Pros: A great combination of theatre and history. Cons: More polished storytelling required. When it comes down to walking tours I consider myself an expert – this is my favourite way to get to know a city. That’s why I was very excited to join The Cloak and Dagger Show, a first-time Fringe act with a well-established older sibling in London. The company’s mission is to share with their audience the surviving stories from the Jacobean period that revolve around ...

Pros: Audience engagement through a novel mechanism involving ping pong bats Cons: A muddled, confused plot, riddled with inconsistency The Time Capsule bills itself as a “pick your own adventure” play, in the manner of those books where you make moral or logical choices to determine which page you turn to continue the story. You’re handed a ping pong bat on entering the theatre, one side red, one black. Its purpose is explained through mime: each actor appears in turn, and ...

Pros: The second show, Guy, is enough to make the whole evening worthwhile Cons: With such contrast between the two shows, a question mark has to be put over the decision to schedule these on the same evening The Bunker’s remit is new contemporary theatre, and with its short Breaking Out Season it is certainly meeting that. Six shows rotating over a month is a great introduction to these emerging theatre groups.  Two shows each night, with the chance to ...

Mellifluous, masterly magic presented for your edification by waggish, whiskered, wizards. Suitable for oldlings and younglings alike.

An endearing show which, while it entertains and amuses, educates children and serves as a reminder to the rest of us.

Pros: The poignant stories told by the actors about their experiences of what it means to live with a learning disability. Cons: Too many horror film features makes the set look like a haunted house in an amusement park, undermining the importance of the subject. I would like to make this a democratic review. Yes, I can already see your baffled faces but let me explain before you switch to The Stage. When I left Madhouse Re:Exit I was puzzled. ...

Pros: Funny, witty, and beautifully performed Cons: A couple of sections felt too long Perhaps it’s a cliché, but they do say the English love to talk about the weather. However, they’re not so keen on discussing sexual matters, so Amy Bell’s pairing of these themes in The Forecast might seem a little unusual at first. It works beautifully. Over the course of an hour she navigated issues around gender, identity and sexuality the way one might travel though high ...

Promises a lot, but the audience is never rewarded with a big enough payoff. I left feeling hoodwinked rather than dazzled.

Eight effective short plays with an LGBT+ theme

Pros: A glittery, toe-tapping fun fest which gives you an insight behind the scenes of the world of drag. Cons: We were promised a few tears, but I didn’t shed any. Would have liked to see a little bit more of the struggle in Bonnie’s story. A riot of iconic gay anthems, neon wigs and fistfuls of glitter confetti, this 45-minute performance is the story of Cameron Sharp’s early life and that of his drag alter ego, Bonnie Love. We ...