Author: Hugh Simpson
The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven
★★★★★ Sublime:
Forget any controversy linked to The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven. It should be judged purely as a theatrical experience. On those terms, it is moving, profound and quite brilliantly executed.
Little Red Riding Hood
★★★★☆ Traditionally welcome:
There is a great deal in Little Red Riding Hood at the Church Hill Theatre that is involving, warm and funny.
Cinderella
★★★★☆ Sparkling:
Scottish Ballet’s Cinderella, back at the Festival Theatre this Christmas, is still a festive treat with huge reserves of charm and elegance.
Mouthpiece
★★★☆☆ Political emotion:
There is much to admire about the staging of Mouthpiece at the Traverse, and even more about how it is acted. In the end, however, the play tantalises rather than delivers.
Wendy and Peter Pan
★★★★☆ Magic:
Old and new collide in Wendy and Peter Pan, a beautifully staged Lyceum Christmas production that combines originality with fidelity to the spirit of a much-loved classic.
Nativity! The Musical
★★★★☆ Unstoppable:
Nativity! The Musical, at the Festival Theatre until Sunday, is an unashamedly cheesy romp that bears little serious examination, but whose energy and sugary optimism will brook no argument.
Rambert: Life is a Dream
★★★☆☆ Woozy poetry:
Rambert’s Life is a Dream, at the Festival Theatre to Saturday, is a peculiar, poetic piece that suffers from pulling in too many directions at once.
Motown The Musical
★★★★☆ Electric:
Motown The Musical, touring to the King’s until December 8, has a strangely conceived storyline, but is carried along on a wave of wonderful music.
Edinburgh Gang Show 2018
★★★★☆ Spectacular:
Epic in scope, local in coverage and inclusive in its effect, the 59th Edinburgh Gang Show is a wonderful spectacle.
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.
