★★★☆☆     Thoughtful Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 27 April 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Augustine United Church: Fri 25/Sat 26 April 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Not So Nice! Theatre Company’s latest offering,  Living With the Dead  by Cosette Bolt at the Augustine United Church, confronts the reality of death in its many forms, reflecting on its sameness. Set in Storms Funeral Home and Crematorium, where six people with diverse stories have ended up,  Living With the Dead  offers each of them the time and the space to relive a moment from their unique lives. The Cast of Living With the Dead. Pic: Matthew Attwood Under Matthew Attwood’s direction the production certainly aligns with Not So Nice!’s mission to “create performances that challenge audiences, leaving them with more than just a polite ‘oh, that was nice’.” Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

 Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) - ★★★★☆ - Delightful Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 23 April 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Isobel McArthur’s  Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)  bursts out of the servants’ stairs and into the parlour with straight-talk and song, bringing irreverent Austenian charm to the Festival Theatre on the Edinburgh stop of its current UK & Ireland tour. An adaptation of the Regency classic, this P&P balances faithfulness to the original story with poking fun at it, and how it’s been perceived and previously adapted. Along with, of course, a fantastic selection of well-known tunes to help speed the story along. The cast of Isobel McArthur's Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of). Pic: Michael Bodlovic. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to  read the full review !

  Death of a Salesman - ★★★☆☆ - Modern Tragedy Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 21 March 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Festival Theatre: Weds 19 - Sat 22 Mar 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Arthur Miller’s enduring tragedy  Death of a Salesman  leaves no question of the play’s outcome in its title, or in this new production from Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Raw Material touring to the Festival Theatre. Director Andy Arnold has crafted a  Salesman  that is unfussy and true to its roots, highlighting the universal interpersonal struggles embodied by the salesman, Willy Loman, and his family, and those that are still distressingly relevant – particularly in the America of today. David Hayman as Willy Loman. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

Luke Thallon as Hamlet and Kel Matsena as Horatio. Photo by Marc Brenner © RSC Hamlet - ★★★★★ - relentless RSC: Royal Shakespeare Theatre What more fitting way to christen a blog of this name than with a review of  Hamlet ?   Rupert Goold’s  Hamlet  at the Royal Shakespeare Company is a relentless powerhouse of a production, worthy of every cataclysmic metaphor one might throw at it —an avalanche, a freight train, a tornado, a hurricane— and presciently tied to the one from which it takes its concept: a sinking ship.    From its daring design and the acrobatic excellence with which the company handles the stage’s contortions, to the exceptional nuance of each character and the technical synergy that allows the audience to become immersed in its concept, this  Hamlet  delivers on every front, and is crowned with a shattering RSC debut from Hamlet himself, Luke Thallon. Luke Thallon as Hamlet. Photo by Marc Brenner © RSC The Danish city of Elsinore ...

Chef - ★★★☆☆ Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 16 Mar 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Traverse:  Fri 14 Mar 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Sabrina Mahfouz’s  Chef , starring Rebecca Benson, plays the Traverse for one night only in a production that crackles with energy and is a showcase for Benson’s solo performance. Chef  premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, garnering several awards. Director André Agius’s touring revival of the piece for the Ayr Gaiety takes full advantage of Benson’s skill, taking her to emotional extremes in the performance of the character known only as “Chef”. Rebecca Benson in Chef . Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Joining Benson onstage is BSL interpreter Yvonne Strain, who is integrated into the performance as one of Chef’s trainees in the prison kitchen where the show takes place. Sasha, who “doesn’t talk much” and only occasionally interacts with Chef, is fully part of her world. Strain brings flair and emotional imp...