Only The Brave

George Square 1    31 July - 25 August @ 18.15 + 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 @ 20.45    Daniel Sparrow and Patrick Gracey

A lot of hype has surrounded this much anticipated new musical, starring Keith Jack and Niamh Perry of reality TV fame, and indeed in part it did not disappoint. The musical score, written by Matthew Brind and Stephen Coleman, is one of the best I have heard for a long time, with souring songs reminiscent of Les Miserables. Assisted by a whopping seventeen-piece orchestra and large cast of West End performers, every note is charged with emotion.

Sadly though, I cannot say the same for the story. Inspired by “true events” in World War II, there are no exceptional heroes, no original plot lines, and under-developed characters you can’t warm to. Love, loyalty, bravery and hope are all incorporated into a story trying hard to engage your empathy, but nothing is covered in any depth, and basic dialogue struggles to hold the show together between songs. Even allowing for unfortunate technical problems the night I saw the show, I couldn’t help feeling that the production was performing under par.

To be fair, this is a shortened ‘Edinburgh’ version, and perhaps in its full form the show can become the potentially brilliant musical the score deserves… I do hope so.