Listings Mon 7 to Sun 13 April 2025
What’s on Edinburgh’s pages this week?
It’s another big week of musicals from Edinburgh’s amateur and professional theatre communities with a spot of dance from the boundary-pushing Mr Bourne.
First up there are several small productions of new work, often script-in-hand developmental stuff, which look to be absolute belters. If you want to see tomorrow’s theatre today, these are the places to be.
A scene from Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, at the Festival Theatre to Saturday. Stephen Murray (The Prince) and Company. Photo Johan Persson
On to the big shows where there are Two top tips. First: Forth Children’s Theatre who consistently punch above their weight and now use the excellent facilities at Broughton High School for The Sound of Music (Wed-Sat: tickets).
Secondly: EdGAS, the Edinburgh Gilbert & Sullivan Society, take on early work The Sorcerer (Wed-Sat: tickets), and will no doubt bring plenty of clever attention to the details up at the Church Hill Theatre.
The final amateur musicals event is down at the Loretto School in Musselburgh, where MAMA are stepping away from the usual formula for their annual Variety Show, with a production that reflects the 75 years of the company’s existence (Fri/Sat: tickets).
scarce
The Lyceum’s Wild Rose is entering its final fortnight (ends Sat 19: tickets) and briefs are becoming very scarce. Best availability is Thursday, although there are no complete sell-out nights. Yet.
Tickets are also scarce for Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Festival Theatre (Tue-Sat: tickets). There are seats to be had, up in the back of the gods, but you might be best advised to rock up on the night and see if there are any returns.
Elsewhere in this packed week, both Amadeus (details) at the Pianodrome and Through the Shortbread Tin (details) at the Storytelling centre are sold out. While there are but a handful of seat-only, no-pie, tickets for this week’s lunchtime theatre Night, Idiot, at the Traverse (Tue-Sat: tickets).
Listing Mon 7 – Sun 13 April 2026
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site.
Augustine United Church
41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL.
The Stag and the Hound (Crunch Collective)
Tue 8 April 2025.
Evening: 7pm.
Andrew has a perfect life: good job; great pals; a perfect, loyal best friend; and is about to marry the love of his life. Waking up after the perfect stag do, ready for a perfect wedding, he discovers his best man is missing… Gabriel Von-Spreckelsen directs Ben Ramsay’s sharp, dark new comedy. Book here.
Broughton High School
29 E Fettes Ave, Edinburgh EH4 1EG.
The Sound of Music (Forth Children’s Theatre)
Wed 9 – Sat 12 April 2025.
Evening: 7pm; Sat mat: 2pm.
FCT with the youth production of the beloved classis. Follow Maria, the spirited governess, as she brings joy, music, and love to the Von Trapp family, on the eve of the Anschluss; Hitler’s annexation of Austria. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
The Sorcerer (EdGAS)
Wed 9 – Sat 12 April 2025.
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Based on Gilbert’s story An Elixir of Love, his third collaboration with Sullivan tells the tale of Alexis, a man obsessed with the idea of love levelling all ranks and social distinctions. Alexis enlists a ‘Family Sorcerer’ of J.W. Wells & Co. in London to administer a love potion to the entire village – via a teapot – and soon mayhem ensues… Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Tue 8 – Sat 12 Apr 2025
Evening: 7.30pm; Thurs, Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Matthew Bourne’s audacious, rule-breaking reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece. Thrilling, bold, witty and emotive, this genre-defining event is still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered convention, turning tradition on its head. Book here.
Leith Depot
138-142 Leith Walk EH6 5DT.
Rise and Shine (Penpal Productions)
Mon 7 April 2025
Evening: 7pm.
Another DramaAtTheDepot evening of script-in-hand performances of new scripts from a half dozen local playwrights. This month Leah Byrne, Jane Sunderland, Tony Sutton, Andy Moseley, Olivia Fischer and Sophie Good are writing on the theme of Rise and Shine. Book here.
Leith Dockers Club
17 Academy Street EH6 7EF.
Dockers Dramas (Citadel Arts Group)
Tue 8 April 2025
Lunchtime theatre: 12 noon.
Citadel mark the start of their 30th anniversary celebrations with a special ‘Play, Pie and Pint’ performed reading of new writing. San Cassimally’s Fog, Hilary Spiers’ The Back Room Boy and Rhona McAdam’s Something Fishy are scripted by older members of Citadel’s Playwrights Group which meets in the Dockers Club . For tickets email Citadel here.
Loretto School Theatre
Loretto School Theatre, Millhill, Musselburgh.
MAMA 2025 Annual Variety Show! (MAMA)
Fri 11/Sat 12 April 2025
Evenings: 7.30pm, Sat mat: 2pm.
Rather later than usual, MAMA’s annual variety show celebrates 75 years of MAMA with a mixture of pop, comedy, dance, drag, poetry and even a few musical numbers for good measure. Between the numbers will be iconic advertisements, video news reels of clips of both historical moments and MAMA history. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Wild Rose
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Caledonia Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions
Ends: Sat 19 Apr 2025
Daily (not Sun/Mon): 7.30pm. Wed, Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Æ Review: ★★★★★ Triumphant.
There is only one thing in Rose-Lynn’s life that has ever made sense: country music. Fresh out of jail for past mistakes, and bursting with incredible raw talent, charisma and cheek, the free-spirited Rose-Lynn dreams of escaping Glasgow to make it as a singer in Nashville. Book here.
Pianodrome Edinburgh
28 West Harbour Road, EH5 1PN
AMADEUS by Peter Shaffer (Strawmoddie Theatre)
Thurs 10 – Sun 13 April 2025
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Antonio Salieri, court composer to Emperor Joseph II, has pledged himself to God to achieve composing greatness. Enter Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a foul-mouthed, obscene little man who has genius beyond Salieri’s envious grasp. Strawmoddie Theatre stage Peter Shaffer’s play in an amphitheatre made of pianos, with live music and opulent 18th century costumes. Book here.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St, EH1 1SR. Phone booking: 0131 556 9579.
Through the Shortbread Tin (National Theatre of Scotland)
Tue 8/Wed 9 Apr 2027.
Evenings: 7.30pm.
1760. Scottish poet James Macpherson sets the world ablaze with stories of the third-century Scottish bard, Ossian. 2025. Scottish poet Martin O’Connor reads Macpherson’s epic and questions his own relationship with Scottish culture. This a brand-new show, performed in Scots with Gaelic songs, explores Scottish culture, myths, history and identity. Book here.
Loud Poets 
Fri 11 April 2025.
Evening: 7.30pm.
Don’t miss the next fantastic show from Scotland’s premiere spoken word night! For over ten years, Loud Poets have been showcasing the best spoken word poetry from Scotland and beyond. Expect fist-thumping, heart-wrenching, side-tickling poetry performances with live musical accompaniment. Check back soon for the full line-up. Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Alas! Poor Yorick (Ridiculusmus)
Tue 8 Apr 2025
One show: 7.30pm.
Flipping the Shakespearean original tragedy into an existential clown piece, Ridiculusmus cast aside chaos and mistaken murders to unearth a beautiful and oddly moving meditation on work, faith and existence, with the prevaricating protagonist offered in a refreshingly contemporary light. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Night, Idiot (PPP)
By Zoë Bullock.
Tue 8 – Sat 12 April 2025
Lunchtime: 1pm (Trav 1).
Dani has it all. Great job, new flat, perfect boyfriend Paul… until one morning, she wakes up to find he’s disappeared. No note, no explanation. A darkly comedic, rip-roaring theatrical ride about one woman’s quest for impossible answers. Book here.
Rose Tinted (First Look)
By Morna Young.
Tue 8 April 2025
Evening: 7pm (Trav 2).
Script-in-hand development reading. A story of trauma, an imaginary friend, and the colour pink, Rose Tinted explores the choice between fantasy and reality. Book here.
Gush (First Look)
By Jess Brodie.
Thurs 10 April 2025
Evening: 7pm (Trav 2).
Script-in-hand development reading. After a lifetime of putting others first, a woman on the brink of motherhood takes her destiny into her own hands. A funny and frank exploration of the barriers that prevent women from owning their desires—and what happens when choice is no longer an option. Book here.
ENDS
