Simon Donaldson
What Girls Are Made Of
★★★★★ Exhilarating
Cora Bissett is nothing short of incredible in her gig-theatre show What Girls Are Made Of. It is full-throttle, high energy and, at points, it really does feel like you are front row at a gig.
PPP: Variant
★★★★☆ Unsettling
There is a pleasing intransigence to Variant by Peter Arnott, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Oran Mor at the Traverse and Arnott’s fiftieth professionally produced play.
Crocodile Rock
★★★☆☆ Strong performance
Crocodile Rock – at the Traverse for one performance only – is an affecting and well-judged piece of musical theatre, that only suffers from being stretched a little too far.
Playing With Books – the Long Drop
..and other recent Book Festival events
The Book Festival continues in its new home at the Edinburgh College of Art on Lauriston Place, and also continues to offer events of interest to theatre-goers.
Let There Be Theatre
White Rabbit Red Rabbit marks a year since theatres went dark
Edinburgh’s Assembly Roxy will be joining venues from Aukland to Vancouver on Saturday 13 March to mark a whole year since the pandemic caused theatres around the world to go dark.
What Girls Are Made Of
★★★★★ Joyous:
Bursting with emotion and tuneful energy, the return to the Traverse of What Girls Are Made Of is a thing of wonder.
PPP: Margaret Saves Scotland
★★☆☆☆ Sugary:
Margaret Saves Scotland, the latest offering in the Play, A Pie and A Pint season, marks the return of Val McDermid to the stage. Anyone expecting a taut and bloody crime thriller, however, should be warned that this is a low-key piece, wistful and almost wilfully slight.
The View From Castle Rock by Alice Munro
✭✭✭✭✩ Stately:
There is a classy and accomplished feel to The View from Castle Rock, the Book Festival’s collaboration with Stellar Quines.
A Word with Dr Johnson
★★★☆☆ Articulate:
Words wrap around and claw away at the heart of this week’s excellent Play Pie and Pint lunchtime theatre at the Traverse, the last in the current season.
Cyrano de Bergerac
Ol’ Bignose is back:
Edwin Morgan’s celebrated Scottish translation of Cyrano de Bergerac was given a one-off revival at the Book Festival.
