Review: Edinburgh International Festival 2025 – Make It Happen, Festival Theatre

Written by James Graham Directed by Andrew Panton The Festival Theatre ★★★★ Make It Happen, debuting at the Edinburgh International Festival, is a searing, frequently exhilarating piece of ensemble drama that balances razor-edged satire with surreal intensity. Directed with flair and no shortage of ambition by Andrew Panton, it dares to grapple with avarice, self-mythologising, … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh International Festival 2025 – Make It Happen, Festival Theatre

Have A Gander at IKEA: Magical Patterns – Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh

Review by Marina Funcasta Tickets available here ★★★★ Dovecot’s latest exhibition, presenting itself as “magical” and “playful”, promises a vibrant overview of 60 years of IKEA’s textile design. These terms specifically stood out to me for their enigmatic quality, appealing to the sort of whimsy found in a toy shop at Christmas. And yet, organising … Continue reading Have A Gander at IKEA: Magical Patterns – Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh

Review: Doctor Faustus – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Written By Christopher Marlowe Adapted by Jennifer Dick Tickets from £19.00 ★★★★ A stroll through purgatory, with the oblivion of damnation awaiting beyond the wrought iron of the Kibble Palace, is not what one would typically expect on a rather toasty, near-hellish, sunny day in Glasgow’s Botanical Gardens. Yet nestled among the lush greenery, this … Continue reading Review: Doctor Faustus – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Review: The Knight of the Burning Pestle – The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow

Written by Francis Beaumont With Additional Text by Ben Jonson, El Josar and Matthew Schwarz Adapted and Directed by Marc Silberschatz Tickets from £10.80 Chivalry is dead. Isn’t it? At least, that’s what we’ve all been claiming for decades now. Well, centuries. But what chivalry truly is, and when it found itself dead and buried, is something we’ve … Continue reading Review: The Knight of the Burning Pestle – The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow

Review: The Merry Wives of Wishaw – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Written by William Shakespeare Freely adapted from “The Merry Wives of Windsor” by Gordon Barr Directed by Gordon Barr Tickets from £19.00 ★★★★ There's nothing that a good roll n’ sausage, chamomile tea, or solid sesh’ down at the pub won’t solve. And for those difficult days which need something a little extra, well, there’s … Continue reading Review: The Merry Wives of Wishaw – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Review: Jane Eyre, An Autobiography – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Written and Directed by Jennifer Dick Adapted from the novel by Charlotte Bronte Tickets from £19.00 ★★★★ Shifting from the 'grim (up) north' to the bristle and howl of the Scottish Highlands (via the Glasgow botanic gardens), Jennifer Dick’s new version of Bronte’s genre-defining and eyebrow-raising novel firmly roots itself in the grit and gravel … Continue reading Review: Jane Eyre, An Autobiography – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Review: Hedda Gabler – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Written by Henrik Ibsen, In a New Version by Kathy McKean Directed by Gordon Barr Tickets from £19.00 ★★★★ The female Hamlet (only better). That’s how some describe Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the notoriously complicated woman of wit and word, always yearning, confined more so than they are free. The Norwegian tragedy, of a general’s daughter, confined … Continue reading Review: Hedda Gabler – Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow

Lear’s Fool – Bard in the Botanics

Written by David Henry Wilson Directed by Jennifer Dick ★★★★ The unknown fate of characters has plagued and enriched the texts of countless authors and storytellers for centuries. The immense power in the unexplored catapults sometimes small, seemingly inconsequential players into a new world ripe for the picking: where does Long John Silver wash ashore? … Continue reading Lear’s Fool – Bard in the Botanics

The Importance of Being Earnest – Bard in the Botanics

Written by Oscar Wilde Directed by Gordon Barr Designed by Heather Grace Currie ★★★★★ Dig out the finest silverware, prep those cucumber sandwiches, and for God’s sake, stop eating the muffins – The Importance of Being Earnest is the star of the season, and everyone will be looking for its hand if they’ve got any sense of … Continue reading The Importance of Being Earnest – Bard in the Botanics

Henry IV – Bard in the Botanics

Adapted and Directed by Gordon Barr From William Shakespeare ★★★★ Questions of the purpose, necessity, and our perplexing obsession with the ‘God-given right to rule’ hangs on the lips of the nation once more, as in a time of austerity and wide-spread ruinous inequality - the cost of regalia and crown continues to weigh heavy … Continue reading Henry IV – Bard in the Botanics