Friends The Musical Parody Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 5th February 2026 Review
"Friends The Musical Parody" is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh from Thursday 05 to Saturday 07 February, and from this performance (Thu 05), it is obvious to me that this is not only a show for the fans of the television comedy sit-com, but those who will identify with the many in-jokes and references to both the show and the original cast.
Friends, the television show which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons, was a true entertainment phenomenon, people grew up watching this show every week, and since then the show has been re-run so many times on television channels across the world that new generations of fans have grown up watching it too. It is therefore no surprise that the Producers of "Hairspray" and the director of "The Full Monty" saw "Friends" as an ideal property to license and adapt to the stage as it already had a built in audience.
This show has already been a success in the USA, and it has working on it some very experienced theatre industry talent behind the scenes but, despite all of this, this "Friends The Musical Parody" has about it that feel of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance, and coming to a theatre as large as the Edinburgh Playhouse must have been a big gamble for this show as there are a lot of seats to be sold here, even over a short three night run.
The format here is a very simple one. For the start of both acts we have a warm up comedian (Edward Leigh) on the live Friends studio set. We then move onto our show "Friends", Amelia Atherton (Pheobe Buffay), Alicia Belgarde (Monica Geller), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross Geller), Ronnie Burden (Joey Tribbiani), Eva Hope (Rachel Green) and Daniel Parkinson (Chandler Bing) recreating some classic scenes from across the show’s history and giving everything the musical parody treatment. Edward Leigh also has multiple roles here, including that of coffee shop stalwart Gunther.
The music is acceptable, if at times predictable, as are some of the parodies. A lot of humour is, as I have said, show/personality in-jokes and at times much use of that age old stage/comedy favourite the double-entendre gets a laugh or two too.
This show is what it is. Everything here depends on the audience knowing not only who Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe are, but also the dynamics between each and every one of them. There is nothing wrong with this, and the cast here do it all very well. There are some funny moments here, and a puppet duck and chick do steal a whole scene here (depending on your opinion, maybe the whole show). And really, if you are not a fan of the original show, why would you even be buying a ticket for this stage production? The audience here tonight certainly found much to laugh about at this parody of their much loved show.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Friends, the television show which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons, was a true entertainment phenomenon, people grew up watching this show every week, and since then the show has been re-run so many times on television channels across the world that new generations of fans have grown up watching it too. It is therefore no surprise that the Producers of "Hairspray" and the director of "The Full Monty" saw "Friends" as an ideal property to license and adapt to the stage as it already had a built in audience.
This show has already been a success in the USA, and it has working on it some very experienced theatre industry talent behind the scenes but, despite all of this, this "Friends The Musical Parody" has about it that feel of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe performance, and coming to a theatre as large as the Edinburgh Playhouse must have been a big gamble for this show as there are a lot of seats to be sold here, even over a short three night run.
The format here is a very simple one. For the start of both acts we have a warm up comedian (Edward Leigh) on the live Friends studio set. We then move onto our show "Friends", Amelia Atherton (Pheobe Buffay), Alicia Belgarde (Monica Geller), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross Geller), Ronnie Burden (Joey Tribbiani), Eva Hope (Rachel Green) and Daniel Parkinson (Chandler Bing) recreating some classic scenes from across the show’s history and giving everything the musical parody treatment. Edward Leigh also has multiple roles here, including that of coffee shop stalwart Gunther.
The music is acceptable, if at times predictable, as are some of the parodies. A lot of humour is, as I have said, show/personality in-jokes and at times much use of that age old stage/comedy favourite the double-entendre gets a laugh or two too.
This show is what it is. Everything here depends on the audience knowing not only who Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe are, but also the dynamics between each and every one of them. There is nothing wrong with this, and the cast here do it all very well. There are some funny moments here, and a puppet duck and chick do steal a whole scene here (depending on your opinion, maybe the whole show). And really, if you are not a fan of the original show, why would you even be buying a ticket for this stage production? The audience here tonight certainly found much to laugh about at this parody of their much loved show.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com