Archive for August, 2023
Book Festival Round-Up – The Second Half
Farewell to Art College and Nick Barley
The 40th anniversary Edinburgh International Book Festival, and the last of Nick Barley’s 14 years as director, concluded with its usual intriguing mix of one-off events, writes Hugh Simpson.
Greatest Days
★★★★☆ I found heaven
It’s time to Take That & Party as Greatest Days reopens Edinburgh Playhouse this week after its extended summer break for a spot of external refurbishment.
Listings Mon 28 Aug – Sun 3 Sept 2023
What’s on Edinburgh’s Stages this week…
After a month of fringe and celebration of Edinburgh’s own theatre makers it’s time to get back to the big stage with the arrival of Take That musical, Greatest Days, at the Playhouse.
Mr McFall’s Chamber
★★★★☆ Fulfilling
Mr McFall’s Chamber, one of the most precious and undervalued of Scotland’s musical assets, returned with a programme at the Rose Theatre on the last night of the Fringe that was as varied as it was satisfying.
Lightning Ridge
★★★★☆ Evocative
Lightning Ridge, Catherine Wheels’ adaptation of Pobby and Dingan, Ben Rice’s novella for young people, is a remarkably involved piece of storytelling about imagination, loss and the nature of community.
Life is a Dream (EIF)
★★★☆☆ Patchy
Life is a Dream, from Cheek by Jowl at the Lyceum in the International Festival, has moments of beauty and humour but never coheres into the spectacle it promises to be.
Book Festival Round-Up
Hugh Simpson reports
The Edinburgh International Book Festival may this year be missing most of its usual quota of performances that are staged, semi-staged or otherwise theatre-adjacent, but there is still a great deal to entertain and educate.
Robin Ince – Weapons of Empathy
★★★★☆ Uplifting
The unfeigned enthusiasm behind Robin Ince – Weapons of Empathy at the Gilded Balloon at the Museum results in an infectiously crammed hour of constant stimulation and considerable hilarity.
Revelations of Rab McVie
★★★★★ Stunning
Revelations of Rab McVie is a stunning piece of multimedia theatre, combining live music, live painting and raw performance, to create a truly remarkable production, at the Pleasance for two performances only.
Mark Twain’s The Stolen White Elephant
★★★☆☆ Absurd
Performed by Andy Dickinson, this version of Mark Twain’s absurd short story The Stolen White Elephant changes the original setting of New Jersey to Manchester. It’s amusing, satirical and totally bizarre.
