Preview & Listings: Mon 10 – Sun 16 June 2024
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
Its a week of big shows in small numbers, with the pick of the theatre coming from Sally Reid’s CATS-winning performance in Shirley Valentine at the Lyceum (ends Sat 26 June: tickets).
Described as “a masterclass in acting” when she won the Outstanding Performance award this is a fabulous chance for Edinburgh audiences to see Reid in the Pitlochry production of Willy Russell’s monologue.
Sally Reid in Shirley Valentine at the PFT.
Staging a three week summer season is something of an experiment for the Lyceum. However Willy Russell’s iconic monologue seems exactly the right pick. And Sally Reid’s performance, first seen at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Elizabeth Newman’s captivating production, should be a huge draw.
Reid plays the bored, middle-aged wife and mother, contemplating what has happened to her youth, with charm, humour and a sparkle in her eye. When her best friend suggests a trip to Greece, Shirley packs her bags, leaves a note on the cupboard door and heads off for a fortnight of rest and relaxation…
There has been less critical approval for the second big theatre opener, the National Theatre of Scotland’s tour of Maggie & Me, coming to Traverse One (Wed – Sat: tickets). Not that this matters too much as it is returns only for Damian Barr and James Ley’s adaptation of Barr’s memoire of his childhood in 1980s Lanarkshire.
Lie Low
In Traverse Two there is another chance to see Lie Low (Wed – Sat: tickets), which was a hit at EdFringe 2023. This dark, funny and surreal two hander by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth about trauma and society’s view that every experience, no matter how devastating, is an opportunity for self-improvement, comes off a favourably reviewed stay at the Royal Court.
Lie Low. Pic Raymond Davies
At the Festival Theatre, Scottish Opera’s revival of their 2008 production of La traviata (Thurs & Sat: tickets) feels as fresh and engaging as ever, thanks to revival director Leo Castaldi’s consistent take on Sir David McVicar’s original direction, which is all about the storytelling.
That, and a pair of leads in Hye-Youyn Lee as the “celebrated courtesan” Violetta Valery, dying of consumption, and Ji-Min Park as her naive young lover Alfredo Germont; who grab hold of all the drama in Verdi’s music and channel it into their acting performances.
A seat in the gods
There are a few tickets left in the gods for the production which comes hugely recommended. Lee is outstanding in her lithe vocal representation of the fading courtesan. Her use of coloratura, which is so bright and fulsome to be astounding in Act 1 when she is left alone to contemplate Alfredo’s love for her, combines with her command of her upper register to echo Violetta’s decline over the course of the opera.
Her vocal and physical enfeeblement in Act 3 as she nears death, is both delicately portrayed and makes her final rally all the more chilling. A rare treat this one.
Hye-Youn Lee as Violetta Valéry in Scottish Opera’s production of La traviata. Pic: James Glossop.
SIX, the hit musical about Henry VIII’s wives at the Playhouse (ends Sat: tickets), is all sold out. However, it returns in October 2025 with tickets available on the same link, if you want to grab the good seats now. We have reviewed the show a couple of times (check here) and it’s something of a right-royal belter.
If you are very lucky, you have got tickets to see Citadel Arts Group’s immersive Tales from the Towpath which transfers from the open water of the Union Canal to Edinburgh Printmakers on Sunday. If not, the best way to get one is to check on their Facebook page: Citadel Arts Group.
And finally, on Sunday we’ll be over to Glasgow’s Theatre Royal for the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (Tickets are on sale here) in which Edinburgh companies are nominated in every category (Edinburgh companies up for the CATS). Do join us for the glittering reception if you can.
Listings for week ending Sunday 16 June 2024:
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site.
Edinburgh Printmakers
Castle Mills, 1 Dundee Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9FP
Tales from the Towpath (Citadel Arts Group)
Sun 16 2024
Matinee: 2pm.
Æ review: ★★★★☆ Water-born histories
Citadel Arts Group with a new immersive play exploring the history and people of the Union Canal, opened in 1882 and linking Edinburgh with Forth & Clyde Canal at Falkirk. Limited free tickets: Text 07954296568.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
La Traviata (Scottish Opera)
Fri 7 – Sat 15 June 2024
Fri 7, Tue 11, Thurs 13, Sat 15: 7.15pm; Sun 9: 3pm.
This beloved production, which began life at Scottish Opera in 2008, has been seen at opera houses around the world. Violetta Valéry lives on borrowed time. In Paris’ hedonistic high society, she squeezes each day for its joys before her illness catches up with her. When the idealistic young Alfredo offers true love, happiness seems possible – but her past has exacted a price. Book here.
Leith Depot
138-142 Leith Walk EH6 5DT
Dram-a at the Depot: Solstice (Penpal Productions)
Mon 10 June 2024
Evening: 8pm.
A selection of short plays, specially chosen for Leith Depot audiences. Performed by actors, script in hand, for you, the audience, drink in hand. All welcome, including any theatre loving furry friends. As if that wasn’t enough, there will also be cake! What more could you possibly want? Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
Shirley Valentine
The Pitlochry Festival Theatre Production.
Wed 12 – Sat 29 June 2024
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Weds (not 12) & Sat: 2.30pm.
Sally Reid reprises her CATS award-winning performance in the PFT production of Willy Russell’s iconic play, directed by Elizabeth Newman. When her best friend suggests a trip to Greece, Shirley packs her bags and soon realises that there is more to life than the mundane existence she leads back home. Now, Shirley has a big decision to make… Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Six
Tue 11 – Sat 15 June 2024.
Evenings: 8pm; Weds, Thurs: 5pm, Sat: 4pm.
From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. These Queens may have green sleeves but their lipstick is rebellious red. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
Maggie & Me
Wed 12 – Sat 15 June 2024
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm (Trav 1).
It’s October 12, 1984 – the Brighton bombing. Maggie Thatcher emerges from the rubble, dusty but defiant and somehow in the living room of 8-year-old Damian Barr in Newarthill. No time for turning, so buckle up for a surreal yet so-real rollercoaster ride through Damian’s painful past rediscovering who he really is. Book here.
Lie Low
Wed 12 – Sat 15 June 2024
Shows at 8pm (Trav 2).
Faye’s afraid. She’s not sleeping, she doesn’t trust ducks and all she’s had to eat this week is a box of dry Rice Krispies. A doctor recommends a form of exposure therapy, so Faye enlists the help of her brother, Naoise. But Naoise has a devastating secret that’s about to explode. Book here.
ENDS
