4 stars
****

This professional production charts the eight years of Bill Clinton’s presidency through the main successes and scandals. Mainly the scandals! Although it may help to recap on your general Clinton knowledge before you go in to know who the minor characters are, everyone knows about Monica Lewinski etc. and it’s a joy to watch the clever direction of Ken Alexander ‘milk’ the whole farcical situation for all it’s worth. The Americans in the audience certainly lapped it up and were raving about the show when we went out so it hit the mark there.

The device of having two Bill Clintons (e.g. shoulder angel/devil) works very well and the whole idea of him having two personalities makes for a superb premise.

As you would expect with a professional cast the singing and acting are all spot on and as an ensemble they are very tight. The compact venue does have strange acoustics though and it took a couple of numbers for the balance to be tweaked but then it was fine. The cast are miced and there is an excellent live band (always good to have a live band!).

All in all an excellent production cleverly done, very witty, quirky and one to catch this year.

Review by Alan

Gilded Balloon on Teviot
1-27 August (not 14)
13:00-14:00