Sunday, August 16, 2015
Pleasance, EdinburghCulled from interviews with trans women, these personal accounts read out on stage highlight the diversity of their experiencesHigh-profile transgender women such as Chel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PMSummerhall, EdinburghGrid Iron theatre company’s tale of perpetual winter looks and sounds stunning, but is sadly lacking in actionHowever strong and distinctive an aesthetic, it is seldom…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:22AMSummerhall, EdinburghPerformance poet Luke Wright’s first fringe theatre piece tells of personal and political disillusionment with affecting clarityLuke Wright is best known on the perfor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMSaturday, August 15, 2015
Southside, EdinburghThe government introduces a daily limit of 140 words per person in a tightly written love story that widens into an exploration of free speechMost couples develop their o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:51PMUnderbelly, EdinburghThe counter-culture original rails against mediocre modern society and the insidious influence of marketeers in an invigorating solo showMarx thought that religion was t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:51PMRoundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghAn anonymous writer leads the audience through her fantasy life – from her masturbation techniques to her views on the perfect male body – in an intrigu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:30AMFriday, August 14, 2015
The festival is in full flow, so here are the best shows I’ve seen so far, from the funny and cute How to Keep an Alien to the highly experimental ManwatchingSo we are officially one week …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:26PMSummerhall, EdinburghSh!t Theatre’s sketch-based show sends up Radio 4 cosiness and skewers Barbie adverts in a mixture of high-spirited exuberance and blistering angerSh!t Theatre create …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:37AMEdinburgh International Conference CentreLepage’s autobiographical piece uses film, projection and miniature scale models to conjure the past, and is filled with moments that make you gasp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:09AMAssembly Roxy, EdinburghJamie Wood invites the audience to cut off his clothes and get naked with him inside a bag in a warm, endearing show that sends up and pays homage to John Lennon’s …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56AMThursday, August 13, 2015
From cramped shoeboxes to the Roundabout, performing spaces are huge influences on works. But when a venue moves, it’s a chance for positive changeThe news that the continued expansion of …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PMtheSpace on the Mile, EdinburghThis boldly political show investigates the 1985 ‘battle of the beanfield’ between new age travellers and police to confront issues of history and civil li…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PMAssembly Box, EdinburghJames Fritz’s play, performed by Molly Vevers, explores the ins and outs of coupledom and riffs on our knowledge of the popular TV charactersOnline, there are entire…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:27AMZoo Southside, EdinburghThe audience are taken to a secret venue for some misjudged party games in a well-intentioned but clumsy and confusing piece about prostitutionIn 2010, Cora Bissett a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:25AMWednesday, August 12, 2015
The physical theatre company Gecko have had a tough year but their commitment to building a loyal following stood them in good steadGecko are back in Edinburgh again this year for a full thr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AMUnderbelly, EdinburghSlick technology doesn’t add much to impressive tricks, leaving a somewhat reserved evening – though the closing moments are worth the admission price aloneThe lates…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56AMRoundabout at Summerhall, EdinburghAlexandra Wood’s difficult but rewarding piece raises questions about who we can trust and the language we useLucy’s dad was a soldier killed in Kuwait…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56AMRoundabout at Summerhall, EdinburghThe Birds meets Chicken Run in this confusing, Fenlands-set dystopia in which nature takes its revengeIt is the future, and things aren’t going well. In …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:58AMTuesday, August 11, 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch has appealed for decorum from audiences at Hamlet. But as the Edinburgh fringe proves, art can thrive in less than perfect conditionsIt seems that audiences have been pl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:34AMTraverse, Edinburgh This verbatim piece about prosecutors and defendants makes important points about the criminal justice system, but it’s an uncomfortable theatre experience Does justice…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMSummerhall, EdinburghBarrel Organ’s difficult second show is an unsettling drama about depression and frustrationLet’s talk about violence. Or maybe not. Let’s just keep quiet, even th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMPleasance Dome, EdinburghTaking its cue from The Shock Doctrine, Dumbshow’s ambitious show links CIA brainwashing experiments to 9/11, Iraq, library closures and austeritySebastian, a Chil…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:14AMMonday, August 10, 2015
Everyone’s happy when they get a five-star writeup, but often new or more complex work needs something beyond the traditional review formatAudiences like star ratings, PRs and artists like…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:44PMPleasance Dome, EdinburghJack Thorne’s multi-layered two-hander for Graeae – about a couple grieving for their stillborn child – has no happy ever after, but is rewarding to watchThey …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:33AMThe author and the illusionist might seem an odd couple, but a shared interest in the afterlife made for an unlikely bond and a bitter riftIn 1920, two of the biggest celebrities of the age …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:15AMTraverse, EdinburghLucas Hnath’s play probes the divisions opened among a religious community by their leader’s epiphany, but lacks the right emotional intensityPastor Paul’s church ha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:16AMTraverse, EdinburghStef Smith’s lyrical new play examines the overlapping strains, pressures and guilt of three women’s livesChirpy Anna hasn’t left home for months; she’s stopped ea…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:09AMSummerhall, EdinburghKitson plays neatly on his Eeyore-ish personality in a cunningly crafted show about loneliness in which audience members use iPod ShufflesThere is so much to love about …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:01AMSunday, August 9, 2015
Traverse theatre, EdinburghSonya Kelly’s autobiographical show proves that as far as the immigration authorities are concerned, there’s no such thing as oversharingWhen actor Sonya Kelly…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:39AMEdinburgh International Conference CentreSimon McBurney’s one-man show is an expedition into the jungles of the imagination, combining audio technology with dense storytellingIn October 19…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AMSaturday, August 8, 2015
Summerhall, EdinburghTwo idealists find that creating a heaven on earth is easier said than done in Third Angel’s thought-provoking if somewhat detached new showHave you ever wondered how …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:58AM 
