Esmee Cook

Eight
★★★★☆ Powerful monologues:
There is a confidence and spirit to Eight, at the Bedlam, that makes for highly successful theatre.

Romeo and Juliet
★★★☆☆ Full blooded:
There is plenty to like about the Edinburgh University Shakespeare Company’s full-blooded, modern dress production of Romeo and Juliet at the Pleasance Theatre, to Saturday.

Company
★★★★★ Side by Side by Eusog:
The ups and downs of Seventies singledom in New York in Stephen Sondheim’s Company make for an unmissable Fringe show for aficionados of musicals at Paradise in Augustine’s.

Bob
★★★☆☆ Gleeful:
Shamelessly broad and totally daft, Bob, Gin and Tonic Productions’ parodic take on Shakespeare at C Cubed, is decidedly hit-and-miss. However, it has enough enjoyment and anarchic humour to more than pass muster.

Spring Awakening
★★★★☆ Visceral:
Scuzzy and raw in all the right ways, Eusog’s take on the Rock musical version of Frank Wedenkind’s play about burgeoning youth sexuality has a vital edge to it.

Legally Blonde – The Musical
★★★☆☆ Energetic:
Lacking nothing in sheer relentless drive, the Bohemians’ production of Legally Blonde – The Musical at the King’s has little in the way of subtlety or contrast. As a result, it is great fun but fails to convince completely.

Eusog’s Spring Awakens
Open call for EdFringe Spring Awakening:
Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group has announced its Edinburgh fringe 2016 production as the rock musical Spring Awakening.

The Pillowman
★★★☆☆ Ambitious:
Spirited and clever, EUTC’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman has all the requisite cartoon violence, but in the end lacks the necessary punch.

The Addams Family
★★★★☆ Wildly macabre:
Halloween may be but a memory, but the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group proves that there’s still space for a little of the macabre in town.