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Articles by Hugh Simpson
PPP: Zamboni
★★★☆☆ Poignant Assembly Roxy: Wed 11 – Sun 15 Nov 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Zamboni by Lex Joyce, the first in a new short season of A Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at Assembly Roxy, is an emotional and attractive play that never quite warms up as much as it promises to. The play takes its name from the resurfacing machine seen at ice rinks such as the one where Donal (Samuel Lee Johnston), Noa (Loretta Francis) and Gus (Nathan Prestwich) work.
Art
★★★★☆ Artful Scottish Storytelling Centre: Tues 3 – Fri 6 Nov 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Art is something of a departure for Edinburgh People’s Theatre, being a decidedly downbeat play with a small cast staged in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Scottish Storytelling Centre until Friday. However, it is undoubtedly a welcome one. Yasmina Reza’s 1994 French play was translated by Christopher Hampton and then seen in London in 1996 with the first of many all-star casts.
PPP: Whaur’s Yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?
★★☆☆☆ Unsubtle Traverse Theatre: Tues 6 – Sat 10 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Whaur’s Yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?, the latest Play, A Pie and A Pint offerings from Òran Mór’ at the Traverse, has plenty of pace and spirit, but ultimately is an unsatisfactory affair.
Showcase 2026 – Dream as One
★★★★☆ Appealing Church Hill Theatre: Tues 22 – Sat 26 Sept 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson In 36 years Showcase has raised over £385 000 for Macmillan Cancer Care, and the annual production at the Church Hill continues to provide an upbeat and thoroughly entertaining selection of music. This year’s offering, Dream as One, is consistently appealing and always fresh.
A Giggle With The Gaggle
★★★★☆ Affecting theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Balancing Act Theatre’s A Giggle With The Gaggle, at theSpace on the Mile, is both laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely sad. In David Gardner’s play, three friends down from Scotland for Brighton Pride are shocked by the death of Brian, the boyfriend of one of them and a long-time pal of the others.
A Play of Two Halves
★★★★☆ Comic reality Tynecastle Park (Venue 547): Fri 14 – Mon 31 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson A Play of Two Halves is another hugely successful community-focused, football-based offering from Paul Beeson and Bruce Strachan’s Two Halves Productions. Staged in the 1874 Bar at Heart of Midlothian’s Tynecastle Park, it comprises two linked plays.
Singing Willows and the Magical Bed
★★★☆☆ Beautiful Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30): Sat 22 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Singing Willows and the Magical Bed from Alexandra Borghino at the Storytelling Centre on the last two weekends of the Fringe, is an attractive production for children that has the potential to be even more enticing. Writer-director-performer Borghino, with Brad Meyer collaborating on the music, has developed this from a story in the bilingual Singing Willows story book.
Turn The Screw, Tickety-Boo
★★★★☆ Empathetic theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sat 8 – Fri 28 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Turn The Screw, Tickety-Boo! by David Scott, performed by Faceless Theatre and New Celts at theSpace on the Mile, is a compassionate piece of theatre that overcomes some peculiarities with assured direction and performances.
A Trial – after An Enemy of The People (EIF)
★★★★☆ Substantial Lyceum: Fri 7 – Mon 10 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson A Trial – After An Enemy of The People, at the Lyceum as part of the International Festival, is a highly satisfying and constantly intriguing theatrical experience. Co-produced by EIF, Centro Cultural de Belém, Holland Festival, Festival d’Avignon and DeSingel, it is the project of director Christiane Jatahy and actor and film-maker Wagner Moura. A scene from A Trial – after An Enemy of The People. Pic: Jess Shurte.
Book Fest in Performance
BookFest: Booking opens today, Thurs 28 June. The Edinburgh International Book Festival, now firmly established at the Edinburgh Futures Institute in Lauriston Place, has its usual quota of performance and theatre-related events in 2026. As well as the Spiegeltent (which will also be the home of the BBC’s Edinburgh output from 17-21 August), and the high-profile Front List events at the McEwan Hall, the Festival will be making use of Greyfriars Kirk as a venue for the first time.
Book Festival 2025 round-up: One
Performances and performers in the first week at the Futures Institute By Hugh Simpson The Book Festival seems thoroughly at home in its second year at the Futures Institute. The simple act of moving the entrance a few yards towards Middle Meadow Walk, together with vastly improved outside catering, has created much more of a buzz around the site. There are still huge numbers of events that appeal to the theatrically inclined, with some notable performances.
George, Don’t Do That…The Joy of Joyce Grenfell
★★★☆☆ Rewarding The Royal Scots Club (Venue 241): Tues 19 – Sat 23 Aug 2025 Review by Hugh Simpson George, Don’t Do That…The Joy of Joyce Grenfell evokes a vanished social milieu with tunefulness and humour. The show, from Arkle at the Royal Scots Club each afternoon of the Fringe’s final week, is a compilation of the work of Joyce Grenfell (1910 – 1979) – the writer, actor and singer.
You Have Failed Me for the Last Time
★★☆☆☆ Patchy theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sat 2 – Fri 22 Aug 2025 Review by Hugh Simpson The Optimiserables and New Celts’ You Have Failed Me For The Last Time is only patchily entertaining. At theSpace on the Mile on even dates throughout the Fringe, it is neither a full-blown parody nor a fully coherent piece of drama. Lucas McQueen’s play features supervillain Friedrich Von Fittervach, whose base in a volcano is infiltrated by an agent called (wait for it) J. Blonde.
Cutler tribute, McDermid play at BookFest 25
Hamish Hawk, Vanessa Redgrave at Edinburgh Futures Institute by Hugh Simpson The 2025 Edinburgh Book Festival – in its second year at Edinburgh Futures Institute – will feature the normal mix of theatre-adjacent events and other enticing attractions in its two week programme from Sat 9 to Sun 24 August. In terms of performance, one of the big draws will surely be Edinburgh musician Hamish Hawk’s take on the work of the one-of-a-kind Scottish poet and performer Ivor Cutler.
PPP: Eilidh, Eilidh, Eilidh
★★★★☆ Accomplished Traverse: Tue 18 – Sat 22 Mar 2025 Review by Hugh Simpson Eilidh, Eilidh, Eilidh, by Lana Pheutan, is gently humorous and thoroughly involving. Pheutan, from Skye, has been involved in Fringe stalwarts Pretty Knickers Productions and in writing for TV Alba, and also directs what is the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse. Two cousins, both called Eilidh, break into what is apparently one of many empty properties used as Airbnbs on Skye.
A War of Two Halves & Sweet FA
A War of Two Halves: ★★★★★ Sweet FA: ★★★★★ Tynecastle Park: Sat 9 – Thur 21 Nov 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson The return to Tynecastle Park of A War of Two Halves and Sweet FA is a thoroughly welcome one. The first two efforts from Two Halves Productions, both by Paul Beeson, Bruce Strachan and Tim Barrow, remain the most acclaimed.
PPP: Lost Girls / At Bus Stops
★★★☆☆ Excellent performances Traverse: Tue 15 – Sat 19 Oct 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Lost Girls / At Bus Stops, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, is a rather sweet take on a time-honoured dramatic dilemma. The play, by Róisín Sheridan Bryson, features best friends Jess (Catriona Faint) and Iona (Leyla Aycan) who first bonded over bad Fringe shows in underground venues, takeaway shops, bus shelters and the ethics of flyering.
PPP: Armour: A Herstory of the Scottish Bard
★★★☆☆ Tuneful Traverse: Tue 1 – Sat 5 Oct 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Armour: A Herstory of the Scottish Bard, this week’s lunchtime theatre offering at the Traverse before continuing on tour, provides a melodic new slant on the familiar story of Robert Burns.
Showcase 2024 - Something About This Night!
★★★★☆ Spectacular Church Hill Theatre: Tue 24 – Sat 28 Sept 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Showcase 2024 – Something About This Night! provides the expected tuneful extravaganza, hugely reliable while appearing remarkably fresh. The annual musical fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support has been going for so many years now, raising a total just shy of £350,000 since 1991, that it is possible to take it for granted.
Book Festival round-up part 2
Writing and performance from all corners of Scotland By Hugh Simpson Now firmly at home in the Edinburgh Futures Institute, the Book Festival continues to feature theatre-related events, performances and much else of interest. To coincide with its theatre adaptation in what is very much the month of The Outrun, there was an appearance by writer and stage adapter Amy Liptrot and Stef Smith.
Book Festival: Final round-up
Performance and discussion at the Futures Institute By Hugh Simpson The Book Festival closed its first year at the Futures Institute with the normal eclectic mix of events. The centrepiece of the second week as far as performance was concerned had to be Justified Sinner – New Myths. Writer Kirsty Logan, folksinger Kirsty Law and harpist Esther Swift came together for an intriguing combination of story, music and visuals.
Joe Hill: The Man Who Never Died
★★★★☆ Inspiring C Aurora (Venue 6): Thu 1 – Sun 25 Aug 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Joe Hill: The Man Who Never Died, from The Joe Hill Project with Joey Shaw at C aurora, is an old-fashioned piece of political street theatre performed with clarity and focus. Shaw is a New York-based actor and singer who presents a portrait of Joe Hill, the Swedish-born US songwriter, labour activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (the IWW, or ‘Wobblies’).
What the F*ck Happened to Love and Hope?
★★★★☆ Devastating theSpace on The Mile (Venue 39): Mon 19 – Sat 24 Aug 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson What The F*ck Happened to Love and Hope? from wtfhappenedto at theSpace on the Mile for the Fringe’s last week, is raw in its emotional content. However, there is nothing undercooked about its writing, acting or directing. The play, by Olivia McGeachy, deals starkly and honestly with potentially difficult issues.
Book Festival 2024 round-up 1
Paul Bright re-excavated, Perambulations of a Justified Sinner, Lone Tree by Hugh Simpson The Edinburgh International Book Festival has moved home again for 2024, to its new (permanent) home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, part of the Quartermile development at the old Infirmary. This is a couple of minutes’ walk from the last site, and a stone’s throw from George Square, so the inevitable grumbling about it being ‘so far out’ will soon subside.
Murder! At the Cirque Du Banquet! The Terrible, Final Case of Detective Ace Dekkard
★★★☆☆ Chaotic Paradise in Augustines (Venue 152): Mon 12 – Sat 17 Aug 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Dead Parrot Collective’s Murder! At the Cirque Du Banquet! The Terrible, Final Case of Detective Ace Dekkard, at Paradise in Augustines for the Fringe’s second week, is a cross-genre comedy romp that is a fitting late-night Fringe entertainment – defiantly silly and performed with gusto.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kind Of…!
★★★★☆ Clever fun theSpace Triplex (Venue 38): Thurs 8 – Tue 13 Aug 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Shortened and adapted versions of Shakespeare have been the backbone of the Fringe for years, but there can have been few that feature such a large, well prepared and infectiously enthusiastic cast as Edinburgh Youth Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kind Of…! That slightly apologetic title is unnecessary.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: Teen Edition
★★★★☆ Optimistic Broughton High School (Venue 318): Sat 3 – Sat 10 Aug 2024 Review by Hugh Simpson Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Teen Edition, from Forth Children’s Theatre at Broughton High School for Week One of the Fringe only, is a brave choice of production, staged with conviction and joy, and featuring some real talent. The musical (book and lyrics by Tom MacRae, music by Dan Gillespie Sells) takes its inspiration from true events.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Celebratory Saughtonhall URC: Wed 15 – Sat 18 Nov 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson The Trilogy of Comedies, presented by Saughtonhall Drama Group at Saughtonhall United Reformed Church to mark their 75th anniversary, provide geniality, stagecraft and much laughter. The three plays are well chosen for contrasting moods and settings. First up is The Interview by Jane France.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Riding high Festival Theatre: Tue 14 – Sat 18 Nov 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Boasting a cast of (nearly) thousands and as much entertainment as you could wish for, the Edinburgh Gang Show 2023 hits the odd wrong note but in the end its sheer momentum brooks no argument. Long-serving director and writer Andy Johnston has been joined as director by Louise Hunter, but the format – while tweaked – is thankfully largely unchanged.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Well observed Assembly Roxy: Wed 8 – Sat 11 Nov 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson The UK premiere of Walt McGough’s Chalk from the Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group, upstairs at the Assembly Roxy, lacks a little in apocalyptic intensity – but convinces in its evocation of human relationships. This is a dystopian two-hander where Maggie (Esther Gilvray) is one of the few survivors of the end of the world as we know it, after invading aliens have killed the world’s population.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Powerful Royal Lyceum Theatre: Thurs 2 – Sat 4 Nov 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Through The Mud by Apphia Campbell at the Lyceum is a story of the struggle for civil rights in the USA in the face of racism. Its portrayal of the African American experience across the generations is both depressing and inspiring, told with craft and tunefulness.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Welcome revival Traverse: Wed 1 – Sat 4 Nov 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson John McKay’s 1988 hit comedy Dead Dad Dog returns to the Traverse threatening to be a period piece, but turns out to have a great deal still to say – and is still pretty funny. First seen at the old Traverse at the West Bow, the play has been revived by Stories Untold Productions in association with Finborough Theatre, London.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Musically convincing Traverse: Thu 26 – Fri 27 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Battery Park, the touring production from Sleeping Warrior and the Beacon Arts Centre at the Traverse for two nights only, is a gripping and tuneful piece of theatre. Writer-director Andy McGregor’s play with songs tells of the (fictional) Britpop-era band of the title.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★☆☆☆ Confusing Traverse: Tue 24 – Sat 28 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Disfunction by Kate Bowen and directed by Lu Kemp, the last in the Traverse’s current season of Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint, is a lively but ultimately puzzling piece. Sisters Melanie (Maureen Carr) and Moira (Maureen Beattie) have been playing their game Disfunction (invented by Melanie, complete with non-standard spelling) for decades.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Moving Traverse: Fri 20 – Sat 21 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Woman Walking from Sylvian Productions, which is ending a short Scottish tour at the Traverse, is a rich and ruminative exploration of loss and the power of nature. Sylvia Dow’s play is a meditative and gently emotional one, showing experienced hillwalker Cath (Pauline Lockhart) dealing with grief and guilt after the death of her mother.
Mæ’s winning project revives medieval tradition of treating older people with the dignity they deserve
This Stirling Prize winner places a much-needed focus on how we house and support people later in their lives Alex Ely references George Bernard Shaw as part-inspiration for the design of Mae’s Stirling-winning John Morden Centre in Blackheath: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” It is an implied criticism of not only how we approach ageing as a culture, but of how we accommodate our elderly population.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Furiously sad Traverse: Tue 17 – Sat 21 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson The human tragedy and deep political conviction that distinguished the film of I, Daniel Blake are still very much there in the stage adaptation, touring to the Traverse this week only. The production, by Tiny Dragon and English Touring Theatre in association with Northern Stage, is an adaptation of the celebrated 2016 film directed by Ken Loach.
Change requires designers to stick their necks out and propose what a better future might be
Having put out a call for an alternative to the term ‘master plan’ David Rudlin reviews some of the many suggestions The other week I was in Sunderland and thought I would visit the Vaux site which my team master planned a few years ago. We were not the first people to master plan the site – I remember a high-profile scheme by Piers Gough that I saw him present in Mipin. But we were the last, and it was our master plan that was being built, or so I thought.
PPP: Meetings With The Monk
★★★★☆ Imaginative possibilities Traverse: Tue 17 – Sat 21 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Meetings With The Monk, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór and the Traverse, is a beautifully considered and tremendously well-staged play. Actor, writer and musician Brian James O’Sullivan has proved himself a gloriously versatile performer in PPP and other productions; here he features in a one-hander he has written himself.
Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning
★★★★☆ Angry Festival Theatre: Wed 11 – Sat 14 Oct2023 Review by Hugh Simpson You can’t keep a good vampire down for long, and the story of Dracula keeps coming back to the stage, with its depictions of transgressive behaviour making it a constant candidate for reinvention. The uneven but ultimately rewarding Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning – from the National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen Performing Arts in association with Belgrade Theatre, Coventry – is the latest version.
Why ARB’s education reforms don’t ‘abolish’ Parts 1, 2 and 3
ARB’s reforms invite new routes to registration, but don’t mean the end of the tripartite system for those who still wish to pursue it, writes Hugh Simpson Research commissioned by ARB in 2020 included three key findings: firstly, the competencies required of architects have changed; secondly, the time spent qualifying as an architect could be better spent; and finally, that there should be wider access to the profession.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Engaging Traverse: Tue 10 – Sat 14 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Stay, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, is a tuneful and emotional piece. Jonathan O’Neill and Isaac Savage’s musical is set in a park that was once attractive, but now is run down and overshadowed by a motorway. Rowan (Craig Hunter) is there in the company of his one-time fiancee Kit (Daisy Ann Fletcher) to scatter ashes – a ceremony which does not go with the dignity he intended.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Powerful Traverse: Thu 5 – Sat 7 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Disciples from Stellar Quines and the Traverse is an arresting piece of drama and movement, playing at the Traverse until Saturday and transferring to Newcastle ‘s Northern Stage in November. Directed by Rachel Drazek and written by Ellen Renton, the work was conceived by the two of them and devised by the ensemble.
Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape
★★★★☆ Philosophical weight Royal Lyceum Theatre: Wed 4 – Sat 14 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape at the Lyceum deals unapologetically with difficult emotional and political themes, eschewing any easy answers or resolutions in a way that could be tricky, but is made palatable by performances of power and nuance.
PPP: The Sheriff of Kalamaki
★★★★☆ Impressive Traverse: Tue 3 – Sat 7 Oct 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson This week’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, The Sheriff of Kalamaki by Douglas Maxwell (co-presented with Ayr Gaiety and Aberdeen Performing Arts) is another tale of mismatched siblings, this time played by the real-life McCole brothers. Despite some structural infelicities, the play and the performances contain both humour and profundity.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Spooky Festival Theatre: Tue 26 – Sat 30 Sept 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson On tour after an award-winning (and still-current) London run, Danny Robins’s 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Festival Theatre is an entertaining horror story. It largely justifies the confidence displayed in putting the word ‘ghost’ right up there in the title.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Touching Traverse: Tue 26 – Sat 30 Sept 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Coast, the latest offering at the Traverse from A Play, A Pie and A Pint (co-presented with Òran Mór), is a wonderfully judged and absorbing drama. Writer-director Annie George’s play shows two half-brothers, who have only recently met for the first time, sharing an ill-fated trip by car from Glasgow to Manchester. Coast is one of those short titles that simultaneously suggests nothing and everything.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Energetic Traverse: Tue 19 – Sat 23 Sept 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Ship Rats by Alice Clark, the first in the latest series of A Play, A Pie and A Pint at the Traverse (co-presented with Òran Mór) is a pacy and intriguing work. There are undoubtedly problems with the play, but the vigour and acuity of the production go a long way towards compensating for them.
Book Festival Round-Up - The Second Half
Farewell to Art College and Nick Barley by Hugh Simpson The 40th anniversary Edinburgh International Book Festival, and the last of Nick Barley’s 14 years as director, concluded with its usual intriguing mix of one-off events. Closest to theatre was Boyhood, adapted from Max Porter’s Shy, his recent portrayal of a troubled young man.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Fulfilling Rose Theatre (Venue 76): Mon 28 Aug 2023 Review by Hugh Simpson Mr McFall’s Chamber, one of the most precious and undervalued of Scotland’s musical assets, returned with a programme at the Rose Theatre on the last night of the Fringe that was as varied as it was satisfying. The Soundhouse Organisation took over the Rose (put up for sale earlier this year) on a short-term and somewhat last-minute basis for the Fringe.
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