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.
‘Both extremely topical & utterly timeless’: A SPACE TO BLESS – Queen Jesus Productions (Online review) ★★★★
A Space to Bless, a series of meditations from Queen Jesus Productions filmed in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, provides much-needed balm for the soul.
‘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.
‘A touching & utterly personal piece of drama’: ANGELA – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh & Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Online review) ★★★★
A touching and utterly personal piece of drama, Angela by Mark Ravenhill is a fitting first offering in the Lyceum and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Sound Stage project in association with Naked Productions Ltd.
‘Has all the good cheer you could want in a panto’: RAPUNZEL: THE PANTOMIME – Musselburgh (Online review) ★★★★★
While a live audience is oxygen to panto performers, recorded Rapunzel at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh is a triumph, and placing the trials of 2020 the heart of this retelling of this well-loved tale makes perfect sense.
‘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.