Author: Hugh Simpson
The Last Days of Mankind
★★★★☆ A glorious mess:
The Last Days of Mankind, an international co-production at the reborn Leith Theatre, is an exasperating but ultimately worthwhile exploration of the horrors of the 1914-1918 war. Both resolutely adult and appealingly childish, it convinces and confounds almost equally.
The Last Witch
★★★★☆ Hard as rock:
There is a visceral compulsion to Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Firebrand’s The Last Witch at the Traverse. While apparently telling of a disappeared world, its evocations of fears, suspicions and power imbalances are worryingly contemporary.
Vulcan 7
★★★☆☆ Mixed bag:
There are some brilliantly imaginative elements to the touring production of Vulcan 7 at the King’s. Unfortunately, none of them are in the script.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
★★★☆☆ BANG!
Noisy fun is to be had in the touring Dracula at the King’s, in a production that lacks depth but is unashamedly crowd-pleasing, not to say crowd-scaring.
Jerusalem
★★★★☆ Furious energy:
The EUTC’s production of Jez Butterworth’s celebrated Jerusalem at the Bedlam has so much drive and chutzpah that it is an undoubted success.
Macbeth
★★★☆☆ Fractured:
There is a peculiar absence of majesty at the heart of the UK National Theatre’s touring production of Macbeth, at the Festival Theatre until Saturday.
Cyrano de Bergerac
★★★★★ Irresistible:
Visually and verbally intoxicating, Cyrano de Bergerac at the Lyceum is a riotous, joyous expression of the human spirit.
Rebus: Long Shadows
★★★☆☆ Overshadowed:
Despite boasting the talents of two of Scotland’s greatest writers and a more than adequate cast, Rebus: Long Shadows, at the King’s until Saturday, is nowhere near as compelling as the stage debut of Edinburgh’s most celebrated fictional policeman should be.
Rain Man
★★☆☆☆ Clunky:
There are probably enough fans of the original movie to sustain The Classic Screen to Stage Company’s touring version of Rain Man, at the King’s until Saturday. However, as a piece of theatre it never makes a successful case for itself.
Still Alice
★★★☆☆ Poignant:
The portrayal of early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, touring to the King’s all week, will certainly resonate with many, thanks largely to Sharon Small’s magnetic central performance.
