King of Scotland

4 Stars **** King of Scotland, written and directed by Ian Heggie, with the Glasgow Actors in association with the Tron Theatre, is a one man monologue of great character comedy and political bite. Jonathan Watson is Tommy McMillan, who after 28 years of unemployment, which he believes is the work of a lifetime, becomes [...]

The School of Night

4 Stars **** From the creators of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, comes the improv show which gives Shakespeare and other literary forms the same treatment. Ken Campbell leads the troupe with confidence through Chaucer, Shakespeare and anything else the audience has at hand revealing a bold skill which is a pleasure to watch. We were treated to [...]

Andrew Maxwell: The Lights are On

4 Stars **** Diminutive Irish comic Andrew Maxwell is always a welcome addition to any Edinburgh Fringe and he is back as only he can, entertaining one and all in the large George Square Theatre. Maxwell is as always topical and the first part of his hour is spent on theLondonriots and how it was [...]

Barry and Stuart – The Show

4 Stars **** If you don’t want to be chosen to go up on stage in this show, don’t sit in the first few rows. Equally, don’t look too closely if you don’t want some clues to how it’s done (for that, you can watch their partner show, The Tell, but it’s a whole other [...]

Little Matter

5 stars ***** Whatever I say about this show will not do it justice. It’s got (custom made!) puppets, live music, vocal harmonies, a beautiful set, philosophy, smatterings of science, a dark and hopeful story and entrancing characters (both the puppets and the people). It’s performed in a makeshift tent (the company’s travelling theatre) lit [...]

Zoe Lyons: Clown Busting

4 Stars **** It has been a while sine I have see Zoe Lyons perform live, okay she makes the occasional TV appearance, but that is not the same as the real thing. She takes to the stage wearing a leopard print ‘Snuggie’ one of these blankets with sleeves prior to warming the audience up [...]

The Last Days of Gilda

3 Stars *** Gilda played by Gael Le Cornec is a single, attractive young woman living in a Brazilian favela in this tragicomedy written by Rodrigo de Roure who lives in Rio de Janeiro. She makes a living by raising chickens and pigs. Killing and cooking her animals dominate her solitary existence. However, she may [...]

Now That She Has Gone

2 Stars ** Ellen Snortland’s solo performance is based around the dysfunctional relationship she had with her mother who was of Norwegian descent. In the opening sequence Ms Snortland is at her mother’s bedside as she is close to death at the age of 87. This triggers memories of their relationship. The two women could [...]