Edinburgh Fringe 2026 reviews: Max Olesker: Making the Cut / Adam Riches: The Captain
Edinburgh Fringe 2026 reviews: Max Olesker: Making the Cut / Adam Riches: The Captain Veronica Lee Fri, 08/21/2026 - 10:00 Becoming Jewish; a nautical tale …
Edinburgh Fringe 2026 reviews: Max Olesker: Making the Cut / Adam Riches: The Captain Veronica Lee Fri, 08/21/2026 - 10:00 Becoming Jewish; a nautical tale …
Tabloid excess in the 1980s; gallows humour in reflections on life and death Monstering the Rocketman by Henry Naylor, Pleasance Dome ★★★★
More mayhem from the Mischief company From the creative team that brought you The Play That Goes Wrong in 2012 (and assorted sequels) comes this spy caper. As ever with Mischief productions,…
One-man play about a sporting great, and a hot topic served cold Adam Riches: Jimmy Summerhall ★★★
Immigration madness given a panto makeover The starting point of this musical comedy " using a panto format to take a deep dive into the UK's immigration law " comes from such a good place …
32-year-old comedian whose set explores race, class and migration becomes first British-Asian to take prize A show about multiculturalism has won best show at the Edinburgh comedy awards. Ah…
A playwright's guilt, and a playwright's ego Tennessee, Rose Pleasance Dome ★★★ Clare Cockburn's new play posits the notion that all the women in Tennessee Williams' wo…
Women in tune, musical improv, and a backstage story Flat & the Curves Pleasance Dome ★★★★ Flat & the Curves " Katy Baker, Charlotte Brooke, Issy Wroe Wri…
Gripping one-man play, and Covid revisited Groomed Pleasance Dome ★★★★ "How can a truth be told? How can a secret be spoken?" Patrick Sandford asks in Groomed, his s…
Sparky adaptation of legal spat "Wagatha Christie" " I salute the bright spark who coined the term " describes, for those who don't follow such fripperies, the social media spat between foot…
Glittery stars and local heroes What joy it is to have pantomime and Christmas shows back with full audiences up and down the country " everything from local shows to star-driven productions…
Jonathan Harvey's (mostly) family-friendly script sparkles When Ian McKellen, one of our greatest Shakespearean actors, gave us his acclaimed Widow Twankey at the Old Vic in 2004, some wonde…
Young Latina whose act tackles disability is among the winners at prestigious awards ceremony Both of the top prizes for being funny at the 2022 Edinburgh fringe festival have gone to foreig…
War as entertainment, Die Hard as an epic poem, and a potted biography Afghanistan Is Not Funny, Gilded Balloon ★★★★
A musical whodunnit and an ovine origin story Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, Summerhall ★★★★★
'World king' as a young man; and a comedy legend Les Dawson: Flying High, Assembly George Square ★★★  Any opportunity to watch impressionist Jon Culshaw at work i…
Brexit battle laid bare Few critics become playwrights, but Tim Walker has done just that with Bloody Difficult Women, his debut. It's taking a risk; should any of his less generous critical…
Australian plays against type as the baddie There was a time when UK pantomime was heavily populated by Australian soap stars; rather late in the day Jason Donovan " formerly known as Scott…
Shirley Ballas and Scarlett Moffatt are good fun Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells ★★★★
Clive Rowe dons the frocks, while Rob Rinder and Anton Du Beke slap their thighs Jack and the Beanstalk, Hackney Empire ★★★
Premiere of solo stage production of TS Eliot's work For 75 captivating minutes, Ralph Fiennes digs deep into TS Eliot's Four Quartets, the poet's interlinked reflections on time, faith and …
Yasmeen Khan's spoof has a big heart Oscar Wilde's fabulous play satirised Victorian England and contained a shedload of quotable quips. Now Yasmeen Khan has written an updated and uprooted …
Free stream of its first pantomime In a much depleted and truncated pantomime season that withered on the vine, the National Theatre's debut production of Dick Whittington lasted only four p…
Children and adults are catered for Cinderella **** I did worry that pantomime " that most audience-driven of theatrical pursuits " might not work through the tube, but Nottingham Playhous…
The Pin sketch duo's assured theatrical debut Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen together form The Pin, a sketch duo who have won much critical acclaim and full houses in the Edinburgh Fringe shows.…
Jamie Kenna brings Brighton favourite to life It's fitting that there's another run of Dave Simpson's terrific play about Brighton's favourite son, Max Miller (aka The Cheeky Chappie), at t…
Magnificent backdrop of ruins for fundraiser On a normal bank holiday weekend there would be festival events held in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. But in this anything-but-normal year, c…
Lots of bum and poo gags to keep the kids happy In each of its incarnations " books, television series and theatre shows " covering more than 80 titles, Horrible Histories, created by Terry …
Nice in-jokes and smart observations about actors A running gag in David Nicholls' novel The Understudy is that its main character is called Steve McQueen. Not that Steve McQueen, the multi…
Immersion in Georgian court intrigue Les Enfants Terribles is the theatre company behind several interesting immersive projects, including Alice's Adventures Underground and Inside Pussy Rio…
Ben Elton's new comedy is a gagfest What joy it is to welcome this offshoot of the television series to the West End stage " complete with several of that show's cast, plus a few new additio…
Mischief Theatre and Penn & Teller mash-up Mischief Theatre's "Goes Wrong" oeuvre is now well established: broad humour combined with physical comedy and slapstick mishaps. Magic Goes Wr…
Mischief Theatre with another enjoyable farce Mischief Theatre is a wonder of modern commercial theatre. In 2008, group of young actors who had met at drama school started the ensemble " wri…
Purists may quibble at circus-themed show When Qdos brought back pantomime to the Palladium three years ago after an absence of nearly 30 years, it set the bar high with superb production v…
David Baddiel's debut play tackles a big issue David Baddiel is a very fine comic, and over the past few years has become an acclaimed author of children's books. So I'm genuinely sad to sa…
Jane Austen redux fizzes with ideas What a joy Laura Wade's latest play is. Transferring from its successful run at the Minerva Theatre at Chichester last year, The Watsons is developed from…
Jacobean comedy gets a rare outing It was a bold choice by director Blanche McIntyre to stage Ben Jonson's seldom performed, sprawling slice-of-life play in the bijou Sam Wanamaker Playhouse…
Final outing for Phoebe Waller-Bridge as her iconic creation We're saying goodbye to a much treasured friend. Fleabag will live on, of course " other actresses have and will inhabit the role…
More from the world's biggest and best arts festival The Red Pleasance Dome ★★★★ Comic Marcus Brigstocke has spoken in the past about his addictions and now he ha…
More from the world's biggest and best arts festival On the Other Hand, We're Happy Summerhall **** This affecting co-production between Paines Plough and Theatr Clywd of Daf James's play t…
Jeremy Herrin's production of modern classic feels leaden Michael Frayn's Noises Off is a modern classic, a backstage sex farce that pokes affectionate fun at a profession he loves. And now …
Penelope Skinner probes the men's rights movement Penelope's Skinner's monologue was a critical and audience hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, when its talking point found its moment. He…
David Ireland's dark, absurdist comedy about identityDavid Ireland is a playwright who likes to jolt his audience and Cyprus Avenue, a dark absurdist comedy about an Ulster unionist afr…
Martin Crimp's latest about a sex game is all talk and no actionWhen it was announced that Cate Blanchett was making her National Theatre debut with Martin's Crimp's new play, When We h…
West End transfer for Tony Kushner's musical about race and povertyWith the politics of hate alive and well both sides of the Atlantic, this seems a good time to revive Tony Kushner and…
Enjoyable but underpoweredPaul Merton has a lot of strings to his bow " stand-up, improv artist, historian of silent-movie-era comedy, quiz-show panellist, to name a few " and now he adds pa…
Susie McKenna creates fast-paced fun in a busy mixSusie McKenna and Steven Edis have been creating pantos for Hackney Empire for 20 years, and over that time its seasonal offering has become…
Dick jokes in abundance told in urban street style pantomimeIn 2009 Sean Holmes, then Lyric Hammersmith's artistic director, made a bold move by reintroducing panto at the lovely Frank Match…
Two-hander with a Walt Whitman poem and a clever twistHere's a good pub quiz question: after Shakespeare, who was the most performed playwright in America last year? Arthur Miller? Tennessee…
Rose Matafeo's take on twentysomething life is toast of the FringeNew Zealander Rose Matafeo has won the coveted best comedy show award at the Edinburgh festival fringe. Steve Coogan, one of…