Hugh Simpson
Twelfth Night
★★★☆☆ Rumbustious jollity:
Charging at Shakespeare at full speed and with all comic guns blazing, Some Kind of Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night at Paradise in the Vault will win no prizes for subtlety but should please a wide audience.
Those Worrisome Sleeps
★★☆☆☆ Fractured fantasy:
Those Worrisome Sleeps, RFT’s excursion into fantasy and dark magic at Sweet Grassmarket, has an unusual atmosphere and a vigorous earnestness that never translate into a convincing whole.
Quines
★★★☆☆ Poetic history:
Quines from Gerda Stevenson at Paradise in the Vault is one of those home-grown, quietly accomplished shows that will never hit the headlines but are the backbone of the Fringe.
A Spark of Philosophy
Muriel Spark at the Book Festival:
This year’s Book Festival has featured several events designed to appeal to the theatre-goer which cross over with the strand celebrating the centenary of the birth of Edinburgh’s own Muriel Spark.
Lucille and Cecilia
★★★☆☆ Extreme aquatics:
Gleeful physical comedy features in Lucille and Cecilia, a patchy but intriguingly promising piece from new company Bang Average Theatre at C Aquila.
Plaza Suite
★★★☆☆ Erratic comedy:
The Edinburgh Makars’ production of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite has considerable comic appeal, even if it takes some time to materialise.
Eight
★★★★☆ Powerful monologues:
There is a confidence and spirit to Eight, at the Bedlam, that makes for highly successful theatre.
Heaven Burns
★★★☆☆ Fiery history:
Heaven Burns, Jen McGregor’s exploration of some of the murkier corners of Scottish history at the Assembly Roxy, has a dark and spooky feel. Its power is not always sustained, but it nevertheless has considerable impact.
A Joke
★★★★☆ Funny, peculiar:
There is a masterclass in comic nous to be had in A Joke, Universal Arts and Scene Change Productions’ reworking of last year’s Fringe hit by Dan Freeman.
A Good Enough Girl?
★★★★☆ More than good enough:
Scene Change Productions, Greenwich Theatre and Nutshell Theatre’s co-production A Good Enough Girl? is enjoyable, involving and deceptively important production.
