Year of Young People: Gang Show takeover

To celebrate the Year of Young People 2018 and 250+ young people who take to the King’s Theatre stage every year with the Edinburgh Gang Show, we asked 15-year-old Craig Yelland to tell us about his Gang Show and why it’s so special to him.

“Well what a week! This year’s Gang Show was better than any of us expected. Gang Show is the highlight of my year, but this year felt extra special to me with being asked to do this blog for the ‘Year of Young People’.

We have gone through so much as a Gang with learning 15 brilliant numbers in four months of rehearsals. Over 250 members of cast involved with over 1,000 costumes between us all. Gang Show means family to me and all the people I can call my extended family as we are all so close. Many of the production team were in the show when they were younger, showing just what the show means to them.

I have been mainly in sketches this year as the ‘village idiot’ type character. This has been a role that I have taken up for a few years now, but that is a reason I come back every year, because I love to make people laugh and make them happy. We presented a big variety of material in the show this year from a cover version of the Tony awards opening in 2013 (which we did as a tribute number to a Donkey!) to a disco version of the hit song ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman (Celebrate You!). We have been lucky enough to have had such amazing dancers who can do every different style of dance, and singers who can sing with the most amazing power. 

I also got to take over the Capital Theatres Instagram page on Thursday which has been a great opportunity to show people the magic behind the show and has been a great success in my view. 

This year we have had an amazing audience all week which has included members of Gang Shows from around the world (even as far as Australia) and we have also welcomed the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh Mr. Frank Ross, who I met after the show on Thursday night. Each night got better than the night before as we all settled into the way of the performance with more applause and laughs from the audience as the week progressed. 

This has also been an emotional week for a lot of us as we are losing a few of the older cast as they leave for university or are unable to do it anymore. To them I wish them luck as they move on in their lives. 

I never thought that last week would go like it did, but I’d like to congratulate every member of cast and of the production team for helping make a show that I will never forget.”

We would also like to congratulate everyone involved in making the Edinburgh Gang Show a success every year, and in particular to Craig for giving us such a wonderful insight into the backstage life with his Instagram take-over and this blog post story. Well done!