Review: We Will Rock You

Written by Jen Bowden Saturday, 14 November 2009 18:33

Edinburgh Playhouse
Until 9 Jan

* * * * *

It’s hard to squeeze into 400 words why We Will Rock You is one of the best musicals to hit Edinburgh.
It has been running for seven years now, and being funny, fast, and with pure energy bursting from the stage, it’s no wonder that at times it feels more like a gig than a theatre production.

Pure rock it is not, the resurrection of Queen it is not, yet a fantastic musical it most certainly is. The arrangements of 24 of their greatest hits are uplifting, rock-tastic and as close to the originals as you’re going to get.

The show is set in the semi-apocalyptic world of Planet Maul, where music is created by computers and instruments are considered a dirty word. Social outcasts Galileo Figaro and his ‘chick’ Scaramouche find themselves in a race to discover the lost instruments of rock and to destroy the Globosoft Corporation headed by Killer Queen.

Ben Elton’s script is peppered with his trademark witty gags - the kind of things your Dad cracks himself up with. But given the seemingly impossible task of stringing together unrelated Queen songs into a vaguely plausible storyline, it couldn’t have been anything but hilarious.

Darren Day’s performance as Khashoggi was a little disappointing; for a veteran of musicals and a self-confessed Queen fan his ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ felt too staged and lacked the necessary ‘rock’ element that other numbers had. Luckily it didn’t detract too much from the overall performance, but with Michael Falzon’s Galileo and Sarah French-Ellis’ Scaramouche providing witty, energetic performances, Day was left limping on the sidelines.

The secret of the show’s success seemed to lie in the cast’s ability to combine humour with incredible singing. Falzon and French-Ellis, along with Wayne A. Robinson and Rachel John as Britney and Meat, gave fantastic vocal performances and provided hilarious characterisations that maintained the pace of Elton’s script.

Brenda Edward’s Killer Queen was ubiquitous and domineering, one of the most watchable characters and incredibly funny.

The visual effects were especially prominent as computerised images created a futuristic feel to an otherwise clinical set. 'Another One Bites The Dust' was slick and sexy and a definite highlight in Arlene Phillips’ otherwise robotic choreography.

And what a finale! We Will Rock You prompted a standing ovation (this is the third time I’ve seen this show get a standing ovation, and it definitely deserves it) followed by fan favourite 'Bohemian Rhapsody' complete with Brian May and Roger Taylor making an appearance and rocking the Playhouse into the night.

Definitely an experience if you’re lucky enough to see them, but still an amazing show without.

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