Edinburgh Playhouse Archives - Page 2 of 4

13Sep

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The King and I – Edinburgh Playhouse

A show originally performed in 1956, It would be easy to write this off as old, irrelevant, dull, an anachronism, a three-hour yawn fest? How wrong you would be! It is the very opposite on all counts and has to be one of the most opulent and lavish and thoroughly entertaining touring productions I have ever seen at The Edinburgh Playhouse. Not only that, it also has themes which are extremely relevant and pertinent to our times. At its centre, the role of women, particularly in Asian society and the tensions between East and West, which are probably even more extreme and concerning now than they ever were when this was written. Anna Leonowens, played brilliantly by Annalene Beechey, is the headstrong school mistress travelling to Bangkok in Siam (now Thailand) to teach the King’s (Brian...

24Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Jake Bugg – Edinburgh Playhouse

Bringing my Edinburgh Fringe reviewing to an end for another year (with review number 63!), an absolute belter, five-star performance by Nottingham lad, singer-songwriter and supreme musician, Jake Bugg, at the Edinburgh Playhouse. An artist that I have known of and heard snippets of over the last ten years, this concert came as a very pleasant surprise, and reminded me that I actually do know loads of his songs, albeit not the names of them! Luckily, I was sitting next to fellow reviewer and big Bugg fan, Eilidh Tuckett from Artmag, who was able to lean over and tell me the names of the songs as they came thick and fast. Thanks Eilidh! From the very Oasis sounding, Kingpin, from Bugg’s second album to the much softer and more lyrical Hold Tight, his favourite from his fifth album, y...

Strictly Ballroom The Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse

11May

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Strictly Ballroom The Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse

Based on Baz Luhrmann’s Australian 1992 award-winning worldwide film phenomenon, the show adapted for the stage is currently touring the UK and Ireland till July 2023. It lands in Edinburgh with a star-studded cast, including Kevin Clifton of BBCs Strictly Come Dancing fame and Faye Brooks of ITVs Coronation Street and Dancing on Ice, in the lead roles. If you are a fan of Strictly I expect you are going to enjoy this show (whatever I say) for Kevin, for the expert dancing, outrageous and pretty revealing costumes and heaps of glitz and glam. The bright and cheesy glamour of the ladies’ sequin and feather costumes marries up nicely to the intentionally badly made and hideously fitted wigs adorning most of the cast. The wigs take a bit of getting used to but are all part of setting the a...

27Apr

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

The Mousetrap – Edinburgh Playhouse

Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” is most famous for being the longest continually running show in the world. Still being performed in the West End, it is now celebrating its 70th year with this anniversary tour. There is one original cast member still performing to this day! That is the voice of Derek Guyler, playing the radio announcer. Set in the early 1950s at a remote countryside guest house, five guests and the newlywed owners of Monkswell Manor are snowed in, with phone lines out of action and roads closed. Then a detective sergeant arrives on skis, with news that a killer is amongst them. The play was originally written for radio with the title “Three Blind Mice” and the somewhat eerie refrain of that nursery rhyme provides a suitably atmospheric th...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Edinburgh Playhouse

31Mar

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Edinburgh Playhouse

Come to Edinburgh Playhouse and you'll be in 'a world of pure imagination' with the first ever UK and Ireland tour of Charlie and the Chocolate factory directed by James Brining and written by David Greig with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Adapted from Roald Dahl's children's story of the same name, this production is sure to be a hit with the whole family! With vibrant and colourful lighting by Tim Mitchell and mystifying video and illusion design from David Callanan and Chris Cox respectively, the show lives up to the expectations of the book as well as the two movie adaptations from 1971 and 2005. A notable moment where it is as though you are watching the film live in front of your eyes comes from the four grandparents. Although not on stage as a full four i...

22Mar

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Annie – Edinburgh Playhouse

What a show! The sun may come out tomorrow, but you should go see ‘Annie’ today! It follows the story of an optimistic young orphan trying to find her way in New York’s Great Depression. Based on a 1924 comic script “little orphan Annie” by Harold Gray, the Ambassador Theatre Group really brought the performance to life with catchy songs, cheeky humour and captivating choreography. All performers had a lot of chemistry and really brought the characters to life - we all had a particular sweet spot for the kind Mr Warbucks whose kindness really moved the audience. Paul O’Grady was captivating as Miss Hannigan with sass and his own particular brand of humour. All the child actors were extremely talented and surely have a bright future ahead of them and hit all the complicated choreography. Ho...

The Rocky Horror Show – Edinburgh Playhouse

14Mar

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Rocky Horror Show – Edinburgh Playhouse

On their way to announce their engagement to their old science teacher - no wait, this is the part of the plot that makes sense - Brad (Richard Meek) and Janet (Haley Flaherty) are forced to take refuge in a castle when their car breaks down. Inside, they find Doctor Frank'n'Furter (Stephen Webb), and their acolytes Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe), Columbia (Darcy Finden), Magenta (Suzie McAdam) and phantoms (Reese Budin, Fionan O'Carroll, Jessica Sole, Sefania Du Toit, Tyla Dee Nurden and Nathan Shaw), transvestites from the planet Transylvania - told you it was getting less run-of-the-mill - experimenting on human matter Eddie (Joe Allen) and Rocky (Ben Westhead) with sonic tranducers, rubber gloves, sex, and a floor-show. (And we're back to the every day stuff. Or is that just me?) R...

21Feb

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Bodyguard – Edinburgh Playhouse

A show that literally starts with a bang. The Bodyguard follows Pop sensation Rachel Marron (Melody Thornton) as she receives death threats from an obsessive fan (Marios Nicolaides), to save the pop stars life her team hire Frank (Ayden Callaghan) as her personal bodyguard. Despite their dislike for one another the situation only serves to bring the two closer together providing us with a will they won’t they love story within the midst of danger. Of course, this is all accompanied by the hits of musical legend Whitney Houston. Visually this show is something to be seen, using techniques very rarely seen within musical theatre such as a heavy load of pre-recorded video projection used to give the show a much more sinister true crime atmosphere when discussing the stalker building suspen...

13Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Madama Butterfly – Edinburgh Playhouse

Three weeks into a five-month tour of the UK, Director Ellen Kent brings the Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre, Keiv, to Edinburgh Playhouse with a triple bill of La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and Aida, playing on consecutive nights. This is quite an undertaking for any company, but Ellen Kent who is celebrating thirty years of bringing opera and ballet to the UK was never likely to take the easy option. And if this powerful rendition of Puccini’s masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, does not move you, the finale featuring a passionately sung Ukrainian National Anthem, together with ubiquitous blue and yellow flag, surely will. Madama Butterfly is perhaps the best known of Italian composer, Giacomo Puccini’s 12 Opera output. The story is set in 1904, when the Russo Japanese war is taking place...

<strong>Jersey Boys – Edinburgh Playhouse</strong>

27Jan

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Jersey Boys – Edinburgh Playhouse

Twelve months into an epic 18-month tour of the UK and Ireland, Jersey Boys splashes down at Edinburgh Playhouse. The lines are smooth as silk, the choreography is on point, hair is perfect, music is tight and the vocals – well… they are simply fantastic, and from the look of the packed audience, dancing, singing and whooping by the finale there is no denying this slick production is a hit. Having previously seen this musical 3 years ago, my expectations of being slightly bored by what I recalled as a somewhat formulaic juke box musical were quickly blown away by the sheer energy of this new cast with superlative acting and by the imaginative and brilliant staging. The two-storey scaffold set looked simple but with imaginative modelling and brilliant choreography the actors moved around...