Gabriel Quigley
Tartuffe
★★★★☆ Great comic timing
Young Critics Scheme review
Tartuffe at the Assembly Rooms is Liz Lochead’s new, shortened version of her adaptation of Moliere’s 17th century play into Scots.
BookFest – The Final Whistle
Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Final Round-up:
The Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 closed with its customary eclectic selection of events a remarkably prescient glitch and a Playing with Books presentation that showed exactly what such an adaptation can do.
Locker Room Talk
★★★★☆ Troubling:
Deeply worrying and fascinatingly constructed, Locker Room Talk’s return to the Traverse is intriguing in theatrical terms and thoroughly unwelcome in what it reminds us about the world we inhabit.
Cyrano de Bergerac
★★★★★ Irresistible:
Visually and verbally intoxicating, Cyrano de Bergerac at the Lyceum is a riotous, joyous expression of the human spirit.
Muriel Spark: Creme de la Creme
★★★★☆ Literary:
On the eve of the centenary of Muriel Spark’s birth, the Usher hall was packed for Muriel Spark: Creme de la Creme, an evening of readings, reminiscences and a performed reading of the Edinburgh-born author’s only play.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
★★★★☆ Wonderful:
While not specifically Christmassy, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland at the Lyceum proves an ideal fit for the festive season. Hugely colourful, funny, and fascinating, it is thoroughly involving and a little disorienting.
Canned Laughter
★★★★☆ Canny:
Pathos and superbly performed comedy combine in Canned Laughter at the King’s all week until Saturday.
The Driver’s Seat
✭✭✭✩✩ Fury and fear:
The National Theatre of Scotland’s adaptation of Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat has a righteous fury, combined with a drive born out of cleverly harnessed technology and a tight ensemble.
Referendum week theatre
Drama on stage as Scotland decides
The Traverse leads the way with referendum-orientated theatre in the final week before polling on Thursday, although there is a celebration of the Scottish written word from the NTS and a spot of post-referendum experimentation down at the Village Pub on Friday.
Spoiling
✭✭✭✭✩ Successful and timely
Punchy, poetic and utterly contemporary, the world premiere of John McCann’s Spoiling in Traverse 2 is much more rewarding than its short duration may suggest.
