Rebecca Mahar
The Boys in the Band
★★★★☆ Engaging
The EUTC’s engaging production of Mart Crowley’s 1968, New York-set gay drama, The Boys in the Band, is a well-observed affair which is at its best when it goes past the play’s innate waspishness to find its inner anger.
The Book of Mormon
★★★★☆ Something incredible
“Africa is nothing like the Lion King,” laments naïve, egotistical, nineteen year old Mormon missionary Elder Price, after having his dreams of spending his two year mission in Orlando Florida shattered, replaced by mud huts, AIDS, and a murderous general.
To Save the Sea
★★★★☆ Defiant hope
Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company presents To Save the Sea at the Traverse and on a Scottish tour, a new musical capturing the efforts of Greenpeace environmental activists to prevent the disposal of Shell’s Brent Spar oil storage facility at sea in 1995.
A Chorus Line
★★★★★ Incandescent
Leicester-based producing theatre Curve brings the revival of its hit production of A Chorus Line to Edinburgh with the energy and honesty that defines this enduring classic, polished as bright as its iconic mirrors with fresh direction, design, and outstanding performances.
Black is the Color of My Voice
★★★★☆ Stirring
Created by Apphia Campbell, Black is the Color of My Voice from Seabright Live looks back at the life of a musician, singer, and civil-rights activist on what seems to be the eve of her father’s funeral, as his death inspires her to seek clarity and redemption.
A Bohemian Life
★★★★☆ Joyful
The Bohemian Lyric Opera Company filled Edinburgh New Town Church with joy and show tunes for two days this Fringe with their concert A Bohemian Life.
The Spilling Cup
★★★★☆ Bloody lovely
“Hey, little uterus, can we work together?” Sasha’s plea to her capricious organ in Dracume Theatre’s The Spilling Cup will be a familiar sentiment to anyone who’s ever dealt with having one, and especially to those who, like her, are plagued by undiagnosed medical issues of the reproductive system.
Land Under Wave
★★★★☆ Enchanting
The Young Edinburgh Storytellers revive their acclaimed production Land Under Wave at this year’s Fringe, and it remains an otherworldly treat.
After Shakespeare: Richard III
★★☆☆☆ Flat
Billed as a staunch defence of a man maligned by Shakespeare and history alike, After Shakespeare: Richard III from Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited succeeds only in making a rather boring play out of what was an extraordinary life.
The Pirates of Penzance
★★★☆☆ Piratical
The University of St. Andrews Gilbert & Sullivan Society brings one of their namesake’s most popular and enduring operettas to the Fringe with The Pirates of Penzance.
