When you’re in the presence of something that so precisely hits the creative bullseye, it’s difficult not to feel grateful. I am grateful for this two-person musical about butt plugs.
Sometimes, there really are no words. Sometimes, we little humans really don’t know anything. Sometimes, the funniest thing you’ve seen at the Fringe (ever) is so funny, it’s actually sobering. Because, in some weird way, yeah, it’s true: maybe a butt plug can be a metaphor for the rise of fascism and far right ideology, but also, more importantly, that love is more powerful than hate. And that popping out your butt plug and admitting that you’re gay is the only thing you’re really in control of at the end of the day.
I learned a lot from watching Hole!
The newest musical comedy on the block is a jaw-dropping co-creation by American duo Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, two outrageously talented artists who form the company American Sing Song (A.S.S.). A smash hit at last year’s Fringe and fresh from a run at London’s Soho Playhouse, Hole! is the story of a small religious cult of Nebraskans who believe that wearing butt plugs at all times is the only thing stopping them from being sucked to hell. They’re also not entirely wrong.
When you’re in the presence of something that so precisely hits the creative bullseye, it’s difficult not to feel grateful: that your little timeline on Earth intersected with that artist’s little timeline, that you can once again be made to laugh so hard in a theatre that you’re afraid you might not be able to collect yourself, that the blessed person who recommended this show to you told you nothing about it so you had no expectations and no clue what you were in for.
This is not what I expected to say about a two-person musical about butt plugs, but I do believe a story can only be so gut-punchingly hilarious because it vibrates with truth. Hole! is about the mistakes we make when we confuse fear for certainty but also how we can survive when we let love get us through uncertainty. It’s also likely to be the most clever, expertly executed piece of theatre you’ll ever see. Get your tickets before The Great Sucking sucks them all up.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hole
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Cowbarn, Underbelly Bristo Square
Dates: Aug 5th -30th
Time: 20:30
Ticket prices: £18/ concession: £17
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 14+