When pot-boilers come, a reviewer's lot is not a happy one

Published on Thursday 15 May 2008 18:48

THANK God for witches, Wilde, West End Wendys, Wogan . . . and more witches.

They might be popular, but if I ever have to sit through another production of Blood Brothers or remounted Singing in the Rain starring a 'where-are-they-now' TV star of yesteryear, I think I'll slit my wrists.

That's the worst thing about having spent years as a reviewer – the same pot-boilers come around time and time again. Which is why, when a colleague challenged me to name five shows not to miss in Edinburgh between now and the end of the year, anything that has become a staple on the touring circuit failed to make the cut.

So if you fancy a good old-fashioned night out, here are my five hot tickets for 2008.

Dance, I have to admit does not generally excite me, unless the name Matthew Bourne appears before the title. In August, the enfant terrible of the ballet world will return to the Edinburgh International Festival with a black fairy tale guaranteed to be a must see show.

Adapted from Oscar Wilde's gothic fable, Bourne's reworking of Dorian Gray is set in an imaginary world of contemporary art and politics in which Gray is the 'It Boy' of London society.

The piece will receive its world premiere at The King's on August 22, and when I spoke to Bourne recently, he promised, "Dorian Gray will be a bit different. Like all my pieces it will be full of surprises and things that people aren't expecting."

Previous Bourne 'surprises' have included full frontal nudity, and he teased, "It's so hard to say what will shock, but I think it will be daring and push the boundaries because I am dealing with strong themes in this one." You have been warned.

Another treat sure to cast its spell over the Capital sees Marti Pellow take on the role of the devilish Daryl Von Horne in The Witches of Eastwick, at the Playhouse from December 10. The Wet Wet Wet front man, who launched the show at The Witchery by the Castle yesterday, said, "I went to see the current production in Washington recently and it was fantastic, which I was delighted with, because if there's one thing I've learned it's this. If you are going to commit to something, then you'd better be damn sure it's good."

"Damn good" is a phrase that's likely to apply when Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Disney team up to bring Mary Poppins to the Playhouse in October. West End stars Caroline Sheen and Lisa O'Hare will share the role of the famous flying nurse, while Daniel Crossley will play the Cockney chimney sweep Bert. The umbrella has yet to be cast.

And talking of casting, at the launch of the Royal Lyceum's 2008/9 season came the exciting news that Liam Brennan is to return to the company to play the title role in Shakespeare's Macbeth. One of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his generation, Brennan wowed audiences in last season's A Winter's Tale. Not a new work perhaps, but a seldom staged one these days, and the first Lyceum co-production with Nottingham Playhouse.

Before all of that, June brings Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision to the Festival Theatre. One of the most original musicals of the decade, if you missed it at last year's Fringe, pop along and discover why reviewers were throwing five stars at it, while waving the flag of their favourite country.