Church Hill Theatre
Grease
★★★★☆ Vibrant
Smart, precise and packing more energy than the Duracell Bunny on pep pills, Allegro’s production of Grease the Musical electrifies the Church Hill Theatre where it is playing all week.
Showcase 2023 – Up Where We Belong
★★★★☆ Nuanced
Showcase, the annual concert in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief, can certainly say it is “Up where we belong”, in the words of the Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warner number that gives this year’s show its title.
How the Other Half Loves
★★★★☆ Sharp
Edinburgh People’s Theatre give How The Other Half Loves at the Church Hill a malicious comic edge, in a production whose tempo and performances are praiseworthy.
Perfect Days
★★☆☆☆ Antenatal
A quarter of a century on from the premiere of Liz Lochhead’s witty, fast-paced comedy Perfect Days, Leitheatre find that the truths which underpin the laughs still hold, but struggle somewhat to explore them.
The Lady Vanishes
★★★☆☆ Magnificent hokum
The Lady Vanishes provides for an entertaining evening up at the Church Hill Theatre, where the Threepenny Theatricals draw on 1930s English sensibilities for this train-set period thriller.
The Taming of the Shrew
★★★☆☆ Suspiciously old-fashioned
The Edinburgh Makars’ production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, at the Church Hill until Friday, is an apparently traditional version of the play which may well be more quietly subversive than many modern revisions.
9 to 5 The Musical
★★★☆☆ Pacy fun
There is considerable enjoyment to be had in Edinburgh Music Theatre’s production of 9 to 5 the Musical at the Church Hill.
Brassed Off
★★★★☆ Tragicomic grandeur
If we must have music-driven stage adaptations of films, they should be like Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s impressive production of Brassed Off, where the music is integral to a story that actually means something.
SCDA One Acts – Saturday
Calculated quartet
To the second night of the Edinburgh district round of the SCDA’s One Act Play Festival at the Church Hill Theatre, where the four plays on offer demonstrated that the competition is firmly back on track.
SCDA One Acts – Friday
Strong opening trio
The Edinburgh district round of the 2023 SCDA One Act Play Festival got of to a strong start up at the Church Hill Theatre on Friday night with a trio of plays that demonstrated the versatility of the competing amateur companies and the quality of their actors.
