Scotland

The Legend of Queen – Surgeons’ Hall Grand Theatre

There are some voices you simply cannot mistake. Peter Marchant gets remarkably close to one of them. Close your eyes during The Legend of Queen and you are pretty much there. Open them and you are definitely not. But that is rather the point. This is not a Freddie Mercury impersonation act, it is an exceptionally accomplished celebration of the music.

Marchant particularly captures the compressed, slightly shredded quality of Mercury’s lower register. It is instantly identifiable and extremely well done. At the very top, he cannot quite reach those extraordinary Mercury heights, but two very able backing singers take the sound onwards and upwards. It is clever arranging around a voice that was always going to be almost impossible to reproduce.

Musicianship throughout is up to the consistently high standard I have come to expect from Night Owl Shows. This is essentially a joyous charge through a substantial chunk of Queen’s greatest hits. You know the songs, you know every word, and before long you are singing them. Some are necessarily truncated, including Bohemian Rhapsody, but in a fifty-minute Fringe show the full version would start making fairly serious territorial claims on the running time. Better to keep moving.

My biggest reservation has nothing to do with the production. The Grand Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall must be one of the least atmospheric spaces on the Fringe. Perhaps I am being architecturally forensic, occupational hazard, but rooms matter, particularly when you are trying to squeeze Wembley into fifty minutes at Surgeons’ Hall.

Get yourself towards the front, however, join in and allow the music to take over, and the room begins to matter considerably less. Marchant is a confident showman, the band is excellent and the sheer familiarity of this extraordinary back catalogue does the rest.

Intriguingly, Marchant is also performing Night Owl’s Bowie show this Fringe. Given the range and showmanship demonstrated here, I now feel almost duty bound to see what he does with Bowie. That may be one of the strongest recommendations I can give him.

There is little point searching desperately for faults where there really are not many to find. The Legend of Queen is extremely well played, intelligently arranged and enormous fun. A very enjoyable night out, even if Queen deserves a room with rather more rock and roll in its architecture.

Playing until August 30th 2026, https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/2026LEGENDO

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 16th August 2026

North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating: