I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical – Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Diana Vickers and Tori Allen-Martin in I Wish You Well at the Underbelly, George Square – Udderbelly, Edinburgh.Picture: Mark Senior

I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski- Trial Musical continues at Underbelly, George Square – Udderbelly until 26 August 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Things may have briefly gone downhill for Gwyneth Paltrow following her ‘ski and run’ encounter with retired optometrist Terry Sanderson on a mountain in Utah in 2016, but the resulting courtroom drama turned out to be a gift for writers looking for the next big thing to satirise (there are two shows inspired by the events at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe alone).

That’s not to say that it’s easy to adapt even the most bizarre of events into a high-octane, highly entertaining four-hander, one-hour romp, but somehow Roger Dipper and Rick Pearson (book and lyrics), director Shiv Rabheru, choreographer Arlene Phillips and the rest of the creative team have achieved just that.

Both silly and slick at the same time, the production manages to poke fun at all the figures portrayed – Gwyneth, Terry and his attorney, the presiding judge – and do so with wit and affection. Thanks to some good quality, sometimes laugh-out-loud storytelling and decent musical numbers (influenced by everything from country music to TV’s Pose to opera to Kander and Ebb), the audience can engage with the characters amidst all the chaos.

A huge part of I Wish You Well’s success is the fabulous cast led by Diana Vickers as Gwyneth who brilliantly keeps in character, swishing her hair, blowing kisses left, right and centre and namedropping her online wellness brand ‘Poop’ (lots of fun had here mentioning vagina-spelling candles and jade eggs).

Vickers is in impressive form vocally too and her scenes and duets with Tori Allen-Martin’s starstruck lawyer provide some of the show’s highlights. Allen-Martin is brilliant at bouncing between defending her client and worshipping the ground that Gwyneth walks on. A slightly bewildered, short-sighted Terry is brought to life by the ever-versatile Marc Antolin and Idriss Kargbo, always a welcome presence, embraces the showbiz elements of the trial in a high-kicking, showstopping way.

There’s a bundle of parody shows playing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, three of which are presented by producer Paul Taylor-Mills, but this must be one of the best on offer. And there’s welcome live musical accompaniment too (the MD is Debbi Clark).

Lisa Martland