Disclaimer: Due to the age of the performers in this production, the contents of this review will be strictly based upon the creative choices and writing of this musical
Deacon Brodie is a local celebrity in Edinburgh, so it was a brave choice for Shrewsbury School to bring their new Deacon Brodie themed musical to the Edinburgh fringe, especially when having to adopt non-native Scottish accents. Complete with brand new musical numbers, questionable history and the age-old habit of having school children play sex workers, Brodie and Co doesn’t really hit its mark.
As its title suggests, you may assume that the musical will centre around Deacon William Brodie: a cabinet maker and member of Edinburgh Council who had gambling issues and took to theft, but the story decides to try out a new angle. Following the life of one of his mistresses: Jean Watt, we take a look at the tale through the eyes of a young prostitute who falls in love with Brodie. Jean Watt was indeed one of Brodie’s mistresses, however historical records make no suggestion that she was a lady of the night nor that she was Brodie’s favourite of the two ladies. To serve the romanticism of the tale, Jean is thrust into working in a brothel, becomes an accomplice to Brodie in his crimes and there is absolutely no mention of the other mistress, his children or Brodie’s impeccable woodwork skills. George Smith, Brodie’s Partner in crime, is entered into the plot to create a love triangle and there is no mention of Brodie’s other main accomplices: John Brown or Andrew Ainslie (the two that got him caught in the first place). The whole story is missing its key elements in order for it to fit better into an “I can change him” bad boy romance story. To top it all off (and apologies for the spoiler), Brodie somehow survives his destined fate!
Now it should be noted that the Company does state that the show is “inspired by the true story of Deacon William Brodie”, however with lack of care to the source material itself, it may be wise to rename the story as one of its own origins. It also claims to have created “a fierce heroine”, yet our leading lady can barely hold her own and spends the whole show just putting up with everyone else’ bad attitudes and doing as she’s told.
The music is pretty fun, even if it does have repetitive qualities and the choreography is well designed and eye catching. Unfortunately, however, this is a show that contains more music than dialogue and yet the songs do nothing to serve the plot. A live band and some excellent sound mixing from the tech crew ensures that the young performers can be heard clearly but questionable Scottish accents often distract from the dialogue. The young ensemble has great energy and together makes some lovely group sounds although watching children pretend to be sex workers is never a comfortable feeling.
Overall, this show appears to be suffering from a little bit of an identity crisis, creating more fiction than fact despite its suggested offerings. A series of “That’s just how the world works” songs take up key plot time and contradict the writers claim to provide us with “a girl ahead of her time”, these songs are also not necessarily written to their performer’s skill sets. That being said this is still an entertaining 1hr 30minutes which showcases young talent.
Catch Brodie and Co. at Paradise in Augustines from 24th-29th August at 12:50. Tickets can be purchased at Brodie and Co. | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewer: Beth Eltringham
Reviewed: 24th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating: