It’s not very often that I get the opportunity to review a production, return a year later and see what has changed.
But here we are.
I first reviewed Girlz at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025 and awarded it five stars. Now it’s back for 2026, this time on a bigger stage, with some cast changes, rewritten sections and a production that has clearly continued to evolve.
Interestingly, I didn’t actually attend this time specifically to review it.
I went for fun.
But obviously I was sitting there analysing everything anyway, so I thought I might as well review it again.
And the first thing I noticed was the difference the bigger stage makes.
The staging feels better.
There’s more room for the production to breathe and, particularly during the musical numbers, that extra space allows the cast to deliver the energy that Girlz needs.
Because when this show gets going, it really gets going.
The stars of the production are, of course, the performers playing Girlz themselves.
Their vocals are fantastic.
There’s a freshness and energy to the group that makes the band believable, and when they’re performing together the production comes alive. These aren’t actors who just happen to be singing some songs as part of a play – the musical performances are one of the show’s major strengths.
And you need that.
If you’re asking an audience to believe they’re watching a band with the potential to become successful, then that band needs to sound like one.
Girlz does.
However, the bigger performance space does create one small problem.
Some of the intimacy I remember from the production can become slightly lost during its more vulnerable and emotional moments.
That’s not a criticism of the performances themselves. It’s almost the opposite problem: the performers now have considerably more stage to work with.
During those quieter scenes, I think the blocking could potentially bring the actors closer to the audience, particularly towards the corners and edges of the stage.
When Girlz is delivering its big musical moments, use every inch of that stage.
But when the story becomes vulnerable, bring us in.
Close that distance.
Make those moments feel almost uncomfortably intimate.
I think that relatively small adjustment could help preserve some of the emotional closeness while still allowing the production to enjoy the advantages of its larger home.
There was another significant improvement from the version I saw in 2025.
The record manager.
Last year, I had some concerns about how this character was portrayed. He reminded me slightly of Smee from Hook – a little too evil-cute rather than genuinely unsettling.
That’s changed.
And it’s much better.
This year, the character has considerably more stage presence and, importantly, he comes across as a creep.
Which is exactly what he needs to be.
There should be something uncomfortable about him. The audience needs to understand the imbalance in the relationship and recognise that underneath the world of music, opportunity and potential success is somebody whose behaviour should make us uneasy.
The revised portrayal achieves that much more effectively.
I also noticed that sections of the production have been rewritten since last year.
Did they work better?
Yes, to a certain extent.
There is a sense that the creative team hasn’t simply brought the same production back to Edinburgh and hoped for the best. They’ve continued working on it, which is exactly what I want to see when a Fringe production returns.
However, there is an important caveat.
The version I saw was an abridged version of the full production, which normally runs at around 100 minutes.
That makes it difficult for me to judge some aspects of the story completely.
In particular, the emotional material involving Alex and the record producer is an important part of the production. In an abridged version, there simply isn’t the same amount of time available to explore every relationship and every consequence with the depth they might receive in the full show.
So I’m conscious that some of the emotional development I wanted more of may already exist within the complete production.
What certainly hasn’t disappeared is the energy.
Girlz delivers that in abundance.
The vocals remain powerful, the performances are committed and the concept still has considerable potential.
I’ve heard talk about the possibility of Girlz eventually making its way to the West End.
Can I see that happening?
Yes.
Absolutely.
But – and there’s always a but – I think there are still a few tweaks needed here and there before that happens.
Nothing drastic.
I wouldn’t be ripping the production apart and rebuilding it from scratch. The fundamentals already work.
The characters work.
The music works.
The performers can sing.
The story has something to say.
What it needs now is refinement: protecting those intimate moments on a larger stage, continuing to develop the more complicated relationships and making sure the emotional side of the production lands just as powerfully as the musical numbers.
Because the potential is absolutely there.
And having seen Girlz in two different forms across two Edinburgh Fringes, I think that’s perhaps the most encouraging thing.
It’s developing.
The production I watched in 2026 isn’t simply Girlz 2025 transplanted onto a bigger stage. There have been changes, some of my concerns from last year have been addressed and the show feels like something that is continuing to discover what it can become.
I thought Girlz was a five-star production last year.
Having returned to see it again, I’m maintaining those five stars.
It’s energetic, entertaining and packed with powerful vocals from a cast who give the production everything they’ve got.
There may still be a little work to do before those West End lights come calling, but I wouldn’t bet against it getting there very soon
Most importantly, I hope Fringe audiences give Girlz a chance while they can.
It deserves to be seen.
Fresh, fearless and bursting with powerhouse vocals. 5 Stars
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/girlz
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