Author: Brett Herriot

Since completing training, Brett has enjoyed a varied career across the arts as an actor, writer, performer, producer, company manager, stage manager and arts critic. Brett embraces the arts with a passion in all its forms. Away from the world of theatre, Brett is a vegetarian, loves an occasional glass of wine, chatting with friends and travelling when time permits
Brett Herriot Review

The Karate Kid, The Musical, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Review

Brett Herriot

**** 4Stars

“ A joyous nostalgia filled evening of musical joy “

There can’t be an 80’s movie classic that hasn’t at some point been adapted into a stage musical, the one film cannon that seemed the most unlikely to be given the stage treatment is 1984’s The Karate Kid starring the late Pat Morita as Mr Miyagi and the still youthful Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso.

Debuting in 2022 in St Louis the Karate Kid the musical see’s the return of the motion pictures screen writer Robert Mark Kamen to write the book with music and lyrics composed by Drew Gasparini, directed by Amon Miyamoto and featuring choreography from Keone and Mari Madrid. It’s a musical that succeeds because it stays true to the spirit of the original, retelling the timeless tale of good over adversity and the discovery of what a person can do if they find balance and self-belief in ones self. The musical also cleverly stays with in the 80’s world many of us remember in our childhoods. The songs and score have a terrific 80s pop feel and are delivered in style by both cast and a stellar ten strong pit orchestra under the baton of Musical Director Chris Poon.

Performances are excellent with the cast being lead in style by Adrian Pang as Mr Miyagi who delivers a performance that brings out the best of Pat Morita’s original film interpretation but also makes the character more human. The gorgeous Gino Ochello makes his professional stage debut as Daniel Larusso as well as having an uncanny resemblance to Macchio he brings a youthful innocence to the role but also possesses a beautiful singing voice. The leads are joined by a 14 strong ensemble many of whom appear in featured roles. Special mention goes to Sharon Sexton as Lucille Larusso, Daniel’s erstwhile and hard-working mother. Her voice is on point, and she brings real emotional valour to the part.

Production wise this is a west end worthy production with Derek McLane’s Scenic design blending San Francisco with the Orient with ease however there was a set malfunction in that the automated screens came in to far onto stage, so the audience got to see the magic of live theatre to often as the crew changed set between scenes. That said the set is beautifully lit by Bradley King with additional inspired support from Peter Nigrini’s projection design. Ayako Maeda’s lush costume design brings fresh life to 80’s americana and Kai Harada’s sound design is faultless.

Karate Kid the musical works as a musical adaptation as it doesn’t pretend to be something its not, its clearly a work of passion for both the company and the production team, blending a cherished story with classic elements of theatre, especially the use of a physical Greek chorus that ultimately delivers a joyous nostalgia filled evening of musical joy and a night well worth the ticket price. 

So why not head to the festival theatre and grab a ticket for journey to an 80’s classic and discover your true self all over again! Wonderful stuff.

The Karate Kid, The Musical, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh runs until Saturday 27thth June for more information and tickets go to: https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/the-karate-kid/

The UK Tour continues and the Production will visit the Theatre Royal Glasgow  Tuesday 30th June to Saturday 4th July 2026

Brett Herriot Review

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Review

Brett Herriot

***** 5 Stars

“Boundary Bending Ballet Perfection!“

For over half a century the world renowned “Trocks” have inspired, entertained and brought laughter to generations of ballet fans. The company formed in 1974 as an artistic response to the Stonewall uprising putting men at the very heart of classical ballet which has been retooled for modern audiences with a helping of comedy. There can’t be a fan of theatre who has not heard of  Les Ballets Trockadero a ballet company that transcends the ballet artform and has made a generation of dance fans adore them.

The company mark there 50th anniversary with a new UK tour which is nearing its conclusion with two nights in Edinburgh followed by a visit to Aberdeen with a programme that combines there classic Le Lac Des Cygnes (Swan Lake, Act II) as There first act followed by a second act that combines DON QUIXOTE  Pas de Deux, GO FOR BAROCCO  and THE DYING SWAN concluded with a third act featuring VALPURGEYEVA NOCH (“WALPURGISNACHT”). The programme is inspired and delivered with true class and faultless performances from the entire company.  The true highlight must be Robert Carter as Olga Supphozova in the Dying Swan, which is simply beautifully danced and mines every ounce of comedy from the piece. He leaves the audience wanting more with his beautifully executed piece.

The “Trocks” are masters of there craft all the gentlemen are gifted students of the ballet and each of them know how infuse the right amount of comedy into each performance. This is no night at the Royal opera house in London’s Covent Garden, but a night of ballet born of the loft rooms and supper bars of 1970’s New York that seeks to do nothing but raise laughter and entertain.

Entertain they do, accompanied by a lush orchestral soundtrack, stunning costumes and great lighting the Trocks once again prove that the Ballet is for everyone and the artform can inspire, education and entertain in equal measure to any other.

Fifty years of entertaining and producing boundary bending ballet perfection ensures the audience keep returning to wherever and whenever this magical New York troupe performs. At just over 2 hours including 2 intervals it’s a perfectly judged performance that has love of the ballet at its heart.

For a quality evening of comedy ballet danced by the worlds best dancers this is the show for you and long may the Trocks rein supreme! Last few tickets remain so grab them before there gone!

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh runs until Wednesday 17th June for more information and tickets go to: https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/les-ballets-trockadero-de-monte-carlo/

The UK Tour continues and the Production will visit His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen  Friday 19th and Saturday 20th April.

Mary Woodward Review

Boys Don’t Dance, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Review

Brett Herriot

***** (5 stars)

“Deeply emotional”

What a treat!  After the powerful emotions of Cringe, Boys don’t dance is another deeply emotional piece, this time exploring the joy of dance and its power both to express deep emotions and to transcend physical limitations. 

The sheer beauty of the opening moments will stay with me for a long time.  A wheelchair dancer in front of a mirror begins their warmup at the barre: arm movements of profound grace and beauty captivated me.  Subtle lighting made the mirror both reflective and semi-transparent, making visible the standing dancer behind it who first reflects the first man’s movements and then starts to move the mirror itself, allowing the couple to move in perfect partnership around the floor.

Piotr Iwanicki has used a wheelchair all his life: Ross Malloy is able-bodied.  Both have danced from an early age, and together they bring choreographer and company leader Marc Brew’s own dance story to the stage.  Born in the Australian outback, where boys don’t dance but play football and do other ‘manly’ stuff, Marc would dance to any and every kind of music – but where no-one could see him.  Channel-hopping on the telly, he’d dance along to any song he could find, copying the dancers’ moves and exuberantly expressing the sheer joy of dance – stopping instantly if anyone was near.  When his mum was out at work, he’d explore the joys of dressing in female clothing, using the draping folds of fabric to emphasise the grace of his movements, rapidly reverting to ‘normality’ when she came home again.

A horrific car crash put Marc in a wheelchair.  Slowly he began to discover the possibilities of dancing on wheels – tentatively at first, but gradually developing confidence and skill and the ability once more to express his every emotion through dance.  Ross and Piotr join in a jaw-dropping display of the possibilities offered by a BMX bike and a wheelchair in addition to the equally staggering options open to an able-bodied dancer and a wheelchair user.  Words fail me as I try to describe the two men’s strength, agility, daring and complete trust in each other as they whirl gracefully around the dance floor and don’t shrink from hurtling towards and up the BMX trick ramp….

This production is an outstanding example of making a show accessible to as many people as possible.  On a screen at the back of the stage, a talking crow and a signing human provide explanations at key points in the narrative, while creative captions are projected on to a box near the front of the stage.  There are sensory warnings before the show begins, along with assurances that it’s okay to fidget, move about or leave if necessary.  Would that more shows paid this much attention to people’s differing needs!

In the brief Q&A that followed the show, the similarity between the two men was clear – both had danced from an early age despite the lack of dance in their surroundings.  I was fascinated to learn that Piotr was a European wheelchair dance champion, and that because he’d been dancing in his chair all his life, the thing he found hardest was learning to express hesitation and beginner’s movements with his chair.  Ross in his turn must have been hesitant at first when faced with the challenges of dancing with someone in a chair.  Both were eloquent about the trust and wordless communication necessary when dancing together, especially when things weren’t quite going according to plan.

Gene Kelly, in Singin’ in the Rain, has the memorable number gotta dance: Piotr and Ross display that same passion and drive in showing that boys definitely do dance.  This show is proof positive and will inspire anyone – even girls – to refuse to allow themselves to be told that they can’t.

Imaginate Children’s Festival Present Marc Brew Company, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Runs Ended However production will conclude its tour at The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June.

Mary Woodward Review

Cringe, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, Review

Brett Herriot

***** (5 stars)

“Graphically Portrayed”

Oh my what a visceral shocker, in the best possible way.  Scott Fletcher, Scott Hoatson and Kirsty McDuff belie their age to portray to perfection kids on their very first day at ‘big school’ as well as their schoolmates and the assorted adults in their lives.

Reid’s not only dealing with ordinary first-day feelings but also with his parents’ clever idea of moving house – and across the country – during the summer holidays, meaning that he doesn’t know a soul in this vast gaggle of kids waiting to be sorted into classes.  He’s trying to keep his head down, to stay unnoticed: it’s not his fault that he’s late into the first class and has to make a snap decision about which of the only two empty seats he sits in.  Boy or girl?  He chooses boy – and so meets Gordon.

The horrors of school are graphically portrayed – those inflicted, sometimes unwittingly, by staff and decidedly deliberately by fellow kids.  The worst come from the three class bullies, well known to Gordon but new to Reid, who marvels at Gordon’s ability quietly to ignore the taunts and insults that flood out from these three, whom he calls Gorgons.  Greek mythology, and especially Perseus, who rescues princess Andromeda from snake-haired Medusa and her fellow-gorgons, feature largely in the narrative and become the focus of a game Reid and Gordon develop together at home.

Things are becoming bearable: the Gorgons are beginning to tire of their taunting in the face of complete lack of reaction – but then disaster strikes.  An incident – with a major cringe factor – escalates and results in a total rift between the two friends.  If this were a perfect story, that would be the catalyst for a swift and supportive reaction from staff and parents – but this isn’t.  The incident’s consequences blow up out of control, a well-meaning attempt at reconciliation fails disastrously, and Reid isolates himself in his misery.  It takes an unconnected tragedy to bring about a movingly-portrayed reconciliation.  What is unexpected is the way Reid turns his great weakness into a towering strength which makes the start of year two so much better than year one.

The set resembles a school’s tiled changing room [facilitating much chalk writing and drawing as the narrative advances].  Five chairs are moved, and at times thrown, around to create different settings as the action moves at a cracking pace.  There’s brilliant use of an overhead projector – I loved the way it brought the Perseus game to life.  A set which at first sight looks virtually closed has an amazing number of exits and storage spaces for props.  The choreography and lighting are superb, and the rapid, wickedly accurate script brings the characters and narrative into vividly horrifying life.

Over two thirds of the audience were primary school leavers, and the most telling applause at the end came from them – they obviously recognised, felt with, and applauded the feelings of the characters in front of them.  Cringe is a brilliant show that deserves to be widely, hopefully sparking both discussion and thoughtful action around the nature of bullying and the power of true friendship.

Imaginate children’s festival presents Cringe, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, Run ended

Brett Herriot Review

Once, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Review

Brett Herriot

***** 5 Stars

“Heartfelt, Endearing and Deeply Moving! “

Marking 75 years of theatre making at the heart of the gateway to the highlands The Pitlochry Festival finally welcomes Alan Cumming’s inaugural season as Artistic Director with a heartfelt, endearing and deeply moving production of “Once” with music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová and a book by Enda Walsh, Once is the Tony Award-winning musical based on John Carney’s much-loved 2007 film.

Premiering in New York in 2011 at the American Repertory theatre prior a transfer to Broadway at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre the production would go on to win eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Once now makes its debut in Scotland at Pitlochry. Reuniting the original creative team to bring this modern and generational classic to the stage, opening Alan Cumming’s inaugural season in as style that see’s the venue transformed with renewed creative flair for the future.

Once tells the story of Guy (The sublime Dylan Wood), a disillusioned street musician ready to leave his songs behind, and Girl (Lydia White in emotional honest performance), who challenges him to believe in his talent. With the support of an unconventional group of friends and fellow musicians, they embark on creating an album together. Along the way they discover themselves, there sense of place alongside love and where the heart belongs a potent mix that’s handled beautifully by acclaimed director John Tiffany.

Tiffany has blended his two lead stars with a beguilingly talented eight strong ensemble of actor/musicians to create a company that bleeds passion and truth in every scene. This is one of those rare utterly faultless productions that doesn’t retool the show but reshapes it with passion for the venues home and new generation of theatre goers it seeks to attract.

Performances are uniformly excellent throughout with gorgeous vocals aplenty and the decision of director John Tiffany to make the show inherently Scottish pays off in spades. Production wise the show is a triumph with Bob Crwoley’s design evoking many a Scottish pub with ease with credit to the in-house team at the Theatre for a wonderfully, realised set and costume design. The pub is beautifully lit by lighting designer Natasha Katz and the moments of soliloquy have perhaps some of the most evocative lighting ever created in “Once”.  Clive Goodwin’s sound design is also beautifully realised.

Much was riding on Alan Cumming picking the right show with which to launch his inaugural season at the theatre, not just to prove his artistic vision but as a creative expression that the changes he has made are for the better and set the Pitlochry Theatre on a renewed sense of self and that after 75 years the theatre at the gateway to the highlands is still creative melting pot that exceeds far beyond its stage.

Once is show that once seen is never forgotten and This Pitlochry Festival production will transcend time as uniquely special and individual production that will last long in the memory of all those who have good fortune to see. So why not head for the highlands and grab what very few tickets remain before falling slowly for the shows charms yourself! and if you get there early enough you might get a chance to head onstage and share a pint with the other locals! wonderful stuff.

Once, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry runs until Saturday 27th June for more information and tickets go to: Once | Pitlochry Festival Theatre