones, to teach French and English through songs and pictures.
Antonio’s Revenge
★★☆☆☆ Unfathomable
Antonio’s Revenge is a definite oddity, not made any less strange by its staging by Edinburgh/New Zealand company Half Trick Theatre at C alto on even dates of the Fringe only.
Hamstrung
★★★★☆ Method in’t
“A fellow of infinite jest,” is how Shakespeare introduced deceased court jester Yorick, but the Yorick of George Rennie’s Hamstrung is a being as existential as the appearance of his skull at a pivotal moment in Hamlet’s crisis deserves.
A Knock on the Roof
★★★★☆ Politics of horror
A Knock on the Roof, Khawla Ibraheem’s play at the Traverse for piece by piece productions, is a chilling evocation of war and its human cost.
Murder at the Fringe
★★★☆☆ Fun exercise
Murder at the Fringe, by Edinburgh Little Theatre, is extremely courageous. The audience is closely involved in the solving of a murder, with six suspects lined up for questioning.
Malvolio’s Fantasy
★★★☆☆ Tentative
Zuzabella Productions’ Malvolio’s Fantasy at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall is an adaptation of Shakespeare that is at its best when it is furthest from its source.
