“A positive story for negative times… or is it?”
Wonderfools Jack Nurse and Robbie Gordon bring their 2024 Edinburgh Fringe show to stages across the UK and arrive at the Citz during their tour, just in time for Halloween. Known for their projects such as New Year New Work and the famous Positive Stories for Negative Times festival, this one-man show features the duo’s own Gordon acting whilst doing on-stage lighting and sound cues.
Based around the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, Òran is quite literally a journey to hell and back… or is it? The script written by Owen Sutcliffe has received a huge buzz, including the chance to take home the award for the best debut from The Skinny and the Fest Mag Bestie Awards. With a live score, incredible visuals and lyrical storytelling combined with spoken word, Òran must travel to the underworld to rescue his friend from Hades; however, he must face challenges on his way through the underworld. With themes of exploring inner demons and facing guilt and shame, it was a tense rollercoaster, not knowing what could happen next during the piece.
With a creative team of eleven, you can see the love and creative passion that went into the show from start to finish, hearing about the team’s inclusive opinion process during their recent Tea and A Wee Natter event at Wonderfools hq, making sure everyone had a say in the production process despite their roles in the process.
With an introduction to the small and creative audience participation included in the show, Gordon went from himself into the character seamlessly. Watching him perform on stage, alongside his ability to play more than one character and show many different shifts in emotions when performing alongside the rhyming words included within the text, was a joy. Gordon was a natural storyteller from start to finish and a pleasure to watch on stage with brilliant, constant energy when performing.
The visual effects used throughout were brilliant and helped set the scene, along with the simple yet effective set design from orange hues to bright white lights and images that felt slightly unsettling to make you wonder what was going to happen next. The only thing I wanted to see differently for this is maybe having the house lights go off earlier, or an alternative at the start, rather than having them dimmed as I felt it was a bit hard to get immersed in the story before they switched off completely; however, it did not take away from the fab use of space throughout.
Overall, the idea to take this piece of Greek mythology and give it a new modern retelling was a joy to watch. Knowing about Wonderfools for a few years, I knew the production would be brilliant, and I am looking forward to seeing what this incredible team of creatives get up to next.