Listings Mon 24 – Sun 30 June 2019
All the sights to see on Edinburgh’s stages
Almost the end of term but there is a bouncing plethora of theatre to be had this week, as the Formation Festival opens at the Roxy and Amelie The Musical arrives at the King’s.
Not to forget not one but TWO script-in-hand performances of short, new writing as Page2Stage’s June edition comes to the Roxy on Tuesday and Village Pub Theatre – after a little dithering as to the date – hit the mightily amenable back room of the Village Pub on Wednesday with their best-titled provocation yet.
Audrey Brisson in Amelie the Musical. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography
Don’t take your eye of the rest of prizes, though. There’s a particularly intriguing new translation of Aristophanes, Women in Parliament, at the Lauriston Halls for three nights from Wednesday, in which Athens of the North find strong modern resonances in a script that is older than Christianity.
Then theatre and boxing fans are all in for a treat at the Brunton on Friday when The Benny Lynch Story arrives for one night only. While those who love the whimsical should really try and see the brilliant Annie Lord with a re-tread of her Celluloid at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Saturday.
The big musicals offering is of course Amelie The Musical, based on the 2001 French movie, which is another level of whimsy indeed.
Formation Festival
But the real place to be exploring new names in all the various arts of bringing a piece of theatre to the stage is taking place at the latest edition of the Formation Festival at the Assembly Roxy.
This latest festival it is staged over two weekends, with six shows over three nights from Friday to Sunday. If you can’t see everything, then Twisted Thistle’s Dr Moreau Explains is probably the show to catch, as the company doesn’t appear to be returning to the fringe.
Although it must be said that all the shows look intriguing in different ways, and the second weekend, Friday 5 – Sunday 7 July, will have a fresh set of offerings.
And then there is the wonder that is the live art experiment of Anatomy, which is making its 20th appearance, at Summerhall, on Friday. The provocation for this one is Mollycoddle, so who knows what weird and wonderful ways the participants will dream up of interpreting that.
Enjoy, for the summer is almost upon us and we must endure the famine of July before the feast that is the Fringe in August.
Listings Mon 24 – Sun 30 June 2019
Assembly Roxy
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU. Phone booking: 0131 623 3030.
Page2Stage
Tue 25 June 2019
Evening: 7.30pm.
An exciting addition to Edinburgh’s new writing scene. Showcasing extracts from four brand new plays read in front of a live audience, with a chance to carry on discussions, meet the team, writers and actors in the comfort of the Roxy Snug Bar. Book here.
Pink House
Fri 28 – Sun 30 June 2019
Evenings: 6.30pm (Downstairs).
Formation Festival: A women’s take on belonging. Inspired by the playwright’s family history and migration to America, the play tells the story of a fractured household touched by loss and anti-Semitism. Book here.
Being Liza
Fri 28 – Sun 30 June 2019
Evenings: 6.45pm (Upstairs).
Formation Festival: Frances Edwards is Scotland’s premier Liza Minnelli tribute act. Her dad Pete is her demanding manager and co-star, blindly focussed on their ultimate success. An original story about a girl discovering who she really is behind the mask of an icon. Book here.
Dr Moreau Explains
Fri 28 – Sun 30 June 2019
Evenings: 8pm (Downstairs).
Formation Festival: Twisted Thistle return to the 1890s, mixing technologies and genres to come up with a production that embraces satire, science-fiction, black humour and horror. Inspired by H G Wells’ novel The Island of Dr Moreau, it all adds up to what might be called Steampunk Guignol. Book here.
Moon Fly Readings
Fri 28 June 2019
Evening: 8.15pm (Upstairs).
Formation Festival: Moon Fly Theatre present an evening of staged readings from their works in development. It Never Ends by Cameron Forbes and Yemen by Sean Dennis Langtree (extract). Book here.
Defecit
Sat 29 June 2019
Evening: 7pm (Central).
Formation Festival: A new piece of devised theatre that exposes the magical realism of our everyday lives Selkie, Kelpie, Wulver, Beira and Poltergeist explore the many facets of the human condition. Book here.
Show Pony
Sat 29 /Sun 30 June 2019
Evenings 8.15pm (Upstairs).
Formation Festival: An American novelist flies to Scotland to put an ocean between her and her mistakes, and to finish a book. Instead, she makes new ones, and writes a play. An adaptation of Michelle Hodkin’s novel performed script-in-hand. Book here.
Augustine’s United Church
41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL
Solid Flesh & The Captain’s (Mono) Log
Fri 28 June 2019
Evening: 8.15pm.
Acting Out drama school with over 20 of Edinburgh’s aspiring actors (about to break into the professional industry) will be featured in an array of work directed by award-winning director John Mitchell. Book here.
The Brunton
Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Phone booking: 0131 665 2240
ELYT Showcase
Fri 28/Sat 29 June 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm (Venue 1).
East Lothian Youth Theatre perform on stage in their annual showcase extravaganza. This year the theme is Future with each group performing their own interpretation of what this means to them in a short sketch. Book here.
The Benny Lynch Story
Friday 28 June 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
A poignant and entertaining look at the life of Scotland’s first ever boxing world champion, from his childhood in the Gorbals’ slums, to his boxing success and global stardom and ultimately his demise and untimely death in 1946 at the age of only 33.
This show is about the extraordinary life of a Scottish icon – the ultimate rags to riches to rags story. With Stephen Purdo as Benny and David Hayman, Holly Jack and Simon Weir. Directed by David Hayman Jr. (Strong language). Book here.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Amélie the Musical
Tue 25 – Sat 29 June 2019
Evenings 7.30pm, Matinees Wed & Sat 2.30pm.
Based on the 2001 French movie Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain starred Audrey Tautou, this 2015 adaptation tells of shy waitress Amélie, who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation. News: Amélie for Edinburgh. Book here.
Lauriston Hall
28 Lauriston Street, EH3 9DJ
Aristophanes: Women In Parliament
Wed 26 – Fri 28 June 2019
Evenings: 7.30pm
Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae, that Andrew Wilson calls Women in Parliament in this new translation, was written in 391 BCE, is a mix of political and social satire and sexual and scatological humour. And, says amateur company Athens of the North, it still demands further exploration. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
UK Pink Floyd Experience
Friday 28 June 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
Tribute show featuring eight top-flight musicians and a world-class crew, this concert-based production authentically recreates the atmosphere of a Pink Floyd live performance, including impressive video projection on a large circular screen and a stunning light show. Book here.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
Netherbow Theatre, 43-45 High Street, EH1 1SR Box Office: 0131 556 9579
Celluloid
Sat 29 June 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
An illuminated lantern lecture from artist and performer Annie Lord, exploring the illusion of cinema and the materials that sustain it. Featuring hand drawn illustrations, archive film stills and 35mm slide projection. The performance reveals the stories of the workers and patrons of the New Palace Cinema which operated on the High Street between 1929 and 1956. (Click here for review of a previous version of Celluloid at Hidden Door 2018) Book here.
The Studio at Festival Theatre
22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000
Lauder
Sat 29 June 2019
Matinee 2.30pm & Evening 7.30pm
An exploration into the public and private personas of the legendary Scottish entertainer Sir Harry Lauder, this new production of the musical play is adapted by director Kally Lloyd-Jones and tenor and broadcaster Jamie MacDougall from the original script by Jimmy Logan. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall Square, EH9 1PL
Anatomy #20 Mollycoddler
Fri 28 June 2019
Evening: 8pm.
The quarterly live art cabaret returns with performances by WITH L.A.R.D.S., Daniel Navarro Lorenzo, Shannon Mulvey & Jorja Izabela James, Sarah McWhinney & Fergus Hall, and Poor Mother a.k.a. Lucy Stewart, on the theme (sometimes tenuous) of being mollycoddled. Book here.
The Village
The Village Pub, 16 South Fort Street, EH6 4DN
VPT: I sniffed the Air B’n’B Guest’s underpants
Wed 26 June 2019
Evening: 7.30pm
The Village Pub Theatre return with more script-in-hand performances of sparkling new plays written specifically for this evening. Playwrights: Grace Cleary, Jill Franklin, Sophie Good, Sue Gyford and James Ley. Actors: Nicola Jo Cully, Gilchrist Muir, Mark Kydd and Sue Gyford. Yowza! Further details.
*NB: This is intended to be a complete listing of all public theatrical productions on in Edinburgh. If you are staging a show which is not listed, or a listing is inaccurate, please get in touch through the contact page, here.
