Gordon Hughes
The Bear
★★★★☆ Fast and furious
Chekov called his own short play, The Bear, a ‘stupid vaudeville’, but it takes smarts and sass to really bring it to life after nearly 140 years, and this production delivers hilariously.
Plano
★★★★★ Thrilling microcosm
Plano, presented by Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group for EdFringe Week One, feels like David Lynch, Tennessee Williams and Luigi Pirandello formed a fractious throuple in some netherworld multiverse. That is meant as high praise, just don’t expect the play to make any Newtonian kind of sense.
Waiting for Elvis
★★★☆☆ Roadworthy
St Serf’s Players take a trip off in a new direction this week, with Waiting for Elvis, Philip Goulding’s road movie for the stage, which delivers modern comedy with a nicely historical edge.
Dick Whittington
★★★☆☆ Traditional
Anyone who relishes old-fashioned pantomime, and in particular the chance to boo and shout ‘oh no it isn’t’ will find much to enjoy in St Serf’s Players’ Dick Whittington, at Inverleith St Serf’s Centre until Saturday.
The Mirror Crack’d
★★★☆☆ Poised
Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d provides good old-fashioned whodunnit thrills for Threepenny Theatricals at the Church Hill until Saturday.
Suddenly Last Summer
★★★☆☆ Well acted
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group’s Suddenly Last Summer upstairs at the Roxy has excellent performances, but some less than ideal staging.
The Watsons
★★★★☆ Intriguing
The Watsons, from Edinburgh People’s Theatre at the Church Hill, is an attractive production of a clever (if distinctly odd) literary adaptation.
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
★★★★☆ Accomplished
Perfectly poised and beautifully staged, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime by Threepenny Theatricals at the Church Hill is great fun.
Bedroom Farce
★★★★☆ Accomplished
The Edinburgh Makars’ production of Bedroom Farce at the Church Hill confidently combines comedy and tragedy to great effect.
Incognito
★★★★☆ Earnest
The Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group brings Nick Payne’s Incognito to the Assembly Roxy in a production packed with lightning-fast transitions and versatile performances.
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