Author: Hugh Simpson
The Lion King
★★★★☆ Visual Feast:
Visually arresting, the touring production of The Lion King which is booked into the Playhouse until March 2020, wants for nothing in terms of spectacle or budget.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
★★★★☆ Spectacular:
Goldilocks And The Three Bears, this year’s King’s pantomime, is an odd creation in many ways, but it retains enough of the tried and tested formulas to convince – to say nothing of good old-fashioned variety stardust.
Strange Tales
★★★☆☆ Cultural collision:
There are certainly moments of magic in Strange Tales, the Christmas co-production between Grid Iron and the Traverse, but they are too few and far between.
An Edinburgh Christmas Carol
★★★☆☆ Comedy overshadows pathos:
An Edinburgh Christmas Carol, the Lyceum’s Christmas re-invention of Dickens, is a full-on comic display that is undoubtedly pleasing despite apparently missing some important points.
Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
★★★☆☆ Festive:
The touring version of Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is a suitably frothy confection for the upcoming festivities; not particularly full of nutrition but oddly irresistible all the same.
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.
Catch 22
★★★★☆ Catchy:
As with so many great books, Catch-22 seems to have defied dramatic representation over the years. And while EGTG’s version at the Biscuit Factory does not necessarily kill off such an idea, is still an extremely impressive production.
Priscilla Queen Of The Desert – The Musical
★★★☆☆ Shimmering:
There is enough flash and dazzling costume changes in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert to convince all but the most curmudgeonly.
Prism
★★★★☆ Sad but true:
There is a deeply felt emotional core to Prism at the King’s. Written and directed by Terry Johnson, the play benefits from an excellent central performance by Robert Lindsay.
Barber Shop Chronicles
★★★★☆ Razor sharp:
Barber Shop Chronicles, the production by Fuel, the UK National Theatre and Leeds Playhouse at the Lyceum, has a momentum that is impossible to resist.
