Edinburgh Festivals Daily Guide

Leaving Planet Earth. Picture: Ian Rutherford/TSPL

Latest Reviews

Theatre review: Leaving Planet Earth

It has been a pioneer of site-specific theatre since 1996; but in those 17 years, the acclaimed Grid Iron of Edinburgh can never have worked in a space so strange, so vast, and so awe-inspiring as the huge Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho. By the time we arrive from the city centre, we’ve already learned that in this fictional world we are among the last groups of migrants leaving an Old Earth fast becoming uninhabitable through climate change and social meltdown.

Comedy review: Jamie Demetriou

The blurb says he “dares say what everyone is thinking”, but unless you are thinking about psychopathic nannies, talentless terrified singers and crazy criminals then he is not saying what you are thinking. We are vaguely in League of Gentlemen country here, with a psychotic nanny who has, apparently, looked after many of us in our childhood.

Opera review: Fidelio

There’s a persistent low humming noise in the Festival Theatre as the audience gathers for Opera de Lyon’s production of Fidelio. It’s not a malfunction of the air conditioning, but a hint that this version of Beethoven’s only opera is set on the spaceship Aniara, and that its prisoner crew – the cast list of Fidelio – is destined to be hurtled beyond the outermost reaches of the solar system to an oblivion we must only imagine.

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Latest Guides

All The Scotsman’s 2013 festival reviews, sorted by star rating

The Scotsman’s team of respected critics sees a huge amount of shows during Edinburgh Festival season. Here you will find an overview of every review published this year, arranged by star rating.

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Latest Features

Interview: Cabaret performers Lili La Scala and Ali McGregor

From Fringe babies to comedian husbands and operatic roots, variety stars Lili La Scala and Ali McGregor find they have much in common

Interview: Bridget Christie on feminism and her new show

After years of stigma, feminism is back in the news, and Bridget Christie has turned her anger into a force for good. Kirstin Innes finds out more

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From the Blog…

Brian Watkins: Fear and longing in Edinburgh, a city of ghosts

This is my first visit to Edinburgh. I’m here as a playwright. To my delight, I’ve discovered a city of ghosts. Not the camp that’s pitched by people in capes on the High Street. But rather a city that reverberates with story. The kind where the characters linger far after their tales are told.

Ivan Hanzen: The Fringe is an experience like no other

The first time I stepped onto the Royal Mile was in 2006. I’d just arrived from Copenhagen and had come to the festival with a group of friends from the Lecoq School in Paris – having just graduated a little over a month before.

Edinburgh Festivals Daily Guide - 13 August