Simon Wilkinson
The Dark Carnival
★★★☆☆ Striking:
In The Dark Carnival, Vanishing Point has crafted a strangely fascinating but oddly frustrating entertainment – theatre-cum-gig-cum-cabaret that impresses in fits and starts.
Our Fathers
★★★☆☆ Charming:
Our Fathers at the Traverse has a great deal of talent behind it. The end result is amusing and entertaining but ultimately somewhat too frothy.
Flight
★★★★★ Masterful
Vox Motus’ Flight is an emotional and powerful work of art – an experience like no other that stays with you long after leaving Edinburgh’s Church Hill Theatre.
Meet Me at Dawn
★★★★☆ Mythic emotion:
Meet Me At Dawn, a new play by Zinnie Harris presented by the EIF at the Traverse, is a sombre but beautifully open-hearted depiction of love, loss and regret.
Glory on Earth
★★★☆☆ Accomplished:
Extreme care has been lavished on the Lyceum’s Glory on Earth. It has a clarity to its storytelling and performances, backed up by some excellent staging, but never engages the heart or mind as fully as it promises.
Black Beauty
★★★★☆ Humorously inventive:
Black Beauty, the Traverse’s show for all ages this Christmas co-produced with Red Bridge, is a million miles from a straight adaptation of the children’s classic but provides more than enough fun for everyone.
Grain In The Blood
★★★☆☆ Well performed:
Strong performances and notably high production values distinguish Grain In The Blood at the Traverse, but an initially chilling ambience is not sustained.
The Iliad
★★★★☆ Compelling:
Epic in scope, huge in sweep and utterly human, The Iliad at the Lyceum is a powerful production.
Moon shine down
Jabuti tour bilingual Marie-Louise Gay adaptation:
Edinburgh-based children’s theatre company Jabuti Theatre has adapted the dreamlike children’s picture book Moonbeam on a Cat’s Ear for bilingual Gaelic and English performances.
The Weir
★★★★☆ Quietly affecting:
Superbly judged performances and a clever, organic approach to staging make for an effectively spooky time in the Lyceum’s production of Conor McPherson’s The Weir.
