Wednesday, 29 August 2018

The Brooklyn Scotsman - Ed Fringe Review


The Brooklyn Scotsman is an autobiographical tale based on a Scottish teenager leaving home to pursue his dreams across the Atlantic in New York City. With elements of music, storytelling and acting, it combines to give 60 minutes of interesting theatre. Stevie Creed stands proud and speaks directly to the audience throughout sharing his own story. His own personal goal isn’t really made clear - rather than given information, he leads the room in his own footsteps. Reminiscing and exploring his journey, we follow with him in spoken word separated with comedy and music.

Joined on stage by backing band and incredible soulful singer Jamei-Lee Lister, the show explodes into life when the beat starts. Stevie’s self-assured, simple structure to lyrics adds a rock-type feel to his hip-hop, speaking his words with power and clarity to cut straight to our ears. In complimenting this, Jamei-Lee’s soft yet sharp vocals partner and add a layer of magic to the songs. A real gem in the Edinburgh music scene herself, she excels on stage and captivates the audience with her beautiful voice and movement. With the strings of the guitar being plucked by the talented Stuart (also of local band Sea bass Kid) alongside her, they take charge of one half of the stage themselves with their own chemistry. Reflected opposite with soft drums is Simon Drummond, these different elements combine into something simple, yet special.


Other than the music, the highlight of this show is the incredible acting Stevie has towards the end. While the story is semi-captivating in itself, the ending bleeds emotion and we are left with a genuine feeling that while Stevie Creed has travelled and found part of himself - There’s still a lot more to uncover. There are various characters and personalities within our music and hip-hop scenes, in this case he is certainly unique. Stevie has a passion and vision to his work, he doesn’t aim to make a name in the underground circles of the hip-hop scene, and instead he pushes for something beyond. Whatever his aim, if he keeps up this work-rate and energy he’ll go a long way with his creative outlets.


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