Until very recently, I had never actually been to the King's. I'd been to the Playhouse, Festival,…read moreLyceum and Traverse theatres, but not the King's. Time to change that. On Wednesday, I came here to see the new touring production of Dracula, and it was fantastic. The cast, costumes, set and lighting design, down to the special effects all felt like the spectacle of a West End production. It did not feel like a touring production at all, and I can assure that if you catch it on tour, you won't be disappointed. The King's itself is a gorgeous theatre, if not slightly dated. The actual auditorium is beautiful, with a glorious domed ceiling and beautiful ornate box seating areas, but I thought the bar and foyer areas seemed a bit pokey. The theatre is due to close for a major refurbishment in 2021, so hopefully they'll do something about the foyer. The prices for programmes, ice creams, drinks etc are the usual for theatres - slightly overpriced. The in-house programmes are £3.50 which I think is quite a good deal, as the programme for Dracula had a gorgeous design and contained lots of information about the show. I'd imagine that the contents will vary between productions. Ice cream is £3 which is a bit of a rip off to be honest, but it's S Luca so you know you're paying for quality. There is a Scotmid across the street if you want to be cheap. Most theatres tend to have a supermarket chain around the corner, I guess to make trade off anyone who doesn't want to pay extortionate bar prices. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the King's and I can't wait to come back to see some more top notch plays!

I saw a few shows there and I always like to go back for more, not only because I really like this…read moreold theater inside and out. The interior and exterior are both mystic and spooky in its own way. Being one of the last to leave after a show really lets you explore this place. Walk up and down the stairs and take in the presence of old time past. Apparently the theater was founded around 1850 and pretty much still display ,or seem to, all its original features: boisterous chandeliers, large stair cases, red carpets and curtains, amazing architecture and lustrous statues. It is is also true that the seats are not the most comfortable or that it is not always easy to see the screen with people sitting infront of you or that the downstairs hallways are quite tight and could cause claustrophobic feelings. But this should not be a reason to miss out on a spectacular show only because you are not into old places.

Keep an eye out for all sorts of shows by independent performers: comedy, magic, fire, etc.. The…read moreEdinburgh Festival Fringe is a joyous annual event that happens every August. Short street performances are spread throughout the city, particularly centering around the Royal Mile. We were unlucky with the weather in that it was pouring rain the day we visited. And so it was difficult to find shows as well as for the entertainers who had to stall until a large enough crowd had gathered. For the ones that we did stop to watch, they were quite enjoyable.

I happened to be visiting Edinburgh for a college reunion during the time of the Fringe Festival,…read moreso after meeting up with my friends at the airport, we all headed to the Royal Mile (which I fondly started calling the High Mile on account of its elevation and because so many people were high on life, drugs or alcohol!) to soak in the atmosphere. And what an atmosphere it was! Full of buskers, mimes, musicians, and eclectic acts - from Japanese pop to American tap dancing to an Eastern European theatre group performing a moving play about Jewish children interned at a Nazi concentration camp. It was a warm and sunny afternoon and the crowd was out in force, and I could clearly see the shimmering blue waters of the Firth of Forth in the distance. After stopping by for a wonderful meal of haggis and salmon and IPA at the Whiski Bar and Restaurant (different review for that one), we plunged back into the creativity and madness, enjoying the magical experience that's the Fringe!

We went to see the new musical Wild Rose on its second night in The Lyceum Theatre. What a lovely…read moresurprise. The front is modern, it is lovely organised, but the real surprise is inside. This is a lovely little theatre and makes for an intimate performance but at the same time it looks marvellous. A very nice place to enjoy a great performance.

The lion king at Londons lyceum theatre is the best show in London right now I cried most of the…read moreway through it the actors dancers sets staging music just every aspect of the show is fantastic every body concerned with that show deserves an award the highest that can be given in the feild of theatre i hope it runs forever i will never see it again but the memory of that wonderful night will live in my heart forever thank you thank you thankyou to all concerned the best night of my life

During term time, Bedlam is home to the University's theatre society and so I've seen a handful of…read moreplays here during my time as a student. The nice way of putting it, is that it's much more casual and informal than most other theatre venues. Alternatively, I could just call a spade a spade and point out that it's a bit rough round the edges and shabby, from the toilets to the makeshift café/bar area which reminds me of a church hall where people run playgroups for toddlers. Because of this, on the plus side it means that tickets for shows here are often very good value and on top of that the fact that it's quite small means that it often attracts a lot of new, not-yet-known acts during the Festival.

The greatest charm about Bedlam Theatre is that you never really know what it is that you are going…read moreto get when you go there to see a performance (even knowing what performance is on doesn't quite tell you what you are in for). All the plays are put on by students (mostly those doing performing arts degrees, but I'm sure there are some exceptions) and many of them involve at least some degree of improvisation. Some of the visitors from abroad may not quite get all the jokes on offer, but for all it is well worth a visit and does make for a good night out. Not only is it reasonably priced, but this is the grass roots of theatre - real theatre. It has all the charms of a street theatre interwoven will all the atmosphere of a theatre of fixed abode - a winner all round. I still remember my first visit here, to see the Improverts, and it was genuinely funny. Beyond saying it will be a good laugh and night out I cannot recommend it more highly.

The couple that work here are great . Lost my tickets and she got it all sorted for me to get into…read moreconcert

Wow. If you want to buy tickets for a gig, without a doubt Tickets Scotland is the place to go…read more Situated in Rose Street, Tickets Scotland is right in the centre of the city and it is just around the corner from the main shopping street in Edinburgh, Princes Street, and so it is a convenient place to reach. This is the place I always go to every year to buy my T in the Park ticket and I am never disappointed, as one year I left it super late and I phoned up asking for tickets thinking they were going to laugh in my face, but it turns out they had spares - win!! They sell their tickets at the RRP which is good as it means you don't get scammed into buying a ridiculously expensive ticket so it is definitely a safe option to buy your tickets from this store. Tickets Scotland sell a huge range of tickets for concerts and festivals, and I walked past the store the other day and noticed that they are now selling tickets for the Cream Fields Festival. If you want a safe and reliable place to buy concert tickets, Tickets Scotland is without a doubt the best place to go.

The world-famous Spiegel Tent only exists in Edinburgh during the Fringe, and it's hard to describe…read moreexactly what it is. It occupies the George Square Gardens in the centre of the uni campus, so it immediately has lovely surrounding with all the greenery. The first and most obvious of its functions is as a beer garden. Although with it being the festival you do pay stupid amounts for a pint out of a plastic cup, it's worth it here as the atmosphere is always so good. Thats because there's always something going on in the various sideshows and mini theatres dotted around the edge of the square - think Moulin Rouge-esque circus type stalls and shows with all sorts of weird and wonderful things, a little auditorium with twice-daily shows, more portaloos than is really necessary and a huge outdoor pub in the middle of it. Surprisingly, this is a bit of a celebrity magnet. For some reason, I've seen Kevin Spacey here every single time I've come here for a pint and friends have said they've seen various other famous people. It's definitely both weird and wonderful in equal measure, but you can't come to the Fringe and not go to the Spiegeltent.

Oh my God it's Kevin Spacey! Fiona's right! Kevin freakin Spacey. Not just some lame, half-arsed…read moreBritish comedian. Kevin 'Kaizer Soze' Spacey, the dean of Hollywood. However..... if you're not interested in seeing Kevin Spacey you should pay a visit to the Spiegel Garden anyway. It's a fantastic drinking venue, especially after night fall. And it stays open till some ludicrous hour in the morning too. Being the festival, expect to pay festival prices (£3.80 for a pint of Guinness?!) but it's worth it for the atmosphere - it's absolutely electric. During the afternoon they have a few acts on, a few bands that no one listens to and the like but it's night time when it's happening. This place is what the festival is all about. They also have a interesting cabaret type shows on late on, worth a look. Oh and Kevin Spacey drinks there.

Although the original building wasn't designed for it, the Festival Theatre is now the largest…read morestage in Scotland and is the de facto home for opera, ballet and large scale touring musical productions. Seating just a shade under 2,000 people, it also serves as the main showcase venue during the Edinburgh Festival (as you might expect from the name). This location has held a theatre since 1830, and is Edinburgh's oldest theatre site. Resurrected from the old Empire Palace theatre, the restoration involved preservation of the auditorium and not much else. The front of house was replaced by a light, airy glass-fronted façade which, while not exactly sympathetic to the surrounding buildings, is at least an exciting addition to the area. Inside there are spacious foyers, bars, cloakrooms and a cafe area, with a central staircase providing access to all levels. There are plenty of toilets and some function rooms that you can hire for conferences or events.The contrast between this modern structure and the traditional auditorium is quite startling. The backstage area was completely rebuilt from scratch, and the actual stage is enormous - the largest in Scotland - with a side stage and rear scene dock of similar size, enabling it to stage some of the larger European operas that come to the Edinburgh Festival. In 2013 they added a Studio theatre in a new building on Potterrow, providing extra rehearsal space or a smaller performance venue for dance and small companies - a welcome addition and much needed in Edinburgh. Now, a little bit of history for you: The Moss Empires were a chain of theatres around the country, known for their large-capacity wide auditoriums, and many of them still exist, such as the Liverpool and Hackney Empires, and of course there was the infamous (and now sadly vanished) Glasgow Empire. In style they are all quite similar and can seem quite plain architecturally, favouring function over form, compared with some of the smaller more intimate theatres. This particular theatre was originally designed by the renowned (and prolific) theatre architect Frank Matcham; but you would be hard-pressed to recognise any of the characteristic Matcham features, as the building burned to the ground in a disastrous fire in 1911 during a performance by the famous illusionist, The Great Lafayette. Although the safety curtain was lowered, a piece of set prevented it from coming in fully, causing a draught which fanned the fire into an inferno killing Lafayette, ten members of his company, the lion involved in the illusion he was performing, his horse and some stage crew who were unable to escape the stage as Lafayette had ordered all the doors to the stage locked to prevent unwanted interlopers discovering his secrets. His body was soon found in the wreckage and sent to Glasgow for cremation. Two days later however, workers clearing the debris found an identical body, identified as Lafayette by the fancy rings he wore - the original body found was his secret body double, his means of performing many of his illusions. Or was it? Some say that the first body was the correct one, and that his shade haunts the theatre to this day because of the mix-up... His funeral procession through the streets of Edinburgh attracted an estimated crowd of 250,000 people, and he was laid to rest in Piershill cemetery. Because of this tragic accident, legislation was passed requiring all theatres to drop and/or lift the safety curtain at each performance in sight of the audience, just to prove that it is functioning correctly. So the next time you are at the theatre and see the safety curtain being lowered, spare a thought for The Great Lafayette, a real-life tragedy more dramatic than any play.

A great program of both mainstream theatre and more unusual performances such as circus, ballet and…read moreopera. I'm aiming to see at least one new piece of theatre each month this year so I've been here quite a bit because the programme is so good. The building itself is impressive with a glass front so you can people watch from all levels, my favourite is the first floor bar area. Being a relatively modern building there are a good number of ladies toilets so you don't end up spending the whole interval in the queue and still have time to get ice cream. The seats in the theatre are not that comfortable but are OK for most length performances. If you are planning on going to more than two or three shows a year it's worth while becoming a 'friend' of the festival and kings theatre for £39. You get 2 for 1 tickets on most opening nights plus 20% off other performances and discounts in various nearby restaurants. Plus you can book in advance so with some careful planning you can book 18 months of theatre with one year's membership.

It's a typical lecture theatre at the University. I find leg room to be insufficient, but I am…read morequite tall, so this is a common problem. The tables provided at each seat are also not great: unstable and small. The building is very ugly, though maybe it has some architectural value. I don't know. In terms of positives, it's a big theatre. It can be used for large class sizes, but also for big external events. I've taken part in things as varied as a chemistry lecture, a public seminar by a prominent international diplomat, and the tryouts for University Challenge. George Square Lecture Theatre is definitely a venue with a lot of potential uses.

I have used the George Square Lecture theatre for many of my subjects whilst at Edinburgh…read moreUniversity. It is used for large classes as it can seat up to nearly 500 hundred people. The lecture theatres is one of the best I have experienced whilst here and is the most modern at the university. There is ample leg room and there is also a fold up desk for every seat for note taking. The only bad thing is that as the entrance to the seating area is at the front, when you walk in, everyone sees you, which can be pretty embarrassing if you come trawling in 20 minutes late to a lecture. Due to the vast size of the lecture theatre, it is also used to stage theatre presentations as well as public lectures with guest speakers. During the festival it is also utilised for various concert and theatrical performances.

Hips Tits Lips…read moreArt Food Drink Cabaret & Conversation As the cheeky title suggests, The Naked Brunch is an Edinburgh Festival Fringe event that includes nudity, art, theatre, circus and dance. Premiered at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2009, it's hosted by performance artist and costume designer Natalie Bak and includes a group of cabaret artists from Oz and Scotland. The event takes place at 11am on Friday 27 August 2010 and is expected to last 2-3 hours. Tickets cost £22 in advance and can be bought through the Fringe box office or venue (Performing Arts Centre at Stewart's Melville College). Clearly aimed at fellow artists, performers and exhibitionists, the catch is that 'the audience' have to leave their clothes at the door too. The only question is, are you brave enough?