Festival Coordinators TRISH MEEHAN and DODIE WEPPLER introduce some of the highlights of Screen Cuba Film Festival 2025
Hit and miss
DAVID NICHOLSON samples two plays – one funny, one unfunny – that will open at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
STEVE JOHNSON recommends that you catch an unforgettable tribute to Woody Guthrie
MARJORIE MAYO recommends a punchy demonstration of the the way class politics are being fragmented by the right
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Last Breath, Sister Midnight, Opus, and The Electric State
HENRY BELL is moved by the account of scientists under seige in Leningrad who preferred to starve rather than sacrifice their life-saving work
Moscow Love Story/Polly and Esther
Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
TWO drag acts, Polly and Esther (★★★★), trying out their material in Cardiff before they head to the Edinburgh Fringe was an absolute joyous evening at the Sherman Theatre.
Twm Bollen-Molloy and Luke Hereford are Polly Amorous and Esther Parade and the evening starts with two cloaked and darkened figures talking to each other like macabre sister witches from Macbeth.
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The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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DAVID NICHOLSON is disappointed by a show that fails to engage its target audience
DAVID NICHOLSON, eight-year-old BEHATI and nine-year-old SKYLAR applaud a hilarious production that doesn’t ignore the social message
EWAN CAMERON savours the global diversity of the Fringe, from Chinese storytelling to Norse pro wrestling
EWAN CAMERON negotiates the fringe to pick out some of the best political shows