Archive for December, 2021
WILF
★★★☆☆ Encouragingly filthy
There is a pleasingly unruly feel to James Ley’s new play WILF, this year’s seasonably unseasonal offering from the Traverse. Full of heart, not to mention dialogue that would have given the Lord Chamberlain palpitations, it overcomes structural difficulties to produce a successful whole.
Hansel and Gretel
★★★★☆ Sweet treat
It’s back! Oh yes it is. After Covid sent the 2020 Brunton panto online, the regulars are once more live on stage before a very appreciative audience. Hansel and Gretel brings festive fun back to Musselburgh, bigger and better than ever.
Christmas Dinner
★★★★☆ Touchingly funny
Christmas Dinner may be something of a stopgap as this year’s Lyceum show, but it proves a success in its own right. Amusing, energetic, and wearing its considerable profundity lightly, it should appeal to the widest possible audience.
Heathers The Musical
★★★★☆ Magnificent mean girls
When a beloved film turns stage musical, you can bet that the original’s best-remembered line will become a song. Not Heathers, whose most-quoted piece of dialogue involves, shall we say, the recreational use of a chainsaw.
Listings: Mon 6 to Sun 12 December 2021
What’s on Edinburgh’s Stages this week…
The build up to Christmas sees nearly all the seasonal shows and pantomimes up and running, but there is still room for a bit of an alternative thanks to Saltire Sky who are staging bringing back their hit 1902 down in Leith.
The Nutcracker
★★★★☆ Seasonal feast
Scottish Ballet’s much-loved version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is back at the Festival Theatre over Christmas. This time round, it seems reinvigorated and remarkably fresh.
20 Minutes of Action
★★★★☆ Unflinching case-study
Pollyanna Esse’s powerful piece of verbatim theatre about horrific real-life events in Stanford University in 2015 gets a welcome second outing at the Assembly Roxy this week, after premiering at Bedlam two years ago.
Life is a Stream
Life is a Dream gets 48hr on-demand stream
The Lyceum’s five star production of Life is a Dream is to be streamed on-demand for a 48 hour period, starting from 7pm tonight, Thursday 2 December 2021.
Sleeping Beauty
★★★★☆ Comforting
Familiar routines, eye-catching gimmicks and cheeky swagger are naturally present in Sleeping Beauty, this year’s pantomime at the King’s. And if something is unsurprisingly missing, it does pretty well in making up for it.
Listings: Mon 29 Nov – Sun 5 Dec 2021
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week… Christmas is almost upon us, with the first of the pantomimes and Christmas shows setting out their stalls this week. Not quite as many as usual this year, and just the two amateur events in town. With Sleeping Beauty already bringing in the panto laugh at the King’s, the […]
