Written by Hannah McGregor

Directed by Niall King

Tickets: £18.50 (Con. available)

Without so much as a prompt, the audience clicks their fingers in this infamous beat. 

There isn’t a person in the room (alive or long departed) who doesn’t know what ghoulish treats are awaiting them. 

Reinventing themselves time and time over, fending off a permanent venture into the grave for over eighty years, the charmingly gruesome family of gloom and doom finds a home in the hearts of many through its countless television series, films, comic strips, and popular musical adaptation. Now, with a concise production of everyone’s favourite musical, The Addams Family, Edinburgh Music Theatre has managed to carve out their name onto the many who have brought something original to the show; the entire team under Niall King’s direction full of unique new ideas and tweaks which keep the musical up to date (while retaining all its settings and locales). 

Seeking to re-invent Charles Addams‘s serial characters for new audiences while maintaining all of what the Addams Family (the cultural sensations remain to be), Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s book stays true to every one of the quirks and eccentricities of the character’s sadistic, romantic, and comedic roots. And as the family have grown, it is the once little Wednesday Addams who has hit that dreadful moment of maturity: love. She’s fallen for Lucas Beineke, a ‘normal’ kid. Enlisting the aid of her father Gomez to conceal their secret engagement, with a promise to help things go smoothly as the two families come together, one normal night threatens to break up the world’s most famous family. 

Capturing more of the nuances of a young woman, rather than the younger girl some perform Wednesday as MacLaren does a terrific job in balancing the role’s more subdued emotions and straight-performance than some of the more comedy-focused elements in the show. They’re a terrific bouncing point for Kayleigh MacDonald’s Pugsley and show strong chemistry and duets with Kieran Robson Renner’s Lucas. But the best pairing is with her tightly wound stage father Sean Quinn as Gomez. 

The gothic-lothario any man would love to be, Gomez’s sharpness and balance with a genuinely trapped man fighting to hold everything together (and face the maturing nature of his daughter), Quinn does a brilliant job capturing it all and then some. With solid vocals, and enough catapulting energy to conjure up this man in his prime years (just about), they’re an absolute delight to watch as they bring the role to its best while rallying everyone else to follow. And they’re a match for Chanel Turner–Ross as Morticia, the mother of darkness who has all the snarl and snark needed for such a subtle and famous role. Whenever they move, the audience pays attention, as Morticia’s trademark stance breaks and showcases costume, set design, and Jacob Henney’s lighting. 

Infatuated with the moon, raising a smile from the audience with every appearance, Ian McKenna’s performance as our guide this evening, Uncle Fester, is a joyful performance that brings sincerity and light to the show’s more chaotic elements. A lynchpin of the show, the Addams all circle around McKenna through the evening, benefitting from the structure and keen direction, but it is Sheona Dorrian’s granny who gets to through it all to the wind with some maniacal cackles and humour, offering some welcome updates to the script, and sharing touching moments with MacDonald’s Pugsley – pouting, miserable, but fully compassionate and relatable in their love for their sister.

A repurposed set, enabled by production manager Charlie Johnson Walker, transforms the Church Hill Theatre into a living, breathing (sometimes literally) mansion which seemingly expands to (just about) accommodate the forty-strong ensemble of ghoulish ancestors, yet becomes remarkably intimate and endless whenever there is the call for a powerful solo. Enormously impressive, Ashleigh Le Cras’s choreography understands every strength (and the occasional slip-up) on that stage and how best to utilise ensemble numbers for a showstopping impact, and for a more intimate and downplayed as to showcase vocals. Especially impressive when paired with Lauren McAnna’s beautiful costume design, which works exquisitely to stand out (and contrast) against the darkness of the set or complement it with similar ghoulish tones. 

And no one stands out more than the everyday mundane ‘normies’, Lucas’ parents Alice and Mal. Decked out in canary yellow, Sarah-Luise Donnelly is a triumph on the stage – relishing the opportunity to subdue their skillset as the quaint and rhyming Alice before the full 180’ spin revelation that catapults them into playful and bold in the second act. They work well against Russel Coid’s Mal, the pair having much fun together, though Coid works well with Quinn’s Gomez as the two fathers compare everything while taking a tour of the Addams mansion. 

A mansion of a few creaks and groans, Rob Stewardson’s musical direction is mostly a triumph with the nine-strong pit band who bring the show’s excellent score to life, but occasionally there’s a battle between the volume of the instrumentals and solo performances. It’s never too distracting, but occasionally some of the numbers with faster pacing struggle to find a sense of diction – even with Rhys Turner’s sound design offering some solid laughs and rounding it all out.  

Certainly putting the ‘fun’ into ‘funeral’, The Addams Family continues to effortlessly prove itself as a beloved musical, and Edinburgh Musical Theatre reminds us all about its continued place as one of the best producers of grassroots entertainment in the area. Playfully macabre, with a competent and talented cast who rise to any occasion (with some terrific personal touches of ad-libbing, movement, and design), this clever and fantastic production isn’t just re-conjuring what already works, they put their own soul and spirit into the mix. 

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