Jackie!!!
Rating: ★★★
Venue: Big Yin at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Edinburgh

Sex, drugs and coercive control... Jackie! is a new musical comedy that follows the young Jacqueline Bouvier as she dreams of becoming the first American Royal. After marrying into the illustrious Kennedy dynasty, Jackie discovers that power and notoriety come with the price of secrecy and silence. With Joe Kennedy pulling the strings, Jackie's sister Lee pulling away and JFK pulling anything that moves, Jackie is left alone to contemplate if life atop the American throne is really worth the familial curse that seemingly hangs over it.

Entering the spotlight is the former first lady of the USA in this new comedy musical.

Although the writing is strong, too few of the songs are catchy enough to leave a lasting impression. The cast are dedicated to their roles (some of them having many to quickly change between) and they do so well. While most of the lines are there to land as a joke, most of the punchlines require previous knowledge of the Kennedys or the American President which, for a modern UK based audience, is minimal. Sadly a lot of the references went over people's heads and we missed what could have been real crackers.

It's also acknowledged by the cast that they're all white and the show itself focuses on an extremely privileged family. Do we need another show about rich white people getting away with murder and worse? Probably not.

You can book tickets to Jackie!!!, here.

Review by Katie