Info on Reviews of Shows at the 2008 Festival

The main objectives of this page are to:

• tell you where you can find reviews on the web
• provide a summary of those shows which have scored most marks with the critics
• detail some of this year’s awards
• provide links to selected Visual Arts, Jazz & Blues and Film festival reviews.

Where to Find 2008 Reviews

There are a plethora of sources to satisfy even the most voracious consumer of reviews. Of course the critics vary from the professional to the semi-pro, the student, the enthusiastic theatregoer ... and all shades in between.

Scotsman
Guardian
Times
Herald International Festival and Fringe
EdinburghGuide.com
Chortle (comedy)
FringeReview
Independent
BroadwayBaby
Fest
OnstageScotland
The Stage
BritishTheatreGuide
The List
Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
Blog - viewfromthestalls
ThreeWeeks

Most Critically Acclaimed Shows

Let me start off by stating the obvious: there are many enjoyable shows which never make these lists. We have seen many “minor classics” in Edinburgh over the years that went largely unnoticed by the critics. Indeed, we have a number of shows in our planned schedule for this year that have had little publicity during the “preview season”. So, do not be a complete slave to reviews: listen to the “word on the street” and perhaps try something different – you might be pleasantly surprised.

The minimum requirement to get onto the following lists is that a show must have had a minimum of three reviews … which is not easy.

The lists reflected the state of play on Thursday morning, 21st August 2008. One further entry was added on Thursday 28th August 2008 - the opera Krol Roger.

Theatre (Drama & Musicals): Once and for all we are going to tell you who we are so shut up and listen, 4:48 Psychosis, Scaramouche Jones, Aluminum Show, New Electric Ballroom, Architecting, Deep Cut, Nocturne, Free Outgoing, Footsbarn's Midsummer Night's Dream, A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle, The Tailor of Inverness, The Vanishing Point, The Idiot Colony, On the Waterfront, Weights, Auditorium, In a Thousand pieces, Faulty Towers and the Dining Experience, Lie of the Land, Motherland, Crocosmia, Stefan Golaszewski Speaks about a Girl He Once Loved and Simon Callow - A Festival Dickens.

Comedy: La Clique, 66a Church Road, Rhod Gilbert, David O'Doherty, Jason Byrne, Amsterdam Underground Comedy Collective Presents Hans Teeuwen/Micha Wertheim, Jamie Kilstein, Russell Kane, Alun Cochrane, Richard Herring, Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler, Idiots of Ants 2008, Ed Byrne, Jimeon on Ice, Lady Garden, Aeneas Faversham, Office Party, Pajama Men:Versus vs Versus, Ivan Brackenberry, John Pinette, Andrew Maxwell, Jon Richardson, John Gordillo and Frank Woodley.

Dance & Physical Theatre: Bale de Rua, Holdin Fast, Todos los Gatos son Pardos, Scottish Dance Theatre and Caesar Twins.

Music and Opera: Krol Roger, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chant Wars.

2008 Awards

There is an ever-growing number of awards at the festival.

The Scotsman Fringe First awards for new writing. The winners are announced during each week of the Fringe. The week one winners were: Enda Walsh's New Electric Ballroom, Sherman Cymru's Deep Cut, Architecting, Stefan Golaszewski Speaks About a Girl He Once Loved and The Tailor of Inverness. The week two winners were: Daniel Kitson's 66a Church Road, Mark O'Rowle's Terminus, The Caravan, Itsoseng, In a Thousand Pieces, Paperweight, Eight and Motherland. Final week 3 winners: Crocosmia, In Conflict, Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen, Slick and The Idiot Colony.

The Glasgow Herald Angel awards are also announced weekly during the festival. Week 1: the Archangel award to Enda Walsh's New Electric Ballroom; Angel awards to Sherman Cymru's Deep Cut, Adam Rapp's Nocturne, Enclosure 44 - Humans, Bale de Rua, Dream of Cat and the Richard Hamilton exhibition at Inverleith House. Week 2: the Archangel award to Bill Kyle (Jazz Bar); Angel awards to Once and for all we are going to tell you who we are so shut up and listen, The African Children's Choir, The State Ballet of Georgia, Song and Civilization series of concerts in Greyfriars Kirk, Polish performer Magdalena Cielecka (in Dybbuk and 4:48 Psychosis) and Scottish Opera (for The Two Widows). Week 3: Archangel award to Zoo Southside for dance and physical theatre; Rosas; Roby Lakatos; Looking at Tazieh; The Fooligan; My Friend the Chocolate Cake; and Forest Fringe. Week 4: Archangel award to Eileen O'Reilly (Fringe liaison officer); Fiona Bradley (director of the Fruitmarket Gallery); Susie Honeyman (curator from the Grey Gallery); Matthew Bourne; conductor Valerie Gergiev; and Ivan Fisher and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Intelligent Finance’s if.comedy awards (which replaced the Perrier awards in 2006): David O'Doherty (main award) and Sarah Millican (best newcomer).

The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence at the Fringe: Ciaran McIntyre for Deep Cut (best actor); Rhian Blythe for Deep Cut (best actress); Live Theatre for Motherland (best ensemble); and Matthew Zajac for The Tailor of Inverness (best solo performer).

The Carol Tambor Edinburgh to New York award: Edinburgh University Theatre Company for Eight.

Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression award: Deep Cut

Total Theatre awards: Ontroerend Goed, Kopergiettery & Richard Jordon Productions at Traverse Theatre for Once and For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen (experimentation and innovation); Little Bulb Theatre for Crocosmia (graduate company); Puppet State Theatre Company for The Man Who Planted Trees (story theatre); Redcape Theatre for The Idiot Colony (visual theatre); THE TEAM and National Theatre of Scotland Workshop for Architecting (young company); and Footsbarn Touring Theatre (significant contribution to physical and visual Theatre).

Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) award: Belt Up.

Arches Brick award for emerging talent: Little Bulb Theatre for Crocosmia and Paper Cinema and Kora for The Night Flyer.

FringeReview awards for outstanding theatre shows. Lynn Manning for Weights and the cast of Office Party.

Jack Tinker Spirit of the Fringe award. Award shared by The World@St. George's West venue and Motherland.

Holden Street award: The Tailor of Inverness.

Other awards include: Malcolm Hardee award for comedy, Edinburgh Evening News drama awards, Three Weeks editor's awards and Allen Wright award for young journalists.

Art Festival

Foto: Modernity in Central Europe 1918-1945 gets very good reviews in the Guardian, Times, FT and The List.

Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 reviews can be found in the Scotsman and The List.

Impressionism and Scotland: a very brief review has appeared in the Scotsman (21st July 2008), followed by a longer piece in Scotland on Sunday (27th July 2008). A solid review appeared in the FT (2nd August 2008) which was belatedly followed by one in the Telegraph (19th August 2008).

Tracey Emin: 20 years. Several pseudo-reviews floating around in the Times, Guardian, Scotland on Sunday and Independent.