Edinburgh Gang Show 2023 is a big hit

Wednesday November 15th 2023

Edinburgh Gang Show November 2023

Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Luke Jackson

The mere logistics of enabling 250 young South East Scotland Scouts and Girl Guides – aged four to 20-plus – to successfully represent their talents on the stage at Edinburgh’s gloriously beautiful Festival Theatre must be a Herculean challenge.

That it has been carried off with such aplomb is a tribute to the typically impressive organisational skills of the two movements’ volunteers.

The rest is down to the young people on stage – and boy do they deliver brilliantly.

A large slice of the audience at Tuesday’s opening night were probably made-up of fellow Scouts, Girl Guides and proud relatives of the youngsters on stage.

But this is a show that delivers for all, due in no small part to the evident joy and enthusiasm of the performers working as an ensemble and to the genuine show-stopping performances by individuals.

The evening got off to a storming start with Emma Snowdon leading her boundlessly energetic dancing cohorts through a show-stopping Right Where We Belong (from the movie Muppets Take Broadway); Lara Brechin followed, delivering Ed Sheeran’s Celestial with just the right side of tenderness, while Matthew Knowles’s tour-de-force take on Sam Ryder’s Fought and Lost delivered a lump-in-the-throat moment.

The production flowed seamlessly and a call out too to the choreography team and to Tara Boynton for her a pitch-perfect delivery of the Kate Bush classic Running Up That Hill, another highlight on a night of highlights.

In truth all the soloists soared and the comedic sketches between songs often featured politically topical gags – bringing in up-to-the-moment references to Suella Braverman’s sacking, David Cameron’s return from the political wilderness and aiming a few cheeky digs at ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s financial woes.

Entertainment for all the family, Edinburgh Gang Show continues at the Festival Theatre until Saturday, November 18.

Be Prepared for a heart-warming evening.

For ticket details CLICK HERE.

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