As we enter the church we are welcomed by the wedding party, the wedding planner Bert greeting us with a “thank you for coming” or a conspiratorial “you were always the favourite uncle”.
As the Wedding March strikes up, we rise for the bride … and wait amidst nervous laughs and worried glances. When the door opens it’s on Hedda, who announces that the bride, Juliet has gone.
Pulled between sitting and standing it appears that no one will be leaving until Mrs Capulet finds her daughter. Everything has been meticulously planned, all that is except for a runaway bride and while “I told you so” might be on their lips Bert just hopes that someone will say that it’s not his fault.
Helen, mother of Tesman the groom, is devastated – mainly by the fact that she might be deprived of a wealthy daughter-in-law. Not that she sees eye to eye with Mrs Capulet, railing at being seen as a stereotypical Scot, while having a bagpipes ringtone and a few wee miniatures in her handbag.
Tesman, not exactly the traditional “manly” groom is conflicted and appears to have been exploring possibilities which could be sub-platonic with Hedda, who might kill to secure her fantasies of the happily ever after.
Things are going to get messy and soon it’s not the bouquet being thrown but some first-class bitching. When a letter is found they have some answers, but where do they go from here?
With characters loosely based on Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, Lorca’s Yerma and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet the play looks at love, boredom, distant parenting, family control, manipulation and societal constraints on women.
Playfully and amusingly staged with the audience being pulled in - told not to gossip before being encouraged to or flinging themselves into a Gay Gordons.
As a largely devised show and a Fringe debut by a new youth-led collective it shows real promise. It’s a taught, well executed piece but the closing moments would benefit from the earlier bursts of originality.
There truly is something old, something new, something borrowed - and something blue.
Show Times: 8 to 16 August (not 10) 2025 at 2.25 pm.
Tickets: £: £8.50 (£6). (Family £20.00).
Suitability:14+ (Note – Show contains distressing or potentially triggering themes, strong language / swearing, strobe lighting, audience participation and may be required to walk or move around during the performance).