Arts:Blog

Theatre Review: Footloose ***

Anna Burnside reviews a fun production with a lot of heart.

Footloose, a big-hearted rock musical, is 40 this year. A teen story from the innocent days when dancing was done for fun, not TikTok views, it now feels as much of a period piece as Grease.

In fact, it’s basically a role-reversed rework of a similar story: a male outsider with some silky moves arrives in the small town of Bomont. It has a railway line, a hamburger joint and a town council that has banned dancing. 

This makes Footloose more than a romance, although there is plenty of that. Ren, the city boy upsetting the hicks, takes on his uncle, the local tough guy, the preacher and the school principal on his quest to fit in and get Bomont on its feet and having fun.

The musical numbers range from the title dance opener, the Jim Steinman rock ballad “Holding Out for a Hero” and the softer “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.” These are performed in Pitlochry’s signature promenade style, with the cast playing an impressive range of instruments.

Luke Wilson is a likeable Ren and a convincing teenager. Kirsty Findlay, as his love interest Ariel, is a firecracker of a preacher’s daughter, stomping in her red cowboy boots. Luke Thornton, as the hapless hayseed Willard, works hard as the comic relief. 

There is a wonderful comic scene when Ren has a job as a roller-skating waiter in the burger bar. After a stushie he thinks he’s going to be fired - until his boss rolls in on her own skates and stands up for him.

The emotion of the piece is also well handled, with Findlay and Robin Simpson as her preacher father digging the sticky bits out of the script.

It would be easy to go down the Grease route and camp up the 80s elements of Footloose. Director Douglas Rintoul holds back on that urge and creates a balanced, vibrant version of a jolly but undistinguished movie. He plays up the big heart without losing the big hair. It’s a lot of fun.

Footloose performs in repertory at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre until September 26, 2024. Check the website for specific dates and times. Photo by Fraser Band.