Preview for the week: 23-29 November
It’s another busy week at Edinburgh’s theatres, where the amateur companies are taking centre stage with three productions – at St Columba’s, Adam House and Saughtonhall – while Scottish Opera continue to hold the stage at the Festival Theatre. Panto time is well and truly upon us, with the Brunton up and running, the Lyceum opening and the King’s going into preview. And there’s even a wee Fringe-type event up at North Edinburgh Arts.
The first of this week’s amateur productions open on Wednesday 25th. At the Makars, the wives and mistresses are getting the weapons out, nearly everyone has a motive and most have an opportunity as they bring Agatha Christie’s The Hollow to Adam House Theatre on Chambers Street, in a production which runs to Saturday. That Mystery bug must be in the water, because the St Columba’s Dramatic Society have Out of Sight… Out of Murder out a St Columba’s Church Hall in Blackhall. The production runs three nights only, Wednesday to Friday, and gives a comedy twist to the genre.
Those who already have tickets to see the final amateur offering this week better hold onto them tight, if the Saughtonhall Drama Group’s Fringe offering this year is any indication. Sadly for the rest of us, their Aladdin is long sold out. The group are capable of great things, and if they can get this one right it should be a real hoot.
Scottish Opera’s stay at the Festival continues with The Italian Girl in Algiers (Wednesday and Friday) and The Elixir of Love on Sunday (Thursday and Saturday). Rossini’s Italian Girl is busy to the point of bursting and gets four stars, no problem, in a production that is eye-catching and designed to thrill those who are cynically literate in the art of daytime soap opera.
Good things are already being said about the Brunton Theatre’s Sinbad the pantomime featuring The Little Mermaid – and not all of them by the Brunton Theatre – which had a great 30th anniversary gala opening night on Saturday and runs through to January 2.
The Royal Lyceum open on Friday night with their Peter Pan. The cast looks a strong one, with Kim Gerard as Wendy, Scott Fletcher as Pan and Stuart Bowman as Hook, but it is to director Jemima Levick that eyes are turning, as the hottest of hot young directorial talent to emerge in Scotland in recent years.
There’s more hot young talent at the King’s, where Robinson Crusoe & The Caribbean Pirates opens for previews from Saturday. Yes, the familiar old faces return (and not doubt very good they will be too), but the young star in the making is Glaswegian Moyo Omoniyi, playing Girl Friday.
And finally, to a one-off event on Thursday night up at North Edinburgh Arts where Outlandish takes over with “a pre-club brew of theatre, dance, spoken word and music – in bite size portions – mixed together with sounds and visuals in a dressed space”. Produced by Wave Theatre and Edinburgh Mela it’s £5 on the door and runs from 7 to 11pm at North Edinburgh Arts Centre, 15a Pennywell Court (0131 315 2151).
ENDS
