Wild Rose, A New Musical – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh 

Picture: Mihaela Bodlovic

Wild Rose, A New Musical continues at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh until 19 April 2025.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Prepare to be stunned!

This is a reinterpretation of Nicole Taylor’s hit film and in many ways surpasses her original work. Her script, married with John Tiffany’s direction, has a clarity and freshness that grabs the audience tightly and never lets go.

Dawn Sievewright is stunning as Rose-Lynn – cheeky, charming, innocent, conniving, vulnerable, strong, adorable and with a breathtaking voice. With every song, it finds another way to the heart as the story unfolds and Rose-Lynn beguiles her audience.

Rose-Lynn’s story begins as she leaves prison, “on the tag”. Leaving behind a merry band of line-dancing inmates, she returns to her family – mum Marion (Blythe Duff) and her children, Wynonna and Lyle (Lily Ferguson and Alfie Campbell for the press performance). Finding children who are distant after a year with granny and no mum, Rose-Lynn seems little more than a child herself with a lot of making up to do.

The struggle of winning back her family’s trust and love while still trying to find a way of making her dreams come true in Nashville, stretches her so far that there seems no way to reconcile the hand she’s been dealt and her ambition.

Meanwhile, she begins working for a well-to-do family as the ‘daily woman’. New boss Susannah (Janet Kumah) is bowled over by Rose-Lynn’s singing talent and appoints herself as her mentor, sending her off to the BBC in London to meet ‘Whispering Bob’ Harris, the TV and radio presenter and leading authority on the country music scene.

Again, the pull of her responsibility as a mother steps in. The dynamic shifts in her life from her family, the stage at Glasgow’s Ole Opry, her day-to-day job all begin to collide in beautifully acted, intimate scenes.

Tiffany’s direction is confidently met by the performers, designers and music to shift the dynamic of the story with finesse and skill. Crystal clear storytelling matched by the innovative use of many ‘traditional’ theatre effects in an impressively fresh style. The backdrop alone is used in a variety of techniques that support and carry through the excellence elsewhere.

Chloe Lamford’s set design has a clarity and fluidity, matched by Katrina Lindsay’s costumes. All is lit wonderfully in Jessica Hung Han Yun’s sensitive choices and Steven Hoggett and Vicki Manderson’s choreography and movement create a world for the Wild Rose story to take root and grow. The stylised line dancing is particularly effective.

The music is simply brilliant. All the musicians in the eight-piece band are at the very top of their game; arrangements by Sarah Travis and Davey Anderson bring an edge to the songs – all 13 of them – matching them with the character and style of the show and adding contemporary touches that refresh the material. There is harmony everywhere: in the music, in the design, in the performances, in the rapport with the audience.

The songs support the developing plot and characters. Duff’s rendition of ‘Peace In This House’ is heart-rending; Sievewright’s ‘Tacoma’ all but stops the show, from the acoustic stripped-back opening that builds in complexity and passion, and we all fall in love once more with that voice. Stunning.

Already on an extended run – do whatever you need to do to see this show – be prepared to laugh and cry in equal measure and be thankful that Wild Rose has blossomed so perfectly, right here.

She will live in the mind for a very long time indeed.

Fiona Orr

NB. The world premiere production of Wild Rose features songs from country music legends including Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Chris Stapleton, Caitlyn Smith, The Chicks, and Patty Griffin, alongside the film’s award-winning original song Glasgow (No Place Like Home).