Hugh Simpson
Same Team – A Street Soccer Story
★★★★☆ Exhilarating
Same Team – A Street Soccer Story, the Traverse’s December production, may be short on tinsel – but in its thought-provoking and frequently exuberant nature, it is peculiarly apposite for the season.
Alice in Pantoland
★★★★☆ Wonderful fun
Alice in Pantoland, from Balerno Theatre Company at the Church Hill, is a traditional pantomime experience crammed full of delights.
Mark Thomas in England & Son
★★★★☆ Ferocious
Mark Thomas’s performance in England & Son, allied to an unflinching piece of writing, has a rare intensity. The Fringe First winner is now on tour to the Traverse until Saturday.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
★★★★☆ Powerful
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, from Leitheatre at the Church Hill, is a complex piece of pitch-black satire discharged with skill.
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan
★★★★☆ Highflying
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan turns out to be about 98% pantomime and 2% Peter Pan, but is tremendous fun nevertheless.
The Snow Queen
★★★★☆ Epic
The Snow Queen at the Lyceum provides thrills, humour and imaginative theatricality. Morna Young’s adaptation (directed by Cora Bissett, with music by Finn Anderson) could not be staged in 2020 for obvious reasons.
A Trilogy of Comedies
★★★★☆ Celebratory
The Trilogy of Comedies, presented by Saughtonhall Drama Group at Saughtonhall United Reformed Church to mark their 75th anniversary, provide geniality, stagecraft and much laughter.
Edinburgh Gang Show 2023
★★★★☆ Riding high
Boasting a cast of (nearly) thousands and as much entertainment as you could wish for, the Edinburgh Gang Show 2023 hits the odd wrong note but in the end its sheer momentum brooks no argument.
Chalk
★★★★☆ Well observed
The UK premiere of Walt McGough’s Chalk from the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group, upstairs at the Assembly Roxy, lacks a little in apocalyptic intensity – but convinces in its evocation of human relationships.
Through The Mud
★★★★☆ Powerful
Review by Hugh Simpson
Through The Mud by Apphia Campbell at the Lyceum is a story of the struggle for civil rights in the USA in the face of racism. Its portrayal of the African American experience across the generations is both depressing and inspiring, told with craft and tunefulness.
