Written by Alfie Jones Directed by Alice Harding Review by Orly Benn Underbelly George Square - Buttercup ★★★★ In a visual age of mass media consumption and production, Alfie Jones’s ‘This Blighted Star’ is immeasurably pertinent as a modern analysis of surveillance, mass media safety, social conspiracy, and celebrity idolatry. Jones’s play, expertly directed by … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – This Blighted Star
Written by Madison Mayer Composed by Aila Swan Directed by Emory Kemph Review by Mhairi Sime ★★★★ Go along expecting a sparkly and fun cabaret, and you’ll find something sharper. Bombshell, presented by Cross the Pond Theatre, follows three showgirls, who mix feminist pop musical energy with sharp topical bite as they perform in a struggling nightclub … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – BOMBSHELL
Written by Jenna Stones Songs by Lucia Ireland Review by Aislinn McSharry Leith Arches ★★★ Bawdy, bold and imbued with deeper social commentary, DollsnRags Debut Fringe Show Happy Ending Street, is an impressive display of new Scottish theatre, expertly and engagingly performed. Detailing the lives of three sex-workers in 1890s Edinburgh, Pearl (Lucia Ireland), Bonnie (Jenna Stones) and Frances (Braegha Sturrock) plan to … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Happy Ending Street
Created by Hani Dance Review by Marina Funcasta Assembly @ Dancebase ★★★★★ Inlet is, to put it simply, a beautiful show. In what feels like an unfurling, we witness our dancers evolve from primitive to civilised states. The word unfurling is ironic, though, seeing as their bodies quite literally become bound up - by costume, … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Inlet
Written by Emma Howlett Review by Marina Funcasta Summerhall - Anatomy Lecture Theatre ★★★★★ Washed with urgency, bodies take up the tightly packed seats of Summerhall’s Anatomy Theatre; having just been made to stand for twenty minutes because of a blaring fire warning, the audience is restless. Confronted with white boards, it feels like we … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Aether
Created by Casey Jay Andrews and Jack Brett Review by Marina Funcasta Summerhall - Dissection Room ★★★★★ Casey Jay Andrews and Jack Brett’s recent Fringe production is an understated masterpiece. Far from literal quietness, The Quiet Earth Beneath is navigated by Brett’s earthly echoes which anchor Andrews’ patient storytelling. The quietness is, instead, metaphorical. Entering … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – The Quiet Earth Beneath
Review by Marina Funcasta Just the Tonic at the Caves ★★★ Witnessing the success of Adam Kay, the emergence of Dr Benji Waterhouse comes at no surprise. Breaking through the taboo of combining humour and the unknown sides of mental health, as Waterhouse himself acknowledges at the beginning of his show, humour becomes a very … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Benji Waterhouse: Second Opinion (WIP)
Written by Izzy Radford Review by Marina Funcasta Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose ★★★★ This show largely does what it says on the tin: One Day meets Sliding Doors with a dash of Julia Davis’ Nighty Night? It’s almost a foolproof recipe. Guy meets girl at a birthday party, where for four consecutive years they are … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Seating Plan
Written by Jess Gerrier Directed by Ivan Hamshaw Thomas Review by Marina Funcasta theSpace @ Venue 45 ★★★★ In a play about insincerity, I suppose it is unsurprising that we fail to really connect with any one character. Crocodile Tears, written by Jess Ferrier, is a comedic exploration into the personalities we see on reality … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Crocodile Tears
Written by Alison Skillbeck Review by Moyra Jones Assembly Rooms ★★★ Alison Skillbeck portrays Eleanor Roosevelt with warmth and precision, guiding the audience gently through her life during one of the most turbulent periods of the early to mid-twentieth century. The play spans from her birth in 1884 to her death in 1962. It offers … Continue reading Review: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 – Mrs Roosevelt Flies to London
