It’s heartening to see the fine folk of Capital Theatres involved in such a confident show, it’s just a shame this Sunshine on Leith is more concert than theatre.
Mates blogger: Thom Dibdin
Thom Dibdin is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Thom's posts on MyTheatreMates. Take a look at our full list of theatre bloggers and our aggregated feed of all our Mates' posts. We’re always looking for new theatre bloggers. Could that be you? Learn about how to join us.
Thom Dibdin has been reviewing and writing about theatre in Scotland since the last millennium. He is currently Scotland Correspondent for The Stage newspaper. In 2010, he founded AllEdinburghTheatre.com. The city's only dedicated theatre website, it covers all Edinburgh theatre year-round - and all theatre made in Edinburgh during EdFringe. Thom is passionate about quality in theatre criticism and is a member of the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland. He tweets from @AllEdinTheatre and, personally, from @ThomDibdin.
The latest from Thom on MyTheatreMates
‘The hilarity on display is note-perfect’: LAUREL & HARDY – Edinburgh ★★★★
There is a deeply felt element to Laurel & Hardy at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, that enhances the hilarity on display in note-perfect re-creations of classic comedy.
‘The cast constantly succeeds in keeping the momentum going’: CLUEDO – Touring ★★★
The touring Cluedo at the King’s is billed as a ‘brand new play’ and ‘an exciting comedy thriller’. It is certainly possible to quibble with those descriptions as there is little excitement, few thrills and nothing new. However, it does have considerable comic value.
’It runs like clockwork’: ANYTHING GOES – Touring ★★★★★
The West End hits central Edinburgh this week, as Cole Porter’s seaborne musical Anything Goes sails into the Festival Theatre for a very limited run until this Sunday.
‘There is enough heart & brain in the play to keep it going’: RED ELLEN – Edinburgh ★★★
Red Ellen, at the Lyceum, co-produced with the Nottingham Playhouse and Northern Stage, suffers from many of the faults that affect biographical drama, and is far too long for its own good. Nevertheless, it has an abundance of compassion and an excellent central performance from Bettrys Jones.
‘The chemistry of the cast is electric’: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – Touring ★★★★★
With a title like Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, it’s unsurprising that the first night King’s audience for this touring production was mainly female.
‘Heartfelt and sincere’: A NEW LIFE (A MINI MUSICAL) — Traverse
A New Life (A Mini Musical) at the Traverse every lunchtime this week is certainly not ‘mini’ in its emotional scope or its ambition.
‘Spine tingling’: CHICAGO – Edinburgh Playhouse (UK Tour) ★★★★
Chicago’s tale of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery whispers back into the Edinburgh Playhouse with a thrum of double bass, a twitching off-beat on the drums and a haunting moan of muted trumpet.
’It’s the humanity which counts’: AFTERPARTY – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Packed with expletives and off-colour observations, Afterparty from New Celts Productions and F-Bomb Theatre at theSpace’s Triplex theatre pulls no punches in its humorous but bitter-sweet story set in small town Scotland.
‘Crisp, intelligent & thoroughly rewarding’: FEAR OF ROSES – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Fear of Roses, by Black Bat Productions at Assembly Roxy, is a crisp, intelligent and thoroughly rewarding three-hander.
‘Believably fragile’: SAVING MR ULTIMATE – Edinburgh Fringe
Saving Mr Ultimate, a tale of superheroes, grief and letting go, mixes the serious and the humorous effectively in creating a world that is both believable and ever-so-slightly superhuman.
‘Bittersweet, nuanced & beautifully written’: WISH LIST – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Wish List is an urgently contemporary piece from New Celts and Bone Struck Theatre, dealing with young carers, mental health and the gig economy in a way that never preaches and is always beautifully human.
‘Has a theatrical impact that is rare indeed’: MEDICINE – Edinburgh International Festival ★★★★★
Medicine, Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival’s production for the International Festival at the Traverse, is a troubling, funny, emotionally devastating and brilliantly realised piece of theatre.
‘It is deeply human’: STILL – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Still at the Traverse is in many ways a tough watch, with themes of death and loss offset by excellent performances and perceptive writing.
‘Wonderfully tuneful affair’: A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING – Edinburgh International Festival
A Grand Night For Singing as part of the Edinburgh International Festival is done with such grace and skill that it is difficult to feel much but warmth towards it.
‘This has to be counted as a roaring success’: SWEET F.A. – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
History, emotion and righteous anger combine tunefully and humorously in Sweet F.A., This Is My Story Productions’ thoroughly welcome return to Tynecastle Park.
‘Tense & suitably disturbing affair’: THE MACBETHS – Citizens Theatre, Glasgow ★★★★ (Online review)
The Macbeths, the Citizens’ concentrated revision of Macbeth, supplies a charge that is so often missing in versions of the play.
‘Clever & evocative’: ADVENTURES WITH THE PAINTED PEOPLE – Pitlochry Festival Theatre ★★★★★
David Greig’s Adventures with the Painted People is a clever and evocative piece of theatre which is only enhanced both by being the first full theatre production in Scotland since lockdown and by its performance in Pitlochry’s new Covid-secure amphitheatre.
‘Wildly original piece’: HINDU TIMES – Edinburgh Lyceum / Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Online review)
Hindu Times – the latest audio offering from the Lyceum and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Sound Stage – is a wildly original piece. Although cumbersome at times, it has a raucous energy that is frequently arresting.
‘Flawed but very funny piece’: TENNIS ELBOW – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh & Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Online review) ★★★★
There is little doubt that a tightened-up version of Tennis Elbow would be better, but the sheer pleasure in language displayed here already goes a very long way.