Madame George, by award-winning playwright Keir McAllister at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose on Chambers Street is a dark comedy filled with easy laughs that are tinged with a great sadness.
‘Captivating, thrilling & spellbinding’: BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY VOICE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Apphia Campbell triumphs in Black is the Color of My Voice at Gilded Balloon Teviot. A riveting show inspired by the life and music of Nina Simone and featuring songs such as ‘I Put a Spell On You’ and ‘Feeling Good’.
‘Queer identities couldn’t be explored in a more delicate way’: THE HAPPINESS PROJECT – Edinburgh Fringe
The first thing that strikes about The Happiness Project is the colours. Shocking pink and neon yellow on a plain background and plastic-grass floor.
‘Truly magical’: THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★★
In a world full of fear and worry, we all need a reminder that there’s still hope. Luckily, in The Man Who Planted Trees at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, two storytellers and their puppets are here to give us just that.
‘Simple yet well executed’: PINK HOUSE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Exploring grief and the impact of trauma on memory and family relationships, Paradigm Lab’s Pink House by Madison Pollack at PQA Venues is somewhat heartbreaking and completely honest.
‘Likeable & informative’: THUNDERSTRUCK – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Thunderstruck by David Colvin at Assembly Checkpoint is a deeply felt and human tale, whose relationship with its source and inspiration nevertheless makes for some uncertain moments.
‘Worth any number of over-literal, full cast adaptations’: OF MICE AND MEN – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Of Mice and Men, in the Gilded Balloon Teviot Wine Bar for the full fringe, benefits from one fine performance and one exceptional one.
‘Every moment is memorable & engaging’: A GAME OF DEATH & CHANCE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
In A Game of Death and Chance, the National Trust for Scotland’s first ever Fringe show, four characters from the 17th century – and death himself – have occupied an old Edinburgh tenement to tell stories of Scotland’s past.
Musicals made in Edinburgh
There’s a whopping 27 different offerings made in Edinburgh in this year’s musicals and opera section of the fringe programme.
‘Truly special’: WHAT GIRLS ARE MADE OF – Touring ★★★★★
Bursting with emotion and tuneful energy, the return to the Traverse of What Girls Are Made Of is a thing of wonder.
‘Intriguingly promising piece’: LUCILLE & CECILIA – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Gleeful physical comedy features in Lucille & Cecilia, a patchy but intriguingly promising piece from new company Bang Average Theatre at C Aquila. (Picture: © Bang Average)
‘Fairly crackles with fun & excitement’: A GOOD ENOUGH GIRL? – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Scene Change Productions, Greenwich Theatre and Nutshell Theatre’s co-production A Good Enough Girl? is enjoyable, involving and deceptively important production.
‘Intriguing production’: GANYMEDE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Ganymede, TypeCast Productions’ reworking of Shakespeare at Paradise in Augustines, is an intriguing production that uses the spirit of the Bard to cast light on contemporary concerns.
‘A lucid & involving production’: TWA – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Twa, the collaboration between writer Annie George and visual artist Flore Gardner at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, is a lucid and involving production.
‘Emotional force as well as a certain charm’: THE WWI WARDROBE PROJECT – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
The WWI Wardrobe Project has emotional force as well as a certain charm as Immersive Response’s production seeks to make 1917 more immediate.
‘A hugely enjoyable & educational show’: THE MOULD THAT CHANGED THE WORLD – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
The threat of antibiotic resistance may be an unlikely subject for a musical, but The Mould That Changed The World makes this educational topic fun in a highly entertaining new show.
‘Definite flaws but also a great deal of interest’: BREATHING CORPSES – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Breathing Corpses, by Split Brick and New Celts at The Space on the Mile, leaves a nasty taste in the mouth at times. This is entirely intentional, as it is a decidedly nihilistic study of death, which seeks to confront difficult issues head-on.
‘Constantly energetic & oddly thought-provoking’: THE MONSTER IN THE HALL – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
Cheerfulness in the face of adversity characterises The Monster in the Hall by Capsize Collective and New Celts at The Space on the Mile.
‘A real triumph from start to finish’: HEROINE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
A truly harrowing tale of survival is told in Heroine, a one-woman show from Scene Change Productions making its world premiere this Fringe.
‘Warm & considerably more profound than it probably sounds’: JUMPERS FOR GOALPOSTS – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
Any preconceptions about a play depicting five-a-side football should instantly be put aside for Tom Wells’s Jumpers For Goalposts.