Friday, August 16, 2013
Northern Stage at St StephensChris Thorpe's darkly compelling three-hander gnaws at our ideas of heroism and compromiseWe've all seen the famous pictures of the white-shirted protestor confr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AMKing's theatreThis eerie fusion of theatre and film gives voice to a rape fantasy, while denying the victim her own voiceThe title lies: this is not a love story. Based on Regis Jauffret's n…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:50AMThe shows you should see in Edinburgh over the next seven days – and why the festival rewards risk-taking audiencesPlastic fantasticIf at any other time of the year I suggested that you s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:19AMThursday, August 15, 2013
You'd think it was the show that counts, but where it happens, how we're treated, even the flavour of ice-cream play their partAround this time last year I was stumbling around in the dark o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AMSummerhallThree contestants wearing only pants and vests perform for votes in Made in China's boisterously interactive show"A contest that's tied is a contest that sucks," says one of the pe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMWednesday, August 14, 2013
SummerhallThe gruelling race for success at school is explored in this touching, heartfelt piece by Glasgow youth company Junction 25The audience is sent back to school for this latest piece…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:57AMCross-cultural fertilisation is crucial to the future of the fringe – so why is it getting harder for foreign artists to get visas?One of the brilliant things about Edinburgh is not just h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:20AMPleasance DomeThis clever new satire about the collective conflicted psyche of Israel begins with a bang and keeps detonatingIt begins with a bomb warning. We are told that there could be a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:43AMTuesday, August 13, 2013
Underbelly, EdinburghThis stage adaptation of the award-winning book about one homeless man's chaotic life – and what it taught the author – is faithful to the original's form and spirit…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33PMTickets sales are up, the big venues are rubbing their hands, but many companies are suffering. Is it time to rethink what the fringe is all about?After an Olympic-sized dent in August 2012,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AMMonday, August 12, 2013
International festival director Jonathan Mills makes waves by saying that he will avoid the upcoming Scottish referendum. Plus: what's the hardest job in British theatre?A politics-free zone…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMKingsWu Hsing-kuo's very personal spin on Kafka's iconic tale forgets to let the audience into his private dreamWu Hsing-kuo's one-man King Lear, employing Peking Opera traditions, was admir…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:45AMSunday, August 11, 2013
Assembly RoomsGiven that The Shawshank Redemption is high on many favourite-movie lists, this stage adaptation could well be accused of having its beady eye on the bank. But like its hero, A…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:53AMInternational Conference CentreIn Grid Iron theatre company's ambitious multimedia piece, our planet has been plundered and devastated by war. But now that Earth's unsullied twin has been di…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:53AMFriday, August 9, 2013
Why the cultural diversity of Edinburgh's festivals is only a good thing – and what to see over the next seven days if you're heading to Auld ReekieHighs and lowsThe International Festival…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:51PMNorthern Stage at St StephensMark Weinman delivers an astonishing solo performance as the superhero dad in a monologue that crackles with inventionWhen did you last see a superhero? Probably…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AMAssemblyFamiliar festival themes of peace and reconciliation emerge in this touching two-hander set in post-apartheid South AfricaJanet Suzman plays the elderly Marion who lives alone in an …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:10AMThursday, August 8, 2013
Scottish critics adore Ciara. So is everyone else missing something? And corporate-speak in the arts: the wrong outcome, going forwardAre Scottish critics too soft?When it comes to reviews, …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:08AMUnderbellyThere's sexy hula-hooping, striptease trapeze and flesh aplenty, but this show always puts breathtaking circus skills to the foreSmart, skilful, slyly comic and sexy, this show fro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AMTraverse, EdinburghThe issue of Scottish independence gets a rock'n'roll twist in a play that's little more than an extended skitThe Union is an indie rock band. They've been together for ye…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03AMTraverse theatreAn understated yet explosive play that explores forgiveness and reconciliation in modern-day BelfastThe programme for Owen McCafferty's three-hander, set in a Belfast pub tha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:03AMWednesday, August 7, 2013
Wednesdays can be worrisome for companies staging work at the Edinburgh fringe festival. Plus, why we shouldn't prejudge free theatre and today's video pickWorried WednesdayToday is a tough …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:40PMTuesday, August 6, 2013
Pleasance, EdinburghThe sheer size of the Pleasance Grand means that its shows have to be crowd-pleasers, and that's certainly the case with this Danish effort, which sees four bored male of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:05PMThe psychology of clapping, why certain comics really should try harder, and the new critics on the block (warning: includes cute cat photos)Catching the clapWhy do we clap in the theatre? Y…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:19AMTraverse, EdinburghThe cleverness of the con artist is that they make you believe the incredible, which is what theatre-makers do, too. The smartest scammers don't hide their machinations, b…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:40AMMonday, August 5, 2013
From David Greig's The Events to a new Lars von Trier comedy adaptation, this year's fringe for me is all about quality, not quantityKeeping countStand in the queues and the talk is sometime…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32PMAssembly MoundThere is so much emotion surrounding Yael Farber's Nirbhaya that it may be beyond criticism. Conceived in the wake of the murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey, the young Indian woman w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:16PMPerforming at Edinburgh is an expensive proposition, but the free fringe provides a refuge for artists and small companiesStand on Calton Hill east of Princes Street in Edinburgh and the ent…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AMTraverseWhen something terrible happens, we want to know why. Why now? Why me? Might things have been different? Claire (Neve McIntosh), the priest of a small seaside village, wants to know …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:27AMSunday, August 4, 2013
Traverse, EdinburghOnce upon a time men went off to war in faraway places. Out of sight, out of mind. But what if Odysseus had returned for his supper each night, and brought …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:22PMUnderbelly, EdinburghWhen Jamie was little, he and his single mum, Maggie, would look down on London from their Chalk Farm tower block and imagine they were keeping watch over…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:20AM 
