Edinburgh

On the Royal Mile, all kinds of performances are advertised by the actors in costume.  We saw this one for Hamlet: House of Horror, and we loved the music, took a flyer, and planned to attend.

The girls dancing to the music had just given a preview for another show, I think.  They were having a great time!


Hamlet: House of Horror was one of the best shows (and that isn't an easy choice as we enjoyed all of them!) shows we saw in Edinburgh.  It was a thrilling musical adaptation of Hamlet that was fascinating from beginning to the tableaux at the conclusion!

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After the show, we were having a drink in the courtyard.  After a while, two of the cast members, Claudius (George Rowell) and Hortatio (Hugh Pickering), and  George's mother came down for a drink, too.  We asked if they minded if we took some pictures, and they were so sweet and friendly!  Below, George rolled down his sleeves and fastened the cuffs, and Hugh prepared to take out the ponytail and fluff his hair straight up.  We weren't asking to disrupt their comfortable evening, but they insisted.

Then they volunteered to pose with Erin and Amelia, who-- grown women that they are-- were as thrilled as teenagers.

They were all trying to look evil.  The show is an active one and the makeup (which takes hours to apply) has a bit of a melted look.

Hugh and George stayed and had a drink with us, filling us in on a lot of stuff about the show.  Hamlet (Louis Lunts) stopped by for a minute on his way out.  The show was wonderful, but it was especially nice to know that the cast is wonderful, too!

We saw The Curse of Macbeth on our last night;  it also had interesting staging, but somehow, just missed the mark.  Not that we didn't enjoy it, but despite the intriguing use of the mirrors and the witches, the actors didn't seem to relate to each other.  It was adapted and directed by Max Barton, who played the ghost in Hamlet: House of Horrors.  The play was innovative and creative, and we liked the music, too.

 We saw ten shows, maybe eleven in all.  The Real MacGuffin's  Skitsophrenic was very funny and included audience interaction.

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, another audience participation piece, was a lot of fun.  An hour long interactive training seminar teaching ways to survive the imminent Zombie Apocalypse, the "seminar" involved choosing the correct answer to questions.  I survived longer than Erin and Amelia, but only by one question.  We were woefully unprepared for the Apocalypse, but we did learn a few useful tips.  Overall, a great time!  Although, we did wish that we had survived....

The Kidnapper's Guide was entertaining and funny, with some charming actors.

Poor Jerry-- when incompetent kidnappers discover that no one wants him back, Jerry takes over the kidnapping.

The acting was more natural and the actors were all cute and funny (I especially liked the saucy salsa senorita, Carmen!).  We thought they were American,  their accents were so good, and we were surprised to discover they were from the University of Birmingham.

We arrived too late for dinner at the Sheep's Heid Inn, but enjoyed a half pint of Tennant's!

All in all, a great trip with some great shows, a tour of the underground vaults, a visit to the National Museum, and some wonderful meals!