Edinburgh International Festival 2025
Make It Happen
National Theatre of Scotland, Dundee Rep
Venue: Festival Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh International Festival
Low Down
Guided by the ghost of Adam Smith, Make it Happen tracks the rise and fall of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The impeccable production examines the 2008 financial crisis from a new and innovative angle.
Review
To many, the 2008 financial crisis seems like a lifetime ago. For the rest, though, the effects are still bearing down upon us. This is where Make it Happen begins. We’re introduced to the play (or pehaps psuedo musical) by an Edinburgh tour group admiring art in the National Gallery. In perhaps a reference toThe Phantom of the Opera, an eye-witness ushers us back in time as the stage transforms, landing in Edinburgh in 1998.
Nearing the length of a another recent financial epic, The Lehman Trilogy, Make it Happen fills its nearly three hour run time with 154 less years of content, but keeps the audience just as engaged. Although containing a number of standout roles, what is presented could be described as an ensemble piece. A large portion of the cast seamlessly shift between characters, highlighting the societal impact of Fred Goodwin’s boardroom decisions. Sandy Grierson portrays an unshakeable Goodwin. He embodies a man who let his ambition eclipse his humanity. It’s an incredible performance as, had we all not known the ending, an audience member might make it the majority of the first act wondering if he’ll be our hero or our villain.
As every poster for this year’s International Festival will explain, Make it Happen brings Succession star and Dundee-native Brian Cox to the Edinburgh stage. Portraying a flamboyant Adam Smith, Cox takes on the roles of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Goodwin worships Smith as if he were a god, the father of capitalism, but we learn that perhaps this is a false idol. As Goodwin’s world begins to collapse, Smith tries to guide him to a solution he chooses to ignore. In speaking with Goodwin, Smith speaks to us all too. Make it Happen isn’t a mirror for society as much as a retrospective. It doesn’t ask how, it asks why. Why do we revear this figure as a free market revolutionary when perhaps he was warning us of the dangers of wealth and greed?
The set’s monolithic design, coupled with the stark and directional lighting creates an eerie environment for the performance. It emulates the work that was done in the shadows, the bank beneath the bank. The simplicity of it welcomes you in, it makes the world feel accessible when in fact the very world we see ended up crushing a generation.Make it Happen feels perfectly at home in Edinburgh, but speaks to audiences well beyond Scotland. I would not be surprised to see it revived on the stages of the National Theatre in London or the performing houses of New York. Although only in Edinburgh for short time, I’m confident we’ll see Make it Happen on stage again soon.
