Sunday, December 7

Scotland

Rift – Traverse Theatre
Scotland

Rift – Traverse Theatre

The stage is sparse in the underground black box of Traverse 2, just a plain table, two folding plastic chairs and a bright red bag of Doritos. A projector advises, keep hands in plain view, the unmistakable soundscape of prison echos through the small space before the projected image starts counting off the years of incarceration. 1, 2, 3… The play starts at year 4. The tight three-sided seating focuses on a spotlight which focuses on the bag of Doritos, two men enter. The story follows two half-brothers one a white supremacist convicted murderer, the other a rising young ‘woke’ writer over the course of 20+ years as they meet at various intervals. A relationship broken apart by lies and mistrust tries and tries again to be re-glued with their shared blood like an intricate Kintsugi...
Red Like Fruit – Traverse Theatre
Scotland

Red Like Fruit – Traverse Theatre

Good sex, bad sex, wrong sex. What’s the difference? And does it really matter? Why struggle to articulate something that no one wants to hear anyway…? When a Canadian investigative journalist starts researching a high-profile domestic violence case, it leads her to relive and reconsider some of her own life experiences, the results are disarming and disturbing. This beautifully constructed two hander from the pen of Hannah Moscovitch has Lauren’s (Michelle Monteith) story being delivered as a deliciously hypnotic monologue by Luke (David Patrick Flemming). Flemming’s voice control and delivery are the real star of this show, a symphony of tone and indent, emphasis and half-finished sentence are a joy to the ear. @RILEYSMITHPHOTO Lauren sits on a raised Dias, swaying or head in...
Summer Fling – theSpace @ Niddry Street
Scotland

Summer Fling – theSpace @ Niddry Street

Student Theatre at Glasgow brings their satirical and raunchy rendition of ITV’s hit reality show Love Island to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Summer Fling, written and directed by Grace Donaldson, follows the journey of four Love Island contestants navigating their morality and sexuality as they compete to win the grand prize of £100,000, not to mention the highly sought after fast-fashion brand deal.  This play highlights the social concerns and qualms surrounding reality television in a brassy but intelligent approach.  Following the success of STAG’s 2024 fringe show, Lads of the Flies (also written and directed by Donaldson), it’s clear that STAG and their audiences hold great appreciation for Donaldson’s quick-wit and playful direction.  Lola Gibbons (playing Ma...
Midnight at the Palace – Guilded Balloon, Patter House
Scotland

Midnight at the Palace – Guilded Balloon, Patter House

My first show of the gauntlet, the scrum, the gladiatorial fight to the death that is the Edinburgh Fringe, kicks off with a world Premier, Midnight at the Palace. An energetic and at times engaging musical, a reimagining of the true story of The Cockettes, a posse of counter-culture glitter-bearded drag queens who took San Francisco by storm in the sixties. Rallying against discrimination at home and unwanted wars overseas, writers Brandon James Gwinnett and Rae Binstock set words to the flower power revolution powered by drugs and free love that drove The Cockettes all the way to the big apple where it all came to a messy end in the early seventies. The talented 8-strong cast from across the pond provide plenty to see and hear, with excellent live keyboard accompaniment, and some ...
The Beyond Broadway Experience: Footloose – Festival Theatre
Scotland

The Beyond Broadway Experience: Footloose – Festival Theatre

Edinburgh’s hit youth-theatre company The Beyond Broadway Experience, took to the Festival Theatre with their rendition of the cult-classic Footloose.  Featuring a cast of almost 200 actors aged 8-25, this was a showstopping, full-out musical extravaganza.  This cast performs with such flair and professionalism it’s hard to believe the majority of the cast are under 20!  With aerials, split leaps, and tumbling, the acrobatic and dancing capabilities of the whole cast was astounding, each cast member bringing maximum energy to their performances. Unfortunately, I cannot provide the names of the actors in this production so will henceforth refer to them by their character names.  Our leading ladies, Rusty and Ariel were an unstoppable duo - true triple threats, bri...
The Great Gatsby – Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Scotland

The Great Gatsby – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Set in the grand manor of Jay Gatsby in 1922, Pitlochry Festival Theatre presents us with Elizabeth Newman’s dreamy adaptation of The Great Gatsby as part of their 2025 Summer repertoire.  With a winding imperial staircase, sheer curtains that drift in the breeze, and a magnificent art-deco style glass chandelier, Jen McGinley’s set design establishes the splendour and veil over New York in the roaring twenties.  The band sits atop the staircase, observing the mayhem below them unfold from behind their white-rimmed glasses.  As in Pitlochry’s latest production of grease, the cast act in the play as well as making up the band.  Accompanying the play with classic jazz standards, setting the tone for Gatsby’s (played by Oraine Johnson) raucous parties. The story unfolds...
The 39 Steps – Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Scotland

The 39 Steps – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Based on Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film, Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s revival of The 39 Steps features femme fatales, a runaway convict, police chases, and a healthy number of sheep.  The film and the play both share an almost identical narrative structure and much of the dialogue has been lifted straight out of the film and into the play - however they couldn’t feel more different to each other.  The play is a spoof of the classic film, and while it still maintains the dry, sarcastic humour of the film, it relies heavily on slapstick comedy.  I was especially pleased to see the iconic train scream being absolutely nailed because nothing is more camp than that.  With only four actors, but about 150 characters, it was a marvel to watch the cast rapidly battling with jac...
Kismet – Festival Theatre
Scotland

Kismet – Festival Theatre

Kismet means destiny or fate and this premiere of two works, the brand new Gallery of Consequence (Dutch choreographer and director, Emma Evelein) and B.R.I.S.A. (Johan Inger - first performed in 2014 by NDT2) present a thought-provoking and intriguing set. The cacophonous movements portrayed personal insecurities and discomfort alongside our outer masks, our human ingenuity and our propensity to gather tribally. Each set offers a robust, confident and energetic take on modern life within our engineered world. Are we fated to exist overshadowed by computer screens and to find the carpets upon which we walk consume us? It's clever. The creative team for Gallery of Consequence knocks it out of the park. AMIANGELICA’s visuals are key aspects of the narrative as is the lighting (Ryan Jos...
This is a Gift – Pitlochry Festival Theatre
Scotland

This is a Gift – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

In a continuation of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s 2025 Summer programme, This is a Gift brings a fresh contemporary take on the legend of Midas.  Rather than a King being the one granted with the gift of the midas touch, it is a working class shopkeeper from Leith - the Father of Zoe, the narrator of this one-woman show.  Written by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir, This is a Gift subverts from the original tale and puts the gift in a position where it is wanted out of need not greed.  But is money the root of all evil - is it worth the sacrifice?  This play asks us how far we will go to provide for the ones we love. The one hour-and-twenty run time flew by thanks to Sigfúsdóttir’s fast-paced writing and Blythe Jandoo’s (who plays Zoe) punchy performance.  And with th...
The Croft – Festival Theatre
Scotland

The Croft – Festival Theatre

Returning to the stage after Covid-19 prematurely ended its original run, The Croft, directed by Alastair Whatley and written by Ali Milles provided many a fright when it opened in Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. Set in a former crofters hut in a remote area of the Scottish Highlands, this production sees Laura (Gracie Follows) and Suzanne (Caroline Harker) arrive for what is meant to be a relaxed weekend trip. It isn’t long before the place’s centuries of history weaves itself into the women’s present. With no phone signal available and only the mysterious David (Gray O’Brien) for company, this thrilling piece of theatre connects past and present as the real truth of The Croft slowly unravels. The whole pace of the show is fantastic. Running at 2 hours, including the interval, audienc...