Alice Cooper at The Edinburgh Playhouse

It’s been more than a decade since Alice Cooper brought his brand of shock-horror theatre to Edinburgh. The city’s intimate Playhouse (the UK’s largest seated theatre outside London) exploded the moment a giant tabloid‑style curtain dropped, plastered with the headline “Banned in Scotland” above Cooper’s silhouette. Who then slashed straight through the curtain with his sword (of course).

Opening with “Lock Me Up” and “Welcome to the Show,” the 77‑year‑old rock veteran had the entire seated crowd on their feet. Top hat, blackened panda‑eye makeup and cane in hand, he looked like the Alice Cooper we all remember (a very healthy one at that).

The stagecraft is the fun of the show – the straitjacket escape, the looming guillotine, the Marie Antoinette beheading, to name a few… It becomes easy to forget just how good the band is. Nita Strauss, back in the line‑up, is a high‑octane performer in her own right, all agility on both fretboard and stage. Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen, Chuck Garric and Glen Sobel form a tight backbone, keeping the engine running while Alice and Nita take centre stage.

In the encore, “Feed My Frankenstein,” Cooper paused to lead a full‑venue chant for the late Ozzy Osbourne, fist raised in tribute, before feeding his Frankenstein.

Staff said this was a first for the Playhouse. Usually reserved for theatre and opera, the venue saw not a single person sit down all night. Bigger than a club, smaller than an arena, it was the perfect setting for a masterclass in how to turn shock-rock into living theatre.