Review: We Will Rock You, at the Edinburgh Playhouse
By Alexandra Lodge
Queen are making a comeback; their recent appearance on X-Factor assured the nation of that, as if the highly-publicised UK tour of their musical We Will Rock You were not enough. Very few bands would be able to walk back into the limelight with only two members left and no new material, but Queen have done it.
We Will Rock You, written and directed by Ben Elton, is playing at the Edinburgh Playhouse for an impressively long run of over two months. The show features 24 of Queen's greatest hits, but is not, as some may think, any attempt at telling the story of Queen; no one is trying to be Freddie Mercury. Instead, it is a fictional story set 300 years in the future, in a time when real music has been banned and the planet is run by the iron fist of the 'Killer Queen'. The plot itself is classic good versus evil, simple, with a happy ending – the sort of thing one might expect from a musical.
It is difficult to imagine a more fun night out to the theatre: the cast, band and audience are all quite clearly having the time of their lives. Cast and band put in 100%, and it shows in the sheer energy of the performance. The actors are equipped with suitably strong rock voices, especially Sarah French-Ellis, who plays leading lady Scaramouche; she has more power in her voice than anyone in the charts today. Her acting does not disappoint either as she plays the brilliantly sarcastic heroine, with some of the best comedy lines of the show.
The script is fantastic, with Ben Elton succeeding in bringing his classic British wit to the show. The script is kept entirely up to date, and including relevant X-Factor and Facebook related jokes; plus, of course, Michael Jackson has been added to the list of dead music legends recited by the actors. The show has also been tailored to its Scottish audience: Scaramouche at the end shows off underwear sporting the Saltire, and in the timeline which kicks off the show, “1966 – England wins the World Cup” has been tactfully excluded.
As for the music, the real attraction of the show, everyone does every song justice. All the big hits are there: 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'We Will Rock You', 'It's a Kind of Magic', 'We Are the Champions'... Sadly though, 'Don't Stop Me Now' is cut short just as the Killer Queen (played by ex-X-Factor contestant Brenda Edwards) really begins to belt it out. Other than that, the score cannot possibly disappoint.
The performance on Monday 9th November saw the unannounced and therefore completely unexpected take over of the stage by none other than Brian May and Roger Taylor, the two remaining members of Queen. Unfortunately it seems unlikely that a similar stunt will be repeated this time round; it was a one-off for one lucky audience.
Even without the performance of the Queen legends themselves, We Will Rock You is spectacular. Expect a packed, if not full, house every night; so get tickets booked as soon as possible if you want any chance to see this show.
We Will Rock You is at the Edinburgh Playhouse until January 9th 2010.
The show then moves to the O2 in Dublin to conclude its tour, from 20th until 31st January.
It also remains in its original home at the Dominion Theatre, London, for the 7th year running.
We Will Rock You, written and directed by Ben Elton, is playing at the Edinburgh Playhouse for an impressively long run of over two months. The show features 24 of Queen's greatest hits, but is not, as some may think, any attempt at telling the story of Queen; no one is trying to be Freddie Mercury. Instead, it is a fictional story set 300 years in the future, in a time when real music has been banned and the planet is run by the iron fist of the 'Killer Queen'. The plot itself is classic good versus evil, simple, with a happy ending – the sort of thing one might expect from a musical.
It is difficult to imagine a more fun night out to the theatre: the cast, band and audience are all quite clearly having the time of their lives. Cast and band put in 100%, and it shows in the sheer energy of the performance. The actors are equipped with suitably strong rock voices, especially Sarah French-Ellis, who plays leading lady Scaramouche; she has more power in her voice than anyone in the charts today. Her acting does not disappoint either as she plays the brilliantly sarcastic heroine, with some of the best comedy lines of the show.
The script is fantastic, with Ben Elton succeeding in bringing his classic British wit to the show. The script is kept entirely up to date, and including relevant X-Factor and Facebook related jokes; plus, of course, Michael Jackson has been added to the list of dead music legends recited by the actors. The show has also been tailored to its Scottish audience: Scaramouche at the end shows off underwear sporting the Saltire, and in the timeline which kicks off the show, “1966 – England wins the World Cup” has been tactfully excluded.
As for the music, the real attraction of the show, everyone does every song justice. All the big hits are there: 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'We Will Rock You', 'It's a Kind of Magic', 'We Are the Champions'... Sadly though, 'Don't Stop Me Now' is cut short just as the Killer Queen (played by ex-X-Factor contestant Brenda Edwards) really begins to belt it out. Other than that, the score cannot possibly disappoint.
The performance on Monday 9th November saw the unannounced and therefore completely unexpected take over of the stage by none other than Brian May and Roger Taylor, the two remaining members of Queen. Unfortunately it seems unlikely that a similar stunt will be repeated this time round; it was a one-off for one lucky audience.
Even without the performance of the Queen legends themselves, We Will Rock You is spectacular. Expect a packed, if not full, house every night; so get tickets booked as soon as possible if you want any chance to see this show.
We Will Rock You is at the Edinburgh Playhouse until January 9th 2010.
The show then moves to the O2 in Dublin to conclude its tour, from 20th until 31st January.
It also remains in its original home at the Dominion Theatre, London, for the 7th year running.