Category: Brett Herriot at the Festivals

***** (5 stars)

“A Steampunk driven triumph!”

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is often sighted as Stephen Sondheim’s greatest work and has stood the test of time since its debut 46 years ago at the Uris Theatre on Broadway. Featuring music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler based upon the earlier 1970 play by Christopher Bond. This is the Victoria penny opera that deals with redemption, revenge and truth in the most macabre of ways.

Captivate Theatre return to the show with a brand-new production housed at the also returning Famous Spiegeltent in St Andrews Square and my word the production is nothing less than a Steampunk driven triumph.

Sweeney is a timeless tale that still resonates and thanks to most accomplished company of performers to be found at the Fringe your drawn into a dark underworld that’s peppered with outstanding performances from Top to Bottom.

Leading this most extraordinary of casts is Robert Moyes in the role of Sweeney who delivers a dark and brooding interpretation soaked with blood lust in a performance that captures from the off. The immense talent of Hazel Beattie is brought to bear in the titular role of “Mrs. Lovett” she mines every moment of comic nuance in a true tour de force performance. Special mention must also go to Alex Fraser (who alternates with Seamus Cross) as “Toby” he creates a performance imbued with innocence and truth that makes his final moments all the more shocking. The twenty-one strong ensemble company are utterly faultless and perform with a raw intensity never before seen at the festivals.

Director Sally Lyall has delivered the goods in spectacular style and her understanding of the source material is clearly faultless and she makes the most of the Victorian splendor of the Spiegeltent to enhance a cleverly stripped back staging of the show. This is boosted by Charlotte Nicholson’s cleverly steampunk infused wardrobe design.  The icing on the cake is musical director Colum Findlay’s 9 strong pit orchestra who clearly revel in the most intricate of scores.

Captivates Sweeney Todd was a spectacular grand finale to the 2025 festival season and truly showcased the depth and quality of talent with in the company it was joy to attend the tale let us all hope the invite goes out again for the 2026 Festival as this is a Sweeney Todd that needs to be seen to be believed.

Sweeney Todd, Spiegeltent at the Famous Spiegeltent Venue 333, RUN ENDED for info go to: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/sweeney-todd

*** (3 stars)

“Dripping with Satire! ”

Level Up! Is a new musical by Lucy Watson and Julian Kirk, directed by Patrick Wilson with musical direction from Stamatis Seraphim its story blends the world of virtual reality and gaming with our current reality where political power play is at its most dangerous. It poses the question if life were a game show what would it take to win? Level up explores this in a musical dripping with satire.

Performances from the 6 strong cast are uniformly strong and all cast member vocals are lush and powerful as they deliver a pop infused score with clear skill and personal joy. While the songs are catchy and the use of a computer video wall brings charm there is still some work to be done with the storyline and plot, the plot especially tends to get lost very easily and leaves the audience with a strong sense that this is still very much a work in progress. There is clearly a future head for Level Up.

It does feel like the show is covering perhaps one to many topics across its hour long run time, but this is made up for in its terrific pace and eye-catching performances that are vocally outstanding but as good as the performers are it can get hard to tell what is the true message within the show?

That all being said this is a unique musical geared towards the individuality of its audiences and its going to be interesting to see where the show goes following its festival run.

For now, if you like your musicals with clever lyrics that tackle topical issues and does it with polished performances then you best head for the Big Yin and Level Up for yourself!

Level Up!, Big Yin at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Venue 24, for info go to: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/level-up

***** (5 stars)

“a sparkling jewel of the Fringe!”

The multi five star and Bobby award winning hit of the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe returns for the 2025 Festival following a sold-out tour and retains its five-star status taking up residence at the Friesian venue in the basement of the McEwan Hall as part of Underbelly at Bristo Square could not be a more fitting venue.

Written by Ned Blackburn and directed by Meg Bowron & Josh Stainer it sees Blackburn returning to the role of Johnny a conflicted 18-year-old student at an all-boys school somewhere in middle England where academic excellence and rugby are the order of the day. The problem is Johnny is gay and more than happy with it and seeks to explore his sexuality while constrained by the rotten and aft dark masculinity around him.

Enter Harry (Harvey Weed who excels at playing every other character in the play) who is everything a private school boy in his prime should be except Harry and Johnny have sex any chance they get and despite numerous same sex sexual partners Harry isn’t gay or so he says! What follows isn’t so much a coming-of-age story but a reflection of one mans journey through life and self-discovery as Johnny grapples with Grindr, masculinity acceptance of queerness in spite of being forced to live in an institution that’s dripping in shame and has left a generation of gay men to pick up the pieces in later life.

Both Ned Blackburn and Harvey Weed turn in flawless performances in a tightly directed and engaging semi biographical hour of dark drama laced with comedy to captures the audience from the moment the curtain rises. The real quality is in the writing it truly feels as if Blackburn has borne his soul and creatively, we are all the better for it.

An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo is a sparkling jewel of the Fringe and it remains as resonant to its audiences today as it ever has, taunt, funny, emotional and searingly honest this is unmissable theatre at its best.

An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo, Friesian at Underbelly, Bristo Square, Venue 302for info go to: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/an-adequate-abridgement-of-boarding-school-life-as-a-homo

***** (5 stars)

“The Musical Event of the 2025 Festival!”

Debuting in 2017, Come from Away with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein has redefined the genre for biographical musicals and would go on to win both Tony and Olivier Awards alongside runs in both London’s west end at the Pheonix Theatre and at the Gerald Schonfeld Theatre on Broadway. Now the show comes to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time produced by Captivate Theatre who deliver a production that truly is the musical event of the 2025 Festival.

Telling the story of the very real events in Gander, Newfoundland during the week following the September 11^th attacks when 38 planes carrying over 7000 passengers were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The show takes us into the lives of the residents who rallied to the call and of the stranded travelers they housed and fed.

Its an emotional and truthful exploration of the human condition and humanities ability to transcend tragedy and still find hope and Captivate’s outstanding fourteen strong ensemble company and six strong house band deliver a production that sores into the heart and lingers long in the memory for its emotional honesty and beguiling performances.

There are no weak links in the performers on stage who deliver triumphant performances throughout as they bring to life a myriad of characters on incredibly emotional journeys finding laugher and emotional truths in equal measure. Vocals are peerless thanks to Musical Director Fraser Hume crafting simply beautiful harmonies and vocal performances that are as west end worthy as any to be seen across this year’s festivals.

Director Sally Lyall assisted by Mairi Cross has delivered a stripped back production that doesn’t rely on glitzy stage sets or special effects but instead puts the heart of the story on the performances and these are performances that beguile, capture and touch the heart of the audience in equal measure.

It would be wrong to single out a single performer for praise as this company truly work as one ensemble and everyone gives a performance that comes from the soul and that’s what has ensured that the entire run of Come from Away is playing to packed full houses.

Captivates Come from Away is quite rightly the golden ticket of this year’s Fringe and a sparkling example of what excellent creative theatre making is all about, if you don’t leave the Bijou emotional with a tear then there must be something radically wrong with you! This is the most unforgettable of shows and lets just hope the company return to the 2026 Festival with another run of this smash hit musical! Nothing comes close to matching it, wonderful stuff indeed.

Come From Away, Bijou at Assembly Rooms Venue 20 for info go to: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/come-from-away