Brighton Fringe comedy review

So Britain might have been humiliated again in Eurovision 2026… but in parody musicals combining the song contest’s greatest ever winner and property-based board games this nation stands triumphant. Even if the category is uncontested.

The Winner Rolls It All takes the songs of Abba and rejigs them to fit  a Monopoly theme. Money, Money, Money obviously works, as does Take A Chance On Me. But Staunch Theatre have managed to shoehorn in plenty of tracks from the Swedish supergroup’s back catalogue.

We are in a multiple trademark-infringing world run by Moneybags (Louisa Johnston), where hotels and houses are personified as her Cockney henchwomen trying to keep the playing pieces in line  – while the Chance and Community Chest cards (Ciara Smith and Isobel Stoner) tempt them from the straight and narrow, with the ever-present threat of the jailer (Phil Sherrard), the only man in the ten-strong cast. Well, any Abba musical’s gotta have a Fernando.

It’s all a load of nonsense, and a stronger story – or even character motivation – would get more audience investment beyond the sketchily drawn romances between the pieces and vaguest sense of peril. But the show barely needs it. The no-frills format of getting from one catchy song parody to the next as quickly as possible does the trick. 

The young cast are imbued with the musical theatre spirit, full of infectious verve and leaning into the corniness of the puns – and indeed the whole shaky concept – with appealing flippancy and meta-jokes. The show might vaguely have some message about capitalism, but  much more to say about conveying a party vibe. How can it not when it’s based on Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson’s back catalogue?

All the cast have their moment in the spotlight, but it’s an ensemble effort, with the choreography, by Lily-May Bower, especially impressive for a fringe show. The lyrics and book are witty, if only occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but again sparkly with no-nonsense fun. Some singing voices could do with more welly but everyone can hold a tune in a show that’s way more entertaining than Monopoly itself ever is.

Review date: 21 May 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Brighton Rotunda Theatre