Moira Macdonald
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 Midsummer Dream in Auld Reekie
★★★☆☆ Moonshine
Leitheatre give a bold and entertaining performance of John Archer’s new Scots language play, A Midsummer Dream in Auld Reekie, at St Serf’s for the first two weeks of the Fringe.
Odds, Broads and Frauds
★★★☆☆ Mixed
In Odds, Broads and Frauds, St Serf’s Players bring a trio of comedies to the stage at Inverleith which make for a somewhat disparate evening-out in terms of tone, but is certainly an entertaining one all round.
SCDA One Acts – Saturday
Calculated quartet
To the second night of the Edinburgh district round of the SCDA’s One Act Play Festival at the Church Hill Theatre, where the four plays on offer demonstrated that the competition is firmly back on track.
Cinderella
★★★☆☆ High Spirited
St Serf’s Players continue their successful panto collaboration with the Trinity Theatre Company for a Cinderella at Inverleith St Serf’s Church Hall that is gutsy and brisk in all the right ways.
Wife After Death
★★★☆☆ Nuanced
St Serf’s Players return to the main stage with a nicely controlled production of Eric Chappell’s dark comedy, Wife After Death, at Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre for three performances only.
Aladdin
★★☆☆☆ Mixed bag of fun:
Pantomime season is here as the St Serf’s Players become the first company in Edinburgh to pull the panto curtain up – revealing a lively but up-and-down production of the classic tale, Aladdin.
The House of Bernarda Alba
★★★☆☆ Direct:
Intense and mannered, Leitheatre’s production of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba at the Festival Theatre Studio strikes a chord with contemporary events.
Wild Goose Chase
✭✭✭✩✩ Daft fun:
Uncomplicated belly laughs and complicated plotting are the order of the day in the St Serf’s Players’ production of Wild Goose Chase at the Edinburgh Tabernacle
Men Should Weep
✭✭✭✭✩ Moving:
A fusion of high drama and earthiness, executed with precision and real emotion, Leitheatre’s Men Should Weep at the Church Hill Theatre is thoroughly satisfying.
