Edinburgh Playhouse

The Playhouse is a high quality venue bringing in some of the biggest musicals touring around the country. There are also regular concerts and similar one-​off shows. Some of my favourite memories of the Playhouse involve seeing the stunning Russian State Ballet perform. I believe they return every year, so there’s plenty of opportunity to see that beautiful cultural experience as well.
Although I’m not a huge fan of musicals, the quality is generally good here. I’ve seen a couple of shows, and always enjoyed the quality of performance. Nice big selection of seats covering all price ranges, though better student prices would be welcomed. :)

The Playhouse is the theatre in Edinburgh that gets most of the touring West End musicals so the program is usually good.
The theatre itself is ok but some things could be better. The sight lines are great from most seats and they clearly state if they aren’t. The restricted leg room seats are just about OK for me but I’m only 5ft 2 so don’t have that long legs.
There aren’t enough ladies toilets so you always have to queue and they could do with a refurbishment.
The bars are typically theatre bars, expensive with not a lot of choice but there are enough bars close by that you can finish a drink next door 5 minutes or so before curtain up and still make it to your seat in time.

I love the Fringe and seeing up and coming bands and shows so I actually have never been to the Playhouse, until last week and WOW — it’s big! I had seats near the back of the circle and had a full view of the stage but it was far and the actors looked fairly small. In fact, it made me curious what the view would be like from the balcony (next tier up). I had a wander down the side to the front of the circle and looked up — the balcony stretched up for miles! Note to self — don’t buy seats up there unless I bring binoculars! (actually you can hire them at your seat for a pound — which may be a necessity in some seats).
But, this bigness is not a bad thing. The seats are well tiered — unless you sit behind a giant — your view should be uninterrupted and the big stage means all the top shows can come along to Edinburgh. We saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert which had great sets and effects and these were well handled at the Playhouse. I’ve just booked tickets for a show nearly a year from now and am very happy that for that I managed to get front row circle. A bit expensive but far cheaper than flying down to London for a show and just as impressive as any London theatre.

This place shows all the big name musicals and it’s great because they always have different ones every one or two months. This place is huge and the seating arrangement like in other theatre cost a different depending on the view.
This time I saw Priscilla the Queen of the Desert and sat on M48 and M49, one costing £29 and the other £38. It was on the left side of the theatre and very close to the stage. Though the view was sometimes limited, it was a really good place to sit. When buying tickets, make sure you check online how limited your view will be. The sound in this building is great and rivals other theatres in bigger cities like London and NYC.
They have coat check, but didn’t use it cause I preferred to just hold on to my jacket. They sold some drinks (alcoholic and non-​alcoholic) as well as some snacks like crisps, ice cream, and chocolates.
What I don’t like about this place is the small concession stand where you can buy drinks and snacks. They do sell ice cream on the side during intermission. I also don’t like that they don’t make show booklets and give it for free like other theatres. I think they should, but than again the tickets are a bit cheaper here than in other major cities. I normally loose it anyways… Ha!
So if you LOVE musicals and you’re in Edinburgh, check out this place cause it’s where all the great musicals visit the city. If you don’t want to pay the extra £4 for processing your tix online and you have time to stop by at the box office, just buy it there! The hours are from 12 – 6 from Mondays to Saturdays.

A really beautiful venue. I went and saw Dynamo here a few weeks back, this was the perfect space and from the upper balcony we could see everything perfectly on the stage.
Lines for snacks and the bathroom can be quite long pre show and during intermission. Very easy to navigate within the venue and the architecture is gorgeous.

Ah the Playhouse. My work next door neighbour, this late, dual review speaks volumes of my own laziness sometimes…
I’ve been to enjoy shows there a few times this year — two most notable being Shrek (very good) and Spamalot (all other stage shows should bow in awe of its resplendence…)
They’ve got a relatively new, VIP bar upstairs. Nice area, more modern than the rest of the venue. Lots of «theatre luvvies» up there — after multiple visits, I still can’t decide if that’s good or bad. I mean, they’re bloody annoying, and the epitome of supreme pretentiousness. But, they’re so amusing to watch swanning about the place like Dickie Attenbrough on heat.
Being an older theatrey place, it’s got that awesome, Victorian stage vibe when you do get in. Which I love. AV equipment aside, you go in & you know it’s barely changed in 150 years. Awesome. You do lose out a bit in comfort — anyone over 5ft 5 will be squished, but I’d still take it over some crabby Vue Cinema and its plastic naffness any day.
The shows work well too — I saw the Lion King last year, which if you’ve seen, is a HUUUUUUUUUGE productions. I never thought it’d work in a million years in a place that size, but it was my best ever stage show experience. Finally being able to belt out Hakuna Matata in my best baritone in public without ridicule may have helped that a bit!
Overall — a great place, good shows, you all need to get your arses down there!

The Drifters — Rebanded Tour 2015
Edinburgh Playhouse
7^th June 2015
7.30pm
I appreciate the fact that this is not and couldn’t possibly be the original Drifters line up, but would it be too much to ask to hire singers with a similar vocal range to those much loved members from the past? Apparently so…
The current line up in the franchise harmonise well enough, but when they take lead vocals the songs sound cheapened. It really could be anyone up there. The bloke from your local pub on the karaōke perhaps. For the fairly hefty 30 quid entrance fee I would expect the management to spend a bit more time vetting potential singers to suit past material.
The band — polished though they undoubtedly are — provide a backing score that at times sounds like the theme music to a Disney movie. This adds to the lack of authenticity in the overall sound.
It all makes for a rather flat, synthetic and dare I say it — soul-​less performance. It goes down well enough with the aged audience this show is aimed at, but to call it anything more than a tribute act would be too generous.
The gravy train next rolls into Richmond… lucky them!

This review will be short. Great old theatre which I love. However Do not buy a drink. £9.00 (yes £9.00) for a glass of wine! I know they need to make money but come on!

Been a good handful or two handfuls of times. So its a familiar place to go and see a musical production or ballet.
Toilets are expected to get very busy pre performance, during interval and post performance so be quick or patient!
There’s a bar, again gets very busy and can take time to get served.
Often I feel panic at the end of the performance at sometimes you have to go up steep steps and there are crowds of people left, right and centre of you!
Seats are sore after a bit. So stand when you can! I do wish there was extra padding, perhaps I should take a cushion with me?!
Its quite a grand theatre — I do like it rather a lot! The staff are always there to help you to your seats too.

Beautiful old theatre with all the fancy cornicing and frilly bits you would expect from the Victorians. As you would also expect from the Victorians there are nowhere near enough ladies toilets so go before you are absolutely desperate as you will be queuing!
We had brilliant seats, thanks Santa Claus! and there was enough leg room for us — this might say more about the short legs of the females in our family though!

Watched Wicked here last night and it was fantastic. We were seated in the stalls (Row X) and the view was good and there was plenty of legroom (other Edinburgh theatres are too cranked to be enjoyable!). The stage is good, acoustics are great and the bars are good. Always a massive queue to the ladies, so be prepared! Soft drinks cost £2 a pop, cocktails £7+, not sure about the cost of treats. Definitely worth a visit.

Went to the show «Jersey Boys» yesterday afternoon. Absolutely terrific, what a show. My era and I knew most of the songs. Had forgotten how many hits The Four Seasons had. We had a great time and the guys and girls on stage were given a standing ovation. Well deserved too. I would recommend this absolutely.
Playhouse itself needs more Ladies loos (where doesn’t?) and getting out of the theatre if you are anywhere near the front of the stalls is a nightmare. Took about ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minutes — just as well we had the choice of later trains.

Due, no doubt, to its being the largest working theatre in the whole of the UK, the Playhouse always has an impressive programme. There are a lot of seats to fill, and there are plenty of other venues in Edinburgh playing to the more adventurous, so there’s nothing to criticise about the fact that the Playhouse caters to a popular audience. Large-​scale touring musicals (usually from London’s West End) are the main bill of fare, with big-​name musicians and successful TV comedians forming the bulk of the rest.
As you’d expect, it can deal with pretty much any technical requirement. The stage is enormous, and the lighting demands the Playhouse accommodated for the Joe Bonamassa concert last month were pretty jaw-​dropping. I think it might have been the most complex rig I’ve ever seen.
The first time I came here (to see «Oliver!» — Samantha Barks was playing Nancy) I was amazed at its apparent application of timelord technology. It looks so weeny from the front, but inside… golly. It just goes on and on. I don’t just mean the capacity, but the fact is that the seats in the balcony aren’t as steeply raked as many other theatres so the rows are more widely spaced; there was sufficient leg-​room even for a giantess of my lengthy proportions. Joy! That does mean, however, that the back row is really quite far back, but the sightlines from just about anywhere in the main auditorium are pretty faultless (even in «restricted view» seats).
The only part that seems rather cramped is the foyer; there isn’t much room for milling about pre-​show. However, the front-​of-​house staff are all pretty perky; it’s a marked contrast with theatres in London, which are peopled for the most part by out-​of-​work actors and generally have an air of wistful despondence as a result.
One parting fact: I read recently that this was originally, when built in 1929, a cinema. A CINEMA. Oh, how I wish that cinemas these days had vaulted ceilings, gilded boxes, noble-​featured statues and comfortable velvet seats. And Ambassador (Theatre Group), with zis four-​month residency of ze Lion King you are spoiling us.

As someone from only just across the pond separating Edinburgh and Fife, if you wanted top class theatre entertainment you would automatically head to the Playhouse. When the playhouse changed hands roughly 5 years ago from LiveNation theatres to ATG big changes happened including even better entertainment!
From dance & drama to musical theatre and psychics the playhouse has it all. With the largest auditorium in the UK…
People automatically say that if your sitting in the Upper circle (The Gods), the view is atrocious and I’m here to say its not. There is no where in the playhouse which is a dreadful view.
Only downsides to this venue would be the staff which are constantly trying to ram merchandise down your throats, and then of course the prices of refreshments at both the bars and kiosks in the foyers.
Other than that, its a wonderful theatre bringing the top of UK touring shows to Edinburgh.

Been to The Playhouse on few occassions and I definatley think i will make an effort go so see some more shows! Great location, easy to find your way around in! I love the old fashioned décor too!
Possbily a wee Unilocal night here sometime in future?! :)

Visited here to see Steve Wozniak speak… Staff were efficient at helping you find your seat. We were in the cheap seats downstairs but still had ample view of the stage. Not bottlenecks leaving the theatre.

I can remember coming here when I was just a wee lass, and I don’t think much has changed since then. It’s got that old fashioned, retro and nostalgic feel to it. The big bags of Opal Fruits might now be called Starburst but everything else is the same.
It features some of the best shows to come to Edinburgh. I recently saw Avenue Q and Dara O’Briain here — both brilliant shows in and of themselves. The theatre, as it’s old, did get quite warm. And there is hardly ANY leg room (this is coming from me and my mighty 5’4 stature.) I think even some seats have less leg room than other. It goes with the old-​fashioned territory, back in the day when everyone was shorter (I imagine?)
So if you can get past the no leg room and rather cosy atmosphere, it’s got old world charm, it features brilliant shows, it’s got the gaudy fake gold paint and lush, but slightly worn, carpets and I still like it.
I can imagine the lack of leg room will discomfort a lot of people — so again, just be warned when booking. Otherwise, it’s a good central location, there’s a taxi rank right outside (although obviously expect to queue) and as Seth E has noted, they really do attract the big and best shows.

The Playhouse is Edinburgh’s main musical theatre, where others concentrate on new writing, opera and dance, it is mainly musicals at the Playhouse. Musicals and big stand-​ups on tour.
Anyway I have been there a few times recently and I have been impressed by the musicals they’ve been attracting. Avenue Q in particular. The Playhouse is part of the Ambassadors Group and tends to get big West End shows that are on tour around UK.
My only complaint is that the sound quality for Spamalot the other night was not so good. There were some problems that meant the clarity particularly of the first few songs was rather impaired. This being a comic musical the words are all important.
Its situation is bang in the middle of the gay bars, with straight punters having to walk past Habana and CCs to get to the straighter Theatre Royal Bar.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Edinburgh’s grand Playhouse on a few different occasions and each and every time I leave feeling that I have had one of the best theatre experiences available.
Tickets vary in price depending on what show you want to see, but you can book loads of great last minute deals for not a lot of money. Musicals are a favourite at the Playhouse and having been to one both here and in London’s West End, I have to say Edinburgh’s Playhouse puts up a great fight and really offers a taste of the West End in Scotland!
Nothing beats a night at the theatre and with plenty of bars and restaurants nearby to make a night of it, you will not be disappointed!

As the previous reviewers have highlighted, the Playhouse showcases the biggest touring productions, and brings a flavour of London’s west end to Scottish soil. It holds over 3000 people, is gloriously ornate inside and has seen a number of big names over the years. Acts as diverse as Metallica and Neil Young have filled the premises with their dulcet tones, not to mention the number of smash hit west end musicals it has seen in its time. From the current Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Cats, JC and more recently, Wicked, people travel from all over Scotland to see plays, bands, musicals and comedy acts in this hall.
Yes the paint may be chipping, the seats slightly frayed and the bar is a bit trodden, but these aspects can be found in most theatres. I don’t tend to frequent theatre bars since they’re always overpriced and a bit shabby, which is a surprising general rule in my experience (even on Broadway believe it or not!) So I would advise you occupy one of the surrounding bars before the show — they are in plentiful supply.
As for paint peeling, I always feel it adds to the charm of a theatre — although perhaps the Playhouse should maybe give it a freshening up as Emily suggested. But I love the Playhouse. You get a great view all around, even from the Gods, and it has come a long way since it was one of the great Scottish picture houses all those years ago.