EIF
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.
Dimanche (EIF)
★★★★☆ Hugely inventive
Dimanche at the Church Hill is a magically inventive display. The International Festival production is a collaboration between two Belgian companies – Focus, who use puppets and miniature objects and Chaliwaté, a physical theatre troupe. Both of these approaches are in evidence in a constantly engaging spectacle.
Thrown (EIF)
★★★★☆ Substantial
The National Theatre of Scotland’s Thrown, at the Traverse as part of the International Festival, is an intelligent and powerful piece of theatre.
Dusk (EIF)
★★★☆☆ Dry
Dusk from Comédie de Génève in the International Festival at the Lyceum is a thought-provoking and politically charged work that does not always engage as it might.
The End of Eddy (EIF)
★★★★☆ Enthusiastic
The End of Eddy’s unflinching examination of small-town prejudice is done with verve and humour at the Church Hill Theatre as part of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.
Muster Station: Leith (EIF)
★★★★☆ Chilling
Muster Station: Leith, by immersive theatre specialists Grid Iron for the EIF, uses the halls and corridors of Leith Academy to suggest what it might be like when the climate emergency reaches a crisis point, here, in Edinburgh.
Medea (EIF)
★★★★☆ Towering
Medea, Liz Lochhead’s triumphant retelling of Euripides has returned to Edinburgh. The new production, at the Hub as part of the International Festival, boasts a Medea from Adura Onashile that will surely be every bit as legendary as Maureen Beattie was first time round.
Burn (EIF)
★★★★☆ Fiery
Burn, Alan Cumming’s solo dance-theatre interpretation of Robert Burns in the International Festival at the King’s, has a definite spark of passion.
Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age
★★★☆☆ Mixed bag
Given the honour of closing the Edinburgh International Festival that so nearly never happened, Alan Cumming responds with his trademark gusto and skill. Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age at the Old College Quad is, however, an odd combination of the delightful and the infuriating.
Medicine
★★★★★ Shattering
Medicine, Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival’s production for the International Festival at the Traverse, is a troubling, funny, emotionally devastating and brilliantly realised piece of theatre.
