Listings Mon 7 – Sun 13 Feb 2022
What’s on Edinburgh’s Stages this week…
Not quite normality yet, but the big shows are beginning to return to the big venues – with Covid mitigation in place – while a couple of online productions remind us that Covid hasn’t gone away.
The big news this week is at the Kings, where they are stepping through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and at the Playhouse, where they are doubly blessed as they step through the dashboard light to find paradise in Bat Out of Hell.
Shaka Kalokoh (Edmund) and Samantha Womack (White Witch) in The Lion, the Witch & The Wardrobe. Pic Brinkhoff-Moegenburg.
If you want to see Samantha Womack do her evil White Witch you’ll have to get along to the King’s this week, where the adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic children’s novels is playing from Tuesday to Saturday – with an earlier than normal start of 7pm.
Womack is looking forward to the show. She said: “The book has always been a magical read and having watched incredible actors interpret this role in the past, I am excited to see what she holds for me. This production is so beautifully conceived with thrilling sets and costumes and an amazingly talented cast and creative team. I can’t wait to seduce, plot and terrify Narnia into a permanent winter.”
In Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, it is the electrifying rock songs of Mr Steinman which propel its epic story of rebellious youth and passion as Strat, the immortal leader of The Lost, has fallen in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler Falco.
But it is the ghost of the late Meat Loaf which haunts a production that draws heavily on the over-the-top energy and bombastic pomp of the man himself. And you’ve got a couple of weeks to catch the show, which is in town at the Playhouse from this Tuesday to Saturday 19 February.
treats for dance fans
There are couple of treats for dance fans this week. The big live in-person event is the arrival of Rambert at the Festival Theatre with one of those great mash-ups of dance and modern electronic music which the company do so well. This time it is Sharon Eyal’s fierce, pulsating choreography to an original soundtrack of driving techno from Ori Lichtik and GAIKA.
The other dance treat is online, in Traverse 3, with Scottish Dance Theatre streaming their Life and Times live from their stage at Dundee Rep straight into your home. This is an altogether calmer affair, even if it can be equally as thrilling, with a cinematic and surreal dance journey performed to a baroque score.
There is more online interest from Fronteiras Theatre Lab, which staged Placeholder at the Storytelling Centre a while back and is now staging it in St Andrews, with the performance live streamed for those who can’t make it up to the Byre Theatre to see it in person.
Click on the name of the show to go to its ticketing site.
Assembly Roxy
2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU
I’m Grand Mam Presents Glory Holy
Thurs 10 Feb 2022
Evening: 8pm.
After two years of being confined to recording content at their kitchen table, Kevin and PJ are finally going back on tour with a live version of their iconic podcast I’m Grand Mam. Join the boys as they recount their fall from grace in the pursuit of glamour and question whether they should part ways with piety in order to have a scream. Book here.
The Brunton
Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA. Phone booking: 0131 665 2240
Girls Night Oot
Fri 11 Feb 2022
Evening: 7.30pm (Venue 1)
It is Saturday night and Lauren’s hen do has finally arrived! Lauren, Kelly-Marie and Ali arrive at Donna’s house to kick off the night, which will be one to remember. The girls sing and dance and share stories of weight gain, funny memories and play a dangerous game of never have I ever that ends in hilarious outcomes. The drinks are flowing, the banter is top notch. What better way to carry the night than a visit to the local club. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Dick & Angel: Dare to Do It ‘So much more to say’
Mon 7/Tue 8 Feb 2022
Evening: 7.30pm.
Dick & Angel Strawbridge, the stars of Channel 4’s Escape to the Chateau are on the road again on their ‘Dare to do it’ Tour with so much more to say. During this highly entertaining evening, the duo explains who they are, where they have come from, how they met and why they dared to do it! Book here.
Rambert: Aisha and Abhaya
Thurs 10 – Sat 12 February 2022
Evenings: 7.30pm.
An intense, intoxicating theatrical rush, fusing dance, film, sound and music. Rambert’s fearless dancers take centre stage performing Sharon Eyal’s fierce, pulsating choreography to an original soundtrack of driving techno from Ori Lichtik and GAIKA. Book here.
JIMEOIN Turn It Up
Sun 13 February 2022
Evening: 7.30pm.
An evening of world-class comedy from the Irishman internationally celebrated as one of live stand-up’s true masters. He’s a hugely loved and much respected comedian, with a wide appeal and a cheeky, no-gimmicks and superbly observed sense of humour that has his audiences in stitches across the UK, Europe, USA and of course Australia. Book here.
King’s Theatre
2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
Tue 8 – Sat 12 February 2021
Evenings: 7pm; Wed, Sat Mat: 2pm.
Æ review: ★★★★☆ Visually arresting.
Step through the wardrobe this winter into the magical kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to a talking Faun, an unforgettable Lion and the coldest, cruellest White Witch. Book here.
Online
On a screen in your own home
Placeholder By Catherine Bisset (Fronteiras Theatre Lab and CECTON)
Wed 9 February 2022
Evening: 6pm. (Running time: 1 hour)
Saint-Domingue, 1790. One year and one day before an uprising of rebel slaves will ignite what is now known as the Haitian Revolution. At the theatre in Port-au-Prince, Minette waits, but the auditorium fumes conjure up ghosts from her past. Edinburgh’s Fronteiras Theatre Lab beam in live from St Andrew’s Byre Theatre. Tickets and details: Book here.
The Life and Times
Fri 11/Sat 12 February 2022. See Traverse below.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical
Tue 8 – Sat 19 February 2022 
Mon-Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Wed, Sat: 2.30pm. (Fri 11: 5pm, 8.30pm).
Æ review: ★★★★☆ The Bat is Back
Strat, the forever young leader of rebellious gang ‘The Lost’, falls in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler of Obsidian, in the jukebox musical based on the anthems of Jim Steinman and MeatLoaf. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404
The Life and Times
Fri 11/Sat 12 February 2022
Evening: 7pm. (Running time: 1 hour)
A cinematic and surreal dance journey from Scottish Dance Theatre. Conceived by Artistic Director Joan Clevillé and streamed live in a single continuous shot, The Life and Times is a visual meditation on our relationship with time set to a sumptuous soundtrack of Baroque music. Tickets and details: Book here.
ENDS
