Theatre, Issue 663

Step inside a payphone booth for a spot of storytelling

The Invisible Dot provides audiences with a new form of entertainment

What with the Fringe being the Fringe, it’s only right and proper that some of this year’s shows should crop up in the most unlikely of places. And so it is that The Invisible Dot have brought four old British Telecom payphone booths to this year’s…

Moira's five ways to ensure you survive the festival

'Falkirk's hardest woman' hands out tips on surviving the Fringe

Being on tour can be a stressful business, what with staying away from home, forgetting your lines onstage and, erm, setting off the fire alarm in the venue. Scotland’s newest stage superstar, Moira, shares her tips on how to survive a fortnight at the…

The Emperor's Quest: Chinese folk tale with modern flavour

A balance of catchy songs, snappy dialogue and a satisfying moral

The ageing Emperor is searching for a successor, and to help him decide he gives each child in his realm a seed to nurture. We follow green-fingered Ling and her pals, streetwise Soo and fretful Bobo, in their quest to grow the winning flower. Based on…

Charlie and Lola's Best Bestest Play

TV siblings take the the stage: utterly charming and engaging

When you’re taking a product as insanely successful as Lauren Child’s Charlie and Lola series and attempting to do something new, it can be a risky business. Both the books and the TV programmes have garnered millions of fans, some of whom sat…

The Songbird

Giant Productions's sound poetry at the Botanic Gardens

Glasgow’s Giant Productions makes its Fringe debut with this interactive tone poem about an exotic songbird captured by a ruthless logger. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Botanic Gardens, and performed by a pianist, cellist and two actors, the…

Club Noir and Scottish Opera collaborate on A Night At The Opera

Burlesque night prepare for unlikely pairing

Henry Northmore talks to the burlesque night as they prepare for one of this festival’s most unlikely collaborations

Edinburgh in August: Ten-step survival guide

Essential insider knowledge you'll need to survive the festivals

Niki Boyle has compiled a list of festival insider tips to help you survive August as if you were from the city itself. Avoid queues at ATMs, dealing with flyerers, umbrellas, and places to relax.

Camille O’Sullivan talks about her show Chameleon

The Irish chanteuse talks G&Ts, Scooby Doo and more

The first time I set foot in Edinburgh for the Fringe was 2004. I was supposed to perform at the Wigwam Tent, but at the last moment the venue went bankrupt — I was saved by the lovely Speigeltent who took my show and also put me in the great new show…

Five hirsute gents tickling our fancies (and chins) this month

Look out for these bearded men at this year's Festivals

Phil Kay Furry Fringe veteran Kay makes no fewer than four fuzzy-faced appearances this year. His kids’ show Gimme Your Left Shoe makes a welcome return; there’s a solo show in the evening called In Tweed; a late-night radio show titled RadioFree; and…

Merrill Grant: A Twentieth Century Fox

A cabaret homage to silver-screen greats

With her Southern twang, strawberry-blonde hair, beaming smile and can-do attitude, Merrill Grant is the epitome of a 1930s belle. Which is just jim-dandy, given the cabaret act she’s bringing to this year’s Fringe. Inspired by her love of Shirley…

The Sun Also Rises performed by New York's Elevator Repair Service

World premiere adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel

The Edinburgh International Festival’s theatre programme kicks off with this world premiere adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s first major novel by acclaimed New York ensemble Elevator Repair Service. The company apply their trademark stylised…

Calendar Girls returns to Glasgow Theatre Royal

Elaine C Smith leads WI charity nude photo cast

The show about the Women’s Institute fundraisers who stripped for a (tasteful) nude calendar returns with a cast headed by Elaine C Smith and featuring such well-kent faces as Denise Black, Jean Boht, Jennifer Ellison, Julia Hills, Rachel Lumberg, Ruth…

The Wire's Clarke Peters in Fringe run of Five Guys Named Moe

The Wire's Lester Freamon stars in the musical he wrote

Clarke Peters, best known for his role in US cop show The Wire, talks to Kelly Apter about taking time out to appear in the hit musical he wrote himself

Vive Le Cabaret gives nightly Vaudevillian glamour

Willkommen, bienvenue, and welcome to a new nightly cabaret show, hosted by Des O’Connor. But calm yourselves, game show fans, Mister Take Your Pick Des O’Connor is not coming to the Fringe. ‘No, it’s not the orange faced one of the telly,’ points out…

Mini Profile: Vive Le Cabaret

What’s that then? That would be a nightly cabaret show, hosted by Des O’Connor. Seriously? Mister Take Your Pick? Des & Mel Des O’ Connor is coming to the Fringe? Actually, no. ‘It’s not the orange-faced one off the telly,’ points out Vive Le…

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

Sibling rock ‘n’ rollers with retro leanings

‘I’m really looking forward to it, because we haven’t done Scotland yet,’ 17-year-old Kitty Durham says about playing Edinburgh. Durham fronts the youthful retro three-piece, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, with her brother and sister. The north London trio have…

David Leddy’s Sub Rosa at Edinburgh Fringe

Gothic Victorian promenade show tours working Masonic lodge

After its triumphant debut at Glasgow Citizens Theatre in early 2009, David Leddy’s gothic Victorian promenade show transfers to a working Masonic lodge, full of the requisite hidden nooks and crannies that lent the original production its eerie…