‘Burns’ is a show thirty years in the making, conceived by an original idea from music giants David Gest and Michael Jackson, now brought to life on the Edinburgh Playhouse stage by Diane Aspinall and Tish Tindall. The story brings Robert Burns into the 21st century, adapting his life into a modern-day tale.
Tish Tindall’s narration of this tale supplies brilliant vocals and some good humour. However, the character as a concept is hollow and despite planting an initial strong impression you feel that there is no real purpose that cements this character in the plot. There’s moments where you feel lines have been improvised just to make the transitions from scene-to-scene work, which just feels jarring and contrived. This is not due to Tish’s talent as that is undeniable, however the narrator could easily have had their lines passed onto another character, rather than taking the audience away from the narrative for commentary which mostly didn’t add to Robert Burn’s journey.
Elijah Aspinall gives immense energy and powerful emotion to Scotland’s beloved bard. His raspy vocals also build on the contemporary vision of the production. At points you do question his accent as although it is consistent, it sounds more from the highlands than the lowlands. There is also room for more positivity within this portrayal, there is a lot of aggression and anger present which works for some of the scenes but Elijah could have been directed to bring some more light into Burns.
Lucy Tindall is hilarious as Meg O’Shanter, this is the comic relief and bright character within this musical which is sorely needed and Lucy does well to carry the humour within this production. Lucy’s vocals are also sublime, especially in the camp country western number.
Diane Aspinall delivers humour as Tracey Cumberworth, this is however yet another character which does not add or build to the narrative, once again no fault of the portrayal but the conception of the character is flawed.
Bryony Munro’s Jean Armour is a character which ultimately should lead the emotion and devastation within this production, and althrough Bryony succeeds to radiate that emotion through her powerful solo numbers, you can’t help but feel in terms of dialogue and scenes, the emotion is lacklustre, there could be more anger, could be more emotion and perhaps also more of a complex relationship between herself and Elijah’s Burns.
Amie McWilliam’s portrayal of Billie Creech is one which shows the complexity of dealing with this conception of Robert Burns, there is versatility of emotions and powerful vocals present within this performance.
The best portrayal within this production and the one which is so true to the Burns we know and love is Elisabeth McNally as Agnes Burns. She performs the poetry and ballads with such beauty, nuance and emotion. This clearly captured the audience, as this is the Robert Burns we know and love.
The ensemble of this production supplied beautiful vocals and stunning choreography, they are as follows; Amy Lewis, Alana Munro, Cameron Munro, Sadie Custodio, Jaymee Hannah, Evie Harrison, Julia Klis, with backing vocals from Francesca Golding-Young & Sera Golding-Young.
Tish Tindall wrote and composed this production while also directing it with Diane Aspinall. While there is much to be commended for by taking on this bold concept and writing some very strong musical numbers, overall, there are major issues with this production. The characters are very hollow, their dialogue struggles to hold any nuance, which is fundamental when you are tackling the nation’s beloved bard, Robert Burns. There is no doubt Burns was a flawed character, everyone knows he was an adulterous womanizer; however, this production focuses on that. His back catalogue of works should have been the pinnacle of what holds this production together while telling an honest story from the woman’s perspective, instead ‘Burns’ features a hand full of his works while demonizing the bard in a fictionalized narrative. The handling of Robert Burns in this production is distasteful, when you look at musical comparisons such as ‘Hamilton’ or ‘Six’, there is creative intuition present, however ‘Burns’ is a brash mishandling of this historical figure. An example is turning Robert into a parallel version of Michael Jackson within the second act, even wearing the late king of pop’s iconic jacket and aviator sunglasses. Then they take that a step further by making Burns have an addiction to back pain killers and alcohol, which isn’t only a horrifying treatment of Robert Burns but also a massive insult to Michael Jackson who suffered from the same addiction when he passed. We do see moments where Burns is represented more accurately, specifically in the love of his father and also Scots, but there is no real consistence present within the writing of this musical. There should have been more care taken in the development of Burn’s character as of course he had flaws which should be shown, but also the man is one of Scotland’s most historical figures, whose writing is engrained in this country’s heritage.
In terms of stage direction from Aspinall and Tindall, the blocking of this musical has massive gaps, you can see the performers frozen or looking for something to do without any intention (practically out of character) while an instrumental is playing during musical numbers or within scenes. The moments that have been choreographed showcase some creativity from Diane Aspinall and Lucy Tindall, with some stunning movement sequences. It’s a shame that this production lacks consistency across the board.
Steve Bannister and Silverbox Group’s lighting, helps make this production look visually appealing at points, however, the set and costume does make this production seem rather dated instead of the contemporary vision the directors were clearly intending.
It is also very questionable why this production has debuted at the Edinburgh Playhouse rather than a smaller theatre, the overall quality of the production does not match what we are used to seeing on the stage of the UK’s largest theatre.
‘Burns’ features talented performers in a production that ultimately is misconceived and poorly directed, for something that has been thirty years in the making, this is a disappointing premiere.
Theatre Scotland 
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