Here and Now: The Steps Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse

If you’ve ever wanted to experience a fever-dream in real time, Here and Now: The Steps Musical is the show for you.  This brand new jukebox musical, written by Shaun Kitchener in association with Steps, is utterly ridiculous.  At first that might feel like a negative, but the further the show goes on, the more Here and Now sweeps you into the madness and by the end you’ll be belting out tragedy in the megamix.  Its self-aware silliness can’t be denied, and with all of the Steps’ classic hits, it’s hard to resist the “Summer of Love” – I for one, had the time of my life.

Set in the Best Better Bargains supermarket, we see four core cashiers make a pact that this is the Summer they get their love lives together.  As they attempt to make their moves, we come to find out that evil tycoon Max (Edward Baker-Duly) is shutting down the store and Caz (our lead cashier, played by Lara Denning) has helped him do it!  Of course, not on purpose, but we watch as her colleagues struggle to comprehend how she could do something like this to them all.

The story is a sort of whistle-stop tour of a narrative, with a very on-the-nose inciting incident happening and then a vaguely related Steps song being sung.  This formula repeats until we are left with something that sort of makes up a plot.  But no one is going into this thinking it’s going to be an evocative drama – it knows what it is, and embracing the campness has really salvaged the superficial, recapitulation of a story. 

The songs fluctuate from high-energy ensemble numbers to melodramatic ballads, and while this fluctuation is really jarring, each song was well polished in its own right.  Matt Cole’s choreography captures the classic cheese of commercial musical theatre but in a way that wasn’t overstated – it supports rather than overshadows.  And with the plethora of pool inflatables and shopping trolleys it would be easy to go overboard, but Cole has managed to capture the far-out silliness while keeping everything cohesive and blended.

The cast were sort of towing the line of satire and seriousness – I wasn’t quite sure how seriously they were taking themselves but either way, I was blown away by their vocals.  Of course, we knew Denning was a powerhouse as she had the emotional ballads to showcase it, but it was such a pleasant surprise to hear the supporting cast (such as Rosie Singha as Neeta) surprise us out of the blue with their solo moments.  Some of the jokes didn’t land quite right but I think if everyone just gets a bit more outlandish with it, they’ll be sorted.  River Medway as Jem was also a fun addition to the show, with her number in drag solidifying for me that this whole show has to be satirical – her backup dancers were dressed as bags of ice after all.

Don’t get me wrong, in the first act you will be questioning your decision to attend, but if you just surrender to Steps, by the second act you’ll be having the time of your life – especially when a glass of wine is involved,

Playing until 1st March, https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/edinburgh-playhouse/

Reviewer: Jessie Martin

Reviewed: 24th February 2026

North West End UK Rating: