King’s
Sheila’s Island
★★★★☆ Captivating
A Nineties hit is back with a twist as the King’s Theatre is transformed into Sheila’s Island, the Tim Firth comedy on tour in an Yvonne Arnoud Theatre production.
Rocky Horror Show
★★★★★ Damn it!
Loud, brash and very, very slick, Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show rock’n’rolls into the Kings with pinch of glitter, a fist-full of glitz and a whole bucket of on-the-nose comedy.
The Dresser
★★★☆☆ Sterling performances
That The Dresser, a play dealing with that old cliché that ‘the show must go on’ should lose one of its two stars on opening night in Edinburgh is oddly fitting, if unfortunate.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
★★★★☆ Visually arresting
The touring production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the King’s is a real spectacle, reproducing the source material faithfully and showing considerable invention.
Sleeping Beauty
★★★★☆ Comforting
Familiar routines, eye-catching gimmicks and cheeky swagger are naturally present in Sleeping Beauty, this year’s pantomime at the King’s. And if something is unsurprisingly missing, it does pretty well in making up for it.
Death Drop
★★★☆☆ Premature pantomime
Death Drop, from Tuck Shop and Trafalgar Theatre Productions at the King’s until Saturday, is an uneven affair – camp, garish and ultimately entertaining.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
★☆☆☆☆ Unfathomable
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from Tilted Wig productions, touring to the King’s until Saturday, may just about pass muster for a post-Hallowe’en frightfest due to its occasional horrific moments.
The Enemy
★★★☆☆ Fussy
The Enemy, Kieran Hurley’s updating of Ibsen for The National Theatre of Scotland at the King’s this week, is an uneven proposition. Much of the production is timely and compelling, and the acting is excellent, but other elements cohere less convincingly.
The Woman in Black
★★★★☆ Still so spooky
The Woman in Black – touring to the King’s yet again this week – retains all of its mysterious power to entrance and terrify.
Looking Good Dead
★★☆☆☆ Unfortunate
Subtle as a bulldozer and only sporadically gripping, Looking Good Dead, which is at the King’s all week, works on one level as undemanding entertainment, but is not exactly guaranteed to have the crowds flocking back to the theatres.
