Tom Ralphs
A Murder is Announced
★★★☆☆ Dependable
The queen of crime returns to Edinburgh in Middle Ground Theatre Company’s long-running revival of Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced, which returns to the King’s until Saturday.
Dreamgirls
★★★★☆ Enduring success
The plot of Dreamgirls, which arrives that the Playhouse for an extended fortnight run until April 16, could be an instruction manual for music moguls.
The Venetian Twins
★★★★☆ Finest farce
Two years after they were meant to be bringing The Venetian Twins to Hill Street Theatre, Arkle Theatre Company’s production of Tony Cowie’s adaptation of the play finally made it to the theatre on Wednesday night. It was well worth the wait.
Bat Out of Hell
★★★★☆ The Bat is Back
Three weeks after the death of Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell, the musical based on the album and songs that made him a household name, roars onto the Playhouse stage for a fortnight’s residency.
A Brief History of the Fragile Male Ego
★★★☆☆ History reduced
Multi award-winning feminist theatre company Jordan & Skinner has reimagined its 2019 Edinburgh Fringe hit, A Brief History of the Fragile Male Ego, turning it into a zoom style lecture that is available for home streaming through various platforms throughout February.
20 Minutes of Action
★★★★☆ Unflinching case-study
Pollyanna Esse’s powerful piece of verbatim theatre about horrific real-life events in Stanford University in 2015 gets a welcome second outing at the Assembly Roxy this week, after premiering at Bedlam two years ago.
Bug
★★★★☆ Twisted romance
Set in a motel room somewhere in America, Bug begins like a twisted tale of romance but ends as a case study of how conspiracy, paranoia and wild theories can escalate into all-encompassing self-destructive philosophies.
The Aliens
★★★★☆ Wartime drama
Set in Leith during World War 2, The Aliens is a short slice of life, that zooms in on soldiers returning from Dunkirk at the time Mussolini announced Italy’s entry to the war in support of Germany.
