Show could go on global tour if successful

The United States Sea Service Band appearing in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo this year. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

It has been a cornerstone of Scotland's cultural life since 1950 and attracts almost a quarter of a million people to one of its most iconic landmarks each summer.

But now the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is set to inspire a new "Tattoo the Musical" show which could go on tour around the world if it proves successful.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will stage its 75th anniversary production at Edinburgh Castle esplanade in 2025. | PA

The production, which is in the early stages of development, is being explored by a new leadership team which is taking the Tattoo into its 75th anniversary year in 2025.

The stage musical is one of several initiatives aimed at extending the global reach of the Tattoo, which will return to Australia for a full-scale production in 2026, its first overseas show since 2019.

Chief executive Jason Barrett said the Tattoo was drawing inspiration from long-running productions like Riverdance, which started off as a seven-minute sequence for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, and the success of Canadian circus company Cirque du Soleil.

New creative director Alan Lane, co-founder of the Leeds-based theatre company Slung Low, has an extensive track record in the theatre industry, including working with the Barbican arts centre and Almeida Theatre in London, the Royal Shakespeare Company, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Liverpool Everyman, Sheffield Theatres and the Lowry in Manchester.

As well as the stage musical, the Tattoo is exploring options to stage large-scale indoor concert versions of the event, after guest appearances by some of its performers at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year, while some of them will be appearing at the Hoolie at the Hydro event at Glasgow's indoor arena this weekend.

Mr Barrett: "We're really excited about 2025 being the 75th anniversary of the Tattoo.

"It's an opportunity, particularly with a new creative director, to look at new ways to tell a story, innovate and continue to evolve our offer.

"But we also want to use the anniversary year to talk about other aspirations we have to showcase our brand beyond what we do on the esplanade and use it as a springboard to accelerate that strategy.

"We're really beginning to put our shoulder to the wheel when it comes to diversifying. We are researching and developing different offerings at the moment.

"We're planning to go to Australia in 2026, we're cultivating propositions in North America and, given his background in theatre, Alan is really helping us to think about what a stage offering would look like."

Chief executive Jason Barrett and creative director Alan Lane are leading the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo into a new era in its 75th anniversary year. | Supplied

Mr Lane said: "It's been really exciting to drill down into the heart of the show.

"Where we've got to is a concert proposition, which is music-based, and a theatre proposition, which is about the spirit of the Tattoo.

"The thing I get thrilled about is the way that different communities come together to make the Tattoo. You would hear a story about the Tattoo in a musical.

"It would be a very different thing from an indoor version of the castle esplanade experience, where you take the vibe and aesthetics of the Tattoo, and put it in the biggest venue you can find that makes commercial sense."

Mr Barrett: "We have looked at case studies like Riverdance. We're incredible admirers of its success, but we also think to ourselves: 'We could probably do something like that.'

"A Tattoo musical or theatrical offering is really fun to think about, but probably riskier. The list of shows that were really good but failed is very long.

"We are being responsible about this. It's about research, development, exploration and discovery at this point.

"Our first steps are to put time, energy and resources into it. We want to move it forward.

"We're investing in doing things beyond Edinburgh, while not taking our eyes off our core offering. We have the resources and talent to do both.

"We will continually enhance what we do at the castle esplanade while developing the other sides of our business. That's where the Tattoo is right now."

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo organisers reveal stage musical ambitions ahead of 75th anniversary

Comments