Mamma Mia! The Musical Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 10th December 2025 Review
Mamma Mia! the musical is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh until 04 January 2026, and this show, now in its 27th year, is obviously still as popular with audiences as it has ever been. Over those years, Mamma Mia! has been performed in more than 450 cities across the world to over 70 million people, so this show really does earn its reputation as a "smash hit musical".
One obvious reason for this huge success is of course the music of ABBA, but another, and just as important, one is the way that these songs are utilised in this show. Here, Mamma Mia! creator Judy Craymer and Catherine Johnson (book), used a story line and characters that the theatre-going public (and film adaptation viewers) have simply taken into their hearts.
The Mamma Mia! story essentially revolves around the relationship dynamics of Donna Sheridan (Jenn Griffin) and her daughter Sophie (Lydia Hunt). The setting is a small Greek island and Sophie's wedding to Sky (Joe Grundy) is a soon to be happening event. Unknown to Donna, her daughter has been making preparations for a few unexpected guests to be there too.
It is fair to say that "Mamma Mia!" is a very strong women's show and this show works so well because outside of the "pure pop" songs, many of the classic ABBA songs are written from a woman's perspective. The use of all of these songs to combine and tell this new story is at times surprising, but often interesting and this alone raises this show far above the standard "jukebox musical format". Some songs simply work a lot better than others here, but that is to be expected.
At first (if you have not seen this show, or the film), there is a bit of an adjustment to be made as the vocal harmonies of Agnetha and Anni-Frid are so distinctive on them. Here those harmonies are for the most part gone as the respective characters sing their songs. Also, some of these songs are now male vocal leads.
Musically and performance wise, this really was the Jenn Griffin (Donna Sheridan) show tonight and there were many reasons for this. Out of all the people in this story it is Donna who is the most defined and given the biggest background story. That alone gives Jenn Griffin so much to work with on stage. Another reason is that Jenn's vocal range simply suits her songs in this show very well, and her performance of "The Winner Takes It All" is one of this show’s highlights.
As Sophie, Lydia Hunt has for the most part a far lighter and freer character to perform on stage and this is often reflected in her songs, and it is a good performance here too.
One song that works surprisingly well here is the gender switch on "Does Your Mother Know", one of the few ABBA songs to feature a male vocal lead. Here switching that vocal to Tanya (Marisa Harris), Donna's long-time friend who has arrived for the wedding, gives a new perspective to this song.
There are so many classic ABBA songs here, including "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take A Chance On Me" and of course "Mamma Mia!" that this show really could not fail to be a hit show. Even with all of these songs, there is something odd about a fully seated theatre audience politely listening to ABBA songs. That does change at the end of this show though, so if you can, stay to the very end of this show.
Review by Tom King (c) 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
One obvious reason for this huge success is of course the music of ABBA, but another, and just as important, one is the way that these songs are utilised in this show. Here, Mamma Mia! creator Judy Craymer and Catherine Johnson (book), used a story line and characters that the theatre-going public (and film adaptation viewers) have simply taken into their hearts.
The Mamma Mia! story essentially revolves around the relationship dynamics of Donna Sheridan (Jenn Griffin) and her daughter Sophie (Lydia Hunt). The setting is a small Greek island and Sophie's wedding to Sky (Joe Grundy) is a soon to be happening event. Unknown to Donna, her daughter has been making preparations for a few unexpected guests to be there too.
It is fair to say that "Mamma Mia!" is a very strong women's show and this show works so well because outside of the "pure pop" songs, many of the classic ABBA songs are written from a woman's perspective. The use of all of these songs to combine and tell this new story is at times surprising, but often interesting and this alone raises this show far above the standard "jukebox musical format". Some songs simply work a lot better than others here, but that is to be expected.
At first (if you have not seen this show, or the film), there is a bit of an adjustment to be made as the vocal harmonies of Agnetha and Anni-Frid are so distinctive on them. Here those harmonies are for the most part gone as the respective characters sing their songs. Also, some of these songs are now male vocal leads.
Musically and performance wise, this really was the Jenn Griffin (Donna Sheridan) show tonight and there were many reasons for this. Out of all the people in this story it is Donna who is the most defined and given the biggest background story. That alone gives Jenn Griffin so much to work with on stage. Another reason is that Jenn's vocal range simply suits her songs in this show very well, and her performance of "The Winner Takes It All" is one of this show’s highlights.
As Sophie, Lydia Hunt has for the most part a far lighter and freer character to perform on stage and this is often reflected in her songs, and it is a good performance here too.
One song that works surprisingly well here is the gender switch on "Does Your Mother Know", one of the few ABBA songs to feature a male vocal lead. Here switching that vocal to Tanya (Marisa Harris), Donna's long-time friend who has arrived for the wedding, gives a new perspective to this song.
There are so many classic ABBA songs here, including "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take A Chance On Me" and of course "Mamma Mia!" that this show really could not fail to be a hit show. Even with all of these songs, there is something odd about a fully seated theatre audience politely listening to ABBA songs. That does change at the end of this show though, so if you can, stay to the very end of this show.
Review by Tom King (c) 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com