Enjoyable, But Hard Not to See What it Could’ve Been
Talk It Out is ostensibly about the first meeting of a self-help group. Ostensibly is the operative word here, because this framing device really has very little influence on the show itself. Talk It Out is a performance by the Edinburgh University Footlights, its members (about 15 people) take turns singing songs from various musicals, some solo and some as group numbers.
The performances themselves are largely strong. There’s some weaker and slightly unconfident singing towards the beginning but as everyone gets more comfortable they hit a more consistent quality. There are a number of truly excellent singers and dancers here, and even some very compelling comedic performers who, for me, provide the most entertainment. The show is at its best with the comedy numbers. The fun, playful songs like ‘All Girl Band’ and ‘I Love Betsy’ play well without their original contexts and can be entertaining in their own right. The more emotional numbers, like a particularly baffling use of ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’, tend to fall flat in comparison. Though they’re perfectly well performed, these songs require more emotional investment from the audience than this format allows. Without context for who these characters are and why we should care about them, the more serious songs that try to evoke some deeper emotion largely fail.
This is where putting more development into the conceit of the self-help group may have aided the show. For most of the first act people tend to simply step forward and perform their song with almost no set-up or conclusion. The second act is slightly more organised in this regard but it feels too little too late. There are some references to a continuity within the story of the show but with so many indistinct characters this can be very difficult to follow, especially since some supposed ‘story moments’ are abandoned once the song is over.
There’s clear effort put in to pick songs that audiences may not be as familiar with, or at least songs that they won’t necessarily have heard at other showchoir events. I was particularly impressed by the inclusion of two songs from the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, something of a cult classic that doesn’t get much recognition from the wider musical community. This choice would probably serve well to create any level of emotional investment in Talk It Out’s characters since the audience will be less distracted by the story of a musical that they’re unfamiliar with. Though this opportunity is never really pulled upon, it’s still fun and refreshing to hear some songs from lesser-known productions. All in all, despite some repeated issues with microphone levels, Talk It Out is a technically impressive if uninspired piece. There’s a lot of potential for something truly unique and special here, though a lot of it goes unrealised. At the end of the day it has the easy fallback of having some talented singers performing some great songs, which is an easy thing to enjoy.