Review: Evita, Edinburgh Playhouse

Now in its thirty-third year the show has received more than twenty critical awards, not to mention an Oscar, and spawned some of the most memorable songs in musical theatre.

This may come as a surprise for some given that said show is about the fascist Juan Peron (Earl Carpenter) and his fame-hungry wife of the title, Maria Eva Duarte.

The story of Eva's rise from peasant to first lady is communicated without any dialogue. Instead, the show is driven by Lloyd Webber's Latin inspired score featuring the likes of Oh What a Circus, High Flying Adoredand Buenos Aires.

As with most great operatic musicals the role of the leading lady is vital and Eva Peron is rarely off stage. Abigail Jaye is believable in the titular role, capturing all of the presidential wife's steely resolve while further imbuing the character with an air of callousness and wiliness. Her vocals however, rousing as they may be, lack the lyrical conviction of former Evitas Elaine Paige and Julie Covington.

Such shortcomings are forgiven in the second act, when Eva addresses her adoring audience on "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". Jaye gives a poignant rendition of the signature song, her crystalline enunciation and range compensating for her previous absence of emotion.

Providing a worthy adversary to Eva and Peronism itself, is narrator Ch.

Mark Powell is delectably snide as the people's spokesperson, mocking his fellow countrymen for their sanctified worship of Evita while critiquing the former actress' actions at every turn. Nonetheless, there are moments when his rhetoric is drowned out by orchestration.

But this is not just Eva and Ch's revolution, others demand to be counted. Sasha Ransley gives a bitter performance as Peron's evicted mistress on the touching Another Suitcase in Another Hall and Reuben Kaye shines on serenade On This Night of a Thousand Stars as the debauched tango singer, Magaldi.

Furthermore, Matthew Wright's grandiose design - with its colossal pillars, wide arches and balconies - beautifully invokes the architectural splendour of the crumbling Casa Rosada.

In all, this is a pleasing enough production but ultimately it lacks the required depth to separate the woman from myth.

Run ends Saturday