Brighton Fringe 2026
The Winner Rolls it All
Staunch Theatre
Genre: Comedic, Contemporary, Dance, Musical Theatre, Story-songs, Theatre
Venue: Rotunda Theatre Brighton Bubble
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
If you like Abba, silly lyrics, bright voices, funky choreography and, such a rarity in the Fringe, ten performers giving it their all, this gem is for you. Hidden away in the Rotunda Bubble near the i360 it’s surprising the bubble doesn’t fly off with the sheer energy of this talented bunch.
Go now, so one day you can say: Well, I saw them first! Performing May 15 and 16 at 6.30pm and May 19 and 20 at 5pm.
Review
Money Money Money – that’s where Monopoly and Abba meet and that’s where this charming one hour romp starts: let’s have some fun with it! For no reason that we can surmise at the beginning, nine young women are characters on the board, we have Race Car and Iron, Wheelbarrow and Thimble all dressed in silver, others are introduced in their various parts and from the off every single performer is totally invested in their show, their character. The choreography by Lily-May Bower is spot on, I especially loved the many slow-motion bits, the dance jokes (ballet!, silent tap!), these multitalented women can dance, sing, act, as well as smile, flirt with the audience – they own the stage.
The relatively small stage is almost bare, giving them room to move, with just a few boxes to perch on when and where needed. Moneybags is the central figure with her two cockney accented sidekicks Hotel and House in red and green, costume design Emma Kelly, and they want to keep everyone spending their Money Money Money. Number follows number, love affairs develop and dissolve, figures win and of course lose, you want to sing along as you know the tunes but, yay, the lyrics are new, funny, apt. Chance and Community Chest are also part of the game, two clowns with quirky and cynical banter and songs, more and more songs, even some I had never heard before, and I know my Abba!
Into all this melee is thrown a big surprise – the Jailer – Fernando! One man among the whole cast, and he is not a piece on the board but… I don’t want to spoil the joke because it really was the funniest. The whole audience went: “Awwww!” Moneybags and he have a special relationship but in the end… again, no spoilers, it goes somewhere really clever and unexpected, we were so impressed.
The show is aimed at Millennials, (though I felt the 16+ guideline set high for a bit of swearing), at times quoting Big Brother and TikTok and some laughed while oldies whispered to their neighbour: “What was that about?” “I’ll tell you later.” Cause there’s never time to stop. And how funny that Millennials should still love old fashioned things like Monopoly and Abba, you’d think those went out in the 80s. There’s hope yet for non-electronic communication among young friends.
The singers are not amplified and I found the backing tracks at times a bit too loud. The best bits of singing were the a-capella moments when you could hear the very nice and secure harmonies and the lovely voices truly shone. This show has far to go, it needs some money thrown at it to make it just a touch more shiny and the singers deserve head-mics and a good sound-engineer to help them not hurt their voices but be allowed to soar without trying too hard (not that they did, but it was show one of six and that’s going to be hard). Go now, so one day you can say: Well, I saw them first! Performing May 15 and 16 at 6.30pm and May 19 and 20 at 5pm.
