Exit stage right: Brexit musical a sellout in Edinburgh
The lighthearted festival hit features a Boris Johnson in Union Jack undies, and a happier ending than its writer thinks likely in real life
Edinburgh — A retelling of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and its dramatic political consequences might perhaps be framed as high drama or extreme farce. But audiences at the Edinburgh Festival are lapping up a lighthearted, sung comedy version, Brexit The Musical — a sellout featuring a cavorting Boris Johnson, the most prominent Brexit campaigner, in matching Union Jack underpants and socks, looking for a lost plan. On hearing the news that "Leave" has won, Johnson, who in reality surprised many with his decision to campaign to leave the EU and is now Britain’s foreign secretary, sings in horror: "Leaving Europe will be a catastrophe/Overnight we’ll bugger the economy." Britons voted to leave the EU in June 2016, but since then a host of unforeseen political consequences, including a snap election in which the Conservative government lost its majority, have mired the country in uncertainty. There is still no clarity about what Brexit will mean in practical terms. In th...
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