Scotland Theater Reviews

Review: COAST, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 24, 2023

Half-siblings, Jay and Kay, are on a road trip travelling overnight from Glasgow. After growing up apart, the recently united pair are heading for the coast down south, to go camping for a few nights and get to know each other better....

Review: LEAR'S FOOL, Bard in the Botanics
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 20, 2023

Bard in the Botanics is proud to present the Scottish premiere of David Henry Wilson’s beautiful, funny and tender drama, imagining what becomes of King Lear’s Fool, after the character disappears from Shakespeare’s great tragedy....

Review: SHIP RATS, Oran Mor
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 16, 2023

It’s 1880, and being the only woman on a cargo ship in the South China Sea isn’t the safest place for Jessie. Especially when there’s a dead body on board and she’s feeling queasy....

Review: ENGLAND AND SON, Tron Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 16, 2023

Set when The Great Devouring comes home, England & Son is a one-man play written specifically for the award-winning political comedian Mark Thomas by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards (The Political History of Smack and Crack) and the first play that Mark has ever performed in that he has not also...

Review: DRACULA: MINA'S RECKONING, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 14, 2023

Under the buzzing lights of a psychiatric hospital in Aberdeenshire in 1897, Mina Murray recounts her encounters with the most terrifying of beasts: Dracula. A throng of patients listen with bated breath as they are transported to a world where immortality and ultimate power is possible, even for wo...

Review: FOREVER HOME, Oran Mor, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 10, 2023

Growing up is never simple but for Caitlin, there are extra complications: Caitlin was in care, then adopted, now her birth family want her in their lives. Things are spiralling out of control….....

Book Review: BREAKING DOWN YOUR SCRIPT by Laura Wayth
by Laura Lott - September 14, 2023

The moment when you're presented with a whole new script can feel a little overwhelming for an actor, but Breaking Down Your Script: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Actor is here to help. It's written by Laura Wayth, who has worked as an acting teacher in Italy, Morocco, China and the UK....

Kilmartin Museum Reopens to the Public Following Redevelopment Project
by Natalie O'Donoghue - September 03, 2023

Sunday, 3 September 2023 marks the re-opening of Kilmartin Museum, revealing its incredible renovation which includes a much larger exhibition space, a stunning learning space which can be used to deliver and participate in cultural and educational activities, new galleries housing temporary art exh...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: DR BONK'S MACARBARET, Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly, Main Room
by Kat Mokrynski - August 30, 2023

As someone who is a scaredy cat but loves morbid humour and wanted to test my boundaries during the Fringe, I decided to give Dr. Bonk’s Macarbaret a try. The show, hosted by Edinburgh’s only living plague doctor, Dr. Bonk (played by Eliott Simpson), is a cabaret that promises “laughs, scares, and g...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: CHRIS THORBURN: CINEMAN, Just The Tonic at The Mash House
by Mark Carnochan - August 29, 2023

Chris Thorburn shows off his terrific charisma and charming personality through the scope of one of his greatest loves - the movies....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL, Assembly George Square Studios
by Kat Mokrynski - August 31, 2023

After seeing Police Cops: Badass Be Thy Name and loving the group’s sense of humour and fantastic dynamic, I knew that I wanted to see their 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Police Cops: The Musical. Somehow, this show managed to exceed my already high expectations, making for a perfect last sho...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: GOD CATCHER, Underbelly, Bristo Square, Ermintrude
by Kat Mokrynski - August 31, 2023

In this new interpretation of the Greek myth, created by Cassie Muise and Tyler Mckinnon, Arachne uses her weaving to follow in her mother’s footsteps and tell the stories of forgotten women, going against the “truths” told by the elders. ...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ELIOTT SIMPSON: (A)SEXY AND I KNOW IT, Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly, Main Room
by Kat Mokrynski - August 30, 2023

In nearly every comedy show I have seen at the Fringe, there have been sexual jokes, with some going as far as having vibrators and dildos on stage. To be honest, as an asexual, I needed a break from all of that, and I knew Eliott Simpson: (A)Sexy and I Know It would be the perfect place to laugh wi...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: DARK NOON, Pleasance at EICC, Lennox Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - August 31, 2023

Dark Noon’s description states “They say history is told by the victors; this story is told by the vanquished.” The show is a “brutal recreation of the Wild West” of the United States of America. As someone who grew up in the States, I am quite familiar with the glorified tales of the settling of th...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: CSI: CRIME SCENE IMPROVISATION, Underbelly, Bristo Square, Ermintrude
by Kat Mokrynski - August 31, 2023

The concept of CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation is quite simple. A murder has taken place, and it is up to the audience to not only catch the killer but also to create the crime scene themselves, setting the scene for the actors. ...

Review: THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, King's Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 30, 2023

From the imagination of Neil Gaiman, best-selling author of Coraline, Good Omens and The Sandman (now a major Netflix series), comes the National Theatre’s major new stage adaptation of The Ocean at the End of the Lane....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: CELYA AB: SECOND RODEO, Pleasance
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

As a child, all she wanted was to be an adult. Now she's at the table, she wants out. Following her acclaimed, sell-out debut hour, Celya returns: expect tales of romance, a hologram, and a near-death experience in Thorpe Park....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: AN AFTERNOON WITH ANTON DU BEKE, Underbelly
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

Strictly Come Dancing legend and judge, Anton Du Beke, takes to the stage with his live band, a guest singer and his dancers; expect a fab-u-lous afternoon of song, dance and laughter....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: MAGGIE CRANE: SIDE BY SIDE, Underbelly
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

Maggie Crane's older brother had it all: a purple sparkly wheelchair and everyone's attention. This darkly funny stand-up show is an autobiographical coming-of-age story about disability, death, and Dunkin' Donuts. Aiden was Maggie's best friend and biggest rival. In their family, hospital visits fe...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: BLOWHOLE, Pleasance
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

Meet Him. He's gay, twenty-something, and aspiring to be Billie Piper circa 1999. For now though, he's still single, still horny, and still perfecting the bum-hole selfie in the work toilets. Rock bottom's never been so fabulous. Blowhole is a screengrab of the pitfalls of swipe-right culture....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: YOGA WITH JILLIAN, Pleasance
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

A new screwball comedy about how Gwyneth Paltrow, guru culture, green juice and your best downward-facing dog can save us all!...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: SCAREDY FAT, Pleasance
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2023

Scaredy's working the late shift at the cinema. Tonight's schedule? The horror-movie sexual awakenings of yesteryear. Stuffed with steamy recollections of Carrie and Candyman, Scaredy should be in ecstasy but evil horror host Count Calories keeps cutting in on the fun. It's time for Scaredy to face ...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE LIFE SPORADIC OF JESS WILDGOOSE, Above At Pleasance Courtyard
by Mary Baillie - August 28, 2023

 The set is scarce, but that doesn't matter. From birds to cars to bartender counters and water coolers, every set piece, animal and prop are created solely through this talented 4-person ensemble, accompanied by sound designer and musician Frederick Waxman. ...

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: ICE HOLE: A CARDBOARD COMEDY, The Grand at Pleasance Courtyard
by Mary Baillie - August 28, 2023

A goofy fantastical mermaid tale told through cardboard signs with descriptive labels accompanied by a spoken language that sounds like a fusion between Icelandic and Simlish? It sounds ludicrous, but strangely.... it works....

EDINBURGH 2023: Review: JAZZ EMU'S PLEASURE GARDEN, Assembly George Square Studios, Underground
by Kat Mokrynski - August 30, 2023

The concept of Jazz Emu’s Pleasure Garden is quite simple. You are invited by Jazz Emu (played by Archie Henderson) and the band The Cosmique Perfectión to their Pleasure Garden, quoted to be “a luscious, verdant Arcadia that veritably throbs with life” (it’s actually in a car park but hey, you take...