MJ McCarthy

Two Sisters
★★★☆☆ Wistful
Two Sisters at the Lyceum until the beginning of March, is a touching and well-observed piece that is ultimately too diffuse.

Mark Thomas in England & Son
★★★★☆ Ferocious
Mark Thomas’s performance in England & Son, allied to an unflinching piece of writing, has a rare intensity. The Fringe First winner is now on tour to the Traverse until Saturday.

Castle Lennox
★★★★☆ Huge humanity
Originally intended to be staged at the Lyceum in 2020, Castle Lennox, playwright Linda McLean’s collaboration with Lung Ha Theatre Company proves to be well worth the wait.

The Mother Load
★★★★☆ Nuanced
The Mother Load by Lynda Radley, the latest in the Lyceum and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Sound Stage series of audio presentations, is a warmly human and cleverly constructed piece.

Lyceum Christmas Tales IX – XII live
★★★★☆ Creative Joy
The final four stories in the Lyceum Christmas Tales, presented live from the theatre, put the seal on what has been an enterprise suffused with goodwill, invention, care and Christmas cheer.

Lyceum Christmas Tales V – VIII
★★★★☆ Fresh
The last four of the pre-recorded Lyceum Christmas Tales provide another helping of laughter, reflection and hope.

Lyceum Christmas Tales I-IV
★★★★☆ Tasty selection
With festive theatre lacking like so much in 2020, the Lyceum’s online Christmas Tales go along way towards compensating.

Leaf by Niggle
★★★★☆ Imaginative:
Richard Medrington and the Puppet State Theatre Company bring a charming staging of Tolkien’s minor work Leaf by Niggle to the Scottish Storytelling Centre.