Kiss Me, Kate
★★★★☆ Chef’s kiss
Church Hill Theatre: Tue 10 – Sat 14 Feb 2026
Review by Ruth Bennett
Kiss Me, Kate, from the Edinburgh University Footlights, is a strikingly ambitious production. Not every element succeeds equally, but some aspects are excellent, and all of it entertains.
Director William Freebairn advocates for a more egalitarian version of Cole Porter’s fêted but outmoded book musical. The show’s publicity portrays the male lead supine under the female lead’s red pump – the Turn of the Shrew, if you will. Though the production draws upon the “gentler” script revisions of more recent revivals and de-emphasises some of the more atavistic lines and staging, it is largely a faithful telling of the classic. This is no bad thing.
Nina Birbeck (Lilli) with Ewan Robertson (Fred). Pic: Andrew Morris.
Kiss Me, Kate, with a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, follows the relationship, both onstage and off, between two fiery actors, ex-romantic partners Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham, playing the leads in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in the US city of Baltimore in 1948.
Two gangsters insinuate themselves into their show – at one point giving new meaning to the term “shotgun wedding” – to monitor its financial success so they can collect on a cast member’s gambling debts.
The tale is shaggy and problematic, and its fully integrated musical numbers leave it resistant to reclamatory updating. Nevertheless, when done well, the show’s peerless chaotic silliness and joyous mayhem fully subsume these issues.
credible chemistry
The obstacles to doing Kiss Me, Kate well are manifold: the play-within-the-play is straight Shakespeare drama, while its frame mixes character drama and arch comedy; there is also slapstick, vaudeville, several genres of dance, and, of course, range-busting vocal numbers – and the whole thing clocks in at nearly three hours. It is not a production lightly attempted by amateur companies.
And yet: it works. As leading pair Lilli and Fred, Nina Birbeck and Ewan Robertson have commanding stage presence and credible chemistry. Birbeck’s powerful singing conquers a technical reach that challenges professional productions. Robertson’s vocals are decidedly in the virtuoso realm, and special kudos goes to his accent, which sounded entirely native to this American.
The cast of Kiss Me, Kate. Pic: Andrew Morris.
Elham Khosravipour makes rival actress and sex kitten Lois Lane purr, and Dan J. Bryant’s Bill Calhoun struts and swaggers appealingly as her gambling, raffish beau. As the two gangsters, Bella Cripwell and Christiana Doe lean a little heavily on un-nuanced underworld caricature, but their performances display enjoyable brio.
The ensemble numbers a full dozen, and while more could have been done with costuming to individuate them, they all acquit themselves ably as dancers. In particular, ensemble member and dance captain Archie Hannay is a stand-out physical talent from the opening number onwards, in each of his too-few scenes.
energetically enacted
Although choreography by Lyss Britton and Caitlin Visser is constrained in the full numbers by the size of the cast relative to the stage, their inventive routines shine in spotlight songs such as Tom, Dick, or Harry, energetically enacted by Bryant, Sam Bennett (as Gremio), and Lucy Walker (as Hortensio).
The opening number of the second act, Too Darn Hot, is an absolute tour de force by the choreographers and Aaron Venter as Paul. His solo alone, or the flow of his angular, snappy dance by itself, would have been impressive. Delivered simultaneously, they dazzle.
The musical numbers benefit enormously from a 15 piece live band in the pit under the direction of Emily Smith. They were flawless and add that crucial lush texture which is irreplaceable by recorded music.
Nina Birbeck (Lilli) and company. Pic Andrew Morris
Technical issues on the first night of a show are rarely worth mentioning, but sound distortions, feedback and miscued lighting plagued the first act to a distracting degree and rendered some dialogue and lyrics incomprehensible, while overly aggressive use of a fog machine threatened to engulf the entire cast at some points.
One challenge of Kiss Me, Kate that the company have not not met as well is conveying Cole Porter’s glorious internal rhymes and wordplay.
Some of the fault lies in the technical issues. However, Robertson’s and, especially Bryant’s, comparative clarity in their delivery point to widespread issues elsewhere in enunciation. Similarly, the decision to perform the Always True to You solo as a big Broadway number leaves the repetitive melody intact while obscuring the witty words, stalling the piece in spite of Khosravipour’s appealing voice. With such high-quality lyrics at stake, these lapses are particularly unfortunate.
comic timing
While the cast handles even the Shakespearean turns of dramatic acting with bravura, comic timing is less in evidence. Enunciation, again, is likely to blame, though a feedback loop from the audience, who meet nearly all the many jokes with complete silence, does not help. The odd ‘laugh gap’ might be a mismatch between a mostly student audience and 1940’s banter, but it is a disappointing absence from what is traditionally a hilarious show.
Despite a few substantive flaws, the richness of the performances and reaches of its high points carry the show. Kiss Me, Kate aims for the stars and delivers astonishingly delightful results.
Running time: Two hours and 55 minutes (including one interval).
Church Hill Theatre, 33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Tuesday 10 – Saturday 14 February 2026.
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
EU Footlight website: edfootlights
Facebook: @edfootlights
Instagram: @eufootlights
Linktree: @footlights2425
The cast of Kiss Me, Kate. Pic: Andrew Morris.
ENDS
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