Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 13th May 2026 Review
"Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil" is on at the Lyceum Theatre from 8 to 23 May, and for me this show was one of the pleasant surprises of this year. This show is a stage adaptation of the 1993 book (republished 21 years later with updated text and updated new chapters) by Ron Ferguson.
If you are wondering about the title of this show, then a better, but longer title might have been "Black Diamonds (coal) and the Blue Brazil (Cowdenbeath FC). If the thought of going to anything so closely related to football puts you off a bit (yes, some people have no interest in football), then do not let that stop you going to this show as there is so much more to this story and this production than just that.
Ron Ferguson's original story is about football, there is no getting away from that fact, but it is not about the big names in the game, the huge fan base that they have, the big important wins, and of course the money that comes from these wins. Instead, this is about Cowdenbeath FC, a small local club that, as this story unfolds, knows all too well what not winning a game feels like and, oddly, this does not lead to despair in the fans’ hearts, but hope that the next game will be better.
This story is about the social and community bonds that such clubs up and down the country form, their importance to the community and. in a way, a tribute to all the un-sung heroes who give up their time to keep clubs like this alive. This is also a story of a community whose prosperity has been based upon coal mining and the hard life of the miners who worked there. What happens to the people and the community though when coal mining is long gone? We get some answers to those questions here too.
"Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil" is itself a little diamond in its own right. It has the most important ingredients of really good theatre - a story with characters that people can relate to (original author, Ron Ferguson), very good adaptation to the stage format (playwright Gary McNair), clear direction (James Brining) and great songs by one of the finest songwriters that Scotland has produced in many years, Ricky Ross. Add into this two performers who have the ability to bring not only these words to life, but the ability to pull an audience into this story and hold them there.
On stage, set and costume designer Jessica Worrall has created a space that really grounds this story, and the stage set will remind so many people of being in their own football or social club. Additional video design by Lewis Den Hertog adds, when needed, additional unspoken layers to this story.
This story itself revolves around two people, Sally (Dawn Steele) and Dad (Barrie Hunter). After being away from Cowdenbeath for many reasons, and for a long time, Sally has returned to her home town to sort out the affairs of her father who has recently died. Her father has been a life-long, almost fanatical supporter of the football club, and we get more insight into this father-daughter relationship through Sally's memories.
A large part of the on-stage time is focused upon Sally, and Dawn Steele's performance is impressive. There are more characters involved in this story, but we never see them as it is Dawn Steele who takes on their personas too. This at its heart is as simple as theatre can get, but it is also, in the hands of someone like Dawn Steele who knows how to get every little bit of a wide range of emotions out of this script, as effective as theatre can get, and somewhere out there, there have to be some major awards awaiting Dawn for this performance. Adding so much to this story and the at times difficult dynamics between father and daughter is Barrie Hunter's performance as Dad.
Having Ricky Ross perform the songs that he has written for this show, live on stage, was simply a pleasure too, and there are so many fine songs here. The way that they are woven into both the story and performance of this work is interesting too. "What's Winning?" may be the headline song from this show, but there are so many other gems here too. Ricky Ross's use of music and words to tell the story of everything that is in "Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil" is impressive in its own right.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
If you are wondering about the title of this show, then a better, but longer title might have been "Black Diamonds (coal) and the Blue Brazil (Cowdenbeath FC). If the thought of going to anything so closely related to football puts you off a bit (yes, some people have no interest in football), then do not let that stop you going to this show as there is so much more to this story and this production than just that.
Ron Ferguson's original story is about football, there is no getting away from that fact, but it is not about the big names in the game, the huge fan base that they have, the big important wins, and of course the money that comes from these wins. Instead, this is about Cowdenbeath FC, a small local club that, as this story unfolds, knows all too well what not winning a game feels like and, oddly, this does not lead to despair in the fans’ hearts, but hope that the next game will be better.
This story is about the social and community bonds that such clubs up and down the country form, their importance to the community and. in a way, a tribute to all the un-sung heroes who give up their time to keep clubs like this alive. This is also a story of a community whose prosperity has been based upon coal mining and the hard life of the miners who worked there. What happens to the people and the community though when coal mining is long gone? We get some answers to those questions here too.
"Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil" is itself a little diamond in its own right. It has the most important ingredients of really good theatre - a story with characters that people can relate to (original author, Ron Ferguson), very good adaptation to the stage format (playwright Gary McNair), clear direction (James Brining) and great songs by one of the finest songwriters that Scotland has produced in many years, Ricky Ross. Add into this two performers who have the ability to bring not only these words to life, but the ability to pull an audience into this story and hold them there.
On stage, set and costume designer Jessica Worrall has created a space that really grounds this story, and the stage set will remind so many people of being in their own football or social club. Additional video design by Lewis Den Hertog adds, when needed, additional unspoken layers to this story.
This story itself revolves around two people, Sally (Dawn Steele) and Dad (Barrie Hunter). After being away from Cowdenbeath for many reasons, and for a long time, Sally has returned to her home town to sort out the affairs of her father who has recently died. Her father has been a life-long, almost fanatical supporter of the football club, and we get more insight into this father-daughter relationship through Sally's memories.
A large part of the on-stage time is focused upon Sally, and Dawn Steele's performance is impressive. There are more characters involved in this story, but we never see them as it is Dawn Steele who takes on their personas too. This at its heart is as simple as theatre can get, but it is also, in the hands of someone like Dawn Steele who knows how to get every little bit of a wide range of emotions out of this script, as effective as theatre can get, and somewhere out there, there have to be some major awards awaiting Dawn for this performance. Adding so much to this story and the at times difficult dynamics between father and daughter is Barrie Hunter's performance as Dad.
Having Ricky Ross perform the songs that he has written for this show, live on stage, was simply a pleasure too, and there are so many fine songs here. The way that they are woven into both the story and performance of this work is interesting too. "What's Winning?" may be the headline song from this show, but there are so many other gems here too. Ricky Ross's use of music and words to tell the story of everything that is in "Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil" is impressive in its own right.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com