Listings Mon 22 – Sun 28 Jan 2024
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
There’s two shows with big green protagonists opening this week. Similar, but oh so very different. At the Church Hill we have Eusog’s Little Shop of Horrors (Tue-Sat: tickets); at the Playhouse the new touring production of Shrek the Musical plays all week (Mon-Sat: tickets).
Elsewhere it is last chance to see the ★★★★☆ Atmospheric one man production of Jekyll & Hyde at the Lyceum (ends Sat: tickets) and the big ★★★★☆ High impact touring production of Macbeth at the Royal Highland Centre (ends Sat: tickets).
Joanne Clifton leads the Rat Chorus as Princess Fiona in Shrek. Pic: Marc Brenner.
So what of these big old greenies? Well, we’ve got a preview of Eusog’s Little Shop of Horrors here: Horror Shop for Eusog, looking at how the student company is attempting to bring out the anti-capitalist sentiment of the original. Whether what was hidden in plain sight actually needs emphasising, we shall see.
Amusingly, and all credit to their press person for this, they have also made The Times, no less. Which gets up on its Culture Wars soapbox to come over all of a tizzy about the students’ giving the show a feminist overhaul in its representation of Audrey. The question, surely, is whether the show works – and I can see nothing to indicate it won’t.
Shrek the Musical has also had a makeover – quick get out the green ink and dash off a missive to The Thunderer! The new director and choreographer mean a few of the big gags of the previous touring show have gone, but there is a lot of top dance content to replace it – Joanne Clifton is a worthy Princess Fiona – and the storytelling is excellent.
Less good is a projected video backdrop. It might have saved a bundle on transport costs, but there are too many scenes where the cloth undulates in the onstage air-currents, making the scenery go in and out of focus in a most disconcerting fashion. And more to the point, distracting from the excellent performers.
We’ve written about both Macbeth and Jekyll & Hyde before. The former is now sold out for the rest of the run – but there is the possibility of ticket holds being released on the day. Worth checking their website just in case. And do comment on our review if you have seen it.
rare treat
As for Forbes Masson in Jekyll & Hyde, it’s a rare treat to see Masson live on stage and well worth the time and entry price. There is reasonable availability at all performances, but on Tuesday 23rd there’s a post-show chat between Masson and the Lyceum’s associate artistic director Zinnie Harris, who will be exploring the play.
On Friday 26 there’s an LYT Curtain Raiser before the show (6pm: free but ticketed). Inspired by the mysterious door that opens the story of Jekyll & Hyde, the 14-19 year-old LYT company has ended up exploring gossip, intrigue and what happens when we push innovation too far.
Elsewhere, the legend that is David Suchet is appearing live at the Festival Theatre (Fri 26: tickets) in a show billed as Poirot and more, a retrospective. Tickets for this, as you might imagine, are very limited. In fact, so limited that the Stalls and Circle are sold out, although there is reasonable availability up with the gods in Upper Circle.
At the Traverse, Hannah Lavery’s Protest returns for a few performances only (Fri 26/Sat 27: tickets). Originally seen at Imaginate last year, (★★★☆☆ Girl power) this shows three girls challenging the status quo and tackling injustices in a script that explores the power of friendship, activism and believing in your own voice. Its all tightly directed by Nataly Ibu and well worth a look.
Listings
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site:
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Little Shop of Horrors (Eusog)
Tue 23 – Sat 27 Jan 2024.
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Preview: Horror Shop for Eusog
Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’ classic musical. Seymour Krelborn, a miserable clerk working in a flower shop on Skid Row, takes the meaning of carnivorous plants to a whole new level when he accidentally feeds a strange new plant a few drops of blood and is soon led down a dark and unexpected path. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
The Magic of Motown
Thurs 25 Jan 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
You will be going loco down in Acapulco as we take you back down memory lane with all the Motown classics from artists such as, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, The Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson, and many, many more. Book here.
David Suchet. Poirot and more, a retrospective
Fri 26 Jan 2024
Evening: 7.30pm.
Go behind the screen and curtain with a legend. Join us in conversation with the man, the actor and his many roles in an unmistakably unique event. A retrospective look at David’s career will have you witness some of his most beloved performances in a new and intimate light. Book here.
Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
Sat 27 Jan 2024
Two shows: 2.30pm & 7.30pm.
Two different shows, the Red Programme and the Blue Programme, with different films showing the world’s best adventure film-makers and explorers push themselves to the limits in the most remote and stunning corners of the globe. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Jekyll & Hyde
By Gary McNair, adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
Sat 13 – Sat 27 January 2024
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Weds & Sat: 2.30pm.
Æ Review:★★★★☆ Atmospheric
In this captivating and comic adaptation by Gary McNair, the classic story of Jekyll & Hyde is turned on its head, revealing the depths of one man’s psyche and the lengths we will go to hide our deepest secrets. What will happen to a curious mind as it’s left to its own devices? Book here.
Jekyll & Hyde: LYT Curtain Raiser
Fri 26 January 2024: 6pm.
For this free Curtain Raiser, the Lyceum Youth Theatre (14-19 year-old ensemble), have experimented with different themes and ideas pulled from the Jekyll & Hyde story and show. They have ended up exploring gossip, intrigue and what happens when we push innovation too far. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA
Shrek the Musical
Mon 22 – Sat 27 January 2024
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat: 2.30pm.
The producers of Hairspray and Priscilla Queen of the Desert have joined forces with directors Sam Holmes and Nick Winston, and designer Phillip Witcomb, to reimagine the classic musical for a new audience. Don’t worry believers: same book, same songs, same story, just a different cover. Book here.
Royal Highland Centre
Ingliston, EH28 8NB
website
Sat 13 – Sat 27 January 2024
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Thurs (not 13), Sat: 2.30pm.
Æ review: ★★★★☆ High impact
A couple corrupted by their relentless lust for power have blood on their hands. Witness the gripping tale of greed, murder, deception and superstition. Once you cross the line, you can never turn back. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma star as the Macbeths, directed by Simon Godwin with set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw. Tickets and details: MacbethTheShow.com.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404
Protest
Fri 26/Sat 27 Jan 2024
Afternoons: 2pm; Sat Mat: 11am (Trav 1)
Three girls prepare to challenge the status quo and tackle injustices in this new play exploring the power of friendship, activism and the believing in your own voice. Written by Hannah Lavery and directed by Natalie Ibu. Book here.
