THE CASTLE AND THE CLOISTER - ★★★★★ by Laura E. Weymouth Publishes 4 August 2026 UK - Del Rey Books US - Saga Press I received an ARC of this book as part of the author's Street Team. I was not obligated to provide a review. All opinions are my own. THE CASTLE AND THE CLOISTER hits shelves today and it’s high time I gave it the ★★★★★   review I’ve been stewing on since I got my grubby little hands on it and devoured it in one sitting.   This the book I’ve been waiting for. No, really— Laura has been teasing this project in the background for ages and without knowing anything about it, I’ve been (im)patiently waiting for it to arrive. I’ve been a fan of her YA novels since the beginning (A Treason of Thorns has my whole heart), and I knew that when the adult project finally made it into the world it would be worth every moment of the wait. This is book one of a duology, and I am already ravenous for the second course.   Set against the backdrop of tenuous peace, con...

Lear -  ★★★★☆  - Haunting Pitlochry Festival Theatre 9 July – 1 August Review by Rebecca Mahar   Pitlochry Festival Theatre takes on one of Shakespeare’s most towering tragedies for the first time this summer in Finn den Hertog’s adaptation of  Lear , featuring Maureen Beattie in the title role. In this  Lear  of queen and quandaries, den Hertog’s conceptual goals are somewhat subsumed by the play itself, but the production nevertheless delivers a worthy rendition of its storied source. Maureen Beattie and the cast of Lear. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.   Lear  begins in the elderly monarch’s court, where she declares her intention to retire from the her office as Queen of Britain, and divide her realm among her three daughters. First, however, she asks each of them to profess how much they love her. The eldest and middle daughters, Goneril (Jenny Hulse) and Regan (Lindsey Campbell), make a great show of their professions, hoping for preferment; but the ...

Dracula -  ★★★☆☆ - Jukebox Ballet Festival Theatre: Fri 12-Sun 14 Jun 2026 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 13 June 2026. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Big Live sweep onto the Festival Theatre stage with a limited engagement of  Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest , a new adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker horror. Promising lavish Gothic visuals and visceral storytelling, this is a ballet simmering with potential. Potential which is not yet fulfilled. Choreographed by the Australian company’s Artistic Director Joel Burke,  Dracula opens on a seventeenth century battlefield, where the formidable Vlad cuts his way through enemy after enemy. After learning that his wife has been killed by the Church, he sells his soul and transforms into Dracula. Ervin Zagidullan as Dracula. Pic: Big Live. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

The Marriage of Figaro -  ★★★★☆ - Delightful Festival Theatre: Fri 29 May – Sat 6 Jun 2026 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 30 May 2026. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Scottish Opera’s  The Marriage of Figaro  kicks off a limited engagement at the Festival Theatre in style, delivering a revival of Sir Thomas Allen’s 2010 production full of flair, humour, and outstanding performances. Set three years after the events of  The Barber of Seville , wherein the clever Figaro (Edward Jowle) helped Count Almaviva (Ian Rucker) woo and wed Rosina (Alexandra Lowe),  The Marriage of Figaro  opens on the morning of Figaro’s wedding to the now-Countess Almaviva’s maid, Susanna (Ava Dodd). Edward Jowle (Figaro) and Ava Dodd (Susanna) in The Marriage of Figaro. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !

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 !