Book by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce Directed by Craig Revel Horwood Choreography by Jason Gilkison and Craig Revel Horwood ★★★ The safe bet to victory, or the pursuit of something new: that is the quandary which plagues Scott Hastings – a professional ballroom dancer who cannot quite crack it into the championship leagues. But … Continue reading Strictly Ballroom The Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse
Written by Arthur Miller Directed by Theo MacDonald ★★★★ There’s something precious about the unremarkable. Few stories can capture such harrowing emotion and guttural punches than that of American dramatist Arthur Miller’s tragic exploration of their most ‘every day’ of characters. Both victim and fiend, Willy Loman is the amalgam of decades of capitalist illusion … Continue reading Death of a Salesman – Assembly Roxy
https://youtu.be/EXW0U-qHEJM Based on the Short Novel by Stephen King Adapted by Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns Directed by David Esbjornson ★★★★ A double life sentence for the brutal murders he never committed, Andy Dufresne’s proclamation of his innocence reverberates the walls of The Shawshank prison facility. While not ‘fitting in’ strictly with the way things … Continue reading The Shawshank Redemption – Festival Theatre
Written by Tom Casling Directed by Morag Simpson ★★★ Sometimes it takes a drastic change in your routine to appreciate what life you have. And for Richard Simpson, who spends his days at the beck and call of worry and strife, life is about to take a bit of a turn. He’s already stressing about … Continue reading Alter Ego – Saughtonhall United Reformed Church
Written by David Haig Directed by Hannah Bradley Croall ★★★★ 72 hours to change the course of history. And a name which means nothing to many, but everything to all of us in respects, is Dalkeith-born meteorologist Dr James Stagg is tasked with an impossible burden of weight. The Allied invasion of France is a … Continue reading Pressure – Hill Street Theatre
https://youtu.be/3eYXV-sYKk0 Based on the Novelist Peter James' Work Adapted by Shaun McKenna Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle ★★ The thirst for more of Detective Roy Grace is palpable throughout the Festival Theatre; with the most recent televised series featuring the much-beloved character concluding, audiences returned to the theatre to watch Shaun McKenna’s sixth adaption of a … Continue reading Peter James’ Wish You Were Dead – Festival Theatre
Written By Peter Arnott Directed by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir ★★★★ In the betwixt and between, conjured before an audience, A woman and a man (Crocodile Fever’s Meghan Tyler, and Simon Donaldson) sit on the Traverse 2 stage, encircled by a harmless but clearly definitive barrier. No locale is offered, no sense of time is clear. We … Continue reading Variant – A Play, A Pie, And a Pint
https://youtu.be/cg8GdNDf7Nc Composed by Giacomo Puccini Directed by Sir David McVicar Conducted by Stuart Stratford ★★★★★ The idea of remaining faithful to the artist's intentions is, for some producers, not always the first thing on their mind in staging a lengthy or composite collection of works. For Puccini, there was no other way to demonstrate the … Continue reading Il Trittico – Festival Theatre
Written by Brian Friel Directed by Aisling Matthews and Catriona Maclachlan ★★★★ Language is everything. To lose it is to cripple the communication of love, autonomy, and identity. To control it, to manipulate someone, a culture, or a nation’s tongue is to exhibit an ultimate form of authority. And it’s something generations of solely-native English … Continue reading Translations – Bedlam Theatre
Written and Directed by Zinnie Harris Set Design by Tom Piper ★★★★ Lady Macbeth is the theatrical matriarch of antagonism: manipulative and sly, brilliant and controlled - yet her place within the second act is eclipsed by the men strutting with their swords out. But why? Why does a woman who displays little to no … Continue reading Macbeth (An Undoing) – Royal Lyceum Theatre
