4

	New Town Theatre (venue website) Musicals 5 - 29 Aug (not 17), 10:10pm (11:20pm) Reviewed by Lee Zhuo Zhao

The central idea behind Barockestra is nothing new: re-interpreting and arranging classical music into more modern genres, in this case rock. Walter Murphy did it back in the 1970s with disco music – most famously A Fifth of Beethoven, which was used in the film Saturday Night Fever.  I always approach such things with care, since it's all too easy to convince yourself that simply playing some music in a radically different genre is ingenious.  But as soon as lead guitarist, vocalist and general mastermind of Barockestra, Steve Grant, launches into his guitar solo arrangement of Flight of the Bumblebee, I realised there was nothing to fear.

3

	Gilded Balloon Teviot (venue website) Theatre 4-30 Aug (not 16), 2:30pm (3:30pm) Reviewed by Susannah Radford

When you think of a circus, you imagine a big top filled with an array of clowns and acrobats and a devil-may-care daring, as trapeze artists fly through the air and mere mortals tame lions whilst simultaneously flirting with death - you’ve got to wonder where the humble vegetable fits into this organised chaos.  With Cirque de Légume it takes centre stage, as two idiotic clowns take us through some familiar (and unfamiliar) circus routines equipped with a veritable variety of vegetables.

4

	Opium Comedy 7 - 28 Aug (not 16), 7:45pm (8:35pm) Reviewed by Craig Thomson

What if pirate radio was run by and for pirates?  That's the initial premise which Jollyboat use to hook their audience, before charting a course through a vast repertoire of laughter, sadness, magic, thrills, and more laughter.

3

	Underbelly, Cowgate (venue website) Theatre 15 Aug, 11:30am (12:30pm) Reviewed by Richard Stamp

A mournfully haunting chant opens The Changeling, a flawed but thought-provoking exploration of the power of companionship and sacrifice.  In a city on the brink of chaos, two strangers are forced together: one who’s lost his job and his sweetheart, and another who’ll soon lose his very life.  As the world they know crumbles around them, their new-found friendship offers the last vestige of hope.  Bernard, perhaps, can save the dying Fred – but at what cost to his own chance of salvation?