ED FRINGE 2023 REVIEW | IrrePRESSible
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reviewer - Emmie
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
The world premiere of IrrePRESSible has landed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. Examining the media and celebrity through the scandalous, now largely forgotten story of Lady Emma Hamilton.
The premise of this new show is very relevant to how women are treated by the press, not straying from the fact that this isn’t just a problem that is historic…but very much relevant. We’ve all seen how Princess Diana, Meghan Markle, and Caroline Flack’s lives have been impacted by the media and now it’s the press who are in the spotlight.
IrrePRESSible focuses on two strong women, two hundred years, on opposite sides of the voracious press machine. Written by former BBC journalist Gillian Lacey-Solymar, this new musical has tons of potential. As an audience member, you can see how this can show can develop even further. Integrated into this fast-paced show is social commentary with a tale of blossoming female friendship. We move through the story at a quick enough pace to understand the structure and the transition between the different threads of this story.
The cast of 5 do a fantastic job at working with this new material and presenting a variety of characters. There was definitely a lot of humour in there for good measure!
I’m excited to see where this production goes from their time in Edinburgh.
