Midsummer (a play with songs) @
the Tricycle
There are a few times in the theatre where we are pleasantly surprised and completely enthralled by what is simply good story telling.
Midsummer, which was a huge hit at Edinburgh Fringe, is a rom-com with a theatrically splendid twist. Equal parts third and first person story-telling we find Helena (the resplendent Cora Bissett) a divorce lawyer and Bob (a pathetically charming Matthew Pidgeon) a used-car salesman/petty criminal in an Edinburgh bar during Midsummer. After an awkward one-night stand the two part ways as Helena heads of to be a bridesmaid (again) and Bob sells a stolen pink convertible to give the cash to his crime-boss. With both racing through the city, they end up meeting again and spending the shortest night of the year spending the £15K trapsing around the city - meeting goth kids, getting tied up in a Japanese fetish club, borrowing a mailbag and inserting cash into envelopes, and enjoying the poshest hotel in the city.
David Greig's delightfully charming, beautiful and poignant text is nicely complemented by Gordon McIntyre's indie music, with Bissett and Pidgeon strumming on their guitars and singing the melodic songs. The duo are pitch-perfect as the two thirty-five-year-olds who come together through the wonder of where their lives went wrong. Flowing from narration, to the multiple characters, and singing they both are a delight to watch - Bissett with her simultaneous charm and vulnerability and Pidgeon with his crass humour to overcome his life's disappointments. With their commitment, timing and easy stage presence we are carried away with their unlikely love story. I oou'd, awe'd, laughed and was completely engrossed.
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