SCOTLAND THEATER REVIEWS

Kit Sinclair’s 30 and Out takes a more adult approach to coming out narratives - a real life story of discovering yourself aged thirty, the show dives headfirst into queer sex, the club scene, homophobia, and relationships in a high energy hour of cabaret-style theatre....

Unstuck With You is a poignant reflection on the significance of humanity in an empty and apathetic universe in which we take up an infinitesimal amount of space. An uplifting reminder of the importance of our everyday connections in a world tilted towards nihilism, it runs Aug 10-12 at Emerald Thea...

With light and breezy writing, Jorgensen delivers an accurate analysis of what it feels like to try to find a partner in the 21st Century in 35 delightful minutes of Regency fun. It’s a quick glimpse into the horror of modern romance....

My Father’s Nose is a surprisingly heartwarming show about death and moving on. Douglas Walker’s comedy is shaped with hilarious non-humour and eccentric irony. His sorrow is mirrored by the stranger’s sympathy in a well-rounded journey into irrational fears and comical anecdotes. Walker offer...

All in all, it’s not a great play, but it’s also not a particularly bad one either. It’s tentatively poetic but commonplace, with a dash of humdrum personal reflection in the mix. Jealousy, love, pain, bereavement, it’s a to-do list of life....

What seems like a silly little comedy about millennial dread at first becomes a pointedly anti-Tory invective in Louis Rembges’s Chatham House Rules. It’s a production for the chronically online, anti-Brexit internet addicts, and those who simply want to have a laugh before they’re thrown into...

Box Tale Soup adapt MR James’s ghost story into a play that has the same dark feel of a Penny Dreadful episode. Elegantly directed by Adam Lenson and featuring impressive puppetry and stage tricks, it’s a production of outstanding craft and storytelling. ...

Zach Hawkins is incredible with Ryan’s exuberant resignation. He waltzes through the flowing stream of consciousness with ease, handling the final shift in tone with depth and reflection....

Sikisa: Hear Me Out a brilliant hour of comedy that will leave you in stitches and in awe of the incredible woman on stage. She’s funny, she’s witty, she’s talented, and she’s not ashamed to be herself - What more could one ask for? ...

Double Emmy Award winner and star of Smack The Pony is doing her first ever show. Like most working mums, since her children were born she didn't have a moment for herself. Now free, she has tried new hobbies, new places, even attempting to get fit. Difficult when your spirit animal is a sloth. With...

Nick Pupo: Addicted is a powerful story about one man’s struggle with addictions; a heartfelt reflection on mistakes from the past and looking towards the future, but rarely is it a comedy....

Debut hour from Geordie rising star with a show all about class, chaos and coming out. She did ask her friends if her life had been feral enough to warrant this title; they laughed and assured her it still is....

​​​​​​​Don't go into A Gay Dad with any expectations. Honestly. Don't. I had the feeling it was a stand-up show about being, well, a gay dad. And it was funny. But it was also a heck of a lot more, in many surprising ways....

There is something surreal about watching a play banned for blasphemous biblical portrayal in an old Church. Embedded with symbolic poetry, repetitive references to the moon and the desire to kiss a severed head, Philomene Cheynet's interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé presents an unusual twist...

​​​​​​​Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect from this show. And as it turns out, neither do the performers. With no script, no plot and no directions, the lovely group from ShakeItUp Theatre create a modern Shakespeare play in front of your very eyes. ...

Have you ever watched a Netflix documentary about a cult, listened to the stories of how this group fell apart, and wondered what it was like to be in one of those cults? Well, wonder no more. Moses Storm: Perfect Cult presents a unique opportunity to audience members - For one night only, you and e...

Mental health features a fair bit in this lovely show, a hot topic with a number of comedians these days. And I'm all here for it. Especially Alison's understated, open and refreshing look at her own 'Menty B'. ...

A one-woman show about growing up with a trans female parent, written and performed by Maria Telnikoff. Filled with hilarious tales from her school days, it shows the difficulties of fitting in as a young person and the fears we feel about being labelled as 'outside the box'. Brimming with life and ...

Award-winning comedian Stephen Buchanan (BBC New Comedy Award and Scottish Comedian of the Year) returns to the Fringe with his unique blend of stand-up, sketch and character comedy, in this hour of daft laughs...

Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe. In communities across the country, families, loved ones, and clinicians support people suffering with substance addiction. Multi-award winners Tortoise in a Nutshell present Concerned Others, an intimate tabletop performance that shares...

Have you ever been through a breakup? Did that breakup happen while you were trying to give each other some “space” through long distance? Are you currently living in the house next to your ex’s parents, who are trying to be nice but want you to leave? Sophie Santos is ready to tell us all abo...

A girl with sunflowers in her eyes. A cabin with a view of your mother’s grave. The disorder known as optimism. Not subjects you would expect from your average comedian. But Lucas O’Neil is no average comedian, as proven in his brilliant new show, Lucas O’Neil: Emotional Man. ...

What do you look for in a potential partner? Someone who loves to relax at home? Someone who knows what they’re doing in life? Someone with a happy family? If so, you and Philipp Kostelecky don’t have much in common. ...

Funny and distinctively Beckettian, Deuteronomy is about everything and nothing. The two men tackle the meaning of life, eternal damnation, and heavenly salvation the same way they discuss the differences between apples and peaches....

Ambling between cheaply crafted stock characters and expanding only the lesser interesting ones, the project needs work desperately. The topic has the potential to make for a provocative and arresting comic drama about the fallout of the system, but, so far, it doesn’t show it....