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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘Economical & punchy’: SMILE – Dundee Rep (Online review)
Smile, Dundee Rep’s football-themed online offering, transfers to the screen to provide a satisfactory record of 2020’s successful play about the legendary Jim McLean.
‘Edifying, surprising & deeply human’: DOPPLER: THE STORY SO FAR – Grid Iron (Online review) ★★★★
Doppler: The Story So Far, a portrait of Grid Iron’s 2020 production of Doppler that never was, is an edifying, surprising and deeply human film.
‘Suffused with goodwill, invention, care & Christmas cheer’: Lyceum Christmas Tales Live – Edinburgh (Online review) ★★★★
Lyceum Christmas Tales may have been born out of necessity, but the whole enterprise has taken on a beauty and importance of its own.
‘Offers humour, emotion & political impact’: FIBRES – Stellar Quines & Citizens Theatre (Online theatre) ★★★★
Fibres, the online filmed version of the 2019 Citizens and Stellar Quines co-production, offers humour, emotion and political impact.
Visual & audio treats from the Traverse Festival
There is some very promising writing talent on show in the Traverse Festival, and it is done justice both by the standard of performance and production from the venue.
‘A story that needs to be told’: FRAGMENTS OF HOME – Shedinburgh ★★★★
Fragments of Home works both as a theatrical performance and as a film, with Annie George’s performance striking a delicate balance.
‘There is a real humanity there’: MIRACULOUS – Edinburgh (Online review) ★★★★
In Miraculous, Borderline Theatre Company and the Gaiety Ayr have created a bouncy online version of David F Ross’ comedy caper novel about an Ayrshire band that once had an unexpected number one hit.
‘Actively enhances the intimacy of the original’: THE COOLIDGE EFFECT – Wonder Fools (Online review) ★★★★
Wonder Fools have revived their intriguing two-hander The Coolidge Effect about the insidious effect of pornography, for an audio, lockdown production that actively enhances the intimacy of the original.
NEWS: Edinburgh Fringe receives £1.25 million ‘life raft’ from Scottish Government
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the charity which oversees the Edinburgh Fringe, has been awarded £249,000 grants and a £1million interest-free loan to help support it through Covid-19 recovery.
‘A devastating moment for our industry’: Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre in hibernation
Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre has entered a period of “hibernation” as a building-based producing theatre, postponing all 2020 shows and entering into negotiations with all staff over redundancies.