Bloody Knees is wonderfully written, accurately capturing the bleak and blurry lifestyle of a ‘self confessed terminal layabout’.
Bloody Knees is wonderfully written, accurately capturing the bleak and blurry lifestyle of a ‘self confessed terminal layabout’. Madeleine Sanderson creates central characters whose decisions are impossible to support, yet retain a loveability that ensures we remain invested in their storyline. The entire production has a distinct aesthetic of a lost twenty-something’s flatshare – dirty washing and fold-up sofas becoming sweaty with the stagnant air of a house not left often enough. It is repulsive, but also recognisable and comfortingly honest.
Sanderson writes with a fun pace, with the play moving episodically, bursting with jokes and leaving room for improvisation in a manner that would suit a sitcom format well. Modelled on the cheap and easy escapism of golden age TV shows, Bloody Knees is very watchable, however the lack of high stakes does mean it loses some of its energy towards the second half. However, I really enjoyed Sauderson’s choice to enter into a binge-watch and drug induced fever dream narrated by Garfield himself, this wonderfully absurd turn providing an effective new way to storytell which, although a change in gears, didn’t feel out of place in the onstage world her writing establishes.
There was a problematic variation in quality of performance from the cast – Saunderson and Lara Ibrahim playing against each other in a friendship as fulled by resentment as it was by love were a brilliant pair, providing a strong anchor for the piece. However, many of the supporting roles took too great a liberty with the script’s potential for improvisation and ended up repeatedly breaking character on stage. This was distracting to watch and took away from the carefully crafted comedic atmosphere. It was a shame, as everyone in the cast was talented, but some did a much better job of doing the script justice than others.
Bloody Knees is fighting against its own form as a stageplay, but would work well being adapted into a TV series, which I’m sure would have a wide and grateful audience of slightly lost 20-somethings.
SHOW LISTING: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/bloody-knees
LISTING INFORMATION:
Venue: theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall – Theatre 2
Dates: 7–15 August 2026
Time: 22:45 (0hr50)
Ticket prices: £10 / concessions £8
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com
Suitable for ages 12+