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Articles by Hugh Simpson
Toto the Ninja Cat
★★★☆☆ Sweet King’s Theatre: Fri 23 – Sun 25 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape, at the King’s for one weekend, is a touring children’s production full of fun and charm. Aimed at audiences over 5, the Little Angel Theatre production (co-produced by Mercury Theatre, Colchester and Mayflower Southampton) is adapted from one of a series of books by broadcaster Dermot O’Leary and illustrated by Nick East. Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Direct Summerhall: Fri 23 – Sat 24 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Rhinestone Cowboy from Jaggy Edina is a deeply felt, visually impressive piece that has real impact. At Summerhall for two nights only as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, the short one-woman play tells the story of Dan the Man, a young Scotsman who journeys to Iceland to study.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★★ Brilliant Lyceum: Tue 20 – Sat 24 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Tristan & Yseult, at the Lyceum until Saturday, is not only a hymn to the power of love in all its constructive and destructive beauty, but also a hymn to the urgency of the live theatrical experience. The celebrated Kneehigh/Emma Rice production has returned several times since its 2003 debut, but this is its first tour for over a decade.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Smart Traverse Theatre: Tues 20 – Sat 24 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The last in this season of Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint at the Traverse, is a good one to go out on. Bottom’s Dream, written and performed by Martin O’Connor, is clever and constantly amusing, making necessary and cogent points about the theatre. As the title suggests, this focuses on a celebrated character from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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★★★☆☆ Spiky Traverse Theatre: Tues 13 – Sat 17 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Emotional realism and excellent performances distinguish Contact by Jonny Donohoe, the family tragicomedy that is the latest Play, A Pie and A Pint at the Traverse. However, the production, from Òran Mór and OneRen, may not be entirely successful in dramatic terms. A mother (Blythe Duff) is visited by her son (Mark Barrett) for the first time in eight months.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Thrilling Festival Theatre: Tue 13 – Sat 17 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Sylvia is a gorgeously melodic, exciting piece of theatre, sung brilliantly. The musical itself has undoubted flaws, but the performances more than compensate. The musical tells the story of socialist and women’s rights campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst (Naomi Katiyo).
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
★★★★☆ Imposing Lyceum: Fri 2 – Sat 18 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Adaptations of Muriel Spark are never in short supply on the Edinburgh stage, but the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, (in partnership with the Lyceum and in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre) is a monumental production in many ways.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Moving Summerhall: Fri 9 – Sun 10 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Concerned Others is an inventive piece that addresses vital social issues in a way that is poignant, informed and deeply creative. The title of Tortoise in a Nutshell’s production, first seen at the 2023 Fringe and returning to Summerhall as part of a tour throughout October, refers to the family members of people with substance dependency, and it is the words of these people that forms the spine of the piece.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Beautifully acted Bedlam Theatre: Wed 7 – Fri 9 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Red, from EUTC at the Bedlam for three performances only, is a stunningly well-acted production that only falls just short of being indispensable. John Logan’s 2009 play is a two-hander featuring the great abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko in dialogues with his (fictional) assistant Ken, in the period where Rothko had been commissioned to produce a series of murals for a fancy New York restaurant.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Atmospheric Traverse Theatre: Tues 6 – Wed 7 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Void, at the Traverse for three performances, is an intriguing if not entirely successful production from Yorkshire-based Thunder Road in association with the Watford Palace Theatre. A suitably moody and intermittently scary piece of science fiction horror, it is impressively but not always coherently presented. Alex Moran in The Void. Pic: Marc Brenner.
The Archers: Live at 75
★★★★☆ Charming Playhouse: Mon 5 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Archers: Live at 75, at the Playhouse for one night as part of an ongoing tour, is a fitting tribute to the ‘everyday story of country folk’. The BBC’s farming soap has run since 1 January 1951 (long before its current home of Radio 4 even existed) and clocked up over 20 000 episodes. The programme’s legion of fans are well served by this entertainment, which contains elements of drama but is better classed as a celebration.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Pleasingly varied Filmhouse: Sat 3 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Future Acts is an intriguing programme of future-facing short films commissioned by the National Theatre of Scotland, playing in a short run of one-off performances in cinemas across the country before airing on BBC digital platforms next year.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Still fresh King’s Theatre: Wed 30 Sept – Sat 3 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The expanded version of Rob Drummond and Dave Hook’s musical Wallace, at the King’s until Saturday, remains an intriguing and powerful piece of theatre despite some drawbacks. William Wallace is one of those few figures from Scottish history who seem to be allowed to be depicted on stage, with many different representations of his life, lots of which are simply called Wallace.
PPP: The Whaler’s Wife
★★★☆☆ Atmospheric Traverse Theatre: Tues 29 Sept – Sat 3 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Whaler’s Wife, the first in the new season of Òran Mór’s Play, A Pie and A Pint offerings at the Traverse, is a compelling if uneven historical drama blending myth, music and more modern elements. The play (co-presented by Ayr Gaiety) is written by Izzy Gray and set in Orkney two centuries ago.
I’ll Be Seeing You
★★★☆☆ One-note Pitlochry Festival Theatre: Tue 22 Sep – Sun 11 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Pitlochry premiere of I’ll Be Seeing You by Martin Sherman is sprinkled with stardust, but the glitter is applied unevenly to a production that infuriates as much as it satisfies.
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★★★★★ Humane Pitlochry Festival Theatre: Fri 18 Sept – Sat 10 Oct 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days is one of the touchstones of 20th century drama. Its striking staging may be its most famous aspect but it also boasts an unflinching yet sympathetic depiction of the tyranny of time, and of the bizarre unquenchability of human optimism in the face of extinction.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Heartfelt Lyceum: Thurs 17 – Sat 19 Sept 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Private Peaceful is only at the Lyceum for one weekend, but is certainly worth catching. The touring production, from The Production Garden in association with Exeter Northcott, is affecting and wonderfully acted. Michael Morpurgo’s award-winning 2003 novel for young people was almost immediately transformed into a one-handed play by Simon Reade.
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★★★★☆ Energetic Festival Theatre: Tue 15 – Sat 26 Sept 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson SIX The Musical at the Festival Theatre is a lively, noisy entertainment whose popularity shows no sign of abating. And while it continues to be performed with this much skill and spirit, quite right too. Since first appearing at the Fringe in 2017, the musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss has gone on to West End and Broadway success and worldwide tours, as well as returning to Edinburgh several times.
The Silence of the Lambs
★★★☆☆ Solid Festival Theatre: Tue 8 – Sat 12 Sept 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Silence of the Lambs at the Festival Theatre is a touring thriller that goes over familiar ground in a way that is gripping but not always entirely convincing.
A History of Paper
★★★★★ Devastating Pitlochry Festival Theatre: Sun 9 Aug – Sat 12 Sept 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson A History of Paper at Pitlochry Festival Theatre has a difficult job in following so soon after the outstanding original 2024 production of Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams’s musical, but does so admirably.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Melodic Summerhall (Venue 26): Thurs 6 – Mon 31 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Tether 인연 from Wonder Fools at Summerhall for the whole Fringe is a cross-cultural experience that has heart and melody in abundance. A collaboration between Scotland’s Wonder Fools and Korea’s theatre SAN that was originally envisaged in the Summerhall courtyard in 2024, this tells a story across continents and decades.
Mohan: A Partition Story
★★★★☆ Necessary Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33): Tue 18 – Mon 31 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Mohan: A Partition Story, from Niall Moorjani in association with Jasmine Cole Productions at the Pleasance for the last two weeks of Fringe, is an important tale beautifully told.
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★★☆☆☆ Diffuse Braw Venues @ Hill St (Venue 41): Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Techies from Yonder Window at Hill St is a promising new musical that has come over wholesale from New York but seems to have lost something on the way. The musical by Sam Carner and Derek Gregor, having been extensively workshopped and presented in concert across several years in the USA, is making its official world premiere at Hill Street. It’s that familiar thing, a backstage musical.
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★★★★☆ Disturbing fun King’s Theatre: Thurs 21 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Clown Show, created and directed by absurdist, illusionist American theatre-maker Geoff Sobelle and at the King’s for the International Festival’s last weekend, is a boisterous and deeply troubling reflection of all of our lives and times. Commissioned by the EIF to mark 250 years since the founding of the USA, this production does not reflect a body politic in the rudest of health. Clown Show.
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★★★★☆ Exuberant Theatre at PASS Theatre (Venue 446): Wed 26 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson A History Mystery, from Performing Arts Studio Scotland at Edinburgh College Granton Campus for the Fringe’s last few days, is a lovable and entertaining time-travelling family show with a wide appeal.
We Are All Florida Man
★★★★☆ Ridiculous theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 39): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson We Are All Florida Man is a piece of comedy absurdism whose own internal logic is sustained by humour, fine performances and energetic staging. Blue McElroy’s new play, presented by Lubna Kerr and Kerr Arts Collective at theSpace @ Niddry Street for the end of the Fringe, draws on the ‘Florida Man’ meme.
Does The Oracle Speak Truth?
★★☆☆☆ Confused theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson July2September’s Does The Oracle Speak Truth?, at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall for the last week of the Fringe, is a praiseworthy attempt whose ambition is simply not realised. A group of believers seek guidance from the Oracle, but their faith is being eroded. Who (and when) these people are is not clear.
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★★★★☆ Accomplished The Royal Scots Club (Venue 241): Mon 24 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Double Bill from the Edinburgh Makars at the Royal Scots Club for the Fringe’s final week features two contrasting plays in Fool’s Errand and Still Life, and provides excellent value for one ticket. The first, Fool’s Errand, written and directed by Georgia Smith, is a new comedy.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Breathtaking Underbelly George Square (Venue 300): Thurs 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Afronauts, from Underbelly, Circus Zambia and Wake the Beast at the Udderbelly, is an enticing and stunning theatrical experience. Writers and directors Gift Chansa and Adam McGuigan have fashioned a wonderful combination of storytelling and circus skills.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★☆ Different Summerhall (Venue 26): Thurs 6 – Mon 31 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson QFWFQ at Summerhall is a hugely entertaining and emotional show that is difficult to categorise but easy to enjoy. From Gregory Nussen, Daniel Segura and Suzanna Rosenthal Productions, it has already won awards at the Hollywood Fringe. Californian performance artist Nussen is the writer and performer of a wildly inventive show about stories, words, performance, creativity, belonging and identity.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★★★ Brilliant Traverse @ Lyceum Studio (Venue 593): Tues 18 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Little Animals at the Traverse @ Lyceum Studio is an astonishing piece of theatre. It deals with urgent concerns in a way that is inventive, compassionate and beautifully performed.
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★★★★☆ Shattering Lyceum: Thurs 20 – Sun 23 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Zora Howard’s Hang Time is an overwhelming juxtaposition of racialised violence and interior possibility. The Flea Theater of New York’s production, written, directed and produced by Howard, is having its European premiere at the Lyceum as part of the International Festival.
All Edinburgh Theatre.com
★★★☆☆ Daft theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9): Thur 20 – Tue 25 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Skarsgård Effect, from Ellen Eklund at theSpace @ Niddry Street for six performances only, is unashamedly silly and often unfocused, but appealing nevertheless. Eklund’s play features the Fitzroy- Skarsgård triplets Emilia, Natalie and Linda. Their fantasy has always been that their absent Swedish father is actually the actor (and founder of a considerable dynasty) Stellan Skarsgård.
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★★★☆☆ Sweetly absurd PBH’s Free Fringe @ Supercube George St (Venue 244): Mon 17 – Sat 28 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Sire & Madge, written and directed by Elle Catherine Willcocks for Kittymilk at Supercube George Street as part of the Free Fringe, takes a true story and spins it into something decidedly odd but lovable.
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Elsa McTaggart: Capturing The Light ★★★☆☆ Charming theSpace Triplex (Venue 38): Fri 7 – Fri 28 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Elsa McTaggart: Capturing the Light, from sruth-mara in association with An Lanntair at theSpace Triplex, is an unhurried show, both musically and visually appealing. Musician and songwriter Elsa McTaggart celebrates the life of her great-grandfather William McTaggart (1835-1910), one of Scotland’s greatest painters.
Will Pickvance: Piano Diaries
★★★★☆ Enticing Pianodrome at St Oswald’s Centre (Venue 344): Thurs 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Piano Diaries, from Will Pickvance at the Pianodrome, is a genuinely lovely entertainment from the raconteur and musician. An attempt to memorise a Bach fugue leads Pickvance off into a variety of tangents about life, libraries, Glastonbury and garden fences, all illustrated by music ranging from the aforementioned JSB to the Beatles and Fats Waller.
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★★★★☆ Sparkling Brown’s of Leith (Rear Warehouse) (Venue 320): Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Grid Iron’s site-specific Mayflies is in part a massively spirited hymn to the youth culture of the 1980s. But you don’t have to have lived through that decade to appreciate such a melancholy yet defiantly bright production. Andrew O’Hagan’s 2020 novel will already be familiar to many, while others will have seen the successful TV adaptation.
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★★★★☆ Vital Underbelly Cowgate (Venue 61): Wed 5 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Hame. Teeth. CLUB. by Kari Hall from Iona Bremner Productions and Sláinte! Theatre at the Underbelly is a hugely impressive display of writing, performing and directing. Morgan Shields is a teenager who just about tolerates working at the Fort Kinnaird TK Maxx, with its supercilious manager and regulars who switch price labels, because there’s always the weekend.
This Little Thing of Ours
★★★☆☆ Rumbustious theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45): Fri 14 – Sat 22 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson This Little Thing of Ours, from MB Musicals at theSpace @ Venue 45, is a slice of late-night entertainment whose scattergun approach largely pays off. Frankie Coglione, a member of a long-standing Mafia family, is caught up in a power struggle, with his ill-assorted cohorts and hard-nosed Nonna among his allies. But more hard-bitten mafiosi stand in his way. A scene from This Little Thing of Ours.
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★★★☆☆ Powerful message Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30): Thurs 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson David Hughes and Kirsten Milliken’s The Ostrich Principle at the Scottish Storytelling Centre combines time-honoured storytelling techniques with urgent political issues, in a way that does not always knit together but has considerable effect.
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★★★★☆ Four theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53): Mon 17 – Sat 22 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Daughter of Sweden, from Stockholm’s Teater Kaleido, is an entertaining and informative slice of history, beautifully performed. On the EdFringe website, the play’s full title is given as Daughter of Sweden – That One Princess Who Got Drunk with Lizzie I and Thrown Out of England. Which, considering its title in Sweden was Vasadottern, seems a curious mis-step.
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★★★★☆ Sympathetic theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53): Mon 17 – Sat 22 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Room 1219, from Keystone Theatricals at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall for the middle week of the Fringe, is a reclamation of a Hollywood icon, carefully presented and gracefully acted. The title refers to the room at San Francisco’s Hotel St Francis which was central to the scandal that brought down a legend.
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★★★★☆ Sparkling C aurora (Venue 6): Wed 5 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson GaggleHouse (Scotland)’s The Reunion at C aurora is a cheerfully funny romp that is often surprisingly affecting. In Grant MacIver’s play, Mackenzie Millar’s semi-estranged father comes to see him graduate from Oxford University in 2025 – but dad’s presence might cause a problem.
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★★★★☆ Meaty Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14): Wed 5 – Mon 31 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Steak Out from Ruaraidh Murray at the Gilded Balloon throughout the Fringe, is a funny, oddly touching and very well constructed piece. The play features Murray himself as Archie, a down-on-his-luck Pilton butcher who has seen better days (which can also be said for his shop).
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★★★☆☆ Excellently performed Traverse (Venue 15): Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson. Cathy from the Traverse Theatre Company is a bleakly funny play that has an excellent central performance but struggles to convince entirely. The play is written and directed by Eilidh Loan. Loan apparently based the play around her own grandmother, who gave permission for her story to be used as long as she could be played by Elaine C Smith. Elaine C Smith. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.
It’s Always Sunny on Olympus
★★★☆☆ Fun theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sun 9 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson. Combining sitcom and mythology is the kind of high-concept premise that can always find a willing audience at the Fringe. It’s Always Sunny on Olympus from Mind Yer Head and New Celts at theSpace on The Mile doesn’t completely succeed in living up to its promise, but is entertaining nevertheless.
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★★★★☆ Considered theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sat 8 – Fri 28 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson Blue Dot Theatre and New Celts’ Angelshark, by Annie White, at theSpace on the Mile is a clever and polished piece that does not shout about its values but has real heart. At summer camp on Shetland, three volunteers have signed up to a conservation project aimed at safeguarding the returning population of the angelshark (a flat shark that looks more like a ray).
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★★★☆☆ Sympathetic theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sun 9 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson. ★★★☆☆ Sympathetic A subtle and affecting portrait of young men, Steel Antler and New Celts’ Living The Dream at theSpace on the Mile does not always succeed in forging its own identity but has much to recommend it. In 1997, four friends from Kirkcaldy are keen to get to the Oasis Be Here Now tour. But not only are Scotty, Spider, Adam and Ryan unable to afford tickets, they also have other problems.
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★★★★★ Theatrical medicine theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sat 8 – Fri 28 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson The Hypochondriac from Rebrand Theatre and New Celts at theSpace on the Mile is a comic triumph. Intelligently adapted and acted by a company bursting with comic potential, it is hugely entertaining, resolutely theatrical and recommended without hesitation. Ross Gillan has fashioned a version of Molière’s Le Malade Imaginaire that runs for just over an hour.
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★★★★☆ Weirdly plausible theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39): Sun 9 – Sat 29 Aug 2026 Review by Hugh Simpson. The Dog Ate My Theatre and New Celts’ Follow Me at theSpace on the Mile is a breathless and often ludicrous romp whose sheer brass neck, and roots in contemporary unreality, win out in the end. Ian Dunn’s play starts off as a humorous examination of a world lived online 24/7, in which connections are purely virtual and identity is a shifting thing.
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