Reviews
Murder on the Orient Express
★★★☆☆ Reassuring mystery
The touring production of Murder on the Orient Express from Fiery Angel at the Festival Theatre is a reliable whodunnit, well performed and staged with commendable ambition. Not everything about the staging convinces, but the result is pleasing.
PPP: Detained
★★★★☆ Heartfelt
Detained, the final instalment in the Traverse’s autumn season of offerings from from Òran Mór’s Play, Pie and a Pint, is a thoughtful and incisive piece of theatre.
The Book of Mormon
★★★★☆ Something incredible
“Africa is nothing like the Lion King,” laments naïve, egotistical, nineteen year old Mormon missionary Elder Price, after having his dreams of spending his two year mission in Orlando Florida shattered, replaced by mud huts, AIDS, and a murderous general.
Dangerous Corner
★★★★☆ Absorbing
The Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group’s production of J.B. Priestley’s Dangerous Corner, upstairs at the Assembly Roxy until Saturday, is a tense affair, well staged and compelling.
PPP: Lost Girls / At Bus Stops
★★★☆☆ Excellent performances
Lost Girls / At Bus Stops, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, is a rather sweet take on a time-honoured dramatic dilemma.
To Save the Sea
★★★★☆ Defiant hope
Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company presents To Save the Sea at the Traverse and on a Scottish tour, a new musical capturing the efforts of Greenpeace environmental activists to prevent the disposal of Shell’s Brent Spar oil storage facility at sea in 1995.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
★★★★☆ Dark and epic
There’s a ghoulish and classic Penny Dreadful atmosphere to this epic tale of revenge, as Blackout Productions bring new life to Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, at the Church Hill Theatre until Saturday.
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.
Hairspray
★★★★☆ Sparkling
With all the vibrant colours of the rainbow, Hairspray at the Edinburgh Playhouse delivers hit after hit, taking the audience in with its high energy and dazzling performances.
PPP: Armour: A Herstory of the Scottish Bard
★★★☆☆ Tuneful
Armour: A Herstory of the Scottish Bard, this week’s lunchtime theatre offering at the Traverse before continuing on tour, provides a melodic new slant on the familiar story of Robert Burns.
