Author: Allan Wilson
4Play 2024: Two
Butterflies & Benefits: ★★★★☆ Gritty
Cheapo Run: ★★★☆☆ Brave
The second of two new writing double-headers presented by Edinburgh-based 4Play at the Traverse this week featured Butterflies & Benefits by Andrea McKenzie and Cheapo by Katy Nixon.
Men Don’t Talk
★★★★☆ Compelling
Clare Prenton and Genesis Theatre’s Men Don’t Talk is a compelling introduction to the idea of the Men’s Shed Movement, staged in the Netherbow Theatre as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, in partnership with Scottish Men’s Shed Association and Luminate.
McScrooge
★★★★☆ Beautiful adaptation
McScrooge by Alan Mountford and Leith’s Citadel Arts Group for the Scottish Dementia Arts Festival is a beautiful adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, designed to meet the particular needs of its audience, while retaining the key elements of the original novella.
Arán & Im
★★★★☆ A winning combination
Irish writer and television documentary maker, Manchán Magan’s Arán & Im (Bread & Butter) is a fascinating piece of storytelling, slicing through Irish history, language and culture, while baking traditional Irish sourdough and churning fresh cream to create butter, live on stage. It is a winning combination.
Bluevolution World Tour
★★★★☆ Imaginative
The Blue Man Group have brought their superbly imaginative performance art skills to the Festival Theatre this week to Sunday, as part of their current Bluevolution World Tour.
Casual Encounters
★★★☆☆ Dark sex comedy
It is Saturday night and, following advice from a counsellor that he and his wife should have more sex, middle-aged Morningside banker, James, played by Ade Smith, is looking forward to his first experience of wife swapping.
Babe Alien
★★★☆☆ Weirdly fascinating
Mon Espoir’s Babe Alien is a weirdly fascinating story in which an innocent outsider living in Las Vegas, but apparently from another world, takes a critical look at American culture and behaviour.
Covenant
★★★★☆ Dystopian
Covenant, written, directed and produced by Turning Point Theatre Company invites the audience to consider the possibility of a dystopian future in which control over women’s bodies is at an all-time high and existing legislation has been taken to an extreme position.
Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
★★★☆☆ Uncompromising
Edinburgh University Theatre Company’s Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a challengingly complex update to the Greek myth of Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.
Chatterbox
★★★★☆ Gentle humour
Lubna Kerr’s Chatterbox, at the Pleasance Courtyard all Fringe, builds on her difficult experiences of growing up as a child of Muslim heritage in 1970s Scotland.
