The Broad Reviews was launched in Summer 2022. We hope this part of  The Broad's Creatives section will interest anyone wanting to review literature / art / music / festivals and events / films and TV / theatre, in Edinburgh and beyond!

For more information, or to pitch an idea, please get in touch at thebroadcreatives@gmail.com 

Edinburgh University Footlights, Talk It Out Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Last Friday (March 20th 2026) I exploited my privileges as a reviewer for this publication to take my friend to a much needed therapy session - a self-help group gathering at Pleasance Theatre. While this might not sound like a traditional ‘girls night out’ activity, The Edinburgh University Footlights’ newest production   made therapy seem like an outrageously good time. In addition to mental health, Talk It Out

Edinburgh University Theatre Company, The Importance of Being Earnest Rating: ★ ★ ★.5 After encountering Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest  one is met with the realisation that more cannot be asked from a comedy: it has pace, it has drama, it has eccentric characters engaging in clever wordplay, it has twists and turns that satisfyingly culminate in a truly absurd conclusion. Yet with so much comedic brilliance embedded into the text, Wilde’s play is incredibly de

EUTC, The Seagull Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5 In the knowledge that this production of The Seagull  has nabbed the title for highest grossing Bedlam play of the season, it’s fair to say that expectations going into this were high; and that they did not disappoint. It is no small endeavour to take on a Chekhov play. The first of his four major plays, The Seagull  is ambitious in theme; set within rural Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, a sprawl of interconnecting characters d

EUSC, Romeo and Juliet Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ Putting on a play as iconic as Romeo and Juliet is no mean feat, and I entered Pleasance Theatre wondering how Salvador Kent – directing his debut Shakespeare play – and assistant director Florrie Prichard Jones would handle the four-hundred year-old material. Fortunately, the EUSC’s production was bold and blood-soaked, showcasing imagination while remaining (mostly) reverent towards the text.   Strong actors made up a complimentary cas

Edinburgh University Footlights, Kiss Me, Kate Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5 On Thursday night, we were treated to ‘another op’nin’ of another show’ of the Edinburgh University Footlights’ production of Kiss Me, Kate at Church Hill Theatre, and what a show it was! Cole Porter’s 1948 musical based on The Taming of the Shrew  was brought alive by an incredibly talented cast, band and crew, with almost too many standout moments to name. Every aspect of the production delivered, and director

EUSOG, Into The Woods Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5 Across four midnights (and a matinee) Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group (EUSOG) transported audiences Into the Woods . A tapestry of dynamic storylines, complex characters, and intricate musical numbers, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s monumental collaboration poses a challenge for any production. A challenge that this young, student-led team tackles with drive, professionalism, and creativity. As a result, co-directors Tai Rem

Jeanette Winterson, One Aladdin Two Lamps (Penguin Books, 2025) Jeanette Winterson’s new novel is a bold frenzy of interconnected narratives, embracing the  power of imagination and of storytelling amid the age of AI I am not a religious person, but attending Jeanette Winterson’s recent book launch   was perhaps the closest I’ve come to a religious experience. Gathering in St George’s Church on a stormy mid-November evening, I felt once again inspired by the narrative geniu

Lily Allen, West End Girl (2025) Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ In five months’ time, I will be turning 22. These double digits are sold to young women as our most fun and frivolous age, the last hurrah of our girlhoods before reality kicks in. Think Taylor Swift, her girl squad, and that bloody black fedora. It is an image that I aspired to for a long time, an image promising freedom, spontaneity, and messiness. And it was okay to indulge this fantasy because, when the clock struck twelve

Illustrations by Grace McKenna Venue: Edinburgh University Film Society (Upper Hall, Pleasance) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Playtime follows the bumbling Monsieur Hulot—among other characters—as they navigate a hyper-consumerist Paris in a variety of sketches. It is made up of six segments: (1) the airport, (2) the offices, (3) the trade exhibition, (4) the apartments, (5) the restaurant, and (6) the roundabout. Being made up of such a wide range of sketches, it’s difficult to explain the plo

EUTC, Immaculate Rating: ★★★★ The second coming of Christ came to Bedlam Theatre this Halloweekend, and it was so very fun.  Having premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 20 years ago, Immaculate is about Mia (Eve Nugent), a young woman who wakes up six months pregnant. Mia is someone who finds everyday life banal, so she instead became a dominatrix/mistress/sex-worker – whatever you’d like to call it. The catch is, she doesn’t have sex with any of her clients; in fact, s