Edinburgh Fringe Theatre reviews: The Scot and the Showgirl | Don Quixote Rides Again | The Freemartin | Ghost Light | Tartan Tat | Off the Bench

The Scot and the Showgirl ★★★★

Pleasance Dome (Venue 23) until 26 August

There are a lot of Scots in the audience today. I’m not sure how many showgirls, but there is at least one and I’m enjoying this uplifting musical palette cleanser after the more challenging performances to be found elsewhere. Real-life couple, Tony award-winner Frances Ruffelle (who represented the UK in the Eurovision song contest 1994) and West End leading man Norman Bowman re-work classic show and other tunes, with a Scottish twist, to tell us of their “perfectly imperfect” relationship, which began 28 years ago when they met at Edinburgh Waverley train station.

With a live on-stage band so tight that it’s hard to believe they have only been playing together for a day, “Bosey” and “Frankie” chart the getting together, growing apart and… I’ll let you guess how it ends, but we're here. He’s got a kilt and a Hollywood smile. She’s got metallic hotpants and a pair of tartan platforms. When it starts off, all swooning, crooning and “say you love me, doo-bee-doo”, it feels like we shouldn’t be in a theatre: we should be on a cruise ship.

However, Ruffelle and Bowman are king and queen of the solo power ballad, as well as the “he said, she said, let’s call the whole thing off” jazzy duet. Their voices are thrilling – and thanks to the intimate venue, right next to where we’re sitting. It’s essentially a jukebox musical with a simple but unusually clear (for the genre) story of a woman who needs her freedom and a man who’s still there when she wants to come back.

A timeless tale, but thanks to their easy, lightly humorous narration, on-stage chemistry and down-to-earth charm, it shines. The finale, with its two encores, is fantastic – and captures the alchemy of this combination of real-life romance, Fringe glamour and a site-specific setting: Scotland. Sally Stott

THEATRE

Don Quixote Rides Again ★★★

Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30) until 16 August

Has the tale of Don Quixote been more prominently retold in recent years, or has it never really gone away? This certainly isn’t the first show I’ve seen lately which leans on Miguel de Cervantes’s 17th century novel for either adaptation or inspiration. It feels as though the story of a nobleman who reads so many compelling stories that he imagines himself within them – and feels compelled to act upon them in real life – has many striking parallels in the present day.

Yet storyteller Inéz Álvarez Villa’s interpretation of the tale draws exclusively upon its original, classic form, carefully edited down so that it fits an hour of stage time. First presented as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in 2023 and so warmly-received that it has been invited back to the same venue for the Fringe, it involves a simple set-up used to maximum effect.

Álvarez Villa stands at the mic and tells the story in a voice which is transporting and hypnotic, while guitarist Danielo Olivera plays accompanying flamenco guitar lines to vivid, scene-setting effect. It’s not so much a theatre show as a storytelling one, as Álvarez Villa does not alter her speech for the various characters. But her telling of the Don’s befriending of Sancho Panza, his encounter with the windmills and other escapades forms an entirely pleasant and entrancing way to spend an hour of your Fringe. David Pollock

THEATRE 

The Freemartin ★★★

theSpaceTriplex (Venue 38) until 17 August 

Somewhere, way out in the sticks, three queer teens think themselves into distant places and spaces – cities, organisations, bodies – where they can be free to thrive in all their complexity. The Freemartin is their story. It is the beginning of time, but the moment is now. We are in a new era of farming. We are at a conference. We are thinking about agriculture, but we are talking about transphobia.

Told through a series of interconnected fragments, we see the three friends flirt with fake moustaches and finger puppets, and watch as they flit between radio stations, staging the shipping forecast, news bulletins and adverts. They discover a barn by torchlight. One night, an echo is passed like contraband between them, exhilarating and forbidden as a cigarette, and in that sound, we sense the expansiveness of the world beyond, beckoning.

The Freemartin boasts a lyrical script and sensibility, brimming with magnificent images. The performers’ casual delivery-style risks detracting from the impact of its overarching message, but ultimately, the play remains an incredibly thoughtful piece of work. With their Fringe debut, Speakbeast show promise as a bright team of budding creatives, from whom future audiences can expect great possibilities. Josephine Balfour-Oatts

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THEATRE

Ghost Light ★★★

theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) until 17 August

Despite being performed in almost complete darkness the actors are still able to shine in this thrilling tale inspired by classic Victorian ghost stories. Set in 1865, it centres on the curious writer Henry Webster (Philip Holden) who joins a ghost club. Immediately he meets an enthusiastic Edward Price (Nick Blessley) who takes him to his haunted lodgings that hold more than a few secrets.

The tension is heightened by spooky music and minimal lighting, in the form of a few lamps, creating an eerie atmosphere which is maintained throughout. As the performers faces are only partly visible, their emotions have to be conveyed predominantly through their voices. This is done particularly well be Blessley, who uses his vocal expression to drive the story on. All of the actors also take on the role of the narrator, giving the production an ensemble feel.

Written by Ian Tucker-Bell, the suspense builds steadily, resulting in a dramatic and unsettling ending. Themes of mystery and loss are well worked into this production, making it an enjoyable experience for fans of horror and suspenseful tales. Suzanne O’Brien

THEATRE

Tartan Tat ★★★

theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) until 20 August

The commercial exploitation of tawdry tourist trinkets turns surprisingly political in this new workplace comedy by Lex Joyce and Isla Campbell. Set in Tartan Treasures, a tourist trap on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, the gift shop becomes hot news item after the glaikit Arran (Joyce) insults a child’s favourite author and unwittingly becomes a LBTQIA+ icon into the bargain.

Swiftly the shop starts shifting Pride merchandise as it targets “girls, gays and theys” only to become the target of angry activists. Sarah Marie Mooney’s efficient direction helps maintain an intelligent sense of pace as the script plays this just the right side of absurdity as events spiral out of the staff’s control. There’s a semi-serious point to this but it’s never overstated until the very end, which is probably unnecessary because Joyce and Campbell’s intentions seem very clear.

Their script is littered with funny lines that the talented young cast make the most of. The shop’s staff is a disparate bunch — as you might expect for a group of young people working service jobs and the simple clear characterisation allows for a nice range of performance styles — Freya Anderson’s shameless vamping as Millie is a highlight in particular. It’s engagingly farcical but pointed with it. Rory Ford

THEATRE

Off the Bench ★★

theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) until 17 August

Some promising performances and a decent sense of energy help this celebration of women’s football but can’t quite lift it into the upper leagues. It is set at half-time during a crucial match, with the Walcott Wrens are facing a two goal deficit and relegation.

Three players try to motivate each other and examine their own reasons for playing. The characters are nicely sketched: new mum Danielle wants to be a role model for her daughter but all are inspired by the 2022 European triumph of the Lionesses.

The Norfolk-based trio work well together but their script is a little off-pace. There’s no real sense of tension – Danielle, rather improbably, is unaware that they’re facing the drop – and it stops short of trying to communicate the physicality of the beautiful game. Rory Ford