Hudson Hughes - At Your Service, Underbelly Cowgate Review
For nearly twenty years, the Reverend Derek Gritt has beamed a little bit of holy into Britain's living rooms, but now his broadcast career is dying faster than his parishioners. When mega-fan Jane's last wish is a funeral led by the Reverend himself, Gritt trundles off to cursed Godsby-upon-Treen with one eye on the coffin and the other on his engagement metrics. She wasn’t a witch, by the way. Definitely not a witch.
Hughes, making his solo Fringe debut, is a hugely talented and effortlessly charismatic performer, and his Gritt is a gloriously pathetic creation: a man of God whose true faith lies in relevance, clout, and his vape. The plot is fun, quirky and increasingly unhinged, and the production value is startling for a Fringe cave - the imp in the box is an honest-to-goodness marvel, and the coffin, opening and closing seemingly of its own accord, earns gasps most shows would kill for.
The only slight caveat is the AV, during which sections Hughes is out of sight entirely. The first video interlude is slick and funny - showcasing Hughes’ talent as a filmmaker, but by the second, something audibly shifted in the room. The congregation's message was unmistakable: we came for Hughes, and every screen takeover loses him for minutes at a time. The technology is impressive, but the man is more so.
This is a wildly inventive, big-hearted debut - less a funeral than a resurrection. Gritt came to Godsby-upon-Treen to bury a fan; he left having converted a room full of new ones. Amen to that.
Hudson Hughes: At Your Service runs at Underbelly, Cowgate (Iron Belly) until 30 August
★★★★
Written by Ellora for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.
