Many years ago, a common question was ‘where were you when President Kennedy was shot?’. Almost sixty two years later, the tragic moment which shock the world is now a distant memory for younger generations today.
Centre stage is a coffin draped in a Stars and Stripes flag as three short, sharp gun shots reverberate around the theatre. In her trademark, pink Chanel suit and pillbox hat, Jackie Kennedy stands in silence at the funeral with her father in law, Joe Kennedy and brother in law, Robert (Bobby). Her sister Lee is also a comfort at this painful time.
Flash back a decade to February 1952 when Jackie was a young, ambitious photojournalist. The year when Queen Elizabeth, she announces, became 'Queen of England'. (Script correction please - the new British Monarch was Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth). After a sombre start, the musical now kicks off with a very stilted dance on a small narrow stage, not ideal for energetic steps. Jackie meets the rather arrogant John Kennedy, Senator of Massachusetts, ‘a Boston boy’, but his eyes are on the White House. He just needs a strategy and a First Lady by his side.
Nancy Edwards is an extraordinary look alike, doppelgänger as the sweet, rather innocent Jackie. Elegant and beautiful, the American citizens adore her so a real asset to JFK. For some reason, Bobby (promoted to Attorney General) is viewed as rather stupid given a child’s drawing puzzle to solve.
Classic farce staging often includes a room with three or four doors, to allow characters to make rapid entrances and exits, comedic chaos and confusion. Here, apart from Jackie, the other actors individually rush in and out of one of the four doors, dressed in outrageous wigs taking on the persona of Warhol, Liberace, Elvis or Marilyn Monroe (singing Happy Birthday, Mr President), to perform a 2 minute sketch. Why?
As a musical, there a few catchy numbers but these pantomimic caricatures add nothing to the narrative, described as ‘a sharp-witted show takes a no-holds-barred look at the darker side of the Kennedy dynasty.’
It would seem that Nancy Edwards auditioned to play Jackie Kennedy in a fairly serious and emotional, musical drama akin to Evita; she also marries a powerful political figure and is adored by the nation, in ‘Don’t Cry for me, Argentina’ fashion. Most unfortunately, the rest of the cast decided to create a totally different satirical show, which descends into a farcical send-up about the devious womaniser, JFK and the Machiavellian Kennedy dynasty.
Comedic chaos and confusion indeed.
Showtimes:
30th July – 25th August 2025 (not 11th), 18:30
Tickets: Midweek: £15 (£14) Weekend: £16 (£15)
Age guidance, 14+
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/jackie