Phyllis Ross
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.
On Golden Pond
★★★☆☆ Crystal clear:
Leitheatre’s production of On Golden Pond at the Church Hill is a warm and emotional evocation of family struggles and satisfactions that rarely ignites but is performed with diligence and grace.
Tartuffe
★★★★☆ Great Scots:
The fundamental comic energy, pace and Scots snap Leitheatre give to Tartuffe at St Serf’s is very welcome, making for a refreshing, breezy production.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
★★★☆☆ Solid:
Leitheatre give a meaty and satisfyingly verbal account of Tennessee Williams’ great drama, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, at the Studio of the Festival Theatre, running through to Saturday.
The Steamie
★★★★☆ Strong bond:
Leitheatre make a solid and entertaining evening of it with their take on Tony Roper’s great Scottish comedy, The Steamie, which is at St Serf’s until Saturday.
Ane Servant o’ Twa Maisters
✭✭✭✭✩ Gloriously glaikit:
There’s huff, puff and havering a-plenty in Leitheatre’s take on Ane Servant o’ Twa Maisters Victor Carin’s adaptation and translation into Scots of Galdini’s classic farce.
Lovers
★★★☆☆ Emotive:
There’s a truth and vulnerability to Leitheatre’s take on Brian Friel’s early pair of conjoined plays, Lovers: Winners and Losers, at the Church Hill to Saturday.
Church Hill Lovers
Friel’s Lovers for Leitheatre:
Fans of the late great Irish playwright Brian Friel should be in for a treat this week as Leitheatre revive one of his early plays, Lovers, at the Church Hill Theatre.
Men Should Weep
✭✭✭✭✩ Moving:
A fusion of high drama and earthiness, executed with precision and real emotion, Leitheatre’s Men Should Weep at the Church Hill Theatre is thoroughly satisfying.
Paras over the Barras
✭✭✩✩✩ Sketchy comedy
Delivering the toe-curling one-liners with a relatively straight face, Leitheatre’s reprise of Paras over the Barras is sketch show comedy shot through with nostalgia for the WW2 spirit.
