Festival report Pitlochry Festival Theatre: Fri 16 – Sun 18 January 2026 by Rebecca Mahar Article commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 26 January 2026. Edited by Thom Dibdin. This month saw Pitlochry Festival Theatre launch  Out in the Hills , a brand new festival celebrating all those LGBTQIA+, that “invites everyone to find new ways to look at the world, and each other.” Rebecca Mahar was able to get along on the Saturday and here reports from her day out at the  Theatre in the Hills  – where the weather couldn’t dampen the events indoors. Ian McKellen performing in Equinox. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan. Over three days packed with theatre, music, film, dancing and conversation,  Out in the Hills  brings together world-famous stars and up-and-coming artists; researchers and musicians; young and old and in between. In the darkness of January, Pitlochry Festival Theatre blazes as a beacon of light and joy, with the festival represent...

Cinderella: A Fairytale -  ★★★★☆  - Enchanting   Royal Lyceum Edinburgh 28 Nov – 3 Jan Review by Rebecca Mahar   Kicking off the festive season at the Lyceum,  Cinderella: A Fairytale  brings charm, wonder, and heartfelt joy to the stage in an adaptation of the classic story that is sure to please young and old alike. Olivia Hemmati as Ella with members of the company of Cinderella: A Fairytale. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic. On the surface, the story is the same as the one well-known and loved: Ella’s mother dies when she is very young, she grows up close to her widowed father, who then marries a woman with two children of her own. When her father dies and Ella is left under the guardianship of her stepmother, the latter quickly becomes wicked, forcing her to work inside the house and cater to her step-siblings, earning the derisive nickname  Cinderella . But everything changes when Ella find a way to attend The Ball at The Palace, dancing with someone she do...

To Kill A Mockingbird -  ★★★★★ - Compelling Festival Theatre: Tue 21 – Sat 25 Oct 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 22 October 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. All rise for the UK & Ireland tour of  To Kill a Mockingbird , Aaron Sorkin’s incisive adaptation of Harper Lee’s epochal novel at the Festival Theatre all week, and the Glasgow King’s for the first week in November. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the early 1930s, To Kill a Mockingbird centres around the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape by a young white woman, and the lawyer, Atticus Finch, appointed to defend him against an all-white jury and the threat of the electric chair if convicted Richard Coyle (Atticus Finch) and Aaron Shosanya (Tom Robinson), with the To Kill A Mockingbird cast. Pic: Johan Persson. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

The Seagull -  ★★★★☆  - Lush Royal Lyceum Edinburgh 9 Oct – 1 Nov Review by Rebecca Mahar   The Lyceum presents a new adaptation of Anton Chekov’s  The Seagull  in a lush production running through 1 November   Originally written in 1895, Anton Chekov’s  The Seagull  is widely considered one of the seminal plays of modernism, realism, and naturalism in European drama. This new adaptation by Mike Poulton is directed by James Brining in his first outing as Artistic Director of the Lyceum, and together with a phenomenal cast and creative team, they have created a  Seagull  which strives to embrace both its roots and its Scottish habitat. The company of The Seagull. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.   On the lakeside country estate of elderly Pyotr Sorin (John Bett), guests assemble to watch a new play by Sorin’s nephew Konstantin Treplev (Lorn Macdonald), starring Nina Zarechnaya (Harmony Rose-Bremner), who lives across the lake and is romantical...

Common Tongue -  ★★★★☆ - Pure dead brilliant Studio Theatre: Fri 3 Oct 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 3 October 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Intimate and multi-layered,  Common Tongue  is a robust – occasionally explosive – exploration of voice, identity and society’s disapproval of those who don’t speak “proper”, playing one night at the Studio as part of a Scottish tour by JGProducing in association with Ayr Gaiety. Olivia Caw stars as Bonnie McKay, a Scots speaking Glaswegian, navigating life while proud of who she is and how she speaks. From childhood slap-downs at school, to teenage faux pas and a young adult’s incredulity, she becomes increasingly aware of others’ perception of her speech. Common Tongue written and directed by Fraser Scott, performed by Olivia Caw. Pic: Peter Dibdin. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

War Horse -  ★★★★★ - Exquisite Festival Theatre: Thurs 2 – Sat 11 Oct 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 3 October 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. The latest tour of the National Theatre’s  War Horse  has arrived at the Festival Theatre, in a production as gripping and vital today as when it premiered nearly twenty years ago. Nick Stafford’s play, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel of the same name, follows the story of its titular horse, Joey, and his boy, Albert Narracott, as they navigate the peril of the First World War. Tom Sturgess with Joey puppeteers Matthew Lawrence, Rafe Young, and Felicity Donnelly, with the company of War Horse. Pic: Brinkoff Mögenburg. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat -  ★★★★☆ - Splendid Portobello Town Hall: Wed 25 – Sat 27 Aug 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 28 September 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Stage Door Entertainment light up Portobello Town Hall with a bright and joyous production of  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , featuring an enormous local cast and stellar leading performances. A classic from the oeuvres of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice, Joseph follows its biblical titular character through his trials and tribulations. And this 50-strong company fill the stage with colour and the auditorium with a glorious noise in the telling of it. Ewan Robertson and the cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat. Pic: Malik Tajamul. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

 Hamlet -  ★★★★☆ - Unpretentious The Queen’s Hall: Fri 19 Sept 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 25 September 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Suzy Eddie Izzard brings her solo version of Shakespeare’s  Hamlet   to The Queen’s Hall for one night only on the UK leg of its world tour. This is Shakespeare for the people, not the elites says Izzard, introducing the show. It will be without the “highfalutin” trappings and attitudes that often come attached to Shakespeare’s words. And she is good to her word as she performs, with great understanding, the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who suspects his uncle, now stepfather, of fratricide. Suzy Eddie Izzard performing Hamlet at the Riverside Studies in 2024. Pic: Amanda Searle. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

The Talented Mr. Ripley -  ★★☆☆☆ - Unsubstantiated Festival Theatre: Tue 16 – Sat 20 Sept 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 18 September 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Mark Leipacher’s adaptation of  The Talented Mr. Ripley  for The Faction tours to the Festival Theatre until Saturday in a production that lacks conviction, logic, and the tension required to live up to its billing as a psychological thriller. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, the play follows nondescript New York man Tom Ripley (Ed McVey) through a series of misadventures when he is hired by Herbert Greenleaf (Christopher Bianchi) to persuade his wayward son Dickie (Bruce Herbelin-Earle) to return home from Italy where he is living with his American girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Maisie Smith). Bruce Herbelin-Earle (Dickie Greenleaf) and Ed McVey (Tom Ripley) seated, with the cast in The Talented Mr. Ripley.  Pic:...

Fiddler on the Roof -  ★★★★★ - Captivating Festival Theatre: Tue 9 – Sat 13 Sept 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 10 September 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of  Fiddler on the Roof , at the Festival Theatre all week, is a captivating rendition that is sombre, hopeful and humorous, in the best tradition of this classic musical. Based on the Yiddish stories of Sholen Aleichem,  Fiddler on the Roof  chronicles a turbulent period in the shtetl of Anatevka, at the turn of the twentieth century, just as the eyes of the Russian authorities fall upon the small Jewish community. Jodie Jacobs (Golde) and matthew Woodyatt (Tevye). Pic: Johan Persson. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !