Listings: Mon 18 – Sun 24 March 2019
What you can see on Edinburgh’s stages this week…
It’s the week that many in the theatre world have been waiting for, with the official opening of Local Hero at the Lyceum on Saturday. But besides the promise of preview tickets at a tenner a pop, there is plenty else to intrigue.
On the very smallest scale there are a couple of triple-decker events, with the last three of Twelve Twelve Theatre’s year long project of new writing at the Wee Red Bar and a Feast of Gothic Horror at the Banshee Labyrinth.
Musical Theatre fans have plenty to distract them as they wait for Local Hero, with the Bohemians taking over the King’s this week with The Wedding Singer – a lesser known show but one with plenty of chipper tunes none-the-less.
There are more tunes than you can shake a multi-coloured stick at, at the Playhouse, where Joseph is back with Jaymi Hensley in the title role. While the Portobello Church Theatre Group are bringing it closer to home with their revival of their self-penned Brodie! The Musical.
Prize for the longest named show of the week goes to consistently interesting amateur company Arkle, which returns to the Hill Street theatre with The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds, transferring Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer prize winning script to Edinburgh.
The EUTC have two shows this week. At Bedlam they have a new script, Stained for two nights. Which is interesting enough, but it is at St Cecilia’s Hall that the really fascinating production will take place with the UK premiere of White, which tackles issues of gender and race full on and will be arguably the most interesting production of the week.
Nor should you forget the arrival of Scottish Opera to the Festival Theatre this week, with a new production of Katya Kabanova that has garnered more spangly star ratings than a cloudless night.
Full listing with ticket links
Assembly Roxy
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU. Phone booking: 0131 623 3030
IN PROCESS: Good Sex After Bad Sex
Monday 18/Tuesday 19 March 2019
Evenings: 7pm (Downstairs).
That’s What She Said Theatre Company presents Good Sex After Bad Sex: a part autobiographical, part verbatim play exploring women’s journeys as they navigate from sexual violence to sexual pleasure. Book here.
Feral
Saturday 23 March 2019
Evening: 7.30pm (Upstairs)
Innovative visual theatre from Tortoise in a Nutshell that combines puppetry, film and live sound to create and destroy a world in front of its audience’s eyes. Joe looks back at the town of his childhood. Bright, vibrant and idyllic, the world resembles a haven of comfort. But as Joe journeys on, walls and lives are peeled back and the story of a community’s fall unfolds around him. Book here.
Banshee Labyrinth
29 – 35 Niddry Street, EH1 1LH
The Feast of Gothic Horror
Wednesday 20 – Saturday 23 March 2019
A special theatre event from several people behind the Edinburgh Horror Festival.
Three shows nightly:
The Underground Seance (7.15pm): Paranormal illusionist Ash Pryce and actor Emily Ingram embark on a journey into the dark world of the spirit.
Pickman’s Model (8.30pm): Posturous Productions remount their one woman adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s dark and disturbing tale.
The Canterville Ghost (9.30pm): Posturous Productions present Oliver Giggins in his adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic tale of the otherworldly. Book here.
Bedlam Theatre
11b Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ
Stained
Wed 20/Thurs 21 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm
Based on a childhood experience of the gradual buyout, by a celebrity chef, of a small town once beloved, Stained is an absurdist comedy about capitalism, isolation, and internalised transphobia. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Scottish Opera: Kátya Kabanová
Thu 21 & Sat 23 March 2019
Evenings: 7.15pm.
In a small industrial community, lost in the vast landscape of Russia, Kátya is torn between her love of a younger man and her duty as a wife. Book here.
Scottish Opera: Kátya Kabanová Unwrapped
Fri 22 March 2019
Evening: 6pm.
A taster performance of Scottish Opera’s Kátya Kabanová. Book here.
Scottish Opera: Kátya Kabanová Pre-Show Talk
Sat 23 March 2019
Evening: 6pm.
Learn more about Scottish Opera’s Kátya Kabanová. Book here.
Hill Street Theatre
19 Hill Street EH2 3JP.
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds
Wed 20 – Sat 23 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Beatrice Hunsdorfer is an acid tongued widow struggling to support herself and her two teenage daughters, Ruth, pretty but highly strung and prone to convulsions and Tillie, plain, painfully shy with a passion for science. In another of her get rich quick schemes Beatrice takes in a decrepit, demented lodger. Sian Fiddimore directs Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer prize winning script for Arkle Theatre in a production which relocates the action to modern day Edinburgh. Book here.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
The Bohemians present The Wedding Singer
Wed 20 to Sat 23 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinee Sat: 2.30pm.
Join New Jersey’s favourite wedding singer Robbie Hart, sweet natured Julia, her best friend Holly and Wall Street bad boy Glenn in the 1980’s party of the year – with a musical that promises to get you up dancing faster than your Dad at a wedding. Packed with songs which capture all the fun and energy of the Adam Sandler smash hit film. Book here.
No Such Thing As A Fish
Sun 24 Mar 2019
Evening 8pm.
The team behind multiple award-winning podcast No Such Thing As A Fish are hitting the road again in Spring 2019, with their brand new show, In No Particular Order. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848
Local Hero
Thurs 14 March – Sat 4 May 2019
Previews: Thurs 14 – Fri 23 March;
Opens Sat 24 March 2019.
Evenings Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees (from 27) Weds, Sat: 2pm.
A wry comedy about a man who sets out to buy a beach, but ends up losing his heart to a village, Bill Forsyth’s magical Local Hero takes to the stage with new music and songs by the legendary Mark Knopfler.
A co-production with The Old Vic. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 March 2019
Evenings Tue – Thurs: 7.30pm; Fri/Sat: 5pm & 8pm. Matinees Wed/Thurs: 2.30pm; Sat: 2pm.
See casting news: Jaymi Hensley is Joseph.
Bill Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sparkling family musical returns, retelling the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many, many colours. Book here.
Respect – the Aretha Franklin Songbook
Sunday 24 March 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
Tribute to the Queen of Soul featuring vocals from West End Sensation and Olivier Award Winner Amber Riley, R&B Royalty Mica Paris, Pop Star Cleopatra Higgins, and Soul Legend Jaki Graham. Accompanied by the Urban Soul Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir. Book here.
Portobello and Joppa Parish Church
Abercorn Terrace, EH15 2DH
Brodie! The Musical
Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Portobello and Joppa Parish Church Drama Group revive Gavin Booth and Nancy Kent’s musical based on the true story of Edinburgh’s own Deacon William Brodie, the well respected locksmith and town councillor of 18th Century Edinburgh who led a secret double life as a thief. Tickets £12 from anne.mckerchar@gmail.com.
St Cecilia’s Hall
50 Niddry Street, EH1 1LG
White
Saturday 23 – Monday 25 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm; Matinee Sat: 2.30pm.
The EUTC presents the UK premiere of this critically acclaimed and bracingly funny play by Philadelphia playwright James Ijames. The play tackles race, gender and the place of art in an absurdly divided society. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall Square, EH9 1PL.
Anatomy 19: “Adequate”
Friday 22 March 2019
Evening: 7.30pm.
“There will be a basic standard of entertainment for all. We anticipate that there will be acts for everybody, but you may need to share. The art shall be sufficient and the safety standards in the vicinity of expected targets. Some negligible sacrifices may have to be made, but we believe that, in the end, these are worth it for the greater good: an adequate cabaret.” Book here.
Traverse Theatre
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
National Theatre Connections 2019
Sun 17 – Wed 20 Mar 2019
Evenings: 7pm.
The National Theatre Connections festival is a celebration of young people, theatre-making and the importance of access to the arts. Book here.
Velvet Petal
Sat 23 March 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm (Trav 1)
Tough girls and pretty boys living life in the margins, dreaming about being at the centre. Velvet Petal explores the transformative power of beauty created out of whatever is on the bedroom floor, set to a dance-punk score including music by LCD Soundsystem, Spoek Mathambo and Four Tet. Book here.
Wee Red Bar
Lady Lawson Street, EH3 9DF
Twelve-Twelve Triple bill
Monday 18 – Thursday 21 March 2019.
Evenings: 7pm.
The final three plays from the company formed to stage 12 new plays over 12 months.
Then I Met You by Katy Nixon, directed by Saskia Ashdown.
A play about friendship, love and blackmail set in Leith.
Interventions by Andy Robertson, directed by Johnny Cameron.
Can Phil’s friends help his dive into drink?
F***ing Cars by Gemma McGinley, directed by Hannah Louise Bradley and Sean O’Brien
A headstrong smart car navigates the minefield of modern day relationships. Book here.
ENDS
