Dune! The Musical
★★★★☆ Musically powerful
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms (Venue 68b): Sat 2 – Sun 24 Aug 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Dune! The Musical, by Dan Collins and PBH’s Free Fringe at the Voodoo Rooms throughout all three weeks, sounds like it might be one of those half-baked, absurd concepts that are ten a penny in Edinburgh in August. Yet it is actually a well crafted, high-octane production with an appeal beyond its obvious audience.
Frank Herbert’s original 1965 space opera novel and its bewildering array of sequels have a huge following. Attempts to translate the story into other media have not always been met with joy by its fans, but those aficionados will undoubtedly find much to love in this musical from Edinburgh’s Dan Collins.
Dan Collins. Pic: Henrik Sym.
Suggesting a missing link between Damien Rice and Green Day, Collins performs songs in character (often as minstrel-warrior Gurney Halleck) and in a variety of styles ranging from folky ballad to metallic thrash. Almost all of them are just him and his guitar, sung with remarkable intensity.
Collins is a likeable, engaging performer, who is well aware of the occasional absurdity of the original source, and of the even greater absurdity of his decision to translate such an unwieldy epic into a one-hour, one-man musical – all the while while treating it with enough respect to placate devotees.
Indeed, it is the die-hards who would probably get the most out of this. There are occasional asides that get knowing chuckles from a small section of the audience while leaving the rest cold.
energy and momentum
For most of us, knowledge of Dune extends little further than being vaguely aware of giant worms and some peculiar films, whether featuring Timothee Chalamet or Sting in some dodgy underwear. And while this makes some of it a little tricky to follow, it’s impossible not to be swept up in the energy and momentum of it all.
The story does go into some dark places, which is reflected by Collins, but as the show is in an 18+ only venue this isn’t necessarily a problem; nervous attendees might like to study the trigger warnings beforehand.
You are, however, more likely to be affected by the power of the performance, in a show which scores highly for sheer entertainment value even if you don’t know Frank Herbert from James Herbert.
Running time: One hour and 5 minutes (no interval).
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms (Speakeasy), West Register St, EH2 2AA. (Venue 68b).
Saturday 2 – Sunday 24 August 2025.
Daily (not Wed 13): 12.35 pm
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
Facebook: @dunethemusical
Instagram: @dunethemusical
TikTok: @dunethemusical
Linktree: @dunethemusical
Dan Collins. Pic: Henrik Sym.
ENDS
