The most charming show to be sung on a toilet
“Since writing on toilet walls is done neither for critical acclaim nor financial rewards, it is the purest form of art – discuss” might sound like an exam nightmare, but in the hands of LA-born Oxford-educated Caitlin Cook, we explore the beauty that lurks in the most unexpected of places. And who does takes a pen to the bathroom?
Entering the stage, yanking down one of what is later to be revealed as several pairs of underwear, Caitlin takes to her throne, and spills her soul to the audience inhabiting the toilets of a dive bar. She shares petty gripes about a frenemy, and she ponders the bonding experience of women in a bathroom.
Caitlin then uses the graffiti scribblings as lyrics to her songs, which are sweetly sung and picked out on her guitar with disarming charm. Displayed on the screen behind her, we roll through various inscriptions, woven together with deceptive ease, raising gales of laughter from the audience. We explore the duality of these messages – from the life affirming, to the opposite extreme, from the prosaic to the sexual, and back again. So many women appear to have met the same transport-related man, and there are some innovative reinterpretations of nursery rhymes (essentially, with added tits).
Unsurprisingly, men’s toilets prove to be entirely more phallic in nature. What is surprising, and very entertaining, is the academic perspective that Caitlin follows. Her studies on anatomy and statues, and a query about what determines what is art vs graffiti, form the focal point here, and she has a gift for translating the academic into everyday parlance (she can prove it under timed conditions too).
Caitlin made an effort to tailor some references to be Edinburgh specific (yes, the Hive really does smell that bad, and also gives an explanation for why she’s been banned from bars on Cowgate), but some are perhaps still a bit too US-centric to translate fully. Similarly, some of the graffiti elements are just a bit too cutesy and could have been sharper – although this might be more reflective of Scottish toilets than the rest of the world (a phrase I wasn’t expecting to write this Fringe). I’d be surprised if a Buzzfeed writer hadn’t made a listicle of some of the more generally appealing ones already. However, this doesn’t detract from what is clearly a well-honed and meticulously planned show.
The twist in the climax of the performance is shocking, and quite rightly, produces an abrupt change in flow. Without giving away the story, it’s revealed that Caitlin has a traumatic experience from her teens that has shaped her experiences, and there’s a particular piece of graffiti that has spoken to her in this time. Although deeply affecting, this felt like it might be one element too far, but again, this is a minor point in what is a very entertaining and unique show, with mass appeal. Just stay away from men named Bus Stop.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/caitlin-cook-the-writing-on-the-stall