A sun-soaked, ABBA-fuelled tonic for winter.
Christmas audiences have always had a fondness for nostalgic escape, and Mamma Mia! delivers a feel-good evening where ABBA’s music remains firmly centre stage.
In much the same way that The Beatles soundtracked the 1960s, The Smiths the 1980s and Oasis the 1990s, ABBA, alongside Bowie, are inseparable from the cultural memory of the 1970s. As much as the band itself, Mamma Mia! has embedded itself in global popular culture. Since opening in London in April 1999, it has been seen by more than 70 million people in over 450 cities worldwide. There have, of course, been two spin-off films, but that is another story.
This touring production transports the audience to a Greek island for the evening, where we meet Sophie as she searches for her father. Three men from her mother Donna’s past are invited to the wedding, and the farce is quickly set in motion.
Marisa Harris is excellent as the glamorous Tanya during Does Your Mother Know. One of Donna’s former bandmates and a fiercely loyal friend, Tanya is played with just the right level of flamboyance. Harris gives the role polish and confidence, combining strong comic timing with expressive movement to ensure the character feels knowingly exaggerated rather than cartoonish.
The humour can be bawdy and, at times, unapologetically obvious, but it rarely lingers long enough to wear thin. Another ABBA number soon arrives to take over the senses. In many ways, the music does the heavy lifting, and does so effortlessly. There is a faintly melancholic undercurrent beneath the joy of songs such as Dancing Queen, a reminder that nostalgia and joy often sit side by side. Remarkably, the song turns 50 next year.
Jenn Griffin delivers a grounded and convincing performance as Donna, the mother of the bride. One of the evening’s most affecting moments comes when she sings Slipping Through My Fingers while brushing her daughter’s hair the night before the wedding. The scene briefly slows down the production’s pace and brings an emotional core into focus, reflecting on the parent/daughter relationship and the galloping passage of time. The song has found renewed relevance in recent years through covers by younger, 1970s-inspired artists such as Declan McKenna, who gave the song his live debut in this very theatre just last year.
Donna’s backstory, that of a single mother who might, by her own admission, have ended up on a sink estate, but instead traded Britain for a Greek island to give her daughter a better life, adds further texture that works well during The Winner Takes It All. It takes place during the confrontation with Sam (Luke Jasztal) and is a bittersweet highlight before the production builds towards its exuberant finale.
As an antidote to an Edinburgh winter of dark nights and short cold days, Mamma Mia! provides a hearty and entertaining evening of atmospheric escape.
Reviewed by Richard Purden.
Four Stars
Mamma Mia! is at the Edinburgh Playhouse until 4 January 2026.
Theatre, Art and Film Reviews 
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