★★★★☆ Ridiculously entertaining
Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24):
Mary: A Gig Theatre Show at the Gilded Balloon Patter House for only one week is an entertaining hour of music and educational storytelling surrounding the life of Mary Queen of Scots and her ladies in waiting, all called Mary.
★★★★☆ Vigorous
Captivate Theatre take on the Famous Spiegeltent with their production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street through the 24th, bringing Sondheim’s chilling musical, directed by Sally Lyall, to life beneath the canopy.
★★★☆☆ High-energy
A Bohemian Banquet at the Edinburgh New Town Church is a true feast for the eyes and ears. A high-energy showcase of musical theatre talent, it’s packed with toe-tapping numbers and polished performances.
★★★☆☆ Reflective
Billed as “the queer love story Noël Coward didn’t write,” Mark Kydd brings new monodrama Our Martin in the Background for the final week of the Fringe only, on odd afternoons at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
★★★☆☆ Cautionary parable
Kestrel Eye Productions’ No Room at the Inn, playing at theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall in the final week of the Fringe, reflects on bigotry and faith in today’s world.
★★★★☆ Thought-provoking Summerhall (Venue 26): Wed 13 – Mon 25 Aug 2025 Review by Suzanne O’Brien Balfour Reparations, created by Farah Saleh and playing Sunmmerhall for the last two weeks of the Fringe, imagines a hypothetical scenario that raises questions about Britain’s colonial legacy in Palestine and its role in the country’s past, […]
★★☆☆☆ Lacking clarity
Faustus in Africa! may have been a ground-breaking production thirty years ago, but it is not entirely clear why it has been revived now, at the International Festival for four performances at the Lyceum.
★★★★☆ Surprisingly addictive!
Pub quiz institution Goose’s Quizzes returns to the Fringe with their Elimination Game running for the full fringe, every night at Assembly Rooms’ Bijou Spiegeltent.