Amateurs
Forth turns 45
FCT to stage 45th Anniversary Gala
Forth Children’s Theatre is turning 45 this year and to set the celebrations off will be holding a Gala Concert at the Church Hill Theatre on Thurs 4 to Sat 6 April, 2024.
Cinderella
★★★★☆ Heartwarming
Edinburgh People’s Theatre have been doing pantomimes for so many years that they would be forgiven for coasting, However, Cinderella at the Church Hill – despite some awkwardness in the script – is effervescent, joyful, and appealing to all ages.
A Christmas Carol
★★★★☆ Thoughtful
That most evergreen of Christmas stories – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – is given a faithful, tuneful and carefully contemporary spin by Forth Act at Saint Salvador’s in Stenhouse.
Alice in Pantoland
★★★★☆ Wonderful fun
Alice in Pantoland, from Balerno Theatre Company at the Church Hill, is a traditional pantomime experience crammed full of delights.
Monty Panto and the 12(ish) Labours
★★★☆☆ Light-hearted fun
In Monty Panto and the 12(ish) Labours at the Bedlam, mixed messages purposefully run riot. While it is neither quite a panto nor yet a full tribute to Monty Python, it provides solid entertainment from beginning to end.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
★★★★☆ Powerful
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, from Leitheatre at the Church Hill, is a complex piece of pitch-black satire discharged with skill.
Hansel and Gretel
★★★☆☆ Refreshing
What larks are to be had up at the Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre this week, where the St Serf’s Players are staging Norman Robbins’s pantomime adaptation of Hansel and Gretel.
A Trilogy of Comedies
★★★★☆ Celebratory
The Trilogy of Comedies, presented by Saughtonhall Drama Group at Saughtonhall United Reformed Church to mark their 75th anniversary, provide geniality, stagecraft and much laughter.
Edinburgh Gang Show 2023
★★★★☆ Riding high
Boasting a cast of (nearly) thousands and as much entertainment as you could wish for, the Edinburgh Gang Show 2023 hits the odd wrong note but in the end its sheer momentum brooks no argument.
Chalk
★★★★☆ Well observed
The UK premiere of Walt McGough’s Chalk from the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group, upstairs at the Assembly Roxy, lacks a little in apocalyptic intensity – but convinces in its evocation of human relationships.
