Gutted: A Revenger’s Musical, Assembly Rooms

There’s much fun to be had at Gutted playing spot the stand-up behind the costumes, wigs and grease-paint. There’s Doc Brown as the warm-hearted handy man, Sara Pascoe as the slow-witted maid and Colin Hoult as, well, pretty much everyone else, from the creepy groom to the obese uncle and the statuesque mother-in-law.

There’s always a danger of indulgent messing around with comedians’ shows – an opportunity for a gang of friends to let off steam having got their own shows out of the way earlier in the day. Gutted, though comes with reassuring pedigree. It’s from the team behind the hit 2007 show Psister Psycho – with a book and lyrics by Danielle Ward, music from Martin White and Chris George as director.

As such, this is a slickly produced show with a live band, proper singing and dancing, a score that borrows from Les Mis and Little Shop of Horrors and some killer one-liners. Billed as a revenge musical, it’s the tale of orphan Sorrow (Helen George) who uses her wedding day to avenge the death of her parents: not so much a blushing bride as a bloodthirsty one.

What she lacks in humour, George, a musical theatre actress from the belt-‘em-out school, makes up for in professional veneer, but there’s plenty of talent among the comedians, too. Hoult, a versatile character comedian, steals most of the best lines as he dresses up in increasingly outlandish costumes to play the Bewley clan while The Penny Dreadfuls as the sinister “three men of varying heights” are an especial joy.

To 29 Aug (0131 623 3030)