Rabbie (Basement Theatre, Rose Street: 23-27 Jan ’18)

“It’s almost impossible not to find yourself engaged in every moment”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars

For a musical about one of Scotland’s best-loved poets – many of whose works are also well-known songs – it’s hard to fathom why Rabbie hasn’t already been doing the rounds for years. Yet given Captivate Theatre’s impressive revision of it, I’m sure we’ll soon see this show becoming something of a tradition on stages around the country.

Loosely following Burns’ life and loves in chronological order, the action is also punctuated by toasts from a modern day Burns supper, which help give context and relevance to the action. Structurally it’s a fairly whistle-stop tour of the main turning points of the poet’s short life, and it’s a shame not to get more depth and drama from some of these, though the through-line about Burns’ love Jean Armour does go some way to adding that much-needed integrity to the piece.

The action often veers slightly too close to the edge of bawdy and crowd-pleasing for my tastes, but underneath the simple folksy style is a good musical – there’s a pleasantly surprising amount of harmonic complexity and variety in the numbers, and plenty of laughs to be had throughout. It all moves along at a rollicking pace so there’s never a chance for the energy to dip, and while I would have preferred more development in some of the scenes and characters to get to know them better, it’s almost impossible not to find yourself engaged in every moment.

The staging of this production is somewhat rough and ready, and director Sally Lyall’s decision to spread the action around the space perhaps isn’t the best given the setup of the Basement Theatre (if you’re sat in the front you’ll have to turn your ahead a lot!) but in a different space with more… space, and greater attention paid to the overall production values this could very easily be a show-stopping piece.

The cast are a talented bunch, and can’t be faulted when it comes to sheer gusto and conviction in their performance throughout. The nine-strong troupe play numerous characters between them and blend in and out of spotlight very well. A special mention to Charlie Munro who is hilarious as one of Burns’ publishers, Creech, while Meg Laird Drummond brings a wonderful sensitivity to Burns’ long-suffering wife Jean.

Like Burns’ own work, Rabbie may not be the finest example of writing ever to grace Edinburgh, but it’s certainly worth raising a glass to, in this, his celebratory week.