In the event you fall asleep after the first half hour of Strictly Ballroom and wake up just in time to see Act One’s final scene, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody had transported you to a different show. Because nothing in this disappointing stage version of Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 film comes remotely close to that pre-interval number; and all three of the stars awarded in this review go to that one scene.

Luhrmann’s dated script limps along with few genuine laughs, and so little for director Craig Revel Horwood to work with that he’s forced to squeeze humour through the tiniest of cracks. Screeching Australian accents come and go, hindered further by the poor sound quality, and dance routines do little to capture the slick, whip-quick majesty of Latin and ballroom dancing. Even star dancer Kevin Clifton, in the leading role of Scott Hastings, proves more of a double than triple threat (he’s a surprisingly good singer).

But all is briefly forgiven when talented flamenco dancer Jose Agudo offers to show Hastings how to really dance the paso doble. As the routine builds, recruiting more and more dancers, building to a magnificent swell that has the crowd whooping, we finally see how ‘fab-u-lous’ Revel Horwood’s choreography can be. 

Reviewed at Edinburgh Playhouse.