The Reviewers

Generally, critics are about as popular as traffic wardens. And inside the Edinburgh bubble, it’s often safest to keep our heads down and avoid eye contact. So this new, Edinburgh-set musical parodying our poisonous profession feels inevitable.

Written and performed by Nottingham University students, both past and present, The Reviewers follows the self-styled Critic with No Name as he battles to free theatre criticism’s reputation from the tyrannical Keira Cochrane and her venom-spewing "Spawn of the West End Reviews".

The show tries not to pull the lion’s tale, with a light-hearted plea for tolerance at the end. But, hell, I’m going to dip my keyboard in poison, anyway. Because, according to this, we’re either scarred ex-actors or just plain fame-hungry. Mwahaha.

Joking aside, the songs have charm, with some genuinely funny lyrics that—although they’d benefit from being sung louder here—strike a Royal Mile chord. And it’s hard not to enjoy the audacity of the tongue-in-cheek critic-baiting.

Content-wise, though, it’s a bit of a mess, losing focus by spreading itself too thinly. Not only does it aim to send up theatre reviewers, but it simultaneously strives to take the piss out of student productions while cramming in some postmodern spoofing of musical theatre.

Tonally, there are some odd shifts and the young cast could do with pitching their performances higher, to match the exaggerated tenor of the script. But I’m going to stifle my most evil cackle. The Reviewers isn’t perfect, but it is fun – and has potential in bucket loads.