SCOTLAND THEATER REVIEWS

Devil's Point is an interesting show with plenty of potential, but one which never quite succeeds in engaging us fully....

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd proves himself as one of the funniest men Scotland has ever produced. When you rock up to a venue during the Edinburgh Fringe only to be greeted by two separate lines - one for ticketed punters and another for hopefuls - in the hundreds (but which feels like thousands), so...

Newly-widowed Mrs Lovett needs to find a way to survive. Using skills learned from a whaler father, a courtesan mother and a butcher husband, Eleanor 'recalibrates' her life - and her relationship with God. An origin story set before her infamous partnership with Sweeney Todd, we discover what would...

When two old friends meet at a haunt from their youth they relive their exciting teenage years in the poptastic seventies. Clothes, boys and music all play a big part in their coming of age at a time of phone boxes, mail order catalogues and crispy pancakes. Every adventure is soundtracked by a hit ...

In a perfectly paced show featuring musical numbers and smooth crowd work, Robyn Reynolds details the ups and downs of her life – or rather, brings out the silver lining in the downs. A sunny disposition and riotous humour, light and dark and everything in between, this talented comedian gets her ...

1554. The Tower of London. Lady Jane Grey, the 'Nine Days Queen,' awaits execution. The walls whisper the stories of the women who came before – and those yet to come... Battling sleep and the horrors that lurk within it, Jane retraces her short, tumultuous life. Can she reclaim her own legacy? Gr...

In 2023 TikTok sent a notification to millions of users with Jodie's face, and the caption 'Is She Hot?'. Now, her debut show is a hilarious reflection on womanhood, grief and feminine rage. Told through musical comedy, sharp observations, and her own teenage diary, Jodie delves into the contradicti...

After her hit sold-out show at last year’s Fringe, national treasure Miriam Margolyes returns with a brand new piece. At 84 years young, Margolyes knows she doesn't have to prove herself to anyone. Sporting a beautifully vibrant gown, she commands the stage with a charming combination of crude rem...

Unsettling music and Chekov's child draw the audience in before 1612 even starts, creating the perfect environment to learn about this historic witch trial. Rather than focussing on the people in power and how the hysteria and rumours spread, the show centres around the rising panic in a few central...

This whirlwind show absolutely flies by in the time we wish it took to learn to love ourselves. Blending a variety of original songs with comedic rants, this sermon on self-love is halfway between standup and a musical. It's hilariously ironic and relatable, highlighting the conflicting messages abo...

49 and 64 are in the room. They cannot see each other but they can talk and pass notes. All they have is questions, wedding veils and dog tags. Who are they? Where are they? What is going on? And why? And who is J Doe? And why are they watching them? 113 focuses in on the ideas of identity and memor...

Following the arrest of a famous billionaire, four unlikely friends team up to break her out of prison in return for half her fortune. Led by bumbling Luke and set in the rather grim reality of struggling to make ends meet, it’s an interesting concept that asks the audience to question what their ...

Advertised as a 'moving and darkly comic remix' of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Lost Lear retells the play through the eyes of Joy, an elderly dementia patient and former actress trapped in a perpetual memory of rehearsing King Lear for the stage. Doctors and nurses step into her imagined world, su...

Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, The Crown) redefines and reclaims the solo show in a lyrical tapestry where resistance, displacement and selfhood are delicately woven through an avant-garde aesthetic. At its heart lies a searing question voiced at the start: ‘This nowhere is safe. But there are p...

Mary: A Gig Theatre Show is a cool concept. It advertises itself as a blend of folk rock music and spoken word formulating a feminist retelling of the story of Mary Queen of Scots. In theory it feels inspired by the hit show Six, but with it's own unique voice. The idea of a 'gig theatre show' sugge...

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her....

A monster's guide to tolerance and temperance. The silliest of shows for the scariest of days from Edinburgh Best Show Award Nominee. You've seen Jess on BBC's QI, Live at the Apollo and Celebrity University Challenge. From Travelman on C4, World's Most Dangerous Roads on Dave and more. You know her...

A Y2K-drenched coming-of-age comedy-drama: ASTNT follows David’s move from the city to a small Northern town where being the only Black kid means fitting in isn’t an option. Against the chaos of the 2000s: lads mags, MSN and questionable fashion, he tries to find his place but fails spectacularl...

Josh Elton makes an assured and highly memorable Fringe debut with Away With The Fairies, a show which captures both the unfiltered chaos of the life of a comic and the mythic absurdity which shapes it. With an energetic blend of sharp gags, playful storytelling and sincerity, Elton proves himself ...

What did our critic think of AVENUE Q at Braw Venues At Grand Lodge?This smash hit musical is a hilarious satire of modern life starring a mixed cast of humans and puppets. It combines the ridiculous with the all too relatable, following Princeton, a freshly graduated dreamer with his whole life ahe...

Two people. Many characters. One space. Alexander Burnett and Ellie Whittaker of Voloz Collective make a splash at the Fringe this year with The Crawl—a short, slick, and hilarious physical theatre piece that dives headfirst into the drama of a high-stakes swimming competition....

Scottish comedy legend Johnny McKnight examines the panto dame through an inventive new lens in She’s Behind You. Drawing on his experience writing more than 30 pantos and playing 18 dames, McKnight unpacks the role through a lively mesh of songs, stand-up, dance, and audience participation....

Four generations of Northern Irish women gather for a 90th birthday party in Karis Kelly’s Consumed, and what unfolds is a pitch-black dark comedy with razor wit and gasp-inducing shock. Eileen (Julia Dearden), Jenny (Caoimhe Farren), Gilly (Andrea Irvine) and Muireann (Muireann Ní Fhaogáin) ini...

Flora Wilson Brown’s six-hander examines climate change across 250 years of real and imagined history. In 1856, Eunice begins to question whether carbon dioxide might signal that something is going terribly wrong. In 2027 London, Clare falls for Dan as she faces impending heatwaves and floods. By ...

Welsh comedian Steffan Alun brings warmth, wit and a proudly offbeat perspective to his debut Fringe hour, Steffan Alun: Stand Up. Having honed sets for years on the free fringe, Alun finally embraces a full-length slot with confidence and charm, blending education, sexuality and pop culture throug...