Theatre
Strange Tales
★★★☆☆ Cultural collision:
There are certainly moments of magic in Strange Tales, the Christmas co-production between Grid Iron and the Traverse, but they are too few and far between.
An Edinburgh Christmas Carol
★★★☆☆ Comedy overshadows pathos:
An Edinburgh Christmas Carol, the Lyceum’s Christmas re-invention of Dickens, is a full-on comic display that is undoubtedly pleasing despite apparently missing some important points.
On Golden Pond
★★★☆☆ Crystal clear:
Leitheatre’s production of On Golden Pond at the Church Hill is a warm and emotional evocation of family struggles and satisfactions that rarely ignites but is performed with diligence and grace.
Mary Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped Off
★★★★☆ Clear bright corbie:
The EUTC bring a strong understanding and sense of purpose to this production of Liz Lochhead’s great 1987 play Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, at the Bedlam to Saturday.
The Exorcist
★★☆☆☆ Unholy error:
If the Devil truly is in the details then the Devil is sadly absent from this curiously flat adaptation of The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty’s classic novel of demonic possession at the King’s to Saturday.
Prism
★★★★☆ Sad but true:
There is a deeply felt emotional core to Prism at the King’s. Written and directed by Terry Johnson, the play benefits from an excellent central performance by Robert Lindsay.
Barber Shop Chronicles
★★★★☆ Razor sharp:
Barber Shop Chronicles, the production by Fuel, the UK National Theatre and Leeds Playhouse at the Lyceum, has a momentum that is impossible to resist.
Frankenstein
★★☆☆☆ Not chilling:
Confused in its execution, Selladoor’s touring version of Frankenstein has high production values but offers little in the way of pre-Hallowe’en excitement.
The Night Watch
★★★☆☆ Uneasy retelling:
The touring adaptation at the King’s of The Night Watch, the best-selling novel by Sarah Waters, has a great deal of emotional clarity, but little in the way of dramatic power.
An Inspector Calls
★★★★☆ Worryingly compelling:
The revival of a much-garlanded take on J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls at the King’s is wonderfully staged, relevant and more than a little troubling.
