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The ten best shows of the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe*
*Out of the 68 shows this exhausted arts journalist has seen so far. Plus: news and views on the festival elsewhere.
 • Fergus Morgan
Five years of The Crush Bar. Twelve weeks without it.
Should I stop writing about theatre? What shows should you see while I am away? Do you have any recommendations for South East Asia? All that and more…
 • Fergus Morgan
Enough about this f**king bear already
Sorry, can you explain to me again how they have made Paddington work on stage? Is David Harewood's third Othello any good? What's the best Shakespeare…
 • Fergus Morgan
Trigger warnings are not the problem. The conversation around them is.
Something odd is happening at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Plus: the reviews of Unicorn, a tough chat with Brian Cox, and the stigmatisation of solo…
 • Fergus Morgan
As a theatre journalist, you see the industry at its optimistic best and exploitative worst
Could we have one without the other? Was it worth staging Sondheim's last musical? Has technology in theatre gone too far? All in this week's issue of…
 • Fergus Morgan
Please leave this bear alone
Do we really need a Paddington musical? Is Conor McPherson's first play in twelve years any good? How does a theatre season come together? All in this…
 • Fergus Morgan
The curious case of Stereophonic
Is durational drama welcome in the West End? Is Alice Birch's exploration of masculinity any good? Is the RSC outcompeting the NT? All in this week's…
 • Fergus Morgan
Shouts and Murmurs - December 17, 2024
How Simon Russell Beale convinced me to keep writing about theatre. Plus: the best theatre writing elsewhere.
 • Fergus Morgan
What is with all these terrible Greek tragedies starring Hollywood A-listers?
Plus: Asa Butterfield's impresses on his stage debut, Tom Hiddleston and Haley Atwell give the blandest interview ever, and David Hare is at it again…
 • Fergus Morgan
My hope for 2026? For theatres to be free to make theatre again.
How can Margaret Hodge's ACE review help on that front? Why did some British critics not enjoy Oh, Mary!? Is "theater kid" actually an insult? All that…
 • Fergus Morgan
What is with all these plays about men behaving badly?
Some messy thoughts about Manhunt, Giant and Punch. An excellent interview with Conor McPherson. An oral history of Sondheim's last musical. All in this…
 • Fergus Morgan
Tynan on Stoppard, P*ddington The Musical, and the exploding world of audio
Will we ever adjectivise a playwright's surname again? Oh no, they loved it, didn't they? Which Harry Potter star did a baby voice to me on Zoom? All…
 • Fergus Morgan
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