ED FRINGE 2023 REVIEW | Crash and Burns
★ ★ ★ ★
Reviewer - Sarah
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
Food grows cold, wee drams of whiskey burn the heart and tensions boil to the surface in Amy Yeo’s funny and heartfelt sitcom-esque play, ‘Crash and Burns: A New Comedy.’
Centered around six newly-graduated uni friends who reunite for their annual Burns Night Supper, traditional poem and song recitings are dismissed, and instead rumours and revelations swirl around the student house gathering — from the front door steps to the kitchen dinner table and then back again — as dizzying as a ceilidh dance. Enjoyably, hilariously dizzying, but dizzying nonetheless.
With dialogue that is genuine and well-delivered, and a stage set that — although quite simple — offers an accurate depiction of the unglamorous living quarters of a 20-something, ‘Crash and Burns’ truly engages and immerses the viewer in its relatable story.
Post-graduation blues are real, and the transition into adulthood is as instantaneous as a flip of a switch; the familiarity, structure and big group of friends you have come to know are traded in for the daunting uncertainty of the future. There is the question of “Now what?”
Yeo brilliantly encapsulates these post-grad emotions in ‘Crash and Burns’, allowing space for her characters to embrace and accept the inevitability of moving on, all through a bit of charm, and a lot of chaos!
If you are a fan of fun and fast-moving interactions, smart scene transitions, and themes that pack a resonating punch, ‘Crash and Burns: A New Comedy’ is definitely worth checking out at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
At Glided Balloon until 27 August.
