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 !

The Seal-Woman –   ★ ★ ★ ☆☆  – Mythic The Scots Opera Project 28 & 29 Aug; 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14 Sept Review by Rebecca Mahar   The Scots Opera Project returns to Pitlochry Festival with  The Seal-Woman , diving into the music of the Hebrides and the legend of the mythical selkie.   Described as a Celtic folk opera,  The Seal-Woman  premiered in 1924 with a score by Granville Bantock and libretto by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. The opera follows the story of its titular character, a selkie who, along with her sister, removes her seal-skin to frolic on land, thinking it free of humans— only to find herself trapped by an islesman whose boat has left him behind. The sailor gives her a choice: remain on land and marry him, and he will return her sister’s skin, or refuse and doom them both to live as humans.   Performed in the outdoor amphitheatre of the Explorers Garden at Pitlochry Festival Theatre,  The Seal-Woman  fits beautifully into its s...

A Toast Fae the Lassies –  ★ ★ ★★ ☆   – Enchanting Pitlochry Festival Theatre 29 & 30 Aug; 4, 10, 18, 24 Sept  Review by Rebecca Mahar   Pitlochry Festival Theatre premieres the enchanting new musical play  A Toast Fae the Lassies  in a limited six-show run this autumn, bringing the ghosts of Robert Burns and the women who knew him best to the intimate Studio theatre.   On the 25 th  of January 1797, Agnes Broun (Alyson Orr) visits St. Michael’s Churchyard in Dumfries to remember her recently deceased son, Robert Burns, on his birthday. There she is joined by Burns’s widow, Jean Amour (Stephanie Cremona), and shortly thereafter by one of his many mistresses, his muse Clarinda (Eden Barrie). Together the women remember their Rabbie, warts and all, through their words and his own. Stephanie Cremona, Alyson Orr, and Eden Barrie in A Toast Fae the Lassies. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan. Written and directed by John Binnie, with musical direction, arrangem...

…and that’s a wrap on Edinburgh Fringe 2025 for Speak the Speech! I’ve had the privilege of seeing some extraordinary theatre this season, in a Fringe full of ups and downs and the mad, mad joy that is this festival. By the numbers:   -saw 40 shows (38 to review) across 15 days -published 14 reviews exclusively on Speak the Speech -published 24 reviews on All Edinburgh Theatre -wrote 22,455 words of theatre criticism across both platforms   I had originally pencilled myself in to review about 70 shows, but came down with the dreaded Fringe Flu the day before the shows I was in were due to open, spent about three days in bed writing nothing just trying to stay alive to do two shows every night, and spent the rest of the month digging myself out of the backlog. This resulted in a ruthless culling of anything not yet confirmed in my diary, so there were many shows I was eager to see that I was sadly unable to attend. All this while doing 34 performances across 17 days and working...

Three Queens from the Opera -  ★★★★☆ - Delightful Stockbridge Church (Venue 317): Wed 6 – Mon 25 Aug 2025 Review by Rebecca Mahar Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 26 August 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin. Michael Scott presents  Three Queens from the Opera  for a limited five show run at Stockbridge Church, in what proves to be a delightful musical parody revue of operatic royalty. The Queen of Night (Jennifer Murray) and The Queen of Scots aka Lady Macbeth (Elaine Young) have decided to put on a concertino celebrating the queens of opera. But, after discovering that the Queen of Spades is in fact a playing card, have been joined by Cinderella (Caroline Warburton) as a substitute, even though she’s not technically a queen. Caroline Warburton, Elaine Young and Jennifer Murray. Pic: Michael Scott. Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review !