#EdFringe
MANikin
★★★★☆ Breathtaking performance
One of two plays that Saltire Sky Theatre are bringing to Leith Arches for this year’s Fringe, MANikin looks at society’s views on obesity and obsession with body image.
Photon StarBlaster and the Suicidal Spaceship
★★★★☆ Seriously creative
Bonnie and Braw’s Photon StarBlaster and the Suicidal Spaceship at C aquila shows a wonderfully large heart, and boundless imagination, in its exploration of difficult themes.
Brief Candle
★★☆☆☆ Fllickering
Brief Candle, from Blushing Caligula at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, is not the first play to take inspiration for its title from Macbeth. Unfortunately, its attempts at tragic grandeur do not match up to such a reference.
The Grandfathers
★★★★☆ Intense
Exploring the rather heavy theme of enforced national conscription, Reconnect Regal Theatre’s production of Rory Mullarkey’s 2013 play The Grandfathers is surprisingly entertaining.
Lilies on the Land
★★★★☆ Beautiful drama
Following on from the success of their production of David Haig’s Pressure in April, Arkle Theatre have returned to World War 2 for Lilies on the Land as the early evening Fringe offering.
Little Women
★★★★★ Knowing
Little Women sees Bare productions return for a second show this Fringe with another entertaining a well thought-out musical that features a top notch cast and clever direction in a limited space.
The Grand Old Opera House Hotel
★★★★☆ Marvellous mayhem
Isobel McArthur strikes again with The Grand Old Opera House Hotel, a wonderfully written fusion of farce and opera running the full length of the fringe.
Shakespeare For Breakfast / Shakespeare Up Late: A Right Royal Visit
★★★☆☆ Charming and ★★★☆☆ Chaotic
C Theatre have two contrasting reworkings of the Bard in Shakespeare for Breakfast at C aurora and Shakespeare Up Late – A Right Royal Visit at C aquila. While there are differences in tone and intent between the two productions, they are not as marked as might be imagined.
Crash and Burn
★★★☆☆ Intermittent fire
There is an energy and compulsion to the opening of Crash and Burn, from Visceral Theatre at theSpace on Niddry St, that is subsequently dissipated, but the overall effect is still very interesting.
Tickbox 2
★★★☆☆ Quietly assertive
Lubna Kerr’s Tickbox 2 at the Pleasance Courtyard may not be an entirely new play, but still has a great deal to say to everyone.
