Review: Woody Sez (Edinburgh Fringe)

I was invited to review Woody Sez during its run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and it sounded interesting to me due to the fact there would be live folk music being performed by actor-musicians.  Indeed, on walking into the Underbelly Bristo Square venue (Cowbarn), four actors were on stage playing gorgeous music, which was a lovely way to be welcomed in to watch a show.

Devised by David M. Lutken, the narrative is about the life and career of Woody Guthrie, an accomplished musician. The life story behind the creation of this show was documented through diary entries and letters, alongside a newspaper column, also named Woody Sez, which was published in the 1930s-40s. David M. Lutken portrays Woody Guthrie himself, and the three other musicians who join him on stage, Raquel Chavez, Nyssa Grant and David Finch multi-role everyone he comes in contact with.

The narrative tells of a difficult life, not only for our titular character, but also for America as a whole during this time in the early twentieth century.

Production photo by Wendy Mutz

The performance of all of the music in this production is absolute perfection, and to me the highlights of this show were the songs. There were many different instruments played, some familiar and others that were new to me. If I could listen to this cast’s performance of the music again now, I absolutely would.

Where the impact of the production fell short for me, was with the spoken word elements. David M. Lutken’s portrayal of Woody Guthrie is strong, but the style of delivery I found it hard to engage with.  There were moments towards the end of the show where the spoken word became more of a theatrical performance and these sections were much more impactful. I feel the style of delivery earlier in the show, almost by way of an informative talk at times, resonated with me much less.

Whilst people who are already fans of Woodie Guthrie will doubtlessly find this show of interest, if you have little to no knowledge of him before you enter the room it may be more of a challenge.

However, my personal views take nothing away from the portrayal of Woody Guthrie by David M. Lutken, and indeed the fabulous soundtrack performed by everyone on the stage.

⭐⭐⭐

Woody Sez is showing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 30 August 2026. You can buy tickets here.

The show then moves to Underbelly Boulevard in London from 8th - 19th September. Tickets are available here.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.