Reviews
The Aliens
★★★★☆ Wartime drama
Set in Leith during World War 2, The Aliens is a short slice of life, that zooms in on soldiers returning from Dunkirk at the time Mussolini announced Italy’s entry to the war in support of Germany.
9 to 5 The Musical
★★★★☆ Fit for work
After 545 days of darkness, the Playhouse stage lit up last night with a crisp and swinging production of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 The Musical, which is playing through to Saturday.
SLO Sings For the King’s
★★★★☆ Pure Theatre
Southern Light Opera burst back onto the stage after the Covid hiatus in full celebratory mode with a portmanteau show of songs from its back catalogue which refuses to be obvious, while rounding off the night with a fanfare of show stoppers.
Playing With Books – the Yellow Door
…and other final Book Festival events by Hugh Simpson The last of this year’s Playing With Books events at the Book Festival was a singular piece. The Yellow Door was even more of a ‘work in progress’ than is usual for the strand as it is not yet even a book. Instead this was an […]
Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age
★★★☆☆ Mixed bag
Given the honour of closing the Edinburgh International Festival that so nearly never happened, Alan Cumming responds with his trademark gusto and skill. Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age at the Old College Quad is, however, an odd combination of the delightful and the infuriating.
Playing With Books – the Long Drop
..and other recent Book Festival events
The Book Festival continues in its new home at the Edinburgh College of Art on Lauriston Place, and also continues to offer events of interest to theatre-goers.
Jack Docherty – Nothing But
★★★★☆ Oddly serious
Jack Docherty – Nothing But in the Gilded Balloon Wine Bar showcases Fringe veteran Docherty, in a piece of deceptively serious dramatic monologue. It draws on his comic roots and showbiz history, but ends up delivering something more troubling and rewarding.
Slings and Arrows
★★★★☆ Hard hitting
There is raw emotion on display in Slings and Arrows, a disabled led dram from Raised Voices at theSpace@ Surgeons Hall – but there is also humour, stagecraft and real hope.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ Genuine
The Return of Sherlock Holmes is an enjoyable and convincing entertainment at Gilded Balloon Teviot and another convincing literary adaptation from Nigel Miles-Thomas and Fringe Management.
Sophia
★★★☆☆ Revealing reminder
The conflicting demands of professional ambition and personal happiness are brought into stark focus in Sophia by Frances Poet.
