Ben Blow
The Fifth Elephant
★★★☆☆ Slipped discworld
Strawmoddie Theatre return to the Pleasance with Stephen Briggs adaptation of The Fifth Elephant, ten years since the death of author Terry Pratchett and ten years since they were established.
Amadeus
★★★★☆ Intimate
Edinburgh-based Strawmoddie theatre company bring Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus to the Pianodrome in a powerful examination of the jealousy of mediocrity in the face of genius.
Going Postal
★★★★☆ First Class
Strawmoddie’s Going Postal, their fourth production of a Terry Pratchett novel adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs, is delivered with all due care and attention to detail at the Pleasance Theatre to Sunday.
Conspiracy
★★★★★ Bureaucratic nightmare
Conspiracy, a co-production between Edinburgh-based grassroots companies Strawmoddie and RFT, is a chilling and almost obscenely mundane account of the Wannsee Conference, held in a Berlin suburb in January 1942.
Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
★★★☆☆ Well-turned
Amidst the noise, rituals and trappings of pantomime and Christmas, Strawmoddie’s take on Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather provides a welcome parody of our seasonal excess, at the Pleasance Theatre to Sunday.
Schism
★★★☆☆ Thoughtful
There is plenty to ponder in Alex Cook’s intriguing new play, Schism, for Broadsword theatre, which is staged in the bowels of Augustine United Church for four performances only, ending on Monday 23.
Hamlet / Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
★★★☆☆ Pacy and ★★★★☆ Slick
New Edinburgh amateur company Necessary Cat make their debut performances for the last week only of the fringe with the elegantly twinned pairing of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
And Then There Were None
★★☆☆☆ Patchy
Agatha Christie’s evergreen And Then There Were None is presented by Strawmoddie at the Central Hall, Tollcross, with delicacy and no little effort. Unfortunately, choices with staging – and problems seemingly inherent in the venue – make for an awkward experience.
The Satyricon
★★★☆☆ Smutty
Martin Foreman’s new adaptation of Petronius’s first century bawdy comic romp, The Satyricon, is at Assembly Roxy to Saturday in an initially awkward staging that eventually finds its pace and pomp.
It’s a Wonderful Life
★★★☆☆ Half-life:
They say your life flashes before you before you die and that’s certainly the impression left by Floating Brick Theatre’s version of It’s a Wonderful Life at the Storytelling Centre this week.
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