FUNNY SHOWS 

Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It | Soho Theatre | 7-26 Sep (pictured)
How about we start with some funny shows this week, to fill your early September with laughs? And let’s make them shows that very recently won lots of fans in Edinburgh. Our reviewer loved this one by the critically acclaimed Fringe First winners Xhloe & Natasha, and so did everyone else frankly. Clowny, funny, Brechtian theatre about conspiracy and misdirection. Click here. 

Crybabies: The Scaring | Soho Theatre | 3-26 Sep
Also very fresh from the Fringe, another outfit who are very popular with our reviewers, and everyone else too. The Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated sketch group stage this “terrifying tale” about a priest who stays at a remote hotel where he teams up with the ghost of a long dead guest while a Norman Bates style manager looks on. Find out more here. 

Lou Wall: Where Are All The Tall Grandmas | Park Theatre | 7-8 Sep
This is one of a few comedy sets you can see at Park Theatre over the coming weeks, all of which I’d like you or me to see, to be honest. I picked this one because I love the title, and you definitely should go, but also maybe consider the excellent Lara Ricote, the fabulous Em Humble and the brilliant Olga Koch.  But get your tickets here for the amazing Lou Wall as soon as is humanly possible. 

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FESTIVAL SHOWS 

The Obituary | Jack Studio Theatre | 8-9 Sep (pictured)
Yay, we still have festivals to talk about! I am so glad. First up, something from the previously tipped SE Fest: a play about an East Asian family that looks at migration and cross cultural identity, and sees three siblings returning to their family home prior to its demolition where they must sort out decades worth of “belongings, resentments and conflicting memories”. More here.

Giulio Cesare in Egitto | Arcola Theatre | 2-5 Sep
A final tip for the wonderful Grimeborn opera fest over at Arcola Theatre, which ends shortly after a lovely summer of singing. This is an intimate staging of Handel’s ‘Giulio Cesare In Egitto’ from New Trinity Baroque, performed by an international cast and chamber orchestra on period instruments. Expect political intrigue and seduction, because – of course – it’s about Caesar and Cleopatra. Info here.  

A Catalan Fairytale | The Cockpit Theatre | 8 Sep
So, it’s really sad that Grimeborn is ending, but the good news is that a different opera festival gets going this week, Tête à Tête. I think ‘A Catalan Fairytale’ sounds amazing. “Discover the magic of Catalunya through a triptych of fairytales! Come wander misty mountain ranges, fight prickly dragons and watch magical dragonflies take flight”. Yay, I’m up for that. Find out more about it here.

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SHORT STOPS 

The Love That I’ve Lost | The Hope Theatre | 8-9 Sep
Okay, three short-ish runs for you now and I am only sorry they are not on for longer! First up is ‘The Love That I’ve Lost’, which is about three women who are fed up with love and things not going their way in this respect, who get together for a ‘Galentine’s Day’ to help with their loneliness and end up exploring what love really means. Read more about it here. 

Pocket Revolution | Camden People’s Theatre | 3-4 Sep   
“Sitting in a police interrogation room after running someone over, Lucy tries to explain what happened – though she is not sure if it was an accident, if the man is dead or if her version of events is even true”. A darkly comic one person play exploring survival, guilt and how we create new narratives when reality is too hard to face. Head to the venue website here to get your tickets. 

Oil And Whisky | Old Red Lion Theatre | 3-19 Sep (pictured)
This isn’t that short a run, actually, but it’s shorter than any of the runs that are in the longer runs section, and that’s how it ended up here. Another one fresh from the Fringe, it’s a ‘dramedy’ musical about two exes who meet for a drink and relive their relationship over whisky, created by Nashville-based producer, musician and songwriter Kit Nolan. Expect “an authentic country rock cabaret concert”. More here. 

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LONGER RUNS 

Under The Influence | King’s Head Theatre | 8-26 Sep  (pictured)
Another musical show! A lot of that this week, when you think about all the opera too. Anyway, this one is identical twin duo Carine and Frances Gilbert, social media stars originally based in Toronto, and who return to their musical theatre roots in this, which, like many of the shows we recommend, had a successful run at edfringe last month. Find out more and book your tickets here.

Darkling | Bush Theatre | 5 Sep-24 Oct 
“Born under a blue sky in a city of lakes, a girl grows up with her father and sister. The three of them together, always. But as she grows, the land begins to change. A giant factory rises over her town. Then comes the night that tears everything apart”. Set in Bhopal in India in 1984, ‘Darkling’ by Titas Halder tells the story of a life affected by ecological disaster. All the details here. 

Annie Wobbler (Revisited) | Finborough Theatre | 2-26 Sep 
Arnold Wesker wrote the original ‘Annie Wobbler’ for his friend, the excellent Nichola McAuliffe, back in 1981, and now the actress returns with this new version of the play cycle “for the 21st Century”. Imagine 1981 being forty five years ago. That’s making me feel very old. But anyway, this will be excellent, and you can read lots more about it right about here.