Listings: Mon 25 Sept – Sun 1 Oct 2023
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week…
It’s back to normal this week, with an almost full card of productions ranging from ghostly thrillers to autobiography and a celebratory music portmanteau to experimental dance.
First up is the welcome return of the annual amateur musical production that is Showcase, at the Church Hill Theatre (Tue 26 – Sat 30 Tickets) and fundraising as always for MacMillan Cancer Support. Up where we belong is this year’s theme and you can read more about the production in our preview here: Showcase is back.
Charlene Boyd and Joe Absolom in 2:22. A Ghost Story. Pic: Johan Persson.
The other biggy of the week is at the Festival Theatre, with the ghostly thriller 2:22 a Ghost Story (Tue 26 – Sat 30 Tickets). Danny Robins’ play has “taken the West End by storm” as the publicity goes, with a string of celebrity castings.
There’s nothing celebrity in the casting of Glasgow-born Charlene Boyd however, who has been seen on Edinburgh’s stages in a wealth of strong theatre performances (reviewed on Æ here). She was in Scot Squad, played PC Jac Dunn in River City and is currently under commission for her first full length play from the NTS and Grid Iron Theatre.
On the tour of 2:22, Boyd plays Lauren who, with her new partner Ben (Joe Absolom, Doc Martin), are dinner guests at the new home of her old friend Jenny (Louisa Lytton, East Enders). Jenny thinks the house is haunted, but husband Sam (It’s a Sin’s Nathaniel Curtis) isn’t having any of it. Belief and scepticism clash and the visitors agree to stay until 2:22am, when the alleged haunting takes place…
Coast
At the Traverse, this week’s A Play, A Pie and a Pint is Coast (Tue 26 – Sat 30 Tickets). Written and directed by Edinburgh-based Annie George, with music by Edinburgh band HÜSH, this features Hamzah Aftab (East is East, Birmingham Rep/National Theatre) and Beruce Khan (The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare’s Globe) as half-siblings Jay and Kay, off on a road trip to get to know each other. There’s more about it in our PPP preview here: PPP: tales of coming home.
Jack Hunter in One of Two. Pic: Beth Chalmers
Also at the Traverse is One of Two (Wed 27/Thurs 28 Tickets), written and performed by Jack Hunter. Seen at the 2022 Fringe (★★★☆☆ Involving) it returns for two performances only with a reworked script and redeveloped with new director Joe Douglas. This one-man comedy-drama is about twins growing up with cerebral palsy: Bec (a wheelchair user) and Jack (who walks with a limp). Each had a very different experience navigating life.
Jack steps back in time to tell their story – reliving squabbles with his old womb-mate Bec; whilst battling against societal attitudes and a troublesome tattie: Darth Tater. In this true tale of twins growing up, their unique bond is tested as they steer through the trials and tribulations of childhood and school – honking at bullies and overthrowing low expectations.
Dance macabre
There’s a fascinating concept for a dance show at the Assembly Roxy with Totentanz (Thurs 28 – Sat 30 Tickets) from Glasgow dance company Shotput which is dedicated to making “work about the darker corners of contemporary life with athleticism, humour, and a healthy sense of the absurd.”
What if, wonder Shotput, when we die we don’t need to balance our accounts but instead make a dance? A dance of death or Totentanz. Here, two performers try to create the perfect dance of death – and fail each time. They try different shapes, styles and costumes in their attempt to make the perfect cry against the unknown; A final dance at the afterparty.
Other events this week include the return of the Kevin Quantum to the Caledonian with his close-up Edinburgh Magic show (Sat 30, Tickets); The Makars with a free script-in-hand reading at the Royal Society of Noble Prospects, a new play about Samuel Johnson and James Boswell’s iconic tour of Scotland (Thurs 28, Tickets); and The McDougalls with their Space Adventure at the Church Hill (Sun 1, Tickets).
Listings
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site
Assembly Roxy
2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU
Butch Ado About Nothing (Grace Petrie)
Wed 27 Sept 2023.
Evening: 7.30pm. (Upstairs)
Folk singer, lesbian and checked-shirt-collector Grace Petrie has been incorrectly called Sir every day of her adult life, and, having finally run out of things to write whiny songs about, she’s putting down the guitar to try and work out why. Book here.
Totentanz (Shotput)
Thurs 28 – Sat 30 Sept 2023.
Evenings: 7.30pm. (Central)
What if, when we die, we don’t need to balance our accounts? What if, instead, we need to make a dance? A dance of death. Totentanz is a new piece of theatre from Shotput that approaches death with celebration and an open heart. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Up where we belong (Showcase)
Tue 26 – Sat 30 Sept 2023.
Evenings: 7.30pm, Sat mat 2.30pm
The annual celebration of all things musical in support of MacMillan Cancer Support from the company with one aim: “to raise funds for charity by staging an annual show offering the highest standard of entertainment and professionalism”. Expect a well-programmed evening of the highest quality. Book here.
The McDougalls – Space Adventure
Sun 1 October 2023.
One show: 1pm
Join stars of stage and screen, Auntie Aggie and Max, as they fly past the planets on an intergalactic musical expedition! From a sunny stop on Mercury, to a meeting with a Martian, there’s so much to do and see on this trip of a lifetime in the homemade rocket ship!. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
2.22 A Ghost Story
Tue 26 – Sat 30 September 2023
Evenings: 7.30pm; Thurs, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Book here.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh
22-26 George Street, EH2 2PQ.
Noble Prospects (Edinburgh Makars)
Thurs 28 Sept 2023
One show: 6pm.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh celebrates the 250th anniversary of Samuel Johnson and James Boswell’s iconic tour of Scotland with a script in hand reading by the Makers of Noble Prospects, a new play by Mike Appleby recounting Johnson and Boswell’s journey, encounters and experiences of Scotland in 1773, based on their own words. Followed by a panel discussion. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Coast (PPP)
Tue 26 – Sat 30 Sept 2023.
Matinees: 1pm. (Traverse 2).
Written and directed by Annie George.
Half-siblings, Jay and Kay, are on a road trip travelling overnight from Glasgow. After growing up apart, the recently united pair are heading for the coast down south, to go camping for a few nights and get to know each other better. A poignant and comic drama that veers off course and becomes a journey of self-discovery. Book here.
One of Two (Independent Arts Projects)
Wed 27/Thurs 28 Sept 2023.
Evenings: 8pm. (Traverse 2).
Written by Jack Hunter.
Æ review from EdFringe 2022: ★★★☆☆ Involving.
One-man comedy-drama about two twins growing up with cerebral palsy: Bec (a wheelchair user) and Jack (who walks with a limp). Each twin had a very different experience navigating life.. Book here.
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh, the Caledonian
Princes Street, EH1 2AB.
Edinburgh Magic
Sats 30 Sept; 7 Oct; 4, 25 Nov; 2, 9, 16 Dec 2023
Saturday evenings: 6pm & 8.30pm (Versailles Suite)
Æ Review: ★★★★☆ Rosy
Kevin Quantum performs an hour of magic that’s fooled some of the most brilliant and creative people ever to have lived, often times with strong links to Edinburgh and Scotland. An elegant, intimate and quite astonishing evening of magic, mystery and wonder in one of Edinburgh’s most historic and enchanting hotels. Book here.
ENDS
