Author: Suzanne O'Brien
Protest
★★★☆☆ Girl power
Hannah Lavery’s Protest at the Studio as part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival proves that, to bring change, all you need is a voice and a little imagination.
Love The Sinner
★★★★★ Masterful
Imogen Stirling does not miss a beat in Love The Sinner, an enthralling fusion of poetry and electronic music created in collaboration with Vanishing Point at the Traverse for two nights only.
Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty
★★★★☆ Enchanting
New Adventures’ magical production of Sleeping Beauty, at the Festival Theatre all week, tells the timeless tale of Princess Aurora with a modern gothic twist that has you hooked from the start.
Swan Lake
★★★★☆ Classically beautiful
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s traditional Swan Lake spellbinds its audience with Tchaikovsky’s iconic and emotive score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, just as Odile spellbinds Prince Siegfried.
How Not To Drown
★★★★☆ Relentless
How Not To Drown is a moving true story of a young boy’s perilous journey from Kosovo to England, co-written and performed by the man himself. Which, in this ThickSkin and Traverse Theatre Company production, makes for a vital piece of theatre.
Peaky Blinders – the Redemption of Thomas Shelby
★★★★☆ Razor sharp
Festival Theatre: Tue 28 Feb – Sat 4 Mar 2023
Review by Suzanne O’Brien
Was there a need, desire or craving for a dance theatre version of hit TV show Peaky Blinders? Perhaps not. But Rambert Dance’s piece successfully plays on the show’s popularity to introduce new audiences to the world of dance.
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)
★★★★★ Spectacular comedy feast
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) returns to Edinburgh in spectacular style. The retelling of Jane Austen’s classic highlights a time when, for a woman, finding financial security in the shape of a man took priority, while featuring a strong all-female cast who prove that women really can do it all.
Svengali
★★★★☆ Full of aces
Chloe-Ann Tylor is utterly captivating in her performance of Svengali, a gripping new monologue written and directed by Eve Nicol, produced in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Pleasance Theatre.
Home is Not the Place
★★★☆☆ Enlightening
Annie George’s powerful solo show Home is Not the Place, at Summerhall TechCube 0 on odd days of the Fringe, follows her attempts to discover her identity through her ancestors.
The Man Who Planted Trees
★★★★★ Simply beautiful
The Puppet State Theatre production of The Man Who Planted Trees at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a show for everyone – and one that has never been more relevant.
