The concept is really in the name here: it’s a musical, and it’s improvised. Showstopper! The Improvised Musical takes audience suggestions and turns them into a fully fledged musical on the spot. With co-creator and director Dylan Emery taking the stage as ‘The Writer’, he receives an urgent call from ‘the producers’ requesting a brand new musical, right now!
I was slightly concerned going into the show. I haven’t seen any of the three musicals chosen by the audience to incorporate their styles into the show (Mean Girls, Rock of Ages, Shucked), and I wondered whether I’d be able to recognise the styles. More importantly, I can’t say that a story about duty free for the next hour particularly excited me.
Almost immediately, Showstopper! managed to prove me wrong.
The resulting musical followed Bob, who runs the airport’s struggling cafe, and Sonia, his ex-wife, who successfully operates the award-winning duty free makeup and perfume store. What began as a mundane setting soon developed into full rivalries, romantic entanglements, and a love triangle, with the performers drawing on musical theatre tropes to turn the most ordinary aspects of the show into theatrical drama.
The performers’ ability to do this is spectacular. They watch each other closely, picking up on body language cues to establish the choreography, lyrics, and harmonies in real time. When the band kicks in and the cast begin singing, it becomes genuinely difficult to believe that none of it was rehearsed.
Ruth Bratt, playing Sonia, and Justin Brett, playing Bob, picked up the central roles, while Miracle Chance, Pippa Evans, Ali James, Ethan Pascal Peters, and Andrew Pugsley filled out the ensemble, expanding the world around the main characters. The cast rotates across each performance, meaning every show is different with each member adding their own flair.
The three musical styles are introduced throughout the show, and even without having seen the three chosen, the differences are easy to pick up on. The performers adapt beautifully between styles, shifting from the pop style of Mean Girls to a big rock number with powerful vocals, before moving on. The singing is absolutely exceptional. One emotionally charged ballad in particular had harmonies that gave me goosebumps! It is almost impossible to comprehend how the performers can construct that level of musicality while simultaneously creating the story.
The rotating band also deserves as much credit. With three members filling the role of keys, percussion, and reeds respectively at each performance, it is insane to watch them respond instantly to the tone and mood of the scenes on stage, changing their pacing and style alongside the performers.
The lighting, designed by Damian Robertson with improvisation by Robertson, Tom Clutterbuck, and Rob Kershaw, also responds to a constantly changing performance seemingly with ease. Actors are picked out with spotlights as scenes develop, while the lighting shifts alongside the action without the benefit of a script or blocking.
There are a few weaker moments earlier on in the show. The first few scenes between songs felt a little awkward as the performers figured out where the story was going. Characters occasionally talk over each other, information conflicts, and there were moments of silence that sat a little too long. As the story became established, the cast found their feet some more, and these issues disappear for the most part.
Ultimately, between an incredible cast, band, and creatives, an almost complete musical narrative is created in front of the audience, featuring characters that have story arcs, varying musical styles, jokes, dramatic revelations, and an emotional conclusion, all from suggestions made by the audience on a whim. The rotating cast and improvised ideas mean that no two shows are the same, and Showstopper! can be enjoyed every night anew!
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is a strong demonstration of theatrical and musical skill. While the early scenes struggle to come together at times, it eventually finds its feet and particularly during musical scenes, it’s easy to forget it’s improvised at all. The cast and band are so ridiculously talented that they make the impossible look effortless, turning whatever the audience throws at them into a musical worth watching.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is running until the 30th August 2026 at the Pleasance Grand at 5:20pm each day.
Theatre Scotland 
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