Hugh Simpson
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.
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan
★★★★☆ Highflying
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan turns out to be about 98% pantomime and 2% Peter Pan, but is tremendous fun nevertheless.
The Snow Queen
★★★★☆ Epic
The Snow Queen at the Lyceum provides thrills, humour and imaginative theatricality. Morna Young’s adaptation (directed by Cora Bissett, with music by Finn Anderson) could not be staged in 2020 for obvious reasons.
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.
Through The Mud
★★★★☆ Powerful
Review by Hugh Simpson
Through The Mud by Apphia Campbell at the Lyceum is a story of the struggle for civil rights in the USA in the face of racism. Its portrayal of the African American experience across the generations is both depressing and inspiring, told with craft and tunefulness.
Dead Dad Dog
★★★★☆ Welcome revival
John McKay’s 1988 hit comedy Dead Dad Dog returns to the Traverse threatening to be a period piece, but turns out to have a great deal still to say – and is still pretty funny.
Battery Park
★★★★☆ Musically convincing
Battery Park, the touring production from Sleeping Warrior and the Beacon Arts Centre at the Traverse for two nights only, is a gripping and tuneful piece of theatre.
PPP: Disfunction
★★☆☆☆ Confusing
Disfunction by Kate Bowen and directed by Lu Kemp, the last in the Traverse’s current season of Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint, is a lively but ultimately puzzling piece.
