3,470 stories from The Arts Desk
Robert Sean Leonard and Paten Hughes make worthy sparring partners
The cult film that director Theo van Gogh left behind when he was killed in 2004, Interview, has already been remade twice;…
★★★★ FAT HAM, RSC A raucous, raunchy Pulitzer Prize-winning re-imagining for our times
An entertaining, positive and contemporary blast!
$8.2B. That's what can ha…
Mike Bartlett's new state-of-the-agricultural-nation play is beautifully performed
Playwright Mike Bartlett is, like many writers, a chronicler of both contemporary manners and of the state …
A cunning ruse leaves audiences facing their own privilege and complicity in Cliff Cardinal's bold theatrical creation
There is, let's be honest, a certain self-congratulatory self-satisfact…
The actors skilfully evoke the claustrophobia of family members trying to fake togetherness
The Gathered Leaves is set on the tectonic plates of a middle-class family reunion, in which three…
A Ukrainian bin man, an unseen used car dealer and every daddy's dream twink in three contrasting Fringe shows
Refuse, Assembly George Square Studios ★★★★
Bringing the Faust legend to comment on colonialism produces bewildering results
What new light can the age-old legend of Faust selling his soul to the devil shed on colonialism in Africa, s…
A slippery show about memory and a rug-pulling Deliveroo comedy in the latest from the Edinburgh Fringe
Imprints, Summerhall ★★★★
Experimental digital performance art, classical insights and gay shame in three strong Fringe shows
The Ode Islands, Pleasance at EICC ★★★★
Two dramas on prison life offer contrasting perspectives but a similar sense of compassion
Ordinary Decent Criminal, Summerhall ★★★★★ÂÂ
From drag to Japanese erotica via a French cookery show, three of the Fringe's more unusual offerings
Kinder, Underbelly, Cowgate ★★★ÂÂ
Drag artist Goody Prostate (yes, …
Two powerful shows consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with mixed results
The Horse of Jenin, Pleasance Dome ★★★★★ÂÂ
★★★ THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, RSC, STRATFORD Youth-oriented version of youthful play
Shakespeare trying out lots of ideas that were to bear fruit in the future
I have…
A joyful gay romance and an intimate one-to-one encounter in two strong Fringe shows
The Fit Prince (who gets switched on the square in the frosty castle the night before (insert public holi…
A visually stunning stage re-adaptation of a recent gay classic plunges the audience into blood and earth
As shockingly beautiful as it is horrifyingly brutal, actor Armando Babaioff's deepl…
Nothing less than the history of human civilisation is the theme of FC Bergman's visually stunning show
With the sheer density of theatrical creations jostling for attention across Edinburgh…
Lenny Henry is the ideal ringmaster for this exercise in audience participation
The Fringe piece Duncan Macmillan devised with Jonny Donahoe in 2014 has since been round the world and back, …
A deft, epoch-straddling climate six-hander and a celebration (and take-down) of the pantomime dame at the Traverse Theatre
The Beautiful Future is Coming, Traverse Theatre ★★â˅
Oscar Levant is an ideal subject to refresh the debate about media freedom
Back in the day, when America's late-night chat show hosts and their guests sat happily smoking as they shot the br…
Tabloid excess in the 1980s; gallows humour in reflections on life and death
Monstering the Rocketman by Henry Naylor, Pleasance Dome ★★★★
Twists in the tail bring revelations in two fine shows at the Traverse Theatre
Lost Lear, Traverse Theatre ★★★★
A rehearsal room; a tense preparation session for a p…
James Graham's dazzling comedy-drama on the rise and fall of RBS fails to snarl
You could distinctly hear the murmurs of recognition from the Edinburgh audience " responding to knowing menti…
An intimate one-to-one encounter and an examination of brotherly love at the Traverse Theatre
I'm Ready to Talk Now, Traverse Theatre ★★★★
Three early Fringe theatre shows offer blissed-out beats, identity questions and powerful drama
Alright Sunshine, Pleasance Dome ★★★★★
★★★★ TOP HAT, CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE Lovely to look at, but don't think too much
Glitz and glamour in revived dance show based on Fred and Ginger's movie
Af…