Just putting things in

Seems to work.

Inserting an images from the library. Had to go way back to find one!

Poster for This Play Sucks!.

ENDS

King’s Theatre: Wed 21 Oct 2026
Review by Sophie Good

Barrowland Ballet bring Chunky Jewellery a devised piece from theatre-makers Jude Williams and Natasha Gilmore to the Kings Theatre as part of the theatre’s reopening season.

This autobiographical work co-created with Ben Duke (Lost Dog) starts with a simple premise as two friends contemplate the gift Gilmore has received – apparently ‘women of a certain age’ are given chunky jewellery. Perhaps to make sure they don’t become invisible. ‘Let’s make a show together. We should call it chunky jewellery’.

Natasha Gilmore and Jude Williams in Barrowland Ballet’s Chunky Jewellery. Pic: Brian Hartley.

The rest of the piece is their pursuit of that show: One that they can make together. They try out different moments from their lives; rather like rifling through a record collection or an array of photo slides – vignettes of a feeling, a key turning point, a core memory. They test it out on stage and even get each other to try it again for accuracy. It is part therapy session and part catharsis.

They also experiment with different genres and creative approaches, so that at times it feels like a work in progress. Albeit a really fun one – the performers real life friendship and camaraderie is evident throughout.

refreshing and unpretentious

This idea of sharing their thought process is refreshing and unpretentious; and yet at times the show and the stories it tells have an unfinished quality to them.

The mini vignettes are executed really well, recreating these moments with emotional authenticity and often great comedy. Williams is clearly the singer of the duo and Gilmore the dancer, they combine these skills well to make a highly entertaining montage of when life goes wrong, or right or challenges you in some way.

Jude Williams with Natasha Gilmore in Barrowland Ballet’s Chunky Jewellery. Pic: Brian Hartley.

Composer Davey Anderson combines original songs from Jude Williams and well as some covers which blend well and are beautifully vocalised – primarily by Williams. Gilmore’s movement pieces are a lyrical way to bring us out of the moment and project a degree of emotional power to what’s going on.

Shizuka Hariu’s set and costume designs are also great fun – and the layered up dopamine dressing colours work well in creating an impact, especially on a big stage. Elle Taylor’s lighting helps to create heightened moments and intimacy – we are at once at a kitchen table, on a hospital bed and all spaces in between.

The challenge with the piece is weaving together the moments of heightened emotion with irreverent dance and song moments into any kind of narrative arc. Chunky Jewellery has some lovely real moments which say a lot about motherhood and grief but the sum of the parts doesn’t lead to any specific conclusion or wider commentary.

a drama therapy approach

It would be interesting to experience the piece in a more intimate space, given the way the set on the King’s Theatre stage puts the audience at some distance.

Gilmore and Williams adopt a drama therapy approach to reliving some of their hardest times; and offer each other support as this is undoubtedly challenging for any performer working with autobiographical material.

Their most emotive moments are broken up with ‘this is all a bit heavy’ type comments which immediately break the tension and move us onto a less tender moment. The device is perhaps a form of self-preservation for the performers and the audience – however it also serves to reduce the emotional impact by pulling us back into the here and now.

At it’s best however, these performers open their hearts and share their experiences of loss and of beating difficult circumstances to come out singing and dancing and laughing.

Running time: One hour and 10 minutes (no interval).
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ.
Wednesday 21 October 2026.
One performance: 7.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Barrowland Ballet website: barrowlandballet.co.uk
Facebook: @BarrowlandBallet
Instagram: @barrowland_ballet
BlueSky: @barrowlandballet
Linktree: @BarrowlandBallet.

Natasha Gilmore with Jude Williams in Barrowland Ballet’s Chunky Jewellery. Pic: Brian Hartley.

ENDS

Traverse: Fri 23 – Sat 24 Oct 2026
Review by Sophie Good

Thrice, stopping for two performances only at the Traverse at the end of a short Scottish tour, presents nine witches (three times three) in the aftermath of Macbeth

It is a visually arresting physical theatre piece, created by the trio of Scottish theatre-maker, Al Seed, Paris-based director, Judith Milligan, and Australian choreographer, Lina Limosani.

Thrice from Al Seed Productions. Pic: Alberto Santos Bellido.

The large cast move beautifully, seamlessly, serene but also filled with rage as they lament in Macbeth’s bloody aftermath.

The performers, all bare foot and dressed in muted, natural hues designed by Zephyr Liddell are from the historical past but non specific. At times they are like echoes of the groups of women in The Crucible, their hair covered and looking out at other-worldly visions.

They move, sometimes as one mass and at other times as trios or creating short vignettes, someone is crowned, someone else falls after an attack. Sequences are repeated, recreated and become cyclical and ritualistic.

atmospheric and open ended

They lament, using some of Shakespeare’s most famous and loaded lines ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ which take on new meaning in this all woman ensemble.

The set design is sombre and barren, a little Beckett-esque in it’s tone and serving to create a sense of being frozen in time. Its reflective almost latex floor and a half built well are atmospheric and open ended.

Thrice from Al Seed Productions. Pic: Alberto Santos Bellido.

Guy Veale’s music and soundscape deserves particular praise here, it is everything in this piece – an intense mix of beats and music which drums out the mood of building rage and momentum.

The only other sounds are the scant lines from Macbeth, used sparingly and without any hierarchy or specific parts. They are used as a thematic prompt rather than for storytelling purposes. There is much that is cyclical in Seed’s production.

The dancers move around and around, repeating sequences and appearing at times to end up as disembodied spinning creatures, like satellites sent into space.

a visceral sense of rage and strength

The nine women perform with real intention and a visceral sense of rage and strength. Their intention could be opened up the audience more, to invite them into the world that they inhabit, to understand more of what the piece is saying.

So much of this piece is cyclical: there is no beginning or end; nor are there any answers or sense of closure. The performers sway and walk, there is a sense of loss, something has changed but also remains the same. There is much to admire – the commitment and the atmosphere it creates.

Thrice is visually a very beautiful and well executed piece of theatre, so serious and so full of rage – but without explaining where it wants that rage to go.

Running time: 50 minutes (No interval).
Traverse (Trav 1), 10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED.
Friday 23/Saturday 24 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm .
Tickets and details: Book here.

Al Seed website: alseed.net/
Facebook: @AlSeedProductions
Instagram: @alseedproductions
Linktree: @alseedproductions.

Thrice from Al Seed Productions. Pic: Alberto Santos Bellido.

ENDS

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.

As a portrait of someone who is presented as a lively, outgoing youngster who is nevertheless beset by struggles with schizophrenia and psychotic episodes, the show pulls no punches. Even if you don’t know that it is a true story, and that performer Hjarta and audiovisual artist Harry Bongo are Dan’s real-life family, there is no escaping the huge emotional power of the production.

Hjarta in Rhinestone Cowboy. Pic: Supplied.

Hjarta’s performance is considered, exceptionally well-paced and commanding. With the aid of little other than minimal props, some hats and drawn-on facial hair, she provides a steady, unhurried and commanding presence.

The projections and sound, meanwhile, are meaningful and far-reaching, threatening to overpower but never actually doing so. The whole thing also has a warmth, a humanity and a gentle humour that the subject matter might not necessarily suggest.

considerable thought

While the emotion on display may be raw, the theatrical experience is the product of considerable thought.

It is, of course, awkward to find fault with such a personal production. However, it is a short show and does feel like it, with it still appearing unfinished at points. Perhaps from a desire not to make it too personal, the narrative does end up being rather elliptical at times.

Hjarta in Rhinestone Cowboy. Pic: Supplied.

While the choices for the sound are generally spot on, there are moments where the songs are over-familiar. Presumably these are pieces with a personal connection to Dan. It does, however, mean that sometimes (a nightclub scene being backed by Underworld’s Born Slippy, or an attempt to create a blissful domestic scene soundtracked by CSNY’s Our House) it comes across as a little on-the-nose in theatrical terms.

These are isolated moments, however. It has to be said that rarely do live performance and pre-recorded audio-visual elements mesh together with as much thought and to as much effect as they do in this uncompromising and arresting production.

Running time: 45 minutes (no interval).
Summerhall (Tech Cube 0), 1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL.
Friday 23 – Saturday 24 October 2026.
Daily: 7pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Jaggy Edina website: jaggyedina.sunnyleith.co.uk/
Facebook: @jaggyedinaproductions
Instagram: @jaggyedinaproductions
Linktree: @jaggyedinaproductions.

Hjarta in Rhinestone Cowboy. Pic: Supplied.

ENDS

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. Pic: Ellie Kurttz.

Based on O’Leary’s real-life rescue cat, the story features an almost-blind feline who has ninja skills, and her brother Silver. Led by a suspiciously ratty cat named Catface, they voyage all over London trying to find a king cobra named Brian who has escaped from the zoo.

Director Samantha Lane has adapted the book along with Barb Jungr, who provides the songs. It’s an attractive and humorous – if oddly low-key –story. All elegantly framed by the narrator figures, two (human) zoo keepers played by Charlotte Bloomsbury and Richard Lounds. Along with Vinnie Monachello, they also manipulate the impressive series of animal puppets, with rats, a parakeet and a tiger also appearing.

expressive, funny and handled with considerable dexterity

Designed by Oliver Hymans (also responsible for the clever set) and heavily influenced by East’s drawings, the puppets are expressive, funny and handled with considerable dexterity.

The performances are engaging and accomplished, Lane’s direction is assured and Jungr’s songs are varied and effective, with a general cabaret-like feel also accommodating various other styles.

Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape. Pic: Ellie Kurttz.

The careful pacing of the production does camouflage the fact that the source material is perhaps not the most inspired. The storyline is a series of set pieces, not in themselves startlingly original, strung together in a way that is not always convincing. It also depends on a familiarity with London and its geography that can’t necessarily be assumed in its target age range everywhere else in the country.

There are also other problems with the storytelling. Puppets like these, however good they are, have less impact when those operating them are constantly narrating at the same time. The understated nature of much of this is not helped by sections of it, particularly at the beginning, being almost inaudible, which does not help a young audience become immersed in the tale.

visually it is highly creditable

Much of it does strike home, however. The humour (usually gentle but with welcome tinges of pantomime) is accessible, the storytelling is clear, and visually it is highly creditable. There’s nothing earth-shattering here, but as a theatrical entertainment for a young audience it certainly works.

Running time: 55 minutes (no interval).
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven St, EH3 9LQ.
Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October 2026.
Fri: 3.30pm; Sat: 10.30am & 1.30pm; Sun: 1.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Productions website: tototheninjacatonstage.com

Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape. Pic: Ellie Kurttz.

ENDS

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. It blends storytelling, music, physical theatre and a humour that is irreverent but ultimately true to the source. This provided a template not only for Rice’s subsequent work but also for so much of British theatre over the last two decades.

Nandi Bhebhe and John Leader with Stephanie Hockley, Harry Miller and Pat Moran in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.

And now it’s back, courtesy of the renamed Emma Rice Company, who are no longer known as Wise Children. Which is something of a shame but at least solves the problem of everyone wondering if they do theatre for adults. York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse are co-producers for a work that seems every bit as fresh as the day it was first seen.

Although Rice is listed as adapter as well as director, the writing credits are given to Carl Grose and Anna Maria Murphy, and the story draws on several different versions of the myth. Prince Tristan saves the kingdom of Cornwall for its King Mark, and is sent to bring back Yseult from Ireland as his queen. However, an unfortunate incident with a love potion means that Tristan is embroiled in a passionate connection with Yseult that is never going to have a happy ending.

energy and fun for several plays

The story is framed by a visit to ‘the club of the unloved’, where a raggedy cabaret band play up a storm and ‘love spotters’ with anoraks, balaclavas, binoculars and notebooks are marshalled by narrator Whitehands (Stephanie Hockley). It proceeds with the aid of song, circus skills, puppetry and laugh-out-loud moments. Actor-singer-musicians trample all over the fourth wall and display enough energy and fun for several plays.

Harry Miller, Tom Fox, Philippa Hogg, Edward Rowe, Nigel Sudarkasa and Jack Heydon in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.

Sometimes such gorgeous invention, flippancy and athleticism can come at the expense of the emotional content, but this is undoubtedly not the case in a production that very much wears its broken heart on its sleeve. The wonderfully physical John Leader (Tristan) and the charmingly convincing Nandi Bhebhe (Yseult) have a captivating chemistry, with Edward Rowe’s apparently stolid Mark having real depth – something that could also be said of Hockley’s Whitehands.

Then there’s the frighteningly versatile Tom Fox, as Irish king Morholt and Yseult’s maid Brangian, able to provide comedy as well as a moment that is possibly the production’s real emotional core. Not to mention the tremendously physical Matthew Churcher as Mark’s devoted Frocin.

amusing and desperately touching

The rest of the twelve-strong cast provide various roles as well as being the ‘love spotters’ and the band playing Stu Barker’s excellent music. There is also a well-chosen selection of existing songs; the recorded music is as likely to be Nick Cave as Wagner, while the ones performed by the cast can be both amusing and desperately touching. It’s also one of those productions where it pays to be in your seat before the start time, and to get back quickly after the interval.

Stephanie Hockley with Philippa Hogg and Pat Moran in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.

Rice’s direction is utterly impeccable, while her original choreography has been updated beautifully by Etta Murfitt. Simon Baker’s sound design and Malcolm Rippeth’s lighting are both tremendously evocative.

The late Bill Mitchell’s design has been ‘refreshed’ by Vicki Mortimer, and the result is a monumental cross between a ship’s rigging and a circus ring, surrounded by scaffolding, that imposes on its own terms as well as serving the narrative expertly.

sheer theatrical power

That narrative is expressed as much by raw emotion, a brilliantly-considered physical dimension and sheer playfulness as by words alone. Which is perhaps what Rice has given most to the theatre in this country. And this revival is no mere exercise in nostalgia, but a vibrant demonstration of sheer theatrical power that simply must not be missed.

Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes (including one interval).
Lyceum Theatre, 30 Grindlay St, EH3 9AX.
Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Weds, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Edward Rowe and Nandi Bhebhe in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.

Tour dates: Book here.

Matthew Churcher in Tristan & Yseult. Pic: Steve Tanner.

ENDS

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. Nick Bottom, the weaver and super-keen amateur actor who wants to play every role in the mechanicals’ depiction of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, is transformed into a modern-day performer who is just as eager to tread the boards.

Martin O’Connor. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.

This Bottom is still a weaver by day, studying acting at night and doing the round of auditions. Little seems to have changed since Shakespeare’s day, when the nobles spoke in iambic pentameter and the lower orders knew their prosaic place.

Indeed, opportunities for working-class actors are even thinner on the ground than they were. Entitled poshos have got the contacts, the connections and the expectations. All that is left for the Bottoms of the world is the obligatory role of criminal, drunkard or junkie. And the rich kids can even do those; after all, it isn’t really cheating, it’s just acting and playing at being lower-class.

pacy, funny and sharply political

O’Connor combines Shakespearean text (largely, but not entirely, from the Dream) with smart, pithy, humorous, accessible Scots verse and stand-up elements. The effect is pacy, funny and sharply political. The performance, meanwhile, is sympathetic, with excellent comic timing and a tremendous rapport with the audience.

There is a balance struck between the political points and the humour, with a great deal of poignancy in the performance. The Shakespearean references are cleverly integrated but always lightly worn; someone with no knowledge whatsoever of the original would still get a great deal out of this.

Martin O’Connor. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.

Debbie Hannan’s direction is similarly inventive and clever; unlike some one-handers, there are no moments of artificiality or hesitation. Things keep moving along constantly, and the time flies by.

It helps that O’ Connor is such an engaging presence, and that Heather Grace Currie’s minimal but creative design and Ana Reid’s striking lighting add so much to the visual impact. Ross Nurney’s sound design, meanwhile, making much use of harpsichords and acoustic guitar, is also extremely clever.

vitality

The narrative does lose its way a little towards the end, dissolving into somewhat artificial examinations of social media fame and a certain amount of wish-fulfilment, but the overall effect is very pleasing. There is a rhythm and a vitality to this production that is hard to gainsay.

Running time: 55 minutes (No interval).
Traverse (Trav 2), 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED.
Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 October 2026
Daily: 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

The PPP team return to the Assembly Roxy (Listings) from Wednesday 11 November for a three-strong winter season:

Zamboni
Wed 11 – Sun 15 Nov 2026.
Daily: 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Making Way
Wed 15 – Sun 29 Nov 2026.
Daily: 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Dead Husbands Club
Wed 2 – Sun 2 Dec2026.
Daily: 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Martin O’Connor. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.

ENDS

King’s Theatre: Wed 14 – Sat 17 Oct 2026
Review by Shuang Ning Tan

The Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society makes a triumphant return to the King’s Theatre with Iolanthe, a magical musical experience in which the British government comes face to face with immortal fairies.

The seventh collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, Iolanthe centres around engaged couple – Strephon (an Arcadian shepherd, son of the fairy Iolanthe) and Phyllis (a ward of the court) – who seek the Lord Chancellor’s consent to marry.

Gillian Robertson (Phyllis) and Lords. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.

Unfortunately, Strephon isn’t the only man after Phyllis’ hand in marriage: the entire House of Lords, plus the Lord Chancellor himself, are also vying for Phyllis’ hand.

To make matters worse, a misunderstanding occurs when Phyllis sees twenty-five-year-old Strephon meeting with a seventeen-year-old lady. Even after Strephon explains that the lady is his mother, Phyllis doesn’t believe him and angrily breaks off their engagement. Heartbroken, Strephon summons the Fairy Queen to his aid.

enhances the mood

The worlds of Fairyland and Westminster collide not just narratively but also visually. Onstage there is a staircase covered in vines and an arched bridge built across a stream. Trees downstage are countered by a cityscape backdrop.

Chris Combe’s lighting further enhances the mood: colours change as our focus shifts to a different character, gobo lighting (in the form of fairy rings) announce the arrival of fairies, and later dim red light plunges the Lord Chancellor into the depths of a nightmare.

Annabel Hamid (Queen of the Fairies) and her fairies. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.

Fiona Main’s artistic direction is faithful to the timeless genius of Gilbert and Sullivan, merely adding a dreamcatcher as a framing device. What really sets this production apart from the rest is its visual/physical comedy. Rather than comedy for comedy’s sake, Main seizes the opportunity to expand on characters and themes. Comedic moments such as a peer hitting himself with a croquet mallet serve to demonstrate how inept the House of Lords are.

The political satire in Iolanthe has held up remarkably well for an opera written in 1882. Main preserves the spirit of Gilbert’s libretto and modernises its context, making visual references to social media and Betfair. On one notable occasion, a peer holds up a sign that cleverly proclaims ‘Make America Great Britain Again’ – love it or hate it, Main’s additions to the production are certainly effective.

feverish intensity

Sebastion Davidson gives a breathtaking performance as the Lord Chancellor, a walking parody of justice who considers himself the powerful embodiment of the law. It is an understatement to say that Davidson’s showstopping rendition of the patter ‘Nightmare Song’, Love unrequited… is impressive.

Davidson gains a high-strung, feverish intensity as the Chancellor suffers from fitful sleep, singing faster and faster. All the while, without tripping over his words, he manages to dance around in an all-white nightshirt and floppy-eared slippers.

Sebastion Davidson with Craig Macbeth and Theo Rankine-Fourdraine. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.

Mairi Coyle, meanwhile, brings a motherly warmth to Iolanthe. Her sentimental appeal to the Lord Chancellor in My lord, a suppliant at your feet is especially poignant. Yet the artistic choice to have Coyle’s Iolanthe be much older than seventeen can at times be distracting, given that her youthful appearance is Phyllis’s reason for breaking with Strephon.

Peter Cushley (Strephon) and Gillian Robertson (Phyllis) give faultless performances. Cushley transforms into a romantic youth, sharing great chemistry with Robertson’s Phyllis and Coyle’s Iolanthe. Robertson is consistently brilliant as Phyllis, her beautiful voice infusing passion in every note she sings. Strephon and Phyllis’s duet None shall part us is perfectly harmonious, making up for the little time we see them together as a happy couple.

talent to the table

Every performer brings their own talent to the table. Whether it is the dignified presence of Annabel Hamid’s Queen of the Fairies or the theatricality of Theodore Rankine-Fourdraine’s Earl Tolloller, they give their all to the performance. Although there are a few instances of people singing out of sync with the orchestra, such mistakes are promptly corrected and quickly forgotten.

Energetic and enchanting, EDGAS’s Iolanthe is a production for longtime G&S fans and first-time Savoy Opera audiences alike.

Running time: Two hour and 40 minutes (including one interval).
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ.
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 17 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

EdGAS Website: www.edgas.org
Facebook: @EdinburghGilbertSullivan
Instagram: @edinburghgilbertsullivan
Linktree: @EdinburghGilbertSullivan.

Gillian Robertson and Peter Cushley. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.

ENDS

Bedlam Theatre: Wed 14 – Sat 17 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson

The 39 Steps, from EUTC at the Bedlam, is a hugely enjoyable romp. Pacy and impressively staged, it overcomes some problems in performance to create an impressive spectacle.

Patrick Barlow’s play, which won a 2007 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy during a nine-year West End run, is based on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film rather than the 1915 John Buchan novel which inspired it. The spy story, with dashing Richard Hannay fleeing a false accusation of murder and uncovering a dastardly plot by foreign agents, is played for laughs.

A scene from EUTC’s The 39 Steps. Pic: Emelia Auster.

One performer (Zephyrus Pettitt) plays Hannay, another (Liliani Lynch) plays three women he encounters, and two more (Rishi Bhardwaj and Megan Downer) are every other character, often switching in the middle of a scene. The staging is deliberately basic, with everything brought into the open and its homespun nature, with attendant shortcomings and mistakes, positively glorified.

This means that it is the opposite of Barlow’s familiar creation The National Theatre of Brent, where the gag is that the hugely over-sincere creators are entirely unaware of their shortcomings. Here, the theatricality of the enterprise is positively celebrated (although the Hitchcock gags are in shorter supply in this production than they tend to be).

speed, commitment and rhythm

For this all to work, it needs to be attacked with speed, commitment and rhythm. With some caveats detailed below, this is achieved. Director Dani J Bryant has fashioned a production of pace and momentum which careers along beautifully, full of sight gags, clever touches (as well as satisfyingly stupid ones) and expert comic timing.

The play is sometimes done without an interval, but this production demonstrates that it really benefits from one. It adds a shape to the whole thing, and it’s a surprise when it comes along, as the first half is such fun that it flies by and it feels like fifteen minutes have passed rather than fifty.

A scene from EUTC’s The 39 Steps. Pic: Emelia Auster.

Instead of the usual RP accent, Pettitt’s Hannay has a transatlantic twang, which takes some getting used to but since the character (as in the movie) is Canadian, it does make sense. Pettitt does have the character’s usual stiff-upper-lip (complete with ‘very attractive pencil moustache’) and a considerable gift for physical comedy.

Lynch is adaptable and accomplished, adding a necessary underplayed touch to the expansiveness. Bhardwaj and Downer, meanwhile, throw themselves with abandon into too many roles to count, with pleasing versatility and to great effect.

impeccable

Technically, the production has some extremely praiseworthy elements. Co-tech managers Alex Kerr Foreman (sound) and Charles Leung (lighting) should be congratulated. There are several moments where the lighting cues need to be accurate to the split-second for the gag to work, and these are impeccable.

Stage manager Audrey Nicholls and set manager Ava Ausman, meanwhile, also deserve mention as the play relies entirely on the effective manipulation of a ridiculous number of props and pieces of furniture.

A scene from EUTC’s The 39 Steps. Pic: Emelia Auster.

However, there are facets of the performance that are less secure. At times the performers seem a little too pleased with themselves, and are in danger of playing to the gallery – or corpsing. Paradoxically, a show that uses the gag of things on stage going wrong or being clearly inadequate needs complete discipline to work.

While part of the joke is that the accents are ridiculous, in a production in Scotland it really would help if some of the Scottish accents weren’t quite so inadequate. And it’s unfathomable how Hannay would be unable to pronounce the name of the political candidate when the poster here reads ‘McCordale’ rather than ‘McCorquodale’.

These are relatively minor objections, however. A major criticism of the play in the past has been that its concentration on comedy, and its very cleverness, tends to make it difficult to relate to and lacking in heart. This isn’t the case here, as there is something very human and undeniably lovable about all of this, as well as it being a wonderfully paced comedy.

Running time: One hour and 50 minutes (including one interval).
Bedlam Theatre, 11B Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ.
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 17 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Bedlam website: https://bedlamtheatre.co.uk
Instagram: @ eutcbedlamtheatre
Linktree: @ eutcbedlamtheatre .
Production Instagram: @39steps.eutc

A scene from EUTC’s The 39 Steps. Pic: Emelia Auster.

ENDS

Edinburgh Playhouse: Mon 12 – Sat 17 Oct 2026
Review by Rebecca Mahar

The twentieth-anniversary of Jersey Boys hits the Edinburgh Playhouse stage with pizzazz and plenty of nostalgia for fans of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons in this jukebox musical tracing the rise, fall, and reinvention of the legendary group.

Initially conceived by original Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio, Jersey Boys features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and a score of Four Seasons hits, with arrangements and incidental music composed by Ron Melrose.

A scene from Jersey Boys. Pic: Mark Senior.

While the musical retains an enduring popularity due to the enormous fanbase of its music and its candid look into the personal history of the Four Seasons, Des McAnuff’s direction of this new tour lacks the driving impulsion necessary to carry a piece of such challenging structure to unqualified success.

The structure gives all four members of the group a chance to narrate. Tommy Devito (Scott Goncalves) is given charge of their origin story: from bringing teenager Frankie Valli (Luke Baker) in as lead singer, through the turbulence of stints in jail, scams, and constant rebranding until The Four Seasons is decided on, they team up with Bob Gaudio (Toby Miles) and strike artistic gold.

Gaudio takes over narration for a bit more struggle before the instant sensation Sherry and the ensuing string of hits in collaboration with producer Bob Crewe (Michael Levi). But with the group’s interpersonal troubles continuing to mount, drastic action must be taken, the seeds of disintegration are sewn and Valli moves firmly into the position of frontman.

makes Valli the focal point

The switching of narrators continues into the second act, with Nick Massi (Lewis Kennedy) and finally Valli himself taking their turns. This rotational narrative structure gives each original member of the group a voice but, contrary to Elice’s assertion that this allows each to give his own side of the story and create a quartet of unreliable narrators, it instead makes Valli the focal point, around which all else circulates.

A scene from Jersey Boys. Pic: Mark Senior.

As often happens with productions that attempt to cover vast swathes of its protagonists’ histories, Jersey Boys suffers from a compression of time that results in narration becoming a list of events, and transitions that stutter through time too quickly or too slow.

Some of these problems are inherent in the book and the choice of certain songs which not necessarily used to serve the story. Such issues are exacerbated by direction that allows scenes to linger purposelessly.

That said, this is a Jersey Boys that does full justice to its musical source material. The performances are overall excellent, despite a few over-exaggerated gestures to cue sound, some small moments of violence that lack any real threat, and occasional lapses in diction.

never misses a beat

Baker makes a brilliant Valli, delivering on vocal versatility and power as well as character arc, with a particularly heat-wrenching scene in the second act in response to devastating news. Goncalves (swinging on for press night in place of principal Tommy: Carlo Boumouglbay) never misses a beat and is perhaps the best of the quartet at embodying the progression of time over the course of the production.

Lewis Kennedy’s Nick Massi brings deadpan humour throughout, and Toby Miles is a heartfelt Bob Gaudio.

A scene from Jersey Boys. Pic: Mark Senior.

The rest of the company fill the stage with energy, excellent comedic timing, and a versatility that makes the ensemble seem larger than it is. Aiden Carson as Joe Pesci and Fed Zanni as Gyp DeCarlo are standouts in their featured roles, while Michael Levi brings the right level of camp-meets-cutthroat to Bob Crewe.

This production of Jersey Boys might be flawed, but the pull of the Four Seasons reincarnated is not to be denied. And if the crowd at the Playhouse is anything to judge by, this tour could be kicking off another twenty years of raucous audience applause and opportunities for aspiring tenors to live out their Frankie Valli dreams.

Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes (including one interval).
Edinburgh Playhouse, 18-22 Greenside Place EH1 3AA.
Monday 12 – Saturday 17 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Thurs, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Access performances: Audio Described 14 Oct; BSL Interpreted 15 Oct (7:30pm); Captioned 16 Oct.

A scene from Jersey Boys. Pic: Mark Senior.

ENDS