Listings & preview: Mon 13 – Sun 19 May 2024
What’s on Edinburgh stages this week?
It’s back to the business this week after last week’s lull, with the return of a hit to the Lyceum, Leitheatre up at the Church Hill, Jack Docherty at the Traverse and some ghostly goings on at the Banshee Labyrinth.
The big returnee is a leaner and fitter Macbeth (an undoing) 2024 to the Lyceum (Tue 14 – Sat 25: tickets), complete with four nominations from the New York critics’ Drama Desk Awards
Stephen Murray (Edward) and company in Edward Scissorhands at the Festival Theatre. Pic: Johan Persson
Local amateurs Leitheatre have Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills up at the Church Hill (Wed – Sat: tickets) and at the Studio theatre the PASS dance students have Cross Currents (Thur/Fri: tickets).
Goths and dance fans alike are in for a treat at the Festival theatre where Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures have his ballet adaptation of Edward Scissorhands (Tue – Sat: tickets).
At the Traverse, Jack Docherty has his David Bowie and Me: Parallel Lives in Trav 1 (Thurs – Sat: tickets), while the last of the Tandem Writers’ showcases is in Traverse 2 on Saturday with Ivor (tickets). Worth checking at the Banshee Labyrinth on Friday, Joseph Helsing and Matt Walker have the first in a series of new horror musicals with Ghost Story (tickets).
As for the Playhouse, its a one-off week with The Psychology Of Serial Killers (Wed: tickets), Romesh Ranganathan (Thur/Fri: tickets), Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals (Sat: tickets) and Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of the Dubliners (Sun: tickets).
Listings
The Banshee Labyrinth
29-35 Niddry St, Edinburgh EH1 1LG, UK
Ghost Story (Shock Horror)
Fri 17 May 2024.
One show: 7.30pm.
A new series of horror musicals written by Joseph Helsing and Matt Walker that tap into our deepest, darkest fears and desires. A young governess has come to look after a young man. She must tell him a frightening ghost story nightly, but little does she know that this particular child isn’t quite what he appears to be. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Blue Remembered Hills (Leitheatre)
Wed 15 – Sat 18 May 2024.
Wed – Fri: 7.30pm; Sat mat only: 2.30pm.
Denis Potter’s deceptively simple tale relates the activities of seven English children (played by adults) on a summer afternoon during World War II. In a wood, a field and a barn, they play, fight, fantasise and swagger. Their aggressions, fears, hostilities and rivalries are a microcosm of adult interaction. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Edward Scissorhands
Tue 14 – Sat 18 May 2024
Evening: 7.30pm; Thurs, Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Based on the classic Tim Burton movie and featuring the hauntingly beautiful music of Danny Elfman and Terry Davies, Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures Company return to this witty, bittersweet story of an incomplete boy left alone in a strange new world. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Macbeth (an undoing) 2024
By Zinnie Harris, in a new version after Shakespeare
Tue 14 – Sat 25 May 2024
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Weds & Sat: 2.30pm.
When her husband returns victorious from the battlefield with a prophecy that he is to become King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth will stop at nothing to make their darkest ambitions a reality. So far, so familiar. But then the story fragments. The Lyceum revives its much lauded 2023 production. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
The Elvis Tribute Artist World Tour
Tue 14 May 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Direct from the USA, the world’s biggest, best and most successful Elvis tribute show returns to the UK. Starring three of the world’s very best Elvis tribute artists together in one show with an incredible live band and orchestra. Book here.
The Psychology Of Serial Killers with Jennifer Rees
Wed 15 May 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Join expert forensics lecturer Jennifer Rees to explore one of Forensic Psychology’s most troubling topics. During this talk, you will discover how serial killers are classified. What are the differences between lust killers like the BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) Killer and visionary killers such as David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)? Book here.
Romesh Ranganathan: Hustle
Thurs 16/Fri 17 May 2024
Evening: 8pm.
After a sell-out tour in 2022, Romesh is back with a brand-new show examining the human condition. Are people inherently good? Is charity always a positive thing? Is hustling the key to success? Or is all this a load of rubbish we’ve made up to keep people working hard for no reason? Book here.
Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals
Sat 18 May 2024
Two shows: 2.30pm & 7.30pm
This exhilarating show will showcase the exceptional talent of 12 of TV’s beloved professional dancers, supported by incredible singers and a live band, all performed within the wonderful world of glamour and sparkle that fans know and love from the smash hit series. Book here .
Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of the Dubliners
Sun 19 May 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
In partnership with Tourism Ireland and in association with legendary Irish pub O’Donoghue’s, Seven Drunken Nights tells the story of a career spanning 50 years and invokes the spirit of Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, John Sheahan, Ciaran Bourke and Jim McCann. Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Cross Currents (PASS)
Thur 16/Fri 17 May 2024
Two shows daily: 2pm & 7pm.
An exciting evening of dance works performed by dance students from PASS, choreographed by PASS dance staff in collaboration with the students and guest artist Ashley Jack. PASS students are delighted to welcome guest groups from Angela Watson School of Dance and the PASS Youth Dance Company. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Jack Docherty in David Bowie and Me: Parallel Lives
Thurs 16 – Sat 18 May 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm (Trav 1).
The comic, author, actor and writer uses his time spent with Bowie on The Jack Docherty Show in 1997 as a jumping off point to take audiences through topics from first love, hedonism, mortality and why you should always meet your heroes. Book here.
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Ivor
Sat 18 May 2024
Shows at 8pm (Trav 2).
Jennifer Adam with the final in the Tandem Writers’ series of short play readings. What do you buy the kid who has everything for their 21st birthday? Sarah’s got this one covered. A play about sustainability and survival and asks how far you are willing to go for the things you love the most, when those things begin to slip away. Book here.
ENDS
