REVIEW: Prestonfield’s glorious Autumn Harvest Afternoon Tea

A nice cup of tea. In our house, few traditions are quite as sacred. After all, is there anything as restorative as a strong brew served in a tactile mug, and enjoyed in good company? I pondered the power of a good ‘cuppa char’ as we drove towards Edinburgh’s Prestonfield House, an unapologetically luxurious five-star…

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REVIEW: Duck & Waffle Edinburgh’s Sunday roast

If there’s one thing that Rosie Morton loves, it’s a hearty, autumnal meal. She jumps headlong into the new season by tucking into Duck & Waffle Edinburgh’s new two-course Sunday roast. ‘Tea’s ready!’ When I was a child, those words marked the start of an unspoken race. Truth be told, my brother and I were always…

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Festival Review: Bluebeard’s Castle

Megan Amato reviews Bluebeard’s Castle. When I was first given the program for the upcoming International Festival, I immediately clicked yes for Bluebeard’s Castle without much thought.  As a lover of classic fairy tales reimagined through different mediums, I assumed I was in for Bela Bartok’s classic operatic tale of a woman forcing open doors…

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FRINGE REVIEW: FLAMENCO GUITAR ODYSSEY WITH PHILIP ADIE

Rosie Morton reviews Philip Adie’s Flamenco Guitar Odyssey.  ONE man and his guitar. Amidst the madness of The Fringe, it pays to keep things simple. Aberdeen-born Philip Adie, who now lives in Seville, did just that with his ‘Flamenco Guitar Odyssey’. Taking to the stage in Alba Flamenca, an intimate venue on East Crosscauseway, Adie…

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Festival Review: Phaedra/Minotaur

Madeleine Sutton reviews Phaedra/Minotaur at the Edinburgh International Festival. IN THIS production of Phaedra/Minotaur – which pairs Benjamin Britten’s final poignant cantata Phaedra, with the moving new dance piece Minotaur – opera and theatre director Deborah Warner and choreographer Kim Brandstrup take us through themes of passion, female desire, and devastation. Phaedra, based on Robert…

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Fringe Review: Trash Test Dummies

Alister Tenneb reviews Trash Test Dummies at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. THIS acrobatic/circus/slapstick performance essentially revolves around three wheelie bins – doesn’t fill you with delight? The show is geared towards kids ten years and under and judging by the near constant shouts, shrieks, squeals of laughter from their younger attendees they certainly know their…

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Film Review: Isla

Jeremy Welch reviews a new short film called Isla. IT IS without doubt one of the most difficult disciplines in cinema to create a short. A short is defined by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as “an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all…

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Fringe Review: Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt

Alister Tenneb reviews Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I FIRST saw Frank Skinner more than 30 years ago, performing in one of the smallest rooms in the Pleasance Courtyard, a couple of years before he won The Perrier Award. I think there were about five people in the crowd.…

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Fringe Review: Paul Foot: Dissolve

Alister Tenneb reviews Paul Foot: Dissolve at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. PAUL FOOT enters the room and immediately is right up shouting into people’s faces in a pretty full-on manner – possibly it’s his way of laying down the rules for audience engagement. I’m glad not to be on the receiving end of it. He…

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