Hugh Simpson
My Doric Diary
★★★☆☆ Affa fine
A breezy, charming musical tale of family, time travel and the cultural cringe, the final offering in this season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint at the Traverse is My Doric Diary by Aye Tunes! (Katie Barnett and Jamie Siggens).
Orphans
★★★☆☆ Raucous
Full of comic bravado, the National Theatre of Scotland’s long-delayed musical adaptation of Orphans at the King’s is an attractive but unwieldy beast.
1902
★★★☆☆ Homecoming
There is a celebratory air to 1902 at Easter Road. Saltire Sky’s production of Nathan Scott-Dunn’s play has been staged to great acclaim for several years, but has finally arrived at the home of Hibernian FC, who are the focus of much of the action.
The Da Vinci Code
★★★☆☆ Visually arresting
The big budget obviously afforded to the adaptation of The Da Vinci Code is put to good use in a stunningly designed and consistently well acted production that bowls along merrily without ever quite coming together as a dramatic narrative.
PPP: Daniel Getting Married
★★★☆☆ Fragmentary
Daniel Getting Married, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Oran Mor at the Traverse, goes ahead in extremely trying circumstances. The result is far more coherent than anyone has any right to expect.
Keli – A Live Preview
Preview
In the middle of the Lyceum’s fortnight-long Wonder festival, packed with works in progress, Martin Green – one-third of the adventurous folk trio Lau – invited the world in to see and comment on his latest venture.
Allan Stewart’s Big Big Variety Show
★★★★☆ Welcome
Allan Stewart’s Big Big Variety Show, revived for one more time at the King’s, is reliably funny and tuneful; on this occasion, it is also oddly affecting.
PPP: Man’s Best Friend
★★★★☆ Poignant
Jonathan Watson turns in a remarkable performance in Man’s Best Friend, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Oran Mor at the Traverse.
PPP: Milkshake
★★★☆☆ Claustrophobic
The subject matter of Milkshake by Rob Drummond, the latest offering at the Traverse from Oran Mor’s Play, Pie and a Pint, is intriguingly topical. Despite being acted with real conviction, however, it never quite reaches the heights it promises.
Men Should Weep
★★★★☆ Timely
Seemingly endlessly delayed by Covid, Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s production of Men Should Weep finally takes to the Church Hill stage. The end result is carefully observed and has considerable emotional power.
