Now That’s What I Call Brexit by Blowfish theatre is a satirical musical which takes the audience back in time to the before the referendum campaign even began and then looks forward to the eve of the UK leaving the EU. We meet Political figures including David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and Jacob Rees-Mogg and we are given glimpses into all the conversations, as well as songs and dances that went on behind closed doors!

Going into a show based on political satire at the Edinburgh Fringe it is a safe bet that the Tories are going to be the butt of many of the jokes however what really appealed to me for this show is that nobody was safe! Whilst the focus was on the likes of May, Johnson and Gove, Corbyn was given the Blowfish treatment in a Grime number.

The casts impersonations of the political figures were strong overall. Polly Bycroft-Brown played a manipulative and snivelling Gove desperate for power, constantly trying to outsmart Johnson and she really succeeded in imitating many of his mannerisms and playing them up for comic effect. Kyle Williams played May, hunched over and with a statement necklace, despite the hairy chest she was instantly recognisable. There had clearly been a lot of time into all of the impressions and it was fun to spot the little quirks of our high ranking politicians.

The script was fast moving with many blink and you’ll miss it references to political stories, from the infamous vote leave bus, to Boris’ latest hobby making model buses and from Cameron and the pig to the moment May and Trump held hands. I found these quips funny and always on the mark.

Letting the show down slightly was the songs themselves, whilst I loved the idea of a few of them, the aforementioned Grime number for Corbyn and a quirky top hat and tails number for Rees-Mogg I wanted the execution to be taken up a notch. The Grime and the Rees-Mogg number worked well as they had a particular style and a reason for that style, which the rest of the numbers were lacking on this front and therefore became forgettable.

The same applied to the choreography and the staging of the numbers, it was difficult to understand why backing dancers appeared on stage if we weren’t really clear on the style of the song or the need for it.

Whilst Brexit itself may be shambolic, Now That’s What I Call Brexit makes the most of this and turns our recent political dealings into a funny show with some en point impressions. Even without the needed development of the score it has a higher chance of success than Brexit itself.

Now That’s What I Call Brexit is on at Gilded Balloon Patter House at 20:00 – 21:00.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Trump The Musical, Six and Vulvarine.