The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been described as one of the world’s greatest shows, but what lies beneath all that pomp and circumstance? Mitchell Hageman talks to the dedicated soldiers behind the scenes about bringing the show to New Zealand.
At one performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in its home country, an audience member fell gravely ill.
“The paramedics were there, and 9000 people held their breath as these paramedics basically brought this person back from the dead,” Tattoo creative director Alan Lane recalls.
“There was this moment of everyone going, well, we don’t quite know what a reasonable response is to that, but we know that what we’ve seen is heroism.”
That heroism and selfless service are exactly what The Heroes Who Made Us, the show premiering at Auckland’s Eden Park on Thursday night, looks to celebrate, whether it’s those who put their lives on the line for their country or those who heed the call every day in service to others.
Lane knows firsthand the value of service through his experience as a British Army reservist and serving as Troop Commander of the 106 Field Squadron of the 75th Royal Engineers based across the north of England. His boss, Tattoo chief executive Jason Barrett, spent 21 years in the US Marine Corps, as well as time with the Royal Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Something both Jason and I talk about is this idea that we don’t celebrate service enough,” Lane says. “And I’m not just talking military service or blue light service, but the people who, by the standard of their behaviour, by their volunteering, knit our communities together and make our society what it is.
“I think what the show looks to celebrate is the people who make our community worth living in.”
Both soldiers are the epitome of dedication and hard work and have used their years of experience in multiple fields to honour this ethos of service.
“From my time in the military, I went into hospitality,” Barrett says.
“I ran restaurant companies, opened my own restaurant, and ran country clubs, so I was very customer-facing.”
When an opportunity came up to helm the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, described by some critics as “the greatest show on earth”, he leapt at it.
He says the thing that impresses him most about the show is how it brings together almost 1,000 volunteer performers from around the globe.
“They come together about five days before opening night, and we’re able to knit together, synthesise and harmonise a show that is spectacular.”
What started in 1950 as a military show continues to bring together “the best mass bands of the British military”, he says.
Lane also has a significant military background, having grown up in a military family. Despite personal challenges, he continued to serve others through his passions.
“When I was a kid, I was going to join the army. Then I got cancer, and they frown upon chemotherapy in basic training.
“I became a theatre director, which was the other thing I enjoyed, and I trained, mostly working in prisons with young offenders and those types of environments. That teaches you how to make theatre under pressure.”
He says he’d been a fan of the Tattoo since he was a child and had continued to follow it while a volunteer reservist.
Celebrating the stories of heroism, be it through music, marching, or spoken word, always made an impression on him.
“I think that’s why people come to the Tattoo, because they want to hear those stories. They want to remember their relatives, they want to think back to when they came [to the show] with their parents,” he says.
“There’s magic in it all, and also a sense of community.”
Barrett, who has been to New Zealand a few times now, says it’s been “too long” since the Tattoo has been on Kiwi shores, and was ecstatic to bring the values of ethos and service to more people.
“I met with the New Zealand Defence Forces and the High Commissioner down [in Wellington], which is where the previous New Zealand outing of the Tattoo was held 10 years ago at the Cake Tin,” he says.
“We’re so excited to get back. It’s Auckland instead of Wellington this time, simply because it’s the biggest city. We want to be where the people are, and we’re hoping people throughout the country will make their way to Auckland. We talk about the [Edinburgh] castle as hallowed ground; Eden Park is pretty hallowed ground as well.”
Lane adds that, while aesthetics may change from country to country, there’s a universally human element to the Tattoo that is at home in Aotearoa.
“I’ve made theatre all over the world. I think that the values of decency, the values of understanding, are always there.
“There are people who run towards the fire, right? We need those people, and we should be thankful for them.”
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
February 19, 20 and 21, 8pm
Eden Park, Auckland – Tickets are available at ticketek.co.nz
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.
Mitchell travelled to Edinburgh in August 2025 as a guest of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.