National Theatre of Scotland

The Fifth Step (EIF)
★★★☆☆ Diffuse
The National Theatre of Scotland’s The Fifth Step at the Lyceum as part of the International Festival is a keenly observed and notably well acted piece that nevertheless lacks sustained impact.

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me
★★★★☆ Exuberant
Intense emotion is combined with real intelligence in The National Theatre of Scotland and Grid Iron’s June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me by Charlene Boyd, at Summerhall Dissection Room.

Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning
★★★★☆ Angry
You can’t keep a good vampire down for long, and the story of Dracula keeps coming back to the stage, with its depictions of transgressive behaviour making it a constant candidate for reinvention.

Thrown (EIF)
★★★★☆ Substantial
The National Theatre of Scotland’s Thrown, at the Traverse as part of the International Festival, is an intelligent and powerful piece of theatre.

Protest
★★★☆☆ Girl power
Hannah Lavery’s Protest at the Studio as part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival proves that, to bring change, all you need is a voice and a little imagination.

Kidnapped
★★★★★ Rattling adventure
Isobel McArthur has excelled herself in her latest adaptation of a classic story to the stage, this time giving Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped a music-filled, comic and heartfelt makeover.

James IV – Queen of The Fight
★★★★☆ Resonant
James IV – Queen of The Fight at the Festival Theatre until Saturday and then on tour, is epic in scope and highly satisfying.

Lyceum 2023 Spring Season
Lyceum announces four-strong spring Season
The Lyceum has announced a Spring season 2023 of four female-led productions with shows written or adapted by Zinnie Harris, Ahlam, Isobel McArthur and Lesley Hart.