Following on from my last blog post about all the wonderful shows you can catch this Christmas in Edinburgh, I have now been lucky enough to see three of them and can confirm that they are indeed well worth a visit :

First up, I saw Shark In The Park and it was everything I remembered and loved from seeing it when it was up during the fringe last year (read the full review here )..it had a new cast, but the same old toe tapping, catchy songs and music and plenty of audience participation to  keep little ones engaged.  If you’ve got smaller children, this show is perfectly pitched for them, with some great puppets, lots of familiar phrases from the well loved books and of course shark spotting galore !

Next up was The Arabian Nights, which was certainly a highlight for my daughter….she absolutely loved the idea of ‘a story within a story, within a story, within a story…’ and was gripped by the tales we were treated to. The costumes are beautiful and so is the set design, in this brilliant production which will whisk you away to far off lands and completely entrance you with epic storytelling. At this time of year it’s nice to see something a bit different and get utterly absorbed in all the magic and colour. Humorous, touching and totally gripping – get your seat and get settled in for the journey ahead!

Lastly I saw Shona Reppe’s Cinderella at the Traverse Theatre which is only on until the 24th December. This captivating and gentle re-imagining of the story is simply exquisite ! Every last detail has been carefully thought out – the puppets are filled with emotion, the set is full of clever drawers and openings which continually keep you guessing and the soundscape perfectly accompanies the story, making this one hour show bursting to the seams ! Rick Conte is super talented and brings this production alive with his plethora of voices and facial expressions. I am sure anyone who sees it, like me, will just want it to last even longer  – it’s certainly worth checking out.