EDINBURGH 2023: Review: NEWSREVUE, Pleasance Courtyard, The Grand

NewsRevue is a musical sketch show that parodies some of the political moments that have happened over the past year using both songs and straight scenes. I went into the show with high expectations, having read reviews of previous runs and being a fan of satirical musical shows. Looking back, these expectations left me even more disappointed than if I had gone in blind.

Before I go into my criticisms of the show itself, let me say that the cast is absolutely incredible and I was blown away by how hard they are working. They are constantly running off and on the stage in different costumes and never fail to miss an entrance, or even a single beat, for that matter. And even while running around and throwing on costumes, they still manage to be hilarious and have some great singing voices!

The pianist is the highlight of the show, not only accompanying the songs but playing some in-between scenes. I loved how he would play songs related to the scene that had just happened, making it fun for those familiar with the songs but not leaving anyone out if they didn’t understand it. 

Even as someone who has studied politics and tries to keep up to date with the news in the UK, I found myself struggling to understand bits and can only imagine that audience members from outside the UK were feeling the same way. While I recognised characters like Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak pretty easily, I found myself struggling to keep up with other recurring political characters. I enjoyed the simpler scenes that didn’t have named characters, like one about the NHS and another about the train strikes.

Ultimately, while the cast members of NewsRevue are incredibly talented, particularly the pianist, the show fails to pull audiences in and has many sketches that leave people more confused than amused. I would have preferred longer scenes with more setup in order to get a better payoff than a bunch of random scenes with zero context, making it difficult to understand what was happening.

NewsRevue runs at Pleasance Courtyard, The Grand at 17:30 on 27 August.

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